I've been wanting to do this since before I saw "Revenge of the Sith." Here's my list of lists. Due to time constraints, I will not do much editing of this list. What you see is what you get with these.

code:
"The Phantom Menance" = TPM
"Attack of the Clones" = AOTC
"Revenge of the Sith" = ROTS
"A New Hope" = ANH
"The Empire Strikes Back" = TESB
"Return of the Jedi" = ROTJ
"SW" = Star Wars
PT = Prequel trilogy
OT = Original trilogy

-----------------------------------------------------------

How I Rank the Movies

1. "The Empire Strikes Back" - the most personal of all the SW movies. Every acting performance is great, the script is excellent. The direction is near perfect. It's the gold standard by which all second movies will be judged.

2. "Revenge of the Sith" - As Jim Morrison said, "No one here gets out alive." No one gets out of this one unscathed. It's this movie that gives us the foundation by which Obi Wan, Vader, the Emperor, and Yoda should be judged in the older movies.

3. "A New Hope" - This is the fun one of the series. After two and a half movies of darkness, this is the kids taking their parent's car out for a spin without their permission. This is also the one where the rebels finally hit back at the Empire.

4. "Return of the Jedi" - Ewoks aside, I can't think of a better way to end the saga than this movie. My all time favorite SW scene is in this movie, but we'll get to that later.

5. "Attack of the Clones" - "ROTS" really makes this a better movie than we originally thought. It's after seeing "ROTS" that we start to see the puppeteer behind the puppets. Was the Emperor somehow involved with Shmi's kidnapping and death? Was the Emperor the one who ordered the creation of the clones? We can only speculate, but as my professor would say, "there's textual evidence to support that claim."

6. "The Phantom Menace" - "ROTS" also made this a better movie. I never really understood people's disgust of this movie. It's always just been a fun movie to me. But after "ROTS" you can really see had the strings on his fingers all along, all he needed were the puppets to present themself. As they did in this movie.

-----------------------------------------------------------

How I Rank the Villains:

1. The Emperor: They might as well rename him Gepetto. He's the only trully evil character in the entire saga.

2. Darth Vader: Although he's less "evil" than we all thought. He's the only villain in the entire saga who had me afraid to turn off the lights. He's the iconic villain of the saga, with all the cool scenes and dialogue.

3. Count Dooku/Darth Tyrannus: Oh how I wish he had more dialogue throughout the prequels. I thought that if done correctly, he could have been a villain on par with Vader. But maybe that's ultimately the point. He did have some better scenes and dialogue in the Ep III novelization.

4. Darth Maul: He's the Vince Carter of the SW Universe. All flash, no substance, which again, is ultimately the point. He did have the most rock star of all lightsaber battles though.

-----------------------------------------------------------

How I Rank the Jedi:

1. Yoda: Failed he did, in training the Jedi. But the only Jedi, he was in sensing something was amiss in the Universe. Trained he did, the savior of the SW universe. The only Jedi, Yoda was, who could match the Emperor.

2. Luke: Luke succeeded where the others couldn't. He defeated darkness with nothing but his compassion, and was able to accept the consequences his choice presented. He's also the only Jedi to successfully stop himself from turning to the darkside, once he noticed he was turning.

3. Obi Wan Kenobi: While Yoda was the mystical Jedi who saw how everything was going to heck, Obi Wan was the steady workhorse who went out and just did his business. It wasn't until Ep. III that he finally was able to be on a similar plane as Yoda, and keep the "big picture" in mind. He's also the only Jedi to willingly and selflessly give himself over to the force.

4. Anakin: He would have ranked higher, except for that whole turning to the darkside, killing Jedi children thing. We didn't see too much of badass Jedi Anakin, but we saw just enough to know that he was a Jedi of great skill. But let's face it, this dude was built to spill.

5. Qui Gonn Jinn: He's the first Jedi who is able to retain some kind of form once his physical self has died. His headstrong nature cost him his life, but it also brought forward the issue of training the Jedi who would ultimately bring balance back to the galaxy.

-----------------------------------------------------------

How I Rank the Lightsaber Battles:

I have to weigh the excitement of the lightsaber battle with the pertinence the battle has to the overall story.

1. Vader vs Luke 2 in "ROTJ": The whole saga, and the fate of the galaxy comes down to this battle. There's just something insanely cool and evil how the Emperor just sits there watching and laughing at his protege and his possible future protege duking it out.

