Star Wars: All 9 Skywalker Saga films ranked from worst to best

1. The Empire Strikes Back

This may be unsurprising and cliché at this point, but The Empire Strikes Back is the best Star Wars film. It’s the closest thing to perfection that the Star Wars films have gotten to. It’s also the film that benefited the most from George Lucas’ specialized editions. Sure, just like every film on this list, there are problems but less so than most. In fact, most of the problems end sounding more like nitpicks than actual issues and, if you’re nitpicking, it’s not an actual problem.

Like The Last Jedi, this film is the most thematically resonant of its respective trilogy, and it handles a similar theme: failure. When the film starts with Luke being attacked by a Wampa and then almost getting killed escaping from it, you know you’re in for a different kind of film than A New Hope. That continues throughout the rest of the film. The Rebellion gets stomped repeatedly. The first appearance of Yoda is shocking and surprising beyond all belief. Lando’s betrayal, which leads to Han being frozen in carbonite, is heartbreaking. And finally, there’s Luke’s loss of his hand and the reveal of who Darth Vader is. It’s a twist that will live on forever.

The Empire Strikes Back is hands down the best Star Wars film and one of the best sequels of all time. It builds on what came before in compelling, character-driven ways while also building the universe in even more substantial ways.