This is my personal ranking of the Star Wars films. Even when the prequels were being released I never imagined that I would have so much to choose from. Within just five years Disney alone has almost tied series creator George Lucas in theatrical releases. One sad thing I noticed is that there are far more bad and mixed Star Wars movies than legitimately good ones (I count three). This list only includes the eleven live-action theatrical releases. I will not include the infamous Holiday Special, the Ewoks films, or the theatrical pilot of the Clone Wars cartoons series. Of course there will be some spoilers. Without further ado, let’s start at the bottom.
#11: Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker
The Plot: The Emperor is back…somehow (a loose quotation from the film). It turns out he’s been behind all the events of the sequel trilogy. On the dark Sith planet Exegol he literally raises a fleet of star destroyers from the ground. Before he can unleash this fleet of planet-killers, Rey and friends must follow a series of leads to discover the location of Exegol and destroy the Emperor and his new army.
Many still list Attack of the Clones as the worst Star Wars movie, but I have to give the spot to this one. After the severe backlash to The Last Jedi, Disney and producer Kathleen Kennedy hit the panic button and rehired J.J. Abrams. Abrams quickly backtracked on Last Jedi’s plot points and revelations, meaning that the trilogy lacks any through line. He then sought to win back fans with excessive amounts of fan service from short cameos to entire lifts of memorable music cues from John Williams’ previous scores. The film and its marketing scream “here are things you know and love about Star Wars, please love our film!” by throwing in as much familiar crap as possible. The end result is a film that frustrates those who liked The Last Jedi and still fails to win over the others because it’s so bad. Continue reading