Saga Rate Episode 1 -6 opening/closing sequences

ever since the jaw dropping start in ANH ive always thought the beginning of a SW film is very important here is mine...im talkng no more than the first 5 minutes...

ANH
ROTS
AOTC
ROTJ
TPM
ESB - my fave film but least fave beginning!!!

i love the no dialouge endings, gives the films that classic, b movie serial feel..

ROTS
ROTJ
ESB
AOTC
ANH
TPM - obviously dont like medal ceremony

 

As the opening 5 minutes go, I would probably rank them as follows (strongest to weakest)

1. ROTS - The boldest of all 6, and the perfect way to continue the story after AOTC. Everything about it, from the music to the fx hits the mark.
2. ANH - Even without it's place in cinematic history, it's a great opening, full of suspense and action.
3. ROTJ - All about Vader who was clearly the star attraction, even at that point. Plus, the second Death-Star reveal contrasted brilliantly with heading back to Tatooine for one last time (at the time of writing)
4. TPM - There is a subtle, captivating, ominous feel to this one only matched by the openings for ESB and ROTJ and I think it's an excellent opening for the saga as a whole.
5. ESB - Nothing at all wrong with it, and it works well, but it's perhaps the most underwhelming concept.
6. AOTC - I love the idea of it, but I don't think much of it was executed all that well.

As for the finales:

1. ROTJ - I unashamedly love everything about it. Even the Ewoks (I've never agreed with the notion it's was just some big underwhelming, cheesy, teddy bear parade). The Vader funeral pyre could almost bring a tear to my eye and then there's Luke seeing a proper vision of his Father for the first time (now it's the younger Anakin, I love it even more). Add to that the obvious affection and relief that all the characters are sharing... it WAS the perfect end to the saga.
2. ROTS - It's probably the most cinematic and beautiful of all the endings. Plus, how gorgeous is baby Luke! It would be my favourite were it not for the sombre feeling and (as a minor gripe) the goofy way both Beru and Owen so quickly dismiss the child they've been given in favour of watching a sunset they must see so often. Artistic licence, yes, but still a little disconnecting.
3. TPM - If we're including the funeral scene, it's a beautiful summary of both the sombre and celebratory mood the finale provides. Plus, it does what a great finale should do - makes you want to watch the sequel straight away (more than hinting at Palpatine's true identity, seeing Anakin in his jedi garb, and the smile he and Padme share suggesting the continuing friendship to come).
4. ESB - Perhaps the most un-Star Wars-y ending of all 6, it provides us quiet reflection and hope. I love seeing Luke getting his new hand and Lando being accepted as part of the gang in particular.
5. ANH - It's a good musical number and it's great to see them all get the recognition they deserve but it's possibly the most rushed and out-of-place of all 6 endings, and feels a little too rigid/pompous in comparison.
6. AOTC - I actually find the end of AOTC such a downer. There's nothing aesthetically wrong with it. I love the meeting between Sidious and Dooku but there's nothing optimistic about it... not even the Anakin/Padme scene because you just know it's probably doomed - John Williams music tells us as much.

I don't really issues with any of these though - for my money, they're all great.

 

Makes total sense since it was filmed as a standalone movie, and the only one that isn't written to counter-balance other finales in either the trilogy or saga. It's personally my favorite simply because I always watch it in its context of a standalone movie that I saw back in 1977.

 

I agree 100% that's the reason it seems so different. But from a saga standpoint, it's why would rank it further down (mainly from a point of consistency). I do like it though, and appreciate it for what it was at the time. ANH is probably still my favourite movie of all time... and much of that is down to considering it and appreciating it as a standalone film. It's only when comparing it to the other films in the saga that any perceived flaws seem exaggerated.

 

These days...

The openings:

1.) Revenge of the Sith
2.) A New Hope
3.) The Phantom Menace
4.) Return of the Jedi
5.) The Empire Strikes Back
6.) Attack of the Clones

Endings:

1.) Return of the Jedi (SE)
2.) Empire Strikes Back
3.) A New Hope
4.) The Phantom Menace
5.) Revenge of the Sith
6.) Attack of the Clones

I love them all though...

