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Favorite Episode title?

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I’m curious what do you folks think of as your favorite title?

Which you find the most interesting and perhaps brings speculation and curiosity to mind?

“Get over violence, madness and death? What else is there?”

Also known as Mr. Liquid Jungle.

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I know Howard Kazanjian thought it was a weak title, but “Return of the Jedi” has always been my favorite. The name intrigued me as a kid before I watched the movie, and I love how there are different ways to interpret the title’s meaning. The titular “Jedi” can be either singular or plural, and can refer to Luke, Anakin, or the Jedi as a whole. The title is vague enough not to give away the ending, but tells you enough to grab your interest.

But we can’t turn back. Fear is their greatest defense. I doubt if the actual security there is any greater than it was on Aquilae or Sullust. And what there is is most likely directed towards a large-scale assault.

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The Empire Strikes Back. There’s no screwing around, you know exactly what this movie is going to be about. It’s not that I think more interpretive titles or more vague titles are bad, but I just think it’s kind of funny how absolutely straight to the point it is. If you count “Star Wars” instead of “A New Hope”, this is why I’d also say “Star Wars” has the second best title.

Reading R + L ≠ J theories

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Putting actual movie content aside, here’s my ranking of the titles (along with some random thoughts):

  1. The Empire Strikes Back – Perfect title for a perfect movie
  2. Return of the Jedi – This one is the most interesting for the reasons Servii mentioned^
  3. Revenge of the Sith – Very strong title, sounds cool, mirrors ROTJ
  4. The Last Jedi – Double meaning with Luke/Rey. And Luke goes from wanting to be the last Jedi, to saying “I will not be the last Jedi.”
  5. Star Wars – Great sounding name, but doesn’t encapsulate the film all that well. Yes, there’s a war going on in the stars, but that’s pretty vague (unless that’s a good thing? I don’t know)
  6. The Force Awakens – Interesting title that also sparks your curiosity. Although I don’t know how an energy field can awaken. I would’ve preferred ‘Shadow of the Empire’
  7. The Phantom Menace – Not as bad as people say IMO. Palpatine’s the menace pulling the strings in the shadows.
  8. The Rise of Skywalker – An attempt to have multiple meanings like ROTJ I guess? I find it weak and confusing.
  9. Attack of the Clones – Same style TESB was going for, but sounds way too goofy; ‘clone’ is just a comical word.

“Always in motion is the future” 🌌

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As for ranking the titles, for me, it would go:

  1. Return of the Jedi - For the reasons I said above.
  2. The Empire Strikes Back - For the reasons Sparky pointed out. It’s a strong, straightforward title.
  3. Star Wars - Simple title. Memorable. Rolls right off your tongue, and leaves nearly everything to your imagination, which worked well in this case for people’s introduction to the setting.
  4. The Last Jedi - Has a strong air of finality to it. Conveys a sense of great importance to the story about to be told.
  5. Revenge of the Sith - Direct and aggressive. Lets you know the story will be hugely eventful. Suggests a turning point in the overarching story.
  6. The Phantom Menace - Ominous title that piques your curiosity. It does bug me, though, that “phantom” ends with the same letter that “menace” starts with, so the title doesn’t roll off the tongue as well as it should.
  7. Attack of the Clones - Not a bad title. But not really compelling, either. It accurately describes the climax of the movie, so it fulfills its basic purpose, but that’s pretty much all it does.
  8. The Force Awakens - Sounds intriguing. It’s an acceptable name for the start of a new story, but has a vaguely corporate sound to it, and as DMC said, doesn’t really make sense with what we know about the Force.
  9. A New Hope - I like that it sort of mirrors “The Phantom Menace,” but the original Star Wars really deserves a stronger title than that. “A New Hope” just sounds limp. It undersells the movie.
  10. The Rise of Skywalker - Not memorable. Doesn’t really mean anything. I guess I like that there’s a bit of assonance with “rise” and “sky,” but that’s all it has going for it. Cliche and hollow.

But we can’t turn back. Fear is their greatest defense. I doubt if the actual security there is any greater than it was on Aquilae or Sullust. And what there is is most likely directed towards a large-scale assault.

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^ Solid list, all great points.
My ranking isn’t set in stone; I did it rather quickly for fun. But now I’ve been rethinking the whole order 😂.
I’d bump TPM up one and move TROS down to the bottom (‘TROS’ makes zero sense). And I probably didn’t give enough thought to ‘Star Wars’. I really like the way you put it Servii, that’s what I meant by its vagueness being a good thing. But I could think about this all day long!

“Always in motion is the future” 🌌

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the Adventures of Luke Starkiller as taken from the Journal of the Whills Saga one The Star Wars.

Or maybe Revenge of the Jedi.

