The Star Wars saga has been around for over 44 freakin' years. And as crazy as it sounds there are still some moviegoers and cable-watchers who haven't seen a single episode. So far, there are 11 films and another trilogy and two single movies planned for release sometime in the future. So it seemed like a good time to do an assessment of what we've already got before we're hit with another five. Here is the entire space opera ranked in order of worst to best:
11. Attack of the Clones
Attack of the Clones is easily the worst entry of a bad trilogy. Even the trailers are boring! Even the title is horrible -- the worst of the entire saga by far. It would be easier to discuss the highlights of Attack but then there wouldn't be very much to write about.
Attack of the Clones actually contains the least appealing aesthetics of the saga -- and that includes the animated The Clone Wars. With the sandy Tatooine and Geonosian landscapes and the most jedi robes ever onscreen, Attack is a thoroughly brown movie (ironically, with very few Black actors, no latinos and thousands of copies of one Maori actor). And yet, despite all the sand, nothing actually looks dirty. When one of the hallmarks of your groundbreaking and staggeringly popular saga is the battered and used look of the vehicles, equipment and clothes, filling your comeback movies with pristine -- everything -- isn't the wisest move. Worse, everything on the screen minus the actors and wardrobe appears to be cut-rate CGI.
While the acting is particularly wooden (aside from Ian McDiarmid), even that of Samuel L. Jackson and Oscar-winner Natalie Portman, it's pretty constant across the board and throughout the movie so the blame lies with the director. After all, he could've shot until things improved, hired an acting coach or even recast. Actors don't decide what the final version of a movie will be.
Besides, the bigger sin is the silliness of what takes place. A lot of ground has to be covered to bridge the events of The Phantom Menace and where we all know the story is headed. But the execution in Attack is so lame -- and overcomplicated, yet not the least bit sophisticated -- that it would've been better to simply explain it all in Revenge of the Sith.
Like BB-8, Supreme Leader Snoke, Rey, and Starkiller Base in The Force Awakens, Attack of the Clones' designated "badass", Jango Fett, isn't so much a character as he's a recycled part of a popular aspect of the original trilogy with a new name. The thinking was probably: "Let's make up for Boba Fett's lack of action scenes by showing him in combat now. We'll just tweak the colors of his suit and his first name! Hey, while we're at it let's have Yoda kick some ass, too!"
Not only does Attack look like sh%t, what with its aggressively shoddy CGI. But it makes zero sense that an order of peace-loving monks would go on to lead an army comprised of clones of a bounty hunter who not only attempted to murder one of their own but who also worked for the opposing military force!
10. The Last Jedi
The Last Jedi should be rated HG for Hot Garbage. It's not just that it sucks ass -- it's that it's an enormous step back in quality after it seemed as though the franchise had learned some hard lessons in what not to do and had finally gotten it right. It's the Justice League, Spectre and Star Trek Beyond of the Star Wars saga.
2016's Rogue One is the grittiest and most mature entry of the series but for some reason writer/director Rian Johnson thought it would be a good idea to "fix" what worked so well and to go in the opposite direction. The Last Jedi's chronological predecessor, The Force Awakens, notoriously remixes 1977's Star Wars. TLJ, meanwhile, cast a much wider net and recycles not only Star Wars but also imitates The Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi, 2009's Star Trek and, believe it or not, Mary Poppins. The result is a nonsensical, campy mish-mash that more closely resembles Spaceballs than Star Wars.
Johnson undoes so much of Awakens' director/co-writer J.J. Abrams' storytelling that it makes me wonder if there's some sort of unpublicized animosity between the two filmmakers. It's eerily reminiscent of Donald Trump's ongoing campaign to eliminate all of the policies instituted by his predecessor, President Obama.
If you haven't seen The Last Jedi, do yourself a favor and skip it. I'm just gonna pretend that it never happened. To paraphrase a line in the movie: "It's time for Rian Johnson's influence on Star Wars to end."
Last Jedi supporters have cleverly spun the fact that a handful of internet trolls peppered their criticism of the movie with sexism and/or ridiculously hyperbolic complaints of a ruined childhood into a narrative wherein any and every rejection of the film is meritless. The idea -- nothing new for political candidates -- is that any condemnation is prompted by hatred and/or a refusal to let go of the past. But where there's smoke --- and mirrors -- there's rarely fire.
