Star Wars: Ranking Every Final Battle From Worst To Best

After stepping away from the world of filmmaking for roughly twenty years, George Lucas returned with 1999's The Phantom Menace, and he was hungry. This film sees Lucas at his most insanely ambitious, crafting a finale that one-ups the original trilogy's in terms of sheer scope.

A New Hope had a finale revolving around the Death Star trench run, Empire had a finale that cut between two key action sequences, and Return of the Jedi cut between three key action sequences. Phantom Menace sees Lucas cutting between four key action sequences: Padme's team infiltrating Theed, Jar Jar and the Gungans battling the droids, Anakin flying with the fighters to destroy the droid ships, and Qui-Gon/Obi-Wan duelling with Darth Maul.

The scope alone is worthy of praise, but each of these also works pretty well. The duel of fates is an obvious highlight, but each and every sequence holds up and pulls its own weight. On top of all of this, it's a fitting end to the film itself, thematically. The entire order of the galaxy is upset as the characters are forced to realize that the evil they thought they had long since evolved beyond is still very much alive and very much a threat.