The Empire Strikes Back

The Rebels become concerned when Luke fails to return from placing sensors on Hoth, and in order to re-assure R2-D2, C-3PO says, "Of course, we'll see Master Luke again, and he'll be quite alright; you'll see!"  Then, to himself, he remarks, "Stupid little short circuit.  He'll be quite alright."  The second half of C-3PO's repeated copulative sentence exhibits assonance ("quite alright"), and this provides a sense of thoroughness or completeness, which matches the meaning in a way.

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Yoda's name seems meant to reflect his size.  It sounds similar to the names of the smallest letters in the Hebrew and Greek alphabets:  yodh (י) and iota (ι), respectively.

The Empire Strikes Back

When Han, Leia, Chewbacca, and C-3PO arrive at Cloud City, there are panels in the background that have a warm glow behind them:

By the time Luke arrives, however, after the Empire's trap has been sprung, this warmth has disappeared, and the panels are colorless:

This contrast in color illustrates the change that has occurred.  At first, Cloud City seems like an inviting place, but once the Empire's presence is revealed, it becomes a stark and unwelcoming environment.

The Original Star Wars Trilogies

Here are some more general comments about the original Star Wars trilogies; in the coming weeks, I'll have posts about each movie individually (with the exception of A New Hope, for which I don't have any significant comments yet).

In "The Beginning: Making Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace" (at ~3:08), George Lucas comments on the parallelism between The Phantom Menace and A New Hope:  "with Anakin, you know, kind of duplicating the Luke Skywalker role, but you see the echo of where it all's gonna go:  instead of destroying the Death Star, he destroys the ship that controls the robots.  Again, it's like poetry, sort of; they rhyme.  Every stanza kind of rhymes with the last one."  This parallelism extends even to the grammatical structure of the titles.  The Phantom Menace parallels A New Hope ([article][adjective][noun]), and Revenge of the Sith parallels Return of the Jedi ([noun][preposition][article][noun]).  Attack of the Clones and The Empire Strikes Back are the exception here, but both titles describe a military conflict, so they're similar in a more general way.  There's also an echo between Attack of the Clones and The Empire Strikes Back in that both feature a scene where R2-D2 reconstructs C-3PO.

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Near the beginning of each movie in the original trilogy, there's a shot of a Star Destroyer overhead:

Visually, this illustrates the dominance that the Empire has over the galaxy.

The Empire Strikes Back

12:45 - C-3PO (to R2-D2):  "Don't worry about Master Luke; I'm sure he'll be alright."  Obi-Wan says the same thing to R2 about Luke in A New Hope:  "Oh, don't worry; he'll be alright" [30:17].  Additionally, Han tells Chewbacca, "Don't worry, Chewie; I think I know what he [Luke] has in mind" [1:12:12], and he tells Leia, "Don't worry; she'll hold together," referring to the Millennium Falcon [1:34:57]).

18:52 - General Rieekan: "Send Rogues 10 and 11 to Station 38."  This is a somewhat disguised occurrence of 1138.

22:12 - Han (to Luke):  "You alright?"  In A New Hope, Luke asks Obi-Wan, "Are you alright?" [59:16], and Biggs asks Luke [1:46:44].

23:09 - Darth Vader (after General Veers informs him of the Rebels' energy shield):  "The Rebels are alerted to our presence."  C-3PO uses the same expression in A New Hope when he tells Luke, "I said all systems have been alerted to your presence, sir" [1:17:49].

30:31 - Luke:  "Rogue Two, are you alright?" [30:31]

and

31:39 - Han (to Leia):  "You alright?"

See above (22:12)

31:49 - C-3PO (to Leia):  "Your highness, we must take this last transport; it's our only hope."  Leia uses the phrase "only hope" twice in A New Hope: "Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi; you're my only hope" [35:35] and "You must use the information in this R2 unit to help plan the attack; it's our only hope" [1:38:49].

36:07 - Luke:  "Don't worry, R2.  We're going!  We're going!"  See above (12:45)

41:09 - Luke (landing his X-wing on Dagobah):  "All the scopes are dead; I can't see a thing."  He makes the same comment in A New Hope about his stormtrooper disguise ("I can't see a thing in this helmet!" [1:13:17].

53:46 - Emperor Palpatine (talking to Vader, referring to Luke):  "The Force is strong with him."  In A New Hope, Vader also says this about Luke, although he doesn't know it's Luke specifically, just a rebel pilot:  "The Force is strong with this one" [1:55:41].

59:08 - Leia:  "I have a bad feeling about this."