Although, it's strange that actual mysoginists would become fans of Star Wars to begin with, much less remain so eight movies in. Every single entry in the franchise features at least one major female in a leadership position: Mon Motha seems to be calling the shots for the Rebellion in Star Wars and Rogue One; Princess Leia holds one of the highest ranks in the Rebel Alliance throughout the original trilogy; Padme Amidala is a Queen and then a powerful senator in the prequel trilogy; Jyn Erso holds her own in a shootout in Rogue One; Rey and Leia are a powerful Force-user and a high-ranking Resistance leader, respectively, in The Force Awakens; and Captain Phasma is a high-ranking villainess in TFA -- a first for a Star Wars movie.
9. Solo
Both Lucasfilm and Disney would love to explain away Solo's box office failure with excuses about an ill-advised release date, an abundance of competition and skimpy marketing. But the truth is, like The Last Jedi, Solo just wasn't a very good Star Wars movie.
Unlike the prequel trilogy and The Last Jedi, Solo's not offensively bad -- but it is a waste of time. It's not divisive or anger-inducing it's just a big pile of nothing. But there are two damned good scenes -- either of which would have made for damned good movies if they'd been stretched into two hours. The first gives a brief glimpse into Han's military service. After being busted down to a grunt following charges of insubordination, everybody's favorite Corellian is stuck in the muddy trenches and fighting for survival during the Battle of Mimban. It's basically the (very brief) Star Wars version of Saving Private Ryan (Why couldn't we have seen that??). The other great scene is more or less what I'd hoped for when this flick was announced: spaceships in space. Han, Lando, Chewie, Han's shady ex, Lando's droid and Han's smuggling mentor run for their lives after heading straight into an Imperial blockade comprised of a Star Destroyer and a squadron of TIE-fighters. It's pretty dope -- until the giant space octopus shows up. Smh.
It's ironic that the most expensive Star Wars movie to date comes off as...off-brand. Solo reminds me of the 2011 Conan the Barbarian remake that had virtually no connection (different director, writers, studio and star) to the original two films. Despite Solo being written (partially) by Star Wars veteran scribe Lawrence Kasdan under the auspices of Lucasfilm, it comes across as being a knock-off -- almost a mockbuster. Maybe because Kasdan handed the script-writing duties off to his son halfway through. Nepotism strikes again. Smh again.
One of Solo's biggest problems is the fact that throughout the film Solo himself is pretty naive and optimistic, which is par for the course for the beginning of an arc that shows the character evolving, maturing or hardening. But it makes no sense whatsoever when Han begins the movie as an orphan and veteran thief working for a brutal crime ring. How is he still green and wide-eyed at this point?? Besides, Han Solo's popularity lies in his jaded personality. Two hours of everybody's favorite cynic (without having to cut to Luke's adventure every so often) would have done a much better job of putting asses in the seats. Ironically, Solo would've been better served by an absence of...Solo. Had star Alden Ehrenreich been portraying a completely new character, the movie would've been far more enjoyable. Even centering the story on veteran smuggler Tobias Beckett would've been an improvement. After all, no one complained about Enfys Nest, Dryden Vos or Qi'ra -- characters we'd never heard of before (But both CGI characters -- Rio Durant and Lady Proxima --sucked). As it stands, although Solo is about Han's younger years, it gives off more of a "James Bond Jr." vibe.
And just when it seemed as though Solo would be the first Star Wars movie not to showcase the use of the Force, Darth Maul shows up for no good reason. While the Sith apprentice's cameo was surprising it made no sense to most fans -- given that he'd been CUT IN HALF during his last cinematic appearance. Maul's continued existence was given a ridiculous explanation in the animated series The Clone Wars. His connection to the crime syndicate Crimson Dawn, mentioned in Solo, is made clear in the now-cancelled (and completely unwatchable) animated series Star Wars Rebels. Though corporate tie-ins are certainly nothing new, it's pretty unreasonable to expect moviegoers to pay for a premium cable network so that they can watch a weekly cartoon just so they're not completely lost when they shell out $10 or more for the next theatrical release.
It's a sincere piece of filmmaking, as opposed to the unintentional parody that is The Last Jedi, but somehow Solo still doesn't seem...authentic. It's not Spaceballs -- it's more like Atlantic Rim (the low-budget rip-off of 2013's Pacific Rim).
8. Revenge of the Sith
To paraphrase Obi-Wan Kenobi, "This movie was our last hope." Fortunately, as Yoda pointed out to him, "No. There is another." Luckily, we were gifted with Rogue One.
