logo Sign In

Ranking the Star Wars films — Page 169

Author
Time
 (Edited)

With The Mandalorian out in the world, I feel compelled to do this again and include the TV shows.

  1. Star Wars
  2. The Empire Strikes Back
  3. The Last Jedi
  4. The Force Awakens
  5. Return of the Jedi
  6. The Mandalorian
  7. Rogue One
  8. Star Wars: Rebels
  9. Solo
  10. The Clone Wars
  11. The Phantom Menace
  12. Attack of the Clones
  13. Revenge of the Sith

Rogue One has gone up and Solo has gone down for me. Solo might sink below TCW too once I get going on my rewatch before the new season drops; I honestly don’t remember it well enough to know for sure now. I’m also very close to switching AOTC and TPM. Clones has got some series low points, but Menace is just. so. boring. Not sure which is worth more in the grand scheme of things.

Author
Time

Here’s my pre-IX hot take. For this ranking, I’m considering my fan edited versions of each. Like bowling with bumpers, it only helps the incompetent. And this is on enjoyment and/or personal meaning, not from a film critic perspective.

4
6
5
8
7
1
3
2

My stance on revising fan edits.

Author
Time

The Empire Strikes Back
Star Wars
The Last Jedi
The Force Awakens
Return of the Jedi
Solo
The Phantom Menace
Rogue One
Attack of the Clones
Revenge of the Sith

Author
Time
 (Edited)

joefavs said:

With The Mandalorian out in the world, I feel compelled to do this again and include the TV shows.

  1. Star Wars
  2. The Empire Strikes Back
  3. The Last Jedi
  4. The Force Awakens
  5. Return of the Jedi
  6. The Mandalorian
  7. Rogue One
  8. Star Wars: Rebels
  9. Solo
  10. The Clone Wars
  11. The Phantom Menace
  12. Attack of the Clones
  13. Revenge of the Sith

Rogue One has gone up and Solo has gone down for me. Solo might sink below TCW too once I get going on my rewatch before the new season drops; I honestly don’t remember it well enough to know for sure now. I’m also very close to switching AOTC and TPM. Clones has got some series low points, but Menace is just. so. boring. Not sure which is worth more in the grand scheme of things.

The Mandalorian has been slipping with me for the last few weeks, but today’s episode was an improvement, so I’m not sure what to do with it. If I’m not giving number ranks and instead sorting into tiers, my list looks something like this:

FIVE STARS:
Star Wars/A New Hope
The Empire Strikes Back

FOUR STARS:
The Force Awakens
The Last Jedi

THREE STARS:
Return of the Jedi
The Clone Wars
Star Wars: Rebels
Rogue One
Solo
The Mandalorian

TWO STARS
The Phantom Menace

ONE STAR
Attack of the Clones
Revenge of the Sith

The top and bottom of the list is pretty stable, but that middle tier is in constant flux.

Author
Time
 (Edited)

Okay. Here goes. I’m rewatching TROS later today though, so we’ll see how that changes this. As it is though…

  1. Star Wars
  2. The Empire Strikes Back
  3. Return of the Jedi
  4. Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith
  5. Rogue One
  6. Solo
  7. Star Wars: The Last Jedi
  8. Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones
  9. Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker
  10. Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace
  11. Star Wars: The Force Awakens

TFA I can enjoy quite a bit until the 40ish minute mark. Then there’s just so much lacking… and TPM is a bore. The rest I either enjoy immensely or just greatly or not so much but still enjoy it.

Author
Time

5
7/8
4
1
6/3
9/2

(all theatrical/as close as possible to theatrical, although I’m partial to 3 and 8 extended versions)

Explanation for 7/8 above 4: 7 is hype af and I’ve very recently flipped on my opinion about 8 via rewatch - I had a good time with it…

Explanation for 1 above 6/3: I like how it’s the most ‘analog’ of the prequels and is so clearly and unapologetically a kids movie… I like the look and feel of it. I wasn’t around when it premiered so no hurtful memories. I like to watch the dvd version because it’s got one less cg character and looks better.

Explanation for 9 at the bottom: not needed, I would presume 😃 I sat through the credits speechless and depressed, lol. Not below 2 because some things like total-creep-Anakin are just inexcusable

reylo?

Author
Time

Updated ranking after second TROS watch:

  1. Star Wars
  2. The Empire Strikes Back
  3. Return of the Jedi
  4. Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith
  5. Rogue One
  6. Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker
  7. Solo
  8. Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones
  9. Star Wars: The Last Jedi
  10. Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace
  11. Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Author
Time

I don’t know what to do with TROS. The story is worse than the PT but the cast makes it so much more engaging to watch.

Author
Time
 (Edited)

Revised list!

S-Tier
1 - The Empire Strikes Back
2 - The Last Jedi

A-Tier
3 - The Force Awakens
4 - Star Wars
5 - Rogue One

B-Tier
6 - Solo

C-Tier
7 - Revenge of the Sith
8 - Return of the Jedi

D-Tier
9 - The Rise of Skywalker
10 - The Phantom Menace

F-Tier
11 - Attack of the Clones
12 - The Clone Wars

Author
Time

I just saw the new one, so I’m still on Cloud 9. Seeing it again on Saturday. Will have a better idea of where I rank it alongside the others then, but for now, I’d say:

GREAT
1.A New Hope 10/10
2.The Empire Strikes Back 10/10

GOOD
3.Return of the Jedi 9/10

FINE
4.The Rise of Skywalker 8/10
5.Solo 8/10
6.The Force Awakens 8/10
7.Revenge of the Sith 7/10
8.The Phantom Menace 7/10
9.Rogue One 7/10
10.The Last Jedi 7/10

BAD
11.Attack of the Clones 5/10

On paper, TRoS is dumb, but in execution, you can “feel” the heart that it has.

