Star Wars: Ranking All The Movie Endings From Worst To Best

8. Episode I: The Phantom Menace

The anticipation ahead of the return of Star Wars for Episode I in 1999 was palpable and the film was never likely to live up to the high expectations. Even so, people expected something a lot better than this tedious mess of a movie, with its over-reliance on CGI effects and a complete lack of character or plot development.

While Episode I is not the worst Star Wars movie (more on that in a second), it does feature the worst ending of any of the films. Some have criticised J.J. Abrams' The Force Awakens for aping the original Star Wars too much but no film is more guilty of that than The Phantom Menace, which features a familiar space battle against the Federation, a climactic lightsaber duel (which is, admittedly, one of the few highlights of the film), and a celebratory ceremony.

Essentially, the ceremony at the end of Phantom Menace is a complete rehash of the medal ceremony at the end of the original Star Wars, with some Return of the Jedi celebrations thrown in for good measure - only with more pointless CGI. Plus, the sight of Padme awarding a gift of friendship to the Gungans only served to infuriate the majority of the audience, given that they (and Jar Jar especially) are the most irritating characters in the Star Wars universe.