Every Star Wars movie and TV show, ranked worst to best

How do you make Star Wars a great series? Like many things, it’s a little bit different for everyone.

For some, it’s the science fiction details: aliens, droids, and lightsabers.

For others, it’s the aesthetic: a palpable sense of wonder, aided by one of the most iconic musical themes in the history of cinema and otherworldly locations.

For others still, it’s the characters: classic good-versus-evil battles with underdogs up against the odds.

New Disney Plus Series AndorOur choice for the top TV series of 2022 is. One of Star Wars’ unique elements was captured by this documentary, which focuses on the politics and intrigue leading up to the Rebellion. It’s an opportunity to revisit a particular era in the Star Wars saga, but also a chance to take a look back at the series as a whole.

Polygon has ranked every Star Wars TV and film entry (which we love) VisionsIt is not, however.

Our committee was made up of nine Polygon staffers, who each submitted their own personal ranking of the Star Wars movies and television they’ve seen. The bottom pick received one point and the second to last picked got two. This scoring system continued up. Because they have the most context, those who saw all 21 of the canonical TV movies or shows had more impact on the votes.

This list includes every Star Wars TV and movie, ranked in order of their quality. And if you’re looking to catch up on them, we have the perfect Star Wars watch order for you.

The “well, at least it’s Star Wars” tier

21. Skywalkers are on the Rise

Photo by Jonathan Olley/Lucasfilm

The lighter side of things: A climactic moment where everyone worth a damn left living in the Star Wars universe — even the actor who played Wedge Antilles! — shows up to shoot up the fascist armada and/or cut it to pieces with a borrowed lightsaber.

The dark side. We’ve been here before. Rey was entitled to better. We all remember this now. This is not what I had hoped for when I came to pick up the kids. The Force Awakens2015 I imagine it’s not what Disney expected either. —Charlie Hall

20. Boba Fett: The Book of Boba Fett

Lucasfilm

The lighter side of things: It feels almost as if you are watching two or three episodes. MandalorianSeason 2.5 was nice. Temuera Morrison’s performance is excellent.

The dark side. Every non-Mando episode of the show is pretty bad and it’s largely very boring. —Austen Goslin

19. Clone Wars: The Movie

Lucasfilm

The lighter side of things: Ahsoka Tano. You’ve heard about her?

The dark side. Pales looks very different to TV’s show. Both in terms of animation and storytelling. —Pete Volk

18. Star Wars Resistance

Lucasfilm

The lighter side of things: It’s the first (and to date, only) TV show to explore the sequel trilogy era, and with a gorgeous art style to boot.

The dark side. It’s lightweight even by Star Wars standards, and it ditches the all-ages appeal of most Star Wars to appeal directly to younger viewers. —Joshua Rivera

17. Obi-Wan Kenobi

Lucasfilm

The lighter side of things: While no one thought we needed to know how Obi-Wan became Ben, Ewan McGregor’s performance goes a long way to bridging and deepening his prequel performance. How did you do it? Obi-Wan KenobiIt is a feat of sheer willpower that makes the trite, intertrilogy battle between Obi Wan and Darth Vader seem emotional thrilling and earned, in spite all the odds.

The dark side. Obi-Wan KenobiThis episode suffers from the same annoying defect as a lot Star Wars material: A villain story that is somewhere between thought-provoking and half-assed. And at six episodes with a lot of action elsewhere, there’s just not a ton of time to iron out all the kinks. —Zosha Millman

16. Attack of the Clones

Lucasfilm

The lighter side of things: It has less terrible comedy and more childish misadventure that its predecessor. The Phantom MenaceAnd more meaningful action and plot movements. The revelations about what’s going on on Kamino are genuinely unsettling. And then there’s getting to see Yoda kick ass.

The darker side of things: So much terrible Anakin Skywalker material, from the belated “Oops, left my mom behind to be a slave for the last decade, should do something about that” subplot to the world’s most awkward and unconvincing romance, complete with a metaphorical speech about what’s wrong with sand. —Tasha Robinson

15. Tales of the Jedi

Lucasfilm

The lighter side of things: The animation style is The Clone Wars, Tales of the JediTwo people are vital to Star Wars’ universe, Ahsoka (Count Dooku) and Fill in the Blanks. Their stories, which are only six episodes long, add depth to the binary between good and evil of Light or Dark Force sides.

