Is Empire REALLY the best Star Wars movie?

Continuing my trend of unpopular opinions, lately I've been questioning my lifelong belief that Empire is the best SW movie.

Just as "many of the truths we cling to depend greatly on our point of view", I wonder how many of us have clung to this "incontrovertible" fact just because "that's how it's always been"?

Yes, it's masterfully directed, and that rare quantity of an excellent sequel. But is our opinion coloured by the fact that it gave us long-awaited new adventures of Luke, Leia and Han in some interesting new locations? Or the memories of that stunning twist at the climax?

Strip away the nostalgia, and analyse it objectively, and does it still hold up as well? Or is ANH (or even a latter-day SW flick) superior?

For instance, the Dagobah sequence was great back in the day, but nowadays could it be considered tedious?

Of course your "point of view" will depend greatly on your age and SW history.

What say y'all?

N.B. "Used to think so" could be because you changed your mind, or something better came along.

Star Wars, AKA A New Hope, has always been, and will always be my favourite Star Wars movie anyway. Empire takes the runner-up spot for me.

Well in all fairness you could argue that ESB isn't a 10/10 masterpiece because it has ROTJ attached to it. I've seen many number 2 sequels be downgraded because of an unsatisfactory number 3, although I very rarely to never see anyone downgrade the quality of ESB because of ROTJ. Personally, much of my original enjoyment of ESB is hindered by the awful ROTJ, so I'll play Devil's advocate and agree that ANH is the superior movie. Truth be told, I only give ESB credit for the perfect "I am your father" reveal.

V is my personal favorite of the 8 major films to date. IV is my second favorite.

Personally, the quality of the film may not be “perfect” but it and iv are the only two that remain exciting upon repeat viewings.




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Yes it's the best. Close poll.

Yeah.

Yes..

As of right now it is the best but I voted that it's possible, or at least I'm keeping an open mind, that a future SW film will beat it in terms of personal favorite. It definitely won't be Ep9 but.

Ive always preferred the overall experience of RotJ, but there are times when I am more in the mood for ESB.

ROTJ is Jabba stuff and Emperor stuff for me, nothing more.

I can go either way regarding Star Wars and Empire. Both are grrrrrrrrreat!

For me, ESB is the best-made SW film, but ANH is my personal favorite. It's virtually a tie, though. I break it down like this:

Opening: ANH = Tantive boarded, droids on Tatooine, meeting Kenobi. ESB = Wampa, evacuating Rebel base, AT-ATs. Winner: ANH.

Middle: ANH = Vader on Death Star, Mos Eisley/Han, Falcon reaches DS. ESB = Yoda, asteroid chase, bounty hunters. Winner: ESB.

End: ANH = Leia rescue, Kenobi/Vader duel, DS run. ESB = Cloud City/Lando, carbon freezing, Luke/Vader duel. Winner: Tie.

Empire isn't just my favorite SW movie, it's my favorite move *period*, so yes it wins "best SW film" by default, lol.

ajp4mgs said:

For me, ESB is the best-made SW film, but ANH is my personal favorite. It's virtually a tie, though. I break it down like this:

Opening: ANH = Tantive boarded, droids on Tatooine, meeting Kenobi. ESB = Wampa, evacuating Rebel base, AT-ATs. Winner: ANH.

Middle: ANH = Vader on Death Star, Mos Eisley/Han, Falcon reaches DS. ESB = Yoda, asteroid chase, bounty hunters. Winner: ESB.

End: ANH = Leia rescue, Kenobi/Vader duel, DS run. ESB = Cloud City/Lando, carbon freezing, Luke/Vader duel. Winner: Tie.

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Empire would win on all counts for me.

I love Echo Base and the battle of Hoth.

Yeah the first 10 minutes of ANH on Leia's ship is awesome but after that the rest of the first act (droids walking around the desert, Luke eating breakfast, visiting Ben, etc.) doesn't hold a candle to the first act of Empire IMO (tauntauns, Wampa, Probe droid, Vader's fleet, AT-AT attack.)

Empire's score is also my favourite - by no coincidence I suppose.

Empire is better but ANH is the more important film, and works on its own

Khev said:

Yeah the first 10 minutes of ANH on Leia's ship is awesome but after that the rest of the first act (droids walking around the desert, Luke eating breakfast, visiting Ben, etc.) doesn't hold a candle to the first act of Empire IMO (tauntauns, Wampa, Probe droid, Vader's fleet, AT-AT attack.)

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Yeah, but those first 10 minutes includes Vader on the Tantive, and that's too much awesome. Seeing him come through the smokey doorway, and hearing that music as he does so; then hearing that voice and watching him take charge . . . that IS Star Wars to me. Also doesn't get much more iconic than the droid purchase, the landspeeder, and "Hello there."

Can't go wrong either way, though.

ajp4mgs said:

Seeing him come through the smokey doorway, and hearing that music as he does so; then hearing that voice and watching him take charge . . . that IS Star Wars to me. Also doesn't get much more iconic than the droid purchase, the landspeeder, and "Hello there."

Click to expand...

Oh yes, no argument there!

I do think that ANH has the single most iconic scene in the entire Saga which is the Ben/Vader duel while everyone else watches.

I've said it before but in that one single sequence you have all of these elements:

1. Luke Skywalker
2. Han Solo
3. Princess Leia (and all three heroes in their iconic outfits)
4. Darth Vader
5. Ben Kenobi
6. R2-D2
7. C-3PO
8. Stormtroopers
9. Millennium Falcon
10. Death Star
11. Lightsabers
12. Lasers

Seriously, almost every single thing we associate with and love about Star Wars is represented in that one sequence!