This is the best Star Wars movie. It has almost everything you need for an action sci-fi movie. Cool planets, weird animals, great space alien races, bounty hunters, and things getting blown up. What more could a kid ask for? George continues to follow Joseph Campbells ideas and keep the legacy alive. Oh ya, it also has the force choke used a lot, :)


The movie starts on Hoth, an ice planet. The rebel alliance (which Luke and Han have now joined) is hiding there trying to avoid the empire. Now for those of you that don't know, this movie does not take place right after Star Wars IV (1977); quite a lot has happened between the two movies, and both books and video games have explored that time period. But don't worry, you don't need to know anything about that to enjoy this movie.


Mark Hamill was actually in a bad Car crash between the first and second movies, so he got some facial scars because of it. This is why they added in the scene with the wompa hitting Luke in the face. Just a tid bit of info for ya.


Well the Rebel Alliance is discovered by the empire quickly enough and they both get into one of my favorite battles of the series. This scene has been put in several video games and those parts of have been some of my favorite levels to play as a gamer. Snow speeders vs. ATAT's But the rebels are able to flee. This leaves the movie with Lucas' typical 3 scene story telling. The first is the love story of Han and Leia, the second is the training of Luke, and the third is Darth Vader searching for......something. This three-way story telling does a lot for this movie. First is keeps the pacing at a consistent trot with an occasional gallop. So the pacing of the movie is very well done, there are only a few parts you might be bored with. It also allows us to know more about the characters and the greatest amount of character development in the trilogy occurs in this movie. The love story is also allowed to develop in this manner.


What I love about the "love story" in the movie is there's little sappiness and more personal conflict involved. Kind of like a real life relationship. So we don't see these two going down in the engine room (thank goodness), all you're subjected to is very short scene in the falcon and the words "I love you" in a carbon freezing chamber. Pretty painless in my book. It really shows that a love story can be told without using the naked body of Angelina Jolie or some other celebrity to show what a love story is.


The Jedi training is the least interesting storyline in my opinion. It is used to teach the audience what it means to be a Jedi. So when it came out every child was fascinated with Jedi Powers. It needed to be told because back in 1980 no one really knew what a Jedi was capable of. But now it is like watching a 1st grader do math. Not all that fascinating.


This movie really doesn't follow the other movies (with the exception of III) with a big battle at the end. It does have a climax where Luke and Darth Vader fight, and Luke learns something about himself at the end of the battle. I like this because it is clean and perfectly sets up the audience for the next movie. After you see this one you have to see VI just to see how it allends.


The pacing for the most part is well done. The times it slows down are there for a reason such as explaining something or character development. You really shouldn't get bored with any part of this film.


The editing and writing are the key components the keep the story going, and going well. Since Lucas had a bigger producer role I believe he had less of a role in the writing then in other movies. Or like some theorize he was a good writer prior to 1985 and some how got a head injury that changed all that. Like I said earlier, pacing is very good in the movie and the writing gets some of that credit.


The acting, like the rest of the Star Wars movies, isn't great. I call it functional. You do not see these films for their acting. I actually feel the greatest acting of the entire film is done by Frank Oz, the puppeteer for Yoda. He also does the voicing of all 5 movies he's in. It was said in the commentary that if Yoda just looked like a Muppet then the movie would have been a complete failure. And for the most part I agree. Frank and his team really pulled off that role perfectly.


Probably the most important player in this back-story is the director Irvin Kershner. I think he did a wonderful job directing and getting more out of his actors than George can. He should of done 6 but due to the blasted guild he couldn't be considered. Irvin also let Harrison adlib some of his lines, especially the one Han says to leia just made the scene work and said volumes about the Han Solo character. I personally give most of the credit to Kershner for the success of this movie.


The music is absolutely awesome. It is once again done by John Williams, one of the great composers of his generation. He really knows how to let the feeling and emotions come out through the usage of simple orchestra instruments.


The key players
Director: Irvin Kershner
Screenplay: Leigh Brackett, Lawrence Kasdan, George Lucas
Music: John Williams


Ratings
Yahoo users: B
Yahoo critics: A
Metacritics users: 9.5/10
Metacritics critics: 78
RT community: 95%
Rotten Tomato: 97%
My score: 4.84


MPAA rating: PG


Running time: Varies depending on which release we're talking about, but 2 hours 4 minutes is listed on Yahoo. .


My recommendation.
While this isn't the movie that started it all, it is in my opinion the best our of the 6 (I mean 7) Star Wars movies out there. It has better character development, better acting, better writing, and cooler special effects than the original. While a few things will look dated, it doesn't feel out of date. It is a must see movie for anyone, fan or not.

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T2 (terminator 2)
My top 50 movies reviewed

Recommended: Yes