CinemaDome: Empire vs Raiders

We're moving the same two creators from the last 'Dome up into the 80s with what many consider to be the strongest of each franchise.



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uh-oh...scandal!

www.yahoo.com/celebrity/carrie-fisher-re...e-had-203122676.html

Man, you just keep on finding tough match-ups. These two movies are both in my top five (probably). I'm generally a Star Wars fan above all, but I actually have a longer history with Indiana Jones. I'm one of those people who knew Harrison Ford in that role before Star Wars. I like all of the movies in both franchises (yes, all!) but I think that for individual movies Raiders of the Lost Ark is probably my favorite of any of them. The action is the best we would see in a movie until Mad Max: Fury Road. The truck chase in particular is one of my very favorite movie scenes of all time. Both are wonderful, but I think Empire works better in the context of the whole Star Wars series. If I just have one movie to watch...

Raiders of the Lost Ark

I haven't seen either movie since they were in the theater, though I enjoyed both way back then. By the way, where are these movie posters coming from in these CinemaDome threads? They all seem to have a very lean, minimalist design aesthetic that doesn't match up at all with my memories of seeing movie posters for any of these movies back in the day.

The Empire Strikes Back: An exciting return to the Star Wars setting. But unsatisfactory. Although Yoda is a very impressive muppet, I really didn't want muppets in my Star Wars movies. It pissed me off that they finally introduced a black character and he turns out to be a traitor. And then the whole mess goes out on a cliffhanger, at a time when movies weren't doing cliffhanger endings.

Raiders of the Lost Ark: I was already playing Call of Cthulhu when this movie came out, so I was primed to appreciate the retro setting. And it's a great thrill ride of a movie. I know that Star Wars fans love to quote those movies, but Raiders had better lines that are actually worth quoting. And then there was the improv greatness when Ford was too ill to do the elaborate bullship vs sword fight that was in the script, and just shot the bad guy.

Vote: Raiders of the Lost Ark.

Yeah, I'm pulling minimalist movie redesigns just to bring a little something different and really just to entertain myself I suppose. I can go with the standard film posters if y'all would like.

Nate, thanks for the comment! I'm trying to find pairings that aren't so clear cut and can lead to a little discussion.

So we have two different type of pulpy serials here. Empire is the 'cliffhanger' and Raiders the 'episodic' type.

I find it difficult to judge the two since the composition is a bit different. I don't think you can watch Empire without the direct influence of the preceding film or have a satisfactory conclusion without the third installment.

Raiders can be enjoyed on its own. It creates a nice base story for the other films, but is an independent entity like the others in the series.

I prefer the episodic nature, the setting, and the characters in Raiders.

Verdict: Raiders

Gah!! I don't know if you could have picked a more difficult matchup. I honestly don't know which one I prefer.

I like both of these films, and I agree that they are the high points of their respective series. While I can probably remember more scenes from Raiders, I think the spectacle of Empire overshadows it....

The Empire Strikes Back

Much easier than Jaws vs. SW. Empire is fantastic, but Raiders was more its own thing (well, other than ripping off countless serials and old advebture flicks). And Spielberg's direction of Raiders is a master work.

Raiders

In the playground at School, immediately after Empire came out, there were arguments about whether or not Vader was telling the truth, strange rumours about Boba Fett's origin, musing about what powers this emperor had. It captivated us like nothing else ever did. It was also the only Star Wars movie that my Dad liked so I could watch it with him too. It was a collective experience because everybody saw it and everyone was talking about it. I still enjoy it, but I prefer A New Hope now pretty much just for Alec Guinness. Still, it's one of the best adventure movies ever filmed and that deserves top marks.

Raiders was my favourite though. I couldn't really share it with the whole school since it was nowhere near as popular as Empire. Especially not amongst nine year olds. So it felt more special, I used to keep a running tally of how many times I had watched it at home since it was one of the first VHS's we had. I remember being somewhere in the thirties within the first year. I lived that thing day in and day out.

On top of that it's kind of in a class by itself since it didn't spawn nearly as many imitators. For a long time if you wanted that kind of thing you had to go for Indiana Jones. I like the world better too, the humour even. Indiana was a more rugged hero than Luke and there seemed to be more moral ambiguity in his world. The fact that it felt like something I could actually do, adding just enough magic that it was still believable to a kid. I would be betraying myself if I voted any other way.

Raiders.

ok first of all, i think A New Hope is the strongest of the Star Wars franchise. I prefered Empire as a kid but as an adult, i really find A New Hope is just an incredible film (less incredible by Jaws by a parsec).

Raiders is fun and stuff but Empire Strikes Back fundamentally changed me as a kid. The AT-AT walker fight is just one of the best sequences ever, Yoda was incredible for me as a boy, i was scared out of my mind by Vader in this movie and, oh, it happens to have the best movie reveal ever in the history of film. Nothing tops it. Plus, we get payola of some real saber fights after Obi-Wan phones it in on the death star.

It HAS to be Empire Strikes Back. And who ends movies like that?! Incredible. it still sets the standard for how to end a movie properly when the story isn't yet finished. this is something that tons of movies today can't get right (Hunger Games did it terribly as a recent example).

Also, consider this in your vote. Harrison Ford is my hero.

Raiders of the Lost Ark

This is only one of two cinemadomes I have had to think about (the other was Fury Road vs Aliens). My initial instinct was Raiders but I think it is wrong. The more I think about it, the more Empire is the better one. All the best stuff from the Star Wars movies is in this one, and everyone forgets how game changing the revelation at the end is. If I ever was told that I had 5 minutes of any movie to watch(*) to kill time it would either be the Hoth battle from Empire or the corriodor fight in Inception as these are the two greatest action sequences ever filmed (probably the fight with the Buzzards in Fury Road is 3rd).

So my vote is for The Empire Strikes Back

(*) If I ever had 30 seconds of any movie to watch, it would be the moment in the Depeche Mode 101 documentary when the teenager walks in on his girlfriend in bed with another man, as I have no idea how he manages to react the way he does.

Good lord are two Star Wars OT movies in a row going to lose?

I sense much fear in you.

No but seriously if Lucas hadn't spliced in new Palpatine and such go Empire, I bet Empire would be way ahead