There are two key elements when it comes to capturing a movie audience: the first is an opening scene that holds their attention long enough for the rest of the plot to intrigue them, and the second is the film's title. Without a properly catchy name, audiences might glaze over and skip to the next film on the marquee. Star Wars has enough of a visual legacy and a built-in audience to overcome setbacks that might endanger other films, which is that's a good thing, because not every film's title in its catalogue is the hit it should have been.
12) Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace
Star Wars' eagerly awaited return to the silver screen in 1999 was graced with a title that wasn't as exciting as the anticipation for the film. It's a pair of fearsome-sounding words that don't tell audience anything useful about the plot and leaves a lot of questions. The "menace" itself is actually the rise of Emperor Palpatine within the golden cradle of the Republic, which doesn't visibly happen until the third film. The one thing this ugly title gets right is how phantasmal it all is.
11) Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker
The editor inside anyone who's ever read Strunk & White's Elements of Style died a little bit when this title was revealed. It wields the Skywalker name in an attempt to draw attention, but without a grammatical article to help define what "Skywalker" means in this context, it's gibberish. Yes, there is a new Skywalker at the end of the movie, but it's not something the title helps to explain. Admittedly both The Rise of A Skywalker or The Rise of The Skywalkers would still feel awkward, but at least they would have made some sense.
10) Solo: A Star Wars Story
Solo: A Star Wars Story is a title that does the bare minimum. It works only because audiences already know who Han Solo is and are invested in his story. The Star Wars Story title tag becomes a bigger detriment here than with Rogue One, and the amount of sibilant vocal effects give the full title a snake-hissy, Golden Books sound. It's an effect that may subconsciously make the film feel younger than its crime-world plot dictates, and that could have fed into the generally baffled reception it received.
9) Star Wars: The Clone Wars
If the ensuing story had been narrated by documentary filmmaker Ken Burns, the title would have worked far better. The feature film introduction to Dave Filoni's much-loved Clone Wars series would have benefited from a warmer, more descriptive title that could prepare audiences for Ahsoka Tano's introduction and its Hutt-baby subplot. The bland title works for the cartoon since all of its episodes have useful subtitles, but it doesn't add much to the film.
8) Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones
There are clones and they are attacking, but contrary to the expectations delivered by the title, they will do most of their work in other Star Wars media. The title works as a generic descriptor but not much else, leaving the grim historical overtones of Palpatine's World War II-style slow rise of power hidden. With most of the plot dedicated to spycraft, romance, and political intrigue, this title is false advertising.
7) Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
This film's title is the best of the prequel trilogy, but the hard work had been already done to prepare audiences for it. As the thematic counterpart to The Return of the Jedi, the title's hint of the Sith taking their final advance on the Jedi adds the frightening portent the film needs, and the story lives up to it. As the first Star Wars film to garner a PG-13 rating, this savage-sounding title is the first shot taken to warn audiences that it's a good thing that the original films and their new hope is on its way after the finale.
6) Star Wars: A New Hope
The original film's title was just Star Wars until 1981 when a theatrical re-release appended A New Hope to the opening crawl. Star Wars as a title can't be judged because it's the foundation, an unassailable icon that's since forged decades of imagination. But A New Hope is a strong start as a title, all things considered. It implies, correctly, that the galaxy has been in a period of darkness, and that finally things are going to turn around for the billions of innocents under the Empire's watch.
5) Star Wars: The Last Jedi
The middle entry of the latest sequel trilogy has a title as forlorn and anxious as The Empire Strikes Back. The "last" indicates there's a precipice ahead where the entire legacy of the Jedi Order might fall apart, never to be reclaimed. And like Empire, there's a string of down notes in its plot that pave the way for the final film. The ending shot, which hasn't yet been followed up on, fights its own title in the hopeful way it should. These are the last of the Jedi — for now.
4) Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Brighter and punchier than the awful title the prequels opened with, The Force Awakens is as much describing the sea of fans eagerly awaiting new Star Wars movies as it's hinting at finally telling more stories of Jedi, both new and familiar. Though the franchise had been coming back to life in the years before the film's release with its animated entries The Clone Wars and Rebels, the new sequels were an event like none other. The title captured that energy well: short, but full of portent.
3) Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back
Nothing about this title sounds like good news, and that's what makes it work. With A New Hope giving the Rebellion a massive victory to rally around, it wasn't a surprise that the Empire would focus their efforts on their most visible heroes. This title prepared the audience for what was to be witnessed, though it was still shocking to see how powerfully the Empire regathered, and just how central its dark leadership would become.
2) Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
Ignoring the Star Wars Story appellation, Rogue One works as a title in a way Solo didn't. The word "rogue" itself carries quick-moving, sketchy connotations that are rarely used to describe heroes. The interesting thing is that the Rogue One crew aren't heroes — not in the way Star Wars has previously defined them on the big screen. They are prepared to do their worst to serve the best outcome, and the title successfully evokes that notion. This title is a quality label for a standalone film.
1) Star Wars: The Return of the Jedi
The original trilogy ended on a thrilling high note, and the title promises exactly what the story had been building towards. The Jedi are no longer a half-forgotten myth. Through Luke Skywalker's youth and drive, the Order is alive once more. After the bittersweet final minutes of The Empire Strikes Back, hope comes roaring back alongside Skywalker's lightsaber. Upon hearing a title like this one, audiences showed up rooting for the good guys and left yearning to know more about the fates of their heroes. It was the exact right way to ring out the original Star Wars trilogy.