With a new Star Wars movie out, the first in ten years, now is as good a time as any to see how all the films stack up. That’s right, it’s time to put the Star Wars movies through the Pecking Order paces — much like with have with everything from the Final Fantasy games to, more recently, the Fallout ones.
As with any Pecking Order, this is somebody’s opinion! My opinion, specifically. If you have a different order, fantastic. Cool, let’s begin.
1. Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
The default number one choice, but for good reason. Try to put yourself in the headspace of a person seeing it for the first time back in 1980, three years after you saw A New Hope. “Luke, I am your father.” The revelation was mind-melting. I saw the 1981 theatrical re-release as a small child and the movie’s dark edge made quite an impression, as did the settings, which were different from anything in the previous film.
While the payoff does rely heavily on the previous film’s groundwork, Empire would be an amazing movie as a standalone. It works as a movie, not simply as a Star Wars one.
Recently, it’s become somewhat in vogue to credit everyone but George Lucas for the good Star Wars films, to the point of overstating what others brought to the table and understating Lucas’s contributions. That being said, the smartest thing Lucas did was to turn over the reigns to another director, and to hire smart writers to punch up the dialogue — allowing them to do what they did best and him to focus on being a creative producer and overseeing the entire production.
Lucas has been at his best when he is collaborating, whether that’s with Ralph McQuarrie, Irvin Kershner, Lawrence Kasdan, or the film’s actors. For all the 20th century hype on auteurism and a singular filmmaker’s vision, film is a collaborative medium. Few films prove that better than The Empire Strikes Back.
2. Episode IV: A New Hope
The story goes that George Lucas wasn’t able to secure the rights to Flash Gordon, so he did his version. He cribbed the now iconic opening crawl, but added a healthy dose of Akira Kurosawa, such as the director’s preference to transition scenes with wipes, and taking inspiration from the 1958 film Hidden Fortress as well as Japanese kimono and armour.
Lucas hasn’t directed that many feature films over the years, and A New Hope is still his best work. It wasn’t an easy film for him to make. While this is the film that launched one of the biggest franchises ever, what really sticks out about it these days isn’t just the trench run sequence or Obi-Wan’s duel with Darth Vader, it’s how many of the scenes linger and are deliberately paced. Modern movies move at a quick clip, but A New Hope takes its time. Characters sit around and talk about their hopes and dreams in a way that you don’t see much these days in mass entertainment Hollywood films. The movie is anything but dull, mind you. But its deliberate pacing sets it apart from the modern blockbusters it helped inspire.
3. Episode VII: The Force Awakens
There is much to like about The Force Awakens — most obviously, that amid intense pressure, the filmmakers delivered an entertaining Star Wars picture. It’s difficult to make a good movie — any movie — so the odds were stacked against the filmmakers. The fact that, amid all the pressures and lofty expectations, they pulled it off is quite an impressive feat.
But for me, what puts this movie so high on the list is that while it’s a terrific Star Wars movie, it also completely flips what we think of as “Star Wars” on its head. We have the Star Wars characters you know and love (Han, Leia, Chewie and so on), but the new ones are quite different. Finn, for example, isn’t entirely heroic. In many scenes, he’s cowardly. In other scenes, he’s selfish. He’s one of the most human characters I’ve ever seen in a Star Wars movie, and John Boyega does a brilliant job of bringing him to life in a compassionate way.
The other new characters — Daisy Ridley’s Rey and Adam Driver’s Kylo Ren — are also fascinating. Rey fits more within the type of Star Wars characters we are familiar with: She’s tough, kick-arse and heroic. However, the character plays a nice foil to Luke Skywalker: While Luke couldn’t wait to get off of Tatooine, Rey feels compelled to stay on Jakku. Kylo Ren looks like the type of evil Star Wars character we are now familiar with (there’s a hood and a mask), but he’s brash and bratty, throwing fits that send Stormtroopers running. Meanwhile, he’s a dark jedi tempted by the light; an inversion of the temptation Luke so famously faced in the original trilogy.
