Now I know why everybody says that The Empire Strikes Back is their fave film of the trilogy.

Not that Star Wars isn’t fab and exciting, and not that Return of the Jedi doesn’t set your balls on fire, but frankly, Empire kicks all ass. The thing I like better about the latter is that it’s way more complex and darker than its predecessor.

Star Wars could, if it had to, stand on its own as an entity in and of itself. That is, there is some closure at the end, especially since the Death Star is rendered as useless as one-half of a Velcro strip.

But Empire takes every plot line and twists it more elaborately than Princess Leia’s hair.

Like, the young and tasty Luke Skywalker ventures to the Dagobah system to learn from Yoda; Leia and Han Solo share an intimate kiss, and then they are betrayed by Billy Dee Williams — I mean, Lando Calrissian.

Han gets frozen in carbonite — which always used to give me nightmares as a child — and Luke gets his hand sabered off.

We learn about Darth Vader’s relationship to Luke, and we get some intense foreshadowing that “there is another” out there somewhere. And can I also say how adorable Yoda is? The mastery of Frank Oz gives our little wrinkled friend facial expressions and the cutest voice.

Makes ya wanna get in line right now for Return of the Jedi, huh?

And I can proudly admit that I remember having seen The Empire Strikes Back some time ago in my oh-so-distant youth. Thank God for little brothers, though, because without my bro James’s obsession with C-3PO and the Millennium Falcon, I probably would have never ventured outside Barbie’s Dream House to see this film. I suppose I owe him a beer.

Anyway, much of what I said about Star Wars is still valid — the sound is shove-ya-back-in-your-seat powerful, and all of the visual effects practically pop off the screen. The color is also great and very un-70s-ish.

I’m psyched that young ‘uns are going to see these movies. When I went last weekend, two preteen guys (I hate to use the word “kids”) entertained us all before the previews started by battling each other with high-tech light sabers.

I also started to realize exactly how much of our popular culture is derived from the trilogy. Like, when Luke landed in that swamp on Dagobah, “where is bubbles all the time like a giant carbonated soda,” I could only think of two things: one, that band named Dagobah that comes to People’s every so often, and two, that song by Weird Al Yankovic.

And I can’t wait for Return of the Jedi, just so I can check out Princess Leia’s leather outfit that has guys of my generation — or at least the three on “Friends” — going ga-ga.