2. Obi Wan vs Darth Vader in "ROTS": The Emperor had this whole thing planned out to a T. He played the strings perfectly, and almost had his victory...except he never figured that a wise old Jedi named Obi Wan would actually be able to nearly destroy the greatest of all force users. Because Vader was nearly destroyed in this battle, it sets up that the Emperor would continually search for a replacement in the OT.

3. Vader vs Luke 1 in "TESB": This is the darkest of all lightsaber battles. From the moment Luke shifts on his lightsaber, he is just completely out of his element and league against this Jedi. Had it been his plan, Vader could have sliced Luke up in about 5 seconds. But the greatness of this battle resides in that Vader is basically toying with Luke, trying to get him to come over to his side. Luke was never more out of his element than when Vader's sitting off to the side, tossing tool boxes at Luke.

4. Obi Wan vs. Darth Vader 2 in "ANH": This lightsaber is really only important because it a) brings apprentice and master back together again and b) is the fight where Obi Wan becomes one with the force. Obi Wan was easiliy outmatched, so he's all like, "You know, maybe this is the end of my road. Maybe I can help that scrawny kid out in the hanger bay if I....*swipe*" I ask you dear reader, does Obi Wan become a force ghost before or after Vader strikes him down. I like to think that he was already transformed before Vader even struck him. But it's up for debate.

5. Yoda vs. the Emperor in "ROTS": The only real importance of this lightsaber battle is to show that good and light are completely equal.

6. Darth Maul vs. Obi Wan in "TPM": Only real purpose is to show that the Sith are back, and that Obi Wan is a complete bad ass. This is by far the funnest and best choreographed lightsaber battle.

7. Obi Wan and Anakin vs. Count Dooku 2 in "ROTS": Important for two reasons; a) it shows the lengths to which Anakin would go against his better judgment and b) shows that he's progressed greatly from "AOTC."

8. Count Dooku vs. Yoda: This one's just friggin cool. Doesn't really mean much in terms of the saga, other than to show that Yoda can fight and that Yoda would sacrifice possibly ending the war, to save two of his students.

9. Obi Wan and Anakin vs. Count Dooku 1 in "AOTC": The only real purpose of this is to show that Obi Wan and Anakin are way out of their league. This is the set up, the fight in "ROTS" is the homer.

-----------------------------------------------------------

How I Rank the Space Battles:

like the lightsaber debate, I have to weigh the coolness of the battle with the importance to the saga.

1. The Battle over Yavin in "ANH": I can't see placing any battle over this one. In light of the PT, this battle takes on a whole new meaning. It's been, dark, dark, dark, and dark, but NOW we're going to finally strike a blow at you. I almost wish that they could add a scene or two of the Emperor receiving the news that his beloved battle station had been destroyed by some punk kid and his rebel friends.

The music is just phenomenal in this scene. My particular favorite moment of the space battle, except for the trench run obviously, is when the music's building and they're getting closer to the Death Star, and then they finally engage right as the London Symphony Orchestra's brass section begins this cool Fugue like section. If you're a fan, you know what I'm talking about, it's the goosebumps section.

The trench run is also just incredibly cool, because the rebels get a few runs at it. The first ones don't really work so much, so it all comes down to the new hope. As if the music cue wasn't enough to give one goosebumps, seeing Han Solo come out of nowhere to save the day is just hair stands on the back of the neck BAD FRIGGIN ASS.

2. The Battle Over Endor in "ROTJ": This is by far the most visually exciting of the SW space battles. I like how all sides lose some of their biggest ships. It was also incredibly cool seeing the Death Star taser some of the rebel ships into oblivion. How neat was it seeing an entire fleet of Imperial Star Destroyers just waiting on the outskirts of the battle, with the sole purpose of keeping them from escaping? This battle was just pure popcorn movie bliss. Seeing them fly THROUGH the Death Star was something that I never would have expected. Extra points the Millennium Falcon barely escaping a fiery death as Lando lets out his famous "Yeehaw."

3. The Battle Over Coruscant in "ROTS": The battle itself was pretty intense, with big cruisers firing on one another at point blank range. But what I like most about this battle is seeing how Obi Wan and Anakin fly in synchronous patters. You could tell that one trained the other, and that they had been doing this for quite a while. Obi Wan's dismount is bad ass.

4. Han and Chewie flee the Imperial Star Destroyers in "TESB": We finally get to see Han put some moves on "those Imperial Slugs." My particular favorite is when the bottom drops out, and those Imperial Star Destroyers almost destroy one another by bumping into each other.

