With the conclusion of what has been dubbed the Skywalker Saga, the Star Wars franchise has reached one of those moments, where it may continue indefinitely, yes, but it has also reached a conclusion (again). I figure now — right now, before Disney sets another cinematic ship out to sea — is the time to do a countdown ranking of my favorite Star Wars movies.

I have wanted to do this for quite awhile, and was only waiting for the ninth “episode,” The Rise of Skywalker to be released. Couldn’t well be jumping the gun and leaving that one out, could I? 😉

As always this is entirely dependent on myself, my views, my personal experience, etc. I don’t expect everyone to agree, and, it must be said, this is (generally) not about the quality of the movie, but of how much I, personally, favor it. The word is “favorite,” after all. 🙂

And, of course, I would love to know which ones are favored by you, my wonderful audience. 😉

Now,  without further ado, let’s get  to it!

11) Solo

I admit, I have not seen this one. And I have no desire to.  The premise might sound good on paper, and Emilia Clarke is one of the most visually appealing faces in cinema right now, but the trailers completely failed to hook me, and everything I have ever heard of it has been negative. So, I might get supremely bored and watch it someday, but I wouldn’t count on it.

10) The Phantom Menace

The one where George Lucas began to prove that letting him have an uncontested free rein is not such a good idea.

9) Attack of the Clones

The proof continues, but at least we got to see the Jedi in an outright battle.

8) Revenge of the Sith

The proof may have culminated here, but it was still a significant step up, if only for the tragedy of the Jedi’s fall, the melee between Anakin and Obi-Wan (with exception to when they just whirled their blades around for nothing but flair), and the confrontation between Yoda and Palpatine. The Jedi master almost won, and the seeds of the future were planted.

7)  The Force Awakens

The sequel trilogy are the ones I had the hardest time ranking.

This one kicked off the franchise’s second cinematic revival, after the era of the prequels. It felt very much like a fan fiction brought to life, both for and by the fans, and it wasn’t half bad. But they did kill off Han and such, so there’s that.

6) The Rise of Skywalker

It was all over the place, and hastily cobbled together, but still fun, and still with a good message.

5) The Last Jedi

Yes, it has severe flaws, but I rather enjoyed it, really. My favorite part was actually the theme of becoming great without the assistance of one’s bloodline, which Rise of Skywalker completely broke, again.

4) The Empire Strikes Back

Yes, this is probably the best, and best-made, movie of  the entire franchise. That does not make it my favorite. 😉

Mind you, part of that is just because… well, I grew up watching this, and I never much liked the fact that the bad guys win, repeatedly, in this one. It also wasn’t as thrilling or epic to me as either of the other two of the original trilogy. I have come to appreciate it more, over the years, but… well, old habits die hard, ya know?

3) Rogue One

I am just  going to say, as tragic as this one is, I still love it. I just do. You may consult my review for details. 😉

2) A New Hope

The one that started it all. It is, in many ways, the kind of classic that both advanced and preserved a golden age of storytelling. I have always loved it, every bit of it, and I always will.

Oh,  and Han shot first. Period. 😉

And that leaves only one possible choice for my very favorite Star Wars movie. …but first, one more inclusion:

Honorable Mention:
The Clone Wars

The animated microseries, compiled into a pair of (slightly disjointed) feature-length movies, may not really qualify as proper films, but I’ve still enjoyed them immensely, and I wish the live-action prequels could have had such exciting action. Seriously, Grievous was much more impressive as a cartoon.

And now, without further ado, my number one favorite:

1) Return of the Jedi

Of course. 😉

It is the grand finale, with all the continuing threads resolved, a battle on many fronts, cute allies, redemption… it’s great! 😀

How about you? How would you rank these movies in your personal countdown?