My Personal Ranking of Scifi Movies with "Star" in the Title (Patreon)

Yep, I'm giving my personal rankings of movies again, pretty much just because my 1979 Scifi Movies Rankings, 1980s Fantasy Movies Rankings, and Post-Apocalypse Movies Rankings have proved popular. But this time I am going to tackle scifi movies with the word "Star" in the title, including those from the franchises "Start Trek" and "Star Wars." I've seen a lot of people give their rankings of each franchise, but never one that says if The Phantom Menace is better of worse than Nemesis.

As always, I'm establishing some largely-arbitrary rules on what does and doesn't qualify for this list. As an objective requirement, only movies that got English-language theatrical releases are considered (limited releases count, festival-only screenings do not). Also, only movies with Star (or Stars) in the title as a separate word, so no DeepStar Six, Last Starfingter, Stargate, Starman, or Starship Troopers. (Although if there is an outcry, I'll add those and other compound-star-word titles people suggest.)

Subjectively, if a movie is primarily something other than scifi, with minor scifi elements, I'm excluding it (So, none of the post-apocalypse martial arts First of the North Star moves are on the list.). I give significant weight to if a movie breaks new ground, possibly even if I think later movies do it better by standing on the shoulders of giants. If a movie has been released with multiple different versions (extended editions, directors cuts, special editions, whatever) I rate only the original release -- so Star Wars is listed as Star Wars, without the 'A New Hope' added to it.

From most to least liked:

Star Wars

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan

Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back

Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi

Star Trek: First Contact

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

Dark Star

[First break point. I consider the movies above this to be GREAT scifi films, and will happily waste a lot of energy defending them over a root beer.]

Solo: A Star Wars Story

Star Wars: The Clone Wars

Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home

Star Trek III: The Search for Spock

Star Trek: The Motion Picture

[Second break point. I consider the movies below this line to be at-best FLAWED scifi movies, though I still enjoy a lot of them, and enjoy some part of all the ones from here to the next break]

Star Wars: Episode VIII – The Last Jedi

Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country

Star Trek

Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens

Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones

Battle Beyond the Stars

Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker

Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith

Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace

Invasion of the Star Creatures

[Third break point. I consider the movies below this line to be BAD scifi movies, though I still enjoy a few of them]

Star Crystal

Star Trek Beyond

Star Trek V: The Final Frontier

Night Without Stars

[Fourth break point. I consider the movies below this line to be TERRIBLE scifi movies, and have no interest in watching any part of any of them ever again.]

Star Trek: Insurrection

Riders to the Stars

Star Trek Generations

Star Trek: Nemesis

Star Odyssey

Star Kid

Star Trek Into Darkness

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