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Ranking the Star Wars films — Page 165

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I agree it is great we all have different opinions but get along.

For me I personally didn’t enjoy TLJ, mainly because I feel Rian Johnson set out to make a good movie / good Star Wars movie instead of a good middle chapter to the ST. It is a very careful balancing act, and I don’t think of him lowly because of it.

Simply put, the subversion of expectations work (for the most part) within the film. The problem is when you rewatch TFA and become let down by everything they very clearly were setting up. The problem is when you realize it has set up Episode 9 to just be a retred or something we have all already seen.

I am looking forward to Johnson’s trilogy because I think it’ll be a chance for him to tell his vision without being constrained or constraining another director.

Maul- A Star Wars Story

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 (Edited)

Love:

  1. The Empire Strikes Back
  2. Star Wars

Really like:
3. Return Of The Jedi
4. Rogue One
5. Revenge Of The Sith
6. The Force Awakens

Meh:
7. Solo

Don’t like:
8. Attack Of The Clones
9. The Phantom Menace
10. The Last Jedi.

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Thinking about the popular response to Star Wars movies over the years, I realized that the goodness or badness of the films might not be as important as where they sit in relation to the OT. Anything close to the OT in the timeline benefits from a ‘Star Warsy-ness’ simply due to proximity, whereas the one film so far which has been two movies removed from the OT can begin to be appreciated as its own weird thing. The unfortunate middle chapters are caught in a no-man’s land of disrepute simply by their position.

The Star Wars Popularity Bell Curve

You probably don’t recognize me because of the red arm.
Episode 9 Rewrite, The Starlight Project (Released!) and ANH Technicolor Project (Released!)

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^ I don’t think a movie’s relative position to the OT has anything to do with it’s success but I do find the fact that the current success of each movie creates that wave pattern very interesting, assuming of course that IX will be a good movie or at least better than TLJ and so create that returning up swell in the pattern.

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 (Edited)
  1. TESB
  2. SW
  3. TLJ
  4. ROTJ
  5. Solo
  6. TFA
  7. ROTS
  8. TPM
  9. AOTC
  10. R1

<dl>

<dd>This is my lightsaber. There are many like it, but this one is mine. My lightsaber is my best friend. It is my life. I must master it as I must master my life. My lightsaber, without me, is useless. Without my lightsaber, I am useless. I must wield my lightsaber true.</dd>

</dl>

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 (Edited)

My Updated Ranking

  1. Attack of the Clones: This has been hated on by many, but has always held a special place in my heart. The Coruscant Chase, Jango freaking Fett, the Arena… this is everything that Star Wars represents.

  2. The Phantom Menace: Although the politics are confusing and boring, the set pieces are top notch with the Podrace and Maul duel. Young Anakin is annoying, but Jar Jar is hilarious.

  3. Revenge of the Sith: By far the most “epic” of the Star Wars movies, although I think it goes a bit try-hard at times. There is a great story but hard to squeeze in perfectly, leading to certain moments like that boring opera.

  4. Solo: This is a fine movie. I don’t have any problems with it, but I just can’t place it as high as the holy PT. Where’s the Jedi?

  5. The Last Jedi: I am divided on this movie. I love the Canto Bight subplot which adds some real nuance to the war. But then there is the cringe worthy Rey/Kylo scenes. Also, why didn’t Poe just listen to Holdo?

  6. Rogue One: Basically the Star Wars forgettable Marvel movie. A solid first two acts starring likeable characters, but it all falls apart with that lame third act. Darth Vader becomes the star jeez. What is so special about Darth anyways?

  7. Return of the Jedi: Looking back, I can see Lucas is on the right track. But the OT is still boring. As the first I “don’t like”, ROTJ wastes time with a contrived Luke/Vader plot. Why couldn’t we have a guerrila warfare story with the Ewoks?

  8. The Force Awakens: A ripoff of an even worse movie, the only things that saves this cash grab is the effects.

  9. A New Hope: Why do people like this movie? Luke is a whiny brat who suddenly gets everything he ever wanted. Leia never gets her time to shine. Han is an asshole who is treated a hero? At least the special edition made him more likeable; poor Greedo. I simply don’t understand the love for this movie.

