Saga The Definitive Thread to Rank All Star Wars Films (in terms of Your Favorite), TPM to TROS

So I just finished watching the entire saga all in a row, for the first time in like a year or so. And surprisingly, it changed my ranking abit:

1. ROTS
2. ESB
3. AOTC
4. Rogue One
5. ROTJ
6. TROS
7. ANH
8. TLJ
9. TFA
10. TPM
11. Solo

My favorites will always be my favorites, but for the rest-I was quite surprised at this change. TFA used to be top five, Solo used to be around the middle, and TLJ was dead last!

It seems that with time, Solo for me runs out of "watchability," like a piece of Fruit Stripe Gum-and I have to let long periods of time go by between viewings. Don't get me wrong, I love the film-but to me it quickly becomes tedious upon repeat viewings. I found myself just waiting for the next event in the film.

As for my increase for TLJ from last to low-third, I was shocked. Perhaps the ST started to be more enjoyable to me, now that I've gotten over everything I HOPED it would be, and just learned to enjoy what's there. Still has its flaws, but then again-TPM has Jar Jar after all.

When I was watching AOTC in particular, I found myself really enjoying it. Maybe that's because it's been like 18 months since I'd seen it. One thing I will say about the PT films, is they are so rich visually and in terms of world building, after all these years repeated viewings still have not lost any of their luster for me.

 

01. The Empire Strikes Back
02. A New Hope
03. The Rise of Skywalker
04. The Force Awakens
05. The Last Jedi
06. Solo
07. Return of the Jedi
08. Rogue One
09. Attack of the Clones
10. Revenge of the Sith
11. The Phantom Menace

 

It's intriguing to see that you placed Revenge of the Sith towards the bottom and ROTJ and Rogue One in the lower half, with the whole ST in the top five.

I'd be interested in hearing your personal thoughts on why you rank ROTS the second least (and TROS #3 as well). Just genuinely curious!

 

Loving some of the posts here. I am a fan of all the star wars movies. I take positives from all. I know I wouldnt want the pressure of writing or directing a SW movie. Theres just too much expectation. Heres my list from 11 to 1

11 Solo. Never got to see it in the cinema and watched it on DVD. Its good and its nice to see chewie and Han team up in the falcon. Some good moments but not a fan of the woody Harrelson character and having Maul appear at the end was just fan service. His story isnt resolved in future movies it was in other media. That felt wrong. I know a lot of folk love maul but he should not have appeared here.

10 AOTC. Nothing overly exciting. Coruscant chase sequence is good and the battle of Geonosis kicks off the Clone Wars. Seeing the Republic Army sends shivers of whats to come with the Empire. Jango Fett and Zam Wesel are stand out characters, Boba was a bit meh. Marriage as expected and we see Yoda finally wield a lightsaber. Shmis death hit me hard.

9 TPM. A new era was kicked off with this. So much hype. Was never going to live up to it. Stand outs was the three way lightsaber battle and the Boonta Eve podrace. Qui Gon was a good character and obi wan surprisingly was a bit uncaring.

8 Rogue One. Was a prequel to ANH and tells us the important story of how they got the death star plans. This was a testing ground for de-aging actresses using CGI. In this case carrie Fisher as Leia just before ANH. Vader is at his best here too. Some amazing sequences and great actors. Definitely emotional too.

7 The last Jedi. Completely tore up the rulebook regarding certain SW characters and what the force could do. Controversial, very emotional. Good points, bad points. Ive covered it plenty in the past.

6 TROS. The final chapter in the saga. Not the finale fans had hoped for but it wrapped up 42 years of storytelling. I enjoyed it but it needs to have a follow up movie. Just my feeling. Im hearing Rogue squadron will be. Thats good as far as Im concerned.

5 ROTS For the first time in 22 years we hear JEJ as vader. Magical.

4 ANH Its all been said.

3TFA New heroes, new bad guys. Enjoyable. Ford gets his wish.

