These Are The Best And Worst Reviews For Every Star Wars Movie
The newest Star Wars film, Solo: A Star Wars Story, has polarized movie critics. It’s far from the first Star Wars movie to do so. Even the most beloved Star Wars films have had their detractors.
Join GameSpot as we rank all 11 major Star Wars movies, sharing the best and most positive — along with the most negative and vicious — takes on the legendary film franchise.
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11. Star Wars: The Clone Wars
This film, really just the first three episodes of the Cartoon Network animated series, was absolutely savaged by critics as a shallow money grab.
The positive: Said The Philadelphia Inquirer‘s Carrie Rickey in one of the movie’s more positive reviews: "The Clone Wars is to Star Wars what karaoke is to pop music."
Metascore: 35
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A movie with "turgid video game anonymity"
The negative: In his review that gives The Clone Wars an "F" grade, Entertainment Weekly‘s Owen Gleiberman panned the movie’s repetitive combat sequences and turgid video game anonymity.
"George Lucas is turning into the enemy of fun," he adds.
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10. The Phantom Menace
Though many of its scenes feel cringeworthy two decades later, reviewers of The Phantom Menace praised its visuals, imagination, and craftsmanship.
The positive: "Phantom may not be the best entry in the series, but it’s the most technically accomplished," Shawn Levy wrote for the Portland Oregonian.
Metascore: 51
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Who’s the real villain: Darth Maul or the CGI?
The negative: Variety‘s Todd McCarthy had harsh words for Episode I, calling it eye candy without nutrients for the heart or mind. Slate’s David Edelstein dismissed the film as pallid, while Film.com’s Robert Horton noted that "computer technology may be the actual phantom menace, after all."
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9. Attack of the Clones
The positive: Michael Wilmington of the Chicago Tribune applauded Episode II‘s youthful spirit, calling it "the most visually spectacular and exciting of all Star Wars movies to date."
Lou Lumenick of The New York Post, meanwhile, praised the film as "a technological landmark that couldn’t look or sound better."
Metascore: 54
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What about the attack on not just the men, but the women and children too?
The negative: In Roger Ebert’s Chicago Sun-Times review, the famed critic wrote that by the end of the movie, "I had not heard one line of quotable, memorable dialogue." Little did Ebert know how well "I don’t like sand" would age.
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8. Return of the Jedi
Though it has a relatively low combined Metascore overall, Episode VI soaked up plenty of praise upon its release in 1983.
The positive: Said Shiela Benson of The Los Angeles Times: "With Jedi, George Lucas may have pulled off the first triple crown of motion pictures," closing the circle with weight, maturity and fun.
Metascore: 58
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As if "the stuff of comic books" is a bad thing…
Critics hated the Ewoks and rebuked the fuzzy creatures as a juvenile toy store money grab.
The negative: Wrote The Hollywood Reporter: "The stuff of legend that inspired and elevated the earlier episodes has here been replaced largely by the stuff of comic books."
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7. Rogue One
The positive: In his Rolling Stone review, Peter Travers wrote that Rogue One has the same primitive, emotional spirit as the original trilogy — a movie that’s "alive and bursting with the euphoric joy of discovery." He also praised Jyn as a female warrior who ranks with the greats.
Metascore: 65
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A morally tangled downer with depressed characters
The negative: Using visual effects to superimpose the faces of characters from A New Hope onto other actors’ bodies was a controversial move. Bill Goodykoontz of the Arizona Republic wrote of those scenes, "at least one cameo is unnecessary and one is kind of … odd."
The San Francisco Chronicle‘s Mick LaSalle was even more harsh, overall: "It’s a downer. It’s morally tangled. The characters are as depressed as the scenario, and Michael Giacchino’s music can’t make it better."
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6. Solo: A Star Wars Story
The newest film in the franchise lands right in the middle of the pack.
The positive: Dan Jolin of Empire Online wrote, "It’s a slick, swift-footed adventure which plays like a planet-hopping heist movie, and one which glides a long way on the charm of its leading man."