The movie also has a self-aware quality that sometimes works (such as when Poe mocks Kylo Ren for his mask) and sometimes doesn’t (the numerous recycled Star Wars lines and scenes). This is a movie that aims to please. It wants you to like it. And I do.
4. Episode VI: Return of the Jedi
Another difficult one. I talked to my colleague Evan Narcisse about this, and he argued that because Return of the Jedi is payoff and culmination, it should be higher than The Force Awakens. Honestly, The Force Awakens just edges it out.
I like how the film opens. I love the early set pieces, and I like how it seems like Luke really could join the dark side. The showdown between Darth Vader and Luke is satisfying. There are also lots of things that I’ve grown to like less over the years. Do I hate the Ewoks? No. Did I like them better when I was six? Yes.
My absolute favourite thing about Return of the Jedi was and remains Lando Calrissian. It’s his fault that everything went pear-shaped in The Empire Strikes Back. He seems aware of that, which is why he returns in Jedi to help get Han Solo back and fly the Millenium Falcon. He’s there to set things right. Part of me has always wished the whole movie was told from his point of view.
Originally, the film was going to be called Revenge of the Jedi, but as the story goes, Lucas changed the title because Jedi don’t do revenge. They return. This is the same line of thinking that led to the “Greedo shot first” re-edit (because Han Solo is a hero and heroes don’t shoot first). To me, it marks the start of the Bad George Lucas Era.
5. Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
For all the (deserved) complaints about George Lucas’ newer Star Wars movies, Revenge of the Sith is OK! Corny dialogue aside, it’s easily the best of film of the prequels. How’s that for a backhanded compliment?
This is still a weird movie. One of the main bad guys is a cyborg with a terrible cough. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, and I’ve always respected how Lucas goes out of his way to change things up with each film. Sometimes, though, he’s changing things for the worse.
It’s got some big space battles and a neat lava showdown, but at the end of the movie, I was left wondering: This? We’ve been building to this? We never saw the transformation that was promised, we only watched Anakin go from a wooden child actor to a rather mopey adult.
When I saw Revenge of the Sith, I kept thinking about how artfully Michael Corleone’s transformation was handled in The Godfather. Lucas wasn’t able to pull off Anakin’s change with nearly the same degree of skill. There’s no conviction. It’s all artifice. Anakin becomes bad because he’s supposed to become Darth Vader. The journey was supposed to be compelling, but it wasn’t. Forget Jar-Jar, the Midi-chlorians, Clone Troopers killing Jedi and all that other crap, this is why ultimately why the entire Episode I to III trilogy, including Revenge of the Sith, was unsatisfying.
6. Episode II: Attack of the Clones
Dull, dull, dull. There were some bright spots — namely the action scenes, which were far more inspired than any of the dialogue. I do love the shades of Raiders of the Lost Ark during Obi-Wan’s fight with Jango Fett.
Re-watching the movie now, the CG has aged poorly. The performances haven’t aged poorly; they were poor to begin with. This is a very dull movie that’s only barely worth watching for some of the fight scenes. At least it was nice to see Christopher Lee in a Star Wars movie. It’s nice to see Christopher Lee in any movie.
7. Episode I: The Phantom Menace
Well. Where to begin? This is one joyless, flat movie. The acting is terrible, Jar-Jar is terrible, the dialogue is bad and the ending is awful. From start to finish, The Phantom Menace alternates from disaster to disappointment. That being said, the movie’s soundtrack is excellent. So are some of the fights. Make that, one of the fights.
I remember right before I saw the movie, an art major friend of mine said, “Oh, you’ll really like the symbolism.” Not only was that friend wrong, he was, I’m assuming, drunk. The religious symbolism in this movie is heavy-handed and bland.
The Phantom Menace probably wasn’t specifically designed to irritate Star Wars fans (the Force is Midi-chlorians? What?) but it managed to do so from start to finish.
Comments
96 responses to “Let’s Rank The Star Wars Movies, Best To Worst”
This is the exact order I’d have placed them in. No complaints.
Me two, except I left the last three out altogether.
