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Ranking Of The 'Star Wars' Films

Noah Camarena |
December 6, 2015 | 9:32 p.m. PST

Staff Reporter

"Star Wars" original series (Lucasfilm)
"Star Wars" original series (Lucasfilm)
The day we’ve all been waiting for is almost here. When the new “Star Wars” movie is released on December 18th, fans of all ages will come out to celebrate the film. In the meantime, many people are preparing for the event by binge watching all six of the original movies. As you get ready, here's a ranking of the six films that came before.

6. The Phantom Menace

Jar-Jar Binks, poor acting and virtually nothing that went right. This movie almost destroyed the "Star Wars" franchise because it was just not very good.

The movie went back to the beginning to explain how Anakin Skywalker became Darth Vader. He started out as a young boy who was essentially recruited by Jedis to become one himself.

There are a bunch of different plot lines to follow in the movie, none of which really seem to work together or make much sense, but it's still a fun movie. That’s the thing about "Star Wars": even when the plot is bad, it’s still fun to watch.

5. Attack of the Clones

This was the first "Star Wars" movie I remember watching in the theatre with my dad so it pains me to put it so low on the list. The epic fight scene between Yoda and Count Dooku is memorable, along with the crazy battle between the clones and the Jedis.
Aside from all the fighting, this movie didn't have much substance and the best thing to come from it is probably the cartoon series and other spin-offs. So much of this movie wasn't explained and even though all the fights and action were impressive, the story just seemed like a setup for so much more.

4. Return of the Jedi

The first shocker on the list.

I went ahead and put this behind the most recent movie because I personally just love the most recent one.

There is nothing wrong with Episode VI. It's a great movie and has one of the best endings of all time. But in reality, the movie really dragged along and not that much happens. Of course what does happen in the film is great and interesting, but the Ewoks were unnecessary, albeit funny, and there were some parts of the film that felt as if they were being repeated from earlier in the series.

3. Revenge of the Sith

For me, this movie had the most anticipation of all. Everyone was so excited to see how Skywalker finally turned to the Dark Side and how it would tie everything together. The movie did a great job of emphasizing the tragic events that led to the original trilogy and still including the action that made the newer trilogy so successful and fun.

I’ve never been so invested in a scene as I was during the final battle of the movie where we finally figure out how Darth vader was born. And everything before that was just so captivating and fun. I don’t think this movie would be as good if it had come before the original trilogy because I think the magic behind it is that it ties everything together with such ease. Everything we were wondering about the "Star Wars" universe was answered and it felt as if everything was complete.

2. A New Hope

Usually, nothing beats the original, but Episode V is highly regarded as one of the best sequels of all time.

The original movie introduced us to the universe and the characters we all know and love, and the simple, yet enticing plotline was enough to keep us begging for more. There's a reason that Episode VII will include the characters from the original trilogy and that is because we loved them so much and wanted to see more.

Nothing beats the classic and when anyone thinks of "Star Wars," this is the movie that comes to mind. It helped define a generation and changed the moviegoing experience forever.

1. The Empire Strikes Back

With all that said, the fifth episode of the franchise has to be considered the best.

It delivered one of the biggest reveals in cinematic history and was just a good movie overall. It showed us many different planets, introduced us to Yoda and, most importantly, gave every father in the history of ever a catchphrase he could always use.

This installment was not only a great sequel that lived up to the hype and expectations stemmed from the first movie, but it also was a great setup for the next movie and had great cliffhangers that left fans begging to know what would happen next.

Of course all of the Star Wars movies are great in their own right and all have a special place in history, this is just my personal ranking of the six. I’m just hoping that Episode VII can somehow be better than all six when it comes out on December 18.

Reach Staff Reporter Noah Camarena here and follow him on Twitter here.



 

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