Darker, more fluid advancement in the story line but not necessarily better

Rating: 10/10 (23 January 2005)

George Lucas' 'Star Wars' trilogy is the greatest fantasy story in all of film history. Yes, even better than the 'Lord of the Rings' trilogy. 'Lord of the Rings' is fine work but the characters aren't as well developed as in 'Star Wars' and they are too long. Also, each 'Star Wars' film stands out better than each 'Lord of the Rings' film. Three chapters in 'Lord of the Rings' is one big movie while 'Star Wars' is a space western, 'The Empire Strikes Back' is a dark, attractive and Gothic work of art and 'Return of the Jedi' is like a Disney film. Each has their own personality. As far as trilogies go altogether, 'The Godfather' films will always be the greatest in movie history'.
I love 'The Empire Strikes Back' but I can't go along with the assertion that it is better than 'Star Wars'. I was one of those people that saw 'Star Wars' every weekend for a year when I was 11 and 12 years when a child's admission was only 50 cents to a dollar. There was such a magnificent freshness to 'Star Wars' that audiences couldn't get enough and when adjusted for inflation, 'Star Wars' is the second biggest box office film is history, second only to 1939's 'Gone with the Wind'. Meaning that these two films sold the most tickets in motion picture history.
'Star Wars' even created the entire concept of the modern day blockbuster and influenced hundreds of films after it, is the biggest movie in the history of popular culture and created a new religion. A recent poll in Britain asked people to identify their religion and a substantial portion of them wrote in "Jedi Knight".
'The Empire Strikes Back' does advance the story line forward greatly, has a convincing and blossoming love story between Han Solo and Pricess Leia and gives us the showdown we want. It also introduces us to the legendary Yoda and a new key player in Lando Calrissian and has some breath taking special effects. But 'The Empire Strikes Back' owes its success to 'Star Wars' but has to be given credit for the fact that it teaches people, especially the young, that the good guys don't always win and that the fight for what's right sometimes seems impossible.