Episodes I, II & III? What are they?
There was a rumour of prequels being made, but whenever I concentrate on them I feel a great disturbance in the Force, as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror, and were suddenly silenced.
I fear something terrible has happened
Same!
same here May the 4th be with you
Bloody hell. Who else had to look twice at that header image.
I didn’t until I read your comment.
Now I cannot unsee it.
Welcome.
What’re we looking at? *woosh*
Han’s boots on the table are arranged in a way that makes it look like there’s a fully armed and operational battle station that’s been erected.
As much as I want to I just don’t see it. The boner is weak with this one. 🙁
I couldnt actually figure out what it was until seeing the boot comment above!
I didn’t see it a year ago, but I’m seeing it now!
I can’t get TFS Mr. Popo’s voice out of my head now…
All these squares make a circle. All these squares make a circle. All these squares make a circle.
straight to comments to see if anyone else noticed.
Yep- I did the same.
Man, that photo is unfortunate….. and impressive!
Fuck – it can’t be unseen
Sure does look like he’s ready to shoot first
haha well done 😀
Han clearly hasn’t shot first.
He was excited to kill Greedo…very excited!
Greedo’s gettin greedy
Probably would rank them the same. Cept i would swap Phantom Menace and Attackada Clones.
Same. Ep II in my eyes is easily the worst of a bad bunch.
Agreed, no way is Attack of the Clones better than Phantom Menace.
I would put Return of the Jedi in at Number 2 and shift the rest of the order down. I would also swap Clones and Menace. I have the nostalgia element driving my love for ROTJ as it was the first SW film I saw. I also still think it has the best space battle of the entire series and I can re-watch the Battle of Endor endlessly.
I also rate Jedi higher than A New Hope. The only draw back to the movie is that virtually nothing happens with Han Solo but Luke, Vader and the Emperor carry the movie
Some parts of ROtJ are disappointing but the final battle with the emperor saves that movie. I would put it above that crappy new hope on steroids rip off TFA for sure.
1. ESB
2. ANH
3. TFA
4. ROTJ
5. ROTS
6. TPM (Darth Mauls scenes elevated it here, plus Pod Racing for the most part)
7. AOTC (Nothing redeemable in this trash…)
Yep, this. The Phantom Menace is an okay film with some great bits in it, it just seriously needed an editor. There’s fan-made cuts of the film that actually make it pretty entertaining.
There’s no saving Attack of the Clones though. Just a straight-up all-around bad film. And no way at all to rescue that dialogue. “I don’t like sand”.
100% agree with this. I’d put Ep VII above ANH, but you only appreciate it because of ANH. And my GOD AOTC is a shithouse film hahaha
That’s how I feel too. Episode 7 while technically superior to Episode 4, is only so due to Episode 4’s existence. Without 4, 7’s plotbeats themselves would not exist, it’s after all both a homage and a gloriously wonderful ripoff of its predecessor in all the right ways.
And Kylo Ren is so f***ing fantastic.
Did you see the Saturday Night Live “Undercover Boss” special with Kylo Ren? LOL
https://youtu.be/FaOSCASqLsE
Yes Undercover boss was hilarious haha. I get really annoyed when people bitch and moan that he’s so cranky, and unbelievable as a character. I thought it was good to see a bad guy so conflicted for once. Being a hero/villain is never as black and white as the movies have shown us for so long, so a little depth is great. These same people have said how good Revenge of the Sith was. SHHHHHH. Your opinions are invalid 😛
I personally loved the conflict in Kylo Ren. He’s written fantastically. In English which I help teach (Uni student, so I’m majoring, and help lecture part time, as well as tutor), we constantly talk about Macbeth and Hamlet. They’ve dug *deep* on their knowledge of Shakesperean archetypes with Kylo.
Unlike the person below, it’s encouraging to see someone who’s given it some forethought. Ben is only in the beginning stages more or less of his transformation into a Sith (he isn’t even a Sith yet, no Darth name, still in training). He references the fact he feels the ‘pull of the light’. To him, light is wrong, dark is good. It’s like he was brainwashed and raised to believe the exact opposite of the rest of the universe, like someone kept in a cellar all their life and fed misinformation.
