What's So Great About ESB?

I don't think anyone here thinks "the average viewer" ranks it higher...that would be nuts. Younger moviegoers would rank ROTJ or 2 of the 3 prequels higher than either ESB or ANH.

 

EXACTLY! I mean this was the trailer for ESB

versus the millions of dollars in merchanising, endorcments, and full length trailers and TV spots for TPM, all capitalizing on the success of the origional trilogy

 

you want something else funny, in the more complete theatrical version of the ESB trailer, the movie was still like 10% complete so, vader has a blue saber, luke has a white one, they show parts of cloud city as half set peices with blue backdrops, and since none of the 3po voiceovers were done yet, every clip with C3po has him going *eep* in a heavy austrailian accent in place of the actual diologe, almost certianly not his own voice..

after all that it's a miracle anyone watched it at all *eep*

 

1. We learn about the Force, the difference between the Light and Dark Side
2. Bad guys win.The good guys get their butts handed to them from start to finish. I've personally never seen that happen in a movie before, when the line between good and evil was 100% absolutely clear. The movie score excells in setting this tone.
3. The introduction of Yoda.The first time in movie history a puppet was anything more than a supporting actor.
4. Vader.Pure evil..cold and calculating. Force chokes for everyone when he doesn't like things he sees or is told. The quick, mysterious first glance with the helmet off. Coming up with the plot to capture Luke and turn him to the Dark Side. The biggest plot twist of all time..Capturing his friends, torturing them as bait, knowing the Force would guide Luke to him. The "pray I don't alter them any further" line to Calrissian and the aura of fear as he says it...BRILLIANT.
5. Han Solo.The asteroid scene, floating away with "the rest of the junk" was cool; the comic exchanges with Leia and C3-PO on Hoth were hysterical; the classic pimp line "I know" when Leia says she loves him..

Everything about it was just perfect, not overdone and rushed. There was just enough hints of comedic relief throughout (the above Han Solo stuff I mentioned, plus the "It's not my fault" scenes when the Falcon can't make the jump to hyperspace) in an overall dark movie. This was the time for character development, not just all out excitement..ANH and ROTJ were more about action.Luke and Vader's duel, while not my personal favorite, is probably the 3rd most relevant behind "THE" duel and the Luke/Vader rematch.

 

This is my favorite movie out of all 6 like I said before....but if I could pick one reason why this movie is the bomb...

The best part of this film...my favorite part is the final duel between Luke and Vader. Its the climax of the film and its nearly the ending....we see Luke finally putting his skills to the test. And then the big bomb is dropper on him. "I am your father."

Who didn't get chills?

That just drew us into the star wars unvierse even more...it made things so much deeper and personal. Vader was always pure evil to Luke, he wanted to kill him basically. He saw him murder Obi-Wan and he was still a little angry I suppose.

But ever since Luke learned it was his father he wasn't hesitant on defeatiogn him. It gave the story a whole new dilema and a whole new struggle to deal with. And I loved it.

 

Something I haven't seen anyone else mention yet (although that doesn't mean it hasn't):

After Luke get rescued by Lando and Leia, when he is in the Falcon's med bay and then later after he makes his way up to the cockpit, we witness the best single line reading in the OT.

Luke (to himself): "Ben, why didn't you tell me?"

"I am your father" never gave me chills, but Luke's line did. After he says it the second time, he makes that noise to himself like his insides are dissolving.

Fantastic.

 

you know, I don't know if this has been mentioned yet, but one reason why ESB is so popular is that it is the movie in the OT where the rebels are struggling to win and are in pretty deep. They almost get whiped out really. Leia, Han, and Luke; three prominant figures in the rebellion; come extremely close to capture and/or death. It even ends with the rebel fleet kinda hiding and doing nothing. It shows that the rebels didn't just march in to the emporer's hjouse and say, "We're taking over the galaxy, leave." Anyways, THat's my view on it.

 

"Most of the money made by TPM was made on the first couple of days, when news of its crappiness had not yet spread."-Warrior of Mandalore

A more incorrect box office statement has seldom been made. TPM's staying power was absolutely PHENOMENAL, and its popularity remained strong throughout the summer. Regardless of movie quality in the eyes of some, the vast majority absolutely loved the film.

I personally like TPM, though my friend hates it. Sans jar jar, it was a lighthearted introduction to the new Star Wars universe, featuring arguably the most stylish duel in the saga. To each his own, but I ask the TPM haters, what would YOU have made episode I like?

 

The Empire Strikes Back is the Best for a number of Reasons.

1) Most Suited Darth Vader scenes out of all of them, and in this one he doesn't take orders except from the Emperor in one scene, other than that hes in Command, not some Grand Moff Guy.

