Movies: May 2024

Friday, May 31, 2024

Top 20 Greatest Closing Lines in Movies

Star Wars movies and TV shows ranked

Aaron: Have you ever given a ranking of all the Star Wars films?

Star Wars rankings are controversial. For example, I like the prequels more than most people, and I thought Solo was no better than average. One problem is that it is hard to pick favorites from all the movies I like. Items 3 through 7 are almost a tie.

All this content is available on Disney+ streaming.

So here goes...

1. Episode 5: The Empire Strikes Back. (My favorite movie.)

2. Episode 4: A New Hope.

3. Episode 6: Return of The Jedi.

4. Episode 1: The Phantom Menace. (I liked this more than most people. It is underrated.)

5. Episode 3: Revenge of the Sith (An epic finish to the trilogy.)

6. Episode 2: Attack of the Clones.

7. Rogue One (The best of Disney Star Wars.)

8. Episode 8: The Last Jedi. (Despite all the problems people rightfully complain about, the underlying story is a good one. This movie had the potential to take Star Wars in a badly needed new direction by saying that you didn't have to be a Skywalker or a Palpatine to use the force. Then J.J. Abrams threw this all away in Episode 9.)

9. Episode 7: The Force Awakens. (Good but the sequels are an incoherent mess because they didn't have a grand plan for the entire trilogy, but instead let each director do their own thing.)

10. Episode 9: The Rise of Skywalker (The movie is entertaining, but bringing back Palpatine ruins Darth Vader's sacrifice effectively diminishing Return of the Jedi. I liked this movie less than most people. The plot is like a video game where the characters have to go on multiple side quests to achieve an illogical objective. For example, Rey and Kilo Ren have the same objective to go to Exogol and fight Palpatine, but are fighting to the death over it.)

11. Solo. (Barely entertaining. The story is closer to a made-for-TV series. We get a space train robbery, space gangsters, and a sexual robot. The movie was a financial flop.)

Most of the Star Wars TV series are very good, including the animated ones.

1. Andor. (Takes Star Wars in a new direction by not having space wizards, but focussing on people struggling to live under fascism. The first season was a fantastic story.)

2. The Mandalorian. (The quality of the first two seasons is outstanding. Something happened with the third season, possibly COVID-19 because it is only average at best. The show is going to be turned into the next Star Wars movie in 2026)

3. The Bad Batch (Animated. Sequel series to The Clone Wars series. The story focuses on a group of genetically altered clones who rebel against and try to flee from the evil Empire.)

4. Star Wars Rebels (Animated and introduced a great set of characters.)

5. The Clone Wars. (Animated. The 3D animation looked primitive at first but improved with each new season. By the time we got to the end of The Bad Batch, the animation was extraordinary. Tells some great stories occurring between movie episodes 2 and 3, greatly expands upon the character of Anakin Skywalker, and introduces the fan-favorite character Ahsoka Tano. However, it is uneven, and there were a few dull episodes.)

6. Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi. (I liked this show much more than most people. However, the story and quality suffer from being a TV show.)

7. Star Wars Ahsoka. (A live-action sequel to Star Wars Rebels. I enjoyed it very much but many people had problems with it. Some parts aren't very logical. I look forward to season 2.)

8. The Book of Boba Fett. (A spin-off of The Mandalorian, but it doesn't excel. It also suffers from being a TV show, but I liked it despite many problems.)

9. Star Wars Resistance. (Kid-friendly animated show that is mostly forgettable.)

10. Star Wars: The Young Jedi Adventures. (Made for small children. I didn't watch it)

There are some Lego Star Wars shows that I haven't watched much of. These are comedies, and what few I have seen are entertaining.