Ranking All of Lucas' Work

1. ESB
2. ANH
3. The Last Crusade
4. Raiders of the Lost Ark
5. ROTJ
6. ROTS
7. Temple of Doom
8. TPM
9. AOTC
10. The Crystal Skull
11. The Holiday Special.

 

Going off of darth car's list, since I have seen all of those:

1. ESB
2. ROTLA
3. ANH
4. TLC
5. ROTJ
6. ROTS
7. TPM
8. AOTC
9. TOD
10. TCS
11. THS

 

Whoa. Massive undertaking, at least in terms of raking one's career. As tempted as I am to simply rank the Star Wars trilogy as one or the Indy series as one (or even together tied for 1st place) such would kinda defeat, or at least deflate, the purpose of the thread. And no one likes a cop-out. So I guess that means I gotta buckle down and rank as thoughtfully as I can. To make matters more complicated, I'm not merely ranking Lucas on his own accord but Spielberg, Coppola and *gulp* Kurosawa as well, along with numerous other directing talents. I am allowing myself but one compromise: a two-film only tie for the No. 1 spot. Otherwise, here goes...

28. Howard the Duck
27. More American Graffiti
26. Radioland Murders
25. Powaqqatsi
24. Star Wars: The Clone Wars
23. Ewoks: The Battle for Endor
22. Caravan of Courage: An Ewok Adventure
21. Willow

20. Latino
19. Twice Upon a Time
18. Labyrinth
17. Red Tails
16. The Land Before Time
15. Body Heat
14. Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters
13. American Graffiti
12. Kagemusha
11. Tucker: The Man and His Dream

10. THX 1138
9. Revenge of the Sith
8. Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
7. The Phantom Menace
6. The Empire Strikes Back
5. Star Wars
4. Temple of Doom
3. Return of the Jedi
2. Raiders of the Lost Ark
1. Attack of the Clones / The Last Crusade

 

What in the world do you see in AOTC to rank it ahead on films such as ESB and Raiders?

 

Well, I don't necessarily think it's a better movie than Raiders or Empire, or for that matter any of the other installments from either series. I just find it to be a rather elegantly bizarre and experimental work of pulp storytelling and pop-art ...in a way and to a degree to which I'm partial. I think it's Lucas at his most eccentric, at least concerning Star Wars.

 

Well, okay.

 

Where's young indiana jones chronicles?

 

Can you explain the expressionistic/experimental qualities to me? Seriously I'd like to know.

 

The Star Wars Saga (specifically Episodes 3, 4, 5, and 6 for the most part) and Raiders of the Lost Ark are classics for the ages. I luv these films. ESB, RotS, and Raiders are among my personal top 10 favorite films of all time. I'm not a big fan of the rest of his stuff.

 

I'm only going to go with films he actually directed:

1). Star Wars
2). American Graffiti
3). The Phantom Menace
4). Revenge of the Sith
5). THX-1138
6). Attack of the Clones (I kinda feel bad letting this languish in last)

 

Directed

1. THX-1138
2. Revenge of the Sith
3. Star Wars
4. American Graffiti
5. The Phantom Menace
6. Attack of the Clones


Franchise-perspective

1. Raiders of the Lost Ark
2. The Empire Strikes Back
3. Revenge of the Sith
4. Star Wars
5. Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
6. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
7. The Phantom Menace
8. Attack of the Clones
9. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
10. Return of the Jedi

 

Interesting...

Not to put you on the spot, but what makes you put THX on top? Based on other responses only one other person had it near the top. Ranking it that high is definitely an outlier. I'm just curious. I haven't seen it in about a decade and you might be able to give me a new perspective on it.

 

1. Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back
2. Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope
3. Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark
4. Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith
5. The Land Before Time
6. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
7. Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi
8. Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clone
9. Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace
10. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
11. Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
12. Willow
13. Red Tails
14. Star Wars: The Clone Wars
15. Caravan of Courage: An Ewok Adventure
16. Howard the Duck
17. Ewoks: The Battle of Endor
18. Star Wars: The Holiday Special

 

Obi-Wan's Apparition: I'm not an erudite fellow--all I can say is that with THX, Lucas delved into the Hero's Journey cosmology with an approach that draws me like catnip: the despairing, stark 70s aesthetic. Everything about it is masterful; I place it alongside Tarkovsky's Solaris and the John Hurt-led 1984 adaptation in the pantheon of intimate SF character pieces. It's so raw and naked a chronicle. The scene where Robert Duvall tethers himself to Maggie McOmie within the void is the loveliest, most haunting passage Lucas ever directed (the second being Padme's Ruminations, in the criminally underrated Revenge of the Sith).

I recommend that everyone revisit Lucas's first and greatest masterpiece.

 

Empire Strikes Back is at the top.

Howard the Duck is likely at the bottom, but for me at the time, I put at least partial blame on whoever owns the rights to Donald Duck, for putting a stop on using the Howard the Duck comic appearance in the films, which forced the protagonist's stumpy look.

 

To those who put AOTC on top - you're not the only one. One Steven Spielberg said it was GL's best directorial work. The weaknesses of this film are well known (acting/dialogue) along with some weird editing and scoring issues but the visual storytelling is top notch.

My favorite and truly epic review of AOTC:
https://wondersinthedark.wordpress....rikes-back-at-attack-of-the-clones-naysayers/

 

1.) Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace
2.) Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith
3.) Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back
4.) Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones
5.) Red Tails
6.) Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope
7.) Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi
8.) Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
9.) Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
10.) American Graffiti
11.) Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark
12.) THX 1138
13.) Star Wars: The Clone Wars (movie)
14.) Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
15.) Willow
16.) Star Wars Holiday Speical

 

Follow up to my rankings post. I saw American Graffiti, THX 1138, Red Tails, and Williow for the first time today!

Loved Red Tails (no idea why everyone ranks it so low), HATED Williow. Found American Graffiti & THX 1138 to be resoundingly meh. THX feels like it's trying to copy Kubrick's 2001, and that makes it awful (as 2001: A Space Odyssey is my personal "worst film ever made"). American Graffiti seems utterly pointless, and may have one of the worst soundtracks I've ever heard.

 

1. The Empire Strikes Back
2. Raiders of the Lost Ark
3. Star Wars: A New Hope
4. Temple of Doom
5. Return of the Jedi
6. The Last Crusade
5. THX 1138
6. Revenge of the Sith
7. American Grafitti
8. Attack of the Clones
9. Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
10. The Phantom Menance
11. Red Tails

 

I haven't stopped throwing up since I read this

 

Good for you.

 

This is such a childish attitude. You may not like it, you may find it boring, but to call it the "worstest movie ever" is just immature. It's clearly not that bad if it's as massively influential as it was, so widely-acclaimed, won an Oscar and was nominated for three other Oscars in a time when sci-fi was not taken very seriously, and has inspired thousands of filmmakers as well as probably hundreds of movies.

You can't look me straight in the eye and say 2001: A Space Odyssey is worse than some **** like The Room.

 

Star Wars, OT


Everything else

 

THX-1138 is pretty damn good. The only truly magnificent films he directed were American Graffiti and Star Wars (ANH).

As a producer or writer, the 3 original Indy films, The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi and Willow were the best stuff he did. And I did like Kingdom of the Crystal Skull so I suppose you could add that too.

 

Well, I haven't see everything that Lucas as made. So I'll only rank what I've seen so far.

1. The Star Wars saga (Episodes I-VI);
2. The Indiana Jones Trilogy (I'm excluding here Kingdom of the Crystal Skull);
3. The Clone Wars animated series from 2008;
4. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
5. Strange Magic