Dave’s Top VII Star Wars Moments

Here are my VII favorite Star Wars moments.

It's almost here!!! I don't mean Christmas, I mean Star Wars VII: The Force Awakens! It opens NEXT WEEKEND, December 18th. I was 12 when Episode IV: A New Hope - the original Star Wars - opened in theaters. I just realized today, that my kids were born after Episode I: The Phantom Menace. They've never seen a Star Wars movie in the theater!

My son, Justin, loves Star Wars just as much as I do. He's a huge fan of Darth Vader. He loves the prequel trilogy.

Star Wars has some great moments. Like the (Spoiler Alert) first Death Star exploding. There are a lot of funny moments with C-3PO and R2-D2. Since there are VII Star Wars installments here are my VII favorite moments.

VII. The Force Awakens - "The Force Will Be With You, Always."

I don't know about you, but I think we should all remember Star Wars fan Daniel Fleetwood. He was the 32-year-old Texas man that was able to see an unedited version of Episode VII: The Force Awakens in his home on November 5th, before becoming one with The Force due to cancer. Star Wars  director J. J. Abrams allowed another terminal fan to see Star Trek Into Darkness before passing. Mark Hamill and other members of the cast were incredible toward Daniel in his last days. Fleetwood died November 9th, just four days after seeing the film. You can catch up on his story here.

If you're a Star Wars geek like me, you might have seen the similarities in Daniel's story and the story of the movie Fanboys. It's an awesome, hilarious film, about a dying fan whose friends try to get him to see The Phantom Menace before he dies.

VI. Episode IV - A New Hope - "Hopeless"

This was the first actual Star Wars lightsaber duel! Old Ben had only hacked off a dude's arm in the cantina and then was showing Luke how to use it on board the Falcon. This is a pretty cool sci-fi sword fight. It's pretty awesome watching classical thespian, Alec Guinness in Star Wars. Unfortunately, this duel ends pretty badly for Old Ben. Worse, for Luke, since he just lost both his aunt and uncle. This was probably the one low moment in the first movie.

V. The Empire Strikes Back - "The Underdog"

Here's what's cool about this lightsaber duel: we're all rooting for Luke, the underdog to beat Darth Vader and come out on top. Somehow. There's no way he should win. He's untrained. The only way he could win is by luck, not skill. Vader has to make a fatal error to lose. But he never does. Not only does he beat Luke, he breaks him, by revealing his true identity!

IV. Attack of the Clones - "Battle Royal!"

I'm not a fan or the Prequel Trilogy. There's Jar Jar Binks. There's Darth Maul killing Qui Gon, then getting cut in half by Obi-Wan. There's everything about Anakin. I have a hard time believing that Darth Vader ever was Anakin Skywalker. If I were the Emperor, I would have found someone at least less whiny! But there is one highlight. In Episode II: Attack of the Clones, Dracula Saruman the late Christopher Lee - who knew J.R.R. Tolkein and was a distant step-cousin of Ian Fleming (the dude who created James Bond) - bests both whiny Anakin and Ob-Wan - before dueling Yoda. This duel is epic. Think about it: Christopher Lee dueling Yoda!

III. Return of the Jedi - "I Love It When A Plan Comes Together"

Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back ended on such a downer. Episode VI opens so mysteriously. A bounty hunter brings Chewbacca to Jabba's place. One of the guards turns out to be Lando. The bounty hunter turns out to be Princess Leia! Luke shows up, and is immediately dropped into a pit with a huge ugly alien monster. So, everybody turns out to be Jabba's prisoner. Because Luke offered the 'droids as a gift. Jabba takes them all out to this Sarlacc Pit. And then Luke turns the tables on Jabba. He shows that everything has fallen into place the way he planned it to. He and Lando rescue Han and Chewie, they dump Boba Fett into the pit, and Leia takes care of Jabba. It's pretty awesome.

II. Star Wars - "These Aren't The 'Droids You're Looking For."

Okay, there are a lot of great lines in the Star Wars films. May The Force be with you. I've got a bad feeling about this. What's cool is The Force isn't just a cool super-power to move objects with your mind or use a lightsaber. Here, Old Ben shows that he can control those weaker minded. This kind of thing got really bad in Revenge of the Sith, with whiny Anakin. Here, it's pretty awesome.

I. The Empire Strikes Back - "I Know."

This has got to be the greatest moment in Star Wars. Legend has it that Harrison Ford signed on picture to picture, not expecting Han Solo to catch on and stay for the entire original trilogy. Plus, the line was supposed to be something much longer and sappier. He ad-libbed. It's awesome. Overconfident. Courageous.

These are my favorite Star Wars moments. The beauty is that you might like the same ones, or you might have your own. Feel free to share the ones you like most in the comments. I'll see you on line for The Force Awakens on the 18th! Until then...