Best of the Star Wars movies

Rating: Null/10 (3 January 1999)

I think The Empire Strikes Back is the best of the three. While Star Wars was certainly a pioneer in special effects and it introduced the trilogy as well as it could, it was a Western in space, essentially, with all the hokiness and formulaic storyline. I don't like the Western genre, so it doesn't get my vote. Return of the Jedi has brilliance in its own right, but its flashiness overwhelms most elements of story. The Empire Strikes Back has something the other two lack, a darkness and foreboding that makes it more suspenseful and altogether more satisfying. It also contains the crucial element in the entire Star Wars storyline, the little fact revealed at the end.
Which is, of course, not to say that the other two have no value at all. I would watch Return of the Jedi simply for the end, with the three simultaneous battles, and I would watch Star Wars for the sheer adventure involved. But The Empire Strikes Back is altogether superior to the others.