Thanks to my Secret Santa. Got some awesome dice (Jake and Boltagon), Adventure Time Love Letter, and some MTG boosters. While the luck of the pulls were not in the boosters, I lucked out on having a generous Santa. Thank you!

I prefer to just not watch the prequels.

After much thought, here's my updated rankings, from favorite to least favorite:
V
VI
IV
Rogue One
III
VII
I
II

Might as well post mine, too:

V
Rogue One
IV
VI
VII
III
I
II

I still find it interesting that you (vampire) rank VI so highly. The Ewoks keep pulling it down for me.

I think at the end of the day, I really like all of the Star Wars movies. There are parts of them that bother me, but there is too much awesome stuff in each one for me to dislike them.

So, rather than list my order of favorites, I'm going to list the pros and cons of each one.

IV
pro: Made out of awesome. Set the standard in almost every conceivable way. From the opening shot melding into the opening sequence into an adventure of a lifetime. Introduced characters that are embedded into cultures all over the world. This movie is almost 40 years old, and yet still holds up!
con: Luke is one whiny kid.

V
pro: Further develops the characters that Star Wars introduced, and adds even more. Is more "grown up"/darker/mature. Not directed by Lucas. Delivers one of the most stunning Maury Povich reveals of all time. Boba Fett and Bossk.
con: Luke is still whiny.

VI
pro: A great way to wrap up the series. Jabba's scene shows the evolution of Luke's powers. The tense faceoff between Luke and Vader and the way the Emperor tries to get Luke to take Vader's place - all great stuff. The space battle around the 2nd Death Star. Bikini Leia.
con: Ewoks. Ewoks and their primitive technology easily taking down Stormtroopers. Boba Fett going into the Sarlacc. Time to blow up another Death Star.

I
pro: While the music in all of the movies is excellent/iconic, Duel of the Fates is the zenith. We finally get some background of how it all went down. The Pod Race is really cool. I think the political maneuverings of Palpatine and the background kerfuffle involving the Trade Federation is great. Darth Maul and the lightsaber duel is epic.
con: Yippie Annie. Jar-Jar and Boss Nass. Roger-Roger Droids. Those hokey things right there can almost ruin the movie, because they're so pervasive They're not just one quick scene or line...they permeate the whole movie. Luckily there's enough cool stuff to overcome them. Annie somehow ending up in space and blowing up a mini Death Star. Darth Maul's death (Obi Wan somehow flipping out of a hole without getting sliced). Jedi super speed.

II
pro: Team Obi-Wan/Skywalker. Count Dooku (and his slanted lightsaber). Jango Fett. Young Boba is waaaaay better than young Annie. Kamino and Geonosis. Zam Wessell and the Coruscant car chase. The fight between Jango and Obi Wan. Palpatine given "emergency powers". The battle in the Geonosis arena (act I: vs exotic animals. act II: Jedi to the rescue!). The appearance of the Clone Army and that battle. The fight between Dooku and Team ObiWalker. Dooku trashing the two of them, cutting off Anakin's hand, and then battling Yoda. And...oh yeah...it's all going according to (Palpatine's) plan.
con: Flying R2-D2. Again, the Jedi seem almost too powerful. The creepy way Anakin is trying to hit on Amidala.

III
pro: General Grievous (and his personal ship Soulless One). The space battle over Coruscant. Obi Wan riding a Boga. Order 66. The battle between Obi Wan and Skywalker.
con: Yoda talking to........Chewbacca. Amidala's character is really reduced. The way Skywalker went to the dark side seemed really forced. The Frankenstein scene. The "I have the higher ground" ending.


VII
pro: Rey, Finn, and Poe are all really interesting characters. BB8 is frickin' awesome. Kylo Renn before he took off his helmet. Less CGI/more real SFX. Some of the best acting in any of the SW movies. Every place/scene looked fantastic. All of the old characters are well placed, and don't seem forced. Really well written with great dialogue.
con: Mimics IV too closely. The crossbar lightsaber. Kylo took off his helmet and went from intimidating villain to pathetic loser. The CGI for Snoke just looked bad. Phasma was poorly used. Not enough info on what's going on politically (what does the First Order control, what does the New Republic control, what's the situation?) Something about Hux just doesn't make him look like he would be in charge. Maz. The name "Starkiller Base", the way it works, and the fact that we're blowing up yet another Death Star.


Rogue One: I want to watch it a few more times before I give all of the pros/cons.

You have done a fantastic job here, I agree with almost all of it too.


I am too lazy to do what you did so:

1. V
2. IV
3. R1
4. VII
5. VI
6. III
7. II
8. I
9. Ewok: Caravan of Courage
10. Ewok: Battle for Endor
11. Holiday Special

Spots 4 - 6 are really pretty even, and could be almost any order within the 3.

line to forget: "there's always a bigger fish".

really - a planet with a water core with fish in it?

The prequels (II and III) barely fulfill the need for a back story for the origin of Darth Vader. The "I" movie - just don't bother.

My variant on the Machette version:

Double feature: IV (ANH) then Rogue One (R1) - you really need to start with ANH as that's what started the franchise, then you can dip into where the plans came from with R1 - you won't be attached to any of the characters in R1 because you know that it HAS to end the way it did). The cinematography of ANH was stunning in its day. Try to find a non-Lucas remixed version - we all know that Han shot first.

then V

then II & III for the back story on Darth Vader

then finish with VI and VII

No Ewok movies, no Holiday Special. If you really feel that way, find the YouTube video with Chewbacca making sounds mapped to a Christmas song. Seriously. Then find the "Make it So" variant with ST:TNG Picard clips.

Mute, I like your pro/con format, although I disagree with a few of the specifics. I think I might try that later.

When you list "the frankenstein scene" as a negative, you're talking about Vader's transformation, right? That's actually one of my favorite scenes, especially the mask lowering into place.

I liked it until he stumbled up and yelled "nooooo". Took me completely out of it. So when the movie ended, I was annoyed instead of amazed.

I watched the Christmas Special for the first time last year over Christmas Break. there were a couple scenes that I vaguely recalled from childhood memory.
But as an adult, it was painfully awesome. It was a spectacle just to see the actors and the sheer surrealism of it all. But I was stunned that it was ever made, what with it looking like they had 4 days and $2,300 to produce it. While hungover.

I miss Bud. When will CL start drinking again so that his alter-ego will start posting again?

Sorry, years end is a bit of a nightmare in my line of work. Our workload usually triples this time of year. This being the last business day before year's end just makes for a really fun time!

CL's had work stuff too. He even cancelled clix this week. That's quite the rarity (mostly because I offer to run things if he can't but this week was out).

Well, I can't let you win the thread on that downer of a post.

Hooray for clearance Christmas goods. I never did decorations outside the house before as I am too lazy so I grabbed a whole bunch of things. I think I was able to take care of the decorations for the whole front of the house for a mere $20 - 30.

I saw a coming soon video sign, and it made me start to wonder if the inevitable porn parody for the Harry Potter prequel was the straightforward Fantastic Breasts and Where to Find Them or if they went the extra mile and titled it's something like Fantastic Breasts and How to Fondle Them.