Star Wars Movie Ranking

Star Wars Movie Ranking

Star Wars has become a very controversial series, at least from what I've saw. When brought up, it's likely that fans will argue which trilogy is better or worse (the originals, prequels, or sequels), with some arguments having merit while others don't.

So, I'm gonna do something risky and rank these movies. Like with the marvel series and the character rankings, I'm gonna be as objective as possible, as that is my goal with all of my rankings (Or at least most of them). Personal opinions is gonna kept out as much as possible.

The ranking will be based on the story, action, and characters, with setting, visuals, and music secondary, like with the MCU movies. Also, spoiler warning. If you haven't watch any of the Star War movies, and don't want to get spoiled, then click out. If you don't care, or already watched them, then enjoy.

11. Rise of Skywalker

So yeah, after some thinking, Rise of Skywalker easily takes last place. Out of the all the movies, this one has the worst writing of them all.

The characters have little to no development in this film. Too much is happening in the movie to give them that development, with characters just moving from planet A to be planet B, and there was very little for them to work with from the previous installments (Last Jedi and Force Awakens). They tried to give some development to the main character, Rey, by making her a Palpatine and having her struggle with the dark side; but in the end, that just fell flat. 

The story isn't any better. They brought back Palpatine out of nowhere and made him the big bad once again, with, again, no setup from the previous two main films. The heroes have to find a Sith dagger, in order to find a Path Finder, in order to find a planet, where Palpatine is hiding at. Now this kind of plot could work with good characters and arcs filled in, but as previously stated, there was none of that.

The film was riddle with lore breaking actions. Mini hyperspace jumps; parts of the Death Star located away from Endor; force powers being flung around like they're out of style; and again, Palpatine brought back with no explanation; every single rule, every established piece of lore, was just ignored or pushed aside.

And all the fan-service just fell flat. The arrival of reinforcements in the third act, the spirits of all the Jedi whispering to Rey, Rey saying "I am all the Jedi"; all of it ranged from unearned to just cringey.

There's a lot I could say about this movie, and none of it good. However, I'll just leave it here, save the rest for a possible review/discussion/rant, and say that this movie earns the 11th spot.

10. The Last Jedi

The Last Jedi isn't any better. While not as poorly written as Rise of Skywalker, it treats the characters and galaxy of Star Wars with very little respect.

For one, the characters were written and treated poorly. From new characters like Holdo to old ones like Luke, none of them were given the proper care. None of them had any proper development/arc, some did actions that made very little sense, and a few were just killed off before they could even get a chance at becoming good characters.

The film is overly subversive. Practically everything happening in the movie is subverted, to the point there's nothing surprising that happens. Things were subverted so many times, that by the end, there was nothing that was really reinvented. Because of this, the story of failure it was trying to tell fell flat, and you don't really get that feeling of failure at the end.

Leia dies? No, she pulled herself back in the ship with the force. Ren kills Snoke and fights the guards with Rey? He's only trying to get power for himself. Luke was projecting himself with the Force? He dies anyway. There's trick, after trick, after trick, with the film constantly pulling smokescreens on itself.

There's a lot of very contradictory stuff, both in and out of the Star Wars universe. In Star Wars, you have to train in order to use the force; yet Rey can lift several dozen large boulders with little to no training. In the Force Awakens, there were clues that Rey's parents aren't just nobody drunks; yet Kylo and Rey both claims that they are. In Star Wars, and real life, you cannot survive in open space; yet Leia was somehow still alive and breathing.

Honestly, just thinking about all this gives me a headache. I know that there are several people out there that love this movie, and will defend it, but you can't really call it a good movie, at least in the storytelling aspect. It bends, or even ignores, the rules created within the Star Wars mythos; it subverts expectations for the sake of subverting; and it doesn't develop it new characters properly, nor give the old ones any respect. The only good thing it introduce, was one or two different uses of the force, which is force projection.

But that one, interesting aspect doesn't carry a movie riddled with flaws. So for it contradictions, flawed writing, and poor treatment of characters, it gets 10th place.

