Strangers and Aliens » Commentary » COMMENTARY: Star Wars-My Personal Rankings (You won’t believe #2)
COMMENTARY: Star Wars-My Personal Rankings (You won’t believe #2)
STAR WARS: BATTLE FOR # 1
by Dr. Jayce
Over the past few decades the stories of Jedi vs. Sith have raged on, but today we will discuss a different battle of good vs. evil.
I am posting a fire starter. I am pitting each of the Star Wars movies against each other. My Co-hosts will likely disagree and you might too, but I ask this of you…prove it! Prove your order and why. Here is mine:
 Dr. Jayce's #1 |
EMPIRE (1st Place) Most won’t argue that the 2nd installment of the original movies is the best of the bunch. It is somewhat darker and deeper than any of the other movies (especially the first three).
Best part: Everything! This movie has everything, Ice planets, swamp planets, and planets in the sky! Not to mention the famous reveal by Vader himself.
Worst part: Luke’s reaction to the BIG news: “NOOOO!” See for yourself here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6sj89xgnl4
Kind of laughable really. LOL. |
 #2 |
SITH (2nd Place) This is where many will fall off their rockers in protest of my personal list, but that’s okay…this is MY list!
Darth Vader’s final steps into the dark shadows of the force is displayed in REVENGE OF THE SITH. Many find this to be the best of the newer trilogy, but I rank it even higher.
Best part: The battles are awesome. Yoda vs. the Emperor and Anakin vs. Obi Wan is EPIC! Easily the most fulfilling fighting sequences of the entire trilogy. Ultimate good vs. Devilish Evil and Mentor vs. Protégé’. You just can’t beat it.
Worst part: Dialogue: “Sith Lords are our specialty.” Just plain awful. |
 # 3 |
ORIGINAL (3rd Place)
The one that started it all will go down as one of the best movies of all time as far as cultural impact, but it isn’t even the best movie of its franchise.
Best part: The scenes that included Luke, Solo, Princess, Chewy, and the robots. This group was magical together and I think the chemistry between the three leads is part of the reason this movie was so memorable.
Worst part: The magically moving shrubs. If you rewatch this classic you will find tons of mistakes. Part of which was due to the budget. If you don’t believe me check this out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uyg20cqFxdk |
 # 4 |
CLONES (4th Place) Hayden Christensen makes his debut in the second installment of the newer trilogy to mixed reviews.
Best part: Jango Fett! Let’s just say this right now, the Fett’s are just downright cool. On top of that we get to see a whole slew of Jedi battle it out. Very satisfying.
Worst part: Hayden Christensen. Though he improved in time for SITH, in ATTACK OF THE CLONES he seems more “whiney” than threatening and more” immature” than powerful.
|
 # 5 |
PHANTOM (5th Place) After years of rumors and speculations George Lucas finally delivers his prequels to his master piece STAR WARS.
Best part: Darth Maul. The double edged light saber alone was something that captivated the audience. The fighting scenes with Ray Park as Darth Maul were genuinely awesome to watch.
Worst part: Little Anakin vs. Jar Jar Binks. I really can’t tell you which one was worse, but they both were obviously distracting. I find it odd though that Jar Jar Binks was actually liked by younger viewers, but thankfully Lucas listened to the majority of fans and made Binks a peripheral character later on. |
 # 6 |
JEDI (6th Place) This one is the most painful for me to rank. When I originally watched all of the Star Wars’ movies this was possibly my favorite, but I think that of all the movies this one holds up the least over time.
Best part: The redemptive conclusion to the sad life of Anakin Skywalker.
Worst part: Ewoks. As fun as they were when I was a kid, I can’t honestly overlook the horrible and unbelievable fight scenes where EWOKS throw rocks and sticks at FULLY armored soldiers and come out victorious. The soldiers literally just fall over after getting hit with a rock?! |
Written by Dr. Jayce
Dr. Jayce O’Neal is an actor, college instructor, and writer who enjoys cheering for his favorite sports teams. He has a Doctorate, two Masters, a Bachelor of Science, and a small trophy for perfect attendance in Sunday school when he was nine.
Filed under: Commentary · Tags: dr. jayce, drjayce, george lucas, han solo, jayceoneal, jedi, luke skywalker, sith, starwars, strangersandaliens
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Yeah . . . I CAN’T believe #2 . . .
I knew you wouldn’t believe it. What do you think about number 6?
