My order (regardless of the movies themselves): III IV V VII VIII I II VI. Again, this is not my movie preference order, it's my opening crawl preference order.
Hhmmmm. Episode 1 would definitely be at the bottom of my list for opening crawls. Again -- the taxation of trade routes just didn't stick for me as an opening crawl
1. The Empire Strikes Back - Fits the vibe of the movie well. Sets a desperate tone where the rebels are being hunted down. Sets up Vader's search for Luke which has a deeper purpose than revenge, though the audience doesn't know it yet. 2. A New Hope - Classic opener that tells you exactly what you need to know. Opens with a straightforward and exciting premise. 3. Return of the Jedi 4. Revenge of the Sith - Great opener that sets up exciting stakes. Only thing that bugs me is the weird "heroes on both sides" line which doesn't really apply to the plot well. 5. The Last Jedi - An exciting opener that draws your attention but the lack of any mention of Starkiller Base's destruction seems odd. It totally dismisses the heroes' victory in the last movie. 6. Attack of the Clones 7. The Phantom Menace - Not a very exciting premise to begin the entire Star Wars saga with. 8. The Force Awakens - Too Luke-centric. Makes it sound like the whole galaxy is focused around him which makes it seem rather small. Could have explained why there is a resistance when the New Republic already exists which would have saved unnecessary confusion later.
Yeah, although the Special Edition kind of diluted that. In the original release, I had always assumed Vader was on a quest to find and convert his son from the very beginning. But then the SE came along showed him being a bit incredulous when the Emperor states that Luke is the offspring of Anakin Skywalker. Grrr.
1. A New Hope - My favorite opening crawl, because it sets up an exciting premise very lucidly. 2. The Last Jedi - Nice tension set up in the final paragraph, and a body full of slightly cheesy serial goodness 3. Revenge of the Sith - Exciting premise promising great action and tense fortunes. The first paragraph doesn't really make much sense, however, with the "heroes on both sides" bit. 4. Return of the Jedi - First paragraph sets up an exciting situation. The rest of it just kind of tells the audience that they're going to repeat A New Hope and there's no other tense situations taking place. 5. The Force Awakens - Very skilled in it's handling of continuing a thirty year gap in the storyline. Also sets up a bit of a mystery with Luke's disappearance. Stakes aren't very clear, though. 6. The Empire Strikes Back - Kind of a generic set up that doesn't promise much immediate action and basically says "the bad guys are after the good guys" 7. Attack of the Clones - Boring set up, but slightly interesting that the Jedi are somehow overwhelmed 8. The Phantom Menace - Unexciting premise. Some trade organization is stopping goods and services from being delivered to a peaceful planet. How dramatic.
A New Hope is definitely the winner. That iconic prose just can't seem to be topped! The Last Jedi is excellent as well. Notice how the crawl speaks of immediate events and foreshadows future ones at the same time! ("As the First Order speeds toward the Rebel base, the brave heroes mount a desperate escape" refers to both D'Qar as well as Crait ) Attack of the Clones resonated with me. It introduced Dooku with mystery and informed of Padme's new role as the music climaxes. Exciting stuff. I thought The Phantom Menace was well-written enough. The Empire Strikes back and Return of the Jedi are nothing particularly special while Revenge of the Sith is too wordy in the first paragraph but otherwise alright.
Hmm. Don't think I can rank them all properly, but I can do bottom three 6. ROTJ's for the sole reason that it ends in a proper three dot ellipsis instead of four dots 7. TLJ's because it ALL CAPS types some of the same phrases from TFA's, which leads me to 8. TFA. Three separate ALL CAPS terms. First time such a thing has happened and breaks the trend that was set of even numbered entries having an ALL CAPS term As for the actual content and non-pedantic criticisms normal people think about? None really stand out to me as particularly superior or inferior in a major way
1. IV: Iconic, not really much more to say. 2. V: Iconic and tense, but the rebels sure as heck weren't being led by Luke. 3. VI: Love the focus on Luke's rescue of Han and the Empire's new plan. 4. VIII: The film that we needed the opening crawl the least for, but I found it well-written. 5. III: The "heroes on both sides" is ridiculous, and I'm mixed on one word opening the crawl. 6. II: Better than TPM, but a bit too dry. 7. VII: Far too much focus on Luke, and three capitalized words is too much. I will give it a lot of credit for the first line though. 8. I: The most boring of the opening crawls.
IV - In and on itself, it's probably not the best nor the worst, but it sucessfully introduced the universe of Star Wars when it was unknown to everyone. V - Mysterious enough to pike one's wonder over what's going to happen next. I & III - Sets up what's going on and ends with the promise of seeing Jedi doing Jedi business. II - Completely dedicated to set up and exposition, which is probably the perfect use of the opening crawl. VI - Good enough.
