Watching the Star Wars movies in order is a great way to prove you are one with the Force (the Force is with you). Whether your preference is to watch them in chronological order or release order, we've got you covered.
By watching the Star Wars movies in chronological order, you get to experience the Skywalker saga, as it happens, and you get the prequel trilogy (which scored poorly in our Star Wars movies ranked list) out of the way early on. However, if you choose to marathon your way through the greatest (in our opinion) franchise in cinematic history in release order, you get to relive the story as it was originally told.
If you don't have physical copies of all the movies, fear not, as Disney Plus is the home of all things Star Wars these days and you can stream all the movies and TV shows. They offer monthly and annual subscriptions, so if you're not looking for a long-term plan, you can get access for just enough time to make your way through all the top Star Wars content out there.
If all the Star Wars movies in order aren't enough for you to get your sci-fi fix, it could be worth checking out our guides for the best sci-fi movies and TV shows to stream on Disney Plus, Paramount Plus, Nextlix and Amazon Prime. Our guide also includes Star Wars TV shows, for added context and in case you want to watch those too. So, read on below to get the round-up of Star Wars movies in order. Oh, and one last thing: watch or watch not, there is no try.
If you want to watch all the Star Wars movies in chronological order then sadly your marathon starts with the very first (and pretty awful) prequel movie. And it doesn't get much more prequel than Darth Vader as a 10-year-old kid. This film sees Jedi Qui-Gon Jinn and his Padawan Obi-Wan Kenobi discover a slave boy on Tatooine called Anakin Skywalker who's chock full of Midi-chlorians.
Unfortunately, the Jedi council isn't keen on training the child as a Jedi. But, while trying to protect Queen Padm Amidala, Qui-Gon Jinn is killed by Sith Darth Maul and in honor of his memory Obi-Wan Kenobi promises to train the kid. Biiiiig mistake.
Anakin and Ahsoka eventually rescue Rotta, but Jabba tries to have them killed anyway, believing they're responsible for kidnapping him until Padm reveals what she knows. Jabba is so grateful, he signs the treaty with the Republic.
After Anakin rescues him, Chancellor Palpatine appoints him to the Jedi Council, but the Jedi are suspicious and order Anakin to spy on Palpatine. Padm reveals she's pregnant and Anakin starts to have nightmares of her dying in childbirth. Palpatine lures Anakin to the dark side with the promise of saving Padm's life, and orders the clone army to kill the Jedi, declaring himself Emperor.
Padm and Obi-Wan try to convince the new Darth Vader to return to the light side, but they fight which leaves Vader mortally wounded. Meanwhile, Padm dies giving birth to twins, Luke and Leia, and Obi-Wan decides to go into hiding with the children. Palpatine rescues Vader, giving him a suit to keep him alive, and telling him that he killed Padm.
They travel to Scarif, eventually finding the plans and transmitting them to the Alliance, but at great cost to themselves. As they die on the planet below, the plans eventually make their way into the hands of Princess Leia.
Not long after, Darth Vader captures Princess Leia, but not before she hides the plans in an R2-D2 droid who escapes to the planet Tatooine in search of Obi-Wan Kenobi. He's found by Luke Skywalker and takes him to Obi-Wan who reveals he knew Luke's father, claiming he was killed by Darth Vader.
Luke convinces Obi-Wan to let him help rescue the princess and the pair team up with smuggler Han Solo and his co-pilot, Chewie. They rescue Princess Leia and escape, but Obi-Wan is killed by Darth Vader in the process. After delivering the plans to the Alliance, Luke becomes a rebel pilot and helps destroy the Death Star.
Three years later, Darth Vader locates Luke, Leia, and Han on a rebel base on Hoth and sends his forces to destroy it. They escape, with Luke traveling to Dagobah to train as a Jedi under Yoda as Obi-Wan wanted, and Leia, Han, and Chewie taking the Millennium Falcon to Cloud City to ask Lando Calrissian for help. Unfortunately, Darth Vader is waiting for them and captures Leia and Chewie, giving Han to a bounty hunter who plans to sell him to Jabba the Hutt who's been after him for a while.
Luke surrenders himself to Vader who takes him to the Emperor, but when the Emperor cannot turn Luke to the dark side he tries to kill him. Vader, unable to watch his son die, kills the Emperor before dying of his wounds. With the Death Star unprotected, Lando and the rebel fighters destroy it and then everyone has a big party.
30 years later on Jakku, scavenger Rey finds droid BB-8 who claims to have a map to the missing Luke Skywalker. Along with defected stormtrooper Finn, they escape aboard the abandoned Millennium Falcon and are eventually found by Han and Chewie. Traveling to Takodana to make contact with the Resistance, Rey is captured by the First Order's Kylo Ren (actually Han and Leia's son who's been seduced by the dark side) and taken aboard Starkiller base.
