Ranking The 9 Episodes of Star Wars
Added 2022-06-27 18:23:52 +0000 UTCLol....I did my own ranking, now that I have finally completed the trilogy. Took me a long time to get to Rise of Skywalker (review coming sometime soon). So this felt imperative. Admittedly a couple of these are not as fresh in my mind as I would like (Last Jedi, as example)...but it's what I got for now. Feel free to tell me how wrong I am, or how you would rank them personally.
1. Empire Strikes Back (1980)
2. Star Wars (1977)
3. Revenge of the Sith (2005)
4. Return of the Jedi (1983)
5. The Force Awakens (2015)
6. The Phantom Menace (1999)
7. The Last Jedi (2017)
8. Attack of the Clones (2002)
9. The Rise of Skywalker (2019)
Comments
Ok, Patreon seems to have removed my longer post, so I'm back to say I think TLJ is the third best in the franchise behind Empire and ANH (which flip flop for me between 1 and 2), but it's my favorite film of the series...and it shouldn't feel scary to say that. I think that movie, warts and all, really held up some uncomfortable mirrors to the wider viewership of the franchise, and it did it with love. The best parts of that movie are what I've wanted from a mainline Star War for a while, and I think it's funny that people hate how this apparently politicized Star Wars...a series that is instrumentality political in story and theme by George Lucas's own declaration–not to mention the use of the word 'wars'.
Jabari Weathers
2022-07-02 13:59:29 +0000 UTC1. Empire Strikes Back 2. A New Hope 3. Last Jedi 4. Force Awakens 5. Return of the Jedi 6. Rise of Skywalker 7. Revenge of the Sith 8. Phantom Menace 9. Attack of the Clones This makes it seem like I hate the prequels, but really I love all these films and could rewatch them endlessly.
luckEdrew
2022-07-01 22:37:43 +0000 UTCYou left out the most important Star Wars film. The 1978 Holiday special!
Emerson B
2022-06-29 16:09:14 +0000 UTCHaha true, but TROS never would have been able to achieve the levels of terrible it did without the foundation laid by TLJ. Plus, with TROS I never got the feeling that the movie wanted me to go fuck myself.
Hart
2022-06-29 13:43:26 +0000 UTCThe Last Jedi is pure evil. But...Rise of Skywalker was an abomination, the likes of which, I dunno if I will ever recover from. XD
Deepfocuslens
2022-06-28 21:21:00 +0000 UTCI would keep the list the same…except 3 and 4 should be switched and all the sequels should be moved to the bottom with TLJ in last place or just removed entirely.
Hart
2022-06-28 21:18:07 +0000 UTCYour list is the same as mine with the minor caveat I haven't seen Revenge of the Sith since 2005. I might also give A New Hope the edge for setting the precedent, but yeah canon list imo.
Arthur Augustyn
2022-06-28 00:06:41 +0000 UTCHaha we have deep deep disagreements on this list. First three were going so well. XD
Deepfocuslens
2022-06-28 00:01:15 +0000 UTCHere is my list with annotations: 1) The Empire Strikes Back (1980) How could it be any other? This is the film that deepened the mythos of the saga, giving it more weight and gravity. After Empire premiered, we the audience understood that Star Wars was aspiring to be more than a dazzling big-budget takeoff on kiddie sci-if serials like Flash Gordon. So many of the most indelible moments are in this one: the Battle of Hoth, Yoda’s training, Han’s imprisonment in carbonite, Vader’s revelation to Luke…Lucas may be the visionary, but Irvin Kershner was the better, more capable director. I assert that he was able to pull of those moments better than Lucas would have, and he elevated Star Wars to what we know and love about it: a grand space opera, a myth for our times. I have one hot take though: Han Solo should have died at the end of Empire and not gone on to ROTJ. That would have fulfilled the tragedy of the film, the darkest chapter of the trilogy. 2) Star Wars (1977) I come off as harsh on Lucas, so I’ll give credit where it’s due. Where Coppola brought Shakespearean tragedy to the movies like no one else before him with the two Godfather movies, Lucas brought the Joseph Campbell myth of the hero’s journey to the movies like no one else before him. He didn’t just create a new popular myth for our culture, he created the original popular myth for our culture. Every big-budget blockbuster, from The Terminator to The Matrix to LOTR to the MCU, has tried to be Star Wars, and few have succeeded. For better and worse, Star Wars was a seismic event, and it all started with Lucas. 