I’m chill with that order. I would argue that Anakin in Episode #2 is supposed to be immature and whiney. That’s why he falls to the dark side and the temptations of Palpatine.
I completely agree with these! I honestly have no problem with the way this is set up. However, in episode one you forgot to mention the awesomeness of Natalie Portman! Just personal preference.
Randy,
Good point, but I think the character lacked a nuanced performance. It may just be the acting or it mgiht be the writing/direction….
I just find the character quite annoying and leaves little room for being liked…which makes me care less about the character. Thus negating his redemption.
Eric,
I’m married and only haves eyes for one gal!
I didn’t hate III, but I definitely don’t see it as #2 in the saga! Sure, there’s cool scenes in all of the films; I guess I have a tendency to judge each film based on how it worked overall.
I do look at the overall movies…I simply highlighted certain points. I think III is a better movie than VI
Well, I have a hard time admitting this but Jayce is my brother. His list sickens me. Our mother is in a corner crying somewhere. Okay, first off, Empire is the greatest ever.
Second, A New Hope, yes there are flaws, but the flaws are what makes these movies so great. Quoting the movie Fanboys, The crappy puppets and models are what make the movie. Without a New Hope there is no empire.
Third, Jedi, yes the ewoks were creepy and awkward to look at. Lucas did employ little people and thats cool in my book. It woulda been cool to have the ewoks sing about their lollipop guild. Also, Jedi gave Vader redemption. That is good enough for me.
Fourth, III, I emjoyed seeing Yoda go all Jet Li, and Hayden Christenson reveal to the world how terrible of an actor he truly is. I mean even Paul Walker thought it was terrible.
I can’t even really say anything about Episodes 1 and 2. The worst part of these two films are Jar Jar Binks and George Lucas saying to himself, hmm how can I ruin my greatest achievement. Oh he did that again with Indy.
Really my mom left the corner and is now trying to find out what she has to do to change her name because of my brother’s tragic list.
Let’s be honest we both know that mom wants to change her last name because you’re a fan of Gilmore Girls and not because of this Star War’s list. And the fact that you’re a Gilmore Girl’s fan negates everything you just said . Lol
*ahem* Ok out of the entire saga Empire Strikes Back was the only one that I couldn’t watch the whole way through, yep I went there. I personally did not care for it all that much. I’d put Revenge of the Sith first, even though Hayden Christenson’s acting made me want to claw my eyes out with his horrible acting. But let’s be honest here, the acting wasn’t much better in the older ones either. It’s a good thing we don’t watch these movies for the acting, eh? Anyways this is how I’d put it:
1) Revenge of the Sith
2) Attack of the Clones
3) Return of the Jedi
4) Phantom Menace
5) A New Hope
6) Empire Strikes Back
I’m actually pretty fine with this list. Mine looks different, but I see why you put them where ya did.
My rankings:
1.Empire
You can’t beat it. Pure awesome.
2.Return of Jedi
Ok, so, I like ewoks. They’re like short, fury ninja warriors. I grew up wishing I was Leia kidnapped on Endor. Don’t judge…
3.Sith
I liked seeing all of the pieces finally put together. Jedi battles definitely make the movie though. And I totally agree with you about the dialogue. Ex: “Anakin, you’re breaking my heart!” “Because of Obi Wan?” Fail.
4. A New Hope
Classic.
5. Phantom
Loved Quigon, the pod-race and Darth Maul, but Natalie Portman needs to go back to acting school. And don’t even get me started on Jar-Jar…
6. Attack of clones
Ya know, I love the whole changeling chase in the beginning, Kamino, and from the arena/execution scene on it was great! Like, amazing. It almost makes up for the emotional sappiness of the rest of it. Almost.
Alright, Dr. Jayce, I FINALLY found this blog post again. Now, I forgot that number two was REVENGE OF THE SITH, but I can overlook that because, personally, I agree that that was one of the best films and most redemptive of all the prequels; however, in what galaxy far, far away is PHANTOM MENACE better than RETURN OF THE JEDI?
Yes we do have a fan page…here it is: http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Strangers-and-Aliens/111676822277568
Concerning “The Empire Strikes Back” you said:
“Worst part: Luke’s reaction to the BIG news: “NOOOO!” See for yourself here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6sj89xgnl4”
May I suggest this link instead? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gQozw40Mso
Me thinks you alls are meanz to meh!
