A long time ago… In a galaxy far, far away… With its yellow font against a backdrop of an infinity of stars, this is the immediately recognizable opener to a series of films that so many people have adored since 1977, when Star Wars came into the world.
With three generations of fans over a 45-year span, Star Wars has undoubtedly made its mark on history. But with increasingly diminishing returns, and a public becoming collectively more blase about new installments, how much should people really care? Should the current owners, Disney, stick to their (frankly brilliant) small screen efforts in this galaxy? With The Book of Boba Fett dropping at the end of 2021, here’s a ranking of every Star Wars movie from Worst to Best.
Updated March 7, 2022: If you love Star Wars, you’ll be happy to know we’ve updated this article with more information surrounding current and future projects in the galaxy far, far away.
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12 Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008)
Lucasfilm Animation
The Clone Wars picks up after the events of Attack of the Clones and tries to make something decent out of the period after Obi-Wan discovers the clone army, but before Anakin turns to the dark side and betrays him. Sadly, in its attempt to not focus too much on the boring talkative scenes which plagued the prequel movies, it went too far the other way and is little more than a series of fight scenes. That being said, we do love a good lightsaber duel. The film serves as the backdoor pilot to the television series of the same name, which premiered on Cartoon Network two months after the film’s release. A second film, Darth Maul Returns, a feature-length “director’s cut” of the four-part season finale of the series’ fourth season, was released direct-to-video in 2012.
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11 The Rise of Skywalker (2019)
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
A universally-maligned end to the multi-decade franchise that showed once again JJ Abrams’ inability to close a deal, The Rise of Skywalker is the worst Star Wars film. After a dodgy reaction to Last Jedi before it, Rise felt like it was only there to appease the fans, bringing back previously deceased villain Palpatine and giving off a stink of uncertainty in its own direction. Rise of Skywalker ended an updated trilogy that felt shaky and unconfident from the outset.
10 The Last Jedi (2017)
Disney Studios
The Last Jedi is Incredibly divisive – ask any fan and they will say that this is obviously either the best in the series or one of the worst, which is where it ends up here. The film is a toothless and contrived picture featuring characters whose decisions don’t make logical sense, buoyed by a storyline reliant on total happenstance. Add to that a menagerie of unlikeable new characters, derivative scenes from previous (better) movies, and wayward attempts at humor, and The Last Jedi is actively infuriating. The discourse and fan reaction, especially those directly aimed at its director, and actress Kelly Marie Tran, however, were wildly inappropriate.
9 Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018)
Disney, milking its audience like a mothering tauntaun, opted for the origin story of everyone’s favorite smuggler, Han Solo, in Solo: A Star Wars Story. For the first time since Star Wars’ return, outlets and fans agreed on something dubbed simply “Star Wars fatigue”. As such, Solo felt somewhat unnecessary, with fans arguing that an origin for this particular character wasn’t appealing and that Han Solo’s mystique would only diminish as such. However, the pitch-perfect casting of Donald Glover as best friend, Lando Calrissian, elevates this film considerably.
8 Attack of the Clones (2002)
20TH Century Fox
While the action segments of Attack of the Clones were epic, and the new planets introduced beautifully lush and realized, the film itself was labored, with most of the dialogue coming off as robotic and at its most George Lucas. Combine that with Hayden Christensen’s wooden performance as Anakin, with lines such as “I don’t like sand” and somehow it comes off even worse. However, the movie is saved by sparks of fantastic sci-fi ideas, Ewan McGregor’s portrayal of a young Obi-Wan, and the addition of fan-favorite, Jango Fett, on the rain-drenched Kamino.
7 The Force Awakens (2015)
More or less a remake of New Hope, The Force Awakens was a repackaged effort that added gleam to a story which had arrived over 30 years prior. While beautiful to look at, and certainly a complete thrill on release which reminded everyone how much love there is for Star Wars, this is a film that possesses very few of its own ideas. The Empire has been replaced by The First Order, and they have a weapon that definitely isn’t a Death Star… but bigger; it’s the same-old story presented in gorgeous wrapping, which was satisfying for new audiences but certainly not that fresh for any older fans of the franchise.
6 The Phantom Menace (1999)
Star Wars at its most toy-friendly and marketable, The Phantom Menace reintroduced the world to the franchise with gusto. With it, came the Jedi as more of a religious element in a peaceful world, one which, however sanitized and kid-friendly, nonetheless hints at a powerful darkness just around the corner. Liam Neeson is fantastic as Qui-Gon Jinn, and the final impressive fight always gives chills. Less impressive is the universally despised introduction of Jar Jar Binks, the on-the-nose politics, and a young Anakin Skywalker.
