A-List: Star Wars
By J. Don Birnam
December 15, 2015
4. Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (2005)
Of the three movies that came out second in the franchise, it is the general consensus that Revenge of the Sith was the strongest, and I agree. The climatic fight sequences between Obi Wan and Anakin are solid, the revelation of The Emperor and his ousting of the Jedi Knight is gripping, and the overall denouement that the story had been building up to since Phantom works.
If there is one thing to criticize about the movie is that it is almost too perfect. Every single little detail that once got mentioned as something from the past in Episode IV or later is cued or teed up in the waning minutes of Sith. Lucas’s claims that he had planned or thought of the back story of the Episode IV characters at the time he made that movie is simply unbelievable for various reasons. How is it that no one ever even mentions the name Queen Amidala in the originals? The neat tie-ups at the end of Sith cement my belief that Lucas was exaggerating, to say the least.
But as a stand-alone movie devoid of Lucas’s obvious attempt to legitimize his own work, Sith is exciting, much tauter than the first two, and the most re-watchable of those three by several galaxies.
3. Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
Here is where I will get skewered, I assume, as I understand that most fans consider Episode V the best of the franchise. To be clear, I love Episode V, as I love all the Star Wars movies except Clones. But I found the story in this one the weakest - not an atypical problem to the middle entry in a trilogy where the narrative is stuck between exposition and resolution - as if the filmmakers were not quite sure where they were going.
Compared to the other two movies, which have clear climatic sequences with excitement and tension, this one leaves you deeply unsatisfied, which is too much for me to handle. On the other hand, the climax does contain the biggest revelation/spoiler in the history of cinema, and therefore cannot be lightly discounted.
The Hoth sequences at the beginning are also pretty memorable and very different from what Lucas did with the first movie, showing the depths of their creativity and ability. There were enough new elements and key twists, to make it almost an entirely different movie from the movie that spawned it. To consider that Yoda was only introduced in this movie is jaw-dropping alone. One cannot say enough good things about this movie as a sequel, even if it is a tad weaker as a part of a trilogy.
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