Star Wars: Five Reasons Why ‘Empire Strikes Back’ is the Best ‘Star Wars’ Movie

4 Minute Read

Mar 4 2022

Empire Strikes Back might be the best Star Wars movie. Need proof? Here are five reasons why Empire will always be #1.

Many people consider The Empire Strikes Back to be the best Star Wars movie. Of course, nothing is perfect – The Empire Strikes Back made some mistakes. But of course, the movie did a lot more right than wrong. Here are five reasons why Empire enthusiasts just might be right.

5. The Battle Of Hoth

The Battle of Hoth is one of the best Star Wars moments

Courtesy of Lucas Films

The Battle of Hoth is an iconic part of Star Wars. It’s an action-packed scene with amazing visuals. But it’s also a pretty stand-out scene. When Empire came out there just hadn’t been a lot of big sci-fi land battles on screen before.

Sure, there were plenty of war movies, but those were period pieces. There were Sci-fi battles of course, but mostly either space battles or small fights centered around a hero. Action, not war. The only place you miiiiight kind of find a big sci-fi land battle was in old monster movies, or maybe anime. Hoth really changed that – it combined war movies and sci-fi in a transformative way.

4. Yoda

While A New Hope introduced the Jedi and changed movies, it was Empire that really delved into their philosophy. This is the movie that introduced Yoda, one of the iconic (if overused ) characters. Everything about Yoda is perfect, from his speech to his statue. He’s the perfect foil to the hyper-toxic masculinity of Vader. He’s also got the best lines. Wars, do not in fact make one great.

3. The Trilogy

Courtesy of Lucas Films

Trilogies are pretty common these days. No one bats an eye when you get the announcement of a new one. But back when Star Wars came out, that wasn’t the case. In Western cinema, they were actually rather rare. Those that did exist were more along the line of anthologies, telling separate or loosely interconnected stories.

Star Wars really stood out by being a large blockbuster trilogy that told one complete story. Events set up in one movie paid off in the others. Empire holds a special place because it’s in the middle of the trilogy and it’s still good – something that’s often hard to do even today. It’s considered one of the best middle movies for a reason.

2. It Took Risks

One of the main reasons Empire is so good is because it took real risks. It’s a tonally different and much darker movie than A New Hope. Bad things happen to characters that you love by this point. The good guys lose.

It’s easy, safe, and common for sequels to just give the audience more of the same thing they love. Star Wars itself has fallen into this trap – looking at you, The Force Awakens. Empire doesn’t do that. This is was risky. If people came to the movie expecting to get more of the same thing they had in Hope, they could be disappointed. Empire works, but it was a gamble.

1. No, I am Your Father.

This scene is the most iconic part of the movie and Star Wars as a whole. There are many good reasons for that. At a base level, it’s an amazing twist. And “Dark Father” jokes aside, one that’s hard to see coming if you haven’t watched Star Wars before.

But it’s such a good twist because it reframes all of Star Wars – and makes you question things. The Jedi, the guardians of all that’s good, can lie? Not just lie, but they lied and manipulated our hero? That’s big news. This makes you wonder what else they’ve lied about.

It also reframes Star Wars from a hero’s journey story to a family drama. The reveal changes how we think about the whole saga and really makes things hit. It’s also is a massive setup. The family connection not only ties into Return of the Jedi and Vader’s redemption, but untimely becomes a driving force for all of the Star Wars stories. I think it’s not unfair to say that without this reveal Vader was just some normal evil guy. And if that was the case, Star Wars wouldn’t be the sensation it is today.

Let us know your favorite part of Empire! Do you think it’s the best ‘Star Wars’ movie? Tell us down in the comments!

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Author: Abe Apfel

Abe is that rare thing, an Austin local born and raised here. Though he keeps on moving around, DC, Japan, ETC., he always seems to find his way back eventually. Abe has decades of experience with a wide range of tabletop and RPG games, from historicals, to Star Wars to D&D and 40K. He has been contributing to BOLS since almost the start, back when he worked at and then owned a local gaming store. He used to be big into the competitive Warhammer tournament scene but age has mellowed him and he now appreciates a good casual match. He currently covers 40K tactics and lore, as well as all things Star Wars, with occasional dabbling in other topics. Abe remains in mourning over the loss of WFB to this day.

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