Han Solo as a character looks like he was built to deliver one-liners. Harrison Ford brought the character to life with his signature charm, which didn’t miss a beat when he returned to play the character in The Force Awakens. The actor’s handling of the role, along with lines that he improvised, has not only become important for Star Wars history but have become important moments in cinema history too.
One of the most iconic scenes from Empire Strikes Back has Princess Leia Organa confessing her love for Han Solo, to which the character simply responds with ‘I know’. Held in pretty high regard by cinema enthusiasts and Star Wars fans alike, this particular line of dialogue was improvised by Harrison Ford on the set of the film.
It has been argued that Ford’s version of the dialogue was leagues better than what the script has, which was revealed in J.W. Rinzler’s The Making of Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back.
George Lucas thought the line would have been funny for audiences
The original dialogue for the scene had Leia and Han confess their love together in earnest, rather than Harrison Ford going with ‘I know’. The director of the film, Irvin Kershner, revealed to Vanity Fair that there were two versions of the scene shot. One had the original line of dialogue in it, while the other was shot with Ford’s improvisation. George Lucas was sure that the latter would have the audience breaking out in laughter and wanted both versions of the scene to be screened. He revealed:
At the first preview in San Francisco, the house broke up after Han Solo said āI know’. When the film was over, people came up and said that is the most wonderful line and it worked. So George decided not to have the second screening
Keeping the line was probably the best thing that Irvin Kershner ever did, as it elevated not just the scene, but allowed for Han Solo to stay true to his characterization.
Given that the original exchange between the characters would have probably been a little too mellow for a space opera like Star Wars, the line being kept in only added to the finality of the carbonite scene, really cementing the stakes that Han Solo would have felt in the moment.
Empire Strikes Back remains the most celebrated sequel in Cinema history
Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back remains one of the most important sequels in cinema history, remaining the yardstick against which other sequels are talked about. Be it The Two Towers of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, or Denis Villeneuve’s second half of Frank Herbert’s seminal novel Dune, the sequels have often been honored by being called the ‘Empire Strikes Back‘ of our time.
The film’s reveal of Vader as Luke’s father remains one of the most iconic twists of modern science fiction storytelling, with scenes like Han’s freezing in Carbonite still being remembered as praised as an important part of pop culture, 44 years after its release.
Star Wars can be streamed on Disney+.
