Everyone has their favourite Star Wars film. It depends on a great many things; The films you watched as a child are likely to rank high, some may suggest the prequels are simply inferior, while others say that the modern era of Star Wars lacks the originality of the first trilogy. Some prefer the direction and writing of George Lucas, while other fans enjoy the one-off stories that are based in the galaxy.
Choosing the best Star Wars films can change with the wind or your mood. One day you want the darkness ofThe Empire Strikes Back, while on another you fancy something more lighthearted. We’ve thought long and hard about how we’d rank the 12 Star Wars films and this is how it all shook out.
Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones
Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones
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Perhaps the most memeable of all the Star Wars films, it’s also the weakest of them all. The story is all over the place, much of it is frightfully boring, and Hayden Christensen had to balance a fine line while also taking on the role of one of the greatest villains of all time. His flirting with the dark side is more enjoyable than his flirting with Padme, but there aren’t many highlights in this one. Sure, there are standout characters, but they’re better utilised in other instalments of the franchise.
Star Wars: The Clone Wars
Star Wars: The Clone Wars
Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker
Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker
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Solo: A Star Wars Story
Solo: A Star Wars Story
Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace
Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace
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Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith
Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith
Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi
Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi
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I hate the Ewoks. I know I’m not the only one. This film is great until the Battle of Endor. We get to see Jabba the Hutt, Luke is finally a proper Jedi, and Darth Vader and Palpatine are on the ropes yet still swinging at the rebels. It’s a good continuation of the darkest part of the trilogy. There was always going to be a happy ending of sorts, and the characters get that, which is great. However, this is where the toy sales really got to the franchise, and the Ewoks were born; a race of small teddy bears that somehow managed to overthrow an empire built on technology. Sure, Luke got in the final swings of the lightsaber and Vader redeemed himself for his son, but the whole mood of the film is off. It felt like Lucas ran out of ideas. We expected a huge war, but what we got was a battle in the aisles of Toys R Us.
Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens
Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens
Star Wars returned and boy it was something special. For so long the franchise had laid dormant besides the animations on Cartoon Network.The Force Awakenscame along and it felt great to be a fan again. We got a cool new villain, a female lead, a stormtrooper on the run, and even Han Solo and Chewie came back. There was a proper sense of mystery around the dark side of the force given the toppling of the Empire in the original trilogy and the story felt refreshing. We were asking questions and sitting on the edge of our seats. Of course, there was a sense of feeding the hungry, we would have gobbled up anything, but we didn’t have to. Star Wars was back and it was good. Better than good, it was great.
Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi
Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi
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Then cameThe Last Jediwhich turned everything up to 11. It was a dividing film for the fanbase and one that seemed to get better after repeat viewings. The story and direction were very different. It was still a blockbuster, but it was more artistic, and it took more chances. Some of those chances didn’t pay off (Leia’s space revival) but we saw Luke again and he was a very different man. Finn and Poe felt less like sidekicks and more like fully realised central characters. The repetition of the original trilogy’s story was broken apart too, with the handling of Snoke, and the film put the power into the hands of the people, not just the Jedi. The rebel alliance was reborn for a new generation, the epitome of what this new trilogy was going to be for young fans. Plus it was a gorgeous film - the use of red underneath white is stark on the screen and constantly brilliant.
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
You could call this film the spark that started the new era of Star Wars in which we currently find ourselves. But, of course, it was also the spark forA New Hope, too. Not only did we finally see how the plans for the Death Star got to Leia, but we met a cast of all-new characters, ones that didn’t have decades of expectations on their shoulders. It also took Star Wars into a new genre; sure it was still sci-fi, but there was espionage here, it felt like a spy film. And this was more refreshing than anything else until now. We got to see new people, new aliens, and most importantly, a galaxy under the rule of the Empire. We finally saw the people under oppression which gave the audience more to root for, and more to hate.
Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope
Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope
More than anything else,Star Wars, dubbedA New Hopein 1981, was downright cool. It had everyone watching, young and old. It had it all; plucky young nobody with a big destiny, a dark villain who freaked out audiences, space magic, laser swords, gorgeous visuals, larger-than-life depictions of aliens, and a solid story that took viewers on an intergalactic journey. It couldn’t be topped.
Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back
Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back
That is until the sequel came along. One of the few examples of the sequel bettering the original. Why?The Empire Strikes Backwas darker, and there was more threat. Luke was still a plucky hero, but he was lost in a big galaxy. The rebels looked under duress, the Jedi who were once a myth became real once again and suddenly the story was more than good versus evil. There were hundreds of stories being told even if only in fragments; the galaxy got bigger, introducing us to new allies and new villains. And you can’t deny the last 30 minutes are some of the best cinema ever created, minutes that left the audience on a cliffhanger - a very rare thing in film back then.
There were double-crosses, revelations that shook up everything, blossoming romance, buddy comedy jokes, and an epic sense of history and scope. The effects were better, too. It was like George Lucas had levelled up and he delivered one of the best stories in the genre, a story that creators have been chasing for decades. In Star Wars filmography, it’s simply perfection.
Topics:Star Wars,TV And Film,Opinion,Disney
