I think that the movies are great in the order they came out. Star Wars (1977) is the best because it creates and maintains the universe that everything that follows resides in. The pacing is perfect, the characters are perfect. We are introduced to characters, creatures and vehicles that are now iconic. This is the grandaddy of them all.

The Empire Strikes Back is next, continuing the saga and not just rehashing the same story from the first film, as sequels often do. New vehicles (snow speeders, AT-ATs, Slave 1, etc) and new creatures (Taun-tauns, Yoda). And the dramatic reveal of Darth as father of Luke! So good that I would almost call it a tie between this and the original.

Return of the Jedi shows Lucas’ first step toward gearing the franchise toward children. The Ewoks were painful to watch, Han was snarky and mugged for the camera. Although great, ROTJ is the worst of the original trilogy.