Sacrifice

Earlier I equated this Star Wars film to another great war movie: Tears of the Sun. That, just like this film, is about the sacrifice that it takes in order to win a conflict. Reality isn’t like action movies. Our heroes don’t always have things go their way. They don’t always get to have the happy ending. War isn’t a pretty thing, and this movie encapsulates that in a way that no other Star Wars movie ever has. Han, Leia and the rest were just straight up goddamned LUCKY that they lasted as long as they have.

This is actually the reason that this is the first Star Wars film I’m not ready to let my kids watch. I always teach my kids that, no matter what, the good guys always win. Well, war doesn’t jibe with that. The good guys do all of the right things but they still end up losing. They fight the power of the great and mighty bad men, do all of the right things and, in the end, sacrifice themselves for the greater cause. Which brings me to the last reason this is my favorite Star Wars film.

(HUGE SPOILER IN NEXT PAGE!)