“Wars not make one great.”
-- Yoda

As this, this and this demonstrate, I’m a Star Wars fan. Generations have been charmed by the tale of good versus evil told through the generational story of one man’s rise, fall and redemption through his son. The rousing John Williams scores transport viewers across the galaxy as valiant knights confront the blackest evil. Through the device of gay robots and lizard puppets, Star Wars teaches children the necessity of recognizing evil and confronting dangerous forces.

Planets of fire and ice. Great machines of war rumble across the galaxy. Noble heroes and venal evil. Vile betrayals and noble sacrifices. And the ultimate triumph of good over evil.

Plus camels that fart.

How could this not be the greatest movie series ever?

But what are the greatest moments? What are the moments that make the Star Wars movies more than just movies? What is the high quality meat that makes the meal more than just fuel? What moments with Harrison Ford or Alec Guinness or (don’t laugh) Hayden Christensen makes these movies a steak from Morton’s opposed to a Hungry Man frozen dinner?

When following a sports team – especially during a championship season – it’s the journey as much as the destination. Imagine telling a Red Sox fan the end of the 2004 season in July 2004. It robs the agony and ecstasy of the journey.

Classic film series are the same. It’s the small moments that give substance to the big moments. As many people remember the destruction of Sauron in Return of the King, an equal number remember Gimli’s shout to Aragron in The Two Towers: “Nobody tosses a dwarf!”

I’m not sure what the objective list of best Star Wars moments is, but I know my personal list. What follows is my top ten list of Star Wars moments. You won’t find “Luke destroys the Death Star” on here (as cool as it may be). Rather, this list contains some quieter, character moments and some not so quiet moments of bombastic fun. This films cannot be separated from the time and place they were viewed nor separated from the expectations that greeted, say, The Phantom Menace with the exhaustion that Revenge of the Sith left as an aftertaste.

As your sixth grade teacher told you, context is key.

With that said, here is my top ten greatest Star Wars moments (with five honorable mentions). Enjoy, my young apprentices.

#10 – My name is Anakin Skywalker. You killed my mother. Prepare to die.
The great attraction of the prequel trilogy was watching Anakin slowly slide into the pit of the dark side. Fans speculated for decades just what exactly caused his deadly turn. Hate? Jealousy? A poopy diaper? Attack of the Clones gives us our first chilling clue.

Anakin arrives too late to save his mother and then slaughters the Tusken Raiders who captured her. After he returns to the Lars homestead, Padme asks him what’s wrong. And he tells her.

Boy, I hope our son doesn’t grow up in a hole like this.

“I... I killed them. I killed them all,” he trembles. “Not just the men, but the women and the children too. They're like animals, and I slaughtered them like animals... I hate them!”

When the Imperial March rumbles to life, there is no mistake. The birth of Darth Vader begins here.

#9 – Ain’t no thing, String. I’m packing heat.
On the run from the Empire and the dread Sith Lord Darth Vader, the crew and passengers of the Millennium Falcon find safe haven on the floating mining colony of Cloud City. But what happens soon after their arrival is just one of the many moments that makes The Empire Strikes Back not only the best of the two trilogies, but one of the better movies of all time.

Han – trying to steal another amorous moment with Leia – is interrupted by their host, Cloud City Administrator Lando Calrissian. He invites them to refreshments for conversation and fellowship. As they tour the city, they make harmless small talk about unions and guilds … and the Empire’s jurisdiction.

“I've just made a deal that will keep the Empire out of here forever,” Calrissian says as the door slides open …

… to reveal Vader seated at the table.

In less than a blink, Han whips out his blaster and fires at the Dark Lord, only to watch Vader block the lasers with his bare hands. Then using the Force, Vader takes the blaster into his own hand.

Leia, don’t stop me! I have a clear shot at the Star Wars kid!

“We would be honored if you joined us,” Vader said.

As stormtroopers cut off their escape route, Han and Leia know they have no choice but to accept.

#8– Now this is the politics of personal destruction.
Revenge of the Sith ends with Anakin becoming Vader. Not a surprise given it was the last prequel and Lucasfilm plastered Vader’s visage over every lunchbox, backpack and racecar hood in America. But the hero always gets one last change to step away from the abyss. And in this instance, Anakin fails.

Padme, not believing Obi-Wan’s warnings about her husband’s turn to the dark side, rushes to Mustafar to be with him. There, in a moment that puts in motion the ultimate tragedy, she learns the truth.

“Leave everything else behind while we still can,” she implores.

“I am more powerful than the Chancellor. I can overthrow him. And together, you and I can rule the galaxy.” Anakin answers.

The look on her face tells it all. She knows the truth.

Padme and I did not lay pipe, Anakin! I’m going for Renee Zellweger.

