CV Ranks the Star Wars Franchise - !RESULTS!

Well done guys. You made me proud with these results. Already tired of typing.

7. Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones - 52 Points

6. Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace - 62 Points

5. Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith - 138 Points (1 First Place Vote)

4. Return of the Jedi - 170 Points (3 First Place Votes)

3. Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens - 176 Points (8 First Place Votes)

2. Star Wars - 178 Points (3 First Place Votes)

1. The Empire Strikes Back - 232 Points (21 First Place Votes)

Nice to see the force awakens high on the list.

Well that was kind of predictable, but I was hoping Jedi would have ranked higher.

@batman3000: Yet not to see it getting nearly as many points as ANH which it was a weak recreation of imo.

Shame Return of the Jedi didn't get higher than The Force Awakens but maybe once the next film comes out, it'll make sense for it to be so high.

Jedi deserves to be higher.

Missed the Votes but I'd have to go:

1. The Empire Strikes Back

2. The Force Awakens

3. Return of the Jedi

4. Revenge of the Sith

5. Star Wars/A New Hope

6. Attack of the Clones

7. The Phantom Menace

More or less agree. I'd put Return above Force Awakens.

This list is fair.

Pretty much perfect.

Nice list. Glad Attack of the Crap is at the bottom. Padme/Anakin is one of the worst movie romances to ever exist

Force Awakens was at the top of my list since I felt it improved on the originals in many ways (acting, characters, humanity, complex villains, space battles, etc.) but eh, can't win em all. And the originals are still great, iconic films that I loved sitting through before my Force Awakens screening :)

Can't say I really agree. Jedi needs to be higher and Revenge of the Sith should be above Force Awakens.

The only thing that surprises me is TFA being higher than Jedi.

@xwraith:

Could just be hype. I think people will cool to the new movie.

I actually know almost no one that thinks Jedi is better.

RoS is good, but it isn't even close to TFA. RoS has tons of problems that I look past because I'm a Star Wars fan.

@eyedcyou:

I see where you're coming from but I'd say the highs of ROS are higher than those of TFA.

The final duels are more impactful than TFA's for example.

@nuclearrebirth: True, but that was built up over 6 movies. This fight was built up only 1 movie.

How in the hell is Force Awakens higher than Return of the Jedi? Just lol. To be honest, after a few years or after the completion of this new trilogy. I think people are going to rip apart The Force Awakens like they did the prequels. The nostalgia will wear off.

Not true. TFA is wayyyy better than the prequels. If you can recognize filmmaking, it's easy to tell.

Surprised to see Episode II so low and disappointed to see VII so high

These results are disappointing. You should do this again when people get off the hype train.

@eyedcyou: I never said the prequels are better. I just said that people might rip this movie apart like they did to the prequels, after a good amount of time has passed and the hype/nostalgia wears off. This is the first star wars movie in ten years, and is the sequel to a movie that came out over thirty years ago. The hype train and nostalgia are off the charts, lol.

@eyedcyou: You do now, I think ROTJ>TFA. I think @xwraith does too based on his votes.

TFA is overhyped for the most part but it's a marked improvement on the prequels, including the best prequel film Revenge of the Sith. That has heavier flaws than this one does.

Nah, I think RotS is one of the better movies overall. TFA is just a better version of A New Hope. I've watched the OT multiple times and overtime I do, I think to myself, "damn, ANH really isn't that good of a movie". It's saving graces were it's universe building, special effects (for the time), and the fact that it was one of the first of it's kind. But, since saying anything against the OT is blasphemy to a lot of people, they look at the prequel trilogy just ready to hate it, and as a result you have RotS ranked much too low.

@buttersdaman000: Eh it's right where it needs to be for me given that it still had some choppy acting from Christensen, Portman and especially Sam L Jackson. Moreover, its plot holes and jump from Anakin suddenly going from frustrated Jedi Knight to willing devotee Youngling-murdering apprentice of the Dark Side was rather sudden and abruptly handled. Not to mention the script was clunky and had several odd lines. As for the general Star Wars fandom conscience, they think some of what I say above, their own opinions plus the prevalent view that all the originals>all the prequels regardless of what else.

