Rate the Star Wars Movies

From bottom to the top. Counting live action ones and excluding the Ewok movies (I have not seen them since the 80's to rate them).

The Clone Wars.

If you thought the Phantom Menace was the worst Star Wars movie you would be wrong. Cutting this movie down via fast forward to an hour or so makes it semi watchable. Bad hammy acting/love scenes and Yoda doing a Cameo as Sonic the Hedgehog a major downs.

The Phantom Menace.

This movie had two main things wrong with it. 1. Jar Jar Binks, and 2. Jedi Knights and we got Jedi monks. The sense of disappointment at the time was rather large putting it mildly as I watched the midnight screening in 1999 and was more disappointed than enraged. It also has a few redeeming points over The Clone wars name Duel of Fates theme, Darth Maul and the lightsaber fight at the end.

The Last Jedi.

My main problem with this movie was it threw out a lot of plot threads established by The Force Awakens and mostly had very little if any emotional attachment to any of the characters. And there was a bit of stupid in there as well along with the main plot being somewhat moronic ( a chase scene- in Star Wars). Watched this movie twice, IDK if I'll watch it again will likely depend on how sober I am or if episode 9 is any good and I want to do a trilogy binge watch.

Revenge of the Sith

While the prequels attract a lot of hate, I thought RotS was the best of the bunch and tied things up reasonably nicely and it was a masterpiece of logic compared with the Last Jedi. Has a few emotional moment in it as well which the 3 movies below it kind of lack. Bonus points for a relative lack of Jar Jar.

Return of the Jedi.

Often lambasted as the worst of the Star Wars movies pre 1999 it turns out you can do a lot worst. Still one of the best space battles ever filmed. Also saw it at the theater when I was 5 or 6 years old with my brother- I was scared of Jabba lol.

Solo A Star Wars Story.

Critics did not mid it the fanbase seemed have turned on it. I quite liked it and it was essentially a love letter to the fans.

The Force Awakens.
The main problem this film had was it was mostly a rehash of episode IV. While lacking originality perhaps that was what was needed after the prequel series. It felt like a Star Wars movie though although Rey comes across as a bit of a Mary Sue. Not the actresses fault though more the writers but it means the emotional attachment is a bit less IMHO.

Rogue One.
I liked this the best of the new Disney films and on a good day I might be generous and rate this and TFA over Episode IV. For a one and done deal I thought it was great, tied in well to Episode IV, good Vader cameo, and I liked two leads and their sacrifice at the end of the movie. This makes you care about the characters and their story. You need that emotional attachment to the story/characters. All the good Star Wars movies, books, comics and games pull this off (KoToR, Thrawn, ).

Star Wars: A New Hope.
The original and still one of the best (anywhere between 2-4 I think is fair). I was not alive in 1977 but I suspect this wold have been amazing at the time in terms of special effects. The story has held up well although it is a bit hokey in places now.

The Empire Strikes Back.

Leia at her most badass, Vader unleashed, Luke at his most vulnerable, Fett, "I love you- I know" and "I am Your Father". The best Star Wars movie is also the one with the least George Lucas influence in it. No Ewoks, no whiny Anakin, and the tightest and most emotional connection to the story makes this the high point of the Star Wars film saga IMHO.

My line-up would be similar, but I'd rate Return of the Jedi higher - above both Solo and The Force Awakens. Ewoks are silly, but the final space battle and the Luke/Vader/Palpatine confrontation are awesome.

Solo didn't do much for me - decent supporting cast, but the protagonist didn't resonate for me, and didn't really capture the character of Han Solo.

The Force Awakens is very much a movie of two halves. I love everything up until they go to meet Maz, but everything after that feels too much like a re-hash, though there are still cool individual scenes.

From BEST to WORST:

1) Star Wars (A New Hope)
This is the self contained story that lit the fuse. It gives you everything you need to enjoy the story, hints at setting details that spark the imagination, & alters movie F/X and changes the toy industries forever.
And you're right, it was amazing to see it on the big screen at the time.