The tantrums he throws I felt were directly in character. Vader was calm and controlled and also around 45 years old by the time Ep 4 rolled around. If people took a moment and thought of Anakin in Episodes 2 and 3, he had tantrums, he had outbursts, he acted the fool, the closer he got to the darkside, the more petty he acted. With Kylo, he’s still young, early 20’s, he’s raised by Snoke who teaches him nothing but evil, rage and anger. He won’t find the control of a light side Jedi there, only the rage of a future Sith. So why on earth would someone believe that he would? It perplexes me that people can’t take five seconds to figure that out…
But in the end, looking at his grandfather as a false god, looking to his own father as someone who betrayed him to the lightside with Luke, inverting his views and seeing Luke as the betrayer who slew the one who would bring balance to the universe, Kylos one messed up, twisted puppy because he’s been *made* that way by Snoke.
Or, people can give it no thought whatsoever and foolishly say “Hur hur hur he’s having a teen emo rage hur hur hur Im gonna go watch Transformers now hur hur hur”.
Yeah I think people are really giving it a hard time for no real reason as far as I can see! Ahh well. I’m really looking forward to Rogue One this year and Ep VIII next year ^_^
The prequels also lean very heavily on shakespherean archetype. You can easily draw parallels between othello, julius Caesar and Anakin Skywalkers tragic hero story. For that matter, jar jar could be compared to hamlet’s rosencrantzand guildenstern, or romeo and juliet’s mercutio.
Yet the prequels are constantly getting crapped on for poor writing. Lines of dialogue like “I hate sand” and anything said by jar jar binks spring to mind.
Klo/Ben’s story is so problematic due to episode 7’s lack of world building. The opening crawl sets up Luke Skywalker as the last Jedi in the universe. Yet all of a sudden Ben is being trained in the ways of the force by some guy named snoke who’s very presence is not only not explained but actually makes darth vader/Anakin Skywalker look incompetent and completely invalidates the movies own internal logic. His only reason for existing in this context is to add dramatic weight to the death of Han Solo. (Something that is out of character for the supposedly selfish and self reliant character Han is meant to be). I suppose youthful petulance and indecision does create an internally conflicted villain, And one that is relatable to many younger adults. However to me this is simply uninteresting writing. It’s a poor rehash of anakins descent to the darkside. I prefer characters who are sure of themselves and who’s conflicts come from the dramatic weight of legitimately grey decisions ie would you kill hundreds of innocents to save thousands, some of whom weren’t innocent.
Then there is the issue with the good guys being called “the resistance” when little is done to explain how or why the rebel alliance changed its branding. (Apart from Disney wanting to do something new) and very little in the movie shows the first order as an occupying force that would require resisting against.
The Resistance isn’t the Rebel Alliance as per se.
The Rebel Alliance became the Republic which took over the Core worlds. The Empire moved to the outer rim and reorganised its fragmented fleet into the First Order and rebuilt. It then terrorised the outer rim for 30 years. During that time, outer rim worlds formulated their own fleet and fought back with a ‘resistance’ that was secretly funded by the Republic, who for some silly reason couldn’t be seen to publicly be supporting them.
As for being the last Jedi, I honestly dont recall it saying he was the very last jedi in the universe?
That would be somewhat interesting. Except almost none of that middle paragraph is adaquetly explained in the film. It’s touched on in the crawl but nothing is properly explained. As for Luke Skywalker being the last Jedi it’s a line in the opening crawl.
And the idea that there would be a secret Sith Lord (so not technically a Jedi) that vader and palpatine wouldn’t have seen as a threat and eliminated during their era of galactic reign makes them and the Jedi order from the prequels look incredibly incompetent.
As for them being called the resistance. A group called the resistance should be resisting an occupying force, however in TFA we see very little evidence of this, as the first order are mostly depicted as a gruerella terrorist organisation. Trying to eliminate the Jedi, because Ben hates his uncle because he met a character who shouldn’t exist.
