RANK THE SIX EPOSIDES! What is your opinion?

[iriejedi]

Well having just seen III with LOW expectations and being VERY surprised at how well they did visually, stOryline-wise and (well sort of) with acting....

Time to rank the six episodes! How do you rank them?

V Empire Strikes Back First 30 minutes better than Private Ryan)
IV A New Hope (pretty much a tie with III but it was the groundbreaker)
III Revenge of the Sith (Eye candy AND a good Story)
VI Return of the Jedi (Ewoks! Enought said)
II Attack Of the Clones (ok on the eye bad on the ears)
I The Phantom Menace (slow beginning - jar jar binks)

PS - the Ewok comment was a joke

[Lacero]

Same as you. Obviously.

V Empire Strikes Back (great emotion and darkly engaging)
IV A New Hope (Alec Guinness and the majesty)
III Revenge of the Sith (dark and emotional at times)
VI Return of the Jedi (Second Death Star, wtf? Ewoks ok with me.)
II Attack Of the Clones (story was a tad confusing. Dooku good or bad?)
I The Phantom Menace (Taxation of trade routes? This is the Great Star Wars. Jar Jar Binks was okay with me. He made me laugh in a few places. I actually like him.)

[Frisco]

I can't rank them all, but I would place Return of The Jedi as #2 or even #1.

Great question!

I just haven't seen some of the episodes in such a long time, it's hard for me to rank them.

[amholl]

same as yall, but TPM is not last. It is 2nd to last. AtOC is last.

[Macmaniac]

I'm gonna disagree a little:
Episode IV
Episode VI
Episode V
Episode III
Episode II
Episode I
The original 3 are just too good to have one of the new ones inside the top 3, and you have to remember when they were made.

[Link]

I would dissagree with all of you
VI
IV/III (don't know yet)
V
I
II

[miloblithe]

V
IV
II
VI (other than continuity of characters with IV and V, Jedi had little going for it)
I

and I'll see where III fits in tomorrow.

[mcarnes]

What the hell, I'll bite:

4
5
3
6
1
2

My only comment is that 4 is THE movie. Everything else is a follower.

[~Shard~]

I'll join in:

5 (ESB - so very cool...)
4 (the original!)
6 (good except for those damn Ewoks)
3 (surprised with it, good action movie...)
2 (better than Episode I)
1 (Jar Jar - say no more)

[iGary]

4
5
6
3
2
1

[zelmo]

III
V
IV
VI
I
II

[wdlove]

I haven't seen episode III yet.

Think that each one has built on the other. That each one stands on its own. Now with have the climax of "Star Wars."

[Hoef]

Yep similar

V
IV
VI
III
I
II

[wordmunger]

4
5
6
3
2
1

iGary's got it.

The original Star Wars was revolutionary and groundbreaking. ESB was good, but it would have been nothing without Star Wars. 3 had more eye candy and possibly a better plot than 6, but 6 was much more cleanly directed and scripted -- probably since neither was done by George Lucas.

[Foxer]

Mine is not the norm...

1. V - ESB
2. III - ROTS
3. I - TPM
4. IV - ANH
5. VI - ROTJ
6. II - AOTC

That being said, I really like ALL six movies. This is based simply on which DVDs I seem to watch most, and where the new one seems to fit in. I was as surprised as anyone when I realized that I watch Phantom Menace as much as the original. The Darth Maul duel at the end is just SO COOL - it outweighs any anoyance I have with Jar-Jar (who is not as bad as the Ewoks - which I even thought were lame in sixth grade when the movie came out.)

[raiderz182]

3
2
5
6
4
1

i did see star wars in an unusual order though:
5
4
1
3 (2 days ago)
2 (today)
6 (today)

sucked to see yoda die!

[homerjward]

hmm...
3
4
5
6
2
1

[Vader]

6- Vader turns back to good
5- Vader fights Luke
4- Vader kills Obi-wan
3- Vader um, begins!
2- Whining Anakin
1- Whining smaller Anakin

[~Shard~]

6- Vader turns back to good
5- Vader fights Luke
4- Vader kills Obi-wan
3- Vader um, begins!
2- Whining Anakin
1- Whining smaller Anakin

Thanks a pretty fair rating system, makes sense to me... ;) :cool:

[atszyman]

3
sucked to see yoda die!

WHAT!? Yoda dies? j/k, I saw Jedi in the theatre in the early 80's and the re-release in the 90s plus many viewings on Laserdisc/video tape. I have the DVDs but haven't watched them yet.