 

Opening Sequences:

1. ANH -- It's just a classic. And that Star Destroyer goes on forever and ever. I also really like the way it introduces the characters -- first with C3PO and R2 and then with Vader.
2. ROTS -- Only edged out slightly by ANH. I love this opening. Those drums. Dang, I love those drums. Then the two starfighters passing the capital ship -- you really get to see how small they are before they plunge straight into utter madness and chaos.
3. AOTC -- It flips everything on its head and establishes a great tone of mystery. In this one, we pan up for the only time in the Saga. Then, Padmé's beautiful silver ship flips over which shifts our perspective before we drop into the clouds.
4. ROTJ -- Vader's entry really sets a great opening tone, although I'm not as fond of what follows with the droids.
5. TPM -- The mysterious Jedi. And I love that opening shot of Naboo.
6. ESB -- Visually lovely (as are all the others).

 

Ranking the ending montages:

1. ANH- Still my favorite, maybe cause I saw it as a standalone movie and never lost that context even though I enjoy the saga.

2. ESB- I love the melancholy music by Williams which perfectly sums up what happened to the good guys. Still love Leia's sad look as Falcon pulls away not knowing is she will ever see Han again.

3. AOTC- Best montage of PT as I love Palatine looking out at his new army and then Anakin takes Padme with his metal hand which is the first look at Darth Vader.

4. ROTS- It works for me cause it gives closure to each character in the PT and was also cool to see Alderan!

5. ROTJ- Going old school with OOT ending (with Sebastian Shaw) as it was cool to see our heroes come together on Endor and loved Luke's wink to Force Ghost which was taken out in SE for some reason???

6. TPM- Good ending to start saga as it introduces the keys characters in the PT.

 

Opening:
1. ROTS - Lens flare, Coruscant, Stardestroyer, two Jedi fighters and then countless ships. And yes, those drums... Magnificent.
2. ANH - Tatooine, Tantive IV, Stardestroyer. Nice.
3. AOTC - Pan up, silver ship and that Coruscant mist. It sets the tone for the film.
4. TPM - Red ship, beautiful Naboo and donut ship.
5. ROTJ - Basically, all that we've already seen, a Stardestroyer, Lambda-shuttle and the DS.
5. TESB - Stardestroyer sending probes. Nothing visually engaging.

Closing:
1. ROTS - Baby Luke, twin suns, that music... Bring on the OT!
2. AOTC - Begun the Clone war has! Imperial march, the wedding. Everything is ready for hell.
3. TESB - Luke and Leia hugging, Han is somewhere, that Rishi maze shot...
4. TPM - Wonderful, colourful end celebration and Jake Lloyd with that haircut.
5. ROTJ - I love all the hugging, Chewie and Lando cool, final celebration scenes and, of course, the burning of Vader's costume.
6. ANH - It's nice, but Chewie without a medal

 

Opening:
1. ANH: No doubt about that, that never-ending Star Destroyer was awesome.
2. ROTS: The jedi starfighters flying over th Republic cruiser, and then in the middle of a colossal war over Coruscant!
3. ROTJ: Vader's Super Star Destroyer, the Lambda-shuttle and the new Death Star. NOw that's troublesome.
4. ESB: Imperial Probe Droids!
5. AOTC.
6. TPM.

CLosing:
1. ANH: Still got shivers when I hear that music, it's impossible not to picture the scene in your mind.
2. ROTJ: All the gang togheter, Obi Wan, Anakin and Yoda as Force-ghosts.
3. ROTS: The most beautiful twin sunset ever.
4. ESB: The Falcon, the Galaxy (or was it the Rishi Maze?), the Rebel Fleet.
5. TPM: Peace!
6. AOTC: Wedding, meh.

 

Opening:
1. ROTS: You just can't beat the battle, really; it's possibly the biggest space battle we see in the entire saga, even bigger than ROTJ's.
2. ANH: It's pure nostalgia, and also the awe you feel at first seeing the immense size of the Star Destroyer.
3. ROTJ: It mirrors ANH's opening and also shows us that Vader has been doing other things besides hunting down Luke.
4. TPM: It just feels so right to me; the consular ship bringing in the Jedi ambassadors and TC-14 showing them to a meeting room.
5. ESB: First sighting of the Viper probe droids, some pretty cool droids.
6. AOTC: It just doesn't work right. The bombing scene is great and all, but there's something way too melodramatic about the ship's landing.

