S_Matt said:

It is extremely difficult to imagine that there are some who dislike Empire, one of the finest science fiction films ever made.

As for disputing the plausibility of Vader being Luke's father... SERIOUSLY?

SMatt, you're not thinking like a 'casual moviegoer' you are thinking like a SW fan.

Now my brothers friends think ESB is a good movie, but most casual moviegoers don't like sequels, (Hence why 99% of sequels gross less then the original).

I had this conversation with my brothers friends a few years ago at a party (they were born in 1965 or 66), and I was suprised at their opinions on the sequels. They laughed at Jedi when I brought it up, and thought Empire was a well crafted movie but thought it was a bit too much with the Vader reveal. Plus they were still mad it didn't have an ending in 1980.

These are casual movie goers who aren't SW diehards like us, so they don't care about the Saga, or the Classic Trilogy, they just went and saw the movies in 77, 80, 83 like most people, and that was their opinion.

Check out the grosses of the SW movies (adjusted for inflation and without counting re-releases), SW'77 outgrosses Empire and Jedi by a large amount.