2) Has the Most elaberate Character Devolopment, Best Character Devolopment (Even over ROTS)

3) This also has the Best Acting of the 6 Films.

4) Also this film has One of the Best Storylines of the Saga, Second only to ROTS.

5) Best Muscial Score

6) Most Rememberable Lines from Characters such as. Han Solo, Yoda, and Darth Vader

7) This has a better Shocking Revelation Its better than the So called shocking revelation of ROTJ.

8) This is the Second Most Emotional Conflicting Film of the 6. Behide ROTS Only.

9) You get a better and clearer explaination of the Mystery of the Force. Best even better than the Prequals.

10) This was the First Coolest Lightsaber Fight of any SW Film. ANH was okay, but people were Impressed with TESB Lightsaber duel, especially before the shocking revelation from Anakin.


Theres more I could go on but I dont want too lol.

 

First of all, Darth Qui Gon, the reason TPM made so much money is because it was the first Star Wars movie in 15 years and people were so excited about seeing it. I think TPM is the worst of all six Star Wars films.

Onto Empire: ESB was an amazing film. I think it's the best in the series (well, I'm debating myself between Empire and Jedi). The plot was just so well thought out in this movie, and it had one of the biggest movie shockers in the history of film, that (I think) is one reason why it is successful. It also had the first appearance of Yoda, and people like Yoda, so that's one reason why. It also had better dialogue than the previous film, making it better. I honestly don't KNOW the reasons it was successful, but the reasons I mentioned above are reasons why it had such an impact on me.

Oh, and my calling TPM the worst in the series isn't calling it bad. There has to be a worst film, right? So don't think by me calling TPM the worst one that I said it was bad.

 

I suppose people liked Empire Strikes Back because of its dark tone, and it was the ultimate of good versus evil. There's nothing wrong with that. I liked it too, but ESB wasn't ever my favorite SW movie.

 

Good points across the board. I was not around for the original openings of the Classic Trilogy. I did, however, become a huge fan before the PT was released. It was during the release of the Special Edition when I went to see them in theaters for the first time as opposed to on USA channel. But I had never been exposed to the OT movie by movie in sequential order. I had been exposed to bits and pieces and there wernt many suprises.

Now that i think about it, if i saw them the way they were designed to be seen, ESB's suprise factor would make it a great story. It's setting is entirely different from ANH and I'm sure in boggled the minds of the fans who waited three years to see it.

Plus In my opinion, Kirsh was the best director of all six movies. He didnt focus on the CG completely like Lucas tended to do in the PT and used the story to make it a great movie. Also, its keeps you going. If its not the action, its the intellectual story that leaves you craving for more. This makes it different than ROTJ where there are several down times where the story doesnt really build much.

I didnt mean to offend anyone, just wanted some input. Thanks.

 

When I was a kid, ROTJ was, by far, the best Star Wars movie, and everyone I knew agreed. TESB just got this huge shot in the arm when Clerks came out. Before that, everyone loved ROTJ. Suddenly, dark = kewl, and ewoks ruined Star Wars. Whatever.

 

^^^Good point, but it was also the favorite for a lot of "1st generation" OT watchers. I was 8 when ESB was out, and it was my immediate favorite, with only ANH to compare it to. There were no Ewoks to ruin anything yet! When ROTJ came out, I was already old enough not to appreciate the Ewoks.

 

Now that i think about it, if i saw them the way they were designed to be seen, ESB's suprise factor would make it a great story. It's setting is entirely different from ANH and I'm sure in boggled the minds of the fans who waited three years to see it. Exactly so, I was one who saw them as they originally appeared, and I can tell you, it was very hard to wait those three years afterwards to find out if Han ever got rescued, and if the Rebellion could survive such devastation. The character development was phenomenal, even the Falcon had a personality in this one (recalcitrant comes to mind!). The romance between Han & Leia was well done, very mature (no flowers and flowery talk for these two!), yet with a wry sense of humor. That first kiss in the Falcon was perfectly timed, and the scene where Han is being put into carbonite was great: "I love you" "I know" was brilliant! Han's eyes told the whole story right then.

The introduction to Yoda and the Force was fascinating, too. Remember, at that time, we had no other background to know about all this, so this was necessary.

Vader, what can I say? One of the greatest villains I've ever seen, he gave me the chills. And yet, we found out in ESB that, even so, he wasn't the top dog here. The revelation that he was Luke's father was a total shocker, there were gasps in the theater!

It was a very emotional movie that centered on characters and emotional development, used humor in a mature manner (no gas jokes, although my hubby loved that!)and involved a huge cliffhanger. It did not rely solely on special effects to tell the story, there was a human factor.

That's what makes ESB one of the best movies I've ever seen. It's fun to think back to when these movies first came out, thanks for the opportunity to remember way back then.