3) Return of the Jedi (1983) I’m honestly in wonderment as to why Revenge of the Sith gets placed above this one. Yes, ROTJ is the first movie to be made with an eye towards merchandise (those damn Ewoks!), and it’s most certainly the weakest of the original trilogy, but as far as I’m concerned, it sticks the landing for concluding the story. The redemption of Darth Vader still remains a powerful moment for me, and it is that added dimension to him that makes him one of the great villains in movie history. ROTJ is far from perfect (too much of a cutesy tone enters the movie for my liking and a second Dearh Star is, quite frankly, a lazy idea), but it maintains enough of the intregrity of what was started with the first two films to lift it above what came after. 4) The Last Jedi (2017) Let me be clear: I don‘t like either trilogy that came after the originals for different reasons. The sequel trilogy, as much as they’re corporate products, are for me the lesser of two evils, and The Last Jedi is the best of the three. Yes, this is the film that, to the dismay of many, let political agenda creep in and poison the spirit of the saga, and it basically threw out all the elements that J.J. Abrams set up in TFA ( Rey’s parentage, Finn’s importance, etc.), which wound up derailing the trilogy. But this is probably the most artfully made film since Empire. Rion Johnson, a better director than Abrams, brings forth many poetic moments (those ships cutting red swaths through the salt lands) that brought me closer to to the aura of the original trilogy more so than any other film. And I might be in the minority, but I appreciated Mark Hamill’s performance as an older, disillusioned Luke. I think it audacious that the resilient hero of the original trilogy be a man who lost faith in the Force and is now filled only with regret. If only they created a better arc for him than they did. So yes, this film breaks with the ones that came before it and damages the thematic integrity of Star Wars by indulging too much in woke ideology (I hate the Rose Tico character) and proceeding with a deconstructionist bent (who needs the ancient texts of the Force? That whole thing’s antiquated!), but there are moments that evoke Star Wars at its best. 5) The Force Awakens (2015) J.J. Abrams, while a capable filmmaker, is what you’d call a good corporate boy who the suits can hire onto a project and be counted on to bring “a Lucas touch” or “a Spielberg touch”. Without, you know, having to hire either one of those guys and cede creative control. The result is The Force Awakens. Neither good nor bad, but rather thoroughly mediocre. Nice to see Harrison Ford though, even if he doesn’t bring half the wryness, charm, or charisma to Han Solo as he did before. 6) The Rise of Skywalker (2019) A dumpster fire of a movie. J.J. Abrams basically spends the whole movie undoing what Rion Johnson set up and tore down in TLJ and compensating for the void left by the premature death of Carrie Fisher. The result is a mess of a film, with villains popping up out of nowhere and payoffs…well, nothing really gets paid off. They’d have to be properly set up for them to do that. The Rise of Skywalker is really nothing more than an ending, a third entry to put a cap on everything while in no way being meaningful about it. It is a true testament to the fact that the suits were making this shit up as they went along. 7) Revenge of the Sith (2005) Why are the prequels at the bottom? Because, while the sequels were produced and focus-grouped on an assembly line and are narrative messes, I will say that they get closer to the spirit of the original trilogy. J.J. Abrams is an ersatz Lucas, but he understood he appeal of the originals more than Lucas ever did. However, the prequels, and I’ll give them this much credit, have one important thing over the sequels: they are the cohesive artistic vision of one man, and are full of much more ambition and risk because of it. Unlike the sequels, they did not try to rehash the originals, but in failure they strayed so far away from what made them great. The result is a trio of sterile, freeze-dried CGI turds for movies. And the failure is, ironically, no more apparent than in the best of the three. ROTS is undone by no less than the fatal casting of Hayden Christensen as Anakin. I can see why Lucas wanted him; in his looks and callow manner, he evokes Mark Hamill and his early embodiment of Luke. But he sure as hell doesn’t evoke the scary, deep-voiced