Rey finds Luke in isolation, but he's not in the mood to help the Resistance, despite reluctantly giving her some Jedi training. Kylo and Rey realize they have a Force connection and Rey goes to him, believing there's still some good inside him.
Meanwhile, during a dramatic space battle, Vice Admiral Holdo sacrifices herself to save what's left of the Resistance, who escape to Crait. Kylo's master, Supreme Leader Snoke, orders him to kill Rey, but Kylo kills him instead and becomes Supreme Leader, as Rey escapes. He then attacks the Resistance only to be stopped by Luke who shows up at the last minute. The pair battle and Luke ultimately dies, but Rey manages to save everyone else.
Rey is continuing her Jedi training with Leia when they discover Palpatine has been resurrected. Rey, Finn, and Poe try to find him, with Kylo Ren in pursuit who eventually reveals to Rey that she's actually Palpatine's granddaughter. Meanwhile, Leia dies and feeling it, Kylo Ren finds his way back to the light side of the Force, reclaiming his identity as Ben Solo.
Rey goes to confront Palpatine, who demands Rey kill him so his spirit can transfer to her, but when she refuses he tries to drain her lifeforce. With the help of Ben, Rey eventually destroys Palpatine, but Ben dies saving her life.
Lauren is a sci-fi and fantasy geek through and through. She's passionate about the Marvel cinematic universe (MCU), but there's few sci-fi or fantasy worlds she hasn't visited whether that's through books (Dune), TV shows (Game of Thrones) or movies (Star Wars).
SnokeBiographical informationHomeworldExegol[1]BornBy 12 BBY,[2] Exegol[3]Died34 ABY,[4] Supremacy, Crait system[5]Descriptive informationSpeciesHumanoid genetic strandcast[6]GenderMale[7]PronounsHe/him[7]Height2.18 meters (7ft 2 in)[1]Hair colorWhite (eyebrows)[5]Eye colorBlue[8]Skin colorPale[9]Chronological and political informationAffiliation(s)
Snoke was a Force-sensitive humanoid genetic strandcast male who ruled the First Order as Supreme Leader during the New Republic Era. Possibly unaware of his true nature, Snoke was an artificial genetic construct created on the planet Exegol by the Dark Lord of the Sith and Galactic Emperor Darth Sidious and his Sith Eternal cult during the reign of the Galactic Empire. After Sidious' resurrection, Snoke's body held no use in the Sith Lord's goal for restoration, so was instead utilized by Sidious for his natural Force-sensitivity as a proxy he could manipulate for his Contingency. Though Snoke possessed an independent mind, he was obliviously influenced by his creator from afar.
During the last days of the Cold War, Snoke directed his apprentice to hunt and destroy Luke Skywalker, Ren's uncle and former Jedi Master, determined to complete the Great Jedi Purge with Skywalker's death as the last Jedi. Additionally, Snoke authorized a preemptive strike with Starkiller Base against the New Republic that destroyed the Galactic Senate and launched the First Order-Resistance War in 34 ABY. While pursuing his objectives to destroy both the Resistance and Skywalker, however, Snoke was assassinated by Ren, who sought to rule the galaxy as the new Supreme Leader.
By dying at the hands of his apprentice, Snoke's purpose for existence was fulfilled; Kylo Ren murdering Snoke and seizing power over the First Order as Supreme Leader was an act of ascension worthy of the Rule of Two, completing the final test laid out for him by the Sith Eternal. They had designed Snoke to mold and groom his student into a master of attack and cunning, testing his worthiness as an heir worthy of the Sith. In addition, such an event allowed Sidious to sidestep the Rule of Two, in which a dark apprentice slayed their master to obtain ultimate power and ascension within the dark side of the Force.
Snoke's creator was the Dark Lord of the Sith Darth Sidious, publicly known as Galactic Emperor Sheev Palpatine. Sidious and his cult of Sith loyalists, the Sith Eternal, experimented with cloning on the planet Exegol for several years prior to his demise at the Battle of Endor.[12] Secure in power as Emperor,[6] Sidious withdrew from the public eye and began to probe the secrets of the dark side.[1] In his quest for immortality, the Sith Lord and his followers experimented with cloning technology to extend his lifespan and sustain it indefinitely.[6]
While he sought immortality through science with his followers,[12] Exegol became the home to the most promising of Sidious' experimentations.[6] The Emperor believing that he could create anything, utilizing pain as "The Scalpel of Creation."[11] Darth Sidious had long sensed that Vader could turn back to the light side of the Force and betray him.[3] As a result, prior to his death, Sidious took precautions and had a clone of his original body created with modified Kaminoan cloning technology[13] in his Sith Citadel on Exegol.[6]
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