Ranking the Movies of the Star Wars Skywalker Saga
This past weekend, my son and I were lucky enough to attend the Star Wars Celebration. Although I was not there on Friday for the launch of the new trailer for Episode IX Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, I have not been able to get it, or the eight movies leading up to it out of my head.
One little game I have been playing in my head is attempting to rank the eight previous installments of the Skywalker saga. It was actually far more difficult than I had thought it would be. Four of the eight films were absolute no brainers, but the other four were tough.
I present...
The official @hanshotfirst ranking of the Star Wars Skywalker Saga from best to worst.
1. The Empire Strikes Back
Why?
- It introduces the world to Boba Fett (although he had already been seen in the Holiday Special)
- The Battle on Hoth is incredible
- Yoda is so much fun... and very wise
- The Lightsaber battle between Darth Vader and Luke is unforgettable
- It includes one of the greatest reveals in the history of cinema
- The bad guys win!
- "I know."
2. Star Wars: A new Hope
Why?
- Nostalgia. Seeing this movie was the most defining moment of my childhood.
- Special effects: No one had ever seen anything like it on a movie screen. It changed the industry.
- It is a great take on The Hero's Journey.
- Han Solo
- It established action figures as a must have toy
- The crawl, the music, the action... wait how is this not number 1?
3. The Force Awakens
Why? (This was one of the four tough ones)
- Nostalgia Part II: I created an everlasting memory with my own children. When Rey says, "The garbage will do!" I felt like JJ Abrams had given me back my childhood and let me share it with my children.
- The movie stressed fun over just about everything else.
- The entire movie is a love letter to Han Solo.
- It perfectly built a bridge between the old fanboy generation of Star Wars fans and the new generation.
- I like watching Kylo Ren snap.
- Han's death: It is the most beautiful and powerful death scene I have or will ever see.
4. The Return of the Jedi
Why? (This was one of the four tough ones)
- It is not a prequel.
- It made sense for the most part.
- Everything that takes place on Tatooine was awesome! (I am not counting the nonsense musical number Lucas added later)
- Palpatine is a bad Ass
- I will never forget the original Ewok Celebration song
- There is more emotion in Vader's expressionless helmet as he agonizes over betraying the Emperor than in all of the prequels put together.
- The Ewoks are pretty silly... but fun.
5. The Phantom Menace
I actually shocked myself that I put any of the prequels ahead of the other 5.
Why? (This was one of the four tough ones)
- The Last Jedi was so epically bad that I could not put it above this.
- The other prequels are unwatchable (unless you have an 8 year old next to you who marvels at the thought of them filming scenes in an actual volcano)
- Darth Maul saves this movie.
- The Lightsaber battle between Darth Maul, Obi Wan and Qui-Gon may be the best Lightsaber battle in the saga. The music that accompanies the battle is incredible.
- Jar Jar is so terrible that I don't even want to talk about it.
6. The Last Jedi (This was one of the four tough ones)
Why?
- This movie is so bad that Solo: A Star Wars Story was punished for TLJ's sins.
- 45 minutes of the movie never needed to happen. There was no need for anything that happened on the casino planet.
- There is no gravity in space. Bombers are useless.
- The use of a ship traveling at lightspeed as a weapon completely trivializes episodes IV and VI. Why not just fly a ship through the Death Star... because it is impossible!
- They made Poe a traitor.
- Leia flew through space????!!!!
- Rey's parents are no one???!!!!
- The only reason this is not last is because the prequels were somehow worse.
7. Attack of the Clones
Why?
- The title sounds like a bad 1950s B movie.
- Everything Anakin says or does.
- This quote from the Wikipedia entry on the film: "Senator Padmé Amidala comes to Coruscant to vote on a motion to create an army to assist the Jedi against this threat." Complicated politics in a fun kids movie. Ok.
- The acting is horrendous.
- I can't remember anything about it.
8. Revenge of the Sith
Why?
- Lucas had one job: Explain how Darth Vader became Darth Vader. 15 years later... I still have no freaking idea.
- Anakin goes from the chosen one to murdering a room full of children in a matter of seconds... for no apparent reason.
- No battle has a distinct beginning, middle and end. Lucas just clipped together scenes from many different battles into one unwatchable mess.
- Darth Vader becomes a parody of Frankenstein. Nooooooooooooooooo!
5
6
4
Rogue 1
[big dropoff]
Solo
7
2
3
1
[even bigger dropoff]
8
I liked Rogue 1 and Solo quite a bit. Each had a job to do and did it well. But I left them out of this list as I was not including the side stories.
I think it's reasonable to include them, since they're all part of the same story overall. I thought Solo was a decent film, and I liked Rogue 1 a lot. 7 was fine for its nostalgic qualities, but had its issues too. The prequels were pretty disappointing and didn't really add much of value to the storyline as a whole. And The Last Skywalker was complete garbage whose script should never have been greenlit, which makes me not very excited about Episode 9 at all.
New Hope is the Best! I watched in theater and first movie I remember watching in theater.
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Yep you and I are about the same age. I remember it very well. One of the greatest experiences of my life.
I emphatically disagree with your list.
It goes like this.
1
2
4
8
5
3
7
6
I am going to guess you were born after 1985. We are probably looking at this from two very different points of view. I would imagine that whichever movie you saw first in the theaters will automatically move it up higher on the list. The same holds true for Episode 7 for me. It was the first one I saw in the theater as a dad with my kids. That enhanced the experience so much that I know I am incredibly biased by it.
I should have probably numbered them differently. I used your list numbers and reareanged them instead of using episode numbers.
So 1=empire
Yeah i was born in 89.
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Nice to see a young guy recognize Empire as #1 ! (Yes 30 is "young" to me lol)!
I just wanted to point out how much i dislike the newest ones. hehe. :D
Empire is indeed the best.
Yeah, not that young.. The big 30 in a couple months.. yikes.
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The prequels were horrible. I didn't care much for the sequels, either.
Rogue One was pretty good. The Return of the Jedi included the emotional climax of the entire six film series. The Empire Strikes Back was very well written.
I think the fact that The Force Awakens was the first Star Wars movie I saw as a dad with my kids by my side biased me quite a bit. But I loved the experience so much.
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I have almost the same ranking. The Phantom Menance, 1 spot lower.
Why?
Because of Jar Jar and the boring pod race scenes.
May the Force be with you!!
H' Day. 😊
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