Indeed and thats true, but the fact is most of the stuff in the original trilogy was actually explained from ESB onwards. ANH is actually very, very light on what the Empire is as well. Maybe 8 and 9 will flesh it out more.
I feel like ANH actually explains the plot and motivation of all its players quite well. Through both dialogue and more subtle storytelling. words like evil empire and death star are obvious. But from Luke’s conversations with his aunt and uncle early in the film you can see that even a farm boy on an isolated outer rim world is fully aware that he is living under the harsh reality of a strict totalitarian regime. This is further emphasized when Luke and obi wan are trying to find passage off tatooine and only a reckless smuggler is willing to take the fair. The motivations might be simple black and white storytelling. But they are properly explained.
Ep 7 is so stupid. I knew Hans fate as soon as we knew who kylo ren was. Also Keira Knightley, sorry i mean Rey, is way too op. Just imagine if Luke beat Darth Vader with a lightsaber in A New Hope. And wtf is there for fin to do in the next movie? Now that the stupid arse death planet is destroyed he brings absolutely nothing to the table. The only good idea in Ep 7 is returning to the original trilogies aesthetics and the use of practical effects.
*pats you on the head* Good for you lad, good for you.
Can’t please all the people all the time 😉
The Phantom Menace had midi-chlorians. Doesn’t that push it down the rankings?
And no wonder I stood clear of Star Wars for so long. The first one I ever saw in the theatre was Attack of the Clones. Didn’t mind it but on reflection I don’t see it have any more substance than ST5 (and relax, I’m using that movie for comparison and not to stitch you up as I usually do).
*eye twitch*
Relax, I’m being serious.
Looking back Episode 2 it has the same problem as ST5; too much padding.
In ST5 the padding was basically poor homages to prior films thus causing ST5 to have little of its own to be judged but for Episode 2 it is just dead air.
The plot easily could fit in 45 minutes (at most) and didn’t need a two hour run time.
lol I know it’s all good.
Episode 2 was a mess in every sense of the word, there was no coherence to it. Thankfully Episode 3 fixed most of that. Episode 1 coasted by on a LOT of nostalgia and got a pass thanks to that, it was for all intents, the original “Episode 7”.
1. Empire Strikes Back
2. Return of the Jedi
3. A New Hope
4. The Force Awakens
5. Attack of the Clones
6. Revenge of the Sith
The Phantom Menace doesnt even rank? You must have really hated it…
The what menace?
😛
So I take it then you get allergic reactions all over your body that require hospitalisation when you watch the holiday special?
You know, people dump on the holiday special for being a shit movie and don’t get me wrong, it is, but that format of themed holiday variety shows that don’t make any sense wasn’t that out of place for the era. I don’t know why anyone ever considered it a canonical entry to the franchise and while it might have been improved if everyone in the 80s hadn’t been completely coked out of their skulls, I think trying to rank it alongside actual movies is a touch unfair.
That said, the unsubtitled opening sequence entirely in wookie and the awful costumes did create a kind of surrealistic body horror. Chewbacca’s nephew in particular looks like he’s trapped in a living nightmare.
I dump on the holiday special because it’s the holiday special and it was garbage relative to any movie in any genre. The fact that it was part of the Star Wars brand makes it all the worse…
Mother of god….
It took me a decade before I bought TPM on DVD and only then cuz my son asked to see it
As a parent, it’s your job to protect your children from filth like that! 😛
If you can pull out just the Duel of the Fates sequence, I’d slot that in above Jedi, but that makes Phantom Menace so bad that you can’t even rank it.
Let’s not.
1. ROTJ
2. ESB
3. ANH
4. TPM
5. TFA
6. ROTS
7. AOTC
I have a very nostalgic liking for the Phantom Menace due to when and how I saw it. The Force Awakens however I did not enjoy at all, but realise it is better than the other 2 prequels. At the end of the day, ROTJ has some of the best battle scenes in the series, and was the prettiest of the movies. There is just something about Empire I dont like as much, but its still brilliant.
