The Worst Star Wars Movie Ever

Six movies. 358 books. 138 video games 4.4 trillion dollars in gross earnings from ticket sales alone.

Star Wars is by far the most critically acclaimed and commercially successful film franchise of all time. The ability to capture the imagination of not millions, but billions of people worldwide for more than one third of a century is nothing short of astounding. A popularity that stands the test of time, coupled with rave reviews from critics put Star Wars in a class all by its own.

At least it was critically acclaimed. Before the dark times. Before the LucasFilm Empire. What started with pointless and/or sinful special edition "edits" soon snowballed into a disaster that shall forever be known as the "Phantom Menace."

As a 17 year-old in 1999 who grew up on the VHS tapes of the original trilogy, I was excited. We were all excited. Then we were disappointed. Disappointed led to anger. Anger led to the dark side of not bothering to watch Episode II: Attack of the Clones. The question beckons: Which is these two is the worst Star Wars film ever made? I await vote, but first, hear my thoughts.

I sat through The Phantom Menace, annoyed with Jar-Jar, unimpressed with Anakin, and baffled by the inexplicable regression of technology that somehow takes place between the prequels and the original trilogy. I had hopes for Attack of the Clones.  These hopes faded faster than the time it takes the Millennium Falcon to do the Kessel Run when legions of disappointed fans left the theaters expressing their dismay. A terribly written love story. A comical, farcical light saber battle is the film's stirring conclusion. I could go on, but I won't. The sins of both movies are to well-known and well documented to be repeated here.

Personally, my vote goes to Attack of the Clones, in that I found this film to be utterly unwatchable. It has no saving graces. None. Darth Maul is an entertaining villain, and the culminating scene between Maul, Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan is exciting. It's exciting to watch real actors engage in a light-saber battle to the death.

Less exciting is watching an animated version of Yoda grab a light saber and "fight" the aged and almost immobile Christopher Lee. Why does Yoda need a light saber? He can lift a spaceship and fly it using his power of the Force! "Your weapons," he says, "You will not need them." One can say the same thing about Attack of the Clones.

Episode II, from start to finish, is completely unnecessary, not only as a film, but as any sort of connection to the canonical Star Wars Universe.