By far the biggest news coming in overnight is the fact that EA now has the exclusive rights to create core Star Wars games. So, while we’re all thinking about Star Wars, let’s ponder bigger questions — how do you rank the Star Wars movies in order of greatness? Which is the best and which is the worst?
It’s a tough question. Are all of the three prequels worse than all of the originals? What about Return of the Jedi? That wasn’t great — let’s be honest here. And which is worse — The Phantom Menace or Attack of the Clones?
Big questions.
Alright, here’s my list…
Empire Strikes Back > Star Wars > Revenge of the Sith > Return of the Jedi > The Phantom Menace > Attack of the Clones
Attack of the Clones is easily the worst of the prequels. Easily. I actually sort of enjoyed Revenge of the Sith but, to be fair, I haven’t watched it since the cinema release, so I could be talking complete crap here.
Now you! Go!
Comments
71 responses to “Off Topic: List The Star Wars Movies In Order Of Greatness”
Empire > Wars > Jedi > Revenge > Menace > Clones
This is the correct order.
Yeah what he said.
I’d swap Clones for Menace and insert the Star Wars Holiday Special after Jedi.
Seconded!
i disagree i think revenge was better than jedi … i mean ewok’s c’mon ewok’s who are out classed technology wise beat the empire ground forces it’s just not possible
Empire Strikes Back > Return of the Jedi > A New Hope > Revenge of the Sith > Phantom Menace > Attack of the Clones
This.
Empire > Jedi > New Hope.
This. I don’t know what these other films people are listing are.
I’ve been scratching my head too.
It’s like choosing between my 3 favorite children!!!
And three red-headed step children.
I was thinking more along the lines of abortions.. but yeah, that would do too
Aren’t they already ranked?
I thought that’s what the numbers stood for.
Return of the Jedi, Empire Strikes back, A New Hope. (6,5,4.). I don’t acknowledge the existence of episodes 1/2/3.
Jedi wasn’t THAT bad. Sure, it had a bunch of primitive muppets taking down crack Imperial troops with some lame jungle warfare, but the Emperor, Sarlacc, Rancor, Space Battle Endor, Vaders hand etc etc…epic stuff that more than makes up for it. It’s still a pretty good ending to the series.
The prequels as a whole were worse imho. I still maintain my conspiracy theory that Lucas was doing shots of draino at the time.
Jedi has the final duel between Luke and Vader, which is probably one of the best things ever committed to film, so any other flaws it might have can be overlooked.
That is the pivotal moment of the trilogy, and they goddamned nailed it.
The moment where you see Luke slipping to the Dark Side, and the haunting music laid over the hectic lightsaber battleOnly scene in the whole trilogy that still gives me goosebumps.
The moment that you realise Luke was tounge gouged by his sister gives me goosebumps.
agreed
i actually like the music more than the movies
Yes. THIS. While I would rank them Empire>Hope>Jedi>Revenge>Clones>Phantom that final duel is brilliant. It is actually made even more impactful when you watch the series in the Machete Order (4,5,2,3,6) because it draws out a lot of parallels between Luke and Anakin and makes that final confrontation even more tense. You can see how the Empror is pulling the same strings he pulled with Anakin (save the ones you love) as he tempts Luke.
There’s SOMETHING about Phantom Menace that makes it rewatchable. Darth Maul? Liam Neeson? Obi Wan? Not Jake Lloyd. The music is awesome. The sets are great. The movie itself has moments where it FEELS like the originals. The other prequels never have that. Ever.
Was it Jar jar?
I was going to say Hayden Christensen, but maybe that’s a bit mean. Although, maybe it’s awful dialogue (”Hold me, like you did by the lake on Naboo.”) between Padme & Anakin in episodes II & III?
That could possibly be it? It could also possibly be the fact 2 and 3 are just so goddamn generic…
Star Wars (1977), Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
, Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi (1983), the prequels Suck, i still have an unopened original VHS of the original 3 star wars films
Not even a fan of Revenge of the Sith? The second act is pretty good. Sure, they could have picked a better actor for Anakin, but Ewan McGregor as Obi-Wan I felt was more likable than Old Ben Kenobi.
Shit man, you might get $1.50 for those VHS tapes. Cash in while you can!
3, 2, 4, 6, 5, 1
WHAT?!
😮
The prequel trilogy is better than the original trilogy (waits for a million downvotes) and episodes 3 and 2 are the best in the series. 4 is great, but it suffers a bit when taken into context with the rest of the series. 5, 6 and 1 are all about the same, though 1’s possibly a bit worse. I’m torn because on one hand you have Jar Jar, on the other you have Liam Neeson.
Not gonna downvote, because you’re entitled to your opinion. Hope no one else does, either, even if they don’t agree.
And rankings aside, I gotta agree re: 4 not holding up too well, and about the Liam/Jar Jar dichotomy 😛
The thing about Jar Jar is, as a kid I rather liked him, and I know I’m not alone because most kids in my class also liked him, but as an adult I can see how annoying he is.
