The Original Star Wars Trilogy (1977-83)

So I'm rewatching all of the Star Wars films before Episode IX (including the spin-off movies) and completed the original trilogy the other day.

I've always held that Empire Strikes Back is the best of the bunch, and I feel good about that still. It's much more polished, is lit better, the performances are stronger, introduces Yoda, expands on the mythology/universe very well, and it has perhaps the most iconic moment of the entire series with Luke's battle with Vader at Cloud City and the reveal of Vader being his father.

But I will say, A New Hope has more of these iconic moments/shots, and also works as a standalone film, which Empire does not. Luke watching the suns of Tatooine, Luke's aunt and uncle being killed, the Death Star assault, Obi-Wan engaging Vader, first introductions to hyper speed, the Force, everything. The franchise certainly overcomplicates a lot, but A New Hope and Empire Strikes Back do good jobs throughout of explaining why things are happening the way they are, a nice change from the complete verbal garbage that the prequels constantly spit out.

So... Empire over A New Hope... slightly? Both are masterpieces still.

Return of the Jedi... oh boy, I want to remember it like I did at age 7, but it is a major, major step down from the first two films. First off, none of the actions they take make a lot of sense. The plan to rescue Han Solo from Jabba's palace is the most convoluted scheme ever, only for all of them to get imprisoned. Why not have Luke go train with Yoda until he's nearly complete in becoming a true Jedi, and then go rescue Han? It's not like Han is going anywhere. Why send the droids there at all if Luke is already on his way? Jabba's takes so damn long for no reason. Let it be twenty minutes and move the fuck on. Also, Boba Fett and Yoda's deaths are highly disappointing, especially Yoda's.

Another problem is that while the idea of Luke attempting to turn Vader good is an intriguing one, it's not handled well. I don't know if Richard Marquand just was a mediocre director or if George Lucas was in his ear too much (probably a combination of both), but the dramatic beats of Return of the Jedi are there but half-assed. Luke should hold so much resentment towards Vader, why should he care about turning him around? They had one interaction in Cloud City and that's all. Maybe they should've had them "communicate" with the Force like Rey and Kylo do in Last Jedi so at least we have more of a groundwork to go on for why Luke would want to turn Vader and why Vader ultimately does turn. The scenes between Luke, Vader, and the Emperor are far and away the best in the film, but you can't help but feel like these don't land with as much impact as they should either. Wonderful set design, great performances, but it also never feels like the ultimate dramatic standoff it should be either. Hamill is not a great actor and does his worst work here in comparison to the other films, which doesn't help. It just doesn't make a lot of sense as to why Vader betrays the Emperor. Doesn't feel earned.

Also, the Second Death Star assault is not very interesting. It's a far lesser retread of the spectacular one in A New Hope. Endor as a final set piece is fun but ultimately disappointing as well. It's not so much that Return of the Jedi is bad, because it's a lot of fun, but it's easy to pick on. If the first two are 10s, Return is a 7. No wonder I don't remember it scene by scene like I do New Hope and Empire.

There's my rambling thoughts. Onto the prequels where I'll hate my life and Neverending will tell me Attack of the Clones is underrated.

Another thing about Return of the Jedi is that it just ends with the Ewok party. It's not a very satisfying conclusion. We don't even have dialogue between all of the main characters, reminiscing on their journey, saying unspoken things, whatever. This works in A New Hope with the medal ceremony, but doesn't work at all with Return of the Jedi. I don't want them to engage in bureaucratic discussions of what comes next with the fall of the Empire, but we can't even have Luke and Han have a moment together?

Also the musical number in Jabba's palace...unforgivable.

That's actually why I personally prefer A New Hope myself.  Also, I think I prefer the more adventurous tone that A New Hope has.

That's why X-Men (2000) is your favorite X-Men. You and your love for 2000's superhero movies. Get a room!

I've always just assumed that the trip to Bespin took a long time.  Strictly speaking, it should have taken years.  Once the Star Wars RPG from West End Games was released, they inserted a retcon that most hyper-capable ships have a back-up hyperdrive that's nowhere near as fast as the standard version, but will allow a ship to slowly limp to their destination without growing old in the process.  The various West End Games sourcebooks were issued to Timothy Zahn and the other Star Wars novel authors, and details like that are all over the expanded universe stuff.

I never got the sense any of this took place over the course of years. The whole movie seems to take place in a few days. I agree with IanTheCool. It’s a bit of a flaw because it never seems like Luke got proper training as a Jedi. Even in Return of the Jedi, which presumably does take place a few years after Empire, Luke goes back to complete his training. What the fuck was he doing in between both movies? Luke’s training was definitely glossed over in the trilogy.

A lot of the expanded universe is shit.  They started out really strong with The Thrawn Trilogy, but everything after that varied from okay to total garbage.  If you don't like Timothy Zahn's stuff, you'll never like any of the rest of it.  He's the cream of the crop.

Neverending is a Star Wars EU fan???