I’s a fine actor and admirablleeee warsworior!
Meesthinks yous alls are jealous ofs my goodslooks!
George Lucas rocks ands sos does The Binks!
Grrr. Click click. OOk grr click click.
Interpretation: Thank the heavens for Jar Jar Binks who has freed us from the terrible stigma of being George Lucas’ worst creation.
OOOOO ahhhh OOOO ahhh girgle half click grrgrr
Interpretation: Dr. Jayce thinks my mini bear power can’t over take three overrated storm troopers, but I say fooey! Not only can my Koala like skills take out a whole troop of Storm Troopers, but I could take out Dr. Jayce with both eyes tied behind my back!
So, are we at this point yet?
http://collider.com/star-wars-fanboys-calm-down-editorial/144321/?awesm=fbshare.me_AgFsY&utm_campaign=&utm_medium=fbshare.me-facebook-post&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_content=fbshare-js-small
And another view:
http://thescifichristian.com/2012/01/episode-43-star-wars/
I’ve been listening to them lately. Really enjoy their podcast. I think I got the link on Fans for Christ.
Have you checked out the Spirit Blade Underground podcast as well? its pretty well done.
http://paeter.libsyn.com/
Yes. Again, I think I got that link on Fans for Christ. I think. Those are the only two podcasts that I’ve come across (Christianity and spec. fic. related) that I’ve enjoyed. When I figure out how the links page will be formatted here at S&A, I plan to link to them both. S&A listeners will enjoy both of those podcasts…although I hep if they DO listen to those podcasts, they’ll still come back and listen to us!
I hang out on the FFC Forums and the SB Forums as ‘cleireac.’ Maybe I’ll catch you there!
I’m benavery on FFC. I plan to be benavery on SB, but they haven’t approved my membership yet.
I kind of have to put ROTJ at the bottom, too, because I think it set up the movies that followed (Prequels) for failure. ROTJ is where Lucas screwed up the biggest and with a few minor tweaks could have helped the Prequels rock the Star Wars franchise into the next galaxy. Problem #1. Making Leia Luke’s sister. Problem #2. Making Vader Anakin Skywalker. Doing this makes Obi-Wan a liar, ” A young Jedi named Darth Vader, who was a pupil of mine until he turned to evil, helped the Empire hunt down and destroy the Jedi Knights. He betrayed and murdered your father. Now the Jedi are all but extinct. Vader was seduced by the dark side of the Force.” And I always took Obi-Wan, at least in ANH & ESB as truthful. Why couldn’t Luke have been the son of Darth Vader, and given the name of Skywalker be the mystery….Oh, I have a bunch of great fixes for ROTJ… anyway…
Interesting idea. So Luke is still Vaders son, but there’s a mystery about who Skywalker really is? I believe in the first Star Wars, Lucas had no idea Vader would be Luke’s father. In Empire he did, but knew he’d have to fix Ben’s lie in the next movie. Ben’s lie is something that never flew for me: why did he have to lie like that in the first place? The reasoning never felt good to me.
Right. It always bugged me that RIGHT AWAY in the beginning of ROTJ Luke figures out Leia is his sister. Where’s the mystery? Where’s the story.
Here’s my idea: Ben did not lie. Vader is Vader, Anakin is Anakin Skywalker. Luke is raised to believe he is a Skywalker, the son of Skywalker. In the beginning of my Re-ROTJ, Luke asks if he’s the son of Vader, and Yoda tells him, yes, now that the truth is out, it is revealed, because the darkside of the Force can hide truth. Luke asks Yoda and Ben who then is the heir of Skywalker. Only later in the film is it revealed when Leia, performing an incredible stunt requiring the Force (her powers are growing), does he realize that SHE is the hidden child of Skywalker, that Luke was actually a decoy, to divert Vader and the Emperor from the true Skywalker.
Ben, didn’t know either, he was an unwitting pawn, which would set up the mystery for the prequels. Who switched them at birth? Why? Etc. What happened to Anakin… of course, we can be truthful and use Ben’s words from ANH: “[Vader] betrayed and murdered your father.”
Yeah, someday, I would love to make a comic or a Flash animation based on my rewrite ideas, but I haven’t the time.
Okay, that’s even better than I thought when you first suggested it. I like it, because it doesn’t make Ben out to be a liar. “Your father wanted you to have his lightsaber . . .”