CT Empire Strikes Back voted Greatest Movie of all time

John William's The Asteroid Field is the greatest music in a movie of great, great music.

 

I also think it's impossible to say any one film is "the greatest" but ESB is indeed great at what it does, and I truly love it.

 

Just imagine if ROTS had been done in 1980 then it'd be top of that poll and Empire magazine would be called Revenge.

Quite a weird list with all sorts of genres albeit with a fantasy bent of course. A bunch of titles that will disappear the next time they do it.

I think it says something that a film that has no beginning or ending is at the top. People just love that the actual ending could be anything at all done past the film. I'm kind of surprised that the actual ending of the movie in ROTJ was that high based on that.

from The Empire review of Empire:

"Empire slipped the insufficient Return Of The Jedi a hospital pass. There was too much to settle (the whole damn universe to be saved before tea), and we had been so exhilarated by Empire that teddy bears at war was inevitably trite."

Which really misses the point. It's such a surface and shallow viewpoint to talk about the teddy bears when what they really should be talking about is the real issue. Luke trying to save his father Anakin and that issue which is seen in Revenge of the Sith.

That is rather the point. Empire inspired both Jedi and Sith and in turn the stories in those 2 movies rebound back and make Empire a better movie in the saga then it ever could be just by itself. It's the movie that needs support far more than IV which is a one off.

All thanks to the vision of Lucas who was the chief architect of Empire. No film-maker can do it alone but it's GL's movie.

 

You forgot the important part of the quote: "in terms of quality".

 

If popularity = greatness, then Shania Twain is greater than Bob Dylan. No offence to either artist, just saying ...

 

At first I thought it was cool to see ESB at #1. Then I looked at the list, saw Magnolia at #48 and Wrath of Khan at #89, and the list totally, completely lost any and all credibility it may have once had. AFAIC, it may as well have been a list of randomly selected movies.

I mean, really...? The Breakfast Club at #38 ranked with Close Encounters over 100 spots lower?

 

The Empire Strikes Back is my favorite film.

Then again I realize why people would or would not put it as the best.

 

That's interesting thanks for the response. I was pretty young at the time when it came out on VHS (no, I never saw it on the big screen) and the training scenes with Luke and Yoda inspired me to do running and pushups for a little while. Then again it could of subconsciously been this guy early in the mornings....

 

It's a bit presumptuous to suggest that of ROTS had been released in 1980 that it would be viewed with the same reverence as ESB, or that really ESB leans heavily on ROTJ and ROTS to give it the context it requires.

The reason that ESB is ranked so highly in my opinion is because it is the most human of all of the films. It hits a lot of notes that the audience can empathise with. In that regard the only thing it built on was Star Wars. Kershner had the luxury of not having to introduce new major characters and concepts (Lando aside) which meant he had a good platform on which to set about humanising Chewbacca, the droids, the Millenium Falcon, Luke, Han, Leia and Vader. It shows that it's possible for a science fiction/fantasy story to be very firmly grounded in empathetic reality without having to be mundane, which if the majority of such releases in the last 20 years are anything to go by is an incredibly difficult balance to get right.

#Agree

 

I'm gonna have to agree with this one. I mean sure there are so many movies it would be literally impossible to norrow it down to just one but Empire is a damn fine movie! I've probably watched it more times than anything i've ever wanted to see more than once. Oh and i just gotta say that asteroid chase scene is without a doubt one the most amazing awe inspiring things ever put on film! No matter how many times i watch it, goose bumps a plenty!
I can only imagine what that must have been like at the first viewing in may 1980. I was but a year old then and didn't see it until years later.
I'm guessing the whole audience was crapping themselves in disbelief and thought they were actually on the falcon with Han, Chewie and the rest of the gang!
Yeah so anyway Empire rocks!

 

didn't forget it .
what's your point ?

 

huh ?
how does that relate to this poll ?

 

My point is that the problem is not that they are pitting them against one another, but that they are doing so under the premiss of quality/greatness (something unmeasurable due to its subjectivity). A more appropriate term, like PiettsHat said, would be popularity (and you would still need to ask an huge number of people).

 

so what are you gonna ask them ? - "what's your most popular film ?" I mean it doesn't make sense .

People are gonna vote for their favorite film based on quality/greatness , of course it's subjective .
What criteria would you use ? Doesn't the quality matter to you ?


.

 

What doesn't make sense is making a list based on a very subjective premiss. The list is based on favoritism, but the title treats it like it's based on quality.

Popularity, which is what they ended up using. The title is wrong though.

Who said it doesn't? I may see quality in a movie while you don't, and vice versa. My point is that it's not measurable, therefore you can't make a list based on that factor (well, you can, but the list will always be subjective and therefore not accurate).

 

people vote for their favorite film , obviously the quality of that film matters to them .

you want it called the "most popular" film list or something , but that wouldn't be right anyway , I don't see what it matters what its called , we all know its a poll voted by the readers of Empire and they've all got subjective opinions .


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Not if you go by the title, which is what I'm arguing about.

 

... what ?

what do want in the title ?

 

Empire's 301 Favorite Movies, for example. Much more accurate than: The 301 Greatest Movies of All Time

 

but that sounds like the results were picked by the magazine staff .

 

Bob Dylan don't impress me much...

(again wonders if anyone will get the reference)

 

^ Now I'm imagining Shania's songs sung by Bob Dylan. I'll get you for this, StrikerKOJ!

 

Ha, now I am too! Consider me got...

 

This is hilarious. Here we all are.... die hard Star Wars fans on a Star Wars forum..... Seemingly moaning about how one of the films we come here to discuss daily shouldn't be top of a favourite films poll. Strange logic.

 

Haven't had time to check the whole list. Did the original Die Hard show up anywhere?