I think that’s a big problem episode 1 had in how it was developed and how people regard it. The original Star Wars trilogy was huge among kids, and they were able to get away with having some pretty goofy characters (C3PO, Ewoks), so going into episode 1 they clearly tried to make a movie that appealed to kids with both a child character and a goofy sidekick, but by that point all the fans of the original trilogy had grown up and wanted to see adult Star Wars, not kid Star Wars.
That’s a fair comment. I have no idea how C3PO comes across to an adult who’s never seen Star Wars before.
You liked Attack of the Clones? I’m not really a fan of it, but I don’t think it’s as bad as everyone says.
I like all the Star Wars films, including Attack of the Clones and Phantom Menace.
I liked them all too, but if I had to rate them…
I really liked Anakin’s story in Attack of the Clones. I loved watching as the initial stages of his corruption take hold, and the scene where his mum dies, he slaughters the sand people and then tells Padme about it afterwards is one of my favourite in the entire series.
That was a good scene. The fight between Yoda and Count Dooku was pretty neat, too.
hmmm…controversial. Although I wouldn’t rank it this way myself, I totally get why 1 is last.
I like this.
Just swap around RotJ and RotS and you’ve got it
Empire Strikes Back > Star Wars > Return of the Jedi > Revenge of the Sith > The Phantom Menace > Attack of the Clones
Empire Strikes Back > Star Wars > Return of the Jedi > Revenge of the Sith > The Phantom Menace > Attack of the Clones
I think it’s kind of a testament to how awful the rest of Phantom Menace was when it is looked at so lowly yet still had one of the coolest new characters.
Qui-gon is the reason that film is somewhat reputable.
I can’t really hate Phantom Menace, because I love both Liam Neeson and Ewan McGregor. Hell, Ewan is the reason I don’t actually mind the prequels.
Had Darth Maul as well, you cannot make another character as well know aside from Boba Fett. Due to Boba Fett being awesome, they made his dad Jango Fett so that they could still tie in little Boba.
…..who had about 15 minutes of screen time, a dozen lines and died in a ridiculous fashion.
And yet took up about 80% of the promotional material. A slightly overplayed hand there, Lucas.
1. Return of the Jedi,
2. Empire Strikes Back,
3. A New Hope
4. Revenge of the Sith
5. The Phantom Menace
6. Attack of the Clones
KotORs are better than all the movies though. Maybe the Star Tours ride at Disney too. 😛
Hahaha
“45, you’re going the wrong way! Stop immediately!”1. Jedi
2. Empire
3. Hope
These are the only three I’m aware of.
Original trilogy ranking order pals! 😛
Twins.
Also a good flick! 😀
Empire Strikes Back > Return of the Jedi > Revenge of the Sith > A New Hope > Phantom Menace > Attack of the Clones.
I’m not really a fan of A New Hope. It’s not that it’s a bad film, and it, no doubt, would have been mesmerizing when it came out, but I just don’t think it holds up like Empire does.
I actually quite liked Revenge of the Sith. For me, Return of the Jedi and Revenge of the Sith are close.
Hah, you and I had almost identical orders (I prefered Clones over Menace because Portman was hotter)
The only good thing about the new movies are how they portrayed the Jedi. The lightsaber duels are really well animated and choreographed. You could argue that they were perhaps a bit excessive, but for me I found them very entertaining, and still occasionally pop one of the new movies in and watch some of the duels.
Yeah, a few months back I sat down one weekend and watched all six movies in timeline order. Holy hell was it a step back going from Revenge to New Hope. Just watching that saber fight was… sobering. I had more dramatic combat with my little brothers and cardboard tubes when I was a kid.
Sidenote, watching both trilogies in the space of a weekend is not recommended. I found myself incredibly bored and disgusted and wondering what I ever liked about the universe in the first place. I had to play some of the games to remind myself.
“Ohyeah. I like what other more talented people did with it.”
the empire strikes back>return of the jedi>a new hope>star tours>xmas special>caravan of courage>battle for endor>the phantom menace (maul was boss)>revenge of the sith>attack of the clones
1. Star Wars
2. Star Trek
3. Wait, what are we doing again?
No no no. :p
1. Dr Who
2. Star Trek
3. Star Wars….
… 7012. Twilight.
Nuclear wessels.
try watching them in the machete order. i did it one day and it made eps ii & iii way better.
Your list is correct, @markserrels.
However, there’s also the matter of the correct order to watch them in now. As a new father, you will one day have the responsibility of introducing Star Wars in the correct order. My take is:
A New Hope
Empire Strikes Back
Phantom Menace
Attack of the Clones
Revenge of the Sith
Return of the Jedi
A New Hope is the best introduction to the Galaxy Far, Far Away; it’s inhabitants take their worlds for granted (Princess Leia doesn’t turn to the camera and ask Han Solo how blasters work) and the universe feels lived-in. This order also preserves Vader’s grand reveal in Empire (The Emperor’s reveal doesn’t nearly compare, but it’s obviousness lends itself to an almost panto-style “he’s behind you” type yelling at poor oblivious Anakin). Then we go back and find out exactly how Vader fell from grace (turns out it was angst over his secret girlfriend). Finally finish on Jedi, since it’s a much happier ending than finishing on Revenge.
