Ranking All 11 Star Wars Movies From WORST To FIRST (One year after The Rise of Skywalker)

It’s now been a full year since Disney concluded its controversial trilogy sequeling George Lucas’ original six films in the franchise. It’s been an emotional rollercoaster for Star Wars fans over this time, with many left unsatisfied by Disney’s conclusion of the Skywalker Saga, while still looking forward to the franchise’s future under the creative vision of Dave Filoni and Jon Favreau.

The Mandalorian has become widely popular with superfans and newcomers to Star Wars alike since its initial release prior to the Rise of Skywalker, and it appears Disney will try and capitalize on the success of the Favreau-Filoni led show in the future. In December Disney announced a total of ten new Star Wars shows to be released exclusively on the company’s streaming platform, with three of them as spinoffs to The Mandalorian and not a single one taking place during the sequel-era.

You would think if Disney thought its sequel trilogy is popular with fans it would want to capitalize off content centered around Star Wars’ most recent storyline, however in-and-amongst rumors of Disney retconning its trilogy entirely, it appears America’s most iconic film company will look to use its new shows to work around the flaws and fill in the missing pieces of its original creation.

If you couldn’t tell yet, I’m not a huge fan of the sequels, but I still think the future is bright for Star Wars under Disney’s leadership.

Before we talk about the movies, I think it’s important for me to preface this article by saying I’m from the generation that’s grown up with the sequel trilogy, when I say “the first Star Wars movie” I am referring to Episode I not Episode IV, and when I think of Obi-Wan Kenobi I think of Ewan McGregor, not Alec Guinness. Now let’s dive into where I think these films stand in comparison to one another, and I’ll give my two cents on why I put each movie where they are.

At the end of the day, everyone has their own opinions and these rankings are entirely subjective, so let me know in the comments which movie-placement got you the most riled up.

11. Episode II - Attack of the Clones

Ok, I don’t hate the prequels, I’m actually quite a fan. I think the overall story behind them is genius in showing Palpatine’s rise to power and eventually Anakin’s turn to the dark side that brought the galaxy under 25 years of suppression, but the execution (particularly in the first two films) is significantly lacking.

This movie is downright hard to watch at some points, with Hayden Christensen and Natalie Portman’s cringe-worthy romance dominating a bulk of screen time that should have been utilized better. With all the plot points Star Wars chooses to have take place between featured films, this poorly constructed love story should have absolutely been one of them. There are 10 years between the first and second movies, which could have been used to convey a built-up romance over this time.

Simply explaining in the opening crawl how a young Anakin would sneak away from the Jedi Temple to spend time with Padme would have conveyed Skywalker’s rebelliousness from a young age, while simultaneously leaving more screen time to explore Count Dooku’s turn away from the Jedi Order, the foundation of the Separatist Alliance, and how Dooku orchestrated the creation of the Clone Army (which is a very important detail that’s only mentioned once during a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it dialogue between Obi-Wan Kenobi and Jango Fett). The whole subplot of Nute Gunray hiring bounty hunters to get revenge on Padme Amidala over the events of the first movie is weak and took away from the other important plot points that make the movie interesting below the surface.

The action scenes in this movie are pretty underwhelming as well. In my opinion the fight between Jango Fett and Obi-Wan Kenobi on Kamino is the best action this film has to offer. The Jedi fight in the Genonsian arena and their rescue by the first deployed clone troopers are cool to watch as well, but the significance of this battle in stopping a galaxy-wide war should have been emphasized more along with the great losses the Jedi Order suffered during this battle. The lightsaber fights with Count Dooku in this film are very underwhelming in comparison to Anakin’s rematch with the Sith Lord in the saga’s next iteration, making me wish even more that we got to see Dooku more throughout the rest of the film.

The best part of this movie is when Anakin disobeys the orders of Obi-Wan and goes to Tatooine to save his mother, showing his defiance and later his anger as he slaughters the sand people. Anakin’s internal emotional conflict and frustration with the Jedi for preventing him from doing more is conveyed through his conversation with Padme when he returns back to the Lars’ homestead, establishing these characteristics as key in his turn to the dark side.

Overall this movie represents a very important time in Galactic history, however the combination of bad acting and poor writing take away from this film’s significance in the Star Wars timeline.

