The Wampa scene is one of the first scenes in the film. It’s not a plot complication device in the middle of Act II and serves a different purpose storytelling-wise. It’s all about showing how Luke’s use of the Force has grown stronger in between Star Wars and Empire Strikes Back.

Not that any of that is really important. It doesn’t matter if the rathtar scene rips off the trash compactor scene or not. What matters is the universe of these stories and the tone that is set. Luke gets dragged under water. He nearly drowns. He comes up all wet, spitting from his mouth. He had to physically hold his breath under water, so when he resurfaces, you can hear in his breathing and speech that he just physically did what he did on the screen. It can’t be replicated in front of green screen.

In the Wampa scene, Luke is bloodied. He nearly dies. Even when he frees himself, he goes out and mindlessly wanders into a blizzard until he collapses in the snow. These are all very real and atmosphere-centric.

The rathtar scene was just a gag however. It belonged in a different kind of movie. But it feels like I’m beating a dead horse preaching that argument to some of you who may never get it.