I’m kinda in the same boat with Empire. It might just be me but I think the lack of any real space battles in Empire knocked it down a peg compared to both ROTJ and ANH. It’s also one of my main issues with TFA. I just like having more space stuff in my Star Wars.
Good to see someone else shares my view. Its also the major reason why the prequels sucks so hard. Its called Star Wars after all…
Would love to see the list include both original movies and later enhanced / rereleased
Star Wars Film Rankings:
5 > 4 > 6 > 3 > 2 > 1
Star Wars Fan Fiction Rankings:
7
Ouch! That’s harsh 🙂
/Thrawn master race!
[And the rest of the *true* storyline EU]
For me personally
1. A new hope
2. Empire strikes back
3. Revenge of the sith
4 return of the Jedi
5 the phantom menace
6. The force awakens
A soulless rehash of a new hope, that’s essentially a shot for shot remake. With no world building despite a long time passing since empire, a villan who is the man child version of every teen you’ve ever hated in grown up dramas, and attitudes toward women that make game of thrones look positively feminist.
7. Attack of the clones.
A “shot for shot” remake? I don’t think you do know what “shot for shot” means! Similar in a number of ways but by not means “shot for shot”. Yes there were desert worlds, droids carrying important stuff being hunted by the bad guys, a good guy dies and his friends goes apeshit and kill lots of bad guys, a large battle station, and the rebel attack being decimated before being triumphant. But also there was a stormtrooper deserting his post and helping a prisoner escape in a Tie Fighter, the dogfight on Jakku, the rebel attack on Takodana, the lightsabre battle in the forest on starkiller base and then some more.
Mines quite a bit different. I liked the Force Awakens more than the old ones because I never liked the old ones as kid. Also AOTC is 100x worse than TPM.
TFA
ESB
ANH
ROTS
ROTJ
TPM
AOTC
I’m with you on TFA, I saw Ep. IV a few times on tele growing up but never loved it, I only watched V and VI about 2 months ago for the first time, all 3 are OK but without that nostalgia, from a 30 year old person watching them for the first time, they were all ok but not mind blowing. Took me 3 attempts to watch Ep. I which was a giant pile of crap and I got halfway through Ep. II and just lost interest. Never even saw Ep. III so my order is
1. Ep. VII
2. Ep. IV
3. Ep. VI
4. Ep. V
5. Ep. I
6. Ep. Nope
7. Ep. Not even
The prequels. The basic story behind them, it’s ok. The execution of them, absolutely terrible. I like them for bits of the lore that’re hinted at, however what is hinted at isn’t fleshed out enough. Who was Sifo_Dyas? Was Qui Gonn really leaning towards Dooku’s plans? Unfortunately Lucas decided that instead of making decent films with good acting (I’ll be brutally honest here, the acting in A New Hope was a bit wooden as well from all except Alec Guiness and Peter Cushing so his track record wasn’t great), he decided to make 3 2 hour long adverts for his latest range of toys and video games.
Take out anything Anakin and Padme from the prequels though and the films become kind of bearable. The problem is that those two characters are the main focus for the 3 films.
Can’t really argue with those rankings though. I might mix it up with the below though
ESB – Darkest film is the best, really keen for VIII if it’s along a similar vein, but no rehashing scenes this time please
TFA – It’s ANH but better. The First Order could’ve been explained better and the ending is just plain weird in a cinematic sense, not storywise, but so much was done well
ROTJ – I like Luke actually doing Jedi stuff and Palpatine was awesome
ANH – Story is great but being judgmental and not sentimental TFA does it so much better. Still a lot to like about it though and all 4 films are fantastic
Random prequel order – I’ll just skip to the fight scenes except for insanely overblown ROTS lightsaber battle.
I thought most people would’ve put Clones at the bottom since RotS at least had some good action, but I feel like the anticipation around the mighty duel between Obi-Wan and Anakin was hyped to the point that the attempt to do it justice – by making it take roughly eleven and a half friggin hours – was the main letdown.
