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The original Star Wars trilogy began as a single movie budgeted for a modest $7-8 million. Released in 1977 it took the world by storm. And because Hollywood studios had such poor luck with prior science fiction franchises they all but handed the keys to the kingdom to George Lucas. He gained control over the film and merchandising rights and eventually went on to produce five sequels out of his own pocket. Lucas’ achievement is unrivaled today.
The original “Star Wars” movie was rebranded as “Star Wars: Episode IV, A New Hope” in 1980, causing much confusion among audiences and building anticipation for a prequel that would explain how the Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker became the evil Sith Lord Darth Vader. Meanwhile, fans dissected and reviewed the original movie and all its variations in an endless maelstrom of opinion. “Star Wars” inspired one of the largest active science fiction and fantasy fandoms in the world and remains a potent cultural icon across the globe today.
Read our review of “Star Wars: Episode IV, A New Hope” and watch videos.
In the quest for more answers, fans lined up to see “The Empire Strikes Back” but early reviews about the movie were quite negative. Film critics both panned the movie and tried to explain its shortcomings as “being due to the Second Act status” of the project. Nonetheless, we take a look at some of the things that went wrong with this worst-performing of all the six George Lucas Star Wars movies as well as some of the things that went right. This was the movie that introduced Yoda, one of the most loved Star Wars characters of all time.
Read our review of “Star Wars: Episode V, The Empire Strikes Back” and watch videos.
Despite the widespread disappointment with “The Empire Strikes Back” fans gave the Star Wars franchise another chance when the third movie, “Star Wars: Episode VI, The Return of the Jedi”, came out. This movie performed better than the second one but still failed to match the performance of the original “Star Wars” movie. Why did the fans not love this movie as much as the first one? We take a look at these and other issues and share what we like and dislike about the movie.
Read our review of “Star Wars: Episode VI, The Return of the Jedi” and watch videos.