Star Wars: Ranking Every Final Battle From Worst To Best

Ever since the summer of 1977, no franchise has been more synonymous with the term blockbuster than Star Wars. And if there's one thing any big blockbuster worth their salt has to have, it's a big third act climax.

After carefully setting the stage throughout the first two acts of the film, the third act is where the filmmakers have to truly deliver the goods. It's the culmination of all that has come before it, where Luke Skywalker can become a hero by destroying the Death Star or where Anakin Skywalker can cement his turn to the dark side by trying to kill his former master. In Star Wars, a great final battle that capitalizes on all that came before it can turn a good film into a great one, and a weak final battle can leave everything that came before it feeling limp.

Throughout its forty-plus years of history, the Star Wars franchise has used many different ways to approach their big final battles for each respective film. Some are big and pointless, while others are intimate and affecting. With Solo now in theaters, it's a good time to take a look back at the franchise from a galaxy far, far away and see which ones delivered the third act goods, and which ones couldn't stick the landing.

This film's third act was the subject of some extensive reshoots, that seem to have ballooned the finale to a larger size than it was ever really meant to be. While the entire Rogue One crew is on the surface of Scariff, acquiring the plans to the Death Star, a gargantuan space battle rages above them. And often times, the film struggles to make them feel connected.

Funnily enough, as tacked on as it may feel, the space battle is easily the best part of this finale. The action on Scariff, centering around the core cast, is strangely light on substance. They never face more than a handful of troopers at a time, despite the fact they're invading an imperial base with literally hundreds of troops to spare, and even as all of the Rogue One team is killed off, it feels a bit rushed and not quite fully formed.

The end result is a finale that features a stunning space battle that has little to do with the first two acts of the film, and an on-the-ground battle that does tie into the rest of the film but just feels a bit limp.

And yes, the Vader hallway scene is magnificent and a real joy to watch. But it's also pure fan service and not really connected, thematically or narratively, to anything else in the film.