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[Liamario]

Sitting here watching it for the first time in years. I used to watch it religiously as a kid. I only really saw the original trilogy when they were re released in the late 90s. Even though they were constantly on TV in the 80s, I never took much interest and had never watched them until my early teens.
Getting back to it though, ANH was originally my favourite, then ROTJ. It was only after repeated viewings of the trilogy, that the TESB became THE Star Wars movie; the one that needed to be seen out of all 3.
The music, the story. Han and Leia's banter, Luke's face off against Daddy Skywalker. The tone, the pacing.... It's difficult to find flaws.

What say you, interpeeps?

 

[unholyrevenger72]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tj-GZJhfBmI

 

[Hilbert]

Let me preface this by saying I am not really a big fan of any star wars movies.

Jedi is my personal favorite. I like space dogfighting, and Empire has the least of that in the series.

 

[Darth Pinche]

"Empire Strikes Back, I love you."






"I know"

 

[Haloid1177]

GOAT.

 

[TheJollyCorner]

Would have benefited with a vocal song at the end.
For example, Olivia Newton John was making the good pop tunes back then. She's got (had) the pipes!



Other than that, it's not bad.

 

[zeemumu]

I really like the Death Star battle in A New Hope, but if I had to judge them based on the entire movie I'd have to go with Empire Strikes Back.

 

[bennywhatever]

Growing up I liked RotJ a lot more because it was a lot more fun/actiony.
A New Hope had the incredible Binary Sunset scene which is still my favorite of all time. Other than that, just a "good" movie.

I think Empire Strikes Back was the most solid from start to finish. It advanced the story perfectly and did so with a delicate gloomy grace.

 

[TheSaddestSort]

It's the best of the three movies (imo), though as a kid it was also the one that made me feel the worst.

 

[Shaanyboi]

Would have benefited with a vocal song at the end.
For example, Olivia Newton John was making the good pop tunes back then. She's got (had) the pipes!



Other than that, it's not bad.

 

[Liamario]

Let me preface this by saying I am not really a big fan of any star wars movies.

Jedi is my personal favorite. I like space dogfighting, and Empire has the least of that in the series.

That's why I originally loved ROTJ. It's a kid's dream. Cool space battles, more lightsaber action; but I began to realise that the chemistry between Han and Leia, the darker tone, the script in general really pressed my buttons.

I'm hoping he's trolling.

 

[Ophelion]

I think the thing I love most about Empire is that it's comfortable being it's own thing. All the sequels and prequels to A New Hope felt like different chapters in the larger Star Wars saga, but Empire stands up on it's own as a separate story too. That's why its da best.

 

[Bulbo Urethral Baggins]

Still like the original the best.

 

[SCULLIBUNDO]

I recently got told off by my girlfriend for spoiling ESB for her, which is fair enough, I'd be pissed too.

But what else are you supposed to post in reply to a wall post saying 'I love you'?

 

[foxtrot3d]

I love Empire so much I'd fuck it.

 

[Bubbavelli]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGOVbXF7Iog

 

[Liamario]

I recently got told off by my girlfriend for spoiling ESB for her, which is fair enough, I'd be pissed too.

But what else are you supposed to post in reply to a wall post saying 'I love you'?

It's her fault dude. She was probably so ashamed she hadn't seen it that she projected that anger onto you.

 

[OriginalThinking]

Empire is definitely the best. It feels like adult sci-fi. It has legitimately scary and surreal moments (the cave, Yoda telling Luke he will be scared). It has *that* twist. Vader is fleshed out and is far more menacing. It's not black and white as ANH was, it's all shades of grey. And for a blockbuster it took massive risks as the "good guys" had their assess handed to them.

Personally my favourite movie of all time (I am a SW fan though)

 

[TheJollyCorner]

bro, Lord of the Rings had Annie Lennox, for Pete's sake!

 

[Bobby Roberts]

Would have benefited with a vocal song at the end.
For example, Olivia Newton John was making the good pop tunes back then. She's got (had) the pipes!

 

[Robot Pants]

Pretty much the best Star Wars movie by a wide margin.