Revenge of the Sith is, however, a monumental improvement over its immediate predecessor, Attack of the Clones. But then again, how could it not be? Attack is by far the worst early 2000's Star Wars episode. So, the bar wasn't set very high for the final (at the time) prequel. All it really had to do was make sense.
It's impossible to refer to Sith as a film. It's completely digital -- and looks like it. It's also clear that this is not cinematic art. There are many reasons not to like it. The crucial, and for some, long-awaited lightsaber fight between Anakin Skywalker and Kenobi is so anti-climactic that I looked up synonyms for the word. It's the most important duel of the entire series and it was ass.
The film provides two concurrent explanations for Anakin Skywalker's fall to the dark side. The explanation that Anakin Skywalker, a grown man, former slave, experienced jedi, war hero and battle-scarred combat veteran would betray all of his peers and principles and turn to evil solely because a mentor who revealed himself to be indescribably deceitful promised him that he possessed the previously unheard of ability to "cheat death" -- is patently ridiculous. The most likely and believable explanation for Anakin's treachery is simple: He was a bad guy, albeit a conflicted one, with his own agenda all along. Remember, Palpatine wasn't the only one keeping secrets from the Jedi. Skywalker had been hiding his marriage and his mass murder on Tattooine from both the council and Palpatine for years.
It's not all bad, though. General Grievous is great (although he was much better in 2003's The Clone Wars animated series in which he was introduced). Palpatine is great, as usual, and the absence of Jar Jar Binks and the PG-13 rating (and the more mature tone that comes with it) are much appreciated as well. The trailers, rumored to be directed by Steven Speilberg, are brilliant in their own right. Best of all, the space battle in the opening is phenomenal.
As I said before, all this movie had to do was make sense in order to be considered an achievement. It didn't -- but it's nice to look at.
7. The Phantom Menace
How could a movie that took sixteen years to come to the screen not be better than this? The Phantom Menace was the first Star Wars film to be released since Return of the Jedi in 1983. That long, sixteen-year time span was always its blessing and its curse. The anticipation was so high that the movie was guaranteed to be a box-office smash -- which it was. On the other hand, writer/director/creator George Lucas set himself up for artistic failure with all of the talk about the highly-esteemed and astonishingly popular original trilogy being merely the middle of a larger story spanning nine films in all. The notion that he had more than 22 years to perfect his ideas (the first movie, Star Wars, debuted in 1977) raised expectations to impossibly high levels. Maybe Dr. Dre took note of Lucas' downfall when he scrapped Detox.
On the plus side, and this can't be stressed enough--no other movie has Darth Maul (his cameo in Solo was nothing more than a tease) . He is absolutely the best thing about the prequel trilogy. And the moment that the second blade emerges from his lightsaber is applause-worthy. Either Darth Sidious or Darth Maul would've been great on his own, but the combination of the two is almost too good to be true.
All of the space action is magnificent and thankfully, Phantom made it out of production before Lucas went digital-crazy and decided to make everything that wasn't human CGI. Even the trailers are phenomenal -- but unfortunately, the movie that they promised wasn't the one that was released.
The universal focal point for the hatred directed at this movie has historically been Jar Jar Binks. But it's not just him. All of the Gungans sucked (and are racist caricatures). The desperate attempt to appeal to kids under the age of five with the pod-race was a low-point too. And seriously, the day when filmmakers stop clumsily trying to tie all of the pieces of a franchise together with familiar faces should be remembered as a holiday. This case wasn't as bad as Spectre, but the inclusion of Jabba, R2-D2 and C-3PO was just lazy. Maybe the worst thing about The Phantom Menace is that it somehow lets Attack of the Clones off the hook -- and that is a much worse movie.
6. The Rise of Skywalker
Kylo Ren's Confrontation with Palpatine
5. The Force Awakens
The first 40 minutes of The Force Awakens is cinema on par with the best parts of Return of the Jedi. This is due in large part to this section of the film being a new story told with a sincere (for the most part) tone. But when Han Solo shows up he ushers in a shift in tone to goofiness and slapstick. Not long after his arrival, it also becomes impossible to ignore the fact that what you're seeing is a hybrid remake/sequel, the two halves of which serve to cancel each other out. A sequel with the dignity to not recycle the same old shit would've been great. A remake would've most certainly proved divisive but would most likely have been popular nonetheless. What director J.J. Abrams gave us instead is a crappy cinematic cognitive dissonance, in which several original characters (and superweapons) are paired with their new merchandising dopplegangers. It's one thing (and pretty entertaining) for new characters to fly legendary spaceships and to wear the uniforms of old militaries but it's just lame when they inhabit the backgrounds and personalities of popular heroes and villains who also exist in their world -- and sometimes stand right next to them.
