SpilkaBilka said:

I'm basically a fan of 2 SW movies. Star Wars is my absolute favorite movie of all time. The sense of adventure, excitement, the great characters, the build-up and release of tension, the incredible environment/universe, and the absolute flawless pacing make it, IMHO, the greatest movie ever made.

I do like ESB a lot... it's a great movie, but for me, it's not even close to SW. Gonna be totally honest here- and I swear I'm not trying to troll anyone... I'm not a fan of Vader being Luke's father- in fact I think it's kind of silly and takes everything to soap-opera land. I often wonder what other SW movies could've been like if Vader was not Luke's dad. The universe would've been much bigger, that's for sure.

ROTJ... I like purely out of nostalgic value. It was actually possibly my favorite SW movie when I was a kid, but now I think it's a below-average movie. It's got some cool scenes in it, but really the only interest I have in it is that it wraps up the story of these characters that I'm incredibly invested in.

I've got nothing to say about the prequels that hasn't already been said.

Excellent post. I agree with you an all points. In my opinion, the pinnacle of the Star Wars universe is, well, Star Wars itself. Many people accuse ROTJ of being the point in the Star Wars saga where the infection set in, and that thesis can certainly be defended. But I tend to think it was actually ESB. The Vader reveal is where the series stopped taking itself seriously, and the universe (in reverse-Grinch-fashion) shrunk "three sizes that day."

Fortunately, ESB is such an expertly-executed film (with solid writing, deep characterization, and brilliant direction) that it still works, despite the mind-boggling implausibility of Vader and Luke being Father and Son. But take away that excellent execution, and you're left with a descent into utter silliness, which builds over the course of the next four films.