  10. The Empire Strikes Back: Ugh. The only one I flat out despise, this is a true slog. Want to watch a Battle on Hoth? Gotta wait to see Luke’s Wanpa shenanigans. Want to learn from an epic Jedi Master? Instead you’ll get an alien who talks backwards because why not. Want to have a conclusion to your darn story? Nope watch the next cash grab. Argh, the prequels were so much better than the originals.

Oh, and one last thing:

April Fools.

Maul- A Star Wars Story

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I knew somebody who had roughly that same ranking

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^ I actually thought “fair enough” in the ranking and comments on the prequels, thinking you’d grown up with them and are one of the few prequel lovers on here brave enough to tell it from their perspective. But as soon as I saw the ANH ranking and first sentence I knew it was an AF joke 😉

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Valheru_84 said:

^ I actually thought “fair enough” in the ranking and comments on the prequels, thinking you’d grown up with them and are one of the few prequel lovers on here brave enough to tell it from their perspective. But as soon as I saw the ANH ranking and first sentence I knew it was an AF joke 😉

This has spawned some non-joking discussion
I did grow up with the Prequels, with ROTS having a significant influence on me. I do enjoy the overall story of these films, but the acting, set design, and pacing kills it for me. As an adult, I can barely take some of the choices (I don’t like sand) as serious. Yet I enjoy the era. The PT books / shows / games have always been my favorite. Not that I’ve ever disliked the OT era- I’ve just always viewed the characters, planets, and conflicts of the prequels more interested.

So much era ranking would be:

  1. PT
  2. OT
  3. ST

While my actual film ranking is the April Fools one in reverse.

Maul- A Star Wars Story

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OutboundFlight said:

Valheru_84 said:

^ I actually thought “fair enough” in the ranking and comments on the prequels, thinking you’d grown up with them and are one of the few prequel lovers on here brave enough to tell it from their perspective. But as soon as I saw the ANH ranking and first sentence I knew it was an AF joke 😉

This has spawned some non-joking discussion
I did grow up with the Prequels, with ROTS having a significant influence on me. I do enjoy the overall story of these films, but the acting, set design, and pacing kills it for me. As an adult, I can barely take some of the choices (I don’t like sand) as serious. Yet I enjoy the era. The PT books / shows / games have always been my favorite. Not that I’ve ever disliked the OT era- I’ve just always viewed the characters, planets, and conflicts of the prequels more interested.

So much era ranking would be:

  1. PT
  2. OT
  3. ST

While my actual film ranking is the April Fools one in reverse.

Yeah nice, though I could never rate any of the ST movies above any of the OT movies and the only way I could rate them even above the PT would be on a technical level (and maybe themes though I’m never given a reason to care for them) but the PT for me still rate well above the ST on story, characters (wooden acting and cheesy lines aside), emotional involvement and musical score among other things.

I also grew up on the prequels but that was in my teens and adolescent years after already growing up on the OT for many years beforehand and a few things already annoyed me about the PT and the list only grew when revisiting them as an adult, whereas the OT with some obvious faults still may as well be perfect to me now as they were when I was a child. With some great PT fan edits to hand now I still very much enjoy a watch through of them as well, especially since they’ve always held a place in my heart, cringe iducing warts and all.

I also greatly enjoyed a number of PT games on the PC at the time that I still have fond memories of playing with my brother and friends.

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ray_afraid said:

Valheru_84 said:

^ I actually thought “fair enough” in the ranking and comments on the prequels

But:

OutboundFlight said:

  1. Attack of the Clones… this is everything that Star Wars represents.

No way that’s “fair”. 😄

It could be from someone’s “certain point of view” 😉

By saying fair enough, I’m agreeing that they could hold that view for reasons valid to them even if not so for myself.

