The ensemble cast includes Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Billy Dee Williams, Anthony Daniels, David Prowse, Kenny Baker, Peter Mayhew, and Frank Oz.

To avoid the stress he faced directing Star Wars, Lucas handed the responsibility to Kershner and focused on expanding his special effects company Industrial Light & Magic instead.

Filmed from March to September 1979 in Finse, Norway, and at Elstree Studios in England, The Empire Strikes Back faced production difficulties, including actor injuries, illnesses, fires, and problems securing additional financing as costs rose.

[a] In case Star Wars had failed, creator George Lucas had contracted Alan Dean Foster to write a low-budget sequel (later released as the novel Splinter of the Mind's Eye).

[31] Conscious that the sequel needed to exceed the original's scope—making it a bigger production—and that his production effects company Lucasfilm was relatively small and operating out of a makeshift office, Lucas considered selling the project to 20th Century-Fox in exchange for a profit percentage.

[17][41][52] By late 1977, Kurtz began hiring key crew members, including production designer Norman Reynolds, consultant John Barry, makeup artist Stuart Freeborn, and first assistant director David Tomblin.

[17][53] Lucas rehired artists Ralph McQuarrie and Joe Johnston to maintain visual consistency with Star Wars, and the three began conceptualizing the Hoth battle in December.

[63] They formed a general outline and ideas that included the Wookiee homeworld, new alien species, the Galactic Emperor, a gambler from Han's past, water and city planets, Luke's lost twin sister, and a diminutive, froglike creature, Minch Yoda.

[72] This draft established Luke's sister as a new character undertaking a similar journey,[73] Vader's castle and his fear of the emperor,[74] distinct power levels in controlling the Force,[75] Yoda's unconventional speech pattern,[76] and bounty hunters, including Boba Fett.

[87] Mark Hamill (Luke), Carrie Fisher (Leia), Harrison Ford (Han), Peter Mayhew (Chewbacca), and Kenny Baker (R2-D2) all reprised their Star Wars roles.

[41][88] Hamill and Fisher were contracted for a second, third, and fourth film, but Ford had declined similar terms because of earlier bad experiences; he agreed to return because he wanted to improve on his Star Wars performance.

[122] To film the Imperial probe landing, eight sticks of dynamite were placed on the glacier and set to explode at sunrise, but the demolitions expert in charge knocked the battery out of his radio and received the message too late to capture the intended shot.

[154] Hamill returned in early July to film his climactic battle against Darth Vader, portrayed by stunt double Bob Anderson, who said the experience was like fighting blindfolded because of the costume.

In the three-week window between its limited and wider release, Lucas, Johnston, and visual effects artist Ken Ralston filmed enhancement scenes at ILM, using existing footage, a new score, modified dialogue, and new miniatures to create establishing shots of the Rebel fleet and their relative positions.

[189] Lucas's firm, Industrial Light & Magic, developed the special effects for The Empire Strikes Back at a cost of $8 million, including staffing and the construction of the company's new facility in Marin County, California.

[191] The crew, supervised by Richard Edlund and Brian Johnson, included Dennis Muren, Bruce Nicholson, Lorne Peterson, Steve Gawley, Phil Tippett,[111] Tom St. Amand,[192] and Nilo Rodis-Jamero.

[172][231][232] In March 1981, The Los Angeles Times released a summary of the leading critics’ choices for top 10 films of the year: Robert Redford’s Ordinary People appeared on 42 lists, while Empire made it onto 24.

[240] The Hollywood Reporter's Arthur Knight believed the novelty of the original and the plethora of space opera films produced since made Empire seem derivative; even so, he called it the best in the genre since Star Wars.

[238][244] Kehr and Sight & Sound's Richard Combs wrote that characterization seemed to be less important than special effects, visual spectacle and action set pieces that accomplished little narratively.

[245] Knight called Guinness's performance half-hearted,[238] and Janet Maslin criticized Lando Calrissian, the only major black character in the film, as "exaggeratedly unctuous, untrustworthy and loaded with jive".

The film received a further two nominations: Best Art Direction (Reynolds, Leslie Dilley, Harry Lange, Alan Tomkins, and Michael Ford) and Best Original Score (John Williams).

[278] Merchandise for The Empire Strikes Back includes posters, children's books, clothing, character busts and statues, action figures, furnishings, and Lego sets.

[292][293] Muren described the Empire's assault on Hoth with AT-AT vehicles as an analogy for the Vietnam War, specifically an invading military employing equipment inappropriate for the local terrain.

[295] Lucas wanted Yoda to be a traditional fairy-tale or mythological character, akin to a frog or an unassuming old man, to instill a message about respecting everyone and not judging on appearance alone, because he believed that would lead the hero to succeed.

[302] After defeating the avatar of Vader, the mask splits open to reveal Luke's face, suggesting he will succumb to the temptations of the dark side unless he learns patience and to abandon his anger.

[n] Similarly, Han saying "I know" in response to Leia's love confession is considered one of the most iconic scenes in the Star Wars films and one of the more famous lines of improvised dialogue in cinema.

[315] Playboy named it the third-best sequel, describing the disclosure of the relationship between Luke and Vader as the "emotional core that has elevated Star Wars to the pantheon of timeless modern sagas".

The website's consensus reads: "Dark, sinister, but ultimately even more involving than A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back defies viewer expectations and takes the series to heightened emotional levels.

[360] In 2010, the United States Library of Congress selected The Empire Strikes Back for preservation in the National Film Registry for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".

[366][367] Filmmakers such as the Russo brothers, Roland Emmerich, and Kevin Feige, and actors such as Neil Patrick Harris, Jim Carrey, and Jude Law, cite Empire as an inspiration in their careers or identify as fans.