The Empire Srikes Back. Best. Movie. Ever.

Honestly, could a better movie ever be made? I pen this comment watching it after a good proper night closing the bar (and my 136th or so viewing), but...this movie is a love story that isn't maudlin; a war movie that isn't ridiculous or preachy; a sci-fi movie that isn't annoyingly tekkie; a middle sequel that isn't derivative; in short--a Hollywood movie that disdains the pitfalls that virtually all Hollywood movies succumb to. In addition, it's the only movie of the original three that was improved, rather than worsened (in Return of the Jedi's case greatly worsened) by Lucas's re-edits. Incredibly, after 25 years, the only aspect of this film that had not aged well was the stop-action sequences with the Imperial Walkers, which, frankly, didn't look all that good in in 1980. For once, Lucas shows some restraint in the CG-ization of his revision, confining it generally to background filler in Bespen, where it actually looks good. (Note to George Lucas: computer-generated buildings in the distance look stately and grand; computer generated characters like Jar-Jar Binks, especially when standing alongside actual actors, look about as real as Pete's Dragon. I don't care how expensive they are; they're cartoons. What is additionally annoying is that there is no reason Jar-Jar couldn't have been played by an actor in an inventive alien costume, which would have looked a heck of a lot less absurd.)

What Empire ultimately represents is the one time Lucas actually got it right. This is in no small part attributable to the fact that he got out from behind the camera and let the superior Irving Kershner direct (before inexplicably replacing him with relatively unknown Frenchman Richard Marquand for Jedi). The improvement over the original Star Wars also derives from the massive improvement in the acting of Carrie Fisher and Mark Hamill in the interim. The dialogue is snappy, the pseudo-Zen rubbish that abounds in the new films is restrained and appropriate, and the dogfighting and light-saber sequences are still as visceral and exciting as anything done since. The sound effects are incredible, and James Earl Jone's voice acting may be the best work of his career. It is by far the most hands-off project for Lucas of any of the five films so far, which is, in all likelyhood, why it is easily the best (can you tell I'm not a big fan of Lucas' directing or screenwriting skills?). Oh yeah, and if you're the guy that roots for the villains out of pity 'cuz they never win except in arthouse flicks, which I most certainly am, you get to watch the rebels get their stuff handed to them for two hours before their daring escape at the end. I love that.

In short, it's the best movie ever, and is helped out considerably by the revision. And that's why I've watched it 136 times.