I do understand the disbelief though 😛

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 (Edited)

OutboundFlight said:

Valheru_84 said:

^ I actually thought “fair enough” in the ranking and comments on the prequels, thinking you’d grown up with them and are one of the few prequel lovers on here brave enough to tell it from their perspective. But as soon as I saw the ANH ranking and first sentence I knew it was an AF joke 😉

This has spawned some non-joking discussion
I did grow up with the Prequels, with ROTS having a significant influence on me. I do enjoy the overall story of these films, but the acting, set design, and pacing kills it for me. As an adult, I can barely take some of the choices (I don’t like sand) as serious. Yet I enjoy the era. The PT books / shows / games have always been my favorite. Not that I’ve ever disliked the OT era- I’ve just always viewed the characters, planets, and conflicts of the prequels more interested.

So much era ranking would be:

  1. PT
  2. OT
  3. ST

While my actual film ranking is the April Fools one in reverse.

I’ve thinking about why this rang false for me, and I think ultimately the issue I run into with the “PT era” is that, when people refer to that, they mostly just mean between episodes II and III. If there are any interesting stories that take place in that era before the battle of Geonosis, I’m not aware of them.

The other big issue (and now I’ll sound like a broken record as this has been discussed to death recently) for me is that that era feels so aesthetically different from the rest of the saga. Some of the non-film stuff tries to bridge the gap more but it still feels to me a bit like a separate franchise in some respects.

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DominicCobb said:

OutboundFlight said:

Valheru_84 said:

^ I actually thought “fair enough” in the ranking and comments on the prequels, thinking you’d grown up with them and are one of the few prequel lovers on here brave enough to tell it from their perspective. But as soon as I saw the ANH ranking and first sentence I knew it was an AF joke 😉

This has spawned some non-joking discussion
I did grow up with the Prequels, with ROTS having a significant influence on me. I do enjoy the overall story of these films, but the acting, set design, and pacing kills it for me. As an adult, I can barely take some of the choices (I don’t like sand) as serious. Yet I enjoy the era. The PT books / shows / games have always been my favorite. Not that I’ve ever disliked the OT era- I’ve just always viewed the characters, planets, and conflicts of the prequels more interested.

So much era ranking would be:

  1. PT
  2. OT
  3. ST

While my actual film ranking is the April Fools one in reverse.

The other big issue (and now I’ll sound like a broken record as this has been discussed to death recently) for me is that that era feels so aesthetically different from the rest of the saga. Some of the non-film stuff tries to bridge the gap more but it still feels to me a bit like a separate franchise in some respects.

From a saga perspective it is funky, but it also clearly gives the PT something different to stand on.

I play Battlefront 17, and there are three eras: the PT, OT, and ST. When you play in a PT or OT map you clearly feel the difference. But the ST is just a glorified OT. There is nothing unique going on.

You can always chalk it up to technological advancements. As a planet we are advancing rapidly in 19 years- a galaxy would be doing some crazy stuff in that time. Enough to make it seem like a different place. Add in a new government and POV and it makes sense.

With the ST, it is a shame nothing new is ever developed. Even the First Order, the supposed powerhouse, is still using TIE Fighters. After 30 years?

Maul- A Star Wars Story

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I think I finally know how to express through ranking how I really feel about TLJ. I know this is kinda cheating but…

1.Star Wars (1977)
2.The Empire Strikes Back
3.Return of the Jedi
4.The Force Awakens
5.The Fallen Knight (Last Jedi fan edit)
6.Solo
7.The Phantom Menace
8.Revenge of the Sith
9.Attack of the Clones
10.The Last Jedi (actual movie)
11.Rogue One

http://henrynsilva.blogspot.com/2023/10/full-circle-order-new-way-to-watch-star.html?m=1

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 (Edited)

OutboundFlight said:

DominicCobb said:

OutboundFlight said:

Valheru_84 said:

^ I actually thought “fair enough” in the ranking and comments on the prequels, thinking you’d grown up with them and are one of the few prequel lovers on here brave enough to tell it from their perspective. But as soon as I saw the ANH ranking and first sentence I knew it was an AF joke 😉

This has spawned some non-joking discussion
I did grow up with the Prequels, with ROTS having a significant influence on me. I do enjoy the overall story of these films, but the acting, set design, and pacing kills it for me. As an adult, I can barely take some of the choices (I don’t like sand) as serious. Yet I enjoy the era. The PT books / shows / games have always been my favorite. Not that I’ve ever disliked the OT era- I’ve just always viewed the characters, planets, and conflicts of the prequels more interested.

