I’m glad I decided to watch all 11 of the Star Wars movies in chronological order. It really did make a difference in how I perceive the entire Skywalker Saga. It also gave me an interesting perspective on the relative quality of the individual movies in comparison with one another.
I don’t claim to be a film critic, but I think it was a useful exercise for me to list out what I felt were the highlights and lowlights of each movie. If nothing else, it helped me pinpoint (for myself) what worked and what didn’t when it came to storytelling.
I’m not crazy about ranking movies – usually I either like them or I don’t – but that said, I think there are really two tiers of Star Wars movies. The first tier are movies that I know I’ll re-watch again (probably more than once). Then there’s the second tier. These movies are worth watching once because they contain information that informs all of Star Wars (movies, books, and TV series), but I doubt I’ll ever be able to force myself to watch them again.
So, here are my rankings. For me, the first tier consists of the movies in positions #1-8. The movies in positions #1-3 are pretty much interchangeable for me at any given time, as are the movies in #4-7. The Last Jedi sits firmly at the #8 position – seriously flawed as a story, but visually stunning and with decent acting. The second tier consists of the Prequel Trilogy, with The Phantom Menace coming in dead last as the worst Star Wars movie to date.
My Personal Ranking of the Star Wars Movies
- Star Wars (aka Episode IV – A New Hope)
- The Empire Strikes Back
- The Force Awakens
- Return of the Jedi
- The Rise of Skywalker
- Rogue One
- Solo
- The Last Jedi
- Revenge of the Sith
- Attack of the Clones
- The Phantom Menace