 

[Anth0ny]

Greatest movie of all time.

 

[Jigorath]

The only legitimately great Star Wars movie. A New Hope was good, Return of the Jedi was mediocre at best, and the prequels were pretty awful for the most part.

 

[Raptor]

The favorite of the masses.

Not mine though, is a very exciting movie.

 

[Jables Swan]

I love Empire so much I'd fuck it.

Yep, this.

 

[User 479360]

It's definitely the best Star Wars movie, with A New Hope in second place and Jedi in third.

The first time I saw Empire, though, I was too young. Yoda scared me.

 

[Always-honest]

Yeah the best one.
But the first one (IV a new hope) just made a bigger impression on me as a kid.

 

[Sapiens]

It's pretty boring overall. Just to many long stretches were little happens. The highs are pretty high though.

 

[NYR94]

Sitting here watching it for the first time in years. I used to watch it religiously as a kid. I only really saw the original trilogy when they were re released in the late 90s. Even though they were constantly on TV in the 80s, I never took much interest and had never watched them until my early teens.
Getting back to it though, ANH was originally my favourite, then ROTJ. It was only after repeated viewings of the trilogy, that the TESB became THE Star Wars movie; the one that needed to be seen out of all 3.
The music, the story. Han and Leia's banter, Luke's face off against Daddy Skywalker. The tone, the pacing.... It's difficult to find flaws.

What say you, interpeeps?

Agreed. Empire IMO is perfect. The sequel to Star Wars could have been more of the exact same thing in terms of tone, pacing and story and the fans would have eaten it up the same way they did in 1977. But Lucas, Kasdan and Kershner deserve credit for doing something different and amazing with Empire. The training scenes on Dagobah in particular are awesome.

 

[Bulbo Urethral Baggins]

I think my main problem with Empire was how much Luke seemed to change from the first movie. He wasn't the same innocent farm boy-type kid from the first movie. I know Mark Hamill got out of control and let fame go to his head and that came through in the movie. It may be mostly due to the car accident that made him look so different.
He wasn't the only one who changed either. Carrie Fisher seemed very different too. Even R2 became a little more of a fuckhead. Fuck Kenny Baker. Everyone seemed to get a little more arrogant. I liked the innocence of the first one.

 

[Angry Grimace]

I agree that fucken arrogant R2 you could tell he was just mailing in those beeps

 

[GitarooMan]

I love the Cloud City/Lando stuff. Such a great character. Everything else is great too. Favorite Star Wars film.

 

[Bucket Mouse]

It's the delicious meat in the Star Wars sandwich.

 

[ryan299]

The more I watch it the more I realize there really isn't that much of a plot structure. Crap just kinds happens. I think the twist is what makes teh film.

 

[slit]

Would have benefited with a vocal song at the end.
For example, Olivia Newton John was making the good pop tunes back then. She's got (had) the pipes!



Other than that, it's not bad.

Physical should have been playing during the Vader/Luke revelation.

 

[Snowblindvictim]

Greatest/my favorite movie of all time.

 

[Prof. Bathtub]

I'm holding off on rewatching any Star Wars movie until December 2015, but I can say that I love the OT pretty dang equally, as each complements the others.

While I think that some folks' idolatry for Empire has the unfortunate side effect of belittling two other perfectly fine films, I can see why it's a favorite. I think the love for ESB beyond the other two derives from the abundance of content in it. Star Wars markets itself as a space adventure first and foremost: so with a film containing tundra survival, yetis, mech battles, astroid dodging, space worms, prussian naval command, a frog man, mystic visions, inexplicably strange bounty hunters, sky castles and bottomless pits, there's a lot of favorite bits.

There is a bit of characterization weirdness though. 3PO's amplified uselessness I don't mind, since he's comedy relief through and through, but Chew "he's only a Wookie" Bacca being a lunkhead always seemed a bit unfair.

What I DON'T like is that it set the precedent for Part 2s to be the "darker" one. I even believe ESB's darkness is overstated. Sure, the focus is on retreat, but no hero dies here. Star Wars' trademark "lets-talk-strangely-about-creatures,-locations-and-events-that-we'll-never-explain" dialogue? That's the entire hospital bed scene.