9. Solo: A Star Wars Story

Solo here is a better film than the last two. At the same time though, it's very... meh. Like many have said before, it's a unneeded origin film, that doesn't really do anything for the character of Han Solo.

None of new characters were really memorable. They don't really have any interesting story arcs or backgrounds, and some don't do much till the end of the movie. They're just... there.

The old characters, Han, Lando, and Chewbacca, aren't any better. Han in particular don't really get much development. At the start, he's a hot-shot with dreams of making the big league; but we don't see him develop into the experienced, cynical smuggler, who's only in it for the money, so the origin story feels unneeded.

The story itself was somewhat interesting; witnessing the criminal side of the Star Wars galaxy is something that would peak people's interest. Unfortunately, not much was done with it, and the characters themselves couldn't carry rest of the film.

So, there's not much to really say about the film without going into heavy details. It's an okay movie, it doesn't hurt the Star Wars brand, but doesn't add to it either. So unfortunately for this Star Wars story, it will have to settle for 9th place.

8. Star Wars: The Force Awakens

The Force Awakens is an okay movie. It's a good setup for its sequel (Setups that were wasted), but by itself, it just okay.

The characters started out interesting, namely Finn, Rey, and Kylo. A stormtrooper turned traitor, a scavenger of a backwater planet, and a sith struggling with the light and dark side are all pretty interesting. Some of the other villains, General Hux and Supreme Leader Snoke, also felt like genuine and competent threats.

The story is interesting as well, having it be about the search for Luke Skywalker, who disappeared from the galaxy. It gives a lot of mystery as to what happened to the galaxy, mysteries that you would be interested in finding out.

But other than that, there's not much else I could really say about the film that's good. All of it is just mysteries and potentially good characters, with no payoff. The payoff was suppose to be in it's sequels, but... you all know how that turned out.

So, while not as bad as the Last Jedi or the Rise of Skywalker, it's not the level of the originals or the prequels. For that, it will get 8th place.

7. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

Now we're getting to the good stuff. Rogue One is probably the only good Star Wars movie of the Disney era. It got a solid plot, solid cast of characters, and, most of all, an engaging third act.

The characters in the film were well developed and well-rounded. While they're not as memorable as the likes of Luke, Anakin, Obi-Wan, and R2, they served their purpose admirably and felt like distinct individuals. Even the main villain, Commander Krellic, was a pretty solid villain.

The story itself was good was as well. It's interesting to see the film interpretation as to how the Death Star plans got into the Rebellion's hands. We also get to see a deeper look into how bad Imperial life can really be, as well as what the Rebels needed, and were willing, to do in order to win.

But the main thing that made the movie so good was act 3. We get to see the small cast of rogues come together to do an impossible mission, fighting against an army of Imperials in order to retrieve the Death Star plans. We watch as their development comes full circle, see them die one by one as they take the plans and send them to the rebels, and see one ship barely escape with those plans, which directly leads to a New Hope.

The best part about that act was the hallway scene, where Darth Vader comes in and demolishes a group of rebel soldiers one by one. You could feel the tension, fear, and desperation as the soldiers try to hold off Vader while one escapes with the plan.

So yeah, the third act made a overall solid movie to one that you would want to watch repeatedly. For that, it gets a respectable 7th place.

6. Attack of the Clones

So, the prequel trilogy in general seemed to have gain an unnatural amount of internet hatred until the sequels showed up. After, the hatred lessened significantly, though there are still those who express their contempt with the trilogy.

Attack of the Clones and the Phantom Menace in particular seemed to be viewed as the worst of the Star Wars movies. And if the Disney Star Wars movies didn't exist, they would be in the bottom of this list, I will admit. However, that doesn't mean they're bad movies. In all honestly, both of them are really good films.

For one, much of the story is pretty good. The chase between Anakin, Obi-Wan, and the assassin/hunter; Obi-Wan's investigation into the attempted assassination; Anakin's search for his mother; the Battle of Geonosis; all these parts of the films were interesting and engaging, especially the battle.