My current ranking is as follows

V
IV ties with III
VI (used to be my fav)
II
I

I have yet to get in Multiple viewings of III. I saw each of the previous prequels 4 times in the theatre, plus many viewings on DVD, so rankings are subject to change.

[mad jew]

I got close to homerjward but I'll swap 5 for 6 thankyou.

3
4
6
5
2
1

Can I just say that 2 and 1 come a very distant last. Very poor effort George. :(

[RacerX]

Here is my ranking...V The Empire Strikes Back
III Revenge of the Sith
II Attack of the Clones
IV A New Hope
I The Phantom Menace
VI Return of the Jedi
Honestly, I wasn't a fan of Star Wars after the first movie (IV back in 1977), it seemed a little weak to me. I heard that the second movie was going to be a little darker and as I was (and still am) a big SciFi fan, I saw Empire on it's opening day (in 1980).

After that I was hooked. I've seen every Star Wars film (except the first one) on their opening day (usually the first showing).

[Mr. Anderson]

5
4
3
6
2
1

The last one for me was almost enough to push ESB, ANH off the top, but not quite :D

And I'm rating these by how I felt after getting out of the theater - the thing with 4 is that it was so much of a departure for anything Hollywood at the time that it blew you away and you had to go back and see it....ESB continued it and just made you appreciate all that had gone into the series, but what makes it #1 is that it had a great story and was a little better written (especially the dialog).

D

[barneygumble]

6- Vader turns back to good
5- Vader fights Luke
4- Vader kills Obi-wan
3- Vader um, begins!
2- Whining Anakin
1- Whining smaller Anakin

+1 except anakin whined in three as well it is no wonder he turned to the dark side, everyone was sick of all his whinging

[Xtremehkr]

I have a ranking, but "Eposides" is stuck in my head.

Okay. Episode three ranks at the top. followed by the three originals and then the first two which are practically irrelevant. Why three, because despite the tortured dialogue, the specific references to current times make it more relevant.

Considering the timeline of Star Wars releases, they have all been addressing more directly what is going on.

That is not necessarily Lucas's fault though, as the movies have progressed, the storyline has become more relevant.

Which begs for another three to be made. How would things turn out if Lucas had his way.

Hollywoods' redemption lays in the return of story telling. Not making movies based upon what polls suggest people will want to see. Lucas outlined Hollywoods problems himself, it was bought out by people more interested in profit rather than story telling. And yet, the movies that tell relevant stories are the ones that have tended to do better than most of the fare that is currently being ignored by the public.

Despite Episode 3s returns, Hollywood is still in decline. I hope they realize why. Even Cinderella Man seems to be missing the point, despite the (historical) storyline being relevant for the potential times.

People do seem to put a lot of stock in prophecies, despite the differences in particular outcomes. I'm off point though.

I like Episode 3 for its relevance.

And just for the fact that it has been mentioned so often, Lucas should (in movies to come) collaborate with a screenwriter who can make the character interaction viewable. It's torture George, it just is.

[dobbin]

So far:

4
5
6
2
1

I haven't seen 3 yet.

[Hugh Jass]

4
3
5
1
6
2

[Jaffa Cake]

In my humble opinion, Episode III, although the best of the prequels by a country mile, doesn't quite nudge Jedi out of the top three. Admittedly though I have only seen Episode III the once while I've seen the others countless times, and Jedi does have the advantage of being part of my childhood.

V
IV
VI
III
II
I

[Vader]

Thanks a pretty fair rating system, makes sense to me... ;) :cool:
Thanks!

[Mudbug]

I added a poll to this thread. :)

[DavidLeblond]

VI
IV
V

I tried to think of which of the prequals I liked the most but to be honest, I didn't like any of them at all. III was as equally bad as II and I and a full force kick in the nuts.

[freiheit]

sucked to see yoda die!

Aww man, now you ruined it for me! LOL j/k Yoda always was one of my favorite characters, but anything without Vader isn't worth seeing, so I'd definitely say ESB was the best, NH 2nd and I (grudgingly) agree RotJ is third. I haven't seen RotS yet but it's GOT to be better than PM. Right now I can't even think of what episode 2 was called, so that shows you how much of an impression it made on me. But even then, it was better than PM -- I just couldn't stand so much Jar-Jar and Darth Maul had, what, one line in the whole film?

[Royal Pineapple]

5, 4, 6, 3, 2, 1

[panphage]

VI
IV
V

I tried to think of which of the prequals I liked the most but to be honest, I didn't like any of them at all. III was as equally bad as II and I and a full force kick in the nuts.

