Best Star Wars Film

Rating: 9/10 (22 October 2004)

I love all of the original Star Wars films, but for me this one takes the biscuit. I have heard some people say that The Empire Strikes Back is the weakest of the trilogy, and that it suffers for being in the middle. I would dispute this utterly. For one thing, the plot has a slightly different format to the other two: instead of the old destroy-a-death-star scenario, we have the chance to learn more about the galaxy in general and to explore the characters in more depth. This is the film in which a lot of key character relationships are forged in earnest. It also includes, in my opinion, the best light sabre sequences: Alec Guiness may be a super actor, but he's not desperately nimble, whilst we do not have the same confidence in Luke as we do in Return of the Jedi.
Some people these days are dazzled by the modern films, but believe you me, the old ones are better. They have better characters, and are not bloated in the same way. Carrie Fisher is super as our fiesty heroine, whilst Harrison Ford takes a strong role and Mark Hamil excels as the ultimate hero. You don't get much better than this. 9 out of 10.