The dark side. Episodes are brief and fill in gaps in stories about two characters from the franchise. It’s interesting enough, but it sort of lifts right out. —ZM

The “now we’re getting somewhere” tier

14. Bad Batch

Lucasfilm

The lighter side of things: Let’s take a look at how iconography in the older prequel trilogy was transformed into the new one, with a small group of former Clone Troops as our guides. Bad Batch digs into what happens when you realize the war you’ve been fighting is no longer just.

The dark side. With just one season under its belt, the show hasn’t made a strong enough case for itself to stand apart from its predecessor, The Clone Wars. — JR

13. Solo: A Star Wars Story

Lucasfilm

The lighter side of things: SoloThere is a lot of fun and familiar faces in the cast, which results in some very exciting heist-related situations.

The dark side. The movie is pretty stark in its ugliness, filled with gray tones and poor lighting that take away from the exciting locations and sequences the movie wants to depict (the office of Paul Bettany’s Dryden Vos is a particularly strong example of this — it should Although the architecture makes it interesting, the backlighting is a distraction from the beauty of the surroundings. This dullness undercuts the excitement of the story. —PV

12. Revenge of the Sith

Lucasfilm

The lighter side of things: Even after Episodes’ twin failures You II, this one still manages to hurt as it depicts Anakin Skywalker’s descent to the Dark Side and the fall of the Jedi Order. The prequel trilogy may have been a disappointment, but it did end on a high note.

The dark side. Still, the prequels are a mess. Anakin’s corruption is more of an abrupt pivot than a tragic decline, and it all feels like too little, too late. —JR

11. The Force Awakens

Lucasfilm

The lighter side of things: It was true, they did. Seven years on, it still seems possible. The Force AwakensIt is amazing in the way it instantly struck a chord and connected with a new set of characters, making this faraway galaxy feel worthwhile returning to.

The dark side.Film is fundamentally inquisitive and doesn’t really care about expanding Star Wars’ boundaries. It is not a new movie. A New Hope. —JR

10. The Phantom Menace

Lucasfilm

The lighter side of things: The kickoff to George Lucas’ notorious prequel trilogy was maligned by longtime fans for infantilizing Star Wars. Time and fresh eyes were kind. Episode I: Approached as a historical epic, it’s a successful expansion of the vocabulary for the franchise. Lucas can wander the galaxy without the threat of the original trilogy and is free from the constraints that the previous three films posed. The triumph is in the casting of his tour guides: Liam Neeson as a wise, but overeager and clearly repressed Qui-Gon Jinn; Ewan McGregor as an inquisitive Obi-Wan successfully reverse-engineered from Alec Guinness’ Star Wars performance; Natalie Portman, piercing even while spouting Lucas’ patented Flower Dialogue; Ian McDiarmid as Palpatine, taking full advantage of what we all know; and Ray Park bouncing around as Darth Maul, whose design is a shock to the system. Jar Jar and Anakin have their places in this playful beginning. It balances the power of future stories. You should also know that podracing is a legal sport.

The dark side. Here is the place where I have to admit I was embarrassed when I first saw. The Phantom Menace In theaters once more during the 2012 3D Rerelease, I fell asleep. That was probably around the time that Qui-Gon introduces Anakin the Jedi Council. In fairness, it was like a 10 p.m. showing, but yeah, Lucas’ script plods along. And Anakin’s whole “you’re an angel” bit, well, yeah, that always makes me hurl. The Phantom Menace is… not a Perfection movie. —Matt Patches

The “ah, that’s the good stuff” tier

9. Rebels

Lucasfilm

The lighter side of things: RebelsIt knows how to hit the right notes. It’s all here: Vader, Maul, and even — to the shock of EU fans at the time — Grand Admiral Thrawn himself. The fan service that was so abundant was at the request of Rebels’ real story about a new group of ragtag troublemakers doing what they can to stick it to the Empire.

The dark side. Fan service is a great way to make sure you are watching. Rebels feel like it’s assigning you homework. —JR

8. The Last Jedi

Lucasfilm

The lighter side of things: It’s a gorgeous movie, with some of the most memorable visuals of the franchise as a whole, and attempts to unpack some of the thornier elements of the Jedis’ legacy.