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

Author
Time
  1. The Empire Strikes Back
  2. Star Wars
  3. The Rise of Skywalker
  4. Rogue One
  5. The Force Awakens
  6. The Last Jedi
  7. Solo
  8. Return of the Jedi
  9. The Phantom Menace
  10. Revenge of the Sith
  11. Attack of the Clones

Note that with fan edits, TLJ and TFA swap spots and both hop above RO. And TLJ: Rekindled probably tops TROS for me right now, too.

Also this is a very knee-jerk TROS placement. I need to sit with it some more and probably see it a couple more times first.

Author
Time

joefavs said:

I don’t know what to do with TROS. The story is worse than the PT but the cast makes it so much more engaging to watch.

This is where I’m at. Depending on which aspect I think about, it’s either better than ROTJ, or worse than ROTS. Will definitely have to sit with it for a good while.

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

At the moment Episode IX is pretty high up and will definitely remain above 7 and 8, but I also reorder my list all the time so who knows how I’ll feel in a month or two. I’m sure I’ll be shot for having Solo at number 2, but sue me. Solo is overhated.

Author
Time

^ I love that term ‘Solo is overhated’ - and fully agree.

 

For me, upon a first viewing of IX (and hopefully repeat viewings soon):-

Empire
Star Wars
R1
Jedi
TLJ
TROS
Solo
TFA
TPM
ROTS
AOTC

Author
Time

Five-stars
1.Rogue One
2.The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
3.Star Wars (1977)
4.Return of the Jedi (1983)
5. The Mandalorian
6. The Rise of Skywalker
7.The Last Jedi
8.The Force Awakens
9.Solo
10.Rebels (2014 - 2018 animated tv series)
11. Resistance (animated series)
12.The Clone Wars (2008 - 2014 animated tv series)

Four-stars
13.Clone Wars (2003 - 2005 animated tv series)
14.Ewoks (1985 - 1986 animated tv series)
15.Star Wars Holiday Special (1978)
16.Caravan of Courage: An Ewok Adventure (1984 tv movie)
17.Ewoks: The Battle for Endor (1985 tv movie)

Three-Stars
18.The Phantom Menace (1999)
19.Revenge of the Sith (2005)
20.Attack of the Clones (2002)

Two-stars
21.Droids (1985 - 1986 animated tv series)

One-star
22.The Clone Wars (2008 animated movie)

Author
Time
 (Edited)

My Ranking

  1. Empire Strikes Back, 9/10
  2. Force Awakens, 9/10
  3. Star Wars, 8/10
  4. Last Jedi, 8/10
  5. Return of the Jedi, 7/10
  6. Solo, 6/10
  7. Rise of Skywalker, 5.5/10
  8. Rogue One, 5/10
  9. Phantom Menace, 5/10
  10. Revenge of the Sith, 2/10
  11. Clone Wars, 2/10
  12. The Holiday Special, 1/10
  13. Attack of the Clones, 1/10

Lots of these movies are based on the emotional highs as a fan I got from the films. I definitely think that Last Jedi while extremely flawed had some excellent payoffs and an ending I thought was one of the best. Phantom Menace was more digestible and felt more well-paced on my most recent watch, while the other prequel films were nothing but pain. Oddly, I started to enjoy Jake Lloyd’s performance more, just thinking about how George didn’t know what he was doing directing child actors. Rise of Skywalker was eh, one or two emotional highs, but poor pay off for a lot of factors. It screams underdeveloped. One of my screenwriting pals said Last Jedi felt like it needed a rewrite and it would be fine. Rise felt like it needed a finished draft and it would be slightly adequate.

Revenge of the Sith is a meme movie at this point. Clone Wars Movie (love the show) is butt ugly to look at and the story feels like an extended Rebel’s fluff episode for babies than a more grounded episode of Clone Wars. I have fun watching The Holiday Special since it is just a horrible mess that is an overwhelming cringe-fest to the senses. Attack of the Clone is nothing but pure pain to me. I’d rather have my nails pulled out than watch one more moment of those stupid love scenes or any of the atrocious writing and plot that go absolutely nowhere. I’d say that as much as people say that Phantom Menace should be skipped for marathons, I think this one has nothing in it whatsoever. At least you got to see where Anakin came from in Phantom Menace instead of just faffing around for two and a half hours with no discernable end-goal.

Author
Time

All right, let’s give this a shot.

  1. Star Wars
  2. The Empire Strikes Back
  3. The Last Jedi
  4. The Force Awakens
  5. Return of the Jedi
  6. Rogue One
  7. Solo
  8. The Phantom Menace
  9. The Rise of Skywalker
  10. Attack of the Clones
  11. Revenge of the Sith
Author
Time

The Empire Strikes Back: 10/10
Star Wars: 10/10
The Rise of Skywalker: 8.5/10
Return of the Jedi: 8/10
The Force Awakens: 7.5/10
The Last Jedi: 6.5/10
Rogue One: 6.5/10
Revenge of the Sith: 2/10
The Phantom Menace: 1.5/10
Attack of the Clones: 1/10

Have to see TROS again.

“Always in motion is the future” 🌌