I’m not saying Empire is bad by any means. It’s still entertaining. But I was shocked when the Internet burst my bubble to declare Jedi a joke and Empire the best. (btw, potential spoilers)
Why I don’t like ESB As Much. There doesn’t really seem to be any central thesis. Also, the protagonists lack any agency. The inciting incident is that they rebels are on the run from the Empire. I mean, obviously it’s in the title. But you have Luke that gets a vision to start a training program to which he just says, “sure, why not?” And you have Han on the run from the Empire with a broken hyperdrive where they just kinda just chill and twiddle their thumbs for most of it, until they think they can hide out with Lando who turns them over to Vader (which, yes did have a lot of tension!). The final lightsaber battle is decent, but there doesn’t seem to be much umph behind it until Luke’s hand gets cut off. I think the story could have been vastly improved if Luke & Han had their plot lines interact, possibly Luke had a plan he conferred with Han about, and Han knew about this, and Vader knew Han knew about this, so then Vader was chasing Han to get the information…something like that. That would have raised the stakes. And the whole ultimatum Vader doesn’t sound convincing or within character–there was nothing in Empire that supports the motive, so it’s a payoff that didn’t have a setup. Again, Empire is far from a bad movie. I’ve seen it many times and probably will again. But to me it just felt an “in-between” type of movie.
Why I like ROTJ. Yeah, there are issues. The whole Ewoks battle does turn into a Home Alone type scenario. I think the only reason why is that George Lucas fumbled the storytelling a little–that the bonds that hold the rebels together (with little in the way of armaments) are what defeated the empire with their colossal Death Star. And the characters did seem to start from a blank slate as if Empire didn’t happen. But overall it carried the emotional weight I look for with movies. In the scene with the Emporer overlooking the battle for several minutes not a lightsaber is unsheathed but you can see the chess game unfolding between the Emperor, Vader, and Luke. And then the Dark Side wins, not through force of will, but through Luke’s desire to do the right thing. The space battle, too, is epic. Some people critique that the Death Star being operational wasn’t as big a twist as Lucas intended, but I don’t think it was ever intended to be a big reveal. It was just another setback for the rebels that were already frantically trying to defeat an overpowering enemy.
Alright, time for the comments! XD
Unpopular opinion : I think the Star Wars movies are great as children movies, but the over analyzing by adults can be tedious (see RLM’s Nerd Crew)
There’s a lot of complexity there for adults but they’re really targeted at children, especially I - VI. However, I totally agree with you that the overanalyzing comes from adults. Some of that is from Legends canon feeling the need to explain everything and telling stories that go far beyond kids’ stories. For example, my introduction to Star Wars was when I was 6 and picked up The Crystal Star well before I ever saw the movies, which was wildly age inappropriate (also…I know in hindsight how terrible it is but at the time it was my first step into a larger world). If my parents knew how that book read, they probably wouldn’t have given it to me, but they knew Star Wars as something for older primary school children and older.
Are you trying to get into fight club or something? Haha
It is really an unpopular opinion so have my upvote. You made me shake my head while reading your post but I respect your points!
I suspect part of it is protagonist. I, as a kid saw Luke as the character I was supposed to see the movie through. In EBS he’s barely there and he is at the lowest by the end.
In ROTJ you see his bitter sweet triumph but triumph never the less.
I heard an interview with Genevieve O’Reilly (Mon Mothma in Rogue One and Andor) who, when asked what her favourite Star Wars film was, gave the uncool answer of RotJ, and as the interview was ending, could be heard frantically trying to correct herself - “Argh! I meant Empire!, I meant Empire … [fades out]”.
I’ve always been down on the third film because of “Death Star 2” (like, think of another thing George), and I never went to see the 40th anniversary re-release because it was the ‘Special’ edition. (Speaking of the OT and editions, I saw the ADYWAN fanedit of Empire recently - it’s the best one, IMHO).
I disagree with your opinion. But I applaud the sheer guts it took to share it, regardless!
ROTJ is one of my three favorites and it’s yards better than any of the prequels or sequels. I’d put it above ANH, actually. But to me, ESB is in that category of “perfect movies”, like Casablanca & Princess Bride… movies that know exactly what they’re trying to do and pull it off without a hitch.
Meh. The only good Star Wars is in games, comics, and tvseries.
I thought this was more common than it is, apparently. I use ESB as the defining example of “middle movie feeling.” That vague pointlessness that seems to exist in the second movie of a trilogy when the only purpose is to get you from 1 to 3 without skipping too much time.
I have always felt this way but could not articulate it, so thank you for doing so.
The only correction I would make is the reasoning for the Ewoks. Lucas knew that the only way for him to get rich was to merchandise the fuck out of the franchise, and the easiest way to do that was to make toys.
While this is true, I’m not sure how the Ewoks were meant to accomplish this. Star Wars toys were already the definitive market success via the action figures, vehicles, and players.
While that Ewok Village playset was certainly popular, it wasn’t half as popular as the Falcon or the newly-introduced B-Wing.
I don’t think that decision was about marketing toys explicitly. I think it was about skewing the age interest and toy marketing younger, though.
I can agree with that
But do you know where the action could have taken place for the same type of texture, but with so much better impact?
Lucas supposedly intended to visit Chewie’s home planet of Kashyyk for the '77 film, but didn’t have the budget so he rewrote it out of the script, and didn’t get there until '05 with Revenge Of The Sith… unless you count the Holiday Special, which one shouldn’t.
So imagine that instead of the Death Star V.2 being built in orbit around that Endor forest moon, it’s on the Wookie homeworld, with Chewie stepping forward as a combat leader among his people, Han fighting side by side with a Wookie platoon.
Now imagine a 1983 Kenner/Mattel toy line of Wookie warriors, with their crossbows and lances and booby traps for stormtroopers and such. Considering the cuteness overload we got instead, what a missed opportunity.
I remember reading that the Wookie outfits were too expensive so he took what he had, cut them in half, and made ewok costumes
too expensive
If true, it sounds like other penny-pinching Lucas stories I’ve read through the years and decades. Skimping on 2-3 million for a film that cost 32 million to make, and was all but guaranteed to make over 300 million at the box office anyway.
Then probably patted himself on the back for being so astute.