GameSpot’s own Michael Rougeau says there’s a bit too much fan service in the movie, but overall praised its cast (especially Donald Glover as Lando), costumes and environments.
Metascore: 63
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A film that desperately needs more Lando Calrissian
The negative: Not everyone is a fan of this origin story flick. Johnny Oleksinski wrote "Solo, sadly, should be frozen forever in carbonite," in his review for the New York Post.
Screencrush‘s Matt Singer, meanwhile, criticized the movie’s lack of personality and importance. "If the goal here was to really understand how a brash kid from a backwater planet became an amoral smuggler, Solo failed."
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5. Revenge of the Sith
The positive: Both Premiere and Variety heralded the final prequel as the greatest Star Wars film since Empire Strikes Back.
"The most energetic of the prequels," wrote Los Angeles Times‘ Kenneth Turan. "The only one worth watching."
Metascore: 68
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Not to spoil the ending, but Anakin makes it out of Mustafar alive
The negative: Anthony Lane of the New Yorker described the movie as an improvement on its predecessors "only in the same way that dying from natural causes is preferable to crucifixion." Ouch.
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4. The Force Awakens
The positive: After a 10 year drought without a new Star Wars film, critics were ready to be wowed. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch‘s Calvin Wilson says The Force Awakens justifies its enormous hype, praising it as commercial American moviemaking at its best.
The Seattle Times‘ Soren Anderson, meanwhile, praised Daisy Ridley’s turn as the fearless, forceful and resourceful Rey.
Metascore: 81
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Critics loved this movie more than fans did
The negative: Most movie critics gave The Force Awakens high marks, though a few were more faint in their praise. Time‘s Stephanie Zacharek called the movie "perfectly adequate," while Salon‘s Andre O’Hehir said the retreat into formula was both deeply satisfying … and oddly empty.
Metacritic users were less impressed by the fan service in Episode VII, rating the film a 6.9/10.
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3. Empire Strikes Back
Empire is the source of some of the franchise’s most memorable lines. It’s also the ranking favorite among Metacritic users.
The positive: Episode VI is "a tense and pictorially dazzling science-fiction chase melodrama that sustains two hours of elaborate adventure while sneaking up on you emotionally," said Gary Arnold of The Washington Post.
Metascore: 82
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OK, but these 35-year-old special effects actually hold up pretty well
The negative: Not everyone was thrilled by the first-ever Star Wars sequel. Chicago Reader‘s Dave Kehr says the movie mainly marks time: "The characters take a definite backseat to the special effects, and much of the action seems gratuitous, leading nowhere."
Metascore: 85
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2. The Last Jedi
Critics were very receptive to the time spent developing the character complexities of Rey and Kylo Ren.
The positive: Said Steve Persall of the Tampa Bay Times, "The Last Jedi launches the franchise to another level of action and humor thanks to incoming writer-director Rian Johnson, whose imagination seems boundless as George Lucas’ 40 years ago."
Metascore: 85
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Ben Swolo, a disappointment?
The negative: But some felt that the script fell short of the emotional impact of Empire Strikes Back. Variety‘s Peter Debruge wrote, "Johnson’s effort is ultimately a disappointment."
Richard Brody of The New Yorker wrote that the script "has the feel of the compulsory, of homework done elaborately, with extreme labor."
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1. Star Wars: A New Hope
Lucasfilm
The very first Star Wars film is still the leading favorite among critics. It was plain to see that George Lucas had created something entirely new that would impact movie-making forever.
The positive: Wrote Roger Ebert of The Chicago Sun-Times: "If I were asked to say with certainty which movies will still be widely known a century or two from now, I would list 2001, The Wizard of Oz, Keaton and Chaplin, Astaire and Rogers, and probably Casablanca … and Star Wars, for sure."
Metascore: 90
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How could anyone not like A New Hope?!
Lucasfilm
The negative: But not all critics were caught up in the zeitgeist of the Rebel Alliance. John Simon of New York Magazine infamously said the film, filled with "dialogue of overwhelming banality," is "as exciting as last year’s weather reports."
(Image credit: Lucasfilm)
Source: GameSpot