5 > 4 > 6/7 > 3 > 1> 2
I give Jedi more props than most because pre-remaster it didn’t have ghost Hayden, “Nooooo!” dubbing and extended party sequences to Ewok cheese wasn’t that bad. Sure the opening at Jabba’s Palace and onto the sail barge sequence drags a but and isn’t as strong as Empire’s Hoth battle, but it’s still darn good. Also, the final duel between Luke and Vader powered by John Williams’ amazing score has to be THE top moment of the SW franchise. So while people shit on Jedi nowadays, I think it deserves more credit.
This isn’t ALL the films! Caravan of Courage had theatrical release!
*hides*
And what about the Star Wars Holiday Special? Huh? 😛
Not listed: The Clone Wars animated movie, Ewok Adventures 1 + 2, and the Star Wars Holiday Special…
I’ll stick my neck out and say that the TPM is my favourite of the lot.
And I’m happy to defend that choice to anyone that asks.
Sure, TPM is bad as far as general movie dialogue goes, but to me every other SW movie isn’t much better. On their own, they’re all bad films.
What I like about SW is the universe. The thing which I like about TPM, is that it actually gives the best realisation of said universe from all of the other films. Political intrigue and manipulation, blasting around the galaxy from planet to planet, from the lush Naboo to the desert on Tatooine to the metropolitan Coruscant, I LOVE it!
It sets the scene for the entire saga, how on earth Sidious managed to wrangle his way slowly but surely into power, getting the whole galaxy behind him, before unleashing his true vision. It’s the ultimate long-con, and downright fantastic. And regardless of how poor dialogue was given to Anakin [in all the prequels], I still think it was a pretty good origin story.
Oh yeah, and podracing. Love me some podracing.
Also, I refuse to acknowledge the timeline of the new movies [7+]. Mara Jade forever, baby!
Loved the legends timeline
“but the new ones are quite different. Finn, for example, isn’t entirely heroic. In many scenes, he’s cowardly. In other scenes, he’s selfish.”
Not that different – Han was much the same in the original.
I think your experience with each film is most heavily influenced by what age you were when you saw them. I’ve notice that many younger people do not have the same degree of dislike for the most recent trilogy, unless they are the children of ‘nerds’ like many of us and have been virtually told what to think about them.
I’m in my late 40s and still remember going to the cinema with my best friend at the time to see the original – we were both 10. It’s hard to imagine not having Star Wars in my life now. Almost as hard as it is to imagine not having a smart phone and/or the internet.
Pretty much nailed it.
Here’s stardusts opinion on this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qnLUd6e-5NM
The line is “No, I am your father”, not “Luke, I am your father.” Just FYI
Yes, we know. People use paraphrasing to make the quote more instantly recognisable. Stop banging on about this.
I find it hilarious how predictable the hate for the prequels is.
I’m sitting at work and saw this my first though ‘Phantom Menace is at the bottom because everybody hates it for no actual reason other than that weird hate the internet has of certain things’
In my book i decided to write which Star Wars movies I predicted would be best to worst.
Empire Strikes Back
A New Hope
Return of the Jedi
The Force Awakens
Revenge of the Sith
Attack of The Clones
The Phantom Menace.
I got ROJ and TFA around the wrong way…but still…it really is ridiculous.
Maybe I’m the only one that actually enjoys the prequels as much as OT…my list if you’re curious;
ESB (Hoth scene…can’t go passed it)
TPM (Podracers, Qui Gon, young Obi, double ended lightsaber…list goes on)
ANH (It started it all)
ROJ and AOC sit about the same for me, they’re both solid in there own ways…I love the all out battle on Geonosis, and the arena style beggining. But Luke being confident as a Jedi and the entire sabotage from Solo, Leia and the rebels on Endor was really awesome too. Ewoks seeing 3PO as a god :’)
That sorta leaves The Force Awakens and Revenge of the Sith at the bottom of the list…neither of them should be at the bottom…they’re both really great. All the Star Wars movies are amazing. I really didn’t understand why they needed to be ranked…it felt like an excuse to bag out the prequels.
