I’m not saying Empire is bad by any means. It’s still entertaining. But I was shocked when the Internet burst my bubble to declare Jedi a joke and Empire the best. (btw, potential spoilers)
Why I don’t like ESB As Much. There doesn’t really seem to be any central thesis. Also, the protagonists lack any agency. The inciting incident is that they rebels are on the run from the Empire. I mean, obviously it’s in the title. But you have Luke that gets a vision to start a training program to which he just says, “sure, why not?” And you have Han on the run from the Empire with a broken hyperdrive where they just kinda just chill and twiddle their thumbs for most of it, until they think they can hide out with Lando who turns them over to Vader (which, yes did have a lot of tension!). The final lightsaber battle is decent, but there doesn’t seem to be much umph behind it until Luke’s hand gets cut off. I think the story could have been vastly improved if Luke & Han had their plot lines interact, possibly Luke had a plan he conferred with Han about, and Han knew about this, and Vader knew Han knew about this, so then Vader was chasing Han to get the information…something like that. That would have raised the stakes. And the whole ultimatum Vader doesn’t sound convincing or within character–there was nothing in Empire that supports the motive, so it’s a payoff that didn’t have a setup. Again, Empire is far from a bad movie. I’ve seen it many times and probably will again. But to me it just felt an “in-between” type of movie.
Why I like ROTJ. Yeah, there are issues. The whole Ewoks battle does turn into a Home Alone type scenario. I think the only reason why is that George Lucas fumbled the storytelling a little–that the bonds that hold the rebels together (with little in the way of armaments) are what defeated the empire with their colossal Death Star. And the characters did seem to start from a blank slate as if Empire didn’t happen. But overall it carried the emotional weight I look for with movies. In the scene with the Emporer overlooking the battle for several minutes not a lightsaber is unsheathed but you can see the chess game unfolding between the Emperor, Vader, and Luke. And then the Dark Side wins, not through force of will, but through Luke’s desire to do the right thing. The space battle, too, is epic. Some people critique that the Death Star being operational wasn’t as big a twist as Lucas intended, but I don’t think it was ever intended to be a big reveal. It was just another setback for the rebels that were already frantically trying to defeat an overpowering enemy.
Alright, time for the comments! XD
I suspect part of it is protagonist. I, as a kid saw Luke as the character I was supposed to see the movie through. In EBS he’s barely there and he is at the lowest by the end.
In ROTJ you see his bitter sweet triumph but triumph never the less.
I heard an interview with Genevieve O’Reilly (Mon Mothma in Rogue One and Andor) who, when asked what her favourite Star Wars film was, gave the uncool answer of RotJ, and as the interview was ending, could be heard frantically trying to correct herself - “Argh! I meant Empire!, I meant Empire … [fades out]”.
I’ve always been down on the third film because of “Death Star 2” (like, think of another thing George), and I never went to see the 40th anniversary re-release because it was the ‘Special’ edition. (Speaking of the OT and editions, I saw the ADYWAN fanedit of Empire recently - it’s the best one, IMHO).
It is really an unpopular opinion so have my upvote. You made me shake my head while reading your post but I respect your points!
