What is your favorite Original Trilogy movie?

The Empire Strikes Back.

It takes the positives of the Original Star Wars film and it improves upon them, it's more character-based, plus it introduces Yoda.

Return Of The Jedi is when it starts to go overboard.

 

I only like the ''Im your father'' reveal nearly choked on popcorn with laughter when I first saw it.

 

TESB gets my vote as well. The Battle of Hoth with the AT AT's and Snowtroopers has to be one of my all time favorite Star Wars scenes. The Empire really showed a lot of its military might in that movie and I loved it

 

I've always thought of ANH the way I think of the film The Godfather.

These are two absolutely fantastic, groundbreaking films. Two films so good that, at the time, I never thought could ever be topped by a sequel.

Then comes TESB, and The Godfather Part II. It was clear part way through each film that they were easily equals to their respective previous
installments. But as both films came to their final revelations, it was clear to me that both films did the impossible-they re-perfected perfection.

 

The original Star Wars movie, A New Hope.

First, the opening scene with the Star Destroyer flying overhead was the best opening scene, not only of the Star Wars saga, but possibly of any movie ever. The clowns robbing the bank at the beginning of Batman: The Dark Knight is the only other opening scene I can think of that even comes close.

Second, A New Hope created a Universe from scratch. The other OT movies grew that Universe, but there's something magical about your first kiss, ya know? A New Hope was our first glimpse of the Force, lightsabers, aerial dogfights in space, a space station that can destroy a planet in a single shot, and a cantina full of lovable oddballs (No - wait! That's us, not A New Hope). Seeing the second Death Star in Jedi wasn't the same as realizing with our heroes that the first Death Star wasn't a moon. The lightsaber fights in Empire and Jedi may have been better choreographed, but the lightsaber fight in A New Hope showed us that even in a Universe with Death Stars and hyperspace travel, the ancient tradition of facing your foe in a duel still has a place.

Third, A New Hope matched American culture at the time of its release better than the other OT movies. A commune of mystics and young, free-spirit misfits takes down the biggest weapon the military/industiral complex ever built. How 1970s is that?

Finally, A New Hope was audacious. The space opera genre was unknown, the director was slightly known, none of the Big Three actors was known, the studio didn't expect the movie would do well (they almost delayed the release because they didn't want A New Hope competing with their obvious 1977 summer blockbuster, Smokey and the Bandit).

A New Hope, as a movie, is just as good as anything in the OT. But A New Hope, as cinema history, is simply unequaled by the rest of the OT.

 

Here's my support for your post, Capiche.

 

As a Star Wars fan, Empire is my favorite. It's the meatiest of all three, story-wise, and I've always loved the tone of it - almost like ANH played in a minor key.

As a movie fan, though, the best of the bunch is clearly ANH, or as it was known in 1977 when it set the cinematic world on its ear... STAR WARS!!!

Poebody's Nerfect nailed exactly why. For me, Star Wars (along with Raiders) is the ultimate popcorn flick. Visually it's always been a perfect cinematic experience (especially with the stage being set by that opening shot!) and it has just the right amount of fun and humor injected in with the action and drama to keep the audience right there with it from one scene to the next.

Plus, it works brilliantly as a stand-alone film. None of this "Well, it's a set-up film for the next movie..." that we heard about TPM. You can see that original movie and walk out of there having experienced an entire story, right down to the triumphant ending.

 

I read an interesting blog in 2007 (30 anniversary of Star Wars) and it talked about how Star Wars 1977 would be perceived today if there were no sequels or prequels and it just stood alone like Lawrence of Arabia or Citizen Kane?

It was interesting to see it from that angle, as he said the SW fanbase would not be as big today, simply because more movies brings in more fans, but causes more dissent. The original would probably be more beloved because you would just have Star Wars 1977 fans and no one else the same way you have E.T. fans who simply love the movie. No one would argue the special effects or any contradictions by Kenobi, or anybody being related, because nobody would have ever seen it out of that context. It would simply be Star Wars that has a beginning, middle and ending.