The Empire Strikes Back
Shares rank 16 of 29 science fiction films by recommenders
People recommend it for its writing, which they call among the best of any film and still affecting, and for holding up as stronger than the original Star Wars.
People recommend it for its writing, which they call among the best of any film and still affecting, and for holding up as stronger than the original Star Wars.
7 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 7
- criticize it
- 0
- approval share
- 100%
Recommended in 3 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 7 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- Nobody criticizes itNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 3 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Widely seen as best-written film
“ESB is generally recognized as the best written film”
Comment from 19 May 2026 in “'It's felt like homework': Why Star Wars went so wrong” “Beautiful writing, still gives me goosebumps.”
Comment from 23 Sep 2026 in “George Lucas Returns to Earth, Bearing Gifts” Holds up and is not overrated
“Star Wars (1977) and Empire strikes back are not overrated”
Comment from 5 Dec 2025 in “Turning 40” “the fact that Empire is so good”
Comment from 28 Sep 2026 in “Pirating the Pirates”
Other science fiction films people recommend
The four most recommended other science fiction films, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blade Runner | 54 | 11 | 83% | 10 | 34 yrs3 owners | Approved |
| Colossus: The Forbin Project | 35 | 2 | 95% | 9 | — | Approved |
| Jurassic Park (1993 film) | 32 | 7 | 82% | 8 | — | Approved |
| The Fifth Element | 24 | 3 | 89% | 5 | — | Approved |
| The Empire Strikes BackThis page | 7 | 0 | 100% | 3 | — | — |
What people said
5 of the 7 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“the fact that Empire is so good”
“Beautiful writing, still gives me goosebumps.”
“ESB is generally recognized as the best written film”
“It seemed subversive just because ESB was subversive relative to ANH.”
“Star Wars (1977) and Empire strikes back are not overrated”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.