For “Star Wars Day,” Keep Your Ion This Scene

To honor Star Wars day (May the Fourth… be with you), here is one of the best scenes from Episode Five: The Empire Strikes Back. It’s unlikely, but in case you’re not familiar: After the Empire discovers the whereabouts of the rebel base on the ice planet of Hoth, rebel leader, Princess Leia orders alliance members to board transport shuttles in order to evacuate the base. The surface-to-space ion cannon has been set to fire upon the approaching imperial cruisers, allowing the transports to get past the distracted blockade.

Whether you fly your “nerd flag” high or not, keep your ion this scene, which works wonderfully for many reasons:

• Its use of ominous orchestral music, followed quickly by the quiet tension in the base, moments before the ion cannon is fired;

• The propulsive force of the cannon firing is a stellar example of Star Wars’ effective use of sound in film;

• The shift to triumphant orchestral music, reminiscent of ones used in swashbuckler films of the 1940s, starring Errol Flynn;

• The celebratory “Hooray!” from the rebel pilots after they learn “the first transport is away,” with Luke Skywalker once again taking on the hero role, the “every man,” leading a band of intergalactic misfits to stop the imperial ground attack;

• Lastly, it celebrates a common Star Wars theme: the proverbial David outsmarting Goliath, in order to live (and fight) another day. (Goliath, not just in the form of the Empire, but in the next scene, Luke, piloting his snow speeder, takes down a towering AT-AT walker by wrapping a cable, his slingshot if you will, around its legs, sending it crashing into the snow.)