I love them both, but I think Rogue One is better. It improves A New Hope (which I didn’t think anything could make ANH even better) and makes ya appreciate what the Rebels went through to gain freedom from a tyrannical regime

It is important to understand if you like something purely for nostalgia and nothing else which then means you’ve blinded yourself to the actual quality of the movie. Luckily ESB doesn’t have this problem because it is the movie where Star Wars went from some cheesy innovation in movie making to a franchise that would last for decades

Hard to say. I go back and forth, both are in my top three.

I have a great amount of love for Rogue One. The idea that such a diverse cast of characters united together and made the ultimate sacrifice out of hope was ... inspiring. The theme of “Rebellions are built on hope,” was a compelling ideal; even though the Rebels are forced to make moral comparisons now, it’s out of the hope that eventually things will be better.

The film offers a much tighter narrative than the jumbled mess of Operation: Skyhoook. All of the characters were endearing, Ben Mendelsohn steals every scene he’s in. The Death Star is presented as menacing, almost celestial. The score is fantastic.

It was a great blend of new and old. U-Wings and Death Troopers feel like they’ve always been part of the era, even though the film introduced them. The Battle of Scarif was epic in every sense of the word. And the film turned the Death’s Star exhaust port from a joke to a reasonable plot point.

As for The Empire Strikes Back, I’m satisfied with what I said in this thread:

https://starwars.fandom.com/d/p/4400000000000040965

My conclusion would be that I prefer Rogue One, largely due to how seamless it ties in with A New Hope, but The Empire Strikes Back is the stronger film. I think both are successful Star Wars films with or without the bliss of nostalgia for the OT era.

In my opinion, Rogue One is a better movie.

These are two of the best for sure. I have had the same debate with myself, with no decision coming out of it.

I think TESB is better, but RO is also amazing.

I mean yeah, most people say that looking purely at the movie, Rogue One is objectively better. ESB is a classic SW movie and many consider it their fav tho. Then again, isnt judging a movie by any scale still subjective?

^Art in all forms is subjective so yes

First off, I'm going to say that I disagree that Rogue One is a better made film than Empire Strikes Back, since it was cutting edge for it's time. And it's unfair to compare them in that sense, since ESB is forty years old.

And, personally, I like Rogue One better, though ESB is not that far behind. It's probably the only Disney films that added to the universe, (No offense to Disney Fans) and captured the feel of the Lucas films the best.

TESB and RO are fundamentally different films, but both excel in their own ways.

TESB is a character driven film in almost every aspect, while RO is event driven.

TESB is my favorite film of all time. Each character goes through an intricate arc that challenges them in their own personal way. The relationships between characters, and internal struggle of Han, Luke, and Leia respectively are all on full display. It’s thematically deep, darker in tone, and is a rare occurrence where the sequel manages to surpass, or at least separate itself from its predecessor.

RO on the other hand does not put a focus on developing characters, but rather chooses to critically examine the ideologies of the Rebellion and the Empire as a collective unit. As opposed to the OT which plainly defines good and evil, so as to allow the individual to be more prominent than the whole, RO looks at each side as a collective unit and shows the good and evil within them both.

And obviously RO has better action, but considering it came out in 2016 and TESB came out in 1980, I think this is to be expected.

I enjoy both films, but, being some who loves character driven films above all else, TESB wins by an absolute landslide for me.