22 Years Ago in TIME

By Melissa August, Harriet Barovick, Elizabeth L. Bland, Roy H. White and Rebecca Winters

When TIME first put a Star Wars movie on its cover, in 1980, we were just beginning to get hints of the mysteries that lurked behind the menacing mask of DARTH VADER, and of how tough it would be for each new sequel to live up to expectations.

Vader proves a difficult foe to vanquish. That is just as well for the story because the Dark Lord is far more menacing in The Empire than he was in Star Wars, possessed of a mysterious past. There is a hint of a complex personality, and Vader, like all good villains, commands the screen whenever he appears, his black robes floating behind him like the shrouds of death. But once he has been given such prominence, he is a hard character for even his creator to control. In Star Wars, Vader was soundly defeated, and there was a rousing celebration of good over evil. With Vader dominating, perhaps even more than Lucas intended, The Empire finishes on a less satisfying and more ambiguous note...Sequels of giant hits, like children who follow Daddy's favorite, always have an unfair burden. They are not examined on their own merits but in relationship to the picture everyone loved. In many ways Lucas and Kershner have overcome that handicap. The Empire Strikes Back is a more polished and, in some ways, a richer film. But to imitate Yoda's way of speaking, and to answer the obvious question, as much fun it is not. --TIME, May 19, 1980