1. Star Wars IV: A New Hope: Although this film was only known as Star Wars when if first came out, it will always hold a special place in my heart. While I have seen movies that were "as good as" this one, nobody has ever beaten it. Exciting, funny, and a visual spectacle, this move did it all, and did it all better than anyone ever did before, and only few have managed to do since.
2. Star Wars V: The Empire Strikes Back: Some people place this one first, but I have one issue with it: It is very much a bridge movie between IV and VI. The ending is a cliffhanger, with a lot of loose ends in the plot. This movie went to a dark place, and it never brought us all the way back, leaving that for episode VI. Regardless of my petty gripes, it was still a great movie.
3. Star Wars VII: The Force Awakens: Is it too early for this? I don't think so. It was a marvelous reboot, even if it was somewhat conservative with it's plotting. They hit on all the right story points. One could argue that it was just a remake of episode IV, and the death of Han Solo was very reminiscent of the death of Obiwan in IV, and they destroy a large planet-killing device just like in IV, and the main hero/heroine was found on a desert planet, and and and...It's still a good movie.
4. Star Wars III: Revenge of the Sith: The prelogue trilogy takes a bad rap, although it does have plenty of flaws. However, this episode really brought it all together in making the entire run of episodes I-VI make sense. Contrary to what you might have thought at the end of episode VI, the main character of this entire story arc was Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader. This movie becomes much more important when considering the entire series, and it was extremely well done, except for some of the acting. especially Natalie Portman, who really dropped off in quality after episode I. And I like Natalie Portman, which really irked me!
5. Star Wars VI: Return of the Jedi: This episode introduced us to one of George Lucas's worst qualities: Using annoyingly cute characters, specifically the Ewoks:
We shall not speak of this again, except to say:
6. Star Wars II: Attack of the Clones: More Jar Jar Binks! More Natalie Portman phoning it in! (Hello Natalie? Natalie?) However, in the movie's defense, I love the scene in that arena with the Clone Army taking on the Jedis. One of the best scenes in the entire Star Wars run.
7. Star Wars I: The Phantom Menace: This movie ranks last for one specific reason: The introduction of Jar Jar Binks. Emperor Palpatine was less in-"sidious" than Jar Jar (pun intended). On the other hand, Darth Maul was arguably one of the coolest evil characters ever introduced in the Star Wars series, and his battle with Qui-Gon Jinn and Obiwan Kenobi ranks as one of the greatest duels in the history of movies.
HONORABLE MENTION: The cartoon tv series Star Wars: The Clone Wars, which takes place between episodes II and III is a must-see for any true Star Wars fan. This was also the last George Lucas Star Wars project prior to the sale of the franchise to Disney, but it really gave a great feel of what a Star Wars tv series could have been, as well as the events of the Clone Wars. Also, I consider the character Ahsoka Tano as one of the most endearing characters in the entire Star Wars universe.
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