5. The Battle Over Naboo in "TPM": I really thought that this was a cool battle, but I never *fully* bought that Anakin was capable of flying a ship like that. I was also more than a tad let down that he "accidentally" blows up the droid ship. What could have improved this scene is seeing him fly through the ship at a speed that no human could possibly do. That would have cemented his status as being the "best starfighter in the galaxy."

----------------------------------------------------------

My Favorite Scenes and Moments of the Trilogy

1. Luke fulfilling his destiny/Vader's redemption in "ROTJ": All the Jedi, all the Sith, all the Jawas and Jar Jars, all the lightsabers, and all the John Williams music boils down to this one scene, of Luke redeeming his father, defeating evil with love, and claiming his place amongst the Jedi.

With the PT now complete, we really gain an extra sense of the struggle taking place in Vader's helmet as he's watching his son get electrocuted by the Emperor. If we didn't know it before, we totally know all that is at stake in Vader's decision.

2. The Darth Vader vs Obi Wan Kenobi duel in "ROTS": From the moment Obi Wan sets out to track down and kill his student, to Obi Wan taking off in his jet after performing the deed, I was in an almost euphoric state of geekdom. Every word of dialogue spoken, every look of betrayel, I bought hook line and sinker. It was pretty emotional to watch Obi Wan stand over a burnt Anakin, and hear the betrayal in both of their voices. "I loved you like a brother." Good stuff.

3. The birth of Vader, intercut with the birth of the twins, intercut with Padme's death in "ROTS": I really don't mind the "NOOOO" anymore. It's not so bad. I think it was really genius of Lucas to have all three of those events happen at the same time. It really drove the point home that literally, no one here gets out unscathed. Vader is...well...Vader. Padme's dead. And the twins are escorted to their foster parents. Yep, sounds dark enough to me.

4. Vader's final charge, and the great revelation in "TESB": Right after Vader threw the toolboxes and Nintendo consoles at Luke, and Luke flew out the window, there's a scene where Luke is caught off guard by Vader. At this point, Vader just drives and drives Luke backwards, until the point where a handless Luke hangs onto a flimsy banister. I just like the intensity of seeing Vader and Luke duel over the long drop off on Bespin It's as intense a lightsaber battle as there can be.

The revelation is lessened for future generations now, but I think seeing the surprise in Luke's face is going to still be there.

5. The final trench run in "ANH": All other options had been attempted. It was now up to a rookie and his hapless buddies to make it happen. This was my dad's favorite scene of SW. He said that it helped him confirm his belief that it's okay to trust your feeling and instincts, even when everything and everyone is telling you otherwise. I couldn't agree more.

Han's triumphant return is one of the greatest single moments of the entire saga.

6. The Jedi extermination scene in "ROTS": This scene really gets to me everytime I see it. It's disturbing seeing all the good guys get their asses handed to them on a silver platter. The icing on the cake comes when it's implied that Anakin was so far gone as to kill the Jedi children. The music is brilliant in these scenes.

7. The Cave Sequence in "TESB": With "TESB" being the movie that puts the mythology into the SW universe, this is the scene that really drives the point home. The imagery has a spectral appearance, with the theme of the movie, and the saga, presenting itself with Luke's face appearing in the helmet.

8. Luke looking to the sunset in "ANH": We've all been there, eager to get out of our current situation, feeling the call of adventure. This image sums up that feeling perfectly.

9. Yoda explaining the "force" in "TESB": Without this scene, we would not be talking about SW almost 30 years after its release. This scene is like, everything you wanted to know about the force in 25 minutes.

10. Anakin leaving his mother in "TPM": And for people to say that the PT movies have no heart...phsaw. Then what the hell is this scene. Without this kid leaving his mother at such a young age, there is no Darth Vader.

11. Anakin finding his mother, killing the Tusken raiders, Yoda hearing Qui Gonn in "AOTC": Once this scene happens, everyone is really past the point of no return. The seed of Darth Vader had finally taken root, it was only a matter of time until the events of "ROTS" went down.

11. Han being put into carbonite in "TESB": This scene is the "kick 'em while they're down" scene. Not only is Luke getting ready to get his ass handed to him, but Han's going into hibernation. Didn't you get the memo? "I love you." "I know." CLASSIC.

12. The final scene of "AOTC": How cool was it seeing the Empire become the Empire? The music finally kicked into the Imperial theme that we all know and love.

-----------------------------------------------------------

that's all for now. if you made it through the lists, you are wise in the ways of geekdom. if not, then you're what they call...normal. :-)