Script To Screen: “Star Wars: Episode V — The Empire Strikes Back”
This is cool: From the 1980 movie Star Wars: Episode V — The Empire Strikes Back [screenplay by Leigh Brackett and Lawrence Kasdan, story by George Lucas], the entire light sabre duel strung together as one continuous sequence without the cutaways to other action.
Setup: It’s Luke versus Darth Vader in their Final Struggle:
INT. CLOUD CITY — CARBON-FREEZING CHAMBER
Luke rises into the chamber, borne by the platform. The room is
deathly quiet. Very little steam escapes the pipes and no one else
seems to be in the large room. Warily, Luke walks toward the stairway.
Steam begins to build up in the chamber. Looking up through the steam,
Luke sees a dark figure standing on a walkway above him. Luke holsters
his gun and moves up the stairs to face Vader. He feels confident,
eager to engage his enemy.
VADER
The Force is with you, young
Skywalker. But you are not a
Jedi yet.
Luke ignites his sword in answer. In an instant, Vader’s own sword is
lit. Luke lunges, but Vader repels the blow. Again Luke attacks, and
the swords of the two combatants clash in battle.
— —
INT. CLOUD CITY — CARBON-FREEZING CHAMBER
Luke and Vader are locked in combat on the platform overlooking the
chamber. Their swords clash, the platform sways. Luke aggressively
drives Vader back, forcing Vader to use defensive tactics.
VADER
You have learned much, young one.
LUKE
You’ll find I’m full of surprises.
Vader makes two quick moves, hooking Luke’s sword out of his hand and
sending it flying. Another lightning move at Luke’s feet forces the
youth to jump back to protect himself. Losing his balance, Luke rolls
down the stairs to the circular carbon-freezing platform. There he
sprawls on the floor, surprised and shaken. Just in time he looks up
to see Vader, like a giant black bird, flying right at him. Luke rolls
away as Vader lands. Crouching, Luke keeps his gaze steadily on his
enemy.
VADER
Your destiny lies with me,
Skywalker. Obi-Wan knew this to
be true.
LUKE
No!
Behind Luke the hydraulic elevator cover has opened noiselessly. All
the while, Luke slowly, cautiously moves back, away from the Dark Lord.
Suddenly, Vader attacks so forcefully that Luke loses his balance and
falls back into the opening. There is a rumble, and in an instant
freezing steam rises to obscure Vader’s vision. Vader turns aside and
deactivates his sword.
VADER
All to easy. Perhaps you are not
as strong as the Emperor thought.
Through the steam behind Vader something blurs upward. Liquid metal
begins to pour into the pit.
Vader turns around — and then looks up. He sees Luke, who has leaped
fifteen feet straight up and who now hangs from some hoses on the
carbonite outlet.
VADER
Impressive… most impressive.
Luke jumps down to the platform where he is separated from Vader by the
steaming carbonite pit. He raises his hand. His sword, which had
fallen on another part of the platform, swiftly jumps into his
outstretched hand and is instantly ignited. Vader immediately lights
his sword as well.
VADER
Obi-Wan has taught you well. You
have controlled your fear… now
release your anger.
Luke is more cautious, controlling his anger. He begins to retreat as
Vader goads him on. As Luke takes a defensive position, he realizes he
has been foolhardy. A quick sword exchange and Luke forces Vader back.
Another exchange and Vader retreats. Luke presses forward.
VADER
Only your hatred can destroy me.
Breathing hard, Luke jumps in the air, turning a somersault over Vader.
He lands on the floor and slashes at Vader as the room continues to
fill up with steam.
Vader retreats before Luke’s skillful sword. Vader blocks the sword,
but looses his balance and falls into the outer rim of pipes. The
energy Luke has used to stop Vader has brought him to the point of
collapse. Luke moves to the edge and looks down, but sees no sign of
Vader. He then deactivates his sword, hooks it on his belt, and lowers
himself into the pit.
INT. CLOUD CITY — TUNNEL AND REACTOR CONTROL ROOM
Moving through a tunnellike entrance, Luke cautiously approaches the
reactor room. He ignites his sword and moves into the room and toward
a large window as Vader enters.
Luke raises his sword and moves forward to attack.
Behind Luke a large piece of machinery detaches itself from the wall
and comes smashing forward toward his back. Luke turns and cuts it in
half just as another machine comes hurtling at him. Using the Force,
Luke manages to deflect it and send it flying as if it had hit an
invisible shield.
