Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back

Continuity mistake: In the shot from behind Luke right before he falls into the carbon-freezing chamber, Vader's lightsaber is pointed at his chest, but in the previous shot, the sabre was held in a different angle.

Continuity mistake: In the second shot of Luke in his X-wing after he leaves Hoth, some white wires on his right are in a different position from the previous shot. This also happens in the third shot of him as he's approaching Dagobah.

Continuity mistake: During the battle of Hoth, the weather keeps changing between shots. The sky alternates between being totally clear of clouds, clear with some clouds, and very grey and overcast.

Continuity mistake: When Vader attempts to turn Luke to the dark side, he says, "With our combined strength, we can end this destructive conflict and bring order to the galaxy." As the second shot begins, Luke is standing much closer to the structure he's holding onto, than in the previous shot. (01:46:20)

Continuity mistake: When Yoda levitates Luke's X-wing, Luke comes over to watch, and his jacket is open. Two shots later, his jacket is closed. (01:09:05)

Revealing mistake: After Princess Leia switches C-3PO off and the camera angle switches to a close up of Han and Leia discussing where to go next, you can see C-3PO moving in the background as the actor inside the suit is breathing. (01:16:10)

Continuity mistake: During the battle of Hoth, Wedge flies a full circle around the AT-AT walker and when the walker begins to fall, you can see the cable around its legs, but in a side view of the walker falling, the cable is nowhere to be seen.

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Suggested correction: The cable is thin and we only see closer in shots until the walker falls, but you still can see it, barely in 1080p, right as the head hits as a line between the top of the front leg connecting to the back leg.

jimba

Continuity mistake: When Han says "Watch this!" when trying to get the Millennium Falcon to jump into hyperspace, C3PO turns his head around twice. (00:37:40)

Continuity mistake: When Han attempts to shoot Vader, Vader deflects the bolts into the walls. As he says, "We would be honored if you would join us," you can see burn marks by the door and on the wall to the left. Two shots later, the burn mark by the door has changed shape and size, and in the last shot of the scene, the other one has disappeared. (01:25:05)

Continuity mistake: During the first scene in the lightsaber duel, Luke is holding his in different angles between shots, depending on the camera angle. (01:41:05)

Continuity mistake: Just after the Falcon leaves the hangar on Hoth, we see Luke watching the Falcon as it rises up into the sky. Look closely at Luke's head - he is looking at a point ahead of where the Falcon actually is. (00:35:45)

Revealing mistake: After Luke escapes from the snow monster, he collapses, and there's a shot of Han riding. When the camera pans down, there are no tracks in the snow where the tauntaun just ran. (00:11:00)

Continuity mistake: When Han punches Lando, Lando's cape stays on his back, but in the following shots, it's folded over his arm., before he puts it back on again. (01:29:45)

Continuity mistake: When Luke crash lands on Dagobah, the view through his cockpit is crystal clear. But when the canopy pops open, the glass is dark tinted. (00:39:45)

Continuity mistake: When Lando invites Han, Leia and Chewbacca for refreshments at Cloud City, we see a box containing C-3PO's remains and the head of C-3PO is looking to the right. But when the four of them leave the room, we see a close up of C-3PO's head and it is now looking to the left. (01:27:30)

Continuity mistake: Widescreen version: In the shot where Luke's hand is cut off, two of the poles that Vader just cut through can be seen in the lower right hand corner. The poles are much closer together than in the rest of the scene. (01:45:55)

Factual error: There are three major mistakes regarding gravity in the escape sequence in the asteroid field. Han and Chewie take the Millennium Falcon to refuge on an asteroid that, while visually huge, is still far too tiny to have sufficient gravity to allow humans to walk in anything like a normal fashion; yet, they walk normally both inside and outside of the ship. They also do not use pressurized suits outside of the ship, even though the asteroid's gravity should be far too weak to accumulate any significant atmospheric pressure; they use oxygen masks, but their blood should have boiled in near-zero atmospheric pressure. Finally, and most ridiculously, they fly straight down the giant cave worm's throat and land on the side of its throat (this is obvious in the shot where the Millennium Falcon lifts off and heads toward the toothy exit), and they get out and walk around on the side of its throat, which would mean the asteroid's gravity was impossibly perpendicular to its mass. (00:57:50)

Charles Austin Miller

Other mistake: When the AT-AT (Imperial Walker) blasts the shield generator, when it explodes, you can see the glowing remains of it (only visible on widescreen DVD). It was fixed in the 2019 version.

Continuity mistake: At the rebel base, Leia is informed that there is nothing more can do about Han and Luke until the morning and agrees to the hangar doors being closed. In the wide shot, you can see the doors starting to close, although the code hasn't been put in yet. In the next shot the code is put in and the doors start closing again. (00:12:10)

Gavin Jackson

Continuity mistake: When Han is put on the platform during the carbon freeze sequence, Darth Vader and Boba Fett are standing behind him and there is no one else in view, but when we see a close up of Han, an Imperial stormtrooper has suddenly appeared. (01:35:55)

Yoda: Told you, I did. Reckless is he. Now, matters are worse.
Obi-Wan: That boy is our last hope.
Yoda: No. There is another.

More quotes from Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back

Trivia: The Special Edition covers of Return of the Jedi and Empire Strikes Back are wrong. The picture of the Emperor on ESB cover is from 'ROTJ', and the lightsaber duel between Luke and Vader on the cover of ROTJ is taken from 'ESB' (notice Luke is in his fighter pilot suit, and Vader is fighting him one-handed)

More trivia for Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back

Chosen answer: He "searched his feelings" as Vader instructed; he reached out with the Force and felt the truth of the statement.

Phixius

Answer: The vision Luke sees in the cave on Dagobah is a clue to this. Luke is realizing he has a lot more in common with Darth Vader than the idealized father he'd always imagined. When Vader tells him he's his father, Luke doesn't want to believe it, but he simply can't deny that it feels much more true that his father would be someone passionate and reckless like himself rather than someone who exemplifies a noble Jedi, which feels like an obvious myth in hindsight.

TonyPH

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