Ranking the Nine Skywalker Saga Star Wars Films

Star Wars is my favorite film franchise of all time, and probably always will be.  There's not a single film in the series that I do not enjoy.  As a huge Star Wars fan, I obviously have my preferences and opinions on the films.  For this list, I am ranking the Nine "Skywalker Saga" Star Wars films, so Episode I through Episode IX. 

And in my usual fashion with ranking things, I assign each one attributes and sort them.  The attributes are Rewatch-ability, Believability, Quality, and Lore. 
- Rewatch-ability is pretty self-explanatory, but to further explain, it's how much I look forward to watching the film if I am to rewatch the entire nine episode series. 
- Believability may seem odd for a sci-fi film, but it's more of if the Star Wars universe existed, how believable are certain actions and events that unfold.
- Quality is just how good of a film it is, from the plot to the acting to the visual effects.  We know the sound and music are always top-notch, but not always everything else.
- Lore is how well it contributes to the Star Wars lore.  Does it contradict other films?  Does it introduce too many new things?  If it does, I dock it a point or two at least.  Obviously the original trilogy will score best here.

Each rating is on a scale of 1-5, with 1 being the lowest and 5 the highest.


9. Episode I: The Phantom Menace
Rewatch-ability: 4
Believability: 2
Quality: 2
Lore: 3
Total: 11/20

Comment: Most consider Episode I: The Phantom Menace as the worst in the series.  For a while, I considered it slightly above Episode II, but it really isn't.  It's at least got some rewatch value, as the lightsaber battle is always fun to watch.  There's a bit of meme-worthy stuff, as well.  It suffers in its believability, such as when Anakin pilots a Naboo fighter and doesn't take it seriously.  It's never been considered a great film, and this is probably the Star Wars film where the acting is the worst.  It is the earliest in Star Wars chronological order, so it contributes a bit to its lore and doesn't do much to make the OT look bad.

8. Episode II: Attack of the Clones
Rewatch-ability: 3
Believability: 3
Quality: 2
Lore: 4
Total: 12/20

Comment: Episode I for me is a tad more rewatchable than Episode II.  I can't explain it.  The visual effects are probably the worst, especially the awful green screens they had to use.  The worst is when Mace Windu jumps off a Republic warship shortly after the start of the Battle of Geonosis.  See what I mean here.  It is so clearly obvious he is in front of a green screen.  But this film signals the start of the Clone Wars, and I think it does a decent job of getting us hyped for it.

7. Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker
Rewatch-ability: 3
Believability: 3
Quality: 4
Lore: 2
Total: 12/20

Comment: Is this really the third worst Star Wars film?  It might be.  It's not bad; it's just not as good as the others.  It may be partially due to my high expectations, but I feel J.J. Abrams started out the sequel trilogy so well only to have it lack in the end.  I have seen every Star Wars film at least twice in theaters, and this and the next are the two I just didn't care to watch a third time for a long time.  Anyway, Palpatine coming back from the dead?  Sigh.  At least the film did well in the technical aspects, and a shoutout to Adam Driver for his terrific acting.  I've shared my thoughts on how I feel about Force Heal and Force transport items.

6. Episode VIII: The Last Jedi
Rewatch-ability: 2
Believability: 4
Quality: 4
Lore: 3
Total: 13/20

Comment: That may seem like a low rewatch-ability score, but there's only two scenes I ever look forward to when rewatching TLJ: Kylo turning on Snoke and killing him and the ensuing fight, and Luke and Kylo's "fight" at the end.  It's a decently made film in terms of effects and acting and I found it probably the most believable of the sequel films.  It started the Force transport items technique, which I am not a fan of.

5. Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
Rewatch-ability: 4
Believability: 3
Quality: 4
Lore: 4
Total: 15/20

Comment: So many meme-worthy quotes and scenes in this, which makes it very rewatchable.  I'm still not a huge fan of how Anakin turned to the dark side, but it's definitely the best made prequel film.  I did like how Anakin became Darth Vader physically and they captured that very well.

4. Episode VII: The Force Awakens
Rewatch-ability: 4
Believability: 4
Quality: 4
Lore: 3
Total: 15/20

Comment: TFA is definitely the most rewatchable sequel film to me; I did see it three times in theaters.  Everything else was fairly decent and it was such a pleasant experience seeing a well-made Star Wars film with good acting and effects (and a well-written plot).  The part that was hardest to get over was how it cancelled out the Expanded Universe where Han and Leia had not just one kid but three, including a boy who turned to the dark side, just like Ben/Kylo.  But no one can say TFA is a bad film, and in my opinion, it's the best film outside of the Original Trilogy.

3. Episode VI: Return of the Jedi
Rewatch-ability: 4
Believability: 4
Quality: 5
Lore: 5
Total: 18/20

Comment: Most would agree RotJ is the worst of the Original Trilogy; but that's like saying The Fellowship of the Ring is the worst Lord of the Rings film.  It's still a really, really good movie.  I do find myself spacing out a little when I rewatch RotJ, if I'm being honest.  The only reason it doesn't get a 5 in believability is because of the Ewoks being able to take out the "entire legion of [The Emperor's] best troops".  It still fits in with the rest of the trilogy with being a high quality film and contributing mightily to the Star Wars lore.

2. Episode VII: The Empire Strikes Back
Rewatch-ability: 5
Believability: 4
Quality: 5
Lore: 5
Total: 19/20

Comment: Don't get me wrong, ESB is still amazing.  Most people consider it their favorite Star Wars film, and many consider it one of the greatest films ever made.  I just prefer the original over this.  I took off a point for believability (again) because of Luke heading to Bespin foolishly.  He also foolishly ignored Leia's screams of "It's a Trap!".  I guess Leia said it first.  But everything else is magnificent, and I'd feel overly critical to give this film less than a 19/20.

1. Episode IV: A New Hope
Rewatch-ability: 5
Believability: 5
Quality: 5
Lore: 5
Total: 20/20

Comment: To me, this feels like two movies in one.  There's the climax of escaping the Death Star and Obi-Wan and Darth Vader's fight, and then there's a second climax of Luke blowing up the Death Star.  This film epitomizes Star Wars, and not only have there been countless parodies of this film, but The Force Awakens is technically a re-imagining of this very plot.

So, here they are in order, from my least favorite to favorite:
9. Episode I TPM
8. Episode II AotC
7. Episode IX TRoS
6. Episode VIII TLJ
5. Episode III RotS
4. Episode VII TFA
3. Episode VI RoTJ
2. Episode V ESB
1. Episode IV ANH

If I were to include Rogue One and Solo: A Star Wars Story, I would put Rogue One fifth behind The Force Awakens and I would put Solo between The Last Jedi and Revenge of the Sith.

And, let's see the average rank by trilogy:
Prequel: 7.3
Original: 2
Sequel: 5.6

A few of these could move up and down a spot, but not far.  The original trilogy is the best, and neither the prequel trilogy nor the sequel could live up to it.  The sequel trilogy, however, is better than the prequels as a whole.