A large pipe detaches and comes flying at Luke. He deflects it.
Sparking wires pull out of the wall and begin to whip at the youth.
Small tools and equipment come flying at him. Bombardment from all
sides, Luke does his best to deflect everything, but soon he is
bloodied and bruised. Finally, one machine glances off his and goes
flying out the large window. A fierce wind blows into the room,
unmoving, stands the dark, rocklike figure of Vader.
A piece of machinery hits Luke and he is knocked out of the window.
INT. GANTRY — OUTSIDE CONTROL ROOM — REACTOR SHAFT
Luke falls onto the gantry, rolls, and hangs over the edge, holding his
deactivated sword in hand. He puts the sword on his belt and begins to
scramble up.
— —
INT. GANTRY — OUTSIDE CONTROL ROOM — REACTOR SHAFT
Luke moves along the railing and up to the control room.
Vader lunges at him and Luke immediately raises his lit sword to meet
Vader’s. Sparks fly as they duel, Vader gradually forcing Luke
backward toward the gantry.
VADER
You are beaten. It is useless
to resist. Don’t let yourself
be destroyed as Obi-Wan did.
Luke answers by rolling sideways and thrusting his sword at Vader so
viciously that he nicks Vader on the shoulder. The black armor sparks
and smokes and Vader seems to be hurt, but immediately recovers.
Luke backs off along the narrow end of the gantry as Vader comes at
him, slashing at the young Jedi with his sword. Luke makes a quick
move around the instrument complex attached to the end of the gantry.
Vader’s sword comes slashing down, cutting the complex loose; it begins
to fall, then is caught by the rising wind and blown upward.
Luke glances at the instrument complex floating away. At that instant,
Vader’s sword comes down across Luke’s right forearm, cutting off his
hand and sending his sword flying. In great pain, Luke squeezes his
forearm under his left armpit and moves back along the gantry to its
extreme end. Vader
follows. The wind subsides. Luke holds on. There is nowhere else to
go.
VADER
There is no escape. Don’t make
me destroy you. You do not yet
realize your importance. You
have only begun to discover your
power. Join me and I will complete
your training. With our combined
strength, we can end this destructive
conflict and bring order to the
galaxy.
LUKE
I’ll never join you!
VADER
If you only knew the power of the
dark side. Obi-Wan never told
you what happened to your father.
LUKE
He told me enough! It was you
who killed him.
VADER
No. I am your father.
Shocked, Luke looks at Vader in utter disbelief.
LUKE
No. No. That’s not true!
That’s impossible!
VADER
Search your feelings. You know
it to be true.
LUKE
No! No! No!
VADER
Luke. You can destroy the Emperor.
He has foreseen this. It is your
destiny. Join me, and together
we can rule the galaxy as father
and son. Come with me. It is the
only way.
Vader puts away his sword and holds his hand out to Luke.
A calm comes over Luke, and he makes a decision. In the next instant
he steps off the gantry platform into space. The Dark Lord looks over
the platform and sees Luke falling far below. The wind begins to blow
at Vader’s cape and the torrent finally forces him back, away from the
edge. The wind soon fades and the wounded Jedi begins to drop fast,
unable to grab onto anything to break his fall.
Here is the sequence strung together in the same chronology:
Questions to ask to analyze the scene:
* What elements in the movie scene are the same as the script?
* What elements in the movie scene are different than the script?
* Regarding the differences, put yourself in the mindset of the filmmakers and speculate: Why did they make the changes they did?
* How did the changes improve the scene?
* Alternatively are there elements in the script, not present in the movie, that are better than the final version of the scene?
* Note each camera shot in the movie version. Which of them does the script suggest via sluglines or scene description?
* How does the script convey a sense of the scene’s tone, feel, and pace through scene description and dialogue?
* What ‘magic’ exists in the movie that is not indicated in the words of the script? How do you suppose that magic emerged?
One of the single best things you can do to learn the craft of screenwriting is to read the script while watching the movie. After all a screenplay is a blueprint to make a movie and it’s that magic of what happens between printed page and final print that can inform how you approach writing scenes. That is the purpose of Script to Screen, a weekly series on GITS where we analyze a memorable movie scene and the script pages that inspired it.