menace of Darth Vader, and that’s a problem. There’s no real, plausible bridge made between this whiny, petulant brat and the most badass motherfucker in the galaxy. Anakin’s fall from grace and turn to the Dark Side isn’t even believably rendered. That requires a level of complex, sophisticated characterization that was, quite frankly, beyond the talents of George Lucas (it doesn’t help that the root cause of the downfall was tied to the weakest part of the trilogy: the love story). The sole bright spots of the trilogy—of the whole trilogy, really—are the performances of Ewan McGregor as Obi-Wan and Ian McDiarmid as Palpatine. McGregor evokes the twinkly wryness of Alec Guinness so much that it almost feels like magic, and McDiarmid is clearly having fun as the evil, unmasked Palpatine. He gives his scenes a welcome pulse with his over-the-top villainy. I welcome any argument to be made that the prequels should be higher on the list than the sequels, but for me, they’re pretty much unwatchable. I can at least withstand having to sit through the sequels. 8) Attack of the Clones (2002) 9) The Phantom Menace (1999) Honestly, the placement of these last two is interchangeable. But I’m thinking about Jar Jar Binks right now and how much I hate him. He was conceived as a goofy comic relief character to appeal to the kiddies, but really he was created to sell lunch boxes. I wish him him a thousand deaths for his obnoxious, calculated presence. Not even an awesome three-way lightsaber duel or “Duel of the Fates” is enough to make up for him. Not at this present moment. But anyways, that’s my list.
Bennett Oliver
2022-06-27 23:57:20 +0000 UTCa critique would be one thing. This completely ruined what Star Wars stands for, as a fundamental idea.
Deepfocuslens
2022-06-27 22:35:54 +0000 UTClol...sadly this time there wasnt. I feel like it would be too hard to sort through that shit with alcohol in my system. XD
Deepfocuslens
2022-06-27 22:35:27 +0000 UTCI'm just sticking to the main 9 for now
Deepfocuslens
2022-06-27 22:34:41 +0000 UTCI can totally see myself switching those up, Revenge and Return for 3 and 4. I'd just need to revisit. As of now, I nearly have them tied, just because I feel like Revenge really pushes and has a really satisfying conclusion to a bad prequel trilogy...compared to Return...which has it's moments certainly, and is satisfying a bit...but ultimately it feels like a wimper compared to Empire.
Deepfocuslens
2022-06-27 22:34:24 +0000 UTCRogue One is my all time #1 followed by Empire then Hope and Jedi. The rest are in whatever order lol
Matt G
2022-06-27 21:39:01 +0000 UTCI would only switch 3 and 4 (Revenge of the Sith is the best of the prequels, but Return of the Jedi is still better). One of my biggest movie regrets is that, when I saw Empire Strikes Back in the theater as a kid (in 1980), I had read a spoiler about the big twist in a magazine...
FlyingWaffle
2022-06-27 21:21:35 +0000 UTCWhat about Ewoks: Battle for Endor?! What about the Christmas special?!
Jackson Littlewood
2022-06-27 20:21:49 +0000 UTCWhat about Rogue One and Solo?
Wolfman Brandon
2022-06-27 20:15:24 +0000 UTCHonestly the only change I would make is flipping 3 and 4. Looking forward to the Rise of Skywalker review. I imagine some wine will be involved...
Stephen
2022-06-27 19:13:37 +0000 UTCGotcha, that makes sense then, thanks :) And yeah, I dislike Jar Jar because he’s annoying, but I never got why folks said that about his characterization.
Jared Angcanan
2022-06-27 19:06:23 +0000 UTCI guess I just disagree. I consider myself a fan of Star Wars and I really like TLJ. It felt more like a critique of what Star Wars has become than the thing itself. But I get where you’re coming from
Jackson Littlewood
2022-06-27 19:06:19 +0000 UTC....and I agree with George that it's absurd. The inspiration for Jar Jar was Goofy.
Deepfocuslens
2022-06-27 18:59:12 +0000 UTCI feel like...he's playing a gambler and someone mob connected. Why not just say all the characters of The Sopranos are anti-semitic, so we shouldn't watch them. It's part of the culture, and the authenticity of the world for those characters to be racist. That said....I do not get your point there with Star Wars. If anything this is an extremely light version of a certain stereotype, that fully makes sense with the story. I feel like the racism thing is an easy trigger, and often misinterpreted by current audiences. Especially in Star Wars. People said Jar Jar was racist.
