10 Highest-Grossing '80s Movies Ranked Worst To Best

Year: 1980

Box Office: $290 million

The best mainline Star Wars movie is probably untouchable at the top of the tree and could well be considered one of the greatest sequels of all time. In fact, there's a pretty compelling case for it being the best ever.

Empire basically invented the trope of a sequel going darker (as well as splitting an ensemble of characters up) - which is rather rote now, but genius shouldn't be diluted simply because of the flattery of imitation - while also not neglecting to advance everything that made the original so good. The scale is bigger, the characters (and performances) better, the story more complex and the action better.

And praise has to go to George Lucas for it, who seemingly realised his limitations and brought in assistance - specifically Lawrence Kasdan, whose script refinement was a god-send and Ivan Kershner to direct. They combined to make a more grown-up vision with more darkness but also more emotion, despite Lucas' reservations, which is a triumph in writing (somewhat atypically in a series with some seriously questionable script choices).

And while it's now moved even beyond infamy, the twist is still THE cinematic twist.