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So here’s the thing: opinions of the best (and worst) films in the Skywalker Saga range all over the place. And it’s not just personal taste. Turns out what generation you belong to and nostalgia play into it as well. For instance: if your first Star Wars movie was The Phantom Menace at age 6, you may rank it close to the top simply because it was such a significant experience.
As for me, a Millennial, my first experience with Star Wars was (probably) seeing A New Hope on VHS taped off of broadcast TV. My favorite memories, though, are from watching the VHS box set of the original Star Wars trilogy in the mid-90’s. It was the last time they would release the original trilogy before the infamous Special Edition hit theaters (which I hated). To me the original trilogy will always be the best of the best. That said, that doesn’t mean I’m going to rank all three at the top. Let me know in the comments if you agree or how you would rank these 9 films.
1. Return of the Jedi
I know, controversial take. Always liked it slightly better than Empire because there’s more action, epic battles and possibly most importantly: resolution. Luke is actually a confident hero you can cheer for. Are the Ewoks silly? Maybe. But this film is overflowing with action and memorable moments: Jabba’s palace, the sarlacc pit, Boba Fett, Luke’s green lightsaber, the speeder chase, the emperor’s throne room, “it’s a trap!” and the epic space battle that ensues.
2. The Empire Strikes Back
Most would rank ESB number one and I would have too if I were coming at this from a strict movie reviewer’s perspective. But here’s the thing: As a kid watching all my favorite characters take an L one after the other was painful. But Luke force pulling the lightsaber in the Wampa cave, Han cutting open the TaunTaun, Imperial Walkers, Cloud City, “I am your father”… it goes on and on. So many memorable moments.
3. Revenge of the Sith
Wait, what?! Yep, I would rather watch ROTS than A New Hope. For pure entertainment factor I think it takes the cake. The epic battles, all the cheesy jokes and dialogue between Obi-Wan and Anakin, “Hello there”, order 66, seeing Palpatine duke it out with Yoda, the younglings, the absolutely EPIC lightsaber battle, “I have the high ground”, and the creation of Vader.
4. A New Hope
Maybe I saw it too many times as a kid and I’m over it. I think the real issue though was the first film had very little lightsaber and force use. There is a lightsaber dual but it’s between two old men and about as clunky as it gets. A beautiful film nonetheless. The part that never gets old: Luke watching the sunset and John Williams’ score. Still gives me goosebumps.
5. The Phantom Menace
The two things that saved this film from going lower on the list: Pod racing and Dual of the Fates. Without those scenes, talk of midichlorians, Jar Jar, overall bad dialogue and racist accents would have destroyed this film. Plus the Playstation One-level graphics were and are simply abhorred. Sorry George.
5. Attack of the Clones
For the life of me I can’t even remember what happened in this film. Clones being cloned, an assassination attempt… Jango unchained…? When I originally watched the film at the theater the best part was the lightsaber dual between Count Dooku and Yoda. The second best part was when we were leaving the theater and my ex-sister-in-law called Natalie Portman a slut because her shirt was torn off revealing her stomach in the arena scene.
7. The Force Awakens
A fair attempt at a Star Wars film. I get what J.J. was trying to do. He wanted to take it back to the beginning; to a desert planet; tell the hero’s journey. It was okay. A fresh take that could have gotten better. But it didn’t. By the end we see Rey who doesn’t have any force training or lightsaber skills best Kylo Ren. There’s also a vision where we see the Knights of Ren but we never see or hear from them again. Bummer. Plus Kylo and all of the First Order were all childish wimps who I just couldn’t take seriously throughout the trilogy.
8. The Rise of Skywalker
The final film of the Skywalker Saga doesn’t make a lot of sense. It’s J.J. Abrams franticly trying to realign the story to his original vision after Rian Johnson totally derailed it. Unfortunately it was too much story and too little too late. We get a fake-out Chewie death, a one-in-a-billion puzzle that gets solved by holding it against the remains of the second Death Star and a weird kiss between Rey and Kylo. The only good thing about this movie is seeing Emperor Palpatine again.
9. The Last Jedi
The “We’re going to change everything you knew and loved about Star Wars and make you cringe about 30 times before it’s over” Star Wars film. The most painful part is we see Luke Skywalker, possibly the greatest Jedi who ever lived, devolve into a hermit. He’s no longer a hero and we don’t get to see him fight (not really). It was a real slap in the face of everything people wanted to see. Some praised it for its willingness to try something different. Sadly the dialog, characters, and overall story were all over the place and the action is underwhelming and often just outright stupid. Turns out Rian Johnson is a fabulous writer and director but just not for Star Wars.
So there you have it. That’s how I rank the Skywalker Saga. If you agree or are offended beyond words, let me know in the comments. And if you’re dying for more content like this, check out the movie section of NerdNet.