Originally posted by: CO
Luke, Leia, and Han don't give great performances in SW '77, but their chemistry is unmatched for any film I have ever seen, and their humor is top notch too. Leia yelling at Han, Han being a pompous ass, Luke being the good guy, that is all they needed to do in the first SW movie, just play their part, and if you look at it that way, that is the reason the movie is a classic, it didn't need great performances like ESB did, cause the movie wasn't as intimate and the characters weren't as fleshed out.
That's exactly what makes Star Wars better than Empire (for me, anyway). I really love the fact that the three of them are strangers and that they don't get along particularly well. That tension, that unfamiliarity and distrust of each other makes for great chemistry.
The all-for-one, one-for-all feel of the characters, as well as the kinder, gentler Han and Leia characters takes the edge off in Empire. That edginess and tension are what I liked so much in Star Wars and I miss it in Empire. For me, Empire is much less an adventure and more of a story.
It's very similar to Jaws. The heart of that story is the interaction of the three characters on the boat, not the shark, the town, or people getting attacked while swimming. It's much deeper than that. It's the interaction of three people who are together because they have to be - not because they want to be. There's tension and distrust and it makes for a great feel between the characters. Star Wars had that same tension. Strangers thrown into a situation - not friends working together.
I'm in the minority for sure, but I much prefer Star Wars over Empire because of the unknown feeling that is so palpable throughout. Everything is unknown in Star Wars - where they're going, how they're going to get there, who this Vader person is, what the princess will be like, whether or not they can count on each other, how they're going to survive, etc. The viewer doesn't know what's going to happen and neither do the main characters.
That feeling is absent in Empire. It's more of a "our heroes on a mission" story as opposed to an outer space adventure in a far-off galaxy. I know Empire has better acting, better directing, better photography, special effects, etc, but there's more to a great film than it's mechanics. There's that certain je ne sais quoi that can't be explained, that a select few films ever have. For me, Star Wars has it and Empire doesn't.
