Star Wars: Best-to-Worst

With Star Wars: The Last Jedi now available on Disney+, I was able to rewatch the latest film and form my opinion on where it falls in the Star Wars ranking order.

Before we start, some personal background. I didn’t watch any of the Star Wars films until one summer week when I watched the first six back to back in story order. I didn’t have the mind-bending experience in theaters watching Star Wars for the first time, until The Force Awakens. Nostalgia and “at its time” plays no part in this for me. Midi-Chlorians is just as much Star Wars as Dagobah in terms of this listing. I also draw no distinction between “Disney’s Star Wars” vs “Lucas Star Wars,” it’s all Star Wars, and it all deserves the same amount of individual respect and attention.

Empire Strikes Back

The single greatest Star Wars movie. The best movie sequel. The greatest plot-twist. This movie is amazing from top to bottom. A New Hope allowed this movie to be made, and this movie allowed every other Star Wars movie to be made. The movie is fast-paced, and shows truly how great the Sith are. From Hoth to Dagobah to Bespin, the film shows how pervasive the dark side of the Force is, and how easy it would be for Luke to fall.

Best – “I am your father”

Worst – Who is Boba Fett? Most overrated character ever. You literally don’t know anything about him unless you watch the movie with his dad in it.

Revenge of the Sith

This is where I might lose some of you already. Everything from all three prequels comes together in this film. Who ordered the clones? Palpatine. How are the Sith managing to stay one step ahead of the Jedi? Palpatine. The love story not only comes together, but falls apart in a way that give Padme agency. She doesn’t die to help Anakin become Vader, she has her own personal agenda, and morals, that end up having her lose the will to live. Again, not because of Anakin, but because of the Republic falling to the Empire. Obi-Wan realizes that he has personally failed the Republic in the greatest way, by training it’s destroyer. So much groundwork laid in the previous two movies, falls together to create the dystopia we see at the beginning of A New Hope.

Best – “YOU WERE MY BROTHER ANAKIN! YOU WERE THE CHOSEN ONE! YOU WERE MEANT TO BRING BALANCE TO THE FORCE, NOT LEAVE IT IN DARKNESS! I LOVED YOU!”

Worst – Anakin is way too easily swayed. If he didn’t abandon all of his teachings by hearing the phrase “Do it” exactly once, that would’ve been nice.

A New Hope

The movie that started it all. A true modern legend and mythology, showcasing the ultimate plight of good vs. evil, doing the right thing especially when it is hard, and the value of learning from those before you.

Best – This movie takes the time to really paint the landscape, and fill our characters with motivations and dreams. Lucas knew that he was going to be telling a big story, so he wasn’t afraid of taking the time necessary to allow moments to happen.

Worst – Chewbacca deserves a medal too you scruffy-looking nerf-herder!

The Last Jedi

Again, I probably lost a handful of readers by putting this film so high, but for me, stories don’t matter unless you are willing to follow the established story to it’s logical end. Luke Skywalker destroyed the Empire by giving into his hate and emotions. Sure at the end he allows Vader to die on the light side, but only because he got incredibly angry and used that strength to bring Vader to his knees. Leia goes on to become the General, not by being reckless like Poe, but by being cautious and careful, which her crew follows faithfully in her absence. Lastly, this movies shows us the gray area between Jedi and Sith, not allowing this universe to be so unrealistically black and white, but a moral quagmire that any civilization is.

Best – Seeing how Luke’s journey continues to go up and down throughout his life, trying his best to do what he can, but not always knowing what that is because his training was flawed and incomplete.

Worst – Rose’s romantic interest with Finn was awkward and one-sided, feeling uncomfortable. She starts infatuated with his fame, becomes angry with his selfishness, then falls in love with his…self reflection?

Rogue One

I think Rogue One is still a super underrated Star Wars movie. Some say it’s only a footnote in the story, or an annotation in the Skywalker saga. But Star Wars shouldn’t be Keeping Up With The Skywalkers, it should continue to be what it was during A New Hope. An ongoing battle of freedom, and oppressors. Though it’s called Star Wars, only three movies in the entire story actually show a war happening. A good war movie isn’t about the generals, or the soldier that lands the killing blow. It’s about all the others, who give their lives so that we can have those big heroes. The only thing this movie doesn’t do, is go far enough. Rumor says that the director, Gareth Edwards, wanted to go deeper and darker, but Disney wouldn’t let them, because it’s still Star Wars, and Star Wars is a family film.

Best – This beach battle scene is amazing, and makes you feel like you are up against unbelievable odds with the rebels. A much more grounded story about war.

Worst – This movie was forced to pull back by suits. There is an alternate universe where this movie rivals Saving Private Ryan. Emotional stakes, familial ties, invading beaches. They had the resources, just not the guts.

