Star Wars reached it's apex in The Empire Strikes Back, and was already on its way downhill when Return of the Jedi was released.

Since Jedi, the Star Wars franchise has, to put it eloquently, SUCKED. I'm not sure if Lucas was just a lucky hack in the first place, or if his skills slid precipitously into the toilet as the years passed, but Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones, Revenge of the Sith, and the multitude of Clone Wars offerings (articled or not) are some of the most uninspired, disappointing, and lame cinematic atrocities ever produced.

I can sum it all up in one phrase: Jar Jar Binks.

A little nit, but Jar Jar Binks is a name of a character (unfortunately) and not phrase.

But seriously, I do partially agree with your statement, Empire did represent the peak of the Star Wars franchise. The primary reason IMO was the directing.

Jedi was OK, good but not near the other two films. Lucas' primary failure was when he decided to direct the next three films. THAT is the root cause of why they weren't as good. He was unable to put the ego aside and let someone else do the job correctly.

Lucas is a great storyteller, but he needs script help and another director to make a GREAT film. A New Hope was that one time captured magic for him.

Agreed on Lucas being a horrible writer and director with great ideas. Personally, I was impressed with the Clone Wars cartoon shorts that aired before Episode 3 was released. They were the best thing about the prequels.

I will say that I love the space battle sequences in Return of the Jedi but will agree that the prequel movies are horrible. I don't think they should have been made. They should have left good enough alone and let us imagine what would have taken place.

Jedi was terrible--worse than Clones and almost as bad as Menace. Revenge of the Sith, IMAO, was pretty good.

I disagree.

Star Wars lives on, mainly because of excellent video games like Star Wars: The Force Unleashed and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. Check out either title for some world-class storytelling in a familiar universe, complete with the signature Star Wars sound effects and John Williams score.

Sci-fi fans around the world agree: video games are quickly becoming the medium of choice. Why watch a Jedi fight robots when you can BE a Jedi and fight the robots yourself? The plot is ten times more engaging when you ARE the protagonist and your choices can lead to one of several possible ending scenes. Betray whoever you want, see what happens, then play through the story again and betray someone else for a different ending.

Sorry, but Star Wars et al is bullshit.

They are simply an excuse to develop yet more useless special effects.

The whole mess is simply a Western franchise with beeping sounds and flashing lights.

Instead, watch High Noon.

Lord Running Clam:

Jedi was terrible--worse than Clones and almost as bad as Menace. Revenge of the Sith, IMAO, was pretty good.

Revenge of the Sith might have been ok had it not been for a couple EXTREMELY cheesy scenes, like when Palpatine electrocutes Mace Windu and says somthing like "ultimate power" or some stupid shit and screeches like a hysterical 12 year old.

Or When Darth Vader first gets up, does the Frankenstein walk and says "NOOOOOOOOO" in the most absolutely corny way possible.

Or When Darth Vader first gets up, does the Frankenstein walk and says "NOOOOOOOOO" in the most absolutely corny way possible.

I call that the "Wrath of Khan moment".

empire was the pinnacle. everything after that was aimed at getting the biggest audience possible by having cute characters to get more money. should've kept aiming at the 15 plus audience