# 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:** 2
**Author:** ![Les\_Espaces\_Du\_Sommeil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/les_espaces_du_sommeil/32/308_2.png) [@Les\_Espaces\_Du\_Sommeil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Les_Espaces_Du_Sommeil)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2019, 10:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-was-the-best-star-wars-movie-outside-of-the-original-trilogy/845564/21 "2019-12-30T10:31:29Z")
_Rogue One: A Star Wars Story_, hands down. I saw _The Rise of Skywalker_ yesterday night and it wasn’t great, probably my least favourite of the recent movies. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2019, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-was-the-best-star-wars-movie-outside-of-the-original-trilogy/845564/22 "2019-12-30T13:20:47Z")
Looking at the list, I’d have to reluctantly choose _Rogue One_, which was created to answer a question that only the unimaginative would need answered and had a truck ending solely to keep them from coming up with more silly questions. But it’s at least memorable (probably for those very reasons). The others had nothing to recommend them other than the need to see them all. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2019, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-was-the-best-star-wars-movie-outside-of-the-original-trilogy/845564/23 "2019-12-30T16:15:59Z")
I chose Rogue One, because it was by far the best movie of the bunch. But I’d say that Revenge of the Sith and Solo weren’t too far behind. I can’t say that I was ever that enthusiastic about the third trilogy- something about the whole rehashing of the original trilogy didn’t sit right with me. Not sure if it’s because it’s repetitive, or because it’s just lame, but the similarities between TFA and ANH were just too much to really enjoy. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2019, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-was-the-best-star-wars-movie-outside-of-the-original-trilogy/845564/24 "2019-12-30T16:40:54Z")
Rogue One Easily. I’d put it just behind ESB and the non-Ewok parts of RotJ. Anyone else excited for the Cassian Andor series on Disney+? ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2019, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-was-the-best-star-wars-movie-outside-of-the-original-trilogy/845564/25 "2019-12-30T16:57:50Z")
Maybe I’m still on a high from my viewing, but I voted _Rise of Skywalker._ It worked for me. _Rogue One_ might have edged it out _except for the very ending_. It was a downer and I didn’t like it. ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2019, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-was-the-best-star-wars-movie-outside-of-the-original-trilogy/845564/26 "2019-12-30T16:58:54Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > 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 Absolutely. ---
**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 30, 2019, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-was-the-best-star-wars-movie-outside-of-the-original-trilogy/845564/27 "2019-12-30T17:01:21Z")
Thank you everyone. The poll results confirm what I already suspected. Related rant: Saw _Rise of Skywalker_ Saturday and my wife was actually upset with me that I wasn’t shitting my pants happy about it. These last three “main story” movies were okay, I didn’t hate any of them, but still, my take on these additional movies has always been, “I’ve seen the original trilogy hundreds of times and not once, not a single time did I ever get to the end of ‘Jedi’ and say, ‘Wait-- _but then what happened_?’” I’d just like “The End” to mean something. Furthermore, these movies were just completely unnecessary; like everyone couldn’t immediately see it was just “Star Wars 2.1” where everything is still the same, but we TURNED IT UP TO 11. This last movie may as well have been titled “Star Wars Greatest Hits Clip Show.” Again, I didn’t hate it, but my point is the significant trouble of building a deep, rich universe of characters is already done; I’m certain, and _The Mandalorian_ proves it, that there’s gotta be something else interesting happening somewhere else in the galaxy that doesn’t take involve taking a giant dump on the original trilogy. While _Rogue One_ was part of the “main” story, it was a complementary, and it didn’t sully the main plot, it added to it. ---
**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2019, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-was-the-best-star-wars-movie-outside-of-the-original-trilogy/845564/28 "2019-12-30T17:58:31Z")
Admittedly, I have’t seen all of these (haven’t seen the latest, nor did I see Rogue One or Solo). My totally humble and non-unique opinion is that this most recent trilogy has been basically a giant snooze fest; they feel like nothing more than remakes of the originals with characters with different first names. Ok. I enjoyed them fine when I saw them once in the theater, but there was nothing compelling about them that would make me pick them off the shelf and watch The Force Awakens or The Last Jedi over Star Wars or The Empire Strikes Back. “Rebels in outer space fighting against a powerful evil government with mystical magic. Giant mega spaceships that can only be defeated by precise and unlikely pricks to their Achilles heels. Hiding out on monoecological moons and planets. Occasional speeder chases. A hero who rises up to meet his noble destiny, supported by a rag-tag band of quirky allies. Love, wisdom, and justice are the tools with which evil is vanquished.” I’ll take the original, and not the derivative. With that said, I pick “Attack of the Clones”. I remember being fascinated by the art direction on the ocean planet, and would watch again just to watch those scenes. It seemed fresh, and like a place and people we hadn’t seen before in Star Wars. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2019, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-was-the-best-star-wars-movie-outside-of-the-original-trilogy/845564/29 "2019-12-30T19:13:32Z")
Gotta go with _Rogue One_. I can’t take the second trilogy seriously because Jar-Jar, and I can’t take the third seriously because of the [villain.](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=FaOSCASqLsEvillain.) ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2019, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-was-the-best-star-wars-movie-outside-of-the-original-trilogy/845564/30 "2019-12-30T19:19:37Z")
Wow, zero votes for _The Phantom Menace_! Poor Jar-Jar! Poor Jake Lloyd! I voted for _Rogue One_, of course. ---