2 ESB. just a brilliant sequel.

1 ROTJ Luke help me take this mask off....

 

ROTJ
TESB
ROTS
ANH
TPM
AOTC

Solo
Rogue One

TROS
TFA
TLJ

 

Top 10 of All Time:

The Empire Strikes Back

Top 20 of All Time:

Star Wars: A New Hope

The Rest

3. Revenge of the Sith 8/10
4. Rogue One 8/10
5. Return of the Jedi 7/10
6. The Force Awakens 6/10
7. The Phantom Menace 5/10
8. The Last Jedi 5/10
9. Solo 5/10
10. Attack of the Clones 3/10
11. The Rise of Skywalker 3/10

 

My revised list:

1 The Empire Strikes Back
2 A New Hope
3 Return of the Jedi
4 Revenge of the Sith
5 Rogue One
6 The Last Jedi
7 The Force Awakens
8 Attack of the Clones
9 Solo
10 The Phantom Menace
11 The Rise of Skywalker

 

1. A New Hope
2. Return of the Jedi
3. The Empire Strikes Back
4. Revenge of the Sith
5. Rogue One
6. The Phantom Menace
7. The Force Awakens
8. Attack of the Clones
9. Solo
10. The Last Jedi
11. The Rise of Skywalker

 

edit: The love RotS gets on here warms my heart.

My holy trinity:
RotS
ANH
ESB
------------
The ones I like:
RotJ
TPM
RO
TFA
----------------
meh...... :
AotC
Solo
--------
not a fan:
TROS
TLJ

 

1. The Empire Strikes Back
2. Rogue One/A New Hope - always watch them back to back and rank them as one fabulous (long) movie.
3. Solo
4. Return Of The Jedi
5. The Force Awakens
6. Revenge Of The Sith
7. The Last Jedi
8. The Rise Of Skywalker
9. Attack of The Clones
10. The Phantom Menace

 

1. The Phantom Menace
2. Rogue One
   
3. Return of the Jedi
4. The Last Jedi
5. The Force Awakens
6. Attack of the Clones
   
7. Empire Strikes Back
8. A New Hope
   
9. Revenge of the Sith
10. Rise of Skywalker
    
11. Solo

 

1.ROTS
2.ESB
3.ANH
4.ROTJ
5.AOTC
6.TFA
7.TPM
8.TROS
9.TLJ

 

I'm sure I did a rankings already earlier in this thread but its been a few years and things have settled more firmly in my mind.

1. ESB
2. ROTS
3. ANH
(Rogue One)
4. ROTJ
5. TFA
6. TPM
7. AOTC
(Solo)
8. TROS
9. TLJ

 

Rogue One is the best Star Wars film visually, narratively, tonally, etc. In every way. And I think that perspective may end up becoming more and more popular over the years.

It’s very closely followed by ANH and TESB, which are also masterpieces. And have the added benefit of breaking completely new ground.

And then TPM, which is much better than it generally gets credit for, and Solo.

The rest I barely watch or think about.

ETA: Latest ranking.

1. RO
2. ANH/ ESB
3. TPM/ Solo
4. TFA/ TLJ/ TROS
5. AOTC
6. ROTS

 

Ha! Jabba would not be pleased. Let me try again:

1. RO
2. ANH/ ESB
3. ROTJ
4. Solo
5. TPM
6. TFA/ TLJ/ TROS
7. AOTC
8. ROTS

 

Updated now that TROS has had time to solidify its place.

1. A New Hope
2. The Empire Strikes Back
3. Return of the Jedi
4. The Phantom Menace
5. The Force Awakens
6. Revenge of the Sith
7. Attack of the Clones
8. The Last Jedi
9. The Rise of Skywalker
10. Solo
11. Rogue One

 

1. Revenge of the Sith
2. Return of the Jedi
3. A New Hope
4. The Last Jedi
5. Rogue One
6. Attack of the Clones
7. The Empire Strikes Back
8. The Phantom Menace
9. The Rise of Skywalker
10. Solo
11. The Clone Wars
12. The Force Awakens

 

What I consider canonical:

1. TPM
2. RotS
3. AotC
4. ANH
5. RotJ
6. TESB
Mandalorian

Lesser canon, like appendages:

7. RO
8. Solo

NO!:

9. TLJ
10. TFA
11. TRoS

 

1. RotJ - Luke and ObiWan scene, Luke and Vader scenes. Realization of balance and hope.
2. TESB - Setting up the balance of admission of darkness and the goodness within Luke.
3. Rogue One - Imperfect but not full of crap. Stands alone, bridges gaps, and doesn't neuter Vader.
4. TPM - Opening scene with QuiGon and ObiWan, the conclusion of Duel of the Fates.
5. ANH - Typical hero's journey, but groundbreaking for its time
6. RotS - Special effects extravaganza, extremely shallow/hollow plot development.
7. AotC - Special effects test subject, empty of value.
8/9/10 - Sequel trilogy - nothing remarkable, unfortunately. Ethics and integrity have already been challenged with the PT, choose not to validate.
11. Solo - unremarkable.