Speaking of which, the fights/battles were all delightful to watch, especially during the third act. Seeing several Jedi knights fight it out against the droid army, the clones coming in when all seems lost, the battle between the clones and droids, and the duels between Ob-Wan, Anakin, and Yoda against Dooku was all captivating.

The characters were solid as well, with the main trio being Anakin, Padme, and Obi-Wan. They, along with the support cast, were played well and had excellent chemistry with each other. Finally, the movie helps make the Star Wars galaxy feel much larger, from the politics to the planets to a large scale war beginning at the end. Something that each prequel film does, each of them stacking on top of each other.

There's only a couple of things that keep the film from going any higher. First, the next five movies just have a better cast of characters/have better character development. While I did say the characters were solid here, much of the focus was on Anakin, Padme, and Obi-Wan, with Anakin getting the development mainly. This film is definitely more story-oriented, which isn't bad, but does take a tally off compare to the others.

And second, the romance between Anakin and Padme. Not because it was cringey (Though I admit they laid the romance thick at times), but because the romance happening during Naboo was not really interesting, compared to Obi-Wan's investigation in Kamino or Anakin's search for his mother later at Tatooine. I think the romance could've been interesting or engaging (Han and Leia's was, after all), but they miss the mark there.

Overall, the film got an interesting story, engaging fights and battles, a number of planets being visited (Both new and old), and a solid cast of characters; at the same time, it got a meh romance around the middle. For those pros and cons, it gets 6th place on the list.

5. The Phantom Menace

Like I mentioned before, the Phantom Menace gets a lot of hate, mainly due to Jar-Jar and the midichlorians. But again, this is a solid film (Admittedly one of my favorites of the eleven).

For one, the story is engaging from beginning to end. From Obi-Wan and Qui-gon fighting against squads of droids, to the pod-race on Tatooine, to the three/four-way battle happening in Naboo; all of it are capable of keeping your attention. And the plot itself isn't really that confusing; it's about the main cast trying to free the planet from the grip of a evil and greedy corporation.

The characters are good here as well. Like Attack of the Clones, much of the focus is on the story, but we get a better feel as to what each character is like. Qui-gon, Obi-Wan, Padme, Anakin, all get a good amount of focus compared to the film's sequel. The only one who doesn't get that much focus is Maul, but he works as the silent antagonist.

The fights/battles here are great, with the most noteworthy one is the duel between Obi-Wan, Qui-gon, and Maul. Seeing the two jedi knights facing against a foe with a unique fighting style, as well as a unique saber to boot, was very enthralling, and the whole duel was very well choreographed. The gungans vs the droids, the space battle above, and the shootout in the palace was also terrific, adding to the tension of the third act.

And while there were not that many planets, compare to Attack of the Clones or Revenge of the Sith, Coruscant and Naboo, along with the senate and Jedi Order, began making the Star Wars galaxy much more bigger. Plus, there were several new ships, vehicles, machinery, and such that were not shown in the original trilogy, helping sell the idea of a different era while giving us new stuff at the same time.

All in all, we have a solid story, engaging battles and duel (Plus race), and some good characters that were given some focus. The only reason it isn't higher on the list is because the last four are just better. So it will have to settle for 5th place.

4. Return of the Jedi

Now we're at the top four of the list. While the Return of the Jedi is the weakest of the original trilogy, it still just as good as its predecessors.

Now, it difficult to explain what makes Return of the Jedi a top four film. Rather than the characters and the story as a whole that makes it so good, it's a few strong characters, as well as an assortment of minor and major moments, that gives it the top spot.

The few characters I'm talking about are Luke, Vader, and Palpatine. While Leia, Han, Lando, and the others are solid characters, they don't serve much in terms of development, aside from several minor moments across the film. It's the father and son film, along with the Emperor himself, that carried a good chunk of the film.

Much of the focus in the movie is the relationship between Luke and Vader, with the two try to pull each other to their side. Where Luke sees the light in his father and does all he can to bring it back up, Vader does all he can to bring his son to the dark side. Their character development came full round, with Luke manage to resist the dark side and fully became a Jedi knight, while Vader came back to the light and took down the Emperor himself.

