Every numbered Star Wars movie, ranked worst to best

7 of 10

4. The Force Awakens (Episode VII)

The pressure surrounding the release of Episode VII was no joke. It was Disney’s first entry into the Star Wars franchise, and everyone was curious to see if they could actually do it justice.

And man, did The Force Awakens deliver. The opening chapter of the newest trilogy had great characters and a solid plot. Yes, it was reminiscent of the older films…but George Lucas was always big into cyclic plot arcs, so that was a minimal qualm at best. There were moving, memorable moments, like Han’s death at the hands of his son, Rey’s gradual discovering of the Force, Finn’s rejection of the stormtrooping life, and the ending lightsaber duel in the snow. The score stands as arguably the best of the new trilogy, with highlights like Rey’s theme on prominent display. Simply put, The Force Awakens was about as solid an opening for a new Star Wars trilogy as could have been hoped for.

Episode VII also made the excellent decision to go back to using puppets rather than CGI. Given how few there were in the prequel trilogy, it was far from a foregone conclusion that Disney would go this route, but they proved that with the right creative team they could make Star Wars movies true to the soul of the originals.

From that first time we saw the wrecked Star Destroyer in the desert of Jakku, the tone of this movie seemed to be assuring us that it understood where it came from, and was seeking to move forward in a way that honored the original movies while still expanding the universe. The Force Awakens achieved that in a way that never felt contrived, which leaves it standing above both of its follow-up films as the best of the sequel trilogy.

Home/Star Wars