I was born in 77 and watching TESB on TV in the 80s, I thought it was just meh to be honest. Just couldnt get into it.
Star Wars for me was the bombastic space battles, lasers flying everywhere, but TESB was just dirty. I watched it around xmas time too so next to the tinsel and xmas lights, it just seemed dirty and gritty.
However I’m now in a place where I totally understand it’s greatness and I guess for me, the point is that if ANH was the wonderment of putting on a new pair of shoes and ROTJ was a jazzy pair of trainers. TESB was sinking into something you already owned and discovering new things about it at your own pace.
It adds to the star wars mythos without being a rehash of the original film and it’s totally comfortable in it’s own skin.It also has one of the best soundtracks too, exemplified by the bit at the end credits which is just epic.
That’s definitely a good way to see it, and even though I have yet to rewatch it (as I mentioned above), it will help set the tone for sure! Part of me believes Star Wars from 77 was good enough to be it’s own stand-alone story. If it failed, and no sequels were considered, then Star Wars still had a beginning and ending to a story. Maybe thats whats making it seem odd that im not a big fan as ESB as others are. Could be, or could not be the case.