Here are the latest noteworthy takes on Star Wars movies ranked, based on recent coverage and critic aggregations.
- Critics’ consensus rankings tend to place The Empire Strikes Back and The Force Awakens near the top, with The Last Jedi often in a contentious but high-scoring spot, depending on the outlet. This pattern appears across major outlets that publish annual “best Star Wars movies” lists in 2024–2025.[2][3]
- Contemporary ranking roundups also reflect strong praise for Andor as a celebration of Star Wars storytelling, though it’s a TV series rather than a film; it’s frequently cited as the best live-action Star Wars project in critics’ scores and year-end roundups.[4]
- Among the films, Rogue One and The Rise of Skywalker occupy more mixed positions in various lists, with Rogue One often praised for its tightly paced war-film vibes and Skywalker’s conclusions generating divergent opinions; several outlets place them mid-to-upper tier depending on whether they favor risk-taking or franchise nostalgia.[3][2]
- For fans who care about fan-created rankings, there are multiple YouTube roundups and podcasts that rank the 11 live-action films in release order, typically showing a wide spread in where each title lands; these reflect personal taste but underscore broad popularity of The Force Awakens and The Empire Strikes Back while occasionally pushing Last Jedi down or up based on individual perspectives.[7][9][3]
- If you’re looking for an authoritative reference, Rotten Tomatoes’ critics-based rankings for Star Wars titles (as of late 2024–2025) consistently show The Empire Strikes Back and The Force Awakens near the top, with The Last Jedi and Revenge of the Sith also scoring highly in their tallies; viewer and critic opinions can diverge more on the newer entries, especially The Rise of Skywalker.[2]
Illustration
- A practical way to compare at a glance is to look at top-tier ranking standings: Empire Strikes Back and The Force Awakens in the top quartile across outlets, Last Jedi in a variable tier, and Rogue One/Rise of Skywalker often in the middle-to-upper ranges depending on the critic pool.[3][2]
Would you like me to compile a concise side-by-side table of current top-5 rankings from a few specific outlets (e.g., Rotten Tomatoes, IndieWire, and The Hollywood Reporter), or tailor a ranking that matches your own preferences (e.g., weight on storytelling, action, or nostalgia)?
Citations
- Critics’ top-tier positions for Empire Strikes Back and Force Awakens across outlets.[2]
- Andor named highly by critics (though a TV series).[4]
- YouTube/podcast ranking roundups showing wide variance in Last Jedi placement and top titles.[9][7][3]