And all the same can be said for ANH. It had choppy acting, plot holes/inexplicable jumps, bad characterizations, and a paper thin script. But since it's part of the OT, people just brush this aside. Also, I don't think Anakins change to sith lord was much of a jump at all. The entire prequel trilogy was building right to that moment, and we know how much he valued loved ones. He already slaughtered a village of sand people for his mothers death in the second movies as well.

I agree with the ranking i vote the same way

@buttersdaman000: The same can be said but at least it had better strong points like its world building and lore groundwork, its simple to follow and understand grand narrative, making the audience care about the characters even if they are paper thin sometimes. The originals made people care about them which is something the prequels have a huge failing standing on their own without the EU material or the cartoons. Also, I would think you'd be hard pressed to defend a scene where Anakin talks about what he did to the Sand people like this.

I only really dislike Natalie Portman's acting in that film, almost everything else I think might be down to Lucas' terrible script.

It takes much more acting skill to pull off poor, unnatural dialogue and make it sound right.

I get the bad feeling that Lucas was telling the actors to do stuff as well, giving them direction like "and now Hayden, turn and stare out of the window looking pensively for 10 seconds, and whilst this is happening I want you Ewan to stroke your beard in contemplation"

No, it did not have better world building. It simply set the groundwork for everything, albeit in a very good way. RoTS however, set up everything in the OT, as well as concluded the huge, convoluted messes of the two previous movies in a neat, under appreciated way. You calling the narrative simple to follow is just you spraying perfume on crap. I can do that too -- the first two prequel movies were intricate, detailed narratives of interesting characters and themes :/....yeah, that's true if you're looking at them through rose colored glasses, but really they were just convoluted messes. And on that same note, ANH is shallow. And the characters being paper thin is an understatement. Leia, for example, has almost no personality at all. Her planet is destroyed and the only reaction we get from her is.......nothing......yeah.....

Now you're bringing in how the OT made people feel, and that's not a fair argument at all. For one, movie standards back then were a lot lower then they are now so kids watching ANH never had to sit through critics picking it apart like they did the PT. Secondly, you don't know how people felt overall. The general public, for example, thinks the prequels are pretty good. I know people who love Jar Jar Binks and were disappointed he wasn't in the second 2 that much. So, really, including feelings is a poor argument.

I don't care how the scene was acted. All I care about is it's inclusion. You can't say his transition to Sith Lord and the crimes he committed were an inexplicable, out of character jump, when he literally committed a similar act as a Jedi in the previous film.

TFA is 3rd? Kek. Just kek

@eyedcyou:

I don't think the number of other movies is what matters.

How a scene is written, acted and shot is what makes it engaging.

2 hours is plenty of time to get me invested.

Well from a film making perspective, TFA is better written, acted, and shot compared to RoS.

Tell that to @buttersdaman000 and others who actually rated RoS above TFA.

@lvenger:

It's because it is better.

I disagree.

TFA is only written as good as it is because it simply improved upon another scrip. RotS is an original script. That right there, and the fact that it's a good movie by itself, gives it the edge in the writing department. And anyways, there are more holes in TFA than anybody really cares to admit right now anyways. For example, good writing does not include a planet full of First Order troops only sending out about 20 fighters to combat a small battalion of Rebels.

TFA has no bad actors, but neither does it have stand out performances. Ewan McGregor solos.

Debatable. It all depends on whether or not you like JJ Abrams style.

I respect that, but TFA is not just a remake of an old script. It shares a few plot points, but other than BB-8 Carrying the map, none of them really felt jarring or overly similar. Yes, Starkiller base was another Death Star, but the fight between Rey, Finn, and Kylo was much more important and in the forefront while the attack was happening in the background. The holes in TFA aren't nearly as big as the holes in RotS man... That thing with the FO troopers is minor compared to things like Anakin going from turning Palps in to the Jedi Council to murdering kids in LITERALLY less than 20 minutes (you can times that), Or why Yoda gave up during his fight with Palps when they were on pretty equal footing, or why the dozens of jedi masters were easily killed by clones, or why Anakin didn't get pissed at Palps for lying to him about Padme, etc. I love RotS, but that movie has its problems. I've seen TFA twice and watched dozens of videos on it, and after careful thought, the screenplay is pretty tight.

