The Star Wars franchise has been around for nearly five decades, featuring some of the best cinematic stories of all time. From 1977 to 2025, there have been so many great movies, shows, games, books, comics, and more stories set in the galaxy far, far away. However, it’s fun to think about the best one from each decade.
The Star Wars galaxy is one of the most vast and interconnected franchises of all time. Despite having experienced multiple highs and lows over the years, most Star Wars fans will hopefully agree that the franchise has featured a truly exceptional project in every decade. With that in mind, here are our thoughts on the very best Star Wars story from each decade.
Star Wars (1977)
Luke Leia and Han Solo arm in arm and smiling at the end of Star Wars A New Hope
1977’s Star Wars was the movie that started it all, from the mind of creator George Lucas. Obviously, there aren’t very many other Star Wars projects released between 1977-1979 with which to compare A New Hope…other than the infamous Star Wars HolidaySpecial released in 1978.
Even so, the Star Wars galaxy likely wouldn’t exist in its current state or be as vast if A New Hope hadn’t been great. Being among the movie industry’s first true blockbusters, it’s also quite remarkable how well the movie holds up as the start of Luke Skywalker’s classic Hero’s Journey.
A groundbreaking film in terms of visual effects for its time, A New Hope will always hold a special place as the dawn of this mythical space opera of epic proportions we all love and adore.
The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
The ’80s has more projects for comparison, though The Empire Strikes Back easily takes the top spot as the best Star Wars project of the decade. Episode V is still considered to be one of the greatest Star Wars movies of all time, and is often cited as one of cinema’s most perfect sequels.
Featuring the Battle of Hoth as one of the best opening battle sequences, Luke Skywalker’s Jedi training with Yoda, and the major twist revealing that Darth Vader is Luke’s father, there are simply too many iconic moments in The Empire Strikes Back for it not to be considered the best story of this particular decade.
As culminating as Return of the Jedi is with Darth Vader’s redemption and Emperor Palpatine’s (first) defeat, most will agree it doesn’t deserve the top spot. The same goes for the Ewoks trilogy of made-for-TV movies. While they’re fun and nostalgic, The Empire Strikes Back is still the GOAT of the ’80s by a long shot.
The Phantom Menace (1999)
Qui-Gon Jinn, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Darth Maul clash lightsabers in The Phantom MenaceImage via Disney+
As an honorable mention, Timothy Zahn’s Thrawn trilogy of novels deserves to be credited as the series of books that kept the Star Wars fandom alive, having kick-started a major publishing boom that ensured fan engagement with the franchise remained strong through the ’90s (while also providing one of the best Star Wars villains ever).
However, 1999 saw the release of The Phantom Menace, a true cultural phenomenon, and the start of Lucas’ prequel trilogy. As groundbreaking visually for the late 90s as A New Hope was during the late ’70s, Episode I is easily one of the biggest spectacles in the entire franchise, featuring droid armies, high-speed podraces, sea monsters, double-bladed lightsabers, and more.
Likewise, The Phantom Menace’s narrative is such a critical part of the franchise, debuting the origins of Anakin Skywalker and his destiny as the prophesied Chosen One, as well as how the entire trajectory of his life changed following the movie’s ever-iconic “Duel of the Fates” and its unbeatable score from John Williams.
Revenge of the Sith (2005)
Darth Vader takes his first breath inside the mask in Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith.
While the Star Wars franchise features more and more projects within each new decade, there’s no doubt that the 2000s best project was 2005’s Revenge of the Sith.
The culmination of the prequel trilogy, Episode III revealed Anakin Skywalker’s tragic corruption into Darth Vader, while also showing the destruction of the Jedi Order and Republic with the rise of Palpatine’s Galactic Empire with the end of the Clone Wars.
Although the 2000s also gave us projects like 2002’s Attack of the Clones and multiple seasons of TheClone Wars, Revenge of the Sith is easily the best project of the decade, a major favorite among countless Star Wars fans.
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)
The 2010s brought us the dawn of the Disney era after George Lucas sold Lucasfilm to The Walt Disney Company in 2012. This resulted in a major boom of new movies and shows, notably including the sequel trilogy released between 2015-2019.
As The Clone Wars finally finished in 2019 with its final seventh season, we also got the four-season Star Wars Rebels animated series between 2014-2018.
Likewise, 2018 also saw the release of Solo: A Star Wars Story about the origins of Han Solo, while 2019 gave us the first season of The Mandalorian with the dawn of Disney+, the first in a series of live-action Star Wars shows that have been released ever since.
However, there can be little doubt that the very best Star Wars story of the 2010s was 2016’s Rogue One. Featuring the Rebels who gave their lives securing the Death Star plans for the Rebellion ahead of A New Hope, Rogue One was unlike anything we’d seen from the galaxy far, far away.
While it still felt like Star Wars, Rogue One’s unique focus on average heroes fighting for a free galaxy was immensely refreshing, as well as seeing one of Darth Vader’s most incredible action sequences at the movie’s very end. Additionally, Rogue One also inspired the spin-off series Andor, which is just as beloved and critically acclaimed (if not more so).
Andor (2022-2025)
Diego Luna in Andor
Speaking of Andor, the live-action series that first aired in 2022 and just ended with its second season in 2025 certainly deserves its place as the best Star Wars story of the 2020s (so far).
Currently, there have yet to be any Star Wars movies this decade (The Mandalorian & Grogu will be the first in 2026). Comparing the series to other shows released on Disney+ since 2020 (and even recent books, games, and comics), most Star Wars fans would agree that Andor has been the best story yet.
Ahsoka is definitely a close second, with The Mandalorian season 2, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Skeleton Crew being strong honorable mentions as well. Even then, many will argue that Tony Gilroy’s Andor is so much higher than all the aforementioned stories.
The writing and narratives at play are simply on another level, and the same goes for Andor’s brutal action and high-stakes as members of the Rebellion measure and face the true cost of resisting systematic oppression and galaxy-wide fascism.
Featuring dark tones and more mature themes, Andor is unlike anything we’ve seen from the Star Wars franchise, taking what made Rogue One so great and taking it even further, so much so that it’s hard to see if we’ll actually see anything like it again.
That being said, we still have five years to go in the 2020s with multiple upcoming Star Wars movies, shows, and more on the way. As such, it will be very exciting to see if any new Star Wars projects end up surpassing Andor (if it’s even possible).
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