ST Rank the Saga titles

Star Wars
The Empire Strikes Back
Return of the Jedi
The Last Jedi
The Phantom Menace
Revenge of the Sith
A New Hope
Attack of the Clones/The Force Awakens - tie, I disliked both titles pretty much immediately. They're the only two I have a distinctly negative feeling about

 

I suck at ranking things, so I'll just say that "The Phantom Menace" (as a title) really grew on me. When I first heard it, I HATED it. I thought it was going to be the name of the villain, and it sounded like a lame villain from a superhero comic. Once I realized that it wasn't a character's name, but rather a description of a looming threat, I liked it a lot more. Now, I'd have to rank it near the top of the list for finding the perfect balance of being pulpy yet somehow dignified (unlike "Attack of The Clones.")

"The Last Jedi" is a perfectly neat and functional title, but my first impression was that it sounded more like the title to a SW novel than a movie. Can't quite put my finger on why.

"A New Hope" is kind of blah, but when Lucas came up with it, he hadn't intended it to be the title people used, so it's fine.

Anyway, yeah, I'm cheating and not ranking them.

 

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

It's a shame that "Duel of the Fates" was used for a song piece in TPM, because that would make for great movie title in the SW canon, a much better title of Episode 2.

I wish "Death Star" or "Vader" had been worked into the Episode 4 subtitle.

 

I've been think about this for awhile and in reality The Last Jedi is the worst Star Wars title - let me explain :

1. The title did not follow the history of Star Wars titles
2. It was supposed to be a Dark Side title following The Force Awakens light side title
3. It stuffed up some possible titles for EP9 like The Last Hope for instance as you can't possible have Last 2 times in a row
4. The title should have been 4 words or maybe 5 describing a military advance as in the 2 previous trilogies " The First Order Rises" for instance
5. The writing should have been on the wall as soon as we heard this title - as it did not follow the basics & was RJ trolling us?
6. The movie ends up being controversial much like the title so no surprises when the backlash started
7. Why on earth would you pull a Star Wars title out of the previous Episodes opening crawl !!!!
8. For me when I first heard the title I was gutted - what a let down ( I tried to be positive but not anymore )

 

I chuckled a little with this, 2 years later


If I completely disassociate the titles from the movies:

1. The Phantom Menace - just a very cool title overall
2. Return Of The Jedi - it resonates with me
3. Revenge Of The Sith - it just sounds so ominous
4. The Empire Strikes Back - wonderful contradiction
5. The Force Awakens - the word "force" had not been used before, so that was cool
6. A New Hope - feels like I am not giving it justice, since I really like it, but I just like the other ones better
7. Attack Of The Clones - cheesy in a good way, but still cheesy
8. The Last Jedi - it would have ranked much higher if the word "Jedi" had not been used already before

If I also take into account the context of the title and how each movie succeeded or failed to deliver the meaning or the title, then TFA goes all the way down to 7th place, and the rest of the list probably stays almost identical. Maybe ROTS would actually go one place higher.

 

1) A New Hope (classic title post-release)
2) The Empire Strikes Back
3) Return of the Jedi (absolutely classic title, my favorite film as a child along with the Indy films)
4) The Force Awakens (a good choice for a title)
5) The Last Jedi
6) The Phantom Menace
7) Revenge of the Sith
8) Attack of the Clones (my favorite Prequel Film, but could have had a more sweeping title as the middle act of the Prequels)

The titles were best in the first trilogy, in my opinion.

 

Revenge of the Sith- A perfect title that really encapsulates what happens. Also a good mirror of Return of the Jedi

Return of the Jedi- Just a wholesome title. Really like it.

The Last Jedi- Would've been a great title for Episode IX.

Attack of the Clones- Fits the 1950s vibe the film brings with its noir/pulpy sci fi themes. A great B movie title.

The Empire Strikes Back- Just as pulpy/cheesy as AOTC but this is the most serious of the OT so it doesn't vibe for me. A bit wordy.

The Phantom Menace- Not a catchy title but it brings intrigue. A feeling of something sinister brewing that isn't seen. Which fits the film.

A New Hope- Fits the movie after the PT but it always felt a bit...boring.

The Force Awakens- Bland. When was it asleep? Why was it asleep? Why does it awake now?

 

For me the best titles seem to be the best movies based on IMDB :

The Empire Strikes Back 8.8
A New Hope 8.6
Return of the Jedi 8.3
The Force Awakens 8.0

Revenge of the Sith 7.6

The Last Jedi 7.2
Attack of the Clones 6.6
The Phantom Menace 6.5

 

1. TPM
2. ESB
3. ANH
4. ROTJ
5. ROTS
6. AOTC
7. TFA
Last (and it always will be): TLJ

 

In the actual serials terms they originate from the top tier is easy enough:

The Empire Strikes Back - Very old school serial
Attack of the Clones - Very old school serial
Revenge of the Sith - Very old school serial
Return of the Jedi - Very old school serial
The Phantom Menace - Pretty strong
A New Hope - Fairly strong
The Force Awakens - Fairly strong
The Last Jedi - Quite weak. Really doesn't fit. Even Last of the Jedi would spruce it up or Fate of the Jedi to give it that serial feel.