 

I haven't updated in a couple of years:

1. AOTC
2. ROTS
3. ESB
4. ANH
5. TPM
6. TLJ
7. ROTJ
8. Solo
9. TROS
10. R1
11. TFA

 

The Saga

1. TESB -One of the greatest films ever made. Magisterial and the one, true spiritual installment of the series.
2. (TIE) ROTS/ANH - Star Wars is a masterpiece, but like The Wizard of Oz, somewhat hollow for my tastes; Revenge of the Sith is an imperfect film, but imbued with tremendous depth and operatic sweep.
3. TPM - Flawed, but vibrant, overflowing with imagination and firmly anchored by Liam Neeson's warm, peaceable performance.
4. ROTJ - The first-half remains unwatchable, but the film kicks into hyperdrive once Luke turns himself in to Vader.
5. AOTC - Bold, but the scripting, acting and editing renders this a stolid affair.

Disney

6. RO - A rousing third act, a few interesting grace notes and the delightful K-2SO salvages a largely paint-by-numbers war story.
7. TLJ - Superb direction/cinematography and terrific performances by Hamill and Driver, but doomed by a misguided shambles of a script. Rian Johnson's one failure.
8. TFA - The nadir of nostalgia filmmaking, with not a shred of artistic integrity. (The most zealous of Lucas's rabid critics got the two-hour Kenner commercial they deserved.)

(Haven't seen Solo or TROS; no desire whatsoever.)

 

ROTJ- High emotional stakes, great mix of childlike wonder and drama, Luke vs. Vader is the heart of the movie and saga, with an engaging Rebel mission to Tatooine and Endor.

ROTS- The most intense and tragic, the best visuals with the most engaging action scenes, Palpatine's plot and Anakin's descent are entertaining but wrenching to watch

TESB- Vader is at his best here, engaging action on Hoth and Cloud City, effective at conveying the emotional and physical stakes throughout

ANH- Full of wonder, engaging the audience into the world, its introductory nature makes for charming characters and story with a self-contained narrative that is enhanced in the broader picture of the saga

TPM- Captivating introduction to the PT's universe, Anakin's character and story have a special charm, as does the introduction of the Jedi and the conflict through his eyes, engaging dynamics between Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan, Qui-Gon and Anakin, and Padme and Anakin (at this stage, Padme sees him as a little brother, though he has a very likely crush on her)


AOTC- Great action scenes and visuals, interesting change in tone from its predecessor and within itself

Solo- Compelling introduction to a young Han, tells a good story in its own right, interesting dynamics between Han and Lando, and Han and Qi'ra, I happen to agree with what L3 represents in terms of political statements (this one might go above AOTC, but I feel biased enough to put AOTC first)

Rogue One- a lot of characters to get to know, Jyn's journey is an interesting one, particularly compelling visuals, not to mention the climactic space battle



TFA- Compelling dynamics between Finn and Poe, and Rey and Finn, feels more underwhelming in retrospect, nullifies ROTJ's implication that Luke will train Leia and build up the the Jedi Order without it being undone

TROS- the most visually appealing of the sequels, glorifies the character who singlehandedly nullified Anakin, Luke, Han, and Leia, while having everybody make risks and sacrifices on the off-chance that he'll finally do the right thing (why I hold him to a different standard than Anakin, who himself did evil things before redemption, but his arc did not negatively affect those of established characters who we were meant to root for and did, not even Obi-Wan), while Rey has even less reason to believe in him after the events of TLJ


TLJ- Had a potentially good character in Rose, butchers Luke's character while giving him little room to redeem himself, gives Rey little reason to sympathize with Kylo while dismissing Luke, and the reason given does not feel earned, nor does her sudden compulsion to appeal to Kylo , blames Luke for what should not have been his fault and

 

5,6,4,3,rouge 1, 1, solo, 2. (I don’t count the sequels)

 

Have to revise this due to recent rewatches:

1. TPM
2. RotS
3. AotC
4. ANH
5. RotJ
6. TESB

7. RO
8. TLJ
9. TRoS

10. Solo
11. TFA