May 4, 2026
STAR WARS: RETURN OF THE JEDI (1983) – AFI Movie Club
May the Fourth be with you! Concluding the epic trilogy of the galactic civil war introduced six years prior in 1977’s STAR WARS, this second sequel – and ostensible sixth episode – to the beloved space saga returned audiences to a “galaxy far, far away” for what seemed, at the time, like it might well...
March 16, 2026
STAR WARS (1977) – AFI Movie Club
Ranked among the best science-fiction films of all-time, STAR WARS (1977) has been a consistent fixture on AFI’s various lists of America’s greatest movies – originally named one of the 50 Greatest American Films as part of the American Film Institute’s 10th anniversary celebration in 1977, while the film was still playing in theaters during...
May 4, 2025
STAR WARS: THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK (1980) – AFI Movie Club
May the Fourth be with you! Marking 45 years since it first hit theaters and expanded the “galaxy far, far away” introduced three years prior in 1977’s STAR WARS, this first sequel to the beloved space saga deepened the mystique of the story’s iconic and inscrutable avatar of evil – earning Sith Lord Darth Vader...
May 4, 2021
AFI MOVIE CLUB: STAR WARS: THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK
For his iconic appearance as an inscrutable avatar of evil in this first sequel expanding that “galaxy far, far away,” Darth Vader appeared at #3 on AFI’s ranking of the greatest villains of all-time. STAR WARS: THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK features no fewer than three AFI Life Achievement Award honorees – executive producer (and STAR WARS creator) George Lucas, star Harrison Ford and composer John...
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