1) Empire Strikes Back - obviously #1. I was still a kid when this movie came out, and it blew me away. It had all the cool science fiction stuff of Star Wars, but went beyond traditional good vs. evil which was prevalent in Sci Fi and fantasy up to that point. I remember thinking that Lando was so cool but clearly a scumbag, so why was Han friends with him? The meeting with Vader in the cloud city was awesome. This stuff didn't happen often in popcorn flicks, and I loved it then and love it now. One of the best sequels in history.
2) Star Wars: A New Hope - A movie that is so original in its presentation and just well done that it hides some significant flaws, like the fact that if you carve off all the special effects and cool new worlds, it is basically a garden variety Good vs. Evil story that is not particularly creative. Lucas pulled Harrison Ford out of his butt, and while Alec Guinness ended up being ridiculously expensive (almost $100 million, many of which were 1970's dollars), he was probably worth every penny. I don't think this movie works without him. The other two leads, Carrie Fisher and Mark Hamill, were OK.
3) Force Awakens - Pretty good movie that doesn't want to make any mistakes. Well casted, and good next generation, albeit with some plot holes. I thought it was funny and exciting and a good twist on the story, but not particularly original. It was a well done hand off to the next generation cast.
4) Rogue One - A whole movie about a minor plot hole is a little weird, but this was just a solid, fun movie. I liked the characters, the movie was well acted, and the plot was interesting. The only complaint I have is that it was 20 minutes too long. There wasn't enough interesting stuff for a 2+ hour movie.
5) Revenge of the Sith (III) - If it wasn't for Hayden Christiansen and Natalie Portman being so terrible, this would be a pretty good movie, and probably be #3 on this list. Christiansen was so bad it effectively ended his career. Portman had some earlier masterpieces, but this movie was so bad it still put her in the penalty box to some extent. Or maybe she just makes terrible movie choices. The rest of the cast was good, and the backstory of one of the greatest movie villains in history is so interesting that it is hard to screw up.
6) Attack of the Clones (II) - forgettable movie that suffered from the overuse of CGI. There is no emotional connection to a battle of CGI stormtroopers and droids. The plot was dodgy, and i still don't understand what General Grevious' deal is. Yoda and Duku were decent characters, but you put those things together with Christiansen's and Portman's terrible acting, and there is not much to work with.
7) Return of the Jedi -started well and finished well, but I can't get past the scalitoing Ewoks.
8) Phantom Menace - putting aside how slow and boring this movie is, who thought JarJar Binks was a good idea?
Didn't see:
Last Jedi - reviews are all over the place. Comes out on Netflix this month.
Solo - I am getting a little excited about this movie. I may see it in the theaters.
