Long ago, in a galaxy far far away… Immortal words that shall grace our screens once more with Rian Johnson’s highly anticipated Star Wars Episode VIII – The Last Jedi. Like most of you, I grew up with Star Wars. I remember my first viewing of a Star Wars film, The Return of the Jedi – or as I called it back then, teddy bears fight big robots – and my first cinema experience of the colossal franchise, which sadly was The Phantom Menace, don’t hold it against me. I owned all the toys, the hand-me-downs and the fresh off the market ones. I even played some of the videogames – I sometimes wonder how many childhood hours the likes of Star Wars Battlefront had taken from me.

As I have grown, however, I have found myself simultaneously loving this series and despising it. It’s usually at times like this – the release of another instalment to a franchise – that you start to look back at the series before. This time I think I should do something about it. Rank them, maybe…

Despite my history with the series, I’ve never considered myself a fan of it. I watched the films but ignored the shows like Clone Wars and Rebels. I played the videogames, but never considered them canon to the story. The novels and comics I outright avoided like the plague. Some may say that this disadvantages me for the series – I certainly have friends who have said as much – but I see it as allowing me to view them as films of their own. Because of this, only the films matter.

I will be going through the cinematic releases only; so those hoping to see the Ewok films, or the infamous Star Wars Holiday Special listed, I am sorry to be unable to grant this wish. Lucas himself being ashamed of them gives me reason to avoid them at all costs anyway.

Lets’ go through them…