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I agree that quality over impact is something I've heavily been considering while going through this list, because I honestly do not think they are one and the same. But I had this thought during the LOTR episode that they specifically put the first of these giant trilogies to force people to start from the beginning rather than jump into the middle of an overarching story. Personally, I'm not quite sure really how much you need of The Godfather before seeing Part II, maybe that's naive maybe it isn't. Certainly, though, you can not come into Empire Strikes Back without having first seen Star Wars and have any of it make much sense to you. There needs to be the emotional weight of the three leads meeting, the bond between Ben and Luke, and then the subsequent death of Ben (I agree that is a really lackluster saber fight compared to so much we've seen in this series). To me, this is AFI putting all three movies on under the guise of just one, because they probably have a giant feeling that once you start you're going to most likely continue.

Wow! That would be...

I'm a bit surprised that Empire was so quickly pushed aside on the podcast and hasn't been discussed here. Particularly since the argument seemed much more based on influence and impact than quality, I think it's important to point out that The Empire Strikes Back contains perhaps as many things that live on in public consciousness as Star Wars does. (When people think of iconic Star Wars moments or information, my guess is what they think of is 40% from Episode IV, 40% from Episode V, 10% from Episode VI, and 10% from all other movies together.) Paul mentioned that Star Wars information is so ubiquitous that most people know that Darth Vader is Luke's father without seeing any of the movies. But again, that information isn't presented in Star Wars, but rather it's given in The Empire Strikes Back. And while Star Wars had John Williams give us the main title theme, the force theme, and Leia's theme, it wasn't until Empire that we got the Imperial Death March, which may actually be more well-known than the others. Episode IV lacks Yoda and Lando, and the only lightsaber battle in Episode IV kind of blows compared to what the series would later give us. And to be honest, the principle of this original vs sequel argument isn't one I've been very consistent on, as I lobbied hard for Toy Story despite accepting that Toy Story 3 is a better film and I decry The Godfather Part II for retreading over much of the same territory as The Godfather, yet I also voted against The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring because I think it's the weakest of the three films. So if this were asking whether I'd pick Episode IV or Episode V for inclusion (as Amy once did on an early episode of The Canon), I'd be more torn. But if we're using Star Wars as a stand-in for the whole series, then clearly it belongs on the list. However, I'm just judging it on its merits as a film, so though it still makes my list, it won't be as high as The Empire Strikes Back would be. (I'll probably have Star Wars in the 50-60 range when it's all said and done.)

Omggg! I kinda thought it was funny that Nicole was steadfastly refusing to ever watch them lol! She said she got joy out of denying men the opportunity to be the ones to show her the franchise, and then her best friend Sasheer Zamata (if y'all aren't listening to Best Friends pls do it) has offered to be that person literally ever time she brings it up lol.

Forth! I just remembered after reading that interview you posted that he also did the songs and singing for Bugsy Malone.

As to the film's worthiness for the list: Yes, duh. This is like The Godfather, where if it's not on the list I don't even know what we're doing.

Would have been way better if they didn't digitally remove Jason DeRelo's penis... I'm just saying what we're all thinking