Favourite Action Scenes #4: The Battle of Hoth (The Empire Strikes Back)

I figured there should be a mass battle somewhere on this list. It's interesting that such a scene is not the climax of the film, but actually takes place at the beginning.

The Empire has discovered the Rebel base on the ice world of Hoth, and the Rebels must evacuate as the Imperial forces carry out a ground assault. As gigantic walkers lead the assault on the Rebel lines, Luke Skywalker and his squadron try and provide some close air support in their speeders, using tow cables to disable the heavily armed walkers.

Because the Rebels are outnumbered and outgunned, you will easily sympathise with them. They don't have any hope of beating back the walkers, only to stall them long enough to evacuate the personnel and equipment.

The suspense is great. The troops on the perimeter hear the footsteps of the walkers, then you get a glimpse of one foot through binoculars, followed by the rest of the gargantuan machine. As they report back, you can see the tremors causing ice to fall from the ceiling. During the battle, there's a great surprise moment when Luke is shot down, but single-handedly takes down one of the walkers by grappling under it and planting a bomb. As for the aftermath, you get shots of the walkers firing on the retreating Rebels after breaking through the lines, and the remainder of the surviving personnel escape as Darth Vader leads soldiers through the base itself.

As stated above, this all takes place at the beginning of the film, rather than the end, so you're excited for what's to come.

And need I mention that the John Williams score is fantastic?