All of Star Wars Ranked – (Including The Mandalorian)
Star Wars is easily one of the most beloved, and also one of the best, franchises of all time. As the series moves into the world of television, with new shows like Obi-Wan Kenobi, Andor, The Bad Batch, Lando, A Droid Story, Rangers of the New Republic, Ahsoka, The Acolyte, Rogue Squadron and the second season of The Mandolorian, I thought now would be a good time to rank the entire franchise as a whole from top to bottom, worst to best. I recently watched every live-action film and all of The Mandolorian, so it’s all pretty fresh in my mind. I’m gonna be honest about my opinion on these films, it’s definitely not gonna be the usual ranking you’ve seen. I’ve got a bad feeling about this.
16. The Star Wars Holiday Special (1978)
Few films live on in such uninterrupted infamy as The Star Wars Holiday Special. Having seen it a few times, I can say it does not get better with a rewatch, it probably gets worse. The hate for this film is pretty well deserved I’d say, as it fails in basically every way it can, slowly devolving into what can only be described as a painful experience over the course of its runtime.
Famously hated by George Lucas (the creator of Star Wars) the film now only goes on as a fever dream that all of us Star Wars fans want only to forget and rightly so. It’s a visual mess with a script that only serves to disrespect the great worldbuilding that Lucas managed to design in his first film. Certain portions are genuinely hard to watch, it’s that bad, the only film in the series I’d call a disgrace.
Rating: 0/100
15. The Ewok Adventure: Caravan of Courage (1984)
I’d be interested to know if any readers have even heard of these next two entries, because it’s only by thin chance that I ended up watching them myself. ‘Caravan of Courage’ (maybe one of the worst film titles in cinematic history, seriously who OK’d that?) is a complete dumpster-fire of a film. Honestly, in a lot of ways, it’s not too far off The Holiday Special.
It’s an entirely forgetful experience and one I hope I never have to sit through again. The first of the Ewok Adventure series, Caravan of Courage purely exists as a cash grab, banking off the original trilogy that had wonderfully concluded the year before. Truly a bland, mindless creation.
Rating: 3/100
14. Ewoks: The Battle for Endor (1985)
Sure, The Battle for Endor is quite the improvement, both in the film department and the title department, but as you can tell by the score, it’s still an awful film. The plot feels much more tangible and centralised, and the characters are a bit more fun to watch, I guess it’s just a basic step up from the first Ewok film.
Yet, nothing can take away from the fact that these films are built around the very thing that lessened Return of the Jedi – The Ewoks. They’re a childish, annoying – if slightly cute – gimmick employed in the title of these films because they were popular with kids in the 80s. When you really think about it, that’s the only reason these films exist, to make money off the kids who wanted more Star Wars.
Those kids would eventually get they’re more Star Wars in the form of the next entry on the list.
Rating: 11/100
13. Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (1999)
Quite a big jump in quality, but still not very good. This film has its qualities, and first off, I will say I enjoy this film quite a lot. But for the first Star Wars film in over a decade, this was and still is a disappointment. Filled with way, way too much CGI, the whole thing feels so artifical and unconvincing.
George Lucas was openly sad that the film didn’t turn out to be the masterpiece he hoped and was quite ashamed, but his work did only improve with the prequel trilogy and the film has a lot of heart behind it which you can feel flowing throughout: there’s clearly a whole lot of passion in it, is what I’m saying, even if it results in a poor film.
Rating: 49/100
12. Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones (2002)
Attack of the Clones was simultaneously way better than I remembered and also way worse. Everything about this film is hit or miss, whilst being a definite improvement on Episode I, it fails in a lot of ways that film succeeded.
The CGI is mostly awful but during the third act actually becomes highly impressive, leading me to my main point, the third act of this film completely saves it, everything that comes before is dull in every sense of the word, and yes the acting is pretty bad but the main problem is the script and dialogue which seem borderline unbelievable at times. Nevertheless, it’s a fun watch and sets up its sequel quite well.
Rating: 54/100
11. Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018)
We’re into the watchable area now, thankfully. Solo is an interesting one, because if you haven’t seen the films that it directly copies, then it seems like a good movie, but if you’ve seen Guardians of the Galaxy, well then it becomes blisteringly obvious how much of a rip-off this film is of that, both in terms of style and plot.
It’s definitely one of the more different Star Wars properties and basically just feels like a generic heist film set in the same world. A lot of fans didn’t like them recasting Han Solo, but I honestly don’t mind it – it was necessary and Alden Ehrenreich does a good job with a challenging role.
Rating: 59/100
10. Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker (2019)
The end of Star Wars, or at least the end of the Skywalker Saga. It really should have been SO much better than this. Sure, it’s a decent watch but decent for a film like this might as well be called awful. It should have lived up to the rest of the best of Star Wars and it just doesn’t.
The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi were ridiculously good, so it’s always a shame to remember that The Rise of Skywalker is just ridiculous. I don’t hate this movie, to be honest, I have a fun time with it, but that’s all it is, mindless, heartless fun with no character to it. It does have some great moments to it but they’re just gorgeous flashes in an otherwise entirely meh film; and for the end of Star Wars, one of the greatest franchises in cinematic history, I can only call this a huge disappointment.
Rating: 62/100
9. Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith (2005)
Thank god. We’re into the good now. Revenge of the Sith has aged so, so well. By far, the best of the prequel trilogy, it truly leans into the darkness and gloom of where we all knew this series was heading. We knew Darth Vader had to be created but nobody really knew how it would go down.
