Endings are obviously important, when it comes to making a movie, since you want to have the audience exiting whatever they’ve just watched on a high. If you’re making a blockbuster movie (say, something with a title that begins with the words “Star” and “Wars”), you’re probably going to want to go big with some kind of action-packed climax… or maybe even more than one; like, a single battle being fought on multiple fronts.
This can make picking out a “final battle” within each Star Wars movie difficult, since some focus on grand space battles, some have more intimate one-on-one duels, and some have a bit of both at the same time… plus more! Whatever the case, if some kind of action sequence appears as the final one in a live-action Star Wars movie, it gets counted here, and then ranked, starting with those disappointing or less-than-great final battles/fights/showdowns and ending with the all-time best ones.
As this article will discuss climactic action scenes, there will be spoilers.
11
‘Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker’ (2019)
Directed by J.J. Abrams
If there’s an excuse to criticize Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, it has to be taken. It’s too hard to resist. This is a Star Wars movie that does basically nothing right, and is filled to the brim with so much unending nonsense. The final scene might be worst of all, with Rey adopting the Skywalker name without earning it, but all the action that goes down shortly before that isn’t much easier to digest.
They went with a naïve “bigger is better” approach here, thinking that having the most spacecraft in any space battle would make it feel the biggest, but the whole thing is murkily shot, and it’s hard to know who all these newfound heroes are (the good guys didn’t really seem to put in the work inspiring the masses). The fight at ground level with the Emperor is as lame as him “somehow returning,” and not even the voice cameos from the Jedis of the past can inspire excitement. Then Rey kisses Kylo Ren before he dies? Shut up! Stupid movie.
10
‘Solo: A Star Wars Story’ (2018)
Directed by Ron Howard
If you can remember what happened at the end of Solo: A Star Wars Story, then you have a better memory than the person currently typing these words. Said word-typer knows whatever happened wasn’t as stupid or frustrating as what happened in The Rise of Skywalker, but at the end of the day, being forgettable is only slightly better than being bad. For all the other faults of the other Star Wars movies, at least it’s possible to remember aspects of the ending from all of them (seriously, look inside and scan your mental archives; you’ll find they are not incomplete).
Ah, okay. There’s not much combat. There was a heist sequence near the start of Solo that was kind of cool, but most of the finale just involves people double-crossing each other and then a few get shot. It’s a bit underwhelming, and maybe not even technically a fight, but it’s still better than The Rise of Skywalker’s climax, which should really say something about how lousy that one was.
9
‘Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones’ (2002)
Directed by George Lucas
If you had to give one director a little too much control with a Star Wars movie, that director may as well be George Lucas, since he created the series and all. He also directed four of the mainline movies, with Episode II: Attack of the Clones being the weakest of the bunch… but not the weakest of all the Star Wars movies, at least, what with that damn (and aforementioned) Episode 9.
This one is also tricky, since there’s a big arena fight near the end of Attack of the Clones, but the lightsaber fights that occur afterward do feel like a separate action sequence, so all the stuff with Anakin, Obi-Wan, Dooku, and (a very acrobatic) Yoda is counted here as this film’s final fight. And it’s not awful, especially if you like seeing Yoda at his most energetic, but parts of the fight are also a little murky, Christopher Lee isn’t the most convincing (considering his age), and a fight that ends with all four participants still alive (sure, Anakin is injured) is also possibly a little unsatisfying.
8
‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ (2015)
Directed by J.J. Abrams
Like with Attack of the Clones, it can feel a little awkward how the final battle in The Force Awakens ends with an injury, but no deaths. The gigantic base they’re fighting on cracks apart, preventing either Rey or Kylo Ren from definitively taking the other out, but also, The Force Awakens was picking things up after decades, and so having things end without one side dying makes some sense.
The ship fights going on at the same time are fine, if a little unimpressive for anyone who’s seen similar sequences in the original trilogy. That is the thing about much of The Force Awakens; it creates some heavy feelings of déjà vu. But, look, to focus on the positives… that part where the lightsaber flies through the air, and Rey reveals she’s the one who made it move, and then she goes to town on Kylo Ren, after we’ve seen what he did? It is an honestly quite cathartic moment.
7
‘Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace’ (1999)
Directed by George Lucas
If you’ve seen Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace’s climax, you’ll be quite aware that John Williams’ score does a great deal of the heavy-lifting. Though, to be fair, the action happening on multiple fronts throughout the film’s extended climax does represent the uneven The Phantom Menace at its best. For about half an hour or so, you get non-stop action, including a two-on-one lightsaber duel, guerrilla warfare in a city, combat up in space, and a large-scale battle in a field involving armies.
Tonally, these are all going for different things, which can make bouncing between them feel a bit weird, but it’s fun. It’s all quite big. It beats the hell out of the less exciting stuff in The Phantom Menace. Also, the Darth Maul fight in particular can’t be overlooked, and that Williams piece associated with it, “Duel of the Fates,” once heard, simply can’t be unheard.
6
‘Star Wars: The Last Jedi’ (2017)
Directed by Rian Johnson
Ah, yes, the Star Wars movie that causes absolutely no controversy whatsoever. The Last Jedi. The one that people have polite conversations about. Nah, for real, it’s easy to understand why some people don’t dig this one. The person writing these words loves the film, but understands it’s not a popular opinion, and can often see where The Last Jedi’s detractors are coming from.
It’s a film that does challenge, provoke, and, yes, subvert expectations. Some of that comes down to its final battle, which is visually stunning, with the salt planet and all, but all that fighting does end with a confusing interaction between Finn and Rose. Perhaps more divisive is Luke Skywalker’s unique sacrifice, and the way he “fights” the First Order without really being there. It’s a cool twist, and the sacrifice does take its toll on him, and all that’s something you’re going to be very moved by, or you’re going to feel frustrated and roll your eyes at it. Responses differ, and that’s okay. Please, take The Last Jedi’s placement here right in the middle of the ranking as a peace offering, of sorts, if you’re reading these words (thank you if you are. The person who types them, day after day, really does try his best).
5
‘Rogue One: A Star Wars Story’ (2016)
Directed by Gareth Edwards
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story does not exactly get off to a great start, especially if you’re watching it without the backstory that the Andor series later provided. Rogue One throws a ton of characters at you, then gradually gets them to form some sort of team, and then that team is tasked with retrieving the plans for the Death Star, with the success of such a mission meaning the Rebellion at the end of the first movie could properly destroy the damn thing.
The final fight, though, is one further piece of action that’s even stronger: Darth Vader slicing his way through dudes, coming this close to stopping the Death Star plans from being sent out of his reach.
The big battle sequence that takes up much of Rogue One’s final act is extremely compelling, and much better than the stuff in the film’s first half. The final fight, though, is one further piece of action that’s even stronger: Darth Vader slicing his way through dudes, coming this close to stopping the Death Star plans from being sent out of his reach. It’s Vader at his most physical and intimidating, briefly turning Rogue One into something of a horror movie, and a strangely effective one at that.
4
‘Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith’ (2005)
Directed by George Lucas
Another Star Wars movie directed by the creator of the series himself, Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith is a bit of an unusual one in the series, at least in terms of how it’s been received and reevaluated. In 2005, it stood out as the best of the prequels, quite comfortably, but in the last 20 years, respect for the movie has really grown, and some people will even call it a series highlight nowadays.
It’s understandable. This has the most happening of all the prequels, and of all the Star Wars movies, Revenge of the Sith goes the biggest emotionally. Pretentious as it might sound, the thing is operatic and knowingly melodramatic. The final lightsaber duel, therefore, is larger than life, and while some might find parts of it silly (it does really go on), the spectacle is undeniable, and the conflict – both internal and external – that you feel between Anakin and Obi-War couldn’t be higher, bolder, or more dramatic, really.
3
‘Star Wars’ (1977)
Directed by George Lucas
It’s hard to top the originals, when it comes to most things, and especially hard to top the originals when it comes to Star Wars. That being said, the original of the originals – 1977’s Star Wars – does not actually have the best action at its climax, but it’s still a contender. One has to take into account the film’s age, and just how amazing a space battle of this size would’ve looked on cinema screens back in the late 1970s.
The Death Star is the target of the final action sequence in the film, and taking it out takes time, with Luke Skywalker emerging as the one person who stands a chance at actually pulling off the impossible. You know what’s going to happen, of course, but it’s so cathartic when it does, and the quality of the special effects depicting what’s come to be known as the Battle of Yavin is, quite literally, out of this world impressive, for its time.
2
‘Return of the Jedi’ (1983)
Directed by Richard Marquand
Given Return of the Jedi had to wrap up the original trilogy as a whole, it’s kind of fitting that it had combat on multiple fronts all cut between throughout a large-scale and continually exciting climax. The effects used for the space scenes, revolving around the destruction of an unfinished Death Star, look even better here than they did in Star Wars (1977).
You get the Ewoks fighting, sure, but that’s kind of entertaining, if a bit silly. But it’s something and, all the while, the meat of the climax, so to speak, is the confrontation between Vader and Luke, now that the latter knows the truth about the former. The way they battle but then eventually form a union, and Vader turns on the Emperor, even though it kills him… it’s beautiful. Oh, and Luke channeling the Dark Side and almost killing his father before then? It’s Star Wars pretty much at its most emotional, cathartic, and – appropriately enough – climactic.