And Ewan McGregor was doing his best. There are some moments where he's pretty wooden. Or the scene where he's telling Padme that Anakin slaughtered the younglings and he covers his mouth to cover the smile he cracked after delivering such a dumb line.

1. I definitely disagree there. Of course it's not a clear cut remake since it does introduce new characters and whatnot, but nearly all the major plot points of ANH are present in TFA in some way, shape or form.

2. I already had that discussion with Lvenger. Anakins turn towards the darkish and his slaughter of the younglings was not a plot hole. I know you hate Episode 2, but give it a look again. A light side, Jedi Anakin slaughtered a whole village of sand people, children included, because of his anger of his mothers death. Throughout episode three he's haunted by visions of Padme suffering the same fate. So, in order to insure her safety, he turns to the dark side and follows out his masters order to slaughter the younglings. That is not a plot hole.

3. IIRC Yoda was actually starting to lose towards the end of that fight. Besides, i'm pretty sure they explained that he felt he would do better being alive to train a younger generation (Anakins children) instead of possibly falling to the emperor and ending the Jedi right there. Not really a plot hole.

4. The movies established all the Jedi Masters had friendly relationships with the clones. The 3rd film also showed them getting completely caught off guard. Not a plot hole.

5. Are you talking about him lying he had the power to save her?? Well, that's still foggy, but he straight up told Anakin they would discover the power together after he killed Mace Windu, something the Jedi would've been completely unwilling to do. Not a plot hole.

6. I've seen RotS more than a few times and i've seen TFA twice. it's screenplay is tight, but it's just a cleaner version of another movie with it's fair share of issues as well. RotS has it's own issues, of course, but it's also a much larger movie as well as an original. Originality and scale beat updated versions of old screenplays IMO.

7. Hell, i'm pretty sure if I watch TFA again, i'll be able to nitpick some pretty bad acting myself lol

@buttersdaman000: I'm not arguing that Anakin's turn to the dark side wasn't developed, because it was. I'm arguing that the actual turn itself was way too fast. Like I said, he turned Palpatine in to the jedi council, and less than 20 minutes later from that, he's killing kids. It would have worked much better if he took some time struggling with what he should do with Palps, but the turn is just too quick. Not to mention that when Mace has Palps cornered, Anakin is yelling at him "You can't kill him, it's not the Jedi way. He needs to stand trial". Again, just a few minutes later, he's killing kids. Those are the plot holes, not the fact that Anakin turns in general.

I still don't think it's a plot hole. We saw how quickly he slaughtered a village full of people just because his mother died. Now, with the anger he still felt with that along with the threat of Padme meeting the same fate, he pretty much does the same thing. I still don't see how anybody can rationalize that as a plot hole. Why should he have taken time? The movie made an effort to show how much Palpitine was seducing him as well as how desperate he was to save Padme. When he's met with the chance, he resists at first, then just does what the PT has been building towards -- his downfall. IDK, it seems you have more issue with the pacing and not the actual turn itself. That's something I can agree on. It did happen rather abruptly, but that's a pacing issue, not a plot hole.

@buttersdaman000: @eyedcyou:

People have disagreed on whether Anakin's turn to the Dark Suede made sense or was presented well for years.

But I'd say love it or hate it, at least we see a reason for him to change. By contrast we're given almost nothing on Kylo Ren's change, besides that he admires Darth Vader and that Supreme Leader Snoke seduced him.

Agreed. Personally I think ROTJ is better than ANH though. It packed more of an emotional punch, and the scenes between Emperor/Vader and Luke were nearly flawless.

Rem this..the guys who loved the prequels are now the people who hate the prequels lol..a lot of followers I see

My thoughts on ROTJ's strengths too, it had more emotional depth and fulfilment than ANH did in its storyline at times. The scenes on the Death Star were far more iconic and symbolic of Star Wars than the voters for this particular poll realised.