Ranking Star Wars

Now that the dust has settled following the release of the Rise of Skywalker and the Skywalker saga is officially over, I have put together my definitive ranking of every Star Wars movie ever released.

11. Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones

So cheesy, misguided and at times hard to watch, not even Ewan McGregor could save this film.

10. Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace

The much heralded return to the Star Wars universe for the first time since the original trilogy was not the film many people wanted.

9. Solo: A Star Wars Story

An enjoyable entry with some very good performances (Ehrenreich, Clarke, Glover) but this film was entirely unnecessary and low key.

8. Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker

The final film in the Skywalker saga should’ve been so much better. While I like some bits, the film was such a narrative mess and seemed to try and aggressively disregard its predecessor, that it is tough to respect it.

7. Star Wars: Episode VIII – The Last Jedi

Parts of this Rian Johnson film I really love; Rey and Kylo (especially the throne room scene), Luke’s heroic moment on the salt planet (and reunion with Leia), the attempt to deconstruct the Star Wars saga, and Adam Driver giving the franchises best ever performance. However, I also think it had a lot of pointless sub stories that took over in places and some of the narrative decisions were not for the good of the franchise.

6. Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi

A totally enjoyable finale to the original trilogy that is much closer to the space fantasy fun of the first film than the dark tones of Empire. Mark Hamill doesn’t get enough credit for how good he is here.

5. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

The only Star Wars spinoff that really worked for me, and that is because I felt it actually added to the films that already existed, retroactively making A New Hope even better. It also truly films like a war movie set in the fantasy universe we know. It features a stunning third act and the Vader scene at the end is one of the saga’s best moments.

4. Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith

So much higher in my ranking than the other prequels because even though it suffers some of the same issues, this film delivers fully on being a dark origin for Darth Vader, packed full with the best lightsaber battles in the franchise has had.

3. Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens

This film gave me one of my favourite moviegoing experiences, it was so well constructed and the only thing stopping this being higher is how closely it resembles A New Hope. However, there’s no denying the new cast is brilliantly mixed with the old, in a perfect return to a Galaxy Far, Far Away.

2. Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope

The film that started it all and one of the most important and game changing moments in cinema history. The main trio are electric, the story is both new and yet nostalgic, the score is incredible, and the effects are revolutionary. George Lucas changed the industry with this film in 1977.

1. Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back

My winner is the film that many others also consider the best, and for good reason. Lucas followed up his campy space epic with a dark and character focused drama that just so happened to be set in space, and allowed all the characters to go through real arcs and discover who they are. It also features the greatest twist/cliffhanger in cinema history and will go down as one of the best sequels of all time.