As Anakin chokes his wife for her perceived betrayal, a hidden Obi-Wan confronts his erstwhile friend and student.

“I have brought peace, freedom, justice and security to my new empire!” Anakin rants.

Obi-Wan’s face twists in disgust. “Your new empire?”
“Anakin, my allegiance to the Republic! To democracy!”

Their friendship is broken. Their fight to the death begins.

#7 – You’re fired, old man. And go see a dentist!
The emotion heart of the climax of Return of the Jedi is the confrontation between Luke and Vader, egged on by the Emperor. After being taunted into a blind rage by Vader’s threats, Luke stands a moment away from succumbing to the Dark Side and killing his father. Realizing his mistake, Luke throws down his weapon and refuses to fight.

The Emperor does not like that decision. So he decides to electrocute Luke. With Luke writhing in agony, Vader stumbles to his erstwhile master’s side.

“Father, please! Help me!” begs Luke.

As the music rises, Vader looks back and forth at his evil master and suffering son. As an audience member, it’s difficult not to scream at the screen, “Help him!”

Finally, as if hearing the audience’s silent plea, Vader lurches into action. Using his remaining hand, Vader lifts the Emperor over his head. With electricity reigning down upon him, Vader tosses the Emperor down a deep shaft, killing the ruler of the galaxy, saving his son and achieving a measure of personal redemption.

Vader collapses, a victim of the electricity’s effect on his mechanical body. It took the fallen Jedi 20 years, but he finally destroys the Sith, bringing balance to the Force.

Just like spend lovers, Luke and Vader decide against killing each other.

#6 – You did what with your sister?!
Darth Vader’s humanity finally shines through his ebony cloak in Return of the Jedi. We now understand his obsession with finding Luke Skywalker is for reasons more than power. He wants to connect with the last part of him that can offer a measure of redemption. Notice that the number people he kills in this film drops to just one.

With his first encounter with Luke in this film, Vader ceases to be a one-note (but effective) villain. He becomes a deeper character, and one of the best characters in American film history.

Luke surrenders to Imperial forces on the Forest Moon of Endor. He is taken immediately to his father. He calls Vader by his birth name.

“That name no longer has any meaning for me,” he snaps, menacingly pointing Luke’s extinguished light saber at his chest.

Why would I have to pay alimony? She’s dead!

Luke is calm. He sees his father behind Vader’s monstrous visage.

“It is the name of your true self. You've only forgotten. I know there is good in you,” Luke says confidently. “Come with me.”

There is a tone in Vader’s voice. “It is too late for me, son.”

The tone is doubt. The seeds of the Empire’s downfall are planted here. Seeds planted by a son with love for his wayward father.

#5 – Suck it, Zorro. Suck it.
A good action sequence presents a deadly scenario for the hero to overcome and audience has no idea how he can do that. Also, a good action sequence gives the audience high velocity action with death defying feats. Great action sequences do both. The sail barge sequence from Return of the Jedi is a great action sequence and the best of the Star Wars trilogies.

Hey, that Sand Anus has a beak stick out of it.

Jabba the Hutt sentences Luke, Han and Chewie to die through particularly ghastly means – being fed into an ancient creature nothing more than a mouth and digestive system. Luke is chosen to be the first to plunge into the creature’s gaping maw.

He threatens Jabba for his freedom – a curious gambit considering he’s one good shove away from falling weaponless into the Sarlaac Pit.

Then, he signals to R2-D2 at the top of the barge. As the score punctuates each moment with a low blurt from the horn section, Luke falls off the gangplank, only to spin around, grab the end and catapult himself onto the skiff.

Simultaneously, R2 fires something into the air which lands perfectly into Luke’s outstretched hand. A snap hiss unleashes the emerald blade of his new light saber and the battle to free his friends begins.

#4 – This is my pimp suit.
The primary focus of the prequel trilogy – indeed, the primary story of all Star Wars films – is the story of Darth Vader. How could the twisted, broken Sith Lord from the classic trilogy be a person revered as a hero and father – only to become that twisted, broken Sith Lord?

The money shot of the entire prequel trilogy – the one to give even the most jaded fan goose bumps – was when Anakin finally puts on the costume and becomes Vader. Revenge of the Sith delivers that payoff.

After losing his duel with Obi-Wan Kenobi, a mutilated Anakin Skywalker is taken back to a dark hospital facility on Coruscant for treatment.

As Anakin screams in pain, the Emperor’s medical droids attach new limbs to his torso with soulless efficiency. (The film nicely cuts back and forth between Anakin rebirth as Darth Vader and his children’s birth across the galaxy.)