And how it goes down is so satisfying, creating this sense of dread, specifically in the third act, that feels inescapable. With such glorious, Shakespearian dialogue that has become really, really iconic over the last few years for good reason. Also, Hayden Christenson and Ewan McGregor deliver pretty great performances.
Rating: 72/100
8. Return of the Jedi (1983)
Return of the Jedi is the most difficult film to talk about from the original Star Wars for me, because I really do love this film, like a lot, but it has way too many issues. The effects aren’t nearly as impressive as they were before, and the direction feels the least inspired.
For me, the film really shines in the writing: what they do with Luke as a character is truly perfect, fully fleshing him out and completing his trilogy-arc in the best way possible. But my favourite character has to be Vader in this one, his ultimate redemption is pretty beautiful. It feels like it has a lot of weight to it, but man the Ewoks are no good.
Rating: 81/100
7. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)
There is this beautiful sense of finality that comes with Rogue One, both in respect to a feeling of dread and a feeling of sadness: this is one of the most underappreciated and also one of the best Star Wars films. With mind-blowingly great CGI and a script that is constantly moving in a fast-paced direction, really making you feel like you’re in a star WAR, but that also gives time for much-needed moments of character.
It helps that the cinematography is beyond beautiful too, this film looks amazing. I tear up a few times every time I watch it and knowing it all culminates in an ending so limitlessly perfect, balancing such darkness and such hope, brings out such conflict in me. One of the best prequels ever made.
Rating: 83/100
6. Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens (2015)
The Force Awakens is a refreshing, visual marvel. It reignited Star Wars, a franchise that had been dormant for a decade, injecting it with this constant flow of excitement that is just so addictive. J. J. Abrams directs with a certain love for the original trilogy that probably stands unrivalled for me in that role.
This is a film that’s grown on me in the last six years and one that seems to age so well. The cinematography is some of the best of the series, the casting is perfect, I mean it’s Adam Driver as the leading villain, c’mon. Seeing Han Solo again always brings a smile to my face and the third act has such a tragic, heavy weight to it that I do find kinda beautiful. It’s just such a hopeful, lively creation that I’m always so excited to watch.
Rating: 83/100
5. Star Wars (1977)
It’s no secret to me why a film like Star Wars exploded into the annals of pop culture and remains as popular as it is today: it is a great piece of cinema. Popping with some of the best worldbuilding ever put to film, Lucas’ creation feels so alive with wonder, with imagination, even now, over forty years later.
Saying that the special effects in Star Wars weren’t revolutionary can only be called a lie, a majority of the sequences in this film, if not all, are nothing short of brilliant. When it comes to scale, pure, riveting entertainment, great characters and perfect balance of drama and humour, I’ll always return to the one that started it all.
Rating: 85/100
4. The Mandalorian – Season 1 (2019)
The first of the Disney Plus Original Star Wars properties, The Mandalorian delivers and then some. It’s honestly pretty perfect and throws you back into the world of Star Wars with a bang. From the first scene, you know exactly what you’re getting out of this: a much more adult experience than usual, and some truly great action.
With a huge budget and a set of passionate creators behind it like Jon Favreau and Taika Waititi, the whole thing feels so fresh, so entertaining and so awesome. Pedro Pascal brings a subtle grandiosity to the role whilst being masked for the majority of the runtime and there’s a reason Baby Yoda or The Child exploded into pop culture. I love this show.
Rating: 88/100
3. The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
One of the greatest sequels of all time, The Empire Strikes Back surges above its predecessor in a bound of beautiful action and beyond-impressive special effects. The film never gives you a second to breathe, not one, even the character moments are tense, making the film’s two hour runtime feel like a breezy hour.
Combined with some of the best, most awesomely moving original music ever put to film and mind-blowing production design and we have a truly brilliant piece of cinema. And that ending, that twist… wow! It will live on in cinema history for ages to come.
Rating: 89/100
2. The Mandalorian – Season 2 (2020)
I wasn’t sure what to expect with the second season of The Mandalorian, many shows buckle under the weight of the pressure of continuing their stories in a good way, but boy was I pleasantly surprised by how absolutely phenomenal this eight-episode epiphany was.
Feeling more focused this time around and wielding a plot that flows even better than the first time around, The Mandalorian literally is killing it right now and producing some of the best television content I’ve ever seen. Giancarlo Esposito brings the perfect amount of villainy and the final episode was beyond brilliant, a true 10/10 experience. Pretty much every aspect of it is astounding, and I was so shocked to see that it came within inches of breaking the number one spot.
Rating: 93/100
1. Star Wars: Episode VIII – The Last Jedi (2017)
Where The Force Awakens reignited the flame of this franchise, this film reinvents it. Possibly the most misunderstood film ever made, The Last Jedi is an astounding, powerful Star Wars experience. In all honesty, it’s a visual feast, this might just be one of the best-looking films ever made, SO MUCH RED! I can imagine putting this at the number one spot will be seen as a huge hot take but yeh, for me it’s the best, everything about this is borderline flawless and I adore it. It’s a big shame Rise of Skywalker was never as good.
It deals with such beloved character in surprisingly daring ways, wielding a phenomenal, constantly moving, tense and highly unpredictable script that’s so refreshing. Luke, Kylo and Rey are handled so well and it all culminates in a genius, shocking and beautiful third act. We all need to grow up and accept this is the best Star Wars film.
Rating: 93/100
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Well, that’s it. Watching all the Star Wars film over the last few weeks has, as it always is, been a jolly old time. It’s a thematic, often beautiful set of films that is engrained into the minds of its fans, pop culture and people who haven’t even seen it. My ranking isn’t a common one but it’s my ranking all the same, I’d be interested to see your ranking below. May the force be with you.
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