With the impending release of
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and since I did something similar for the Marvel movies back when
Captain America: Civil War came out, I thought it would be appropriate to put out my list ranking all of the
Star Wars films. In order to qualify for this list, the film must be a theatrically released, canon film in the
Star Wars franchise. Therefore, to paraphrase Obi-Wan Kenobi, that little business of the
Star Wars Holiday Special doesn't count (though if it did, it was most surely be on the bottom of the list). Also, please note that I do love all of the
Star Wars movies (yes, including the prequels), so in a handful of cases, I have given the film its ranking simply because I enjoy watching just a little more than the film the preceded it on the list. Alright, now that we've established all of that, let's dive into the list.
#8: Star Wars: Episode II: Attack of the Clones
Despite a few hacks I discovered that make this film more watchable, this is still by far the weakest film in the franchise. The main problems are George Lucas's poor directing and the poor choices that were made with regards to how Anakin and Padme's love story was handled (for example, in post-production, some scenes that would have helped the storyline work better were cut for time, while scenes that didn't work as well were left in). I do still like some aspects of the film, such as the action scenes, the scene where Anakin is briefly reunited with his mother, and the storyline that sees Obi-Wan Kenobi trying to track down an assassin. Ultimately though, none of these elements are good enough to save this film from ranking at the bottom of this list.
#7: Star Wars: The Clone Wars
A lot of people forget about the existence of this film, and that's probably because it's basically a theatrically-release pilot for the animated Star Wars: The Clone Wars TV series that aired on Cartoon Network and Netflix. Despite its underwhelming storyline, the film is a fun ride and effectively introduces us to new characters like Ahsoka Tano and Asajj Ventress. Also, the animation is beautiful. Therefore, the film ranks at number seven.
#6: Star Wars: Episode I: The Phantom Menace
Or as many fans like to call it: "Help! Jar Jar Binks! Everybody run!" To which my reaction is: "Seriously? You're going to hate on a fun movie over the presence of one character?" Sure, he's basically just comic relief and does nothing useful for most of the movie, but the same could be said of C-3PO for a lot of his screen time in the original trilogy. The only real difference between the two is that Jar Jar is clumsier, has a weird voice that most people would call annoying, and is poorly animated. So, now we're deciding whether or not we like someone based on the sound of their voice and how they look? If you did that in real life to a real person, that would be called bullying. But since it's a fictional character it's OK, right? Wrong. People still get hurt. You can find a video of an interview with Ahmed Best (who played Jar Jar) in which he says that he feels bad because he feels like he single handedly ruined Star Wars for everybody. Wait, when did this article become a defense of Jar Jar? Anyway, despite its bad CGI (which can be forgiven given the time it was made and the sheer ambition of what Lucas was trying to do with CGI technology), the film is fun prologue to the rest of the saga films that does a good job of setting up the world, our hero (Anakin Skywalker) and our villain (Palpatine). It's a fun movie, so it ranks number six on this list. SIDE NOTE: Stop bashing Jar Jar. He doesn't deserve this much hate, and it hurts Ahmed Best's feelings.
#5: Star Wars: Episode IV: A New Hope
Yes, I did put the original Star Wars film right in the middle of the list. But hear me out. Despite all of the nostalgia we all feel for it, I think we can all admit that when you take all of the original trilogy films together, this is the weakest one of the bunch. The pacing is slower than the other films in the franchise, which isn't a bad thing all by itself. However, this film had to play it safe because there was no way to tell that Star Wars was going to become such a pop culture phenomenon when it first came out. Therefore, the film doesn't take a whole lot of risks and tries its darnedest to end in a way that satisfactorily finishes the story in case no sequels were picked up but that still sets up the possibility of sequels. The end result was a good film that just doesn't impress in the same way the other Star Wars films do. Therefore, I have put it at number five. Please don't kill me.
#4: Star Wars: Episode VII: The Force Awakens
My only problem with this film is that it tries so hard to disassociate itself from the prequel trilogy that it ends up being a remake of the original Star Wars film. However, it is still a fun movie and it does a good job of bringing Han Solo's storyline full circle for a satisfying conclusion. Plus, I think it does the original film's storyline better than the original film. Therefore, this film ranks just above the original for no other reason than that I like watching it a little more than the original.
#3: Star Wars: Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
Now we're getting into the movies that were really hard for me to rank. Honestly, this film and the film I put in second place are tied for second. But, since I can't do that on this list, I had to pick one of them and this one drew the shorter straw. It's a great film, though, and deserves its status as one of the best Star Wars films in the galaxy.
#2: Star Wars: Episode VI: Return of the Jedi
Basically, I love those Ewoks. In all seriousness, though, this is great movie that does a great job of bringing Anakin Skywalker's story to an emotional end.
#1: Star Wars: Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
Yes, this one is a prequel, and no, it is not total crap. This film left the biggest impact on me emotionally of all of the Star Wars films. Anakin's descent into evil is heartbreaking to watch, and on my first viewing, I was literally shaking by the end just because of the emotional intensity of the film. However, despite this intensity, the film ends with a glimmer of hope that one day everything will be made right in the galaxy. In many ways, the film's ending reminds me of Genesis 3, where Adam and Eve plunge humanity into sin, and yet God promises a way of redemption. Besides the impact of the film's ending, the CGI is excellent in this film (most of the time), and the lightsaber duels toward the end have a level of suspense to them that no other Star Wars film has been able to pull off. I could go on and on, but you get the picture. Star Wars has a lot of depth to it, and a lot of that depth comes from this installment, and so this films gets the top spot on this list. Again, please don't kill me.