Deepfocuslens
2022-06-27 18:58:14 +0000 UTCMy personal ranking. Honestly the Jabba’s Palace sequence alone boosts ROTJ above ESB. I have always been fascinated by the gritty underground world it let us take a peek into. I love seeing our heroes off on a side rescue mission, feeling more like a mini comic book adventure. I’ve always found it one of the more interesting parts of SW. 1. Return of the Jedi 2. Empire Strikes Back 3. A New Hope 4. Attack of the Clones 5. The Phantom Menace 6. Revenge of the Sith 7. The Force Awakens 8. Rise of Skywalker 9. The Last Jedi
David
2022-06-27 18:52:52 +0000 UTCThe Last Jedi...fundamentally, is deeply offensive. It is like watching someone mean-spirited destroy something special. Yes, it has beauty and artistry and rebellion that I admire. But it's mean spirited. If you're a fan of star wars....then this is a punch in the gut, for the way it shits all over the legacy of it.
Deepfocuslens
2022-06-27 18:52:45 +0000 UTCWhen you say the Last Jedi was the death of Star Wars, are you referring to the scene where Luke and Yoda talk about burning it all down? I think that’s intentional, if so. It’s just that The Rise of Skywalker undid everything interesting that The Last Jedi tried to do. Rey from nowhere, the idea that Kylo would be the real villain, the end of the Jedi, etc. All thrown out the window in a script that feels like it was written by Reddit lol
Jackson Littlewood
2022-06-27 18:51:07 +0000 UTCFair enough haha For Phantom, idk, the Watto character feels like an antisemitic caricature, so it leaves a bad taste in my mouth on the rewatches, but I could be wrong
Jared Angcanan
2022-06-27 18:44:17 +0000 UTCAlso...Rise of Skywalker is one of the worst films I've ever seen. So....
Deepfocuslens
2022-06-27 18:37:13 +0000 UTCNot sure where racism comes into play here. But....I cannot justify with confidence....putting either Last Jedi or Attack of the Clones ahead of Phantom Menace. This is a very clear choice for me.
Deepfocuslens
2022-06-27 18:36:15 +0000 UTCI really struggled with putting Last Jedi above Attack of the Clones. In the big scheme of things...Last Jedi did far more damage. It is what I consider, the official death of Star Wars as it was intented. And yet....I hate Attack of the Clones so much, that I just couldnt get it out of my mind. It really gets to me XD
Deepfocuslens
2022-06-27 18:33:39 +0000 UTCI don’t blame you, I know a lot of folks don’t like the sequel trilogy, but it feels wrong putting Phantom that high lol, that shit is nap-inducing cinema (and pretty racist)
Jared Angcanan
2022-06-27 18:31:55 +0000 UTClol...I didn't mind Last Jedi when I initially saw it but...that's because at the time, Star Wars was dead to me in this new incarnation. But now with perspective...I hate it so much. While also still admittedly admiring certain aspects of it.
Deepfocuslens
2022-06-27 18:31:53 +0000 UTC1) Empire Strikes Back 2) Star Wars 3) The Last Jedi 4) The Force Awakens 5) Return of the Jedi 6) Revenge of the Sith 7) The Phantom Menace 8) Attack of the Clones 9) The Rise of Skywalker I’d be curious to hear your thoughts on the Last Jedi. I wasn’t crazy about it when I saw it (Casino Planet/Admiral Holdo stuff in particular) but after I saw how that trilogy ended I really appreciated it a lot more. It had a lot of original ideas that challenged modern franchise filmmaking and fan service in a way that really pleased me. Also just think Johnson is a much better director than JJ Abrams so I really love the visual sensibility of it compared to the other sequels.
Jackson Littlewood
2022-06-27 18:30:18 +0000 UTCHonestly think you nailed it. I don't know if Attack of the Clones or Rise of Skywalker is my bottom movie. Probably Skywalker because it doesn't have Ewan McGregor so at least Clones has a leg up there but they're both abysmal. Like this list a lot.
Tyler Shobe
2022-06-27 18:26:02 +0000 UTC