5 Revenge of the Sith (2005)
Without a doubt the darkest addition in the series, Revenge of the Sith wraps the prequel trilogy up and readies us for what was to come in the original masterpieces. Finally being turned to the Dark Side, Anakin Skywalker begins a rampage, murdering those close to him and being consumed by evil. In a podgy trilogy, overstuffed with nostalgia and gimmickry, it’s truly surprising that this addition really leans into its own sadness and anger while satisfyingly completing the final act. The John Williams score once again reminds audiences why he’s the soundtrack king.
Unlike the two previous prequel entries, the film received positive reviews from critics and was able to answer the age-old question of how Anakin Skywalker became the legendary villain Darth Vader. Because it has been lumped in with the other prequels, it is often dismissed as rubbish with some laser swords and poorly written dialogue. To be fair, none of the Star Wars movies have particularly powerful scripts, but that hasn’t stopped the movies from making hundreds of millions of dollars at the box-office.
4 Rogue One (2016)
Rogue One really steered into the war its title suggests. Rogue One is a true and largely excellent war film, with its mish-mash cast of scoundrels plotting to steal the plans for the Death Star, leading immediately to the events of New Hope. Rogue One is a polished and relatively bleak one-off that does not overstay its welcome, with great set-pieces and action scenes that utilize usually impressive special effects, only let down by its now immediately dated face-mapping technology of Tarkin and a young Leia.
3 Return of the Jedi (1983)
20th Century Fox
Love it, or loathe it, Return of the Jedi still entertainingly rocks. Capping off the end of the original series, the arcs conclude concerning Luke vs. Vader, a final reveal of the Big Bad, Emperor Palpatine, and Han and Leia finally getting together. With Yoda, the Forest Moon of Endor, and Jabba’s Palace, one could argue there’s too much muppetry involved, but the film is so much better for it if they can be embraced. In perhaps the biggest climax of the whole franchise, our finale shows a three-way battle– on the ground, among the stars, and the final clash between Luke and Darth Vader, creating an epic Shakespearean father-son duel. The Jedi’s celebration montage at the very end is real delight for every fan who waited seven years to see this epic conclusion. Yub nub!
2 A New Hope (1977)
The science-fiction of Star Wars was most like a sweeping fairytale when it began with a farm boy rescuing a princess from evil. A beautiful and well-measured delight that impacted the whole genre of sci-fi and even the cinematic medium as a whole, A New Hope is a poetic masterpiece that changed everything. The very first Star Wars movie to be released (and given the moniker A New Hope later) would become one of the biggest smashes in Hollywood history for its groundbreaking visuals, sound, and rich world-building. On top of all that, John Williams (Steven Spielberg’s go-to composer before he became synonymous with George Lucas’ work) creates his own version of Holst’s Planets symphony and applies it impeccably here to this stunning space epic.
Lucas faced a lot of problems while writing the script for Star Wars. First, the setting and characters were incredibly complicated. The idea of the force was difficult to define. In fact, for a long time it was really just a magical relic (Kyber Crystal) instead of a universal energy throughout the galaxy. Secondly, many Hollywood executives struggled to buy into Lucas’ vision. Universal hadn’t released Lucas’ American Graffiti yet, because the executives disagreed with the director’s style, casting a shadow of doubt on Lucas’ abilities as a filmmaker. Thankfully, Alan Ladd Jr, president of 20th Century Fox, saw American Graffiti before its release. He disagreed with Universal and asked to help make Lucas’ next film. Ladd Jr. remained an important and powerful ally to Lucas and Star Warsthrough every phase of production.
1 The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
Many will disagree, but The Empire Strikes Back is arguably the perfect sequel, the best follow-up film of all time. The movie is gripping in its tension while expanding on the story that had come before it, adding more characters (Lando, Yoda, Boba Fett, The Emperor) and giving more growth to the ones which had come before. The design of Sky City is also a truly influential highlight, and the technology of the film was huge for the time. Empire is a masterful balancing act, serving as the gloomy black sheep between A New Hope and Return of the Jedi, and is all the better for it, bridging the original trilogy perfectly. It is dark and its ending is rather hopeless, creating a model for future cliffhangers. Utilizing the best aspects of every film but taking them utterly seriously while discarding any fluff, The Empire Strikes Back is the greatest Star Wars film.
