The Empire Strikes Back returns to Cineworld for our re-opening

Have you felt the disturbance in the Force? That's not just a sign of Cineworld re-opening on 10th July. It also anticipates the 40th-anniversary re-release of The Empire Strikes Back.

The Star Wars movie widely considered to be the best in the saga returns to Cineworld screens as part of our grand re-opening. Here's what you need to know.

What's the story of The Empire Strikes Back?

As if you needed reminding, Empire is the second instalment of the original Star Wars trilogy. That makes it Episode V, of course, and the pivotal episode where the history between Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) and Darth Vader (David Prowse/James Earl Jones) is made shockingly clear.

Irvin Kershner took over as director from George Lucas, in the process delivering a far darker and more emotionally mature instalment of the franchise. Many new characters were introduced and cemented in pop culture lore, including wise Jedi master Yoda (Frank Oz). And on-set stories have become the stuff of legend: the improvised "I know" response between Harrison Ford's Han Solo and Carrie Fisher's Leia, for example.

Remarkably, it was 40 years since Empire first hit our screens, a film whose pivotal plot twist had all Hollywood screenwriters scrambling to catch up. The events of this movie set in motion George Lucas' eventual prequel trilogy, which brought us the origin story of Anakin Skywalker, later to become Darth Vader.

With its memorable sets (the orange-tinted, steam-infused rooms of Bespin Cloud City) to the Oscar-nominated magnificence of John Williams' score, Empire still stands proud amid the saga to this day.