Closing:
1. ROTJ: Just too amazing. You can tell the friends are just so glad to be alive and to see each other alive. Lando and Han's backslapping, Leia and Luke's embrace, and Wedge and Luke's shake hands and then hug just make them seem like people, real friends, not just characters in a story. And then the Force ghosts, too. I actually liked the change to Hayden Christensen, personally.
2. ROTS: Yes, it's very sad with Padme's funeral. But it provides us the only view we ever see of Palpatine, Vader, and Tarkin all together, it shows Obi-Wan giving Luke to Owen and Beru, and then the classic look-into-the-sunset scene. Really amazing.
3. AOTC: Not necessarily the wedding of Anakin and Padme, but the scene where the clones are mounting for war...and Bail Organa sadly raps his fist against the rail as he realizes his hopes of peace are really over. Just a strong scene and great acting from Smits even though he didn't say anything.
4. ANH: I like the whole celebration thing, but it just kind of felt out of place, and to add to it Chewbacca didn't even get a medal!
5. ESB: Somewhat forgettable, though it was cool to see Lando and the crew getting together and I always thought it was funny that Lando raided Han's closet.
6. TPM: Honestly feels like too much of a copycat of ANH, but it feels better, more natural, here. It was also nice to see the whole Jedi Council and Anakin in Jedi robes.

 

Depends on how far back you go for the end or how far in for the opening, but...

Opening

ANH
TESB
ROTS
TPM
ROTJ
AOTC

Closing

TESB
ROTJ
ROTS
AOTC
ANH
TPM

 

Some great points in this thread.

Openings:

1) ROTS. Awesome.
2) TPM. I don't think the sequence was particularly great, but I just loved it for no particular reason.
3) ANH
4) ESB
5) ROTJ
6) AOTC

Closings:

Wow. I really didn't like many of the closing sequences at all. I'm not into the whole celebration thing really. So:
1) ROTS, hands down.
2) AOTC
3) ESB
4) ANH
5) TPM
6) ROTJ

I think out of all ROTS has the best imagery and definitely is, for the most part, the most well constructed of all 6 movies. So it comes as no surprise to me that I liked both the beginning and the ending the best...and the middle too!

 

Openings

-ROTS
-ANH
-TESB
-TPM
-ROTJ
-AOTC

Closings

-ROTJ
-TESB
-ROTS
-AOTC
-ANH
-TPM

 

Endings:

1. AOTC -- This ending is beautiful and a great jumping point into Episode III. Yoda's bleak warning of how this is not a victory, Palpatine overlooking the Republic's army as the war truly begins, and then the cut to Anakin and Padmé's wedding where she grasps her husband's skeletal hand and they look out onto the horizon at what the future holds.
2. ROTS -- Seeing what's become of each of the Skywalkers, with the tragedy of their parents followed by the hope of the children. In particular, that final zoom onto Padmé's hands as she clutches the japor snippet Anakin gave her before we finally see him take his place as Darth Vader is heart-wrenching. And watching Obi-Wan disappear into the desert.
3. ESB -- Luke getting his new hand and coming to stand by Leia as they gaze off uncertainly into the future. Brother and sister together. It's really poignant and perfectly captures the tone that ESB established throughout.
4. ROTJ -- Luke burning his father's body and seeing the ghosts of the Jedi who came before. To me, it always perfectly completed his journey. He saved his father and was with his friends.
5. TPM -- The victory is undercut by the fact that it's really Palpatine that has won. It's a rathe subversive ending in that, while they heroes won, they really began losing (as of this point).
6. ANH -- Charming, but less compelling than the other episodes, I've always found.

 

Opening:

1. ROTS - amazing, symbolically rich moment when Anakin and Obi-Wan arrive in perfect unison before flipping into utter chaos.
2. AOTC - a city that soars to the heavens, seemingly eternal and unassailable, sustains its first scar.
3. ANH - big spaceship goes zoom! This ain't no critic's choice 2001 Space Odyssey!
4. ESB - In the desolate cold of the far reaches of the galaxy, the Empire can still hear you scream.
5. ROTJ - people arrive.
6. TPM - people arrive part 2.

Closings:

1. AOTC - Ending montage speaks for itself. Space Opera indeed.
2. TPM - celebration subverted.
3. ROTS - another montage that would've been perfection if not for AOTC just edging it. Powerful summation of where we've been and where we're going.
4. ESB - quietly effective and beautiful. Space doesn't feel so cold anymore even though things are worse off than in the beginning of the film.
5. ANH - Chewie should have ripped Leia's arms off after the walking carpet thing and no medal.
6. ROTJ - party in the USA.