Things would've been made a lot simpler had the filmmakers just followed the Darth Caedus storyline from the books more closely -- which they clearly adapted, in part.
4. Star Wars
When Star Wars was originally released in 1977, it became the highest-grossing movie of all time and remained so until 1982. It was also nominated for ten Oscars, including Best Picture, and actually won seven. There's virtually no chance that a sci-fi fantasy film would be nominated for anything more than a couple of technical awards these days.
Star Wars pioneered the tangible, worn look of spacecraft and sci-fi equipment that would inspire future projects such as: the Alien films; Space Hunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone; The Ice Pirates; and Guardians of the Galaxy. Up to that point, sci-fi entertainment tended to feature exceedingly clean, glossy, boring-looking spaceships and cockpits.
Star Wars' influence didn't stop at science fiction either. Replace the galaxy far, far away with London and you've got Harry Potter. Think about it: When the story begins, Harry is a young, nerdy orphan (Luke) who's barely tolerated by his aunt and uncle (Beru and Owen). A wizard (Obi-Wan Kenobi) convinces him to leave home in order to cultivate his heretofore unknown magical abilities (Force powers). Along the way he meets a guy (Han Solo) and a girl Hermione (Princess Leia) who will eventually become his closest friends and fall in love with each other. His magical mentor (Kenobi) is killed but continues to communicate with him throughout the series. The villain is a powerful and disfigured wizard (Darth Vader) who murdered Harry's parents (Kenobi tells Luke that Vader murdered his father; it's eventually revealed that he was responsible for the death of Luke's mother) and is referred to as a "Dark Lord". Said villain has also undergone a name change -- from Tom Marvolo Riddle (Anakin Skywalker) to Lord Voldemort (Lord Vader). Harry's, and every wizard's, weapon of choice is a wand (lightsaber).
Conceived out of necessity when Lucas was denied the rights to Flash Gordon (which ironically received a big-screen adaptation as a result of Star Wars' success), his idea for what he called a "space fairy tale" was rejected by United Artists, Universal and Disney before 20th Century Fox finally agreed to back him.
The original idea underwent a myriad of changes before becoming the final product that debuted in the late 70s. Reportedly, Han Solo was initially intended to be green and Billy Dee Williams, who would portray Lando Calrissian in the 2nd and 3rd installments of the trilogy, originally auditioned for the role of Luke Skywalker. Lucas' insistence on filling most of the parts with relatively unknown actors resulted in Broadway veteran James Earl Jones voicing the iconic Darth Vader, who wouldn't be nearly as menacing had he opted to go with any of the other choices he'd considered.
Something to think about given the information that's eventually revealed in the final movie of the trilogy, Return of the Jedi: Princess Leia gives Luke the first of three kisses (the second and third are in The Empire Strikes Back) in the series in Star Wars.
The original, unmolested, non-Special Edition Star Wars is deceptively entertaining. I've been told more than once that it "changed the world" forty years ago, but when I think about watching it it feels like work. I guess you had to be there. The thing is, it manages to draw you in not long after it starts. And by the end it's GREAT. When I was a kid, I saw it countless times on HBO but I'd never watched it chronologically, from beginning to end. I'd always see it in parts, which was fine with me. I experienced it more as viewing the events of whatever galaxy it takes place in, as opposed to a linear story. I think I prefer it that way, to tell you the truth.
3. Return of the Jedi
The would-be conclusion to the Star Wars saga has not held up well in some respects. While it garnered critical praise when it debuted, it's now the lowest rated entry in the original trilogy. The ewoks were always a bad idea, the "Special Edition" updates are anything but improvements, Harrison Ford is noticeably fatter despite being in suspended animation since The Empire Strikes Back (c'mon it was only three years -- Carrie Fisher's wearing a bikini for fuck's sake) and Boba Fett's death is just lazy.
That said, there is a lot to admire. The space scenes were, and still are, outstanding. The Death Star run at the end of the movie is phenomenal. There is nothing like it anywhere else in cinema. Speaking of which, the Death Star itself looks incredible. As redundant as it is, the unfinished Death Star 2.0 looks so much better than the final product -- seen in Star Wars. Better still, the dogfight in space was the absolute best of any movie of any era (until Rogue One came along). The fact that it was done without the benefit of CGI is astounding.