10. Episode VIII - The Last Jedi

Easily the most controversial movie of the sequels, The Last Jedi divided Star Wars’ younger generation of fans while ruining the character many older ones grew up with as their childhood hero.

The biggest reason this film ranks so low is because of how it absolutely destroys Luke Skywalker’s character arc after 34 years away from the big screen. In Return of the Jedi fans saw a mature, composed, and emotionally balanced Jedi Master who saved the galaxy from oppression under the evils of the Empire, but what we get in The Last Jedi is a depressed hermit who isolated himself from the galaxy’s problems instead of facing them head-on. Luke is never able to rebound after acting on his fears and trying to kill his nephew, which in and of itself makes no sense for Luke’s character arc.

My biggest problem with Luke’s storyline isn’t where it started, but how it ended. The film should have shown Luke rectify his past mistakes and overcome the fear that led him into isolation. Using Luke as merely a distraction during the final battle on Crait is just an insult to the injury, as this should have been the pivotal moment where Luke conquered the faults of his past and confronted Ben Solo in person, similar to the way he faces his father in Return of the Jedi.

My second biggest problem with this film is the way it crushed all the plot points that The Force Awakens did a pretty good job at setting up for this trilogy. Supreme Leader Snoke’s backstory is never touched on before the mysterious character’s premature death, the Knights of Ren are non-existent in this film, and nothing is done to explain Rey’s heritage other than Snoke saying her parents were nobodies (which clearly isn’t true). All of these mistakes are poorly covered up in The Rise of Skywalker, and is an obvious representation of the completely different visions each director had for the trilogy.

Outside of establishing the dyad in the Force between Rey and Ben Solo, the character development in this film is horrible. The additions of Rose Tico and Vice Admiral Holdo were not met well by many fans and Rian Johnson crushed Snoke and Finn’s characters after their promising introductions in The Force Awakens, all on top of his mishandlings with Luke Skywalker. Johnson also had the perfect chance to kill off Princess Leia following Carrie Fisher’s untimely death, but the character somehow uses the Force while unconscious to save herself from the vacuum of space (just wtf).

While the problems with this film are glaring, there are some good action sequences. The scene where Rey and Kylo team up against Snoke’s Praetorian Guards is one of my favorites in the entire trilogy, and even though I said Luke’s appearance on Crait isn’t the ending this character deserved, his encounter with Kylo Ren along with the rest of the battle is still visually appealing to watch.

But at the end of the day, this film destroys the integrity of Star Wars’ most sacred hero, and in the eyes of many fans this is simply unforgivable.

9. Episode I - The Phantom Menace

In my opinion, I don’t even think this movie should exist. Another film around the Clone War era would have done a better job at showing Anakin’s journey as a Jedi while going more into the complexity of Chancellor Palpatine’s plan to take over the galaxy.

The first installment of the Skywalker Saga embodies the politics many prequel-haters associate with the films being boring. While I think the politics of the prequels are important, the fact that this entire movie is based on Nute Gunray’s political stunt to get Palpatine elected as Chancellor is dry and really has no impact on the state of the galaxy when Attack of the Clones takes place 10 years later.

While I think the story is boring compared to other movies in the saga, the characters are certainly a strong point of this film. Liam Neeson’s performance of Qui-Gon Jinn is excellent, as the character illustrates what a true Jedi is like during this time period. Qui-Gon embodies some of the defiant traits Anakin Skywalker would eventually develop when he began to train as a Jedi, leaving fans to wonder if The Chosen One would’ve fallen to the dark side had he had a more relatable Qui-Gon Jinn as his mentor. It’s cool to see Palpatine working behind the shadows long before declaring himself Emperor, and Darth Maul is a well-liked villain that Dave Filoni was able to make even better during The Clone Wars and Rebels series.

It’s also really interesting to see the ambitions of a young Anakin Skywalker wanting to become a Jedi in order to free all the slaves, with viewers knowing inevitably what he would turn into. By establishing Anakin’s hardship early in life and showing who he wants to become because of it, George Lucas made his turn to the dark side in Episode III even more tragic.

While the pod-racing scene isn’t the typical action seen in Star Wars, it’s still fun to watch and showcases the special piloting skills the young Skywalker possessed, winning a dangerous race no human ever had before. The last half hour back on Naboo is the best part of this film, with an intense lightsaber duel between Qui-Gon Jinn, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Darth Maul, an epic battle between the Gungans and the Droid Army, and a young Anakin Skywalker ultimately saving the day.

