The Best Movie Ever | Best Star Wars Movies

There was a time before Star Wars, not that anybody can remember it anymore. Since the release of George Lucas’s original film in 1977, his vision of a distant past filled with robots and space wizards and hero’s journeys became a ubiquitous presence in the popular culture. The films were watched and rewatched until even their casual fans can quote most of them verbatim, and serious enthusiasts dress up as their favorite characters and even live their lives by the tenets of The Force.

Everyone seems to love Star Wars, or at least like it a heck of a lot, but the franchise became so vast that even the fans who should be united by their shared affection started taking sides. People began to ask themselves, “What’s the best Star Wars movie ever?” and so here were are, doing the same thing, on a regular weekly series called The Best Movie Ever. Funny how that works out, isn’t it?

Related: ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ Review | I’ve Got a Good Feeling About This…

So we asked our film critics – Crave’s William Bibbiani, Legion of Leia’s Witney Seibold and Collider’s Brian Formo – to pick the one film that represents the best of Star Wars, and like most fans their opinions are split down the middle between the two most popular favorites.

Which one is best Star Wars movie ever? You can let us know at the bottom of the page. Check out our critics’ picks of the best Star Wars movies and come back next week for an all-new, highly debatable installment of The Best Movie Ever!

Best Star Wars Movies List

Witney Seibold’s Pick: Star Wars (1977)

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Conventional wisdom dictates that 1980’s The Empire Strikes Back is the best of the Star Wars films. Over the years, I have heard countless breathless diatribes about how its darkness and “more serious” approach to the characters’ dramas elevate bright, shallow material into something emotionally satisfying. People like the iconography of the film’s more recognizable (read: marketed) elements, and it’s the first time we’re given a more concrete definition of what The Force is. When most audiences refer to the greatness of the Star Wars series, they are referring very specifically to The Empire Strikes Back. 

But here’s the thing: In the last year, I have heard a few quiet voices, chiming in from the very back, challenging conventional wisdom. The tide may have begun shifting away from The Empire Strikes Back. Some feel the emotions are grandfathered in from the first film. Others, perhaps rightly, point out that “darkness” doesn’t necessarily equal “drama.” And many people are still frustrated by the film’s unresolved, cliffhanger ending. 

So perhaps I’m not so much a contrarian to say that Star Wars is – and always was – the best Star Wars film. Star Wars, even apart from its overwhelming significance in popular culture, is a grand film adventure full of fun, large, archetypal characters, an enjoyable mythology, and a rollicking tone that keeps youngsters rapt. Star Wars, additionally, is the culmination of a generation’s childhood entertainments, based as it is on the memories of old sci-fi serials from decades past. Star Wars is a stylish comment on a very particular, and very vital, part of cinema’s own history. The Empire Strikes Back refers to and expands on Star Wars. Star Wars refers to and expands on cinema. This is a film that introduced a new lexicon of narrative structure (yes, the dry film school conversations about all that Hero’s Journey drivel pretty much started here), while providing several generations of children a vital obsession object. 

Brian Formo’s Pick: The Empire Strikes Back (1980)

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Judging by the harsh reactions that frothing fans had against anyone who went to the premiere of The Force Awakens and dared to say anything less than 100% praise, I should just say that The Empire Strikes Back is the best Star Wars movie ever and back off. 

Would you be okay with that Bibbs or do you need more space to fill? 

Damnit. 

The Star Wars saga doesn’t mean much to me (but I am really looking forward to Rogue One and the Han Solo solo film because I’ve enjoyed the works from both of their directors; there is hope for me yet). I won’t deny or deride anyone to whom it does mean a lot. I can see why people love the saga: it’s a soap opera in space—with creatures, battles, and many different planetary terrains. Clouds! Deserts! Robots! Oh my! And I’m not knocking the soapy template. I tune into The Affair every week, and no matter how impactful the performances are or how dramatic it feels, every story beat is similar to a soap opera.

Anyway, I’m just here representing the small percentage of people on the Internet who aren’t invested in that galaxy far, far away but will still see The Force Awakens and maybe be awoken! And this small percentage of people generally can say that The Empire Strikes Back is solid entertainment. It works because the world was already built in A New Hope and we got to feel the dramatic impact of love triangles, backstabbing, masterful lessons, tragic reveals, and hacked limbs because Empire stood on the shoulders of a film that—in retrospect—was setting up this one dramatic arc that all the other films have to answer to.

William Bibbiani’s Pick: The Empire Strikes Back (1980)

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Confession time: I saw the original Star Wars trilogy out of order. I saw The Empire Strikes Back first, and several times, before I saw Return of the Jedi (which I saw second) and A New Hope (which I saw third). So perhaps that skews my viewpoint a little bit, but not much. Star Wars was always intended to be viewed out of order. The original film was Episode IV, and it explains things that Episodes I-III never get around to. You’re supposed to watch the middle first, and that takes moxie to even contemplate, and skill to pull off in a way that’s even remotely watchable, let alone a cinema classic.

The success of The Empire Strikes Back lies not in its seriousness or even in its depth. We learn more about The Force and we explore the dark side, but what really matters is that we finally have the time to do these things. The original Star Wars – still a bang-up, excellent, important motion picture – moves so damned quickly that the actual characters can barely poke their heads up over the action sequences. That’s the film’s charm, obviously, but not its greatest asset.

Watching all the films recently, for the umpteenth time, I was reminded that it wasn’t until Empire that we spent any real amount of time with Princess Leia or Han Solo, and found out what they really cared about when external concerns were purely external. When they’re alone they actually relate to one another, and seem truly real. Luke isn’t just told about The Force, he actually has to expand his mind and consider what it means to be truly connected, and to believe in something not just because it’s what his father did, or what might win the war, but because it’s the right thing to believe in.

And yeah, it’s cool, but a lot of films are cool. Few cool films have the breadth of character and strength of conviction that The Empire Strikes Back has. Some films end on a cliffhanger, and Empire does too, but it also ENDS. It ends when the Empire wins. And now that we know who these people are, we know that they’re capable of striking back themselves. That’s a satisfying ending, no matter what the naysayers say.

Don’t forget to let us know what you consider to be the best Star Wars movies ever in the comment section below!

Previously on The Best Movie Ever:

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