 

Great films/TV:

Empire: 10. Flawless.
The Clone Wars series: 9. Episodic storytelling at its best. Beautiful visuals.
A New Hope: 8.5. A classic.
Revenge of the Sith: 8.25. Some of the best moments in SW.

Good films/TV:

Return of the Jedi: 7.5. A fun movie with a classic ending.
Attack of the Clones: 7.5. A fun, but cheesy movie. Innovative.
Rebels series: 7.3. Fun but cliche and boring animation.

Average films/TV:

The Phantom Menace: 7. Big ideas, boring characters and action. Visually beautiful.

Below Average films/TV:

Rogue One: 6.5. Interesting but undeveloped characters. Incoherent but intense. Looks good at times.
Resistance series: 6.5. Has potential to rise on the list with S2 if adds depth to a shallow ST.
The Force Awakens: 6.5. Fun but lacks originality and story.

Bad/Ugly films/TV:

Solo: 5.5. An ugly film with a lead that lacks the charisma of Harrison Ford. Never builds up enough emotion and adds little to the Saga. Lacks tension because the leads can't die.
The Clone Wars movie: 5. Ugly and annoying.
The Last Jedi: 3. Visually cliche, incoherent story and characters, lacks cause and effect, logic, and energy. The galaxy has fallen, but we never feel it. Who cares.
Ewok TV films: 2. Great for dumb 80s kids, like me.
Holiday Special: 1. Actually could be torture device for interrogators. Use on Trump.

 

1. Star Wars (The classic )
2. The Last Jedi (unfortunately the only thing I like about the movie is the title)
3. Revenge of the Sith
4. Return of the Jedi (weird that they go away again two episodes later)
5. The Empire Strikes Back
6. The Phantom Menance
7. Attack of the Clones
8. The Force Awakens

 

Interesting thread. My take on the titles:

1. Star Wars (not ANH - just simply Star Wars as it was originally released)
2. Return of the Jedi
3. Revenge of the Sith
4. The Empire Strikes Back
5. The Last Jedi
6. The Phantom Menace
7. The Force Awakens
8. Attack of the Clones

 

The Force Awakens
The Last Jedi
Return of the Jedi
The Phantom Menace
The Empire Strikes Back
Revenge of the Sith
A New Hope
Attack of the Clones

To me, ROTS would have been ranked over TPM if the title actually got at the heart of that film's story.

 

1. The Empire Strikes Back
2. Star Wars
3. Return of the Jedi
4. The Last Jedi
5. The Force Awakens
6. The Phantom Menace
7. Attack of the Clones
8. Revenge of the Sith

 

Yeah, but what about the titles?

 

The Phantom Menace is easily the best one, by a mile.

 

Empire Strikes Back - If you didn’t watch or really know about Star Wars, this still sounds exciting and it makes you want to be a fan.
The Last Jedi - Beautifully Foreboding
The Phantom Menace - Also Foreboding and leaves a lot to the imagination.
The Force Awakens - A nice way to indicate something new
Return of the Jedi - Straightforward
Revenge of the Sith - Equally Straightforward; revenge has a hint more of cheese
A New Hope - It felt like they needed to give the original first a new title ASAP and it shows.
Attack of the Clones - it just sounds so cheesy to me

 

Empire Strikes Back is my favorite movie ever, but not a good title. Star Wars is probably the best, which is what the first film was called for years.

 

I agree the Star Wars is the best title, but since (by way of being first) it didn’t have to follow the established nomenclature, I omitted from my rankings.

 

1. The Empire Strikes Back | A+
2. A New Hope | A
3. Revenge of the Sith | B+
4. Return of the Jedi | B
5. The Phantom Menace | B-
6. Attack of the Clones | B-
7. The Force Awakens | C
8. The Last Jedi | C-

EDIT: Shrunk list down to only include the Saga titles.

 

Five-stars
1.Rogue One
2.The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
3.Star Wars (1977)
4.Return of the Jedi (1983)
5.The Last Jedi
6.The Force Awakens
7.Solo
8.Rebels (2014 - 2018 animated tv series)
9.Resistance (2018 animated tv series)


Four-stars
10.The Clone Wars (2008 - 2014 animated tv series)
11.Clone Wars (2003 - 2005 animated tv series)
12.Ewoks (1985 - 1986 animated tv series)
13.Star Wars Holiday Special (1978)
14.Caravan of Courage: An Ewok Adventure (1984 tv movie)
15.Ewoks: The Battle for Endor (1985 tv movie)


Three-stars
16.The Phantom Menace (1999)
17.Attack of the Clones (2002)
18.Revenge of the Sith (2005)


Two-stars
19.Droids (1985 - 1986 animated tv series)


One-star
20.The Clone Wars (2008 animated movie)