Overall, much of this movie is boring, with mostly unimportant politics dominating the main plot and ruining it in the eyes of many fans. It serves little importance in the storyline of the next two movies, and should have been written in a way that allowed for more action and less of the politics most fans don’t or don’t want to keep up with.

8. Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker

While not last on my list, this film is the one that just pisses me off the most. At face value the movie isn’t terrible, but it spat in the face of Star Wars fans at some points and I despise the film because of what it could have been.

I don’t even know where to begin.

To start, the resurrection of Emperor Palpatine was a move that came out of nowhere after the character had been dead in the eyes of fans since 1983, and is obvious to the fact Disney had to rush this film out in its two-year timeline rather than taking the three-year approach George Lucas took when creating the first six movies. Not making any mention of Palpatine or even hinting at his return over the trilogy’s first two films confirms fan’s theories that there was no coherent vision between JJ Abrams, Rian Johnson, and Disney about what the entire trilogy was going to be about. Palpatine’s return was a last-second decision made to try and make up for the trilogy’s flaws, as it is clear this was not in the plan from the beginning.

The patchwork in this movie is obvious in regards to Palpatine, as well as in the way it casually tries to undo many of the controversial moments from the saga’s previous installment. There are too many important details just left blatantly unexplained throughout the entire film. What bothers me the most is how Disney created this outlandish storyline about Palpatine returning and then just didn’t explain it during the movie, making fans wait to read the film’s novelization three months after its release to get an answer for how Palpatine came back and how Rey’s parents were related to him.

Palpatine’s return took away from a story that should have been dominated by Ben Solo’s inner conflict. Supreme Leader Kylo Ren should have been the main villain of this film before returning to the light, ultimately needing to be saved from himself rather than a larger evil. Ben Solo is the strongest character of the sequels, and this movie should have been focused on completing his arc.

There are also just so many other plot holes this movie stupidly created, such as where this “ancient” Sith dagger came from that shows how to find something lost only 34 years before, how the second Death Star exploded in Return of the Jedi yet is left perfectly intact after all this time, and where were elements such as Force healing and light speed skipping throughout the first eight movies?

This film simply missed too many opportunities to be so much better, and that’s the most frustrating thing of all. Here’s a list of just some of the things that JJ Abrams should have been included to improve this film:

• Actually having the ghost of Anakin Skywalker in The Rise of Skywalker
• Give us Luke’s redemption that we never got to see in The Last Jedi, if they were trying to fix other things they might as well have done this and included him more prominently in the film
• Have the Knights of Ren finally do something meaningful, these are some of the coolest characters The Force Awakens set up that the following two films simply abandoned
• Provide some kind of explanation for how Palpatine came back, how Snoke was created, and how Rey’s father was a failed clone of Palpatine
• Show Palpatine’s resurrection on-screen
• Have Rey admit to being a Palpatine instead of hiding behind the Skywalker name during the film’s final scene, this totally goes against Star Wars’ message about embracing who you are and making the most out of it
• Include the deleted Vader’s castle scene from the beginning of the movie, such a missed opportunity to connect Vader and Kylo while simultaneously providing much-needed fan service
• Give Rey a double-bladed lightsaber, she’s been fighting with a staff her whole life, building her own lightsaber would have shown development in her Jedi training and magically fixing Anakin’s Clone War lightsaber made no sense
• Don’t gas up General Hux as a main villain in the trilogy just to have him be a mole for the Resistance in the end (I hated this part)
• Have Maz Kanata tell that “good story for another time” about how she got Anakin’s lightsaber in the first place

At the end of the day, Palpatine’s defeat, Ben Solo’s turn back to the light, and even Rey’s heritage are plainly predictable and left no wow factor for me when I left the theater a year ago. This film is too out-of-nowhere, with too many confusing and unexplained plot points aimed at trying to make up for the mistakes of The Last Jedi. Even though there are great action sequences throughout the film, there are just too many mistakes to make this the grand finale fans expected for cinema’s most iconic nine-movie franchise.

7. Solo: A Star Wars Story

Even though this movie flopped at the box office in the months following the release of The Last Jedi, it’s not a bad movie by any stretch of the imagination.

