The Empire Strikes Back

E117392

American film feature film science fiction film space opera film

The Empire Strikes Back is the 1980 Star Wars sequel film widely regarded as one of the greatest science fiction and space opera movies ever made, known for its darker tone, character development, and iconic plot twists.

Try in SPARQL Jump to: Surface forms Disambiguation Statements Elicitation Referenced by

All labels observed (11)

Label	Occurrences
Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back	67
The Empire Strikes Back canonical	29
Episode V	2
The Empire Strikes Back (1980 film)	2
1980 film The Empire Strikes Back	1
Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back	1
The Empire Strikes Back (film)	1
The Empire Strikes Back (original 1980 theatrical version)	1
The Empire Strikes Back (original motion picture soundtrack)	1
The Empire Strikes Back (screenplay)	1
The Empire Strikes Back: Special Edition	1

How this entity was disambiguated

This entity first appeared as the object of triple T992365 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.

NED1 Entity disambiguation (via context triple) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: The Empire Strikes Back
Context triple: [Lawrence Kasdan, notableWork, The Empire Strikes Back]

A. Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi
Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi is the 1983 concluding film of the original Star Wars trilogy, depicting the Rebel Alliance’s final battle against the Galactic Empire and the redemption of Darth Vader.
B. Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones
Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones is a 2002 science fiction prequel film in the Star Wars saga that explores the rise of the Clone Wars and the deepening relationship between Anakin Skywalker and Padmé Amidala.
C. Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope
Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope is a landmark 1977 space opera film that launched the Star Wars franchise, following Luke Skywalker’s battle against the Galactic Empire and redefining modern blockbuster cinema.
D. Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace
Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace is a 1999 science fiction film that serves as the first installment of the Star Wars prequel trilogy, exploring the origins of Anakin Skywalker and the political turmoil leading to the rise of the Galactic Empire.
E. Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith
Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith is a 2005 space opera film in the Star Wars franchise that depicts Anakin Skywalker’s tragic fall to the dark side and the rise of the Galactic Empire.
F. None of above. chosen
G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.

NED2 Entity disambiguation (via description) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: The Empire Strikes Back
Target entity description: The Empire Strikes Back is the 1980 Star Wars sequel film widely regarded as one of the greatest science fiction and space opera movies ever made, known for its darker tone, character development, and iconic plot twists.

A. Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi
Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi is the 1983 concluding film of the original Star Wars trilogy, depicting the Rebel Alliance’s final battle against the Galactic Empire and the redemption of Darth Vader.
B. Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones
Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones is a 2002 science fiction prequel film in the Star Wars saga that explores the rise of the Clone Wars and the deepening relationship between Anakin Skywalker and Padmé Amidala.
C. Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope
Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope is a landmark 1977 space opera film that launched the Star Wars franchise, following Luke Skywalker’s battle against the Galactic Empire and redefining modern blockbuster cinema.
D. Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace
Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace is a 1999 science fiction film that serves as the first installment of the Star Wars prequel trilogy, exploring the origins of Anakin Skywalker and the political turmoil leading to the rise of the Galactic Empire.
E. Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith
Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith is a 2005 space opera film in the Star Wars franchise that depicts Anakin Skywalker’s tragic fall to the dark side and the rise of the Galactic Empire.
F. None of above. chosen

Statements (63)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	American film ⓘ feature film ⓘ science fiction film ⓘ space opera film ⓘ
alternateTitle	The Empire Strikes Back ⓘ surface form: Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back
award	Academy Award for Best Sound ⓘ Academy Award for Best Visual Effects ⓘ Academy Award for Special Achievement ⓘ surface form: Special Achievement Academy Award for Visual Effects
castMember	Anthony Daniels ⓘ Billy Dee Williams ⓘ Carrie Fisher ⓘ David Prowse ⓘ Frank Oz ⓘ Harrison Ford ⓘ James Earl Jones ⓘ Kenny Baker ⓘ Mark Hamill ⓘ Peter Mayhew ⓘ
cinematographyBy	Peter Suschitzky ⓘ
countryOfOrigin	United States of America ⓘ surface form: United States
criticalReception	widely regarded as one of the greatest films of all time ⓘ
director	Irvin Kershner ⓘ
distributor	20th Century Fox ⓘ
editedBy	Duwayne Dunham ⓘ Marcia Lucas ⓘ Paul Hirsch ⓘ
executiveProducer	George Lucas ⓘ
followedBy	Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi ⓘ surface form: Return of the Jedi
follows	Star Wars ⓘ
franchise	Star Wars ⓘ
genre	adventure film ⓘ fantasy film ⓘ science fiction ⓘ space opera ⓘ
hasFilmRating	PG ⓘ
hasSequelNumber	The Empire Strikes Back self-linksurface differs ⓘ surface form: Episode V
mainCharacter	Darth Vader ⓘ Han Solo ⓘ Lando Calrissian ⓘ Luke Skywalker ⓘ Princess Leia ⓘ Yoda ⓘ
medium	film ⓘ
musicBy	John Williams ⓘ
notableFor	character development of Luke Skywalker ⓘ cliffhanger ending ⓘ darker tone than Star Wars ⓘ revelation that Darth Vader is Luke Skywalker’s father ⓘ
originalLanguage	English ⓘ
partOf	Star Wars ⓘ surface form: Star Wars film series Star Wars original trilogy ⓘ surface form: original Star Wars trilogy
producer	Gary Kurtz ⓘ
productionCompany	Lucasfilm ⓘ
releaseDate	1980-05-21 ⓘ
releaseYear	1980 ⓘ
runtimeMinutes	124 ⓘ
setInUniverse	Star Wars ⓘ surface form: Star Wars universe
setting	Cloud City ⓘ Dagobah ⓘ Hoth ⓘ
storyBy	George Lucas ⓘ
writer	Lawrence Kasdan ⓘ Leigh Brackett ⓘ

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (107)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Lawrence Kasdan → notableWork → The Empire Strikes Back ⓘ

Lawrence Kasdan → wroteScreenplayFor → The Empire Strikes Back ⓘ

Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope → followedBy → The Empire Strikes Back ⓘ