1. Episode V- The Empire Strikes Back

If there is a movie that can top the original, it is this one.

There is not a single dull moment in this movie. It moves at a great pace the whole time and is entertaining every second. The characters are developed further in this movie, making you either love them or hate them more..

The first battle in the movie, The Battle of Hoth, is a super strong start to the movie. It really shows the audience how massive the Empire is and how they have a firm grip on the Republic.

To complete his Jedi training, Luke goes to meet Yoda who is a long time Jedi master. This whole part of the movie is amazing. Yoda is a funny, light-hearted character, and the fact that this little character is the wise Jedi master is ironic.

The dialogue in this movie is this best dialogue in the series containing several iconic lines such as Yoda’s “Do or do not, there is no try,” or Han and Leia’s “I love you. I know.” and “Never tell me the odds.”

It also contains one of the biggest cinematic reveals in history.  Even if someone has never seen Star Wars, they have heard at least once in their life “Luke, I am your father.” It is a classic line because it was such a plot twist, shocking everyone in the audience.

2. Episode IV- A New Hope

The original Star Wars, the one that started it all.

This movie still holds up after all of these years. The visual effects, the storyline, and everything about this movie make it the classic that it is.  Even in a generation where the technology is so much better than when this movie was made, it is still enjoyable.

A huge complaint about this movie is that Luke Skywalker is a whiny brat.  Yes, he has certain lines that sound very whiny.  If Luke did not start out this way though, we could never experience the character arc of Luke Skywalker.

Each twist and turn of this movie is thrilling, from Luke finding out that he is strong with the force, to saving Princess Leia, and to blowing up the Death Star.

This movie started it all and will forever be a classic movie.

3. Episode I- The Force Awakens

After walking out of the theaters, this movie left me with more questions than I ever thought possible.

The movie does an amazing job connecting the original trilogy with this movie. You get a sense of amazing new characters, and the old characters we all love are back. For the true Star Wars fans out there, this is something that many of them can appreciate.

My only complaint about this movie is that the story line is a little predictable. We meet a nobody from a desert planet who realizes that they are strong with the force. Then the Starkiller Base gets blown up, just like how the Death Star was destroyed twice in the original trilogy.

This movie has me super excited about the next installment in the franchise, and I can’t wait to see it in 2017.

4. Episode VI- Return of the Jedi

This movie gets a lot more hate than I think it should. Personally, I love this movie and found little to no flaws in it.  It was an amazing ending to the original trilogy.

When we first see Luke Skywalker in this movie, he is no longer a whiny brat from A New Hope. He is now a man, and this is very apparent from the first time we see Luke in this movie. I really like Luke’s character arc because we see him become wiser, and we see a journey from where he started to the end of the saga.

Many people hate the Ewoks but, personally, they do not bother me enough to ruin the movie for me. I do agree that certain scenes with the Ewoks do not hold up, and it is very unrealistic when the Ewoks defeat some of the stormtroopers with rocks. It logically doesn’t make sense, especially when the stormtroopers are wearing protective gear and hard helmets.

The end scene where Luke turns his father, Darth Vader, back to the lightside is one of the best scenes in all the Star Wars movies. There is real emotional weight behind the scene.

The ending of the movie is a happy way to end the trilogy and celebrate the Empire’s fall.

5. Episode III- Revenge of the Sith

This was the story that everyone wanted from the prequels, the transformation of Anakin Skywalker into Darth Vader.

I wish that the transformation of the character went more in-depth. One minute he was telling Mace Windu that killing Chancellor Palpatine was not the Jedi way, and then 15 minutes later he was killing a whole generation of young Jedi. The transformation felt very abrupt, and I wish it was more gradual.

The final battle of Obi-Wan against Anakin is one of the best lightsaber battles in the prequels. The only problem with the fight is that it does drag on and after a while I grew bored. At the end of the battle, Obi-Wan says some very touching words to a burning Anakin. His acting in that scene was awesome and was a great touch to the end of the movie.

The last 15 minutes of the movie was setting up everything in place for A New Hope. We got to see the physical transformation of Anakin into Darth Vader, the death of Padme, baby Luke and Leia, and the crumble of the Republic.

This was the best movie of the prequels but it definitely did not match to any of the original movies.

6. Episode II- Attack of the Clones

This movie kept my attention a whole lot better than the Phantom Menace but, it was still disappointing.

A huge plot point of this movie is the love story between Anakin Skywalker and Padme Amidala. However, their love does not feel believable, and it is obvious that there is no chemistry between the two characters. The dialogue between the two characters was poorly written, and even though they are supposed to be deeply in love, it does not come across that way at all.

Count Dooku is the worst villain ever. He just appears as this reserved, put-together looking old man. Nothing about him is intimidating. Plus the final battle between Count Dooku, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Anakin might be the worst lightsaber battle in Star Wars history.

The battle between the clone army and the Jedi is entertaining, but, there is no reason to get emotionally involved in any of it because they are fighting a bunch of lifeless droids that don’t do any damage.

This movie was far more entertaining than the Phantom Menace but the problem with this movie was in the details and of course, the terrible dialogue.

7. Episode I- The Phantom Menace

This movie is basically composed of the Jedi sitting around and talking at council meetings. I did not care about any of it, and the politics were not even interesting. This movie is not relevant to the plot of the Star Wars movies as a whole, and it was not necessary.

Two things the movie succeeded in are the final battle between Darth Maul, Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi, and the pod-racing scene. The final battle is set to an amazing score, and it is an entertaining fight. The pod-racing delivers an important character point for Anakin and is a fairly entertaining scene.

Overall, the movie doesn’t keep my attention and the movie falls short of expectations.

Adriana Guidi is an Entertainment Editor for the Patriot and jcpatriot.com.