The Best of Star Wars

Rating: 9/10 (6 August 2003)

***SEMI-SPOILERS HEREIN***
"Empire" is easily the greatest movie in the Star Wars universe. Purists may argue that "Star Wars" itself has to be the best, simply due to its being the first in the series. Others may say that the happy ending of "Return of the Jedi" makes it the greatest. However, "Empire" is the best film in general. True, it really couldn't stand on its own as well as the first film did. However, you see more character development in "Empire" than in "Star Wars" or "Jedi." Yes, "Empire" is a much darker film than the other two films in the original trilogy. But in order for it to serve its purpose, it had to be. The obvious unrest in the politics of Lucas' world, the inner turmoil seen throughout the movie in Luke's character, the growing love/dismissal of it between Han and Leia, the maturing of Vader, and the introduction of the Emperor make this the best Lucas offered in this series. Another superb feature of this film is the ending - it almost seems as if the bad guys win. There is no happy ending - Luke loses a hand and finds out he is closer to the enemy than he possibly could have imagined. It leaves the audience with a bitter taste in its mouth, and also the opportunity to draw their own conclusions about Vader's revelation - true or not?