DISCLAIMER: I might come back and update this post as more canon films and shows are released (I’m defining “canon” as stuff present on Disney Plus’s “Timeline” playlist).
So recently I posted my proposed new viewing order of canon Star Wars (which differs from release order, chronological order, and machete order) and mentioned that I also sometimes consider it to be my ranking of the franchise. In that same post, I also mentioned that I sometimes consider release order to be my ranking. What I meant by that is; I consider the original 1977 film to be the “purest” entry of the franchise, and I sometimes feel that every entry to have followed since has “eroded” away at that purity little by little.
That said, yesterday I was thinking a bit more and realized that I actually have a third ranking for the franchise as well, which I like to call my first impressions ranking. In other words; a ranking based on how I felt about each canon film and show immediately after I first saw them. I’m comfortable sharing this ranking is because, obviously, first impressions cannot be changed. Therefore, there’s no second-guessing myself on this one. And just so we’re clear, this is NOT my end-all, be-all ranking. As I’ve said many times before, each Star Wars entry has things I like and things I don’t, and my opinions change all the time. Like I said earlier, I tend to alternate between this ranking here, release order, and my own unique viewing order, among other viewpoints. Lastly, I don’t have a preference between the different versions of each film, except where noted…
So with that all out of the way, here you go:
Loved it
1.Star Wars
2.The Last Jedi - Score-Only Version
3.The Empire Strikes Back
4.Solo
5.The Clone Wars
Saw it as a little kid, so...
6.The Phantom Menace
7.Attack of the Clones
8.Revenge of the Sith
9.Return of the Jedi (theatrical version)
I liked it but didn’t love it
10.The Rise of Skywalker
11.The Force Awakens
12.Rebels
13.Ahsoka
14.The Last Jedi (theatrical version)
15.The Mandalorian
16.Rogue One
17.Obi-Wan Kenobi
Found it to be a bit boring at first
18.The Bad Batch
19.Resistance
Wasn’t sure how to feel about it
20.Andor
Didn’t like it
21.The Book of Boba Fett
22.Return of the Jedi (all other versions)
So there you have it. I understand that the top section might surprise most of you. I didn’t watch The Clone Wars until I was an adult, but ended up loving pretty much the entire series. Similarly, Solo is the only recent movie I recall watching in theaters where I had little-to-no complaints about it. And yes, despite my general dislike of the dialogue in The Last Jedi, I think that the story itself is “Empire but smarter,” hence why I have the score-only version (google it if you don’t know what it is) ranked as high as I do. And yes, when it comes to the Abrams films, I like Rise more than Awakens (at least Rise was a bit more original, and didn’t rely on mystery boxes as much).
I feel kinda weird ranking Attack of the Clones so high. That said, it was the first Star Wars film I saw in theaters specifically, and I was only seven years old at the time. I still remember finally getting the DVD like six months later and watching it over and over to the point where I wore the disc out (I didn’t even know you could do that). And yes, it’s true that I wasn’t quite as over-the-moon about Revenge of the Sith when I first saw it. I was ten years old at the time, and I think my brain was starting to get better at picking up on flaws. I don’t think I liked that Anakin basically turned to the dark side over some bad dreams, among other things, and Natalie Portman’s acting in that one didn’t help either. I’ve always loved the Yoda vs. Sidious fight, though (and still do).
Furthermore, it’s true that I found Return of the Jedi to be the weakest of the Lucas era when I first saw it on VHS at age six (alongside The Phantom Menace and the rest of the original trilogy). While I like it a bit more now, I vividly remember that I struggled to pay attention to it often back then, and the sibling retcon still irritates me more than most things. Additionally, though I find all the changes from the theatrical cuts to be useless and annoying, the ones in Return particularly make that movie almost unwatchable for me…
Phantom is actually the first Star Wars thing I ever saw, period, but then I remember watching the original movie shortly thereafter (being well aware that it was made first, thanks to my dad explaining things to me) and noticing where all the “rhymes” from Phantom came from and immediately going “Oh, I get it now. Nice.” Similarly, when I saw the big twist in The Empire Strikes Back, I recall immediately understanding why all the adults in the theater were laughing when I saw Toy Story 2 a year earlier and Zurg told Buzz Lightyear “I am your father.” Instantly, at least on a subconscious level, I recognized Empire’s pop-culture relevance.
Ahsoka was good for the most part, but the pacing was a bit weird, and the show itself doesn’t really work unless you’ve seen Rebels first (Ezra is a much better character in Ahsoka than he is in Rebels, though). I like both The Bad Batch and Resistance more now, but feel they both started out “rough.” Andor is another placement on this list that’ll likely piss a lot of people off. Again, I like it a little better now, but as I was watching it initially, I found myself feeling fairly irritated and anxious with certain scenes (mainly around the Mon Mothma subplot). The Mandalorian also used to be a bit higher on this list, but then Season 3 happened (which I don’t hate as much as everyone else, but it definitely felt like a big step down from what came before). I know most people would also rank Rogue One higher, but I personally found the first and final acts of that film to be rather hectic (the middle act is good, though).
I could do other rankings based on other metrics (visuals, acting, etc.), but I feel like all of those are too “subjective” to build a ranking from without me just changing my mind about it over and over again later…
That’s all for now! Maybe this will be the last time I blog about Star Wars for awhile… Maybe…
Peace!
PS: No matter what anyone says, The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi are still C-3PO at his most annoying. Also, why doesn’t he recognize Leia’s hologram in the original movie? I guess he was just playing dumb…
Related: Ranking Repository
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