This Empire Strikes Back trivia quiz has 50 free questions with answers and covers Episode V from the ice caves of Hoth to the underside of Cloud City: the wampa, the tauntaun, the AT-AT assault, the asteroid field, Yoda's training on Dagobah, the bounty hunters, Lando's betrayal, the carbonite chamber and the duel that ends with the most famous line in the saga. It also digs into how the film got made — George Lucas financing it himself and nearly running out of money, Leigh Brackett and Lawrence Kasdan's scripts, Irvin Kershner's hiring, the Finse blizzards, the Elstree fire, the fake line fed to David Prowse, Harrison Ford's improvised reply to Leia — plus its Oscars, its box office and its critical reappraisal. Early questions suit anyone who has seen it more than once; later ones reward fans who know the budget, the working names for Yoda, and who physically played the Emperor. Every answer was checked against encyclopaedia entries before publishing.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Who directed The Empire Strikes Back?
Irvin Kershner
Lucas considered around 100 directors, including Alan Parker and John Badham, before hiring his old acquaintance in February 1978.
Q 02How many years after the original Star Wars is the film set?
Three
It opens with Imperial probe droids hunting for the new Rebel base.
Q 03On which ice planet is the Rebel base at the start of the film?
Hoth
An Imperial probe droid finds it and the Empire attacks with AT-AT walkers.
Q 04What creature captures Luke in the opening scenes?
A wampa
He escapes by using the Force to pull his lightsaber to his hand for the first time.
Q 05How does Han keep Luke alive overnight in the snow?
He puts him inside a tauntaun carcass
Han's line about the smell became one of the film's most quoted.
Q 06Which Jedi Master trains Luke on Dagobah?
Yoda
Frank Oz puppeteered and voiced him; Lucas had intended another actor to voice him but found matching the puppetry too hard.
Q 07What does Yoda lift out of the swamp to show Luke the power of the Force?
The sunken X-wing
Luke had just failed at the same task and complained that it was too big.
Q 08What is wrong with the Millennium Falcon as it flees Hoth?
Its hyperdrive malfunctions
They hide in an asteroid field, where Han and Leia grow closer.
Q 09Which bounty hunter is described as a humanoid lizard?
Bossk
Alan Harris wore the suit; Morris Bush played Dengar.
Q 10Who administers Cloud City on the gas planet Bespin?
Lando Calrissian
Billy Dee Williams became the first Black actor with a starring role in the series.
Q 11What is Han frozen in on Cloud City?
Carbonite
Vader wanted to test whether the process would safely imprison Luke.
Q 12What is Han's famous reply when Leia says 'I love you'?
I know
Harrison Ford suggested it himself, and it is now among cinema's most famous improvised lines.
Q 13What fake line was David Prowse given to say on set to stop the twist leaking?
Obi-Wan Kenobi is your father
Only Kershner, the producers and Mark Hamill knew the real line before James Earl Jones recorded it.
Q 21Which producer was removed during production as the film fell 50 days behind schedule?
Gary Kurtz
Kazanjian and Watts took over; Kurtz did not return for Return of the Jedi.
Q 22Which two Academy Awards did the film win?
Best Sound and a special award for visual effects
John Williams also won a BAFTA and two Grammys for the score.
Q 23Roughly how much did the film gross worldwide in its original 1980 release?
$400 million
That made it the highest-grossing film of the year; re-releases have pushed it past $549 million.
Q 14Which two screenwriters are credited on the film?
Leigh Brackett and Lawrence Kasdan
Brackett died of cancer after her first draft; Kasdan was hired after impressing Lucas with Raiders of the Lost Ark.
Q 15How much was Lawrence Kasdan paid to refine the script?
$60,000
Brackett had received $50,000 for hers.
Q 16In which Norwegian village were the Hoth scenes filmed?
Finse
Scouts had also considered Finland, Sweden and the Arctic Circle.
Q 17At which English studio were the interiors shot?
Elstree
Lucas funded a new 'Star Wars stage' there for the Dagobah and Rebel base sets.
Q 18Which Stanley Kubrick film's set fire at the studio destroyed space planned for Empire?
The Shining
The blaze on Stage 3 came just as filming was about to start in January 1979.
Q 19What was the film's final cost, up from an initial $8M budget?
$30.5 million
Lucas financed it himself with Star Wars profits and bank loans, and nearly ran out of money in July 1979.
Q 20How did George Lucas primarily finance the film?
His own Star Wars profits plus a bank loan
Fox distributed but had no creative input; Bank of Boston eventually refinanced the loan to $31 million.
Q 24Which actor's small percentage of the box office gross was payment for a few hours' work as Obi-Wan?
Alec Guinness
He got 0.25% of the gross; his failing eyesight had made him reluctant to work under bright lights.
Q 25Who voiced the Emperor in the original 1980 release?
Clive Revill
He was physically portrayed by Elaine Baker; McDiarmid replaced the scene in the 2004 DVD.
Q 26How much did James Earl Jones earn for half a day's work voicing Vader?
$15,000
He again declined an on-screen credit, considering himself 'special effects'.
Q 27Which makeup artist was chiefly responsible for building the Yoda puppet?
Stuart Freeborn
Early drafts called the character Minch, Buffy or simply 'the Critter'.
Q 28What was Yoda's name in early script drafts?
Minch and Buffy, among others
He evolved from a slimy creature to a small blue one before the final green puppet.
Q 29In Leigh Brackett's first draft, who was Luke's sister?
A brand-new character
Lucas only made Leia the sister later; Hamill said he found that idea disappointing at first.
Q 30What was novelist Alan Dean Foster hired to write in case Star Wars flopped?
A cheap sequel, later the novel Splinter of the Mind's Eye
Its success meant Lucas could aim far bigger for the real sequel.