Every Star Wars Movie Ranked From Worst To Best

6. Rogue One

Could a non-Skywalker Star Wars film work? That was the huge question facing Rogue One, the first standalone movie in the franchise and something of a risk. The answer was a resounding yes.

The film may have had some behind-the-scenes issues, with Tony Gilroy coming in for Gareth Edwards on the extensive reshoots that changed the ending, but unlike with a lot of modern blockbusters they mostly worked for the better. This is the first Star Wars movie to truly put the emphasis on the latter word, giving us a full-blown war movie with some galactic trappings.

It's one of the most stunningly shot movies in this galaxy to date, with great work from DP Greig Fraser, and features a bunch of new characters you come to care about by the end - most notably Donnie Yen's blind warrior Chirrut, and Alan Tudyk's hilarious, no-nonsense droid K-2SO. The action is superb, everything has weight, and it makes itself a story worth telling by how it connects to - and improves - A New Hope.

There are some problems with it, especially in the pacing department. The film takes a long time to get going, and you care about some of the characters more because of the situation they're forced into. Michael Giacchino's score is fine, but you can tell it was put together quickly, and Krennic is mostly wasted as a villain. But those issues are easier to ignore when it all comes together in the stunning final third, and gives us two things: Darth Vader unleashed in horrific fashion, and a new hope.