**Author:** ![Ashtura](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ashtura/32/2963_2.png) [@Ashtura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ashtura)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2019, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-was-the-best-star-wars-movie-outside-of-the-original-trilogy/845564/31 "2019-12-30T19:22:34Z")
I’m shocked The Last Jedi Is beating Revenge of the Sith. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2019, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-was-the-best-star-wars-movie-outside-of-the-original-trilogy/845564/32 "2019-12-30T20:33:33Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > I’d just like “The End” to mean something. Furthermore, these movies were just completely unnecessary; like everyone couldn’t immediately see it was just “Star Wars 2.1” where everything is still the same, but we TURNED IT UP TO 11. This last movie may as well have been titled “Star Wars Greatest Hits Clip Show.” > > Again, I didn’t hate it, but my point is the significant trouble of building a deep, rich universe of characters is already done; I’m certain, and _The Mandalorian_ proves it, that there’s gotta be something else interesting happening somewhere else in the galaxy that doesn’t take involve taking a giant dump on the original trilogy. While _Rogue One_ was part of the “main” story, it was a complementary, and it didn’t sully the main plot, it added to it. That’s basically my problem with the third trilogy as well. Rather than pose a conflict that needed resolving through 3 movies AND that would tie up all six previous movies, they seem to have taken the tack of rehashing the original trilogy within the series, and doing so fairly badly, because they didn’t keep it coherent. I mean, I’d have loved to see some sort of 40 years later, the main characters find out that the Battle of Endor didn’t resolve everything, and then find out some really interesting stuff about the nature of the Force, the Jedi, the Sith, good and evil, and then find some way to resolve/reconcile it toward the end of the third movie. Instead, we get a rehash of the first trilogy, made worse by the presence of the first trilogy within the story. It was lazy. They had such an opportunity here to do something interesting- even the prequel trilogy was more interesting, in that it explained the back story to Luke, Leia, Obi-Wan and Darth Vader, as well as a lot of backstory that happened 20 years prior to ANH. ---
**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, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-was-the-best-star-wars-movie-outside-of-the-original-trilogy/845564/33 "2019-12-30T22:27:31Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > Thank you everyone. The poll results confirm what I already suspected. > > Related rant: > > Saw _Rise of Skywalker_ Saturday and my wife was actually upset with me that I wasn’t shitting my pants happy about it. These last three “main story” movies were okay, I didn’t hate any of them, but still, my take on these additional movies has always been, “I’ve seen the original trilogy hundreds of times and not once, not a single time did I ever get to the end of ‘Jedi’ and say, ‘Wait-- _but then what happened_?’” > > I’d just like “The End” to mean something. I don’t have a problem with it. _Return of the Jedi_ wasn’t a hard ending. The Empire was _huge._ It wasn’t going to cease to exist just because the Emperor (and his lackey) were bumped off and some capital ships got blowed up. That would have left an enormous power vacuum for someone to try to fill, and that’s just what happened. ---
**Author:** ![Deeg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/deeg/32/2955_2.png) [@Deeg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Deeg)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2019, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-was-the-best-star-wars-movie-outside-of-the-original-trilogy/845564/34 "2019-12-31T03:19:50Z")
For me it’s _Rogue One_ and it’s not close. It is a model for new SW movies: it fit in coherently with the overall SW universe, it didn’t invalidate other movies, and had just enough fan service to make it fun without getting in the way. I had quibbles with parts of the plot but overall it was enjoyable. My second choice would be Solo. Someone needs to do this poll but with all the TV serials added. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2019, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-was-the-best-star-wars-movie-outside-of-the-original-trilogy/845564/35 "2019-12-31T17:57:31Z")
I voted for Revenge of the Sith just because so many big things happen in that movie, but Rogue One is excellent as well. I enjoyed Solo too. The Force Awakens set up a bunch of neat stuff (Rey, Finn, Snoke, Poe, Phasma, Kylo, The First Order), but then that all fizzled out in the next movie. And it was basically a remake of A New Hope. Plus they killed a beloved major character just to further the character development of a new villain who will never be as cool as Vader. ---
**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 31, 2019, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-was-the-best-star-wars-movie-outside-of-the-original-trilogy/845564/36 "2019-12-31T19:16:26Z")
Was _Solo_ actually good? I never saw it, because the premise seemed boring to me. Han’s adventures before he joined the Rebellion just don’t seem to have any importance to them. Should I check it out sometime? ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2019, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-was-the-best-star-wars-movie-outside-of-the-original-trilogy/845564/37 "2019-12-31T19:23:05Z")
Rogue One clearly. But Revenge of the Sith is a not-too-far second. ---
**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 31, 2019, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-was-the-best-star-wars-movie-outside-of-the-original-trilogy/845564/38 "2019-12-31T19:29:06Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Was _Solo_ actually good? I never saw it, because the premise seemed boring to me. Han’s adventures before he joined the Rebellion just don’t seem to have any importance to them. > > Should I check it out sometime? If you like the Mandalorian so far this is probably the closest thing to it. Detached from the bigger things going on in the galaxy and has it’s own smaller story to tell. But still shows a few relationship origins of the original trilogy. Plenty of fun not trying to be anything epic. ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2019, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-was-the-best-star-wars-movie-outside-of-the-original-trilogy/845564/39 "2019-12-31T19:31:47Z")
Yeah, if you don’t expect too much, Solo is actually a decent Star Wars story. If it was released as direct to Disney+ movie, people would have been raving about it, I think. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2019, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-was-the-best-star-wars-movie-outside-of-the-original-trilogy/845564/40 "2019-12-31T19:48:01Z")
Solo is worth watching for Woody Harrelson, and Childish Gambino doing an awesome job as Lando. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-was-the-best-star-wars-movie-outside-of-the-original-trilogy/845564.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-was-the-best-star-wars-movie-outside-of-the-original-trilogy/845564.md?page=3)