This week, it’s time to put your reputation on the line and profess your love for your favorite Star Wars movie.
Star Wars is an American epic space opera film series created by George Lucas. The first film in the series was originally released on May 25, 1977, under the title Star Wars, by 20th Century Fox, and became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon, followed by two sequels, released at three-year intervals. Sixteen years after the release of the trilogy’s final film, the first in a new prequel trilogy of films was released. The three films were also released at three-year intervals, with the final film released on May 19, 2005.
Currently, the overall box office revenue generated by the Star Wars films has totaled approximately $4.36 billion,[1] making it the third-highest-grossing film series,[2] behind only the Harry Potter and James Bond films.
VOTE!
[poll id=”223″]
28 Comments
No contest, Empire. It was the original film where the “bad guys” won. Also it was a film with a good lesson, “kiss your sister, lose your hand.”
Damn you Major Spoilers. It’s like “Which is your favourite child?” This is a tough one. Which is my favorite, or which do I think is the best?
I love the Star Wars movies, to quote one of your recent podcasts they were my first fictional love. Jedi came out when I was still a kid, only 4, and had already seen and loved Star Wars and Empire already. I had/have a massive collection of the toys.
To date the second greatest day of my life (after my wedding) was attending the European premier of Episode 3, being only 4 feet from Lucas, Jackson and Portman. Movie is okay…but that experience will last for ever.
I also remember waiting 45mins for my ye olde computer to download the Episode 1 trailer.
So, in summery, Star Wars is my favorite, although I think Empire is the best actual movie. Episode 3 holds a special place in my heart, as does Jedi.
I was born in 1979 and was first exposed to the Star Wars franchise through the toy lines.
This involved a large amount of time spent with the Ewok Village playset.
As much as I want to say Empire, my heart will always reside on Endor’s forest moon, singing “Celebrate the Love” with all my childhood friends.
Empire for the following reasons:
1 Tauntaun guts awesome
2 Billy D Williams being a pimp to save his friends
and most of all
3 C3PO being blown into pieces. (thank you Tag and Bink)
Empire Empire Empire all the way.
I am probably the only person who loves Jar Jar Binks. In fact a keychain of him is the only piece of Star Wars swag I have EVER owned. Because of that this 32 year old has to vote for Phantom Menace.
I have to go with “A New Hope” with Empire as a close second. While Empire may have better special effects, better lightsaber duel, and a great reveal, I just find the story in “A New Hope” more compelling. We meet an array of characters for the first time in this movie, and it just draws you in. Additionally, I think happy endings rock!
Return of the Jedi for me. The culimation of Luke’s training to become the great Jedi they all thought he could be. He didn’t succomb to the pressure and beat the Dark Side.
Can we have whoever voted for Attack of the Clones jettisoned into space?
(And I voted Empire.)
-c
A New Hope for me, I have a soft spot for the movie that started it all, and introduced me to such iconic characters. Really though, any of the original three could have made it. I rarely watch one of them without watching the others, so in my mind they exist almost as a single entity.
Empire!!! It’s got the least childishness (R2D2 & C3PO bickering, EWOKs, Jar Jar), but is also a good story. It’s the one Lucas had the least input on and the one Lucas dislikes. So it also has that going for it also.
When I’m sick, I watch the original. I guess that’s the test, isn’t it? Although for years I’ve said it was Jedi, but as I get older, I appreciate Empire more. So, I don’t know.
While I recognize the Empire has the best writing, directing, etc, RoTJedi gets my vote just because it was more fun to me.
Have to go with the original, A New Hope. I was 12 when this came out, and it was like the movie was meant for me. It has it all, easily accessible story, awesome space battles, lightsabers, identifiable characers. Sure, Empire _might_ have better effects, better character development and a more developed plot, but this is the one that started it all and Empire wouldn’t exist without it.
Empire, duh.
Yoda without Jar-Jar, Firepits, or Ewoks.
Game Over.
All life is a series of downer endings. Empire.
Logically, I can only vote for “The Empire Strikes Back” because it contains in a single quote what the franchise is about : “Adventure, excitement. A Jedi craves not these things.”
I wish George sometimes remembered the mindset in which he was when writing this movie; it’s philosophy on life was waaaaay more appealing than just lightsabre fights.
Think they will get a real brother & sister team for the “Porn Parody” version? It will be a new and unusual twist to something we have all thought of.