1:00:41 - Han:  "This is no cave."  This may be intended as an echo of what Obi-Wan says about the Death Star in A New Hope:  "That's no moon; it's a space station" [1:04:25].

1:01:18 - Yoda:  "A Jedi's strength flows from the Force."  Obi-Wan tells Luke something similar in A New Hope:  "Remember, a Jedi can feel the Force flowing through him" [1:00:50].

1:06:14 - Vader (addressing the bounty hunters):  "You are free to use any methods necessary, but I want them alive, no disintegrations."

Boba Fett:  "As you wish."

Vader gives the same instruction to the stormtroopers aboard the Tantive IV in A New Hope ("Bring me the passengers; I want them alive!" [6:08]), and in A New Hope, he says, "As you wish" after Tarkin asks him to release General Motti from his Force choke [38:45].

1:07:09 - C-3PO (to Han):  "Sir, we just lost the main rear deflector shield.  One more direct hit on the back quarter, and we're done for."  He uses the same expression in A New Hope:  "You go on, Master Luke.  There's no sense in you risking yourself on my account; I'm done for." [32:20].

1:09:12 - Luke (after Yoda implies that he should use the Force to get his X-wing out of the swamp):  "Master, moving stones around is one thing; this is totally different!" [1:09:12].  Han's comment to Obi-Wan in A New Hope is somewhat similar:  "Look, good against remotes is one thing.  Good against the living?  That's something else."  [1:02:20].

1:10:48 - Yoda (speaking about the Force):  "Its energy surrounds us and binds us."  Obi-Wan similarly describes the Force in A New Hope:  "It's an energy field created by all living things.  It surrounds us and penetrates us.  It binds the galaxy together." [34:41].

1:14:52 - Leia:  "What'd you have in mind for your next move?"

Han:  "Well, if they follow standard Imperial procedure, they'll dump their garbage before they go to lightspeed, and then we just float away."

Leia:  "With the rest of the garbage."

Han also uses this expression in A New Hope when he says, "Don't worry, Chewie; I think I know what he [Luke] has in mind" [1:12:12].  "The rest of the garbage" might be a reference to Luke's initial reaction to the Millennium Falcon in A New Hope:  "What a piece of junk!" [54:37].

1:16:40 - Yoda (to Luke):  "Feel the Force flow."  An-other similarity to Obi-Wan's "Remember, a Jedi can feel the Force flowing through him" in A New Hope [1:00:50].

1:16:58 - Yoda (to Luke):  "Through the Force, things you will see, other places.  The future, the past, old friends long gone."  Leia also uses the phrase "old friends," albeit sarcastically, in A New Hope; after Han asks her where she and Luke have been, she replies, "We, uh, ran into some old friends," referring to stormtroopers [1:31:33].

1:18:55 - Cloud City official:  "Permission granted to land on platform 327."

1:20:04 - Han (to Leia):  "Don't worry."  "Don't worry" also appears three times in A New Hope:  Obi-Wan tells R2-D2, "Oh, don't worry; he'll be alright," referring to Luke [30:17]; Han tells Chewbacca, "Don't worry, Chewie; I think I know what he [Luke] has in mind" [1:12:12]; and Han tells Leia, "Don't worry; she'll hold together," referring to the Millennium Falcon [1:34:57]).

1:21:31 - C-3PO (to Lando):  "I am C-3PO, human-cyborg relations."  He introduces himself (to Luke) the same way in A New Hope:  "And I am C-3PO, human-cyborg relations" [20:25].

1:21:41 - Lando (referring to the Millennium Falcon):  "You know that ship saved my life quite a few times.  She's the fastest hunk of junk in the galaxy."  An-other similarity to Luke's "What a piece of junk!" in A New Hope [54:37].

1:33:38 - Leia and Chewbacca help Han up from the floor, and simultaneously, there's an upward wipe as a transition to the next scene.  The same situation with the same transition occurs in A New Hope when Obi-Wan and Luke help C-3PO up after the Tusken raider attack [32:31].

1:44:03 - Vader:  "Your destiny lies with me, Skywalker.  Obi-Wan knew this to be true."  This may not be specifically what he means, but Obi-Wan does say something similar to Luke in A New Hope:  "Your destiny lies along a different path from mine" [1:09:53].

1:57:09 - Vader (to Admiral Piett):  "Prepare the boarding party, and set your weapons for stun." [1:57:09]  In A New Hope, a stormtrooper aboard the Tantive IV says, "Set for stun" [6:24].