I can't rate the prequels either. I hate all of them for different reasons but it all seems to balance out to a pile of sludge. I have to strongly disagree on rating Jedi at the top though. It was cool to see Luke as a calm, assured (mostly) Jedi strong in his power and belief in the transforming power of Good, but Empire was the series darkest and best moment (Anakin's ridiculous "transformation" could have been even darker, but with III's total lack of drama and tension, there is no there there.) Plus ESB had no Disneyfication. Poor Ewoks, it's not their fault. So:
ESB
ANH (Very close to ESB for me but probably so for sentimantal reasons rather than quality as a film)
RJ

[ColoJohnBoy]

1) The Empire Strikes Back
2) Revenge of the Sith (I know it may not have been intended, but the Bush/Dark Side parallels were just too delicious. I loved it. The only thing I DISliked about was that, in sitting in the first row, the digital medium was very apparent, making it look very amateur at parts)
3) A New Hope
4) Return of the Jedi
5) The Phantom Menace
6) Attack of the Clones.

[~Shard~]

Nice to see this is an official poll now - and nice to see that may fav, ESB, has a commanding lead, just as it should! :cool:

[Deefuzz]

and to add my opinion to the mix:

V
III
IV
VI
II
I

[Brother Michael]

Basically, Revenge of the Sith was one of the best of the Star Wars movies compared to the first two movies.

I still think that Empire ranks higher, for a few reasons. Mainly, Revenge did some goofy things like introducing a main villian out of nowhere (General Grievious).

Empire then Revenge.

Mike

[ProdigyTroyDR]

i'm gonna have to put special effects and violence ahead of classic star wars.

3
5
4
6
2
1

REVENGE OF THE SITH WAS INSANE!!!

mr. vader - "noooo."

[~Shard~]

i'm gonna have to put special effects and violence ahead of classic star wars.

Right, because SFX and violence are what makes a movie great - not plot, character, substance... :rolleyes: :p ;)

[Mr. Durden]

3
5
4
6

...and I refuse to even recognize the existence of those other two.

[~Shard~]

I'm surprised by how many people are saying that ROTS is the best Star Wars movie ever made...

[stutz]

Rankings

New Hope
Empires Strikes Back
Revenge of the Sith
Return of the Jedi
Clone Wars
Phantom Menace

The first one was so ground breaking for it's time on so many levels, that it wins hands down. It's also the only one that's complete as one story. You can watch without feeling like you need to watch the others. Too bad Clone Wars and Phantom Menace couldn't have been done as well as Revenge of the Sith, but oh well. I enjoyed all the movies as space opera fun. Maybe on Lucas' deathbed, he will grant Peter Jackson the rights to do episodes 7,8, and 9 which Lucas has already said he's plotted out; but not planning to do. Yeah, I bet a few billion dollars in profits might convince him in 15-20 years if he doesn't die first.

[~Shard~]

Maybe on Lucas' deathbed, he will grant Peter Jackson the rights to do episodes 7,8, and 9 which Lucas has already said he's plotted out; but not planning to do. Yeah, I bet a few billion dollars in profits might convince him in 15-20 years if he doesn't die first.

Wouldn't surprise me in the least...

[efoto]

A little late as usual, but here is my take to date:

V
IV
VI
II
I

I haven't seen III yet since I'm working in France and don't want to spoil it since I will only understand 4.6% of the words :p. I saw Kingdom of Heaven last week in theatres here and regardless of it being a good movie or not (since I really don't know) it pretty much sucked since I couldn't follow it very well (at that was knowing the story loosely from history).

Oh well, I hope III is as good as you all are saying it is, I have somewhat high hopes now which scares me because its a longer fall from high up, but maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised.

[iriejedi]

I'm surprised by how many people are saying that ROTS is the best Star Wars movie ever made...


There is one main reason for this 'side-effect'

It is called a generation gap.

Same reason my generation does not see as much value in Casablanca or other classic films of my parents youthful era....
:D

[~Shard~]

There is one main reason for this 'side-effect'

It is called a generation gap.

Same reason my generation does not see as much value in Casablanca or other classic films of my parents youthful era....
:D

Possibly also the recency effect. It will be interesting to look back on all 6 movies 5 or 10 years from now and then truly judge which were the best and which were not from a more objective position.