Solo provides the backstory to one of Star Wars’ most iconic characters while diving deep into the criminal underworld, an interesting aspect of the galaxy that had never been touched on before in live-action. This movie shows a unique perspective of life in the slums of the galaxy during the peak of Imperial rule, with this time period previously left largely unexplored in Star Wars canon.

While not the original actors for Han Solo or Lando Calrissian, Alden Ehrenreich does a great job at conveying Solo’s wittiness and Donald Glover the smooth confidence in Lando. Dryden Vos is a cunning villain, and it’s interesting to see how much he corrupts Han’s lost lover Qu’ra throughout the film. Watching how everything unravels and discovering the true intentions of Qu’ra, Dryden Vos, and Tobias Beckett makes this film entertaining to watch on top of its constant references to the original trilogy.

On its own this movie is pretty good, but the reason it falls to the back of fan’s minds is because it lacks relevance in connection to the saga’s main story, which is why Rogue One did much better as a stand-alone film. I’m not sure if Disney will make another one of these backstory-style movies, but I think this kind of storytelling is done better in the same series format that allowed the Mandalorian to build up a unique story over multiple episodes.

This movie is hard to follow at times for the casual Star Wars fan and requires a lot of background knowledge to explain certain plot points (such as Maul’s hologram call with Qu’ra). In its own context, this movie is entertaining while providing great interpretations of some of Star Wars’ most iconic characters under new actors, but its lack of relevance to the franchise’s main storyline makes this movie feel crowded with new plot points fans have to pick up on.

6. Episode VII - The Force Awakens

The first installment of the sequel trilogy is by far the best. I left the theater after watching The Force Awakens genuinely excited for what was to come next, only to be disappointed. This movie creates a lot of interesting plot points and characters that the following two films failed to build on.

The mysterious origins of Rey left fans wondering who this girl is, since she was capable of out-dueling a Skywalker without any prior training with a lightsaber. The conflict established inside Ben Solo is the only character trait this trilogy is able to build on in the following films (even though they still could have done more with it), and him killing his own father was a dark decision that would impact Solo until his death in The Rise of Skywalker. The movie also left the door wide open to explore the mysterious villain Supreme Leader Snoke and the possibly Force-sensitive Finn, however Episodes VIII and IX are not able to capitalize off these character’s intriguing beginnings.

My biggest complaint with this movie is the plot is too much like that of A New Hope, making it feel like a modern remake of Star Wars’ original movie just to introduce the franchise’s modern characters. It’s clear the sequels modeled the original trilogy’s method of telling the story through a band of heroes rather than showing conflict on a wider scale such as in the prequels, but Disney is unique with the backgrounds of its characters in a way that makes this feel somewhat original. The scavenger from Jakku, the defected stormtrooper, and the daring fighter pilot all looked like they were going to mesh nicely with each other and the old characters… until they didn’t.

The Force Awakens got the sequels off to a pretty good start before the series train wrecked due to the lack of a singular vision from beginning to end. This film is the strongest out of the sequels in terms of building its characters while simultaneously developing intriguing plot points that could have been explored in the later movies.

5. Episode IV - A New Hope

Even though I liked The Force Awakens, I can’t put the remake over the original.

I find it crazy how what was initially a stand-alone movie turned into the most comprehensive universe in all of cinema, introducing topics such as the Clone War and the Galactic Senate long before they are seen on screen in the prequels. This movie puts George Lucas’ imagination and vision together into a genre-defying film that paved the way for the filmmaker to sell his company for over $4 billion in 2012.

Similar to The Force Awakens, this film is very successful at establishing characters from a wide variety of backgrounds, and then having them come together in order to stand up to a greater evil. A New Hope also introduces Star Wars’ most fundamental concept, establishing what the Force is to an audience unfamiliar with the power and showing Luke using it subtly to assist him throughout the film before his training in Episode X and his mastery in Episode XI.

The low budget special effects of this 1977 movie certainly make it hard to watch in comparison to more recent films, and the fight scene between Alec Guinness and David Prowse represents a stark contrast to the version of this duel we get to see between Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen in Revenge of the Sith. While the story is beautiful, it's not as action-packed as the movies that would follow it.

What makes this film stand the test of time is the iconic storyline and characters it created, even when George Lucas had no idea of the successful franchise his work would turn into. By creating relatable heroes, a memorable villain, and the high stakes adventure of destroying the galaxy’s most powerful weapon, Lucas opened the door to a new wave of sci-fi franchises while building his own iconic universe.

4. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

I love this movie, and I wish Disney would make more like it. Rogue One is great because it is able to act on its own, with a whole new set of characters, while providing a relevant backstory to accompany the overall story arc of Star Wars.

Rogue One shows that Luke, Leia, Han, and Chewy weren’t the only heroes of the rebellion. The final battle on Scarif shows just how close the Empire is to becoming unstoppable, and it’s cool to see how the brave actions of Jyn Erso, Cassian Andor, and the rest of Rogue One gave Luke the opportunity to destroy the Death Star in A New Hope.

Rogue One did a great job at conveying the “uglier side” of the rebellion through characters such as Cassian Andor and Saw Gerrera, with several moments of the film showing them doing the wrong things for the right cause. Cinematography tends to glorify war, but this movie is great at showing the personal and moral sacrifices from the rebellion’s lesser-known heroes that would pave the way for Luke Skywalker to help bring balance to the Force in Return of the Jedi.

This movie has the perfect balance of fan service while still creating an interesting and original story. It’s so cool to see Darth Vader’s castle on Mustafar and finally watch the Sith Lord fight under the capabilities of modern CGI, with the Vader hallway scene being, in my opinion, one of the best in all of Star Wars. The CGI versions of Grand Moff Tarkin and Princess Leia also look great, allowing Disney to keep the character’s looks from the original trilogy instead of having to recast these iconic roles.

The constant tie backs to Episode IV keep this story in line with what’s going on in the galaxy during this time, but is done so in a way that allows Rogue One to take on a story of its own. My only complaint with this film is about the pacing, as it felt slow at times before the final battle and probably could have been cut down under the two-hour mark. I also wish we got to see more of Galen Erso, but his death provides an interesting twist in regards to his daughter’s credibility.

There are so many more important events that take place in between the franchise’s main films that can be shared to viewers with the “Star Wars Story” model, and I hope Disney will look to make more films like these in the future to fill in the story of other major events (and maybe make the sequels and little better).

3. Episode XI - Return of the Jedi

The third Star Wars movie created takes the third spot on my list. In this film, fans see the culmination of Luke’s training from a young moisture farmer on Tatooine into a powerful Jedi Master who would go on to save the galaxy from the Emperor’s cruelty.

Luke conveys a new sense of composer and calmness not seen from the character through the first two films, allowing him to master his emotions and resist the temptation of the dark side. Skywalker’s character arc comes full circle as we see him come face to face with his anger and hatred, yet he is strongly rooted in his moral grounds, being able to resist the power the dark side offers over the death Palpatine almost gave him.

After three movies of being the main villain, Darth Vader finally redeems himself as Anakin Skywalker, fulfilling The Chosen One prophecy and restoring balance to the Force (until the sequels at least). The original trilogy does such a great job of keeping Palpatine as this mysterious overlord in the shadows throughout the first two movies, which makes his screentime in Return of the Jedi that much more valuable.

The scenes in Palpatine’s throne room where Luke almost turns to the dark side represents the moral conflict that resides in all of us, and sends a compelling message towards the power of redemption and resisting temptation. Even after 24 years of darkness, Vader is able to realize that the hero he dreamed of being as a young boy is still inside him, and he didn’t need to let his son suffer down the same dark path he took so many years before.

Luke saw what he was becoming when he was about to kill Vader, putting everything on the line by throwing away his lightsaber in order to bring back Anakin Skywalker. Anakin’s six-film story arc comes full circle as he asks to “see my son with my own eyes” in a beautiful scene on the Death Star before his appearance as a Force ghost with Yoda and Obi-Wan.

Action-wise this movie is full of it, claiming the best lightsaber duel and space battle of the original trilogy with the Luke-Vader rematch and the battle over Endor, respectively. The subplots of rescuing Han Solo from Jabba the Hutt and lowering the Death Star’s shield on Endor probably could‘ve been a little more condensed, but overall still entertaining.

It’s the culmination of characters and the conclusion of conflict that this film executes so much better than The Rise of Skywalker, making this movie a great ending to the original trilogy.

2. Episode X - The Empire Strikes Back

I think it’s pretty safe to say that this movie has the biggest reveal in the history of cinema, with Darth Vader’s “I am your father” line still ingrained into American culture 40 years later (I bet you read that in James Earl Jones’ voice too).

