Tucker’s Star Wars Power Rankings

Darth Vader

By Tucker Harlin

Football season is right around the corner, but we’re still in list season for about two more weeks.

I’m admittedly not much of a movie enthusiast, but I have seen all nine movies in the Star Wars original, prequel, and sequel trilogy.

This list will not contain Rogue One, Solo, or any of the TV shows that have been released over the years. It is in ascending order, so it starts with my least favorite and ends with my top pick.

9. The Last Jedi

I’m on record at the station saying this is the only time I’ve left a theater in a terrible mood.

You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to understand Last Jedi was a film that couldn’t make up its mind at every turn, kind of like its main villain. Kylo Ren had tremendous potential, but this movie destroyed it with all of his indecisiveness.

It introduced two abysmal characters in Rose and Admiral Holdo, and it destroyed three likable characters in Luke Skywalker, Finn, and Supreme Leader Snoke.

Mark Hamill was right when he warned us about “Jake Skywalker.” There isn’t anything wrong with killing off Luke, but why is he suddenly a grumpy old man that wanted to murder his nephew in his sleep?

Snoke dying destroyed the chance of the development of a fascinating villain. Although Finn wasn’t killed, his role became substantially less important in the trilogy for no apparent reason.

And before anybody tells you how cool the throne room scene was, go back and watch it closely and you’ll notice the disappearance of weapons left and right.

8. The Rise of Skywalker

This movie is like slapping a bandaid on a bullet hole.

Rise of Skywalker felt the need to “somehow” bring back Palpatine because Last Jedi had killed off the trilogy’s ultimate villain.

But Rise of Skywalker didn’t stop the trend of ruining compelling villains.

Remember how Admiral Hux gave that impassioned, dictatorial speech as Starkiller Base blew up all of those planets in The Force Awakens? Surprise, he was a spy the entire time.

Another issue with this movie is it feels like a fast-paced treasure hunt that doesn’t accomplish much in that time. The characters have to hit several different planets in order to find Exegol (which was a cool world) but there’s no real progression here.

Force healing is the other issue I have with this installment.

This idea is hinted at in Revenge of the Sith but mainly as a lure for Anakin Skywalker to turn to the dark side, not so much as a real power.

The real issue with Force healing is that you’ve got lightsabers going through people’s chests and death has been totally undermined.

Rey’s claim to be a Skywalker at the end is the rotten cherry on top of this dumpster fire of a movie.

7. The Force Awakens

Lack of originality is my big issue with Force Awakens.

We were introduced to new characters like Finn, Kylo Ren, and Supreme Leader Snoke who were full of potential for the rest of the trilogy.

The problem is these characters were plugged into a lousy remake of A New Hope and weren’t given opportunities to develop later on.

The reason I didn’t include Rey in that group is because she doesn’t have any kind of development as a character. If the plan was to make her the central hero in the trilogy, Kylo should’ve shredded her in that first fight.

Similar to Luke’s treatment in Last Jedi, Han Solo was totally undone for no apparent reason.

He and Chewbacca aren’t the fun characters you remember from the original trilogy. They’re back to smuggling, and Han and Leia act like they’ve never met.

Killing off Han Solo wasn’t necessarily wrong, but not having a reunion between Han, Luke, and Leia in a nostalgia trip feels wrong.

Force Awakens wasn’t memorable, but it at least could have been built on in the following movies.

6. The Phantom Menace

The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones are generally agreed upon as the weakest of the George Lucas Star Wars movies.

Let’s start with what this movie does wrong.

A good portion of Phantom Menace is like watching CSPAN. There are politics involved on both sides of the conflict, but there’s no passion behind them.

Couple the politics with the nerve hurting characters of Jar Jar Binks and young Anakin Skywalker, and it wasn’t Lucas’ best work in the saga.

Believe it or not, there are redeeming qualities in the first of the prequel films.

“Duel of the Fates” is easily one of the best compositions in all of cinematic history, and Darth Maul is one of the best villains Star Wars has to offer.

5. Attack of the Clones

This one’s not a lot better than Phantom Menace, but there’s an element of mystery in the story that keeps you interested.

Obi-Wan has to find the assassin’s boss, who then leads him to Count Dooku, who then captures him and tells him the truth about his master, despite Obi-Wan’s attempt to deny it.

Count Dooku is a fascinating villain in his own right as he essentially left the Jedi because he didn’t like the direction they were headed in.

Additionally, you get to see several of the Jedi you were introduced to in Phantom Menace in combat wielding a lightsaber.

So what’s not good about Attack of the Clones?

I hope if you are reading this list, you don’t find it to be as coarse, rough, and irritating as romantic dialogue about sand.

The unfortunate part is it goes beyond just romance dialogue as even the dialogue between Obi-Wan and Anakin is unnatural.

In short, this one’s not great, but quite a bit better than a few of the movies on this list

4. A New Hope

This is the part of my rankings where the movies actually get good.

A New Hope was the movie that introduced us to the Star Wars universe, so it had to be high on the list.

It’s the beginning of Luke Skywalker’s journey to becoming a Jedi, and he has early success but is yet to reach his full potential.

We’re also introduced to Han Solo, Chewbacca, and Princess Leia, all of which are legendary characters in the Star Wars universe.

This one has excitement, but there are more exciting movies on the list.

3. Return of the Jedi

Return of the Jedi has more action to it than A New Hope, and it’s the ultimate climax of the original trilogy with the throne room sequences.

The opening portion of the movie in Jabba’s Palace is well done, and we get to see Han and Luke rebound from their low points in Empire Strikes Back.

The trilogy has evolved enough to the point in which all of the actors are comfortable in their roles, so you get the best versions of everyone.

However, there is an element of predictability as you know Darth Vader and the emperor have to be defeated at some point.

2. Revenge of the Sith

Revenge of the Sith stands far above the rest of the prequels in terms of its quality as a movie.

Ian McDiarmid is terrific as Darth Sidious and his performance drives the plot. Order 66 and some of the later scenes in the movie are some of the most emotionally compelling ones in the entire saga.

You know the Republic has to crumble, you know the Jedi have to die, and you know Padmé has to die, but it’s all done in a poignant and apocalyptic manner.

1. Empire Strikes Back

Empire Strikes Back is considered the best Star Wars movie by many fans of the franchise.

The best part about it is it flips A New Hope on itself in terms of story development, meaning the main characters suffer more and more over the course of the story.

Han is a carbonite decoration and Luke is hanging off the bottom of a building after losing a hand.

Of course, the plot twist of Luke learning that Darth Vader is his father is the greatest in cinematic history.