Darth Vader fulfills the prophecy that he'd bring balance to the Force -- for the second time (the first was 20 years earlier in Revenge of the Sith) -- and in spectacular fashion as he allows his son to beat him in a fight (which is really the only way Luke had any chance at all, given that Vader had not one, but two Force mentors and had been a Force practitioner for about 30 years before Luke ever even saw a lightsaber) and ultimately behaves like any real father of any galaxy. Think about the revelations regarding Vader's progeny and consider the ramifications in context of the suffering he willfully inflicted on the heroes during the first two films. If the movie isn't complicated, the man certainly is (at least he is until his actions defy all logic, common sense and even the slightest semblance of actual human behavior in the prequels).
Jabba the Hutt is stupendous as the absurdly overweight drug kingpin. He shows that you don't have to carry a gun, wear an expensive suit or even be human to be a gangster. He also introduces sex into the Star Wars universe. It's impossible to ignore the strippers and sex slaves (wearing collars attached to chains, no less) roaming around his palace. When you see the hate in Princess Leia's eyes it's clear that she'd felt more than Jabba's gaze.
The Emperor is at his best and the stoicism of his silent, red-clad Imperial Guard is a nice, ominous touch.
Lando Calrissian becomes the hero and quite possibly proves that Han Solo is not the best pilot to have manned the controls of the Millenium Falcon. And the fact that Return of the Jedi is the first -- and still only -- film in which the Black guy saves the galaxy makes it worth sitting through all the Ewok nonsense.
It's also nice to see what Luke has become -- and a little chilling to see what he may be becoming. Take note of his clothing color of choice, for example. The apple doesn't seem to fall very far from the tree in the Skywalker family. For better or worse (or perhaps, for better and worse), his past has taken quite a toll on him. The excitable kid that couldn't wait to leave the farm in Star Wars is gone forever. There's a moment in the Emperor's throne room when Luke realizes just how much he has in common with his father. And you have to wonder how many of their similarities are genetic and how many stem from the fact that they were both guided -- and misled -- by Masters Yoda and Obi-Wan Kenobi.
For a time, the movie was officially titled, Revenge of the Jedi. There are plenty of posters with that title still floating around eBay. Supposedly, the title was changed because the thinking was that vengeance is out of character for jedi. The fact is, vengeance seems to be exactly what Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda have in mind. According to a Los Angeles Times interview with Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back producer Gary Kurtz, certain script ideas, such as Han Solo being killed in the middle of the movie and ending the film with Luke Skywalker walking off "like Clint Eastwood in the spaghetti westerns," were abandoned because the happier ending was thought to be more conducive to increased toy sales. Just think -- this popcorn movie could have been art. Oh, well.
2. Rogue One
If you're under the impression that all of the best Star Wars movies were created and released in the 70s and 80s -- you're dead wrong. With the release of Rogue One, Star Wars was finally back. Not a remix of the first two films -- an original Star Wars story. The first 21st century Star Wars film, The Force Awakens, has style to spare but not much substance. Let's be real, it's more hype than greatness. Rogue One is actually about something.
The movie was marketed as a "stand-alone Star Wars story". But that's not really true. In reality, Rogue is a prequel and is key to the events that follow. There is also a small acknowledgement of what came before. But fortunately, it's nothing like those pre-Empire movies. Rogue has more in common with The Empire Strikes Back than those things.
To be honest, it's more like Empire than any other Star Wars movie. Vader is in beast-mode, the good guys aren't angels, there's no teddy-bear army and the "heroes" take extremely heavy losses.
In fact, this movie makes up for the wack stuff in Return of the Jedi. For instance, you get a battle that alternates between land and space -- but without the Care Bears.
Rogue One makes me never wanna watch the prequel trilogy, The Last Jedi or Solo ever again. Yeah, I said it. I definitely don't give a sh*t what happens to Kylo Ren, Rey and Poe Dameron in the future. At this point all the Star Wars saga needs is the original trilogy, and Rogue One. There's your new saga right there.
Darth Vader is back too. Not a lame, groupie grandkid trying hard to be live up to the family name and not George Lucas' rewritten version of history -- this time the actual, choke-the-sh*t-out-you-quick, murder-my-own-officers-without-breaking-a-sweat Darth Vader. Not once does he break outta character and yell, "Nooooo!" like he did in Revenge of the Sith and the Special Edition of Return of the Jedi (Smh).
