If Episode II is this good, I can't wait

Rating: 10/10 (29 November 2000)

This one will always be my personal favourite of the original Star Wars Trilogy, mostly because it is the best. Everything really came together here; so much so, that even George Lucas didn't change that much for the Special Edition, and what he did change only served to enhance the greatness that was already there. Probably the most notable difference between this one and the original Star Wars was in the writing, by the late Leigh Brackett and the then-neophyte Lawrence Kasdan. Brackett had a great way with a putdown, but not to the point of simply being snarky. Lines like "I'd just as soon kiss a Wookie!"" I can easily arrange that; you could use a good kiss!" serve as punctuation, and not the entire point of the film. This is why irony is dying its currently slow and painful death: a lack of skill and judgement in the use of insults, sarcasm, and other putdowns. This film has the great banter of an old Bogart-Bacall film, which also gave it an edge back in 1980, when so few intelligent films were being released. When the best banter of the year is coming from a space opera, that's pretty dire, but I digress. To critics of my point of view, yes this film is a downer, but that's what makes it so great. As the middle act, it shouldn't have a happy ending, and that's what will be so cool about Episodes II and III. We know the new trilogy is going to end on a down note, but like Titanic, we can't help but watch. If the plot mechanics operate in any way like they did in Empire, it's going to be a good time at the movies.