Let me be clear, I love all six of the Star Wars movies, and even though I grew up with the Original Trilogy, I've been able to completely appreciate the Prequel films. I guess of the PT, I would say that Revenge of The Sith is a runaway favorite there, but lately I've found myself watching The Phantom Menace more and more often.

Overall though, it's a no contest for me, ESB wins out somewhat easily as my favorite. Right from the start, it is one great scene after another with some of the best and most humorous dialogue of the entire saga.

I think this is by far Han Solo's best episode, from lines such as "Then I'll see you in hell!" to "No, no, no! This one goes there, that one goes there. Right!" to "Never tell me the odds" to the famous "Sorry sweetheart, haven't got time for anything else" ... well, the list of great Solo lines goes on and on. For some reason one of the funniest scenes to me is when Han thinks he's fixed the Falcon in the hangar bay on Hoth and tells Chewie to try it - and sparks fly and smoke rises up with Han yelling, "Turn it off! Turn it off!"

Oh man, that never fails to get me laughing. Never.

Because I've been there, done that. Well, not exactly repairing a starship, you understand, but in the similar fashion of thinking that I've got something repaired, the problem is solved, and I flip the switch - only to have the freaking thing go up in smoke, or the pipes leak, or worse yet, the thing just sits there and does nothing. I really hate that. So, it is good to see Han struggling, because I'm able to laugh right along with his pain.

Or how about the Battle of Hoth. Yes, those are some very cool scenes right there. The introduction of the AT-AT's and the choking of Admiral Ozzel and then the confident General Veers calmly telling Vader, "The shield will be down in moments, you may start your landing." Great stuff, for sure.

I swear there is no bad scene in this movie. I mean, c'mon, you've got Ugnaughts playing keep-away from Chewie with Threepio's head. That's got instant classic written all over it.

Yoda! The great Jedi Master is not what we expect, and the little green guy even has a sense of humor, "Aw cannot get your ship out. hehehe." In fact, there are so many revelations in Episode V it is fantastic. Yoda appears (or re-appears depending how you view things) on the scene, Luke begins his training to become a Jedi, Boba Fett tracks the Falcon, and of course the whopper of all Star Wars revelations, Darth Vader tells Luke Skywalker that he is Luke's father!

Whoa. Hold on.

Could that revelation have been averted? Did Luke really do the right thing by rushing off to Bespin in his vain attempt to rescue Han & Leia? This is the major question that I love about this movie. We know everything eventually turns out well in the end, so in that regard, yes, Luke did the right thing by rushing to help his friends. He follows his destiny.

I'm not sure that Han & Leia really need Luke to come rescue them. Han is frozen in carbonite anyways and then taken by Boba Fett. So Luke isn't much help there. Lando Calrissian realizes what a horrible mistake he's made by siding with the Empire and decides to right his wrong by helping Leia and Chewie escape. So I would argue that Luke never directly helps anyone escape the Cloud City, and point of fact, Leia ends up rescuing Luke. Perhaps we can say that by keeping Darth Vader occupied Luke does play some role in the Millenium Falcon's escape, but that seems a bit of a stretch to me.

Also, if Luke stays on Dagobah, it is possible (and likely) that he will be much better prepared to eventually face Darth Vader, and therefore be much better prepared to deal with the truth that Vader is in fact his father. It is implied that when they felt the time was right, Obi-wan and Yoda would have revealed the true identities of Luke's father and his sister. If this is revealed during Luke's training it allows for the chronolgy of Return of The Jedi to still play out with Luke rescuing Han Solo, speaking with Leia, and then confronting Darth Vader on Endor.

But what about when Luke faces Palpatine?

This is where I really believe that Luke made the right choice by trusting his instincts and his love for his friends and rushing to Bespin. In my opinion, it all pays off in the throne room of the Death Star. Luke has faith in his friends, and he knows they will do what they must do. He's been there before. I can see much of everything that occurs in the throne room happening very similarly whether Luke had rushed to Bespin or not, right up to the point where Darth Vader learns that Luke has a twin sister.

Luke's rage would be inevitable either way as well at that point, and I believe so would his eventual defeat of Vader in the lightsaber duel.

Then the moment arrives that makes me believe that Luke did the right thing. He stops to consider his mechanical hand, the tangible reminder of what he went thru. Remember, no good deed goes unpunished, the title of this entry is true. The wound Luke receives in Cloud City is what I believe enables him to stop his descent into those Dark Side emotions, and to see Vader for who he really is. Anakin Skywalker, his father. Without the wound, I really don't believe that Luke would have the strength of will to toss his lightsaber away in the face of Palpatine.

Fans often speculate that Luke should have kept his lightsaber, and tried to defend himself against the Sith lightning. No. I completely disagree with that notion.

Luke had to toss his lightsaber aside. He could not fight the Sith with anger and aggression, or any physical means for that matter, because he could not defeat them that way. Luke had to give himself over completely to the Force, and to his destiny.

Luke's destiny was to bring Anakin Skywalker back from the Dark Side, and I don't believe he would have had the strength to do that without the wounds he suffered on Bespin. He needed that defeat, where he gave himself over to his destiny by dropping off the conning tower into the abyss - he needed that experience. Because he was taking another leap of faith in that throne room by tossing his weapon aside.

The Force would guide his destiny.

That is why I can positively say that I believe Luke did the right thing by rushing to save his friends, because by doing so he not only saved them and himself, but it enabled him to save his father as well.