The Eleven Star Wars Films
by Outbound

A New Hope / Star Wars: I rewatched the OT and ST in preparation for TROS this month, and I found myself enjoying this more than Empire. Although it’s production value isn’t ideal, I find this story best captures the essence of Star Wars… despite being the shortest in the franchise. 10/10.
Empire Strikes Back: Standing next to ANH on a pinnacle, Empire is rightfully praised for its shocking story, high production, and darker themes. 10/10.
The Rise of Skywalker: I’m nicknaming this one Fuck It! A Star Wars Story. This is the only ST movie confident in itself, and it has so much fun doing it. It’s sorta a Fast and Furious movie, but with the emotion of the best Star Wars when it needs it. Only problem is it’s too rushed, a direct result of splitting the trilogy to two directors. 9/10.
The Force Awakens: Rewatching this movie I had forgotten how much fun the the little moments are. Rey and Finn talking in the Falcon, Kylo being immature. And TROS makes it even better in retrospect. Only real issues I have is first, Starkiller Base, and second, the intense nostalgia you’d expect from the passing of the torch. It’s a great setup for the sequel trilogy. 8.5/10
Return of the Jedi: This movie has perhaps the best scene in Star Wars - the throne room. Everything else is meh. The plot is broken up and everyone seems to just be there to finish the trilogy up. 7.5/10
Solo: A very basic movie that was unfortunately filled with controversy. Really it’s a solid movie. It’s a bit clunky, but still a fun adventure I can get behind. 7/10.
Rogue One: Everyone talks about the end to this movie, and I agree it’s awesome. But the first half is too boring, imo. It’s a solid Star Wars adventure, but not one we really needed to make into a movie. But Vader’s in it so I guess it’s great? 6.5/10.
The Last Jedi: This is hard for me because I am in a perpetual love/hate relationship with this movie. I really liked everything related to the Jedi, and got really annoyed by the Resistance. It wants to lecture to the audience when we just want to have fun. I still side with Poe on the Holdo debate, and Rose was an unneeded character when Finn was setup in TFA to love Rey. But after all that, we have Luke’s standoff against the First Order: one of the best scenes in the franchise. 6.5/10.
Revenge of the Sith: For the longest time I put this one higher for the memes alone. But as a movie, it’s basically a bunch of people walk and talk until the main character turns evil. Add some random fights to keep people awake, and you got yourself this movie. 5/10.
The Phantom Menace: The most boring of the Star Wars movies. 4.5/10.
Attack of the Clones: I have never understood this movie. The plot is baffling. The characters cringe worthy. The locations aged CGI. Sorry, but this feels less like it’s one movie and more like the bridge between Episodes I and III. 3/10.