So much era ranking would be:

  1. PT
  2. OT
  3. ST

While my actual film ranking is the April Fools one in reverse.

The other big issue (and now I’ll sound like a broken record as this has been discussed to death recently) for me is that that era feels so aesthetically different from the rest of the saga. Some of the non-film stuff tries to bridge the gap more but it still feels to me a bit like a separate franchise in some respects.

From a saga perspective it is funky, but it also clearly gives the PT something different to stand on.

I play Battlefront 17, and there are three eras: the PT, OT, and ST. When you play in a PT or OT map you clearly feel the difference. But the ST is just a glorified OT. There is nothing unique going on.

I play that game too, and at this point the content is definitely lopsided in favor of the PT era (I guess because of fan backlash). Really the most unique aspect of that era is the droids, and they do look cool, but when you move outside of a game like that and into things where they’re actually telling stories, the Separatists are easily the least interesting faction of the bunch (though not for lack of potential).

You can always chalk it up to technological advancements. As a planet we are advancing rapidly in 19 years- a galaxy would be doing some crazy stuff in that time. Enough to make it seem like a different place. Add in a new government and POV and it makes sense.

You can rationalize it that way, but the galaxy has always just been a stand in for our world.

With the ST, it is a shame nothing new is ever developed. Even the First Order, the supposed powerhouse, is still using TIE Fighters. After 30 years?

Look how much fighter jets have changed in 30 years (not much). To me what feels more false is that basically none of the PT ships show up 19 years later (save the blockade runner and star destroyer I guess). At least TCW added the Y-wing.

It’s kinda apples and oranges comparing the PT to the ST right now. Think about how many prominent elements of that era didn’t exist until ROTS or much later - phase 2 clones, the ARC-170 starfighter, the V-wing, the tri-fighter, the CIS cruisers (and their navy in general)… all from ROTS, plus from TCW you get a lot of the clone squadrons, the droid bomber, the Y-wing as I said, the droid commando, clones with personalities, etc. Point being, there’s more to come from the ST era.

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Here is my ranking.

  1. The Empire Strikes Back
  2. A New Hope
  3. The Last Jedi
  4. The Force Awakens
  5. Return of the Jedi
  6. Rogue One
  7. Revenge of the Sith
  8. Solo
  9. The Phantom Menace
  10. Attack of the Clones

The name’s Lawson. Noah Lawson.

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I’ve had quite a change in opinion since my first ranking, so here’s an update.

  1. The Empire Strikes Back
  2. A New Hope
  3. The Force Awakens
  4. Return of the Jedi
  5. Revenge of the Sith
  6. Rogue One
  7. The Last Jedi
  8. Solo
  9. The Phantom Menace
  10. Attack of the Clones

My preferred Skywalker Saga experience:
I II III IV V VI VII VIII IX

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Let’s try this one last time:

  1. Empire
  2. Star Wars
  3. Last Jedi
  4. Awakens
  5. Jedi
  6. Solo
  7. Menace
  8. Rogue
  9. Clones
  10. Sith
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DominicCobb said:

OutboundFlight said:

Valheru_84 said:

^ I actually thought “fair enough” in the ranking and comments on the prequels, thinking you’d grown up with them and are one of the few prequel lovers on here brave enough to tell it from their perspective. But as soon as I saw the ANH ranking and first sentence I knew it was an AF joke 😉

This has spawned some non-joking discussion
I did grow up with the Prequels, with ROTS having a significant influence on me. I do enjoy the overall story of these films, but the acting, set design, and pacing kills it for me. As an adult, I can barely take some of the choices (I don’t like sand) as serious. Yet I enjoy the era. The PT books / shows / games have always been my favorite. Not that I’ve ever disliked the OT era- I’ve just always viewed the characters, planets, and conflicts of the prequels more interested.

So much era ranking would be:

  1. PT
  2. OT
  3. ST

While my actual film ranking is the April Fools one in reverse.

