In the vast galaxy of cinematic franchises, few inspire as much passion and disagreement as Star Wars. As a lifelong fan, I've embarked on a journey through the saga, ranking each installment from worst to best. While some may disagree, I've crafted this list with a keen eye for detail and a deep appreciation for the franchise's impact. So, let's dive into the heart of the matter and explore the Star Wars movies through the lens of my personal commentary and analysis.
Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (1980): As a child, I wasn't initially captivated by this installment, finding it too dark and tense. However, with age, I've come to appreciate its complexity and depth. The Empire Strikes Back isn't just the best movie in the franchise; it's a genuinely great film in its own right. It takes the original's magic and deepens it, introducing iconic characters like Yoda, Lando Calrissian, and Boba Fett. The story may be darker, but it never loses its humour, excitement, or sense of adventure. From the Battle of Hoth to Luke's training on Dagobah and the devastating finale on Bespin, every sequence is iconic. It's a masterpiece that sets the gold standard for how to do a middle chapter in a trilogy properly.
Star Wars: A New Hope (1977): The original Star Wars remains one of the purest adventure movies ever made. The story may be simple, but the characters are instantly lovable, and George Lucas creates an entire lived-in galaxy that feels completely real, no matter how fantastical the imagery becomes. When I think back to playing Star Wars with my friends as a kid, we were almost always reenacting scenes from this movie. More than any other installment, A New Hope sparked our imaginations. From the unbelievable opening to the Mos Eisley cantina, the rescue aboard the Death Star, the Millennium Falcon blasting away at TIE fighters, and the iconic trench run—it's just so damn good. It's the foundation upon which the entire franchise was built.
Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015): I've probably lost a few fans by placing this high, but I'll always defend The Force Awakens. It plays it incredibly safe, bringing back another Death Star-style superweapon and replacing the Empire with the not-so-different First Order. However, the movie is simply too much fun for me to rank any lower. Seeing it in theatres as the first new Star Wars movie in a decade was an absolute thrill. From the moment the opening crawl began, I felt completely transported back to that galaxy far, far away. There were intriguing new heroes, an intimidating new villain, and the long-awaited return of familiar faces. It may not be the most complex or sophisticated entry, but it's an energetic, enormously entertaining return to Star Wars.
Star Wars: Return of the Jedi (1983): Return of the Jedi may be the weakest installment of the original trilogy, but that says more about the extraordinary quality of the previous two movies than it does about this one. As Star Wars entertainment goes, it's difficult to ask for much more. The movie rarely slows down as the Rebels launch their final assault against the Empire, and the battle above Endor remains the greatest space battle in the franchise, in my opinion. The final confrontation between Luke, Darth Vader, and the Emperor delivers one of the saga's most satisfying emotional payoffs, bringing Luke's journey and Vader's redemption to a powerful conclusion. Sure, the second Death Star feels repetitive, and the Ewoks won't work for everyone, but its best moments are so thrilling and emotional that they easily outweigh most of its weaknesses.
Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith (2005): The strongest installment of the Prequel Trilogy finally delivers the tragedy the previous two movies had been building toward. As Palpatine tightens his grip on the galaxy, the Republic collapses, the Jedi Order is nearly wiped out, and Anakin Skywalker takes his final steps toward becoming Darth Vader. It is a much darker and more emotionally charged movie than its predecessors. Ian McDiarmid is fantastic, as always. He's one of the few actors in the franchise who can make even George Lucas's most heightened dialogue sound positively Shakespearean. Despite those shortcomings, the ambition, darkness, and devastating final act make Revenge of the Sith one of the saga's most memorable chapters.
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016): When Disney began rolling out a new era of Star Wars, the plan was to fill the gaps between the sequel trilogy with anthology movies telling standalone stories from across the galaxy. Rogue One kicked things off in impressive fashion with the story of how the Rebel Alliance stole the plans for the Death Star. Despite undergoing significant reshoots during post-production, the finished movie emerged with a clear affection for the original trilogy, filtered through a grittier war-movie atmosphere. The standout is Alan Tudyk as K-2SO, a former Imperial enforcer droid reprogrammed to serve the Rebellion, who provides much of the movie's personality and humour. The first half can feel somewhat disjointed, but Rogue One eventually builds toward one of the greatest final acts in any Star Wars movie.
Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017): Is there a more divisive installment in the entire franchise than The Last Jedi? I'd wager not. Part of what now hangs over the movie is the knowledge that The Rise of Skywalker would either reverse or ignore many of its biggest developments. Had J.J. Abrams resisted the urge to play things so safely and actually followed the threads Rian Johnson established—however controversial they may have been—I genuinely believe the Sequel Trilogy would be regarded more favourably as a whole. The Last Jedi certainly wasn’t the movie many fans expected, but you can count me among its defenders. It attempts to challenge the franchise rather than simply recreate its greatest hits, and it contains some of the most striking imagery and powerful moments of the entire Sequel Trilogy.
Star Wars: The Phantom Menace (1999): The Phantom Menace arrived at the absolute height of my Star Wars obsession. While I initially had a strange sense of disappointment, the movie has grown on me considerably over the years. Whatever its faults, the movie is overflowing with imagination. It is undeniably goofy, but it also has a tactile quality that the other prequels largely abandoned. There are plenty of visual effects and entirely digital characters, but they are blended with enormous sets, intricate miniatures, and real outdoor locations. The podrace remains one of my favourite sequences in the entire franchise, and the climactic Duel of the Fates battle between Qui-Gon Jinn, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Darth Maul is perfection.
Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018): Solo has the unfortunate distinction of becoming the franchise's first outright box-office bomb, although the drama behind the camera is almost more interesting than anything in the finished movie. The movie itself is perfectly fine, and I've come to appreciate it more on subsequent watches. It's a breezy space-western with an appealing cast, enjoyable heists, and a scene-stealing performance from Donald Glover as Lando Calrissian. Alden Ehrenreich also wisely avoids attempting a direct Harrison Ford impersonation, gradually settling into the role and making this younger version of Han his own. Its greatest weakness is the determination to explain virtually every familiar detail about Han's past.
The Mandalorian and Grogu (2026): After nearly seven years away, Star Wars finally returned to the big screen with The Mandalorian and Grogu. Unfortunately, it wasn’t quite the grand return to form many of us had been hoping for. While anyone who enjoyed The Mandalorian will likely find plenty to like here, the movie is at its best when it embraces their charming father-and-son dynamic. However, the stakes are surprisingly low, with the movie feeling more like an extended television adventure than an essential theatrical event. It’s charming and entertaining, but it rarely pushes its characters in any genuinely unexpected directions.
Star Wars: Attack of the Clones (2002): While many regard Attack of the Clones as an improvement over The Phantom Menace, it remains my least favourite installment of the prequel trilogy. There are certainly standout moments, like the audience erupting when Yoda suddenly whipped out his lightsaber to take on Count Dooku. However, the romance between Anakin and Padmé is what really drags the movie down. The heavy reliance on early digital environments also makes much of the movie feel strangely artificial, especially compared with the more tactile look of The Phantom Menace. Despite these flaws, there are plenty of interesting ideas buried within Attack of the Clones.
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019): As divisive as The Last Jedi may have been, The Rise of Skywalker was a flat-out disappointment. Instead of building on what came before, it seemed determined to undo it, retconning major developments, sidelining characters, and desperately scrambling to give fans what the filmmakers assumed they wanted. There is no shortage of spectacle, and the emotional connection between Rey and Kylo Ren remains the movie’s strongest element. However, nearly everyone else gets short-changed as the story races from one revelation to the next. And then there's ‘Somehow, Palpatine returned,’ which felt more like a desperate last-minute course correction than a shocking revelation.
Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008): Although The Clone Wars kicks off this ranking at the very bottom, the movie never really stood a chance. It was cobbled together from the first few episodes intended to launch The Clone Wars television series, with George Lucas himself admitting that the theatrical release was ‘almost an afterthought.’ With stiff animation, a simplistic story, and plenty of cringeworthy humour, it didn’t exactly make the strongest case for why The Clone Wars deserved to become a series. Despite the television series improving upon the movie in almost every way, it’s difficult to ignore just how creaky her beginnings—and the beginnings of the series itself—really were.
