of the 6 in the saga? I’m including all 6 though I’m sure that the votes are all going to be concentrated on the last three.
ESB.
The other tow each have serious flaws or are lacking somehow. Empire got it perfect.
Empire Strikes Back, obviously.
I love how there’s not even an “I can’t pick just one but if I had to it’s certainly one of the prequel trilogy” option. 
Seriously, though: Empire.
Definitely the original Star Wars for me. I can still enjoy Empire and Return of the Jedi, but I wouldn’t be bothered if I never saw them again. I think Empire is somewhat over-rated, as chucks of it have the feel of filler (Luke gets lost in the snow, the Millenium Falcon is overdue it’s service), whereas the storytelling in the original is very tight. I think Return of the Jedi gets unfairly treated because of the ewoks. They may look like care-bears, but they are nasty little tribal buggers really.
Without a doubt, Empire Strikes Back.
Star Wars is a landmark movie, a huge moment in cinematic history. It’s also a shit ton of fun.
Empire Strikes Back is a Great Film with capital letters.
(For the record: ESB > SW >>>> ROTJ. There are no other Star Wars films.)
Empire
ESB. I actually find the first movie kind of boring, though I thought it was great when I was 7. As for the rest of them, the less said the better.
The one that’s called Star Wars. Empire Strikes Back is great also, but the original is the only one that can stand on its own.
That’s what I was about to say.
I think this is true, but I don’t know that I’d agree that a movie must necessarily “stand on its own” to be good. “Wrath of Khan” is undeniably the best of the Trek films, and an outstanding science fiction action film all around, but it requires some familiarity with the characters and setting to really “get.” And I’m not referring to the reappearance of the titular villain, either - the climactic sacrifice at the end only really has its full impact if you’ve spent a fair amount of time with the main cast of the original series.
Empire Strikes Back
Second goes to A New Hope, or as we old-timers remember it, simply Star Wars.
Troops.
*****Jedi *****for me. (yeah I know)
The one I saw 100+ times when it was first released.
The first one. The one that’s called Star Wars. Yeah, that one.
If the question had been “Best” I would have voted for Empire, but Favorite? Nothing could replace the original for me. I was obsessed. I no longer am, but I still adore it.
I’ll be staying far far away from that other Star Wars thread. Not even going to mouse over, let alone open it.
Necessary? No. But it certainly helps, and is enough, I think, to tip the scale over Empire.
I picked “The Empire Strikes Back.”
Really, though, an argument could be made that it was “Star Wars,” which of course is the actual name of the movie that was released in 1977; this “A New Hope” bullshit was invented years later. I was six, and when I saw it it was without any doubt or question the most awesome experience of my life to that point, save possibly Disney World, and hell, it might still be in terms of the sheer awesomeness I took in. Kids were absolutely flat out crazy about it. It was the first movie I can remember seeing - hell, it’s one of my earliest clear memories. Every kid was a Star Wars character for Hallowe’en 1977.
Today, if you lined up all six movies and said “Hey, Rick, let’s watch a movie, your pick” I’d pick Empire. So in a sense it is now my favourite; it is the one I prefer to watch now, even if you actually had a proper copy of “Star Wars,” as opposed to “A New Hope” and all its inferior re-edits.
But in terms of the effect it had on me at the time “Star Wars” is unparallelled. I’ve never loved a movie more than I loved “Star Wars.”
What I love about ESB, is that the characters really feel like they’re in true, imminent peril, all the way through. They’re on the run constantly, and are eventually out-maneuvered, even betrayed. Even Luke and the rest of the gang are separated for almost the entirety of the episode, yet it doesn’t suffer from it at all. It continues the saga in a very honest way, and doesn’t try to rehash the same thing but only “bigger and better” (even though it was the end result), it was wrought with danger, action, humor and weight.
On top of that, Kirshner and Lucas introduced some fantastic new elements to the universe, that are hard to imagine not being a part of the saga, between the time of the original and ESB. Hoth and the ATATs, Yoda, Bespin and Lando, Luke & Vader’s duel (and the subsequent revelation), as well as Han and the Carbonite. It’s all so iconic now, it’s definitely the crowning jewel of this series, and I love it just as much, every time I watch it.
The Original set the stage and changed everything, and ESB demonstrated the full potential.
Beautiful line. Same here.
I was never obsessed to the point that some fans were though. I recently saw the highly entertaining and psychologically fascinating documentary The People vs. George Lucas and was amused and somewhat shocked at the vitriol brewand near insanity of so many fans when it comes to Lucas. I did love the movie, but was never anywhere near close to being one of “those” fans.
Han did shoot first though. Always.