2) The Empire Strikes Back
One of the few movie sequels to ever be as good or better than the original. While it's my favorite of all the SW movies, I have to rank it 2nd because the original had already blown me away a few years earlier. This one is just more of an already great thing.
It's a little weaker than New Hope because it doesn't stand completely alone at the beginning & at the end you definitely know that there'll be a 3rd movie.

3) Return of the Jedi
Ewok silliness aside, it's pretty good. And it wraps up the story being told.

4a) Roughly the 1st 1/2 of The Force Awakens.
It has all that excitement that New Hope had in that new characters & stuff get introduced & you're eager to see how it develops.... And then

4) Rogue One
Overall pretty good. While I liked the characters & cast I didn't care about any of them because you know they won't matter once the credits role. Still a good movie though.

5) Episode I: The Phantom Menace
Overall I liked this one. Yes, in spite of everything Lucas did to try & make me not: midochlorians?? Qui-Con Jinn's multiple examples of stupidity, making Anikan a 10 year old. And that crap at least provides me the endless fun of mocking it....
Jar Jar - the only thing I have against Jar Jar is that the shear un-sold glut of his action figure screwed up my stores inventory/future shipments of SW figures for a 2 years+ because of how SKUs were assigned/worked in our system at the time. The system would read that we still had xxxx # of basic SW figures. So unless we dropped below x, no further cases would be sent.

5 & 6) Fighting for 5th & 6th place are two contenders; EPII:The Clone Wars & EPIII: Revenge of the Sith.
I think I like Clone Wars slightly more than Sith, but they've both got enough poo in them to make this an exercise in hair splitting....

7) Solo
This is a bunch of crap. It starts with the guy they tapped to play Solo. It then proceeds to cram virtually everything about Solo prior to the original SW movie into 1 adventure. And since it's the droid/computer that's responsible for actually making the impossible Kessel Run it even takes that away from Han.
Fortunately this entry into the series doesn't have any impact on things. Wether or not you ever see it means exactly nothing. Unless you count the lost $ you doled out for your ticket.

8) The second 1/2 of The Force Awakens.
....and then it turns into some self-parodying clone of the original movie. Is Abrahms trolling us?

9) The Star Wars Holiday Special (TV)
This very very bad. We journey home with Chewbacca to celebrate "Life Day " with his son Lumpy. And Bea Arthur sings.
But even this isn't the worst live-action SW has to offer us. Oh no, for that you get:

10) Episode VIII: The Last Jedi
This is so bad in every way that it makes me not want to see Episode IX.

My rankings:
1) Empire Strikes Back
2) Star Wars
3) Rogue One
4) Return of the Jedi
5/6) The Force Awakens and the Last Jedi (I LIKED the Last Jedi, in part, because it was so willing to set up hints of old tropes and then subvert them - though I admit, I think it does kind of write itself into a corner, but then I think The Force Awakens also does that a bit because neither JJ Abrams nor Rian Johnson seem to think or care much about the vastness of space nor the constraints of time)
7) Solo
8) The Phantom Menace (the best of the prequels because it has 2 more interesting characters than the others - Qui Gon and Darth Maul - plus the best lightsaber fight)
9) Revenge of the Sith
15) Attack of the Clones (downgraded from 10, even though I'm only ranking 10, because of overwhelming crapulence)

I will say one thing about the Star Wars films - the stunt coordination and lightsaber dueling has gotten better over the years. The Empire Strike Back and Return of the Jedi fights are good mainly because of the drama - particularly the way it matches with the male choir in Return of the Jedi. But the fighting in Phantom Menace, Force Awakens, and Last Jedi make the choreography of the original trilogy look clunky and quaint.

Best to worst.

A New Hope. The only truly self contained story. One of the few SW movies I’ll watch on a random Tuesday instead of reading a book. Best space battle ever. I go back and forth between this and Jedi for number 1.

