celebrates its 30th anniversary this Friday. Some of you reading may remember waiting in line to see the movie when it first released, the younger among you caught it on video years later, and still others didn't even watch Episode V until you'd already been exposed to the Prequel Trilogy. And yet, the one almost universal take on the film from all who've seen it is that it is the best of the Star Wars movies.

This week, IGN is having a party for Empire in the only way we know how -- we're looking back at its greatness with a series of retrospectives. Today we kick off this series with what we're calling "Why No. 2 is No. 1." For George Lucas ' original Star Wars sequel isn't the only second film of a series to surpass all the other pictures in its respective franchise (including its predecessor) in terms of sheer excellence.Remember, this isn't a be-all, end-all list. We're fully aware that there are many other films that could've made the cut here -- and also, this is all about franchises where the second movie has outshone all the other flicks. Series with only one sequel need not apply (sorry Nolan Bat-fans).These are just a few of our favorites, in no particular order. So read on, young Padawan, for a look back at some of the best number twos in movie history.And when you're done here, don't forget to click over to our How Empire Changed Star Wars Forever story.

Mad Max was a cheap but effective B movie, the tale of a family man who is driven to the edge and beyond after his wife and child are murdered by savage bikers in a world that is on the verge of destruction. But Mad Max II, a.k.a. The Road Warrior, was that and so much more. Not only was the production more polished -- well, polished in punk-meets-doomsday kinda way -- but so was the entire world of the title character. Whatever semblance of civilization that remained in the first film is all but gone in part two, with Max a lone driver in a world gone mad. The film has an altogether more epic scope, culminating in a wild car chase that ranks up there with the best of them. And much like Empire's follow-up, Return of the Jedi, The Road Warrior's sequel, Beyond Thunderdome, would also turn out to be a piece of ice cream.: Chewie is Han Solo's best friend. Dog is Max's best friend. Both are as faithful as they come.

The first Spider-Man proved that a man could swing from a web (thanks to an army of computer animators). Spider-Man 2 proved that we could care about said web-slinger, even when he wasn't of the superhero variety. Sure, the original Sam Raimi film had its fair share of heart and humanity going on, but part two actually takes away Spidey's powers, and instead of making those scenes the ones that the viewer must sit through while waiting to get back to the action, the director instead infuses them with some of the most memorable bits. The awkward, geeky Peter Parker walking around the city to the tune of "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head"? The freeze-frame at the end of said scene? Priceless. And the stuff in the red and blue tights is also great too, with the subway fight and its denouement -- as the citizens hoist a stricken Spider-Man up above their heads -- being perhaps the highlight of the entire series. Again, the third film in the franchise would be another variation on Ewok central.: Han and Leia face an insurmountable separation; Peter and MJ face an insurmountable separation.

Possibly the best example of a movie that single-handedly redeemed -- and possibly saved -- an entire franchise, Wrath of Khan took everything that was wrong with the first Star Trek movie and righted it. Those neutral, bland costumes and production design? Gone, replaced by a lush, bold look that actually looked lived in. Of course Admiral Kirk and his crew would wear tunics that are more classical Navy than slumber party, threads that actually get blood on them when a young midshipman bites it. And the story of the film sought to build on the mythology of the TV series, returning to a storyline that was some 15 years old, while also adding a "next generation," as it were, to the cast that actually made the existing characters more human. Bold, exciting, and alive, Star Trek II has yet to be topped by the nine films that have followed it.: The loss of a dear friend and the promise of his return.

O.K., this one might be a bit of a cheat, just because Aliens is so very different from the original Ridley Scott film that started it all. Whereas Alien (singular!) was a horror picture at heart, albeit one that happened to be set on a spaceship, James Cameron's Aliens (plural!) was much more an action-adventure-war picture. But it broadened the scope of the franchise in such a way that there was simply no going back to the austere days onboard the Nostromo after it was released. Multiple aliens, huge action, an increasingly tormented Ellen Ripley -- these would become the hallmarks of the series after Cameron got done with it. And really, how long could you spend on just one ship yelling at Mother anyway? (Just for the record, the third Aliens film was mostly a loss, so this list has yet to encounter a franchise that actually got better from part two to part three Let's keep trying, though.): Darth Vader to Luke: "I am your father." Newt to Ripley: "Mommy!"

If the first Godfather is a delicious dish of baked ziti, the second is a full-on Sunday ragu dinner like Grandma used to make that is, if your Grandma was the type who ordered the executions of multiple mob bosses all at the same time, along with her dear, mentally slow brother. Francis Ford Coppola's second chapter in the saga of the Corleone family is mesmerizing, the kind of film that you just never tire of no matter how many times you've seen it. Part of the reason for that is the labyrinthine plot which continues to befuddle all but the fully immersed in the mythology of the world, but then there's also the central character of Michael who just becomes harder and colder and more successful the further his story goes (well, up until the third film, but that's a different story). The parallels between him and the flashbacks of his dad Vito's rise from orphaned immigrant to young mafia chief are remarkable both for how similar the characters can be, and yet how perverted Vito's dreams for his family have become by Michael's acts of murder and self-isolation.: Hyman Roth = Lando Calrissian. Only Lando didn't get what was coming to him like Roth did.