If you’re going to tell me they’re bad. Explain how they’re dull, tell me how the acting was bad, wooden, moody and then compare it to other acting in the OT. How did it alternate from disaster to disappointment? You can’t just say those things without explaining HOW you came to this conclusion. Without referencing what point in the movie was crap I just can’t take these sort of rankings seriously.
I know people are going to kill me but this is my opinion.
1. TFA: People said the prequels were to far away from the originals, with this its close and fans are saying its too close. Sure its just a re-hash of A New Hope but people are acting as if its a bad thing, sure some ideas arent original but thats what i expected
2. ROTS: HEAR ME OUT. I grew up with the prequels and this was the very first Star Wars movie i saw. The big problem that people have that just annoys me is CGI CGI! People always look at how it is overused and they act like they didn’t have any practical sets at all. They did have practical sets its just people don’t like to talk about them. CGI was even nesscessary in some parts such as Battle Of Corusant. You cannot recreate something as cool and epic like that with real sets. (Yes the 1st Death Star Battle was done without CGI but when you compare the 2 I think Battle Of Corrusant is better)
3. ROTJ: I actually really like this film alot and it just stuck with me throughout my life. Sure ewoks defeating the Empire is a little weird but still, we got The Emperor, menacing as ever and trying to get Luke to turn to the dark side and then we have Darth Vader who finally brings balence to the force as he was mean’t to do in the first place.
4: ESB: OKAY BEFORE YOU KILL ME: This is a great movie (Same level as ROTJ) but I think it is a wee bit overrated. Hear me out on this one. This could be because I grew up with the prequels but its all talky talky. Now before you call me Michael Bay or some shit believe me I love the character development in this movie and I love the story. But what if we take away the infamous, “No, I am your father” plot twist from the movie. I think then it would be downgraded a level or 2. The main reason I think its overrated to me is that because I didnt witness this movie in theatres and it takes a little bit away from the experience.
5: ANH: Now shits getting real. I think why people love this so much is because they are wearing Nostalgia googles. Because this is the first Star Wars movie and it had such an impact on cinematography forever. Lets say that every Star Wars movie was released on the same day without any knowledge of Star Wars before hand, I think that this would be around the same position as mine.
6: TPH: This is a descent movie. Sure bad acting and ‘midiclorians’ UGHHHH. But the main reason for the bad acting was the writing, and of course what is The Phantom Menace without JAR JAR BINKS. Little Georgy boy thought this would be funny to audiences but instead just made an absolute cringe fest. Last but not least the soundtrack in this movie. FUCK YEAHHHHHH
7. AOTC: I don’t like sand
Havent seen new one id go:
Empire
Rotj
New hope
Phatom men
Clones
Revenge of sith
Honestly i thought revenge of the sith was fucking terrible, shit acting , shit how they pieced it together, 1 min anakin good nekk min full bad shit cgi, there was too much story to tie in and it was rushed
Empire Strikes Back
Revenge of the Sith
A New Hope
The Phantom Menace
Attack of the Clones
Return of the Jedi
The Force Awakens
I grew up watching the prequel trilogy and original trilogy and hold both as high as each other. But this order, for me, is what I can watch most often on repeat.
In 10 years TFA will be remembered for the Batman v Superman level of nonsense it is. Parts of it are Christmas Special cringeworthy bad, without any of the originality.
what? Force awakens ahead of Return of the Jedi? seriously?
Man everyones just jumped on the new star wars hype train.
Force awakens was not great and certainly not better than any of the original 3.
Teddy bears!!
If you’re going to repost a column from 15 months ago, maybe you could at least update it to include the movie released between then and now?
Empire, New hope, Return of the Jedi, Rogue one????
1. Empire Strikes Back
2. Return of the Jedi
3. New Hope
4. Revenge of the Sith
5. Force Awakens
6. Rogue One
7. Phantom Menace
8. Clone Wars
9. Holiday Special
You forgot one. Rogue One.
The article predates Rogue One, just rehashed for May 4th again.
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