Few film franchises attract the same degree of love and attention as Star Wars.
Hell, just look at the $2 billion success story of The Force Awakens – a story overcome with nostalgia – and compare it to The Last Jedi, which angered a fair number of Star Wars viewers to the point where some were calling for a total redo. Ridiculous, of course, but it gives you some sense of the passion and at-times overbearing fervor that tends to swirl around Lucasfilm’s crown jewel. Even after all these years.
Speaking of the modern wave of Star Wars films, IGN recently hosted a straw poll to determine which of the modern movies – beginning with The Phantom Menace and ending with the recent Solo: A Star Wars Story – earned the highest number of votes among its readership.
Asked straight up to select their favorite (modern) Star Wars flick, 30,000 IGN readers cast their vote, with 40.8% naming Rogue One as the best of the bunch. Revenge of the Sith earned second place with almost 24%, while The Force Awakens was not so far behind (18.5%).
Interestingly, The Last Jedi scored just 9.7% of the vote, while Solo and Attack of the Clones notched 3.7% and 3.4%, respectively. But when all the numbers were tallied, it was Gareth Edwards’ inspired spinoff which stole the top prize. The question, really, is whether Rogue One will still be at the tip-top of people’s lists by Christmas, when Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is expected to reign supreme at the worldwide box office.
It’s possible, of course, but with so much riding on J.J. Abrams’ curtain call, we wouldn’t be too surprised if The Rise of Skywalker earned a special place in our hearts as the ninth and final installment in the Skywalker Saga.