Isn’t that just the machete order?
I have never heard of the machete order until now – I was posting while @shk mentioned it.
I pretty much started watching them in this order from the moment Revenge was released, so it’s just become “the way I watch Star Wars” for me.
I haven’t tried skipping 1; I guess it’s worth a shot. I actually prefer 1 to 2 (I’ll take Jar Jar over Christensen’s nipples, thank you kindly), and I’ve been thinking if it would be possible to substitute (some of) the Clone Wars Saga for Episode 2 – so that, you actually get the Clone Wars rather than just the outbreak.
This: http://static.nomachetejuggling.com/machete_order.html !! 🙂
One of my friends told me about the Machete Order, so when the time comes to show my kids, this is what I’ll be doing.
I agree. Machete Order seems the slam dunk way of showing it to them. Part of me wants to just ignore the prequels but after actually watching it all I love the little things it does to Jedi and how it draws out the parallels between Vadar and Luke which aren’t immediately obvious.
1. Empire
2. Wars
3. Jedi
4. Clone Wars (The Gennedy Tartakovsky one)
5. Sith
6. Whatever the other ones were
Empire, New Hope, Jedi, Caravan of Courage, Star Wars Christmas Special, Phantom Menace, Revenge of the Sith, The Room, Attack of the Clones.
KotOR > everything else
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Wars_sources_and_analogues
Empire/Jedi > Sith > Wars > Clones > Phantom Menace
I feel I’ve seen the original enough times I can recite it off by heart. Sure the prequel trilogy was pretty bad, but Lucas really pulled it in with the dark Revenge of the Sith movie… It had everything, awesome space battle, Wookies, killing the stupid younglings, Anakin being mutilated.
The original Star Wars had some notable moments (Han shooting first, the Death Star)… But it can be quite a dry movie to want to watch multiple times. Still love it though, and I’ve watched the original more times on Blu-ray than I have Sith.
I rate Empire and Jedi the same, I really like them both for their own qualities. Empire is a smidgen ahead because the special edition was a pretty big improvement on the original (the opening of Cloud City was great) and it didn’t have a stupid musical number.
Empire > RoTJ > New Hope > Revenge > Clones > Phantom of the Menace
Return of the Jedi > Empire Strikes Back > A New Hope > Phantom Menace > Attack of the Clones > Revenge of the Sith.
I don’t get the love for Revenge out of the prequels. For me it was the worst of the lot, a real anti-climax. Anakin’s final fall to the dark side was rushed and unbelievable. His duel with Obi-wan doesn’t enthrall me like it really should (missing the passion of the much simpler fight between Luke and Vader in Jedi). The final scenes linking it to the original trilogy are rushed and terrible. It does things that tie in terribly with the original trilogy (failing it’s entire point of existing!)- Leia not getting more time with her mother than Luke, such that she remembers her, unlike Luke. Obi-wan knowing about Leia. Chewbacca being a friend of Yoda’s (WTF?). I’ve probably forgotten other points. And then of course there’s the Darth Vader “Noooooo” scene. Ergh.
I also don’t get the lack of love for Jedi. The Emperor’s throne room scenes, with the epic space battle going on outside? Even if you don’t like Ewoks, awesome stuff. It ends the series fantastically.
Needing to get to the “high ground” 😛
4/6/5
1/3/2
Return of the Jedi > Star Wars > Attack of the Clones > The Empire Strikes Back > The Phantom Menace > Clone Wars (2008) > The Ewoks movies > Holiday Special* > Revenge of the Sith
I’d argue that Sith was easily worse than Clones – the Obi Wan side plot in Clones salvaged it, to my mind, while Sith was mostly a humorless bore (and had far too little Artoo). For me, Sith actually diminishes the end of Jedi – I care far less about Anakin now than before it was released. My love for Empire has diminished, too, in comparison to the others – still love all the films (even RotS, in a your-child-is-a-crook kind of way). It’s not got the cheesy fun of Star Wars, nor the epic-ness of Jedi.
* Many of the laughs in the Holiday Special were deliberate – the few laughs in RotS doesn’t have that saving grace.
5, 4, 6, 3, 2, 1.
I saw Empire first at the movies in the school holidays, then Star Wars (it will never be a new hope to me) on a pirated VHS or Beta even, then Jedi on VHS. That is my order.
Many years later I was happy to see the prequels, all of them. They have some very sucky characters, dialogue and plots but they still make this middle aged man very happy and remind me of the time my friends and I planned to make a movie with our star wars figurines just so we could get more of the best sci fi universe ever.