Every Star Wars Movie Ranked From Worst to Best

Few movies have captured imaginations like the films in the “Star Wars” saga. The sprawling sci-fi epic has been a favorite of all ages for more than four decades, with new movies and TV shows constantly popping up in recent years.

Though the series is beloved, there are often debates among fans: “How does the newest trilogy stack up with the original?” “Were the prequels really that bad?” And, perhaps most important, “Which of these beloved films is actually the best?” Though the answer to that last question is of course subjective, critics and fans alike have had their say as to where each entry belongs in the pecking order.

24/7 Tempo reviewed critic and viewer ratings from Rotten Tomatoes and IMDb to determine the overall ranking of the best and worst “Star Wars” movies by both fans and critics. (If you consider yourself a fan, can you answer these real “Jeopardy” clues about “Star Wars?”)

Though the original trilogy is beloved and the prequel trilogy is largely disliked, there is a wide range of opinions on the most recent group of three films. Fans and critics have largely split over what makes a good “Star Wars” movie over the past few years, though opinions are much more aligned when it comes to the spinoff “stories” outside the trilogies.

While fans may point to the thrilling action sequences and dazzling special effects as the reasons they love “Star Wars,” what really makes the films special is the characters. Moviegoers loved the slick Han Solo and the awe-inspiring Darth Vader, while audiences were largely annoyed by the goofy, slapstick turn from the CGI nuisance Jar Jar Binks. These are the most loved and hated Star Wars Characters.

Methodology

To rank every Star Wars movie, 24/7 Tempo developed an index based on several measures from IMDb and Rotten Tomatoes. IMdb is an online movie database owned by Amazon. Rotten Tomatoes is an online movie and TV review aggregator. The index is a composite of the movies’ IMDb rating, Rotten Tomatoes audience score, and Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score. All ratings were weighted equally. Supplemental data on domestic box office was obtained from The Numbers, an online movie database owned by consulting firm Nash Information Services. Data was collected in April 2021.