# Which was the best Star Wars movie outside of the original trilogy? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies\ **Created:** [December 29, 2019, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-was-the-best-star-wars-movie-outside-of-the-original-trilogy/845564 "2019-12-29T21:54:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2019, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-was-the-best-star-wars-movie-outside-of-the-original-trilogy/845564/1 "2019-12-29T21:54:20Z")
There are now 11 full-length live-action Star Wars theatrical release movies (in order of release): Star Wars (“A New Hope”) The Empire Strikes Back Return of the Jedi The Phantom Menace Attack of the Clones Revenge of the Sith The Force Awakens Rogue One: A Star Wars Story The Last Jedi Solo: A Star Wars Story The Rise of Skywalker From that list, outside of the original trilogy, what has been the best Star Wars film? ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2019, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-was-the-best-star-wars-movie-outside-of-the-original-trilogy/845564/2 "2019-12-29T21:58:11Z")
_Rogue One_ is the only one I’d stop flipping channels to watch. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2019, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-was-the-best-star-wars-movie-outside-of-the-original-trilogy/845564/3 "2019-12-29T21:59:08Z")
Sorry the poll title was supposed to read: “Which of these was the best Star Wars movie outside of the original trilogy?” ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2019, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-was-the-best-star-wars-movie-outside-of-the-original-trilogy/845564/4 "2019-12-29T22:23:20Z")
Your poll is invalid. Even the original trilogy isn’t “better”. RotJ is worse than some on that list. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2019, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-was-the-best-star-wars-movie-outside-of-the-original-trilogy/845564/5 "2019-12-29T22:24:30Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > Your poll is invalid. Even the original trilogy isn’t “better”. RotJ is worse than some on that list. How does that invalidate the poll? It never claimed anything about the original trilogy. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2019, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-was-the-best-star-wars-movie-outside-of-the-original-trilogy/845564/6 "2019-12-29T23:08:30Z")
I voted for The Force Awakens, which I think is as good as the original three. Shame they didn’t just write the whole thing, film it at the same time, and have a plan to follow through on that movie. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2019, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-was-the-best-star-wars-movie-outside-of-the-original-trilogy/845564/7 "2019-12-30T00:49:46Z")
With the disclaimer that I haven’t seen the new one yet, so I can’t be certain… But yeah, I’m going with the herd that _Rogue One_ was significantly better than the others on this list. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2019, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-was-the-best-star-wars-movie-outside-of-the-original-trilogy/845564/8 "2019-12-30T00:58:31Z")
Rogue One is my favorite SW movie in existence. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2019, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-was-the-best-star-wars-movie-outside-of-the-original-trilogy/845564/9 "2019-12-30T01:21:49Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > How does that invalidate the poll? It never claimed anything about the original trilogy. “From that list, outside of the original trilogy, what has been the best Star Wars film?” The presumption is either that the original trilogy stands above all others, or that it should be dismissed for reasons. So maybe “invalidate” is too strong, but my point was that RotJ is a lesser movie than some of the choices in the poll. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2019, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-was-the-best-star-wars-movie-outside-of-the-original-trilogy/845564/10 "2019-12-30T01:29:10Z")
It’s close for me between _Rogue One_ and _The Last Jedi_, but I can’t deny that **TLJ** has more flaws than **R1** does. ---
**Author:** ![ExTank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@ExTank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ExTank)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2019, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-was-the-best-star-wars-movie-outside-of-the-original-trilogy/845564/11 "2019-12-30T01:35:58Z")
Rogue One. ---
**Author:** ![Yodalicious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yodalicious/32/8195_2.png) [@Yodalicious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yodalicious)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2019, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-was-the-best-star-wars-movie-outside-of-the-original-trilogy/845564/12 "2019-12-30T01:44:34Z")
I’m an unapologetic lover of The Last Jedi, and always will be. ---
**Author:** ![Fair\_Rarity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fair_rarity/32/153_2.png) [@Fair\_Rarity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fair_Rarity)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2019, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-was-the-best-star-wars-movie-outside-of-the-original-trilogy/845564/13 "2019-12-30T01:52:22Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > It’s close for me between _Rogue One_ and _The Last Jedi_, but I can’t deny that **TLJ** has more flaws than **R1** does. I went with TLJ because I have a harder time watching R1. It’s so much sadder to me and no Porgs. But it’s like a photo finish, and with TFA a nose behind. Right now a statistical tie between prequels and RoS for the next position and then dead last, limping, is Solo. ---
**Author:** ![HowSoonIsThen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e56c9b/32.png) [@HowSoonIsThen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HowSoonIsThen)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2019, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-was-the-best-star-wars-movie-outside-of-the-original-trilogy/845564/14 "2019-12-30T01:59:20Z")
I voted Rogue One but am surprised that it’s the most popular. I expected The Firce Awakens to be number 1. I’m not complaining, though. ---
**Author:** ![Stephe96](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Stephe96](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stephe96)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2019, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-was-the-best-star-wars-movie-outside-of-the-original-trilogy/845564/15 "2019-12-30T02:20:36Z")
I’m not much of a Star Wars fan but I loved Rogue One. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2019, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-was-the-best-star-wars-movie-outside-of-the-original-trilogy/845564/16 "2019-12-30T03:02:20Z")
Clearly, _Rogue One._ Not only did it tell a vital back-story, but it had: - Great characters (including the best wise-cracking robot since Marvin) - Amazing fight sequences - Darth Vader showing what a badass he really was - Incredible fidelity to A New Hope - Tarkin from beyond the grave - Pathos - everyone we just spent the entire movie getting to know dies ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2019, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-was-the-best-star-wars-movie-outside-of-the-original-trilogy/845564/17 "2019-12-30T03:19:35Z")
I’ve got to go with _The Force Awakens._ Yes, it was more or less a re-hash of _A New Hope,_ but at least it showed that there could be a main-arc _Star Wars_ film where the characters acted like real people and work in some genuinely humorous moments. And had Hayden Christensen been able to portray Anakin similarly to Kylo Ren, his character would have been a lot more believable in the prequels. _Rogue One_ was good in its own right, but I tend to dislike origin stories in general since you already know what’s going to happen in the end. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2019, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-was-the-best-star-wars-movie-outside-of-the-original-trilogy/845564/18 "2019-12-30T04:03:53Z")
I voted for Rogue One. It was a decent story with good action and it related to an event we all know. It isn’t perfect but it is probably as good as Star Wars can get. My second choice was TLJ. Also flawed, the whole Finn and Rose McGuffin hunt, but it was really good looking. TPM is the worst, provisionally. I have not yet seen Solo. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2019, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-was-the-best-star-wars-movie-outside-of-the-original-trilogy/845564/19 "2019-12-30T04:48:42Z")
I voted Rogue One but I’m also one of the few that would put Solo close behind. Both are movies I could (and have) sat through several times. Unlike Rise of Skywalker that I remember thinking when it was over that it would be a chore to sit through that whole thing again. ---
**Author:** ![Lantern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d26b3c/32.png) [@Lantern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lantern)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2019, 9:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-was-the-best-star-wars-movie-outside-of-the-original-trilogy/845564/20 "2019-12-30T09:21:09Z")
I also voted for Rogue One and was a bit surprised at how dominant it was in the poll. Overall I would rate it at no.2 behind ESB Of the others, ROTS and Solo are the ones I would most like to re-watch. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-was-the-best-star-wars-movie-outside-of-the-original-trilogy/845564.md?page=2)