So really, a lot of people like it not so much because it's pensive™, dark™ and mature™, but because it paces adventure, plot/character development, romance and humor in a balanced way. Rian Johnson's a smart guy, I hope he understands this and doesn't go into VIII trying up-dark ESB.

 

[SpyGuy239]

That ending scene really got to me. One of the best Star Wars movies out there.

 

[block tower]

this scene was always good

 

[Tookay]

What I DON'T like is that it set the precedent for Part 2s to be the "darker" one. I even believe ESB's darkness is overstated. Sure, the focus is on retreat, but no hero dies here. Star Wars' trademark "lets-talk-strangely-about-creatures,-locations-and-events-that-we'll-never-explain" dialogue? That's the entire hospital bed scene.

So really, a lot of people like it not so much because it's pensive™, dark™ and mature™, but because it paces adventure, plot/character development, romance and humor in a balanced way. Rian Johnson's a smart guy, I hope he understands this and does go into VIII trying up-dark ESB.

I agree that the precedent is annoying, but it wasn't ESB's fault. The fault lies in the way writers/directors/producers misinterpreted what was successful about its storytelling. It was very easy for them to see that it was "dark" and then correlate it to "good storytelling," when that wasn't the primary reason the film worked.

Otherwise, I totally concur with you.

 

[Rymuth]

I'm not the biggest Star Wars fan but even I and some of my non-Sci Fi watching relatives have got to admit, Empire has some very, very good pacing and action sequences. It's a great movie.

 

[Fjordson]

I've always thought that Empire Strikes Back was the sole legitimately great movie in the entire franchise. Even as a non Star Wars fan, I truly think Empire is a classic. None of the other five SW films come close.

 

[Bulbo Urethral Baggins]

I agree that fucken arrogant R2 you could tell he was just mailing in those beeps

I don't know if Kenny was "mailing in" the beeps, but as I understood the language, there was a little bit more "fuck you" in those beeps.

 

[ersocaster]

Empire Strikes Back is my favorite by far. I love all 6 movies, but I used to fall asleep every night as a kid watching Empire.

 

[Bulbo Urethral Baggins]

Empire Strikes Back is my favorite by far. I love all 6 movies, but I used to fall asleep every night as a kid watching Empire.

That's not a good sign that you never made it through the whole movie.

 

[ersocaster]

That's not a good sign that you never made it through the whole movie.

I never said I didn't watch the whole thing. I used to rewatch it every night at bed time (for some reason when my parents told me to go to bed, what they meant was go lie down).

 

[Prof. Bathtub]

I agree that the precedent is annoying, but it wasn't ESB's fault. The fault lies in the way writers/directors/producers misinterpreted what was successful about its storytelling. It was very easy for them to see that it was "dark" and then correlate it to "good storytelling," when that wasn't the primary reason the film worked.

Otherwise, I totally concur with you.

Of course, I meant it as no fault of the movie. It's no use blaming movies for inspiring inferior works when others copy the wrong things about them. (e.g. if Jaws and Star Wars had not been released, maybe something else would "kill New Hollywood")

 

[DiipuSurotu]

What is the consensus on Irvin Kershner as a director? It seems everyone is glad that Kershner directed this movie instead of Lucas, but the rest of Kershner's filmography isn't exactly brilliant.

 

[Bulbo Urethral Baggins]

I never said I didn't watch the whole thing. I used to rewatch it every night at bed time (for some reason when my parents told me to go to bed, what they meant was go lie down).

They were probably screwing their brains out. You know that right?
I used to fall asleep with the audio of Star Wars every night, so I completely relate. I fell asleep every time they entered the death star.

What is the consensus on Irvin Kershner as a director? It seems everyone is glad that Kershner directed this movie instead of Lucas, but the rest of Kershner's filmography isn't exactly brilliant.

Lucas doesn't have the greatest track record either.

 

[SargerusBR]

Best Movie of ALL TIME