Star Wars Episode V tops greatest movies poll: See the best of the rest here

More than 250,000 film lovers chose their favourite flicks in the Empire poll

Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back has been named the greatest movie of all time by film fans.

Directed by Irvin Kershner, the second installment in the Star Wars franchise beat off firm favourites such as The Lord of the Rings and Jaws to clinch the top spot.

The Empire survey asked more than 250,000 movie aficionados to rate 301 titles.

Epic mafia drama The Godfather came in second place, followed by Batman thriller The Dark Knight, while The Shawshank Redemption and cult film Pulp Fiction completed the top five.

Star Wars creator George Lucas said it was a "privilege" to see his 1980 film come out on top. He told Empire: "It's soulful, but in a different way from Episode IV. It's a little bit more adult. I'm more of a goofy director.

"Star Wars skews slightly younger than you'd expect; it was a film for 12-year-olds. Empire's like that but a bit of the goofiness has been shaved off it. Kershner was much more of a serious person. He loved the whole religious aspect of it, Luke learning the Force."

Empire's editor-in-chief, Mark Dinning, said he was "delighted, if not surprised" that Star Wars had won gold. He added that it "retains all of its power, wit and spectacle".

He said: "With Star Wars very much back in the current conversation with JJ Abrams shooting Episode VII, this is a timely reminder of the power of Star Wars to capture the imagination of film fans the world over.

"It may be set in a galaxy far far away, but this is a series of movies that will always be very close to our hearts. And, for now at least, The Empire Strikes Back is this indelible franchise at the very top of its game."

Episode VII, which is currently in production, will see the return of original cast members including Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher, as well as new arrivals John Boyega, Daisy Ridley and Adam Driver.

It is scheduled for release in December 2015.

Greatest movies of all time: 11-100

Blade Runner

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

Goodfellas

Fight Club

The Godfather Part II

Avengers Assemble

Back to the Future

Jurassic Park

Aliens

Apocalypse Now

Alien

2001: A Space Odyssey

The Matrix

The Big Lebowski

Schindler’s List

Casablanca

Gladiator

Terminator 2: Judgement Day

There Will Be Blood

American Beauty

Lawrence of Arabia

The Usual Suspects

Citizen Kane

Forrest Gump

Gravity

Heat

Seven

The Breakfast Club

Die Hard

It’s a Wonderful Life

One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest

Once Upon a Time in the West

Vertigo

Taxi Driver

Skyfall

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Magnolia

Drive

Pan’s Labyrinth

12 Angry Men

Gone with the Wind

The Shining

A Clockwork Orange

The Departed

Leon

Seven Samurai

Toy Story

Memento

Trainspotting

OldBoy

Titanic

Ghostbusters

The Thing

ET the Extra-Terrestrial

The Lion King

The Silence of the Lambs

Amelie

Raging Bull

Psycho

Rear Window

The Dark Knight Rises

Lost in Translation

Stand By me

Reservoir Dogs

Saving Private Ryan

The Third Man

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

LA Confidential

Some Like it Hot

Inglorious Basterds

Spirited Away

North by Northwest

Donnie Darko

The Wolf of Wall Street

Django Unchained

The 400 Blows

City of God

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan

Serenity

True Romance

Withnail and I

Fargo

Kill Bill: Vol 1

Rocky

Singin’ In The Rain

Almost Famous

No Country For Old Men

The Blues Brothers

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

For 101-301 see Empire