By the way Darth_Qui_Gon_Jinn, two out of three of the quotes from your signature are from ESB, but I'm sure you're aware of that....

 

tsh.....wa....wa...

i think you mean what isn't so great about TESB?

in that case, i say, nothing.

 

Everyone raves this movie and trashes The Phantom Menace. Here's a little stat:
#1 SW money maker: The Phantom Menace DOMESTIC GROSS $431 Million TOTAL $925 Million
#6 SW money maker: The Empire Strikes Back DOMESTIC GROSS $290 Million TOTAL $533 Million
Inflation???? I mean TPM was released in 1999 ( I think )
ESB in 1980.

 

But if you put a person with new eyes who has never seen the film and had them watch 1-6 in a row would ESB be as powerful?

 

Yes. But different.

 

The whole Original Trilogy would be less powerful. If you see ROTS before the original three movies, then you'll know Vader is Luke's father in ANH and probably wonder why he doesn't know Luke. ESB's duel wouldn't be as powerful and when Yoda says there's another, we all know it's going to be Luke's sister, Leia.

In fact, the PT may be more powerful, since you probably won't expect Anakin to go to the dark side.

The question is though, with the amount of people who thought TPM and AOTC were underpar compared to the rest of the Star Wars saga, would a new watcher even want to see the rest of the saga if they were uninterested in the first two?

 

The question is though, with the amount of people who thought TPM and AOTC were underpar compared to the rest of the Star Wars saga, would a new watcher even want to see the rest of the saga if they were uninterested in the first two?

Good point!

 

The whole Original Trilogy would be less powerful. If you see ROTS before the original three movies, then you'll know Vader is Luke's father in ANH and probably wonder why he doesn't know Luke. ESB's duel wouldn't be as powerful and when Yoda says there's another, we all know it's going to be Luke's sister, Leia.

I disagree, I have watched the original trilogy millions of times, and though I know every twist in the movies, I still love ANH & ESB the most out of all the six movies.

True, they won't be as powerful if you know Vader is Lukes father going in, but there is no substitute for a great movie regardless. It is my opinion, and only my opinion, so it is not the law, but I think ANH & ESB are the only true great Star Wars movies. The other four movies are good & bad in others ways, but I still love them in the end because they are Star Wars. A great movie will stand the test of time, no matter if there is a twist or not.

 

Idk my fav is ESB well by my icon u might be able to tell y but there is some awesome stuff in ROTJ too like Ewoks (so cute)and the PT has great lightsaber duels

 

To me, ESB has always been the best of the lot for all the reasons previously stated.

Also, I'm sure that the following comment (question) has been discussed at length in its own thread:

To each his own, but I ask the TPM haters, what would YOU have made episode I like?

Well, although I found TPM to be disappointing and the weakest of the saga, I do not hate it. What would I have made Ep I like? I would have ran the franchise into the ground because I don't know jack about making movies, but here's what I would have liked to have seen differently in TPM:

1. An older Anakin, maybe early teens. This would have made his relationship with Padme more interesting, without, IMO, sacrificing the innocence of the character. It also might've made the Anakin/Padme "courtship" not seem so rushed in AoTC. Besides, the adult actors struggled enough with the bad dialogue they had to work with, and it was probably a little too much to ask a young child to pull off effectively. Geez, I mean, it seemed like Jake was reading some of his lines off cue-cards!

2. A lot less Jar Jar and a lot more Qui Gon, Obi Wan, and or Darth Maul...Especially more of OW, since he is integral to the rest of the series.

3. A lot less silliness period. All the cutesy stuff....I wish GL would have abandoned it after RoTJ. Note that ESB had very little cutesy BS, yet still had some great humor.

4. Less filler. That planet core scene...what was the point? What did we learn here?, that Jar Jar was banished for clumsiness? Was this so we'd think he wasn't banished for being merely annoying?

5. I would have liked more memorable dialogue...Where are the quotable lines? ESB was just buzzing with great lines: "I am your father"; "I love you/I know"; "Apology accepted, Captain Needer", ...etc.

There's plenty of smaller nit-picky things too. But, in contrast to TPM, or any of the other SW movies for that matter, I can't think of anything I would really like to change in ESB. This movie had it all.

 

Exactly, a movie is great for other reasons than the "surprise" factor. ESB had that when it first came out, but it also explores the characters and their feelings and relationships to one another. It was never pure action alone, that doesn't make a great movie, nor do special effects. ESB is the best for that, in my opinion. Also, it still gives me the chills when Vader tells Luke that he's Luke's father, even if I already knew it; I can watch that movie hundreds of times and still feel that way, probably have, actually! None of the others even come close on that score. I still, however, enjoy all of them, each in their own way.