Only one act remains – the placing of the mask that will allow Anakin to breathe. His eyes go wide with terror as the helmet is slowly lowered on to his face. We see inside his mask and the red hue that will filter his view of the world until his death.

The mask is in place. And using the same sound effect from The Empire Strikes Back, the headpiece clicks into place. Then, all is silent.

One beat.
Two beats.

And then he breathes.

Our Empire is everything the light touches …

The Chosen One is no more. Only the Dark Lord of the Sith remains.

#3 – Pay attention to my words, you must.
Of the many reasons why The Empire Strikes Back is a great film, the character of Yoda is chief among them. The cast and crew were right to be nervous about anchoring the second act of the film with a two-foot tall Muppet. Would this backwards-talking green goblin look and sound ridiculous next to Mark Hamill?

It was a gamble that paid very large dividends. The character was pure magic, exuding charm and wisdom. In no scene was that more apparent than when Luke, frustrated at his inability to master the Force, proclaims he cannot raise his ship from the bog.

“Size matters not,” Yoda responds. “Look at me. Judge me by my size, do you? Hm?”

It’s nice that he quotes me, but I could still throw more touchdowns than Losman.

As Yoda continues, his gaze sweeps across the swamp, seemingly across the galaxy itself.

“For my ally is the Force, and a powerful ally it is,” he says. “Life creates it, makes it grow. Its energy surrounds us, and binds us. Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter. You must feel the Force around you. Here, between you, me. The tree, the rock, everywhere. Even between the land and the ship.”

With that simple speech, Yoda endears himself to generations and gives the trilogy its mystical heart.

#2 – Sorry I never taught you to ride a bike.
It is the single greatest surprise in movie history. Nobody saw it coming and it changed the Star Wars films from mere good entertainment into an epic saga. And it turned The Empire Strikes Back into a classic modern American film.

Luke Skywalker, only partially trained in the Force, rushes to Cloud City to confront Vader and save his friends. Luke actually managed to land a blow or two against the Dark Lord of the Sith. But large as a nightmare and twice as terrifying, the stronger Vader relentlessly batters the inexperienced Skywalker into a corner.

Then Vader cuts Luke’s right hand off.

“Obi-Wan never told you what happened to your father,” Vader snarls at Luke.

“He told me enough,” Luke says through gritted teeth. “He told you killed him.”

“No. I am your father.”

With those five words, the entire complexion of the original trilogy changes. Instead of a terrifying, but one-dimensional villain, Vader instantly morphed into something ambiguous. Instead of a simple tale of good versus evil, the Star Wars trilogy became a story of a father and his son.

To prevent leaks, the dialogue spoken on set by the actor playing Vader was “Obi-Wan killed your father.”

Thankfully, the secret was preserved.

I am your father. Hey. Hey – stop crying. Stop it. I’m glad you were adopted.

#1 – My future’s so bright, I need shades!
The appeal of the Star Wars trilogies is two fold: it’s an outer space adventure of thrilling proportions while simultaneously touching on themes relevant to our world and our daily lives. One particular scene of poetic simplicity from A New Hope eloquently captures this, making it my number one Star Wars moment.

After cleaning two newly acquired droids, Luke is called to meal by his aunt. He wants to leave the arid Tatooine and attend the Imperial Academy. His uncle wants him to stay another year to help with the harvest.

Frustrated, Luke gets up from the table. Where are you going, his aunt asks. “It looks like I’m going nowhere,” he responds.

Climbing out of their subterranean home, Luke stops for a moment to reflect in front of the planet’s twin suns as they set below the horizon.

What’s that I see in the distance getting closer? Oh, yeah. The end of my career.

It’s a moment every young person can relate to – the desire to leave an old life behind and start anew. A longing for something more, to be apart of something greater than yourself. We all can relate to such feelings. Undoubtedly there is more than one farm boy in America who has done the same thing. Granted, not before two setting suns.

Combined with the swelling strings of the London Symphony Orchestra, this scene offers a moment of reflection before the action heats up. It’s the first moment of genuine art in the Star Wars trilogies, and it remains the best.

Honorable Mentions
These five, while very good, just could not eclipse the 10 above. Enjoy, won’t you?

-- The opening sequence on the Trade Federation battleship, The Phantom Menace.
-- Anakin’s goodbye speech to his mother, The Phantom Menace.
-- Millennium Falcon escape from the Death Star, A New Hope. -- Millennium Falcon/TIE Fighter asteroid belt chase, The Empire Strikes Back.
-- Luke/Vader duel in Cloud City carbon freeze chamber, The Empire Strikes Back.

Questions? Comments? Light saber color? E-mail me at mlucinski@yahoo.com

Michael Lucinski lives, loves and works in the Washington, D.C. area. He’s a graduate of the University at Buffalo and the George Washington University. It’s a trap!