A Long Time Ago, In a Medium Article Far, Far Away: Ranking All 11 Live-Action Star Wars Films
I’ve been thinking about Star Wars a lot lately as the new Obi-Wan Kenobi limited series premieres this weekend on Disney +, along with Star Wars Celebration happening in Anaheim. Star Wars is one of those franchises where I knew when I get around to it, it was going to feel like a saga in and of itself. Regardless, let’s feel the Force, strap into the X-Wing, and jump into hyperspace to rank the entire franchise.
11. Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker
This installment finds Rey (Daisy Ridley), Finn (John Boyega) and Poe (Oscar Issac) discovering The Emperor (Ian McDiarmid) has been resurrected, and has plans for Rey and Kylo Ren (Adam Driver). Rise of Skywalker fails as the Sequel Trilogy’s conclusion and as the saga’s final chapter. The saga is no stranger to contradictory retcons but it gets absurd here, with nearly every character’s backstory being retconned. It’s also too short to conclude nine main films. The only good things are Denis Lawson’s cameo and Billy Dee Williams’ return, reprising their roles as Wedge and Lando respectively.
10. Solo: A Star Wars Story
The second in the Star Wars Story spin-off series tells Han Solo’s (Alden Ehrenreich) origins and his friendships with Chewbacca (Joonas Suotamo) and Lando (Donald Glover). This is undoubtedly the most standard Star Wars film, it has all of the elements, but nothing unique. The idea of exploring the galaxy’s criminal underworld in a darker setting would be great if done right. The film suffers from only focusing on it at the minimum surface level. Ehrenreich is clearly trying to make his role work, but the writing weakens him. Glover gives a better performance, doing Lando’s fun charisma justice. Solo is a frustrating watch, as it was plainly intended to have sequels that are unlikely to happen.
9. Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones
The Prequels’ second tells the story of Anakin (Hayden Christensen) and Padme’s (Natalie Portman) growing romance as the Clone Wars lie ahead. The prequel trilogy’s weakest installment has a poor romantic subplot and backloaded excitement. Ewan McGregor gives a great performance as Obi-Wan, his performance’s cracks only show when he’s acting alongside CGI. While the romantic focus is commendable, Portman and Christensen have only a couple of scenes where their chemistry really clicks. It doesn’t help Anakin and Padme’s relationship is sidelined in the second half, since the film’s more interested in exploring Anakin’s development.
8. Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace
The Prequels’ first follows Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn (Liam Neeson) and his Padawan Obi-Wan Kenobi encountering a young Anakin Skywalker (Jake Lloyd) and liberating Naboo. Episode I becomes a stronger film when viewed with the other prequels in mind. While Neeson is easily the film’s best actor, Pernilla August as Shmi Skywalker is really good. Although the politics get the most flack, it’s more intriguing by the climax, where it ties directly into the Original Trilogy. The movie’s biggest flaws are in its pacing and lack of faithfulness to the background established in the Originals. These issues are mostly apparent in the second act on Tatooine and Jinn’s entire existence respectively.
7. Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Three decades after Return of the Jedi, a young scavenger named Rey discovers her destiny in the middle of the First Order and The Resistance’s war. Between the seamless immersion across on-location, CGI and practical creature effects, The Force Awakens epically builds upon the Original Trilogy’s atmosphere. Ridley’s Rey is a capable lead, blending optimism with crushing vulnerability. It was a missed opportunity to not develop Finn and Poe’s relationship further, considering the actors’ realistic chemistry. The mimicry of A New Hope’s plot hasn’t aged well because it makes the plot too predictable.
6. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
The Star Wars Story series’ first focuses on a team of rebels led by Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones) and Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) stealing the Death Star plans. This installment is highly enjoyable for its amazing visual design and great central story. The visual design is impressive at blending the originals’ aesthetic and a muted color palette, conveying the dark time period. The actors while very good, with Donnie Yen being a stand out, work with a plot-heavy script that doesn’t add enough substance to their arcs’ skeletons. It could’ve also benefited from excluding elements present in every installment like climatic space battles.
5. Star Wars: The Last Jedi
Having discovered Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), Rey begins being taught by him in the ways of the Jedi, as Finn and Poe deal with the First Order. The Last Jedi gets a bad reputation, but it’s undoubtably the Sequel Trilogy’s best. Episodes VII and VIII are roughly equal in quality, with the latter edging out on the power of Hamill’s performance as Skywalker. Regardless of his reservations, Hamill awesomely humanizes Skywalker. Besides Hamill, director Rian Johnson’s kinetic direction is another of the movie’s strongest suits. So many nicely edited, tension-filled scenes and very artistic sound design.
4. Star Wars: A New Hope
The one that started it all details the classic story of Luke Skywalker’s journey into the much larger world of the Jedi and the Rebel Alliance and Galactic Empire’s war. This is the definition of an awesomely wholesome production. It has great performances from the entire cast, groundbreaking special effects even with CGI adjustments made later and amazing lore. It debatably works better as a standalone feature than as part of a franchise. Chiefly because some plot points seem awkward in hindsight after plot developments in the rest of the trilogy and the Prequel Trilogy.
3. Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back
The Original Trilogy’s middle chapter follows Luke training with Jedi Master Yoda (Frank Oz) while Han and Leia attempt to evade Darth Vader (James Earl Jones/David Prowse). The template on doing a sequel right, Empire Strikes Back holds up as one of the franchise’s best films. The most fascinating aspect is in how well-realized and conceived Yoda is as a character. Between the script, John Williams’ whimsical theme and Oz’ puppetry, Yoda comes across as a three-dimensional character. The movie is virtually flawless, but if there is a flaw, Luke’s arc is more interesting than Han and Leia’s.
2. Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
The prequel trilogy’s conclusion depicts Anakin’s fall to the dark side and the destruction of the Jedi, heralding the start of the Galactic Empire. It’s a struggle taking off the nostalgia goggles, but I really love Episode III. The pacing is perfect, McDiarmid is incredible as Palpatine and the emotional stakes are strong. The only flaws, besides those in the previous prequels, are in Padme’s characterization and jarring inconsistencies. Taking Padme from being this strong female lead archetype to Hamlet’s tragic Ophelia is a drastic leap. Certain plot points from Episode II were not followed up on and continuity errors with the Original Trilogy can be found in the film.
1. Star Wars: Return of the Jedi
The Original Trilogy’s last sees The Rebellion planning to destroy the Death Star II, as Luke confronts The Emperor. Controversial take or not, this is definitely the entire franchise’s peak. The Battle of Endor from Lando’s perspective is the franchise’s best space battle, displaying great model work on the ships and the second Death Star. The Emperor takes center stage, McDiarmid’s performance cementing his status as the saga’s best villain. The Ewoks’ presence isn’t really distracting due to their cute design and thematic significance.
As obvious as it is by the top two, Star Wars is almost always at its best when culminating its layered stories. A grand majority of the saga has something great to offer, whether it be in fantastic storytelling, brilliant special effects or great characterization. As it seems the franchise is going to be carried on by upcoming Disney + releases, I’m confident more installments of a galaxy far, far away will reach theaters in the future.
