Ranking all 11 Star Wars movies from the worst to the best and analyzing each to determine how they earned their respective spot on the list.
When George Lucas dreamed up Star Wars and released the original in 1977, multiple sequels were not the norm in Hollywood. Star Wars started out as a singular theatrical event, then became a successful science fiction trilogy, and eventually grew into one of the first massive cinematic universes. A vast majority of franchises that are still going strong today had their start after Star Wars and some may not have been greenlit had it not been for George Lucas’ paving the way in the industry.
The original Star Wars trilogy took sci-fi enthusiasts by storm in the late 1970s/early 1980s. Lucas’ awaited return to Star Wars revitalized the pop culture phenomenon in the late 1990s/early 2000s; this came over fifteen years later because the technology needed to first be developed to meet his standards for the prequel trilogy. Not too long after Episode 3, Lucas sold the company to Disney, releasing five movies in the 2010s – the sequel trilogy and two separate, yet related, Star Wars “stories”.
In between the theatrical features, countless Star Wars novels, comic books, video games, and animation has been created. There are animated series that have important connections to canon, such as Star Wars: The Clone Wars, while others are less serious, kid-friendly cartoons, like the 1980s Ewoks show or the Lego Star Wars animated line. The last movie came out almost four years ago, however, live-action Disney Plus series have been keeping the brand going strong. Even if contemporary shows like The Mandalorian and Andor are currently in the Star Wars spotlight, the foundation of such content was built on the backs of the movies.
Focusing exclusively on the 11 movies, we can start our ranking from the bottom and make our way up to the best Star Wars films ever made.