Still the Best

Rating: Null/10 (29 April 2003)

Empire is the high water mark for the entire series because it got the funding it needed after the first movie and Lucas had not yet decided to make it too cute like the series was for kids all along. Perhaps he just hung out with Spielberg too much. The third in the series gave us teddy bears up the butt and the fourth brought us Jar Jar.
Call me a sentimentalist, but the shag carpets and rubber helmets created much better aliens than the CGI ever have. To this day, I refuse to buy the remastered version because the special effects take away from the fact that on its own, like Star Wars and Jedi, it was able to capture the imagination and adoration of audiences.
Empire brought Yoda into the mix who better explained what the force was (Explained too much in Phantom Mennace). The dry romance between Han and Leia convincingly develops (Unlike the romance in Clones). Han Solo continues to turn into Harrison Ford. The movie leaves us wanting more. It was the peak of the mountain because it has gone downhill ever since. After Jedi we were satisfied; then Lucas should have left well enough alone.