This movie is engaging and entertaining throughout, all the way from the opening battle on Hoth to the rebels’ escape of Cloud City. I like the way Lucas split up the band of heroes, allowing Luke to pursue his Jedi training on Dagobah while Han, Leia, and Chewbacca are outrunning the Empire on their own adventure. The banter between Han and Leia on the hyperdriveless Millennium Falcon is humorous and effective at establishing the romantic tension between the two.

On Dagobah, Yoda’s character continues to expand Lucas’s definition of the Force by both training and disciplining the emotions of a young Luke Skywalker, however his feelings get the better of him when he senses that his friends are in danger. Luke’s impatience led him to arrogantly abandon his training and fight Vader before he is capable enough to do so, which is his downfall on Cloud City. This act is contradicted by Luke’s maturity and poise during Return of the Jedi, perfectly illustrating the difference between student and master.

The Cloud City part of the movie conveys a lot of themes about trust, between both Han-Lando and Lando-Vader. Lando Calrissian was able to be manipulated into betraying his friends in order to bring Luke to Cloud City, and Vader’s constant variations of his deal with Lando shows why evil people are never to be trusted.

This film also greatly improves on the cinematography from A New Hope, allowing it to stand the test of time even more.

Probably the most iconic film in the franchise, The Empire Strikes Back provides the perfect combination of character progression, storytelling, and thematic elements in a way that makes this movie an instant classic for fans and nonfans alike.

1. Episode III - Revenge of the Sith

Revenge of the Sith is exactly what the Rise of Skywalker should’ve been; a perfect culmination of all the franchise’s films into one epic story. While many fans disliked the first two prequel movies, this film does a great job at connecting the state of the galaxy and the transition of characters from the prequels to A New Hope 19 years later.

This film shows Anakin at his peak light side power before his anger with the Jedi Order and his fear of losing Padme overcome him, with a much stronger performance from actor Hayden Christensen illustrating Anakin’s confusion and frustration. The way in which Palpatine pushes Anakin towards feeling like he had no one else to turn to makes his fall to the dark side even more heartbreaking, as it comes out of desperation rather than his own desire for power.

Obi-Wan Kenobi’s backstory from Jedi Master to hermit is done right by this movie through showing the hardship of losing Luke’s father to the dark side, watching his entire order get slaughtered at the hands of the soldiers they fought alongside, and losing the Republic after fighting so hard during the Clone War to preserve it. Revenge of the Sith is a tragedy, showing the demise of the Clone War’s greatest hero and the rise of an evil greater than the one the Jedi were already fighting.

This movie saw Palpatine’s decades-long plan finally come to fruition as he seizes the galaxy for himself. While at times the politics of the prequels are mundane, when you take a step back and look at how Palpatine controlled both sides of an intergalactic conflict in order to gain more power as Chancellor and later take over as Emperor while simultaneously grooming Anakin for his role in the plan since boyhood is pure genius. If there’s one thing every fan can appreciate about the prequels, it should be the backstory George Lucas created for Emperor Palpatine after his minimal screen time during the original trilogy.

Episode III is action-packed from the beginning all the way to the end where fans are rewarded with two of the best lightsaber fights in the entire franchise. There are no dull moments in this movie, and compared to the plethora of skip-worthy scenes from the first two prequels, this film is almost too jam-packed.

I wish this movie slowed down a little at the beginning to illustrate the distrust the average citizen had towards the Jedi Order, with the exception of Anakin Skywalker who was the poster boy of the Clone War. Making these clarifications in the film would only add to the value of Anakin’s character as the true hero of the galaxy during this time and explain why Palpatine is able to turn the people against the Jedi so quickly after Order 66. Lucas also missed an excellent opportunity to bring back Qui-Gon Jinn’s spirit to communicate with Yoda and Obi-Wan about the netherworld of the Force, a topic the movie briefly touched on but should have gone more in-depth with.

Revenge of the Sith is a tragedy for both our beloved heroes and the galaxy as a whole, as it enters the period of oppression and terror that is to follow. This trilogy has a dark ending compared to its original counterpart where it’s evil that prevails, and it’s the sadness of the circumstances which conveys so much emotion during this film in-and-amongst some of the franchise’s best action sequences. This story perfectly connected the originals with the prequels after the first two movies flopped, providing a riveting story for Anakin’s fall to the dark side and Emperor Palpatine’s rise to power.