*Official* AOTC's place in the Star Wars saga

Rankings:

1) AOTC
2) ANH (sentimental value)
3) ESB
4) TPM and ROTJ

 

1. ESB
2. ANH
3. AOTC
4. ROTJ
5. TPM

Only Jar-Jar saves ROTJ from ranking last. Yes, I think he's worse than Ewoks!

 

* jumps up and down, waving his hands *

Hey... Over here.. Look what I found!!

 

UP!!!

1)ESB (10)...Everything just works. Battles, AT-AT Walkers, Asteroid chase, Interesting characters: Vader (the star of the movie IMO), Yoda, Lando, Han in carbonite, Boba Fett, Luke/Vader duel, The Revelation, The darkness of it all.... I could go on and on. My fav movie of all time!!

2)AOTC (10)...A very close second to ESB. Coruscant chase, Interesting characters: Jango, YODA (the star of this movie IMO), Anakin (and his emotional whirlwind), Obi-Wan, the Count. Cool planets, Everything on Tatooine, A great ending, Dark and chilling.... This movie gets better with each viewing. It is by far the most emotional film in the saga. I think it may take out ESB for top spot once the DVD comes out. (If they extend some of the fights and re-incorporate a couple scenes then it would be the best in the series!!)

3)ANH (10)...The film that started it all. How could you not give it a ten? If it would have been a flop we wouldn't have the rest of the saga now would we? More cool characters: Obi-Wan, Grand Moff Tarkin, Vader, Sandtroopers, Han, Chewie, R2... The Falcon, The Death Star. (This movie definitely got better after seeing AOTC, with all of the foreshadowing in that film that leads into this one. Very cool.)

4)ROTJ (9.5)...Those damned Ewoks... Cool when I was six, but a nuisance now that I'm older (and wiser... ? )But that is just a minor quibble, I still love the rest of the flick. The Jabba sequence, Yoda, Speeder bike chase, The Death Star, Battle of Endor, The Space Battle, Luke vs. Vader/Emporer, Anakin's redemption/death/funeral pyre, The Spirits, the Special Edition ending....and so on and so on. Once again this movie is also enhanced by the magnificent AOTC, especially in the emotional department. The death of Yoda is much more powerful and emotional, Luke talking to Ben about Anakin is much better, and Anakin coming back to the Light Side and dieing in Luke's arms along with the funeral pyre is EXTREMELY emotional and powerful. (I personally think Mark Hamill's acting when Anakin died and during the funeral pyre was great. Probably his best acting of the whole trilogy.)

5)TPM (9.5)...I really like this movie. It sets up the whole six part saga very well. However it is tied with ROTJ due to Jar-Jar. I've gotten used to him as time has gone on (or is it learned to tolerate him? I don't know.) Anyway, I thought he was pretty good in AOTC. And believe it or not I wanted to see more of him.... I also would have liked to see more of Darth Maul but that's no biggie. I liked mostly everything else though... Characters: Qui-Gon, Watto, Sidious, Sebulba, Darth Maul. Naboo is a cool looking planet, with all of the waterfalls, etc. The pod-race was awesome. And the Duel of the Fates KICKS SERIOUS ASS!!!! Awesome SFX....Can't complain one bit.

All in all, I LOVE STAR WARS!! BRING ON EPISODE III!!!

 

After seeing AOTC 14 times I still like it the most...

However, I recently watched all the movies and I feel that I must update my list of favorites:

1) AOTC
2) ESB
3) ANH
4) TPM
5) ROTJ

Oh wait... it did not change.

RB

 

This is my first post. But I wanted to be part of this.

The Empire Strikes Back - Love the ice battle on Hoth, but the absolute best part is the interaction between Han and Leia and the developing love story (thanks to wonderful ad-libbing by Harrison Ford, read the novel to see what I mean). "I am your father" is still about the biggest bombshell ever dropped in a movie. Luke goes into a fight knowing he's not ready, but feels like he has to anyway. All good stuff. The only one of the original 3 where the Special Edition was actually an improvement. Cloud City really came to life.

Attack of the Clones - So many memorable things in this movie, it is classic Star Wars. Plus, the huge Jedi battle is awesome! The story of how Palpatine is manipulating EVERYTHING to his advantage is genius! The action and special effects are unparalleled! The romance and much of the acting is pretty poor, though, which makes it second in my mind. Hayden is a pretty bad actor and Natalie Portman isn't strong enough to pull him up, although Ewan seems to be at times.

The Phantom Menace - OK, OK, I know what you're thinking. But Jar Jar didn't bother me that badly. In fact, I kind of liked the message that annoying people can be valuable too. We're often too quick to judge people based on inane criteria and write them off. But now he's responsible for the Empire, so maybe the rest of you were right. Still, I love seeing the old Jedi kick butt and I thought Liam Neeson and Ewan MacGregor put in a strong acting combination. Darth Maul is awesome and scary. Loved the scenery on Naboo, Coruscant, the Senate room, etc.