That was of course regarding the Sex scene in the Hoth Hospital of Empire.
A New Hope. While Empire is the best of all the films, I like this one because of how complete it is. Boy leaves home, gets into danger, saves princess, defeats the bad guys, and is a hero. Plus, I love the funny moments like Han running into all the Stormtroopers.
I know the fight will be between a New Hope and Empire. But my choice is definitely Jedi. It an emotional choice because it’s one of the first movies I saw in a theater. With my dad! And yes, Leia’s outfit. I rest my case.
I went with the original because, if it wasn’t for Star Wars (A New Hope) there would have been no Star Trek movies, no additional Star Wars anything, and Sci-Fi would still be stuck in the rubber monster suit, Earth vs. Flying Saucers era. Empire was nowhere near as good for oh so many reasons but mostly because of bad writing and huge plot holes. Let’s see: Luke goes of to Degobah where he spends months training under Yoda – but at the same time period, Han and Leia escape from Hoth and spend a few days traveling to Cloud city where all sorts of bad stuff goes down. Then Luke, having spent months training, goes to Cloud City to meet up with his friends and the gap of months vs. days mysteriously vanishes. Or are we expected to believe that Han and Leia spent months traveling to Hoth with no supplies and no change of clothing? Or that Luke learned the ways of the Force in however few days or weeks it took Han and Leia to travel to Bespin? Oh, and the bounty hunter follows them far enough to find out where they are going, then zips off to tell the Empire and the Empire manages to get to Bespin before Han and Luke. Then there’s the whole “I Love You… I know… Oh barf” scene, and the big reveal “Obiwan never told you what happened to your father…” which contradicted everything we knew about Luke’s family up until then and the slick-politician explanation of “It all depend on your point of view…” to explain away the contradiction/lie which completely knocked the entire Jedi council off the moral high ground and, worse yet, inflicted the three prequel movies on us to complete the dirty work. Either Empire suffered from really uneven editing, or Lucas didn’t think the viewers would catch the problems with the timeline. Either way, the contradictions ruined my enjoyment of Empire. Return inflicted the Ewoks on us, and the prequels inflicted Jar Jar Binks on us, which disqualified all the other movies. In second place for me is the Clone War series. They managed to take the prequels and make something out of them that was actually pretty good, which was no mean feat in and of itself.
Just curious… where in Empire does it say that Luke spent months training under Yoda? It might be there, but I missed it. In any case, I remember that his training was incomplete. Or that it only took only a few days or weeks for Han and Leia to travel to Cloud City? The Falcon is big. It could have lots of supplies. And I don’t remember anyone in the first movie using a washing machine either. Who cleans Vader’s helmet? This is *important*.
I don’t see the reveal about Obiwan talking about Luke’s father as a contradiction. Just that Luke was never told the truth about dear old dad, and Obiwan kind of obscured the truth. It worked for me. And I like the part about “I love you… I know…” It’s funny.
Still, being able to see the original in the theater… that’s the winner for me. Nothing can compete with how it changed how I saw movies. Even weeks or months before that moment, when I saw the commercial on TV, I said to myself, “That is the movie for me!” And I was right.
I voted Empire. But honestly I’d loved to have voted for the Original Trilogy entirely. I can’t sit down and just watch one movie (unless it’s on like SPIKE or something).
And before anyone gripes, I don’t HATE the prequels, I just don’t like them quite as much as the original trilogy.
In Matthew’s Nerd Voice:
“Actually the first of the two Ewok Movies: “Caravan of Courage” did enjoy a short theatrical release (somewhere) making it the 7th Star Wars Movie that was neither a TV show nor all CG Animation”
:)
Sorry to be “That Guy”
Sorry to be “That Guy”
No you’re not…
Umm, is it really a “poll” if the outcome is a foregone conclusion?
Seriously, before I voted I thought to myself, “OK, ANH will get about a quarter of the vote. The abomination that is the prequel trilogy and the Muppet’s spin-off (aka, RotJ) would collectively get about a quarter of the vote. Everything else would go to TESB.
In other words, this really is no contest. For reasons, both good (mostly relative to Empire) and bad (mostly relative to four of the other five movies) far too numerous to expand upon, “The Empire Strikes Back” is the best of the Star Wars movies.
Unfair poll, I demand satisfaction. Where is Ewok Adventures?