We are in complete agreement here. I'm doing a re-watch of the films right now (today was Attack of the Clones) and so far, I find that my opinion hasn't changed.
Favorite SW Movie
- Thread starter Mr Light
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We are in complete agreement here. I'm doing a re-watch of the films right now (today was Attack of the Clones) and so far, I find that my opinion hasn't changed.
There's this inexplicable hatred for AOTC that's sprung up in the past few years that I don't really understand. I was in deep enough back in the day to have poured over all the reviews for Clones when it came out, and the general critical and audience opinion at the time was: not great, but much better than Phantom Menace. Which, despite issues with the love scenes, is absolutely the case. AOTC is the only film where Anakin's character arc feels at all authentic, and the movie makes the very smart choice to ape the structure of ESB which is only to the film's benefit.
The only thing I can think is that the hatred for the Anakin/Padme stuff colored the perception of the rest of the movie. But the movie isn't that bad, and it sure as hell isn't worse than Phantom Menace for god's sake.
The one that was called Star Wars.
I can't stand The Phantom Menace. I think Clones was better. Sure it might have the wrong approach to every aspect of the storytelling, but at least there was a story there.
What bugged me most about The Phantom Menace was all the crap useless dialogue about who is betting what on the podrace, and we have to listen to useless schemes (Anakin suggests that they could say his pod could be their pod, or the idea that the bet keeps changing).. when none of this affects the story at all.
Before TPM came out, and we only had trailers and clips and leaks etc. I thought the story would be pretty close to what it was, but that the whole podrace thing would be slightly different. Qui Gon would be wandering around the town, looking for options, when he sees the crowd moving toward the pod racing arena. he attends and is surprised there is a human child competing. He senses the Force in the child even from the stands and bets all of what little money he does have on that racer and wins.
See? This accomplishes the same goal without having to worry about all these stupid side bets and useless dialogue.
What bugged me most about The Phantom Menace was all the crap useless dialogue about who is betting what on the podrace, and we have to listen to useless schemes (Anakin suggests that they could say his pod could be their pod, or the idea that the bet keeps changing).. when none of this affects the story at all.
Before TPM came out, and we only had trailers and clips and leaks etc. I thought the story would be pretty close to what it was, but that the whole podrace thing would be slightly different. Qui Gon would be wandering around the town, looking for options, when he sees the crowd moving toward the pod racing arena. he attends and is surprised there is a human child competing. He senses the Force in the child even from the stands and bets all of what little money he does have on that racer and wins.
See? This accomplishes the same goal without having to worry about all these stupid side bets and useless dialogue.
Empire, without a doubt. As much as I love Star Wars, there are so many problems with the other movies when it comes to pacing, directing, acting. Empire is the one movie in both trilogies, that is solid. The pacing works, the directing is solid, the acting is solid. Everything just flows. Nothing in it makes me cringe. The others all have those little issues.
<<Before TPM came out, and we only had trailers and clips and leaks etc. I thought the story would be pretty close to what it was, but that the whole podrace thing would be slightly different. Qui Gon would be wandering around the town, looking for options, when he sees the crowd moving toward the pod racing arena. he attends and is surprised there is a human child competing. He senses the Force in the child even from the stands and bets all of what little money he does have on that racer and wins.
See? This accomplishes the same goal without having to worry about all these stupid side bets and useless dialogue. >>
You're right that would have been better.
See? This accomplishes the same goal without having to worry about all these stupid side bets and useless dialogue. >>
You're right that would have been better.
I've always liked Return of the Jedi because it was the first Star Wars film I saw. I liked the fight between Luke and Vader and at the time I Thought the Ewoks were cute. I admit, Empire Strikes Back is a better movie, but in terms of Favorite, it will always be the first film I saw.
Favorite? Star Wars. The original one. That's what it is in my head to this day: Star Wars. Not "A New Hope"or "Episode IV", just Star Wars. That's what it was when I spent the greater part of my summer vacation in '77 watching it over and over again at the Everett Theater. And, BTW, Han shot first.
Best? The Empire Strikes Back. Really took the characters and concepts from the first one and ran like hell with them. This film is (to date) the peak of the Star Wars film library. That this film is so good is part of why Return of the Jedi was so disappointing, IMO.
Best? The Empire Strikes Back. Really took the characters and concepts from the first one and ran like hell with them. This film is (to date) the peak of the Star Wars film library. That this film is so good is part of why Return of the Jedi was so disappointing, IMO.
Return of the Jedi. I'm a ship design nerd, and it had the most epic space battle. 
My list:
ROTJ
ANH
ESB
ROTS
AOTC
Ewoks: The Battle for Endor
Caravan of Courage: An Ewok Adventure
Spaceballs
.
.
.
...and that's all of 'em, right?
My list:
ROTJ
ANH
ESB
ROTS
AOTC
Ewoks: The Battle for Endor
Caravan of Courage: An Ewok Adventure
Spaceballs
.
.
.
...and that's all of 'em, right?
Favorite and best are different things. My favorite Star Wars film is Revenge of the Sith. The best Star Wars film is Empire Strikes Back.
Okay. This is a valid point, and from that perspective, I definitely agree - even though ESB has always been my least favorite of the OT. Such a Debbie Downer of a movie. And it was also my first cliffhanger movie, so I remember leaving the theater as a kid mildly outraged that *they didn't finish it*.
They're really not. My favorite episode of DS9 is "Trials and Tribble-lations" because of the fun nostalgia factor. However, it's far from DS9's best.
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Most visually complex and sweeping? ROTS and AOTC.
The best scripts and the most interesting journeys for the main characters? ESB and ANH.
The best scripts and the most interesting journeys for the main characters? ESB and ANH.
My thoughts exactly.