If there are any interesting stories that take place in that era before the battle of Geonosis, I’m not aware of them.

Quite a few of the Age of the Republic one-shot comics take place either before TPM, or between TPM and AotC. There’s also the Anakin and Obi-Wan comic series, which I would consider one of the better canon comics, though the aesthetics are very non Star Wars (which can be a plus or minus) and the ending’s fairly rushed. As for novels, a new book about Count Dooku that’s set before AotC is coming out pretty soon.

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Zachary VIII said:

DominicCobb said:

OutboundFlight said:

Valheru_84 said:

^ I actually thought “fair enough” in the ranking and comments on the prequels, thinking you’d grown up with them and are one of the few prequel lovers on here brave enough to tell it from their perspective. But as soon as I saw the ANH ranking and first sentence I knew it was an AF joke 😉

This has spawned some non-joking discussion
I did grow up with the Prequels, with ROTS having a significant influence on me. I do enjoy the overall story of these films, but the acting, set design, and pacing kills it for me. As an adult, I can barely take some of the choices (I don’t like sand) as serious. Yet I enjoy the era. The PT books / shows / games have always been my favorite. Not that I’ve ever disliked the OT era- I’ve just always viewed the characters, planets, and conflicts of the prequels more interested.

So much era ranking would be:

  1. PT
  2. OT
  3. ST

While my actual film ranking is the April Fools one in reverse.

If there are any interesting stories that take place in that era before the battle of Geonosis, I’m not aware of them.

Quite a few of the Age of the Republic one-shot comics take place either before TPM, or between TPM and AotC. There’s also the Anakin and Obi-Wan comic series, which I would consider one of the better canon comics, though the aesthetics are very non Star Wars (which can be a plus or minus) and the ending’s fairly rushed. As for novels, a new book about Count Dooku that’s set before AotC is coming out pretty soon.

I’m definitely curious the quality of the “Age of” stuff. They’re basically a collection of one shots, yes? Could be good but I don’t know.

I’ve been wondering if Anakin & Obi-wan is any good. That section of the canon is really ripe for stories about Anakin specifically. He’s so different in AOTC vs. TPM and I never really found anything that bridged that gap in the old EU. Rogue Planet was okay, I started Jedi Trial but wasn’t into it. Honestly one of the better things I read in that regard was back in the day I had a middle grade book called Jedi Quest that actually did try to find Anakin right in between the two films to decent success.

On the whole it’s sort of an uneventful time period. It’s cool that they’re finally doing something with Dooku because that’s another massive gap in the canon. From the old EU the Darth Plageius touched on Dooku a bit, and was also set entirely pre-AOTC (and is actually a pretty good book in general, though definitely very un-Star Warsy in many respects).

In general it seems like they’re starting to do more in the new canon with PT stuff (including and perhaps especially pre-AOTC - there’s Queen’s Shadow and Master and Apprentice as well), and it’s also fair to assume we’ll see more and more from the ST and also the post-OT, pre-ST time period which is a fascinating era itself.

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StarkillerAG said:

I’ve had quite a change in opinion since my first ranking, so here’s an update.

  1. The Empire Strikes Back
  2. A New Hope
  3. The Force Awakens
  4. Return of the Jedi
  5. Revenge of the Sith
  6. Rogue One
  7. The Last Jedi
  8. Solo
  9. The Phantom Menace
  10. Attack of the Clones

Your first ranking was three months ago.

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 (Edited)

Can’t remember if I’ve posted in this thread or not. Either way, these ranks assume all films are their original theatrical versions.

  1. Tie: SW and ESB
  2. see above
  3. R1
  4. TFA
  5. ROTJ
  6. Solo
  7. TLJ
  8. TPM
  9. ROTS
  10. AOTC

I love the top 5, quite like 6 & 7, and am mostly indifferent to the PT (but that indifference is largely because I am free to just not ever watch them).

Jedit: curse you forum software! It’s automatically screwing up my numbering. R1 should be number three and so on down the list because there is a tie for spot #1 and therefore there is no second place!

Return of the Jedit: I fixed it, kinda.