Earlier this week, Lucasfilm dropped the third and final trailer for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. For fans, now is the time to revel in excitement and speculation—because if the Prequels taught us anything, it might not get any better than this.
With Rogue One set to hit theaters on December 16th, I decided to go back and re-rank all the Star Wars teasers and trailers from worst to best.
It's important to note that this is not a ranking of the Star Wars films but the previews themselves, both in terms of their initial effectiveness and how well they hold up today. (For brevity's sake, I chose not to include TV spots.)
So, without any further ado... punch it, Chewie.
22) 'Attack of the Clones' Teaser: "Forbidden Love"
It probably says something about Attack of the Clones that it needed not one but three teasers to explain what the hell was going on. This one, titled "Forbidden Love," was by far the worst, focusing on the abysmal romance between Anakin and Padme. Actually, the only way it could have been worse is if they included that shot of Jar Jar smiling directly at the camera. (Yes, that actually happens in Episode II, at around the 9:45 marker. I'll wait while you check...)
21) 'Attack of the Clones' Teaser: "Mystery"
This one falls in the same camp as "Forbidden Love." In this teaser, we get a jumble of non-Battle of Geonosis shots with John Williams' "Duel of the Fates" playing over it as if to say, "Better or worse?"
20) 'Star Wars' Trilogy: Special Edition Trailer
The conceit of the Special Edition trailer is actually pretty cool, opening on a tiny, analog TV that plays clips from the original Star Wars, followed by a montage of full-picture, digitally enhanced footage. Which is great, except for the fact that 1996 CGI looks like bantha poodoo. Nowadays, this trailer is just a painful reminder of all the unnecessary changes the Original Trilogy went through, like the PS2-level graphics in the Jabba the Hutt deleted scene. (Don’t worry, they were upgraded to PS3 graphics for the DVDs
19) 'Star Wars' Re-Release Trailer
In case you forgot the title of the movie, this 1981 re-release trailer should refresh your memory.
18) 'Return of the Jedi' Trailer
As great as the Original Trilogy is, most of the films' theatrical trailers are pretty underwhelming by today's standards. Looking back, Return of the Jedi's trailer wasn't all that exciting, but the nostalgia is strong in this one. It also shows Luke's lightsaber as both green and blue, before it was changed to just green for the final cut of the movie.
17) 'The Empire Strikes Back' Trailer
Of all the trailers, this was probably George Lucas's favorite; his infamous motto "Faster! More intense!" comes to mind while watching it, which isn’t helped by the old-timey, vacuum-cleaner salesman voiceover (provided by Harrison Ford himself) and characters losing their balance constantly. (Seriously, count the number of pratfalls in this.) My favorite part is how it cuts to every single two shot of Han and Leia when the vacuum guy mentions an "epic of romance." (Well, that and Luke and Leia getting their twincest on.) To its credit, the Empire trailer does show some restraint by not spoiling any of the Yoda stuff.
16) 'Star Wars' Trailer
Lucasfilm's first full trailer for Star Wars is pretty straightforward: plot synopsis, voiceover, cast rundown and a big explosion at the end. However, it's most noteworthy for giving fans their first taste of John Williams' iconic score, which puts it slightly ahead of the Empire and Jedi trailers.
15) 'Revenge of the Jedi' Teaser
The Revenge of the Jedi teaser isn't so much memorable for its content—which is similar to