How 1980's The Empire Strikes Back set Star Wars on the way to becoming phenom it is today
This is the latest instalment in our From the Vault feature series, in which we reflect on culturally significant movies celebrating notable anniversaries.
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It is hard to imagine a world in which Star Wars is not the galaxy-conquering behemoth we know today.
As of 2025, George Lucas's sci-fi franchise includes nine films and three movie spin-offs, with more streaming and animated series being added all the time.
Of course, none of this would have happened without the 1977 original, a pitch-perfect popcorn odyssey buoyed by John Williams' triumphant music and Industrial Light & Magic (ILM)'s dazzling special effects.
But it was the 1980 sequel, Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back, which is 45 this month, that turned this stand-alone success into an enduring pop-culture phenomenon. And it almost ended in disaster.
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