Ranking the Star Wars Movies | The Boneyard

Ranking the Star Wars Movies

nelsonmuntz

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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.
 

nwhoopfan

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Overall rank ordering is tough. I'd have to say I like Rogue One the best of all of the Disney offerings so far. And although none of them stand out I prefer Attack of the Clones over the rest of the prequel trilogy. Gotta go Episode IV overall just for the nostalgia of it. I know it's generally accepted that Empire Strikes Backs is the best of them all, but I never agreed.
 

CL82

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I thought Nelson's list wasn't bad. In my minds eye A New Hope was a great movie. I rewatched a bit of it and was surprised at how weak parts are. 2 and 3 are definitely The Force Awakens and Rogue 1, I'm not sure how I'd rank them vis a vis each other I enjoyed them both. (FWIW, I think the simplicity of the good vs evil, small town kid is more than he thinks he is themes are part of the strength of that movie.)

The rest of the SW universe is a big jump down. I wasn't a huge fan of either The Empire Strikes Back or Return of the Jedi, but they abandoned some of the original novel material. I know many, many people love them.

The prequels are pure dreck, imo.

As for The Last Jedi, I'll wait for Nelson to see it. Tough conversation to have on the board since it would need spoiler alerts. Almost calls for a mass PM conversation.
 
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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.

The theory that Jar Jar was a Sith but Lucas panicked when he was received so poorly is interesting and would have made the prequels much better if pulled off well.
 

nelsonmuntz

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Overall rank ordering is tough. I'd have to say I like Rogue One the best of all of the Disney offerings so far. And although none of them stand out I prefer Attack of the Clones over the rest of the prequel trilogy. Gotta go Episode IV overall just for the nostalgia of it. I know it's generally accepted that Empire Strikes Backs is the best of them all, but I never agreed.

Kathleen Kennedy, the studio head at Lucasfilm, has been gangster in her management of the franchise. She has offed 2 directors, and put Boba Fett on ice for a while, although that movie seems back in pre-production. If Solo turns out to be good, she will be considered a movie messiah. If it sucks, she will probably be fired. This will be fun to watch.
 

nwhoopfan

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If Solo turns out to be good, she will be considered a movie messiah. If it sucks, she will probably be fired.

No pressure there.



In regards to TFA and TLJ, having different directors for the 2 films proved to be somewhat jarring. Different tones, different approaches to the material. Probably would've worked better if J.J. stayed at the helm for TLJ, the other director took it in a whole different direction pardon the semi-pun.
 

nwhoopfan

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The theory that Jar Jar was a Sith

I've run across references to that in various message boards. It always seemed farcical to me but I guess this is a real thing?
 
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The Empire Strikes Back
A New Hope
The Last Jedi
The Force Awakens
Return of the Jedi
Revenge of the Sith
Phantom Menace
Attack of the Clones

I really liked Rogue One but I can't lump it in with any of the main movies since it's so different.

I also thought the Last Jedi was really good. I sort of understand why it was polarizing, but it gets so much more hate from people than it deserves. Tons of Star Wars fans think it was worse than the prequels which is unfathomable to me. Attack of the Clones is one of the worst movies I've ever watched.
 

CL82

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The Empire Strikes Back
A New Hope
The Last Jedi
The Force Awakens
Return of the Jedi
Revenge of the Sith
Phantom Menace
Attack of the Clones

I really liked Rogue One but I can't lump it in with any of the main movies since it's so different.

I also thought the Last Jedi was really good. I sort of understand why it was polarizing, but it gets so much more hate from people than it deserves. Tons of Star Wars fans think it was worse than the prequels which is unfathomable to me. Attack of the Clones is one of the worst movies I've ever watched.
The Last Jedi was pretty bad. Every thing from the worlds slowest car uh space ship chase to Luke's force project was pretty lame. Uh why did they waste so much time and resources trying to blow up the death star(s)when they could of just hyper-spaced through it?
 
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The Last Jedi was pretty bad. Every thing from the worlds slowest car uh space ship chase to Luke's force project was pretty lame. Uh why did they waste so much time and resources trying to blow up the death star(s)when they could of just hyper-spaced through it?

the only scene I didn't like was Leia floating in space. All the star wars movies have a weird scene or two and I didn't think it was bad enough to ruin the movie. I thought the force projection was really cool and a nice way to go out
 

CL82

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the only scene I didn't like was Leia floating in space. All the star wars movies have a weird scene or two and I didn't think it was bad enough to ruin the movie. I thought the force projection was really cool and a nice way to go out
I forgot about that. Yeah that was lame too. Also didn't like Luke thinking about killing his sleeping nephew and that he basically got his ass kicked by a youngling. There were a million better ways to go with his storyline
 
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Can you guys at least use numbers in the titles? A New Hope means nothing to me. Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi. After that it's numbers.
 