The dark side. The sequel is not what it seems. The Force Awakens. It is up to you how much that matters — our voters were pretty split on that. —PV

7. Return of the Jedi

Lucasfilm

The lighter side of things: This is the biggest movie in the original trilogy. The Return of the JediThis is not a problem. It’s a great timeThis movie features bombastic space dogfights and tiny murder bears. It also has a hint of romance. It’s a wonderful way to enjoy one of our most loved trilogies.

The dark side. It doesn’t feel About as much, and its characterization of Vader and the Emperor in particular don’t hold up to the closer scrutiny the film brings them. As fun as it is, it’s also forgettable. —JR

6. Star Wars Story: Rogue One

Lucasfilm

The lighter side of things: For once, the story isn’t about the galaxy’s most dysfunctional family. Instead, Rogue OneFollows a bunch of nobodies that rise up to complete a suicide mission in support of the Rebellion. There’s not so much Jedi stuff or expansion on the Force or whatever, but Rogue OneThis movie shows us a side to Star Wars that is not shown in the films. It’s about hope in the face of defeat. It’s about the heroes usually forgotten in the Skywalker Saga. It’s about being doomed by the narrative before the story even starts, but still doing what is right, because someone has to do it.

The darker side of things: Do you remember anyone’s name besides Cassian Andor? —Petrana Radulovic

5. Clone Wars

Lucasfilm

The lighter side of things: The Clone WarsThe prequel trilogy was almost entirely redeemed by the company, which stripped the films of every interesting idea or character and spun them into several compelling stories arcs.

The dark side. It’s kind of a mess! An anthology-esque structure meant that you never knew who you’d be following in a given episode, and some of them are bound to be duds. —JR

4. Mandalorian

Lucasfilm

The lighter side of things: MandalorianWe arrived at the pivotal moment. The Last JediThe cultural depression of SoloLive-action Star Wars was needed in order to continue the Skywalker Saga, and regain the spirit of its original trilogy. Jon Favreau, Dave Filoni and George Lucas did it. Mandalorian “echoes” in just the right way. Two seasons in, the adventures of Din Djarin and Grogu have strummed along like a classic Western (thanks in large part to Ludwig Göransson’s musical innovation), zipping from locale to locale to let the two save the day and confront their own pasts. The Star Wars Universe was woven into Season 2, but our focus on the helmeted hero didn’t waver. While longtime fans flock to Star Wars for lore and Visual Dictionary fodder — which the show still delivers — Mandalorian nails a piece of the franchise that’s been missing for ages: an emotional core.

The dark side. Yes, season 1 really filled the void of episodic TV adventures, done with the high bar of Star Wars spectacle, but l have to ding season 2 a little harder for slipping back into everything-is-connected fan-service tendencies, and say I’m worried about where the show’s headed. Boba Fett has returned? Take a look at where this got you. Ahsoka? Hoping for the best, but cautious. It all fits into the Mandalorian arches. Clone Wars? If it is necessary. Luke Skywalker? No. No! Mandalorian Should be better than the Favreau-Filoni performance at season’s end. —MP

The “top-shelf, best-of-the-best Star Wars” tier

3. A New Hope

Lucasfilm

The lighter side of things: This is the film that began it all. It’s still magic all these years later. Just put it on to see.

The dark side. Star Wars is the kind of movie that everyone responds to differently — and knowing all of the other shows and films that will come from this relatively simple fantasy can warp it in hindsight. It’s possible to sour on it for presenting audiences with a universe of possibility, one that its stewards would only be willing to take so far. —JR

2. The Empire Strikes back

Lucasfilm

The lighter side of things: It’s the basis for a sequel blockbuster. Empire puts its heroes through the wringer, presenting them with loss after loss, in order to find compelling new shades in its predecessor’s broad strokes.

The dark side. Empire doesn’t really stand on its own — it begins in medias res and ends on a cliffhanger, raising questions that, depending on your view of its sequel, there may not be satisfying answers to. —JR

1. Andor

Lucasfilm

The lighter side of things: AndorOne simple question is what drives them crazy: “Why?” What is the reason someone would join the Empire or Rebellion or become involved in one of the many conflicts in Star Wars. It became one of Star Wars’ most compelling and complex stories, taking the time to make those wars personal.

The dark side. The series is constantly on the move, introducing characters and shuttling them away at a moment’s notice in a way that can be disorienting, and its protagonist doesn’t feel terribly active — things just sort of happen to him. Star War is like that. —JR