This article was originally published on SFFGazette.com; be sure to keep checking that site for all the latest updates on Star Wars and The Mandalorian!
The Star Wars franchise is a global phenomenon, inspiring an entire generation of filmmakers and forever changing the landscape of sci-fi storytelling.
Beginning in 1977 with George Lucas' Star Wars, the story continued with The Empire Strikes Back in 1980 and concluded with 1983's Return of the Jedi. Sixteen years later, the filmmaker returned to this Galaxy Far, Far Away for 1999's The Phantom Menace, with Attack of the Clones following in 2002 before the story wrapped up in Revenge of the Sith in 2005.
That was it from Lucas and, in 2012, Disney acquired Lucasfilm and set out to make a new sequel trilogy...minus his input. The Force Awakens (2015), The Last Jedi (2017), and The Rise of Skywalker (2019) continue to create dissension among fans, though spin-offs Rogue One and Solo fared at least a little better.
Earlier this month, we asked you to cast your votes and decide which of these movies you think is the best one.
Thousands of you chimed in and the results make for very interesting reading. In first place is The Empire Strikes Back
with a massive 50.43% of the vote. The clear winner, it was followed by Revenge of the Sith with 10.75%, though Rogue One was nipping at the prequel's heels with an impressive 10.23%.
A New Hope was in fourth place with 8.95%, while Return of the Jedi rounded out the top five with 8.75%.
The most popular sequel was The Last Jedi (5.12%), though we were shocked to see The Rise of Skywalker (1.56%) top The Force Awakens (1.52%).
From there, we have Attack of the Clones (0.83%), The Phantom Menace (0.76%), Star Wars: The Clone Wars (0.59%) and, most surprisingly, Solo: A Star Wars Story (0.52%). Clearly, not many of you are part of that #MakeSolo2Happen movement!
These results are undeniably fascinating and offer a much better idea of how this franchise is currently viewed by you, SFFGazette.com's readers.
Do you agree that The Empire Strikes Back is as good as it gets for Star Wars?