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Whelp, I saw Solo, and, for me, it was the worst of the Disney offerings. Not without some charm, but definitely suffered from the variety of directors.

I also only saw The Last Jedi once (and was pretty drunk, unlike seeing Solo) so I don't feel comfortable ranking it in the list.

Empire

Star Wars
Force Awakens
Rogue One

Jedi

Sith
Solo


Clones
Phantom Menace
 

CL82

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Can you guys at least use numbers in the titles? A New Hope means nothing to me. Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi. After that it's numbers.
SW Chronology?
  • I: The Phantom Menace
  • II: Attack of the Clones
  • III: Revenge of the Sith
  • Solo (corrected as per @tzznandrew)
  • Rogue One
  • IV: A New Hope
  • V: The Empire Strikes Back
  • VI: The Return of the Jedi
  • VII: The Force Awakens
  • VIII: The Last Jedi
Release order?
  • IV: A New Hope
  • V: The Empire Strikes Back
  • VI: The Return of the Jedi
  • I: The Phantom Menace
  • II: Attack of the Clones
  • III: Revenge of the Sith
  • VII: The Force Awakens
  • Rogue One
  • VIII: The Last Jedi
  • Solo
 
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SW Chronology?
  • Solo
  • I: The Phantom Menace
  • II: Attack of the Clones
  • III: Revenge of the Sith
  • Rogue One
  • IV: A New Hope
  • V: The Empire Strikes Back
  • VI: The Return of the Jedi
  • VII: The Force Awakens
  • VIII: The Last Jedi
Release order?
  • IV: A New Hope
  • V: The Empire Strikes Back
  • VI: The Return of the Jedi
  • I: The Phantom Menace
  • II: Attack of the Clones
  • III: Revenge of the Sith
  • VII: The Force Awakens
  • Rogue One
  • VIII: The Last Jedi
  • Solo
Solo is also after Revenge of the Sith. The Empire is a part of it, though tangentially.

SW Chronology
  • I: The Phantom Menace
  • II: Attack of the Clones
  • III: Revenge of the Sith
  • Solo
  • Rogue One
  • IV: A New Hope
  • V: The Empire Strikes Back
  • VI: The Return of the Jedi
  • VII: The Force Awakens
  • VIII: The Last Jedi
 

CL82

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Solo is also after Revenge of the Sith. The Empire is a part of it, though tangentially.

SW Chronology
  • I: The Phantom Menace
  • II: Attack of the Clones
  • III: Revenge of the Sith
  • Solo
  • Rogue One
  • IV: A New Hope
  • V: The Empire Strikes Back
  • VI: The Return of the Jedi
  • VII: The Force Awakens
  • VIII: The Last Jedi
Thanks I wasn't sure. That works as the prequels can be effectively ignored.
 
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nelsonmuntz

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I think the hate against Solo has gone completely overboard. It makes me want to see it even more.
 
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I think the hate against Solo has gone completely overboard. It makes me want to see it even more.
I've seen it. It isn't good. It bears the scars of having too many hands in the pot.

The sequel might actually be good though.
 

SubbaBub

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V: The Empire Strikes Back
I
V: A New Hope
Solo
VI: The Return of the Jedi
Rogue One
VIII: The Last Jedi
VII: The Force Awakens
I: The Phantom Menace
III: Revenge of the Sith
II: Attack of the Clones

This is the correct order. ROJ has Ewoks or it would be third. Solo and Rogue One are better than any of the prequels (natch) or the new sequels because TFA is a remake of A New Hope. Not as bad the remakes of Rollerball, Conan the Barbarian or Dirty Dancing but bad. TLJ was at least an original story though it was packed with unnecessary nostalgia for the old cast. Harrison Ford made the right call in bowing out after TFA. Instead of Leia floating in space and the OJ chase of space battles they could have had more Luke but the main weakness is Kylo trying hard not to become the next Jar Jar/Anakin and failing. You don't build a film franchise around an emo Darth Vader wannabe. Deadpool didn't feature Negasonic Teenage Warhead as anything but comic relief. They are the same character.

As for the prequels, yeah they're bad but I'll take a miscast 8 year old (he should have been a teenager into petty crime like Solo) and the Trade Federation (worst antagonists in movie history) over the unbelievable romance between Anakin and Padme (also Hayden Christensen).

Solo and Rouge One get high marks for original stories. Solo >>> Rogue one based on the fact that I can remember the names of many of the RO characters.
 

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