Best To Worst Star Wars Movie By Ranking Individual Chapters

[IAmBatman]

The execution wasn’t interesting enough for me to account for things.

I’m an advocate of machete order for future generations though: 4, 5, 2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 9

Not sure where Rogue One would go in there.

[Tornado]

First.

[Sheep]

Originally Posted by IAmBatman

The execution wasn’t interesting enough for me to account for things.

I’m an advocate of machete order for future generations though: 4, 5, 2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 9

Not sure where Rogue One would go in there.

The execution was interesting enough for me, which along with what I mentioned previously, is why RotS scored highest for me.

Machete order is definitely the way to go. Does so much to make the story make sense.

For a new fan, I'm not sure I'd throw Rogue One in there. Just show it off later. Putting it first takes away from the first impressions and strong story of ANH. Watching Rogue One first would force you to reinvest into every character by ANH.

[Tornado]

1. Empire Strikes Back
2. Rogue One
3. Star Wars
4. Return of the Jedi
5. Phantom Menace
6. The Last Jedi
7. Attack of the Clones
8. The Force Awakens
9. Solo
10. Revenge of the Sith

[quozl]

1. Star Wars (one of my favorite movies, later renamed to A New Hope)
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
2. The Empire Strikes Back (parts of this were good)
3. Return of the Jedi (parts of this were good)
4. Rogue One (pretty good)
5. The Last Jedi (it was funny and surprising)
6. The Force Awakens (I liked one part)
7. Revenge of the Sith (bad)
8. The Phantom Menace (so bad)
9. Attack of the Clones (even worse)
10. Solo (they should show this in bad acting school)

[TheAverageFan]

1. Empire - This one was my favorite since I was a little kid and it has only gotten better as I and my understanding of film and writing have matured.

2. Return of the Jedi - Yes it has Ewoks but the Throne Room confrontation between Luke, Vader, and the Emperor is and always will be the best thing in the entirety of the Star Wars saga.

3. Star Wars - Fun, adventurous, and inspiring. It's the same thing that has made the MCU such a big hit.

4. Revenge of the Sith - Good enough to be taken seriously, although the dialogue is quite possibly worse than ever in the PT. Which is a good thing for the sake of the memes.

5. Phantom Menace - Recent Star Wars films almost guaranteed that I unironically enjoyed this movie the last time I saw it. It's a testament to how pathetic this franchise has become that I'm forced to have this be #5.

6. Force Awakens - Would be higher on the list were this film not ruined by its sequel. Consider all those setups and mystery boxes subverted into utter nothingness.

7. Attack of the Clones - I want to like this movie, but the terrible romance plot takes up so much screen time. Even Christopher Lee can't save this.

8. Rogue One - I've never been more embarrassed to be at a theater-going experience. It was like being in a cheap porno theater with a bunch of perverts. This feels like Star Wars porn, with characterization that's about on point for that analogy.

9. Solo - I've didn't even see it. All I know about it is that it's better than the last film on this list by default.

10. Clone Wars - Also haven't seen it. It's apparently quite awful, but we got a pretty good TV show out of it.

11. Holiday Special - Rifftrax is the only known way to survive watching this entire thing. It has a few merits, such as not ruining the character of Luke Skywalker and not rendering the entire OT completely meaningless.

12. The Last Straw - A nihilistic postmodern deconstruction of the Star Wars mythos that is just as awful as that sounds. It's a good looking movie, but as far as the writing goes I have nothing nice to say about it.

~TAF, anticipating Rise of Skywalker to fit somewhere between spots 7-9.

[IAmBatman]

Some of y'all should just stop watching movies. I worry about your blood pressure.

[TheAverageFan]

Originally Posted by IAmBatman

Some of y'all should just stop watching movies.

Fair enough; I have stopped watching Star Wars films. I just like good movies is all. Thank God for Marvel and John Wick. If I do see Episode 9 I certainly won't be paying for it, and will view it more out of an obligation to see the autopsy of how they end this trainwreck of a trilogy.

~TAF

[IAmBatman]

"Good" notably being incredibly subjective.

Why would you feel obligated to do something simply for the sake of complaining and feeling bad about it, though? That seems a bit nonsensical to me.

[vegietarian18]

I think that calling TLJ a "nihilistic deconstruction" of Star Wars misses the part at the end where Luke singlehandedly saves the entire Resistance and inspires the kids on the cansino planet to play with Star Wars action figures while imagining a better future where the bad guys are defeated. That seems like the most positive affirmation possible for Star Wars really.

The movie is about dealing with legacy, not about deconstructing legacy as good or bad. People focus on Kylo's "let the past die" as the ethos for the movie when that's literally the villain speaking. Kylo is wrong and his obsession with destroying the past hurts him. He lets his desire to destroy the past get in the way of the real objectives: he sends the TIE fighters after the Millenium Falcon to destroy the symbol of his father instead of fighting the Resistance, he insists on dueling Luke 1v1 in the middle of an open field instead of destroying the resistance. Luke says at the end "I am not The Last Jedi": this affirms the value and the continuation of his legacy. Rey keeps the broken Skywalker lightsaber, she keeps the jedi texts, Rose gets her sister's medallion back after using it for non-sentimental purposes. The legacy matters.

Now my issue with the movie can somewhat agree with the "bad writing" criticism and it's that these thematic moments often don't flow together very well or flow with the story very well. Like many of the setpieces are just awkward, like Finn dragging the injured Rose across an entire battlefield to safety. But the somewhat sloppy plot arc was in service of the thematic arc which is by far the most compelling thematic arc in Star Wars.

I know that people are allowed to have their own opinions on movies but the particular opinion that "TLJ ruined Star Wars!!" seems so shortsighted and angry. I think you would like it if you gave it a chance.

[IAmBatman]

Nah, haters gonna hate. Fanboyish hatred of TLJ is too embedded in the culture at this point for the butt hurt to ever recover. I think the "just stop watching movies you know you're going to complain about incessantly" approach is more likely.

Honestly, though, I think some folks make a hobby out of watching movies they know will disappoint them so that they can get salty about it afterwards. It's a hobby I don't get, but it seems to be a thing ....

Luke's my favorite character, though, and I happen to think he went out like a boss. Totally agree with you that TLJ was the most thematically compelling entry into Star Wars to date (followed by A New Hope and its presentation of the Hero's Journey).

[Ericth74]

Originally Posted by IAmBatman

Nah, haters gonna hate. Fanboyish hatred of TLJ is too embedded in the culture at this point for the butt hurt to ever recover. I think the "just stop watching movies you know you're going to complain about incessantly" approach is more likely.

Honestly, though, I think some folks make a hobby out of watching movies they know will disappoint them so that they can get salty about it afterwards. It's a hobby I don't get, but it seems to be a thing ....

Luke's my favorite character, though, and I happen to think he went out like a boss. Totally agree with you that TLJ was the most thematically compelling entry into Star Wars to date (followed by A New Hope and its presentation of the Hero's Journey).

Preach!