Return of the Jedi. Multiple great battles. I like the Ewoks. Time advances and characters have grown in ways that make sense and feel satisfying. The single most important moment in the franchise. (I am a Jedi, like my father before me.) Luke wins by refusing to fight, not bc he is a badass or any such irrelevances, but because he shows mercy, and refuses to give in to fear, anger, or hate, and acts in peace and love, and faith in his father as a person, accepting the inherent risk in doing so. Nothing else in the franchise comes close to this scene. Nothing in Star Wars matters without this scene. Period.

The Force Awakens. The characters are immediately engaging, the visuals are on point and evocative, the story is both classic and new, and my few problems with decisions like another Death Star and destroying a star system to up the ante are the only reason this isn’t the second best film.

Empire. Second best lightsaber battle of the franchise, great story beats and character moments. Solid film all around, if often overrated.

The Last Jedi. I love his movie. It being this low on the list is a testement to how good the others are, not to it being bad. I have quibbles, but it is very close wih TFA and Empire for me.

Revenge of The Sith. There is so much good here, and also so much missed opportunity. We don’t care enough about the Jedi we see die. Duuku is boring and a waste of Christopher Lee. In spite of those flaws, it’s an emotionally satisfying movie overall, with a great space battle, and some solid characterization and visuals.

Phantom Menace. Honestly if they redid Jar Jar’s VO with something less slapstick and problematic, this is a pretty good movie. Watch it with most Jar Jar moments exited out, and it’s good. Fix that AND the awkward dialogue with Padme and Anakin, and you’ve got a really good film.

Attack of the clones. Bleh. There is a good 1 hour movie here, and a really terrible whatever runtime is left from that.

Rogue One. The Rebel Alliance doesn’t employ assassins. Period. This movie is, AFAIC, a complete mistake, regardless of its quality as a film. It’s also a gritty war movie where all the protagonists die for little reason. Some good moments, and great characters completely wasted by largely pointless deaths. Also not a single Bothan.

My top three Star Wars films:

1) Return of the Jedi

2) Star Wars

3) Rogue One

Most disappointing) Solo; so much wasted potential plus it managed to take out the other planned movies as well. Sad.

Best to worst.

A New Hope
Empire
Return of the Jedi
Force Awakens
Rogue One
Last Jedi
Solo
Revenge of the Sith
Phantom Menace
Attack of the Clones

Why do people think Bothans were involved in getting the plans for Death Star I? Was it in the novelization? I read it a long time ago but don't remember them being mentioned. Bothans played a part in getting the plans for Death Star II. I enjoyed the movie. I agree the deaths seemed pointless.

Solo was ok. I enjoyed it also. I think so many said no one else can play this character, then proceeded to stick their fingers in theirs and yell nah nah nah. When the movie came out they folded their arms and held their breath. Just like Anakin folks had an idea what young Han would be like. When it didn't appear to live up to those expectations they threw tantrums. Was Han what we hoped for? No, but I think he was close. He would be different due to life experiences, but also just because they couldn't use a young Ford clone to play the part. It was fun and funny.

Both movies had what I look for in a Star Wars movie. Space battles, droids, aliens, stormtroopers, bad dialog, and plot holes big enough to fit a rancor. I would put both ahead of the Last Jedi, Force Awakens, and Phantom Menace.

Worst to first

Last Jedi
Phantom Menace
Force Awakens
Attack of the Clones
Solo
Revenge of the Sith
Rogue One
New Hope
Empire
Return of the Jedi

Aeson said:

Why do people think Bothans were involved in getting the plans for Death Star I?

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Because they aren't paying attention.

Aeson said:

Solo was ok. I enjoyed it also. I think so many said no one else can play this character, then proceeded to stick their fingers in theirs and yell nah nah nah. When the movie came out they folded their arms and held their breath. Just like Anakin folks had an idea what young Han would be like. When it didn't appear to live up to those expectations they threw tantrums. Was Han what we hoped for? No, but I think he was close. He would be different due to life experiences, but also just because they couldn't use a young Ford clone to play the part. It was fun and funny.

Click to expand...

For me the problem with Solo was never the actor, the problem was the story.

Although I did cheer when L3-37 was killed so there are good points in every movie.