Palpatine, meanwhile, gets properly introduce in the film, and was played the evil mastermind very well. He proved himself cunning, manipulative, and just gleefully evil in just one fell swoop, setting a trap for the Rebels and Luke, and saying so to the young Jedi as they watch the trap be sprung through the Death Star, making the dark side all the more tempting. All with a wicked smile plastered on his face.

The major battles in the movie also brings the story up. The fight above the Sarlacc Pit in Tatooine, the space battle above Endor, the battle on Endor, and the duel between Vader and Luke, were all epic in either a mass level or a personal one. The minor moments also helped bring up the story, such as Leia and Luke's conversation before the latter left, the romance between Han and Leia, and Luke's visit with Yoda before the old Jedi died.

So, it major battles, minor moments, character development between Luke and Vader, and a bit of the Emperor being an evil mastermind gives the movie the 4th spot.

3. A New Hope

Here we are, with the movie that started it all. A New Hope, or Star Wars as it was originally called, is the first film of the series. But despite being the first, and coming out in the late 70s, is still holds up as one of the best in franchise.

First off, the world-building and lore is some of the best parts. Like the film says in the beginning, we're introduce to a galaxy far, far away. While there are not as many planets as its sequels, the different aliens, the variety of ships and vehicles, the Death Star and Tatooine, and the little hints of a much bigger galaxy makes the universe of Star Wars feel huge. And little to none of it was rushed or stuffed in; it was a natural building of the Star Wars galaxy.

Each of the characters were written and played wonderfully. All of them were well-developed and lovable, from the hopeful farmboy Luke, to the cynical smuggler Han, to the fiery princess Leia; and they have great chemistry with one another. And the villains, Darth Vader and Grand Moff Tarkin, were menacing and efficient threats to our heroes.

The story is pretty simple, being about several individuals coming together to destroy a planet destroying weapon. Not only was it solidly written, the simplicity leaves the film a lot of room for world-building and character build-up, for things like the force and the jedi, the empire and rebel conflict, the dynamic between Luke, Han, and Leia, etc.

Finally, the battles here was fun to watch. While A New Hope is the oldest of the Star Wars film, a lot of the effects still holds up to this day. The skirmish at the detention level, the chase around the Death Star itself, the space battle in the third act, much of it made for some tense and blood pumping fights, with some natural humor from the characters at time. The only one action scene I would say that doesn't hold up much is the duel between Obi-Wan and Vader, being more clunky than many of the future lightsaber duels (Not its fault, but there it is).

Despite it being the first of the series, and therefore the oldest, it still holds up as one of the best Star Wars film to this day. It got great characters, excellent world-building, a solid story, and tense battles, all of which gives this A New Hope 3rd place.

2. The Empire Strikes Back

The Empire Strikes Back is heralded as one of the best Star Wars movie out of the bunch, with some calling it number one. And I can't say that it hasn't earned the number of praise it has received. 

For one, the original trilogy cast is at their best here. Han and Leia with their fiery romance; Vader showing how dangerous he really is; the introduction of Lando; and Luke continuing development to becoming a Jedi knight. We get a lot of moments from these characters (Including those that I haven't mentioned), and none of them felt like they didn't belong in the movie. 

Secondly, the story here is phenomenal. At the start, we have Vader hunting down Luke and his friends; Han, Leia, Cewie, and C-3PO fleeing from the Empire; and Luke, with his buddy R2 by his side, going to a swamp planet to be train by another Jedi master. On one side, we get a tense chase between the Falcon and Vader's Star Destroyer, while the other, we get to hear and see more of the Jedi as Luke learns and trains under the teachings of Yoda.

It all comes to a dark turning point at the third act. Han, Leia, Chewie and C-3P0 getting betrayed; the smuggler getting frozen and shipped to Jabba; Luke getting brutally beaten by Vader, despite his training; and right after, the aspiring Jedi learning that his father isn't dead. That Vader is his father. We see the characters at their lowest, beaten down and drained. Yet at the end, still hopeful.

