STAR WARS Red Five

The Star Wars series' opening shots ranked and rated, from The Phantom Menace to The Force Awakens

It might not be the order you're expecting...

©  Lucasfilm

The openers to the Star Wars films are always a bit tingly. They're iconic and they follow a pattern, but each is different. So which is the best? 

We've ranked the crawls and the first shots - the point up to the first cut - in reverse order of greatness for excitement, coherence and out-and-out coolness. Remember, it's only the first shot we're ranking and not the quality of the film itself. 

Let the Star Wars openers wars commence!

7. Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace

The crawl:

Both the most boring and the most convoluted of the Star Wars crawls. Blah blah turmoil. Blah blah taxation. Blah trade routes. Not exciting, although it does mention that a couple of Jedi Knights have been despatched to have a debate about shipping or something. Commerce Wars, more like.

The shot:

A glossy purple CGI spaceship (a consular-class space cruiser) zips past the camera and approaches the stationary fleet of Lucre-class battleships. Overly shiny yet somehow dull… 

6. Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones

The crawl:

Unrest in the Galactic senate… A separatist movement is forming under Count Dooku, making it hard for the Jedi to keep the peace… Senator Amidala is returning to the Senate to vote on the issue of An Army Of The Republic. OK, it's got an army in it and a queen too, but if Menace's crawl was all about commerce, then Clones's is about politics. Snore.

The shot: 

Pan up on the bottom of the planet Coruscant. A sparkly yellow CGI Naboo fighter zooms over the camera, followed by a very shiny Royal Cruiser and a couple more fighters. Like Menace, it's video game-glossy but just not all that interesting. There no emotion. 

5. Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back

The crawl: 

It's a dark time for the rebellion with rebel forces driven all across the galaxy. Luke Skywalker has established a new base on the ice world of Hoth, meanwhile Darth Vader is desperate to find Luke and has sent out his probes! Familiar faces, cool location but not wildly revelatory…

The shot:

The shortest of the openers, the first cut comes very early. Pan down. A star destroyer floats across the sky towards the camera (like a reverse angle of A New Hope, below) getting closer and closer and then… cut. 

4. Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens

The crawl:

Luke's vanished, new enemy The First Order has risen and is trying to destroy Luke, who they assume is the last Jedi. Leia's running the resistance and hunting for Luke, sending her best pilot to Jakku for clues. It's the perfect mix of the old and new - familiar faces, daring pilots, old friends and a good vs evil structure that mirrors and updates A New Hope.

The shot:

The black silhouette of a Star Destroyer cuts across the planet Jakku in this simple nod to A New Hope. Elegant and simple, it felt like JJ Abrams was telling the fans they were in safe hands - the absolute opposite of the empty flashiness of the prequels.

3. Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi

The crawl: 

Luke's gone back to his home planet to rescue Han from the "vile gangster" Jabba the Hutt. The Empire are building a new space station that's going to be even more powerful than the Death Star - a weapon that'll spell certain doom for the Rebels. It's got all the drama, all the tension, all the best people in it and certain doom for our heroes! Brilliant teaser for the third part of a trilogy (as it was then).

The shot:

It's a deliberate echo of A New Hope. Only this time when the Star Destroyer creeps across the screen, Darth Vader's shuttle pops out of the bottom. In the background, you can see the new Death Star.  And if that's not an omen of doom and a fitting full circle for the set, then we don't know what is.

2. Star Wars Episode III: Revenge Of The Sith  

The crawl:

After the underwhelming crawls at the starts of I and II, ep III finally upped its game. "War!" it begins, before telling us that Evil is everywhere and there are heroes on both sides. Exciting! This crawl also explains General Grievous's audacious kidnap of Chancellor Palpatine and that two Jedi Knight are coming to rescue him. Great set-up.

The shot:

The longest by far of all the openings begins like the others with a pan down through space, this time to a sunrise and a Republic cruiser gliding along majestically, followed by two Jedi star fighters zipping past together. Rather than cutting away, though, this progresses into a long fluid tracking shot as we follow the star fighters into the heart of a space battle packed with ships, laser fire and explosions spinning us like we're on a roller-coaster through the action, and finally focusing on R2-D2. Lovely bit of VFX showcasing, sticking two fingers up at the ep I and II haters, perhaps.

1. Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope 

The crawl:

Introducing Rebel spaceships, the evil Empire, The Death Star and Princess Leia (all of which had no context at all at this point) was a bold move and could have been potentially alienating for audiences. But the whole concept of the crawl - and the opening line, "A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away" - was so tantalising that we can't help but adore this opening.

The shot:

Pan down. Space. Planets in the foreground and background over the horizon of a third. A small Rebel ship whizzes past the camera as lasers shoot at it from behind. Then: ominous and massive, a Star Destroyer hoves into view from on top of the screen and just keeps coming till it fills it. Portentous, operatic and, as a metaphor for the persecution of the little guy by the evil overlords, it's pretty much perfect. *Shivers*