Title that was actually used probably a tie between Return of the jedi and Revenge of the Sith.

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I think my favourite is possibly Return of the Jedi. Also love Empire Strikes Back and The Last Jedi like a lot of others here. I remember speculating with my friends before the release of TLJ about who this ‘last jedi’ was going to be.

“Remember, the Force will be with you. Always.”

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I love “The Phantom Menace”. It sounds like a comic book or a detective movie from the 1940s. “The Empire Strikes Back” has some punch - it just sounds cool. I also like “The Last Jedi” and “Revenge of the Sith”. On the other hand, I think “A New Hope” sounds a little corny, and so does “Attack of the Clones”.

Clever signature with funny reference!

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I have always Liked the title The Phantom Menace and for years I considered it the worst film in the franchise.

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SparkySywer said:

The Empire Strikes Back. There’s no screwing around, you know exactly what this movie is going to be about. It’s not that I think more interpretive titles or more vague titles are bad, but I just think it’s kind of funny how absolutely straight to the point it is. If you count “Star Wars” instead of “A New Hope”, this is why I’d also say “Star Wars” has the second best title.

Yeah, this.

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Return of the Jedi, because it can be interpreted in a few ways.

You have the returning of a jedi, the returning of a jedi from the dark side, and the return of a movie series about jedi.

I’m not really that much of a movie purist. I really should’ve thought my name out a bit more.

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Return of the Jedi sound so great.

Side note, the animated series have some great titles too:

TCW - Landing at Point Rain

Rebels - Twilight of the Apprentice

The Bad Batch - Kamino Lost

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Revenge of the Sith. Gets to the point and Is very powerful.

«This is where the fun begins!»
(Anakin Skywalker)

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The Empire Strikes Back is the coolest sounding title I think. But I definitely agree about it being neat that Return of the Jedi has a double meaning in its title.

You’ll laugh! You’ll cry! You’ll kiss three bucks goodbye!

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In a vacuum with only the other titles The Last Jedi is a bad title for reusing the word “Jedi” from Return of the Jedi, while The Rise of Skywalker is a good title for rhyming with Revenge of the Sith and Return of the Jedi. In actuality, The Last Jedi reflects the film’s contents rather well while The Rise of Skywalker does not.

Either way The Force Awakens works wonderfully, so I guess it’s the real winner of the Sequels.

As for in general, I think I’m gonna go with Revenge of the Sith as the best title. Elegant and describes the film well.

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The Phantom Menace - A decent title that evokes an important part of the film, and seems to imply its role as a sort of prologue or intro to a series. It doesn’t sound terribly interesting, though. If my fan edits had to stick with the original title for only one prequel film, it’d be this one.

Attack of the Clones - “‘Ats a horrible title!” Sounds dumb and doesn’t really reflect the film very well. Implies the clones are an enemy force that is invading. Perhaps my least favorite title. “The Clone War(s)” would’ve been much better.

Revenge of the Sith - I don’t like this title, because it doesn’t really get at the essence of the film. We don’t really know anything about the backstory of the Sith, so their revenge doesn’t seem compelling. It’s more about the fall of Anakin and/or the Republic. Seems like it is just there to rhyme with ROTJ or redeem the “revenge” that was dropped from that film’s title. I feel my edit’s “Labyrinth of Evil” (culled from a Luceno EU novel) fits better in getting at the heart of the film’s story.

A New Hope - It’s a very “meh” title. Not compelling, and only exists retroactively to a much better title of “STAR WARS.” It’s fine, and doesn’t put off a new audience with any proper nouns they wouldn’t know about.

The Empire Strikes Back - It’s pulpy, and it ropes audiences in with an inkling that this story will continue a story rather than recreate the original. “Splinter of the Mind’s Eye” could’ve worked as a title, but might have been too out-there. Very good title, though only partially gets at the film’s essence.

Return of the Jedi - One of the best titles, and one that has a dual meaning. Alludes to ‘Return of the King’ and does a good job only tipping off the ending a little bit. No complaints about this one. It gives the impression that the good guys win, but leaves it as a surprise that the bad guy gets redeemed.

The Force Awakens - Excelling title, both for the story and the film’s significance in the real world. Is even referenced in the next movie. Very good.

The Last Jedi - Another title very fitting for its movie and story. Gives a startling implication without lying, tantalizing.

The Rise of Skywalker - This title does capture the film’s gist somewhat, but in a way similar to “Finding Nemo” in that it tips a little too strongly the ending. It struck me as a confusing title going in, what it would mean. It made the final lines of the film, which would’ve been cheesy regardless of the film that built up to it, visible a mile away.

So out of the group, I’d pick ROTJ, TFA, and TLJ as my favorite titles, in that order.

My stance on revising fan edits.