The Force Awakens

The most Star Wars-y of the Star Wars movies. The bad guy wears a black mask and a black hood. He is building a bigger Death Star, out of a planet. The wise mentor dies. Hero comes from a desert planet with questionable parentage. Makes the Lightsaber new again. This movie is so middle of the path, so good, so predictable, I can’t think of putting it anywhere else on the list but the middle.

Best – Amazing characters that are able to both echo and foil the originals. A desert planet orphan goes up against the Nazi-metaphor dressed in black. But Rey is capable on her own, but doesn’t necessarily want to get involved. Kylo isn’t the confident badass that he wants everyone to think he is.

Worst – Kylo took it a bit far with his temper tantrums and Hot Topic vibe.

Rise of Skywalker

There were a lot of people upset about a lot of things when it comes to Rian Johnson’s The Last Jedi, so much so that even though Colin Trevorrow was supposed to direct the third film, they brought back J.J. Abrams, because everyone agrees that The Force Awakens was a perfectly fine movie, so let’s see how he would finish his story. Unfortunately, J.J. loves to create mysteries, not solve them (just watch Lost). So while parts of this movie were fun, funny, and exciting, it overall just didn’t quite finish on the strong note that I wish it had.

Best – Poe Dameron has some strong Nathan Drake vibes on this treasure hunting, hidden destination searching action flick.

Worst – I never shipped Reylo, and so this kiss just felt forced and awkward. You can be close and intimate, without being romantic.

Solo

A fun adventure Sci-Fi film, but with nothing that really felt Star Wars. This movie could just have easily fit into Firefly, but that doesn’t mean it was a bad film. Answers questions we always wondered, answered others that no one knew were mysteries.

Best – That epic train heist scene! So much fun!

Worst – My name, is Han Aloneman McSingleton

The Clone Wars

A pilot for the upcoming TV show, people usually forget this movie is officially canon. Everything that happens in this movie/show is relevant when watching the regular live action movies. We see Anakin and Obi-Wan at the height of their skill and power, fighting the war that allows this trilogy to still be called a Star War. At the end of the day, however, this movie is still just a double-length episode of the tv show, where they are saving the kidnapped baby of Jabba the Hutt.

Best – The combat.

Worst – Jabba the Hutt has a baby, and we have to save him.

Attack of the Clones

Yes the CGI was bad, and all actors besides Ewan McGregor were bad, and most of the story was bad. However that chase scene at the beginning of the movie is so engaging, especially when Anakin throws himself off the side of his vehicle, falls what seems like half a mile, then lands perfectly on the assassins ship. It is nice though, as the Sith are not being found, we just see Obi-Wan and Anakin get assignments, and do their job as Jedi, protecting others. This is what the rebellion is fighting for, so that we can have a Republic, and see Jedi protect citizens from selfish and/or dangerous people. This is a movie about Jedi doing what Jedi do, mostly.

Best – Obi-Wan as a detective, showing another side of the Jedi that we don’t normally get to see. For him to have seedy contacts in the underside of Coruscant, reading motivations, and lying his way through his trip on Kamino, it shows a good view of the day-to-day of the Jedi, before the war, before the return of the Sith, as “keepers of the peace.”

Worst – I DON’T LIKE SAND

Return of the Jedi

Anyone who knew Star Wars before 1999 will probably write this up as Millenial garbage. I don’t understand why anyone would like Return of the Jedi, outside of speeder bikes. A bunch of time is spent at Jabba’s palace, without really explaining anything about him. Then Luke returns to Dagobah, so Yoda can tell him he didn’t need to, then dies. They go to Endor and hang out with teddy-bears that fans had to name. It ends with the final show-down between Luke and Darth which was pretty cool, but not even in the top three emotional fight scenes in the franchise. I truly don’t understand why people normally rank this movie so highly.

Best – Speeder Bikes!

Worst – Is this a Native American / Colonial European metaphor? Or a Hobbit metaphor? Why are these teddy bears so willing and able to fight against an unbelievably technologically advance enemy force? Also, they are never called Ewoks in the movie. Fans thought “It’s like a Wookie, but smaller. What about a Ie-Wook? Ewok?”

The Phantom Menance

Who is the protagonist of this movie? Qui-Gon dies, but the story continues, so not him. Obi-Wan takes the backseat to everyone. Anakin doesn’t show up until halfway through. Padme is getting rescued. The villain is badass, but the definition of two-dimensional. All non-human characters have ridiculously racial accents. I don’t have strong feelings about Jar Jar besides him originally being a secret Sith. This movie is more of a footnote in the Star Wars story than Rogue One. Or just a series of footnotes.

Best – Podracing and Lightsaber fights! No matter what anyone says, these are two of the best action scenes in the whole franchise.

Worst – Jamaican Jar Jar, Jewish Watto, Korean Nute Gunray.

There are a lot of Star Wars movies, and a lot of opinions on those movies. I might not have the best opinions, but these are mine.

Where does my opinion differ from yours? Let us know in the comments below!