[rosalindavenue]

5 4 6 3 2 1

I'm 36. Saw them all in theatres, multiple times, at release time. 4 is more important and (of course) original than 5, but 5 is the best written and edited. I'm not an expanded universe nutty fan, so I dropped out of fandom for the 16 years between 6 and 1. When 1 came out, I was kind of shocked to see how poorly 6 (Return of the Jedi) was regarded. Sure, the ewoks and the ditto-death star were lame, but I had enough invested in the characters that I didn't downgrade it too much, and the Emperor/Luke/Darth scenes were masterful enough to help you overlook the shortcomings. All of that said, 3 (Return of the Sith) is great-- probably, on its merits, a better film than 6, and it is the only prequel that can hang with the original trilogy. I'm going to see it a few more times, for sure.

[iriejedi]

Vader results to petty theft in the era of boredom while the Death Star is being finished!

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=794&e=2&u=/eo/20050525/en_movies_eo/16622

:p

There is one main reason for this 'side-effect'

It is called a generation gap.

Same reason my generation does not see as much value in Casablanca or other classic films of my parents youthful era....
:D

[DavidLeblond]

I can't rate the prequels either. I hate all of them for different reasons but it all seems to balance out to a pile of sludge. I have to strongly disagree on rating Jedi at the top though. It was cool to see Luke as a calm, assured (mostly) Jedi strong in his power and belief in the transforming power of Good, but Empire was the series darkest and best moment (Anakin's ridiculous "transformation" could have been even darker, but with III's total lack of drama and tension, there is no there there.) Plus ESB had no Disneyfication. Poor Ewoks, it's not their fault. So:
ESB
ANH (Very close to ESB for me but probably so for sentimantal reasons rather than quality as a film)
RJ

I liked the Ewoks. That damn song they sung in the original (you know, the one they cut out of the special edition?) always got stuck in my head.

[DavidLeblond]

i'm gonna have to put special effects and violence ahead of classic star wars.

3
5
4
6
2
1

REVENGE OF THE SITH WAS INSANE!!!

mr. vader - "noooo."

I'm not understanding why people keep raving about ROTS's special effects. When 90% of the movie is done in CGI, there's nothing special about any effects. That said, the CGI wasn't (IMHO) even that great... the space fighting scenes looked like they were an X-Box game.

Rigging up plastic models with explosions and guiding them on string beats CGI any day in my book.

[Vader]

I'm not understanding why people keep raving about ROTS's special effects. When 90% of the movie is done in CGI, there's nothing special about any effects. That said, the CGI wasn't (IMHO) even that great... the space fighting scenes looked like they were an X-Box game.

Rigging up plastic models with explosions and guiding them on string beats CGI any day in my book.
I agree 100%

[clayj]

V Empire Strikes Back First 30 minutes better than Private Ryan)
IV A New Hope (pretty much a tie with III but it was the groundbreaker)
III Revenge of the Sith (Eye candy AND a good Story)
VI Return of the Jedi (Ewoks! Enought said)
II Attack Of the Clones (ok on the eye bad on the ears)
I The Phantom Menace (slow beginning - jar jar binks)This is the exact same order I told someone the other night... although I kinda fudged on IV and V, saying that they were kinda interchangeable.

P.S.: 1500th post!

[~Shard~]

This is the exact same order I told someone the other night... although I kinda fudged on IV and V, saying that they were kinda interchangeable.

P.S.: 1500th post!

V is still at the top of my list, just above IV. IV is the complete deal, the one that started it all, but V just had such a better story and the best writing/dialogue of the series IMO.

[jefhatfield]

What the hell, I'll bite:

4
5
3
6
1
2

My only comment is that 4 is THE movie. Everything else is a follower.

i may very well agree with you but i have not seen "3"

for me,

4 star wars original
5 1st sequel
6 2nd sequel
1 jar jar is a great addition to star wars characters but movie dragged at times
2 a filler movie waiting for the next movie, imho

and i can't see myself ranking the unseen "3" above 4, 5, or 6 since i was a kid when i saw those and was heavily influenced by them...by the time episode 1 came out, i had been through a divorce, 2 colleges, credit card debt, high choleserol, and other things which made me somewhat less interested

maybe once i have seen episode 3, i may take a weekend some years later down the line and see episodes 1-6 in chronological order

EDIT: i just got back from episode 3 and my impression is

episode 4
episode 5
episode 3
episode 6
episode 1
episode 2

[MacFan26]

6
3
5
4
2
1

Return of the Jedi will always be my favorite!! :D

[Mitthrawnuruodo]

Finally found time to see ep. III...

Considering I've only seen that once and the others "more than once" it might move a place or two up/down, but here is my ranking:

V - even better than IV; darker, better director, better story, characters are developing, etc.
IV - a classic

III - much better than I feared, and might even surpass IV, but that requires more viewings... one big objection though, Natalie Portman is much worse than in II. Hayden Christensen is just as bad...
II - not bad at all, really, Hayden Christensen is really bad, though...
VI - dislike Ewoks, less time on Endor would have made this one so much better.