The galaxy and lore continued growing here. We get introduced to three new planets, all of which were unique to each other and the previous planets. We also get a few more new aliens and creatures, minor mentions/moments that help keep the galaxy feeling massive, and some more ships and vehicles. But the biggest amount we got here was about the Force, about the Jedi (And a bit of the Sith), the light and the dark side.

Finally, we got the action. Much of what we got, from the battle of Hoth to Luke vs Vader, was tense and nail-biting. Instead of our characters chalking more wins, we see them just struggle to survive against the Empire. We see them battle against an onslaught, the falcon crew get chase down by a star-ship, said crew escaping from the imperials, and Luke barely holding his own against Vader. 

Also,something to note here is that the light-saber duel in the film is a big improvement to A New Hope. While not to the standards of the prequel, each strike and parry made by the father and son duo felt like it made an impact. There was much more movement happening here, and it didn't feel like two people struggling to swing a sword.

This is why the Empire Strikes is held at such high regards, as well as being number two on this list. The original cast are at the best here, the film got a great story with a dark turning point, it continues to grow the Star Wars galaxy, and it got solid battles and duel. For all that, it gets 2nd place on this list.

1. Revenge of the Sith

But out of all eleven films, Revenge of the Sith carries the number one spot on this list. While some may disagree with this, this film is peak Star Wars. It takes everything that makes Star Wars what it is and ramps it up, from the major character moments to the multiple light-saber duels scattered around the movie.

Here, the galaxy is the largest it has ever been, movie-wise. Not only do we get a variety of unique planets, we get a larger look at the wide scale war between the Republic and the Separatist. We get to see more of the Senate, of the Jedi, and the inner conflict between the two (Or more specifically, between the Jedi and the chancellor).

There were plenty of battles and light-saber duels happening in the film, along with one massive space battle in the beginning. But it's the light-saber duels that shined the most here. Many of the duels were amazing to watch, with the best one being Anakin vs Obi-Wan. The duel was not only well-choreographed, showing the skills these two Jedi possessed, but it was also a very personal duel, one between two former friends who seen each other as brothers.

The characters here are also good. Many, if not all of them, were solidly written and played, especially Anakin, Obi-Wan, and Palpatine. The three mentioned have several memorable moments throughout the film, as well as had great chemistry with one another.

But the best part about the film was the story itself. One that was about not just the fall of the Republic, as well as the rise of the Empire; but also one about the fall of Anakin Skywalker and the rise of Darth Vader. 

The film starts out with a massive space battle over Coruscant, something that should bring the attention of most people. Then it continued, slowly telling Anakin's fall to the dark side, from his killing of Count Dooku, to the dreams of his wife's death, to subtle manipulation of Palpatine. That moment builds up through the first and second act of the film, until finally, Anakin stops Windu from killing Palpatine; thus starting his betrayal of the Jedi Order, and those he cared about.

Then, the emotional roller-coaster starts. The slaughter of thousands of Jedi throughout the galaxy; Anakin marching into the Jedi temple with the clone army behind his back; Obi-Wan watching as Anakin slaughters Jedi and even younglings; the duel between Anakin and Obi-Wan; the ride continues on until the birth of Darth Vader, the birth of Luke and Leia, and the death of Padme.

Revenge of the Sith tells a tragic story, filled with very solid characters, a variety of planets, amazing light-saber duels, a very memorable space battle, and unforgettable moments scattered throughout. For all that, and more, it gets the number 1 spot.

Conclusion

So, that is the end of my Star Wars ranking. Apologies for taking a long time with this. Not only was personal life getting in the way, but this ranking was pretty difficult, especially at the end. It was especially hard to tell whether Revenge of the Sith or the Empire Strikes Back deserved the number one spot as both movies were really good.

I think after this, I'll put more focus on character rankings rather than series rankings. Ranking individual characters feels more easier than entire movies. I might rank all 23 MCU movies together, and a give the summarized versions of my reasoning, but most of my focus will be on characters or unique aspects of a series, such as worst to best light-saber duels.

Be on the lookout for future posts. Gonna do my best to update at least once a month, with the aim being weekly/bi-weekly posts. Until then, I'll see you guys later.