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TESB is best SW episode because.....

Posted: Thu Sep 04, 2008 9:51 am
by Zul
To me, this is the BEST Star Wars Episode ever in the sextet.

Revenge Of The Sith is the latest feature and arguably the best in the prequel trilogy but overall comparison(to me at least) of the double trilogies it ranks only 3rd, behind TESB and ANH.

Surely this will be a bone of contention among SW fans?

But my ranking TESB as first does not go without justification. There are several factors that make it stand out head above the others. Here are the reasons:

1. It is directed by Irwin Kershner, who is not only British but is also used to be George Lucas' mentor or teacher. Or in SW lingo, Jedi Master

2. Kershner in his interview with the press, likens the sequel to a second movement of a symphony orchestra where the ending is still unresolved until the third movement

3. It is much darker thematically and in terms of lighting, like The Godfather II.....I think it is like a dark bittersweet chocolate(my fav)

4. The concept of The Force is delved into much deeply with the introduction of most fans' fav Jedi Master Yoda, who with Luke Skywalker, explored it and its Dark Side

5. Who can forget the shock of Darth Vader proclaiming to Luke, "No.....I AM YOUR FATHER!"

6. Our hero gets his hand lopped off by the villain and is on the verge of losing. Either being killed or turned to the Dark Side

7. AT-AT walkers attacking the rebel outpost on ice planet Hoth, and the counterattack by the snow speeders

8. That Empire music score by John Williams. It conveys a sense of grandeur and dread, fear

9. The heartstopping chase through the asteroid field. The Millenium Falcon survives and is able to 'fool' Vader and his Empire fleet into thinking it has gone lightspeed travel

10. Hans Solo's contempt for droids especially C3PO. One instance is when they were making their escape from storm troopers on Hoth, he shouted at the lagging droid, "Hurry up Ramrod! You're going to be a permanent resident!"

11. The ironic and humourous interchanges between Han Solo, Princess Leia and C3PO

12. The romantic moment when HS kisses PL is inadvertently interrupted by C3PO. HS ironically thanks him for the info and the droid is unaware of this, sincerely remarked 'you're welcome, sir'(makes me chuckle everytime)

13. The lightsaber duel between father and his unaware son. Sure, ROTS duel is more climactic and dramatically kinetic but that is between friends, or between Master and Padawan. A son fighting his father is more tragic, even more so as the son is not aware he is duelling his father. A Freudian tragedy perhaps?

14. Another tragedy when Han Solo is carbon freezed. Our dashing intelligent hero is being 'crippled' by Darth Vader and betrayed by Lando Calrissian

15. The introduction of an adult Boba Fett, the bounty hunter who is last seen in Attack Of The Clones holding his father's helmet to his head

I'm sure I will come up with more points later

TESB is best SW episode because.....Part 2

Posted: Fri Sep 05, 2008 10:46 am
by Zul
16. George Lucas was so inspired by TESB that he incorporated some of that movie's elements into Attack Of The Clones. Where TESB is second in the original trilogy, AOTC is second in the prequel trilogy. Some examples are:
- Asteroids feature in both
- Boba Fett the mighty bounty hunter
- The Imperial March score by John Williams is prominent in TESB but can also be heard in the second last scene of AOTC when Senators Palpatine and Bail Organa are reviewing the Clone Troopers as the new army of the Republic
- Master Yoda feeling the pain and suffering of others
- Master Yoda extending his arms to levitate inanimate objects
- Millenium Falcon attaching itself to a star destroyer just like Obi-Wan Kenobi attaching his ship to an asteroid

17. When Luke fought an apparition of Vader and decapitated him on Dagobah, he saw his own face in Vader's helmet; a clue of his true ancestry that audiences couldn't understand until the real duel. I suppose the head in the helmet is taken from Shakespeare's play Macbeth(go check it out, highly recommended!)

18. We see how the bond of friendship between HS and Luke strengthened as they helped each other out of dire circumstances. The last they met in that movie is when HS tells Luke to be careful and Luke reciprocate on Hoth. After that they never see each other again until Return Of The Jedi

19. We also see Darth Vader time and again in TESB channelling his Dark Forces power to kill and contemplating a coup d'etat over the Emperor when he tells Luke to join him and as father and son, they can end the useless conflicts in the universe and overthrow Palpatine

20. Another shock not apparent until ROTJ when Princess Leia kissed Luke smack on the lips to make Han jealous.....hehehe.......later we learn that they are actually siblings(hint incest)

21. The first time Han and Lando met, the latter feigned a sudden move as if to attack his friend but then they hug each other; however in a macho, rugged manner of course

Posted: Fri Sep 05, 2008 2:06 pm
by AquaFire
I agree. The best part (and the most memorable for almost everyone) would always be: "Luke, I am your father!" LOL (oh, and that long drawn-out "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" from Luke)

Actors in the dark

Posted: Fri Sep 05, 2008 4:00 pm
by Zul
AquaFire wrote:I agree. The best part (and the most memorable for almost everyone) would always be: "Luke, I am your father!" LOL (oh, and that long drawn-out "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" from Luke)
First time I watched TESB, that line is the only thing I remember in the movie.

FYI, even the actors playing in TESB did not know about Luke's paternal origin. Except for Mark Hamill. He knew this and reacted accordingly. Whereas David Prowse's(Darth Vader) original dialogue goes like "Obi Wan killed your father" or "You must join me and turn to the dark side" or something like that. When he watched the movie's premiere behind director Irwin Kershner, he was horrified that his line was dubbed to what we now hear and asked him why wasn't he told! He would have acted like Luke's dad had he known.

The voiceover dubbing actor for Vader, James Earl Jones, when confronted with the actual dialogue was incredulous. He turned to Lucas and say "You're kidding, right? I mean this is a joke, right? Darth Vader couldn't be Luke's father...."

TESB

Posted: Tue Apr 21, 2009 12:53 pm
by Biggs Darklighter
That is very impressive Zul..........keep it up! :D

I also agree that EMPIRE is the best Star Wars episode of all and also the only one where Luke's planet Tatooine is not visited

Posted: Tue Mar 02, 2010 9:22 am
by tac_1975
Yes, ESB is the best in the sixtet.
Nice listing of the reasons.

Listening to The Imperial March still gives me the chills...

Posted: Fri Jun 03, 2011 9:14 am
by masteryoyo
ESB is the toughest film to make. The Hoth battle scene was made in Norway under severe weather conditions. The entire Dagobah scene was constructed in a London studio. Yoda first appeared in ESB as a puppet and this puppet remains the best depiction of the grand jedi master. Other iconic stuff includes AT-AT, taun taun, probe droid and Slave 1. Finally, the all important revelation by Vader to Luke that, "I am your father!".

convince masteryoyo that there is another film with so many iconic stuff packed into it. "Search your feelings...."