If we're lucky and if Lucasfilm is smart, this is a sign of things to come and not a stand-alone great story.
Rogue One isn't just good. It's so well done that it's ALL the prequel that the Star Wars saga needs. It renders Episodes I, II and III completely unnecessary.
1. The Empire Strikes Back
The sequel that's far superior to the groundbreaking, revolutionary, blockbuster original. The adventure story that dared to combine substance and integrity with incomparable style. The film that had the gall to let you hear one of it's heroes scream in agony. And to let another of it's heroes fail. And go toe-to-toe with evil and not only lose decisively but to run away. Where an ally reveals himself to be a traitor, but not for reasons as cliche' or superficial as the promise of riches. Where a puppet looked more realistic, had more personality and remains more beloved than any computer-generated character even 35 years later, including The Lord of the Rings' Gollum. Where not one, but two of the hero's mentors display dubious morals -- at best. This is also the film in which the villain takes center stage and gets revenge. It's also the film that visited the most locations in space (the ice planet, the swamp planet, the cloud city, the asteroid and a Super Star Destroyer). It has textured, dirty, used, so real-looking-you-swear-you-could-reach-out-and-touch-them spacecraft. It has science (sort of) and sorcery, existentialism and non-cheesy romance. The Empire Strike Back's Special Edition even contains the least drastic changes of the trilogy (George Lucas' so-called "improvements" to the films made 20 years after Star Wars' debut), though the Emperor's appearance was thankfully boosted to the caliber of the rest of the visuals. Empire proves that when a film is great, without qualification, it's alright to have a tragic ending. And if you decide to make a sequel, people will show up in droves because they don't just want to know, they want to see, what happens next.
Whether Lucas recognized his limitations or simply found that he was too busy as a newly-independent producer, passing the respective writing and directing reins over to Lawrence Kasdan and his old film school professor, Irvin Kershner, was his wisest decision since bringing his saga to the screen in the first place. Like The Winter Soldier 34 years later, Empire is completely different from its predecessor. The emphasis was re-focused onto character while doubling up on the visuals and excitement. Everything was honed to perfection.
Darth Vader was never better (the same holds true for Boba Fett). He no longer boasts or shouts angrily as he did in Star Wars. His short temper has been replaced by the imperturbable, matter-of-fact malice witnessed in one too-brief scene in Star Wars (where he calmly, telekinetically strangles one of his cohorts at a meeting). He's no longer a caricature with distinctive heavy breathing, he's a so-hardened-he's-irredeemable, barely-human warrior who's seen it all and lost the capacity to be moved or impressed. He's the template for The Terminator's T-800 and No Country for Old Men's Anton Chigurh. He's so villainous that he murders his own officers for failing, severs his only son's hand and casually plots to overthrow and murder his mentor. This film reveals the true nature of the galaxy's power structure -- Vader allows the Emperor to sit on the imperial throne -- for now -- but he's really the one calling the shots (a la Dick Cheney or Tony Soprano when Uncle Junior was the New Jersey don). Even his helmet is shinier. This is the king of bad guys at his finest.
The "space opera" takes cues from no less than Shakespeare and Greek tragedy, with a touch of Hamlet and Oedipus Rex. Life was hard for Luke in Star Wars (he was an orphan who found the corpses of his murdered aunt and uncle, watched his mentor die and lost a childhood friend on a suicide mission), but things get worse a mere three years later and he does not make it out in one piece. While he overcame his self-doubts in Star Wars, even more of his personal flaws are revealed here and the villain's restraint and ulterior motives are the only reasons that they don't become fatal. Both Yoda and Kenobi use Luke in order to satisfy their desire for revenge. They conceal from him the true nature of the suicide mission for which they are preparing him -- to unwittingly murder his own father. It's worth noting that both chose to live in hiding for decades instead of undertaking said mission themselves. How's that for complexity?
The distinctive score debuted in Star Wars is enhanced, most notably with the addition of the "Imperial March", which netted composer John Williams both a Golden Globe for best soundtrack and a Grammy.
Empire is one of the greatest films of any genre ever made and it's the Michael Jordan of adventure and fantasy films. It's much better than anyone could have ever expected or imagined it to be. Critics that likened Guardians of the Galaxy to Star Wars films could not have been referring to this one. They must have had Attack of the Clones in mind. The Empire Strikes Back is so good that it's not merely the best fantasy film. It should be referred to as the fantasy film.
Updated 5/4/20
Originally published 3/25/19
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