Every Star Wars movie reviewed

Read former Sun-Times film critic Roger Eberts’ reviews of the original six movies, starting with 1977’s Star Wars: Episode IV — A New Hope, which he gave four out of four stars:

The movie relies on the strength of pure narrative, in the most basic storytelling form known to man, the Journey. All of the best tales we remember from our childhoods had to do with heroes setting out to travel down roads filled with danger, and hoping to find treasure or heroism at the journey’s end. In “Star Wars,” George Lucas takes this simple and powerful framework into outer space, and that is an inspired thing to do, because we no longer have maps on Earth that warn, “Here there be dragons.” We can’t fall off the edge of the map, as Columbus could, and we can’t hope to find new continents of prehistoric monsters or lost tribes ruled by immortal goddesses. Not on Earth, anyway, but anything is possible in space, and Lucas goes right ahead and shows us very nearly everything.

• Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back ★★★★
• Episode VI: Return of the Jedi ★★★★

Prequel trilogy:

• Episode I: The Phantom Menace ★★★½
• Episode II: Attack of the Clones ★★
• Episode III: Revenge of the Sith ★★★½

See below for Sun-Times film critic Richard Roeper’s reviews for the sequel trilogy, anthology films and TV series.

Sequel trilogy:

• Episode VII: The Force Awakens ★★★★
• Episode VIII: The Last Jedi ★★★½
• Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker ★★★

Anthology films and TV:

• Rogue One ★★★½
• Solo ★★★½
• The Mandalorian ★★★½