I - hate JJ, hate little whining Anakin, poor movie. The podrace is a total ripoff from a Norwegian animated film from 1975 (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0073000/).

[Pittsax]

The podrace is a total ripoff from a Norwegian animated film from 1975.
Hmm....interesting.

I always dismissed the podrace as a total ripoff of the chariot race from Ben Hur. Even the way the bad guy is done in is copied (both Mesalla and Sebulba get caught on the hero's vehicle).

[emw]

Since I missed this the first time around, I'll chime in now. Saw ROTS a week ago and thought it was quite good - primarily since it tied everything together for me.

But TESB is by far the best in my opinion - great story, great effects (for the time), good character development. Of course, it doesn't hurt that it came out in the heyday of my geekdom - I saw it something like 8 times, which was a lot for me at the time. In fact, I don't think I've seen any other movie that many times (well, except for the movies my kids now watch over and over and over and...).

[MacDawg]

Alright, I'll finally chime in...

From best to worst:

#5 Empire Strikes Back
Easily the best in my opinion, though I can see why some would rank A New Hope as the best. Empire Strikes Back has the best story lines and character development. It is also thought provoking with the scenes between Luke and Yoda.

#4 A New Hope
Fast moving, clean, but a little too predictable. Not as deep as ESB, but still a classic and a lot of fun.

#6 Return of the Jedi
Almost ruined by the Ewoks, which took so much away from the movie in my opinion.

#3 Revenge of the Sith
Some bad acting, and some very weak moments, but the story did a fairly good job of merging the two eras.

#2 Attack of the Clones
Honestly don't even remember much about it... so I can't say it made much of an impression.

#1 The Phantom Menace
Jar-Jar, need I say more?

Woof, Woof - Dawg

[Manzana]

macdawg,

you nailed it for me, exactly.

[MacFan26]

Dang, I didn't realize everyone hated the Ewoks so much. I mean, I wasn't a huge fan or anything, but they didn't really bother me. I didn't think they ruined ROTJ, and I loved the stuff one Endor. But maybe that's just me, lol :D

[~Shard~]

Dang, I didn't realize everyone hated the Ewoks so much. I mean, I wasn't a huge fan or anything, but they didn't really bother me. I didn't think they ruined ROTJ, and I loved the stuff one Endor. But maybe that's just me, lol :D

I didn't find them annoying at all when I first saw the movie when it was originally in the theater, but that's because I was a little boy at the time. ;) After watching it many times since, I can see why people find them annoying, although as you say, they never bothered me much, at least not enough to warrant some of the comments I hear about ROTJ.

[Jovian9]

V
III
IV
I
VI
II

[kjr39]

5 - Where'd Han's leg go in that carbonite?
4 - Whining bitch, Luke (just like his father.)
6 - What the hell is an Ewok outside of a helluva way to market to kids?
3 - I've lost the will to care about the first three movies.
2 - I've taken more entertaining craps.
1 - Darth Vader built C3P0? WTF?!

[kjr39]

I'm not understanding why people keep raving about ROTS's special effects. When 90% of the movie is done in CGI, there's nothing special about any effects. That said, the CGI wasn't (IMHO) even that great... the space fighting scenes looked like they were an X-Box game.

Rigging up plastic models with explosions and guiding them on string beats CGI any day in my book.

I could not agree more with you. I went to see #3 and then came home and watched 4, 5, & 6.

To me, 6 had the best effects of all of them. The first 3 just looked like a bad video game to me.

[atszyman]

WHAT!? Yoda dies? j/k, I saw Jedi in the theatre in the early 80's and the re-release in the 90s plus many viewings on Laserdisc/video tape. I have the DVDs but haven't watched them yet.

My current ranking is as follows

V
IV ties with III
VI (used to be my fav)
II
I

I have yet to get in Multiple viewings of III. I saw each of the previous prequels 4 times in the theatre, plus many viewings on DVD, so rankings are subject to change.

I have to revise. The initial post was done after one adrenaline fueled viewing of Episode III. I have now had the privilege of seeing it again. Unfortunately I don't think it holds up as well.

V-always was and will now forever be the best SW movie ever.
IV-Started it all, nice and self contained.
VI ties with III-Ewoks hurt VI, Dialogue kills III fixing either would tie them with IV at least.
II-I enjoyed it more than I
I-I still enjoyed it but it definitely ranks as the one I least like watching