Return of the Jedi - Jabba's palace was cool, until the Special Edition remake song. Please. Yub Yub was a fitting song, but the remade ending was better. The parts with Luke and the Emperor are cool and Vader's decision to save his son was great and unexpected the first time. The Ewoks were way too cute and cuddly for my taste (I was 13--still are), although the jungle battle isn't bad.

A New Hope - This movie is really SLOOOW! Go back and watch it. This is definitely a late 70s movie. Until it picks up a little... Almost all the Special Edition parts are very annoying. They don't look like they fit and they are childish and stupid. The remade parts make Babylon 5 look realistic. The other two movies were redone better.

Thanks.

 

1.AOTC
2.TESB
3.ANH
4.ROTJ
5.TPM

 

I keep juggling the top spot between AOTC, ESB, and ROTJ...

TVB.

 

(i've posted this as a separate topic but, alas, real estate is tough these days):

here is the breakdown of the issues involved:

- age of audience

- story, acting, and dialogue

- visuals - execution of special effects, art direction, cinematography

- how story and visuals tie together

- the different look and feel between OT and PT. does it matter?

there are many kinds of people here, and have different opinions in each of the list above.

for me:
age=older, but i'm a sucker for bright & shiny things
story =C+
visuals=B+
how they tie together=C
does PT and OT need to be similar=somewhat important, but PT also needs to expand into other territories and break more grounds.

some thoughts:
i feel that lucas is trying to "validate" his credibility as an original creative person.

in the past, SW have been cited to be influenced by the likes of tokien, kurosawa, scf-fi, fantasy, saturday morning serials, myth, etc. and the only credit lucas gets is that he is a populist and was at the right place at the right time.

it is clear that in the PT, none of such influences are present. this leads me to speculate that perhaps george is trying to erase the idea that the OT has any of those influences, that all of the OT is created and credited to himself and no other dead artists.

by creating a simpler, more direct backstory (PT) to a much more critically acclaimed series (OT), the popular concensous of future generations will less likely to think lucas "copied" the dead people's works.

having said that, i thoroughly enjoyed the PT for what it is, and i can accept both sides of the argument. i do not worship SW but it has affected my life significantly, and therefore i need to know how SW, especially nowadays, fit in my life, if at all.
so it's not a simple matter of i hate/love it. it's a grey area for me.

 

Since I long ago gave up my nostalgispecs about the OT, my ranking is:

TESB - okay, I'm still a little nostalgic about this one
AotC - very close to TESB and may edge out TESB
TPM - yes, TPM
ANH - TPM barely edges it out
RotJ - which is so far below the others for me that it almost drops off the page

 

* This scale applies only to the 5 SW movies, and the best movie in each category gets a 10 thus the others are scaled from the best.

Cinematic Achievement
1) ANH (10)
2) ESB (9.5)
3) AOTC (8)
4) ROTJ (7.5)
5) TPM (3)

Rewatchability (is that a word?)
1) ESB (10)
2) AOTC (9.5)
3) ROTJ (9)
4) ANH (8)
5) TPM (5)

Magic (The Star Wars Feel)
1) ESB and ANH (10)
2) AOTC and ROTJ (9)
3) TPM (5)

Acting/Dialog
1) ESB (10)
2) ROTJ (8)
3) ANH and AOTC (7.5)
4) TPM (5)

Story Quality
1) ESB and ANH (10)
2) AOTC (9.5)
3) ROTJ (7)
4) TPM (6)

Excitement/Action
1) AOTC (10)
2) ESB (9)
3) TPM (8.5)
4) ROTJ (8)
5) ANH (7.5)

Lightsaber Duels
1) AOTC (10)
2) TPM and ESB (9)
3) ROTJ (8)
4) ANH (6)

OVERALL
1) ESB (9.64)
2) AOTC (9.07)
3) ANH (8.43)
4) ROTJ (8.07)
5) TPM (5.93)

 

They are all equally good in my opinion... Just different parts of the same story.

You know there are 120 different permutations of doing those lists!

The only thing I'll say is that I find the PT more enjoyabe because of the dense interweaving of themes in them. The parrallels to the already established OT are rewarding as well.

And TPM is soooo unbelievably visually beautiful, I could watch my DVD forever.

Ach! That's not even what I really think! They're all equal!

 

For me it's

1. ANH

2. AOTC

3. ESB

4. TPM

5. ROTJ

 

1. rotj - this is the very 1st sw film for me. i saw it when i was 4. everything about this movie rocked back then. it still rocks now!

2. aotc/tpm - what can i say? i'm a sucker for the visuals and the crazy antics. i'm also one of the very tiny few fans of jarjar.

3. esb - paced a bit slower than rest, but the revelations in this one kicked @$$! until this day, yoda still amazes me.

4. anh - this was the last sw movie i ever saw. i was about 6 when i first saw this. it lacked in comparison to its sequels, but that trash compactor scene will always get me.

many people people claim to be dissappointed with the prequels, but i have never heard of a child complaining about them. every time i saw tpm back in 1999, a child sitting close by would be filled with amazement. the same goes for aotc. this kind of awe reminds me of the 1st times i saw the OT. the PT still gets me the same way.

 

1 ESB

2 AOTC

3 ANH

4 ROTJ

5 TPM

6 Ewoks: The Battle For Endor

7 The Ewok Adventure

Heheeeee!

 

My list has changed a little bit, i re watched all fo them with an open mind and this is what i came up with.

1. TPM(I love this movie, it introduced me to the star wars saga. Its the best)
2. ANH(I love this movie, its so energized)
3. AOTC(Just edges out to ANH, i really love this movie, ANH is slighty better)
4. ESB (I love this movie dearly, but overated i feel)
5. ROTJ(Great Film, probably the most power seen in the sw saga when anakin brings balance to the force. But in between is wear it kind o flags. But i still love it)

When the saga comes into 1 big piece then i'm not going to have a favorite.

 

1) ANH-just a magical movie. cool aliens,planets and battles. cool characters like HAN SOLO LUKE CHEWIE and VADER

2) ESB-2 reasons, has a darker tone and "LUKE.....IAM YOUR FATHER"

3) ROJ-Finally we got to see the power of Palpatine anakin complete his destiny and brings balance to the force but anakin dies in do so

4) AOTC- freaking YODA showing why he's THE MASTER WARRIOR seeing hundred of jedis fighting...PRICELESS

5) TPM-the coolest sith in the galaxy DARTH MAUL KICKS ASS!!

 

uppers

 

1. A NEW HOPE (10 points of 10): Why?

- best acting (put together Harrison Ford, Alec Guiness, Peter Cushing and Jones voice: awesome!)
- best lines
- best story
- best score
- best ending
- best initial shot
- best aliens

In two words: THE BEST.

2.EMPIRE STRIKES BACK (9)

3.RETURN OF THE JEDI (8)

4.ATTACK OF THE CLONES (7.5)

5.THE PHANTOM MENACE (6)

 

#1 AOTC (9/10)
#2 ESB (8.5/10)
#3 TPM (7.5/10)
#4 ROTJ (7.5/10)
#5 ANH (6.5/10)

 

1. ROTJ - wraps up best trilogy ever - best battles and story and most emotional impact - Luke vs Vader. Great Acting, as in the rest of the OT. Also: Boba! Jabba! Emperor! Vaders redemption! And the Ewoks were not that bad...

2. TESB - Close second, darkest, Hoth battle is still the best ground battle in the saga. Boba Fett, proper love story and more info on the force.

3. ANH - Sets everything in place and makes us care for the characters. Hugely imaginative and great sets- cantina! Just lacks the emotional impact of the other two
.
.
.
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4. TPM - Nowhere near as good as the OT, but still an enjoyable film. Best lightsabre battle yet, but let down by an abundence of cute CGI characters and poor dialogue.
.
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5. AOTC - I didnt even like this as a film. The plot was all over the place and difficult to follow - Why is Padme being hunted, What's the deal with the clone army, Why does Dooku tell Obi about Sidious etc. Laughable love story and often terrible, wooden acting and very poor dialogue. No emotional attachment to the characters. I could go on. Very few redeeming features

 

Having watched TPM about 3 weeks ago may have affected my decision, but...

AOTC
TPM
ANH
ROTJ
ESB

 

I keep changing my mind, but as it stands now:

ESB-10/10
ROTJ-9.5/10
AOTC-9.0/10
ANH-9.0/10
TPM-8.5/10

And yet I could change that list around very easily. TPM is a very polished and beautifully made film, moreso than AOTC(which I think needed just a few more months post-production to make absolutely perfect). AOTC has the best and most complex plot and the most thrilling action sequences. ROTJ has some flaws, but the payoff-the space battle and(especially) the confrontation with Luke/Palpy/Vader/Ani is the highlight of the series thus far. ANH has the best character interaction and the Deathstar run is one of the all-time great scenes in cinema. ESB reigns supreme as a near perfect film that hits all the right notes, and it is the linchpin that hooks the PT and the OT together.
In other words, I love all of the films thus far and can't wait to see the next one!

 

ESB
ANH

ROTJ


TPM


AOTC (I waited so many years for such utter mediocrity. It's no wonder why I'm ticked)

 

AOTC
ESB
TPM
ROTJ
ANH