The "Star Wars" franchise is one of the best franchises of all time, but it has had its ups and downs over the years. In honor of the recent release of the new movie, we will rank the series from worst to first excluding the newest installment.

6. "Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace"

(Source: Movieposter.com)

This is by far the worst movie in the entire franchise; it has the most boring plot of a "Star Wars" movie. This movie Introduces one of the most hated and annoying characters in all of cinema in Jar Jar Binks, which is made worse when you realize he was supposed to initially have been the primary antagonist of all the prequels. The film takes far too much time discussing boring political matters.The film also criminally underuses Darth Maul, one of the coolest villains in the franchise, and immediately kills him off after one movie. Horrible screenwriting along with horrible acting doomed this movie to become the worst of the franchise.

5. "Stars Wars Episode II: The Clone Wars"

( Source: Wikipedia.com)

This film is bogged down by one of the worst romance ever put to film; the lack of chemistry between Hayden Christensen and Natalie Portman dooms this movie about their budding romance. Wooden acting from Christensen helps in ruining the back story of one of the greatest villains in all of cinema. The film does contain more action than the original and attempts to make a statement about the overallocation of power in politics, but much like everything in this film, the attempt falls flat.

4. "Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith"

(Source: Moviesfire.net)

The prequels were a dark time in the "Star Wars" universe and they mercifully came to and end with "Revenge of the Sith." Christensen's acting is as bad as ever, as what was meant to come off as anger and raw emotion comes off as pouty and whiny, taking away from the intended dramatic depth. This movie does finally let us see Yoda in action even if it is a CGI mess. This movie does give us a great fight between Obi-Wan Kenobi and Darth Vader. The prequels were a mess, but "Revenge of The Sith" was the best. While it had its problems, it was ultimately the most fun and, more importantly, the best of the prequels.

3. "Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi"

(Source: Wikipedia.com)

The conclusion of the original trilogy docks in as third on my list. The conclusion has a great beginning with the rescue of Han Solo finally seeing Luke as his Jedi best, and we get one of the most iconic moments in cinema with Leia in her bikini. The greatness of a new hope is diminished by the use of the Ewoks which was a blatant marketing ploy which undercut the movies by having teddy bears overpower trained soldiers. The ending with Darth Vader finally redeeming himself was a great and complete arc for the villain, but it isn't quite enough to vault the movie over the top two on our list.

2. "Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope"

(Source: Wikipedia.com)

The movie that started it all, "A New Hope" is one of the greatest and most influential films of all time. It introduces us to a host of great characters who we learn to love over the course of the trilogy. The only knock I can think to give to "A New Hope" is really the boring light saber fight between Darth Vader and Obi-Wan Kenobi, but that's only due to time and not to bad fight choreography, but when deciding between two great movies, it comes to splitting hairs.

1. "Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back"

(Source: Wikipedia.com)

"The Empire Strikes Back" is a rare example of a sequel being better then an original. Everything in "A New Hope" is expanded upon and improved in "The Empire Strikes Back." You also meet great new characters such as Yoda, Boba Fett, and Lando Calrissian. This in conjunction with the return of everything we loved from the original movies vaults "The Empire Strikes Back" to the top of my list of the greatest "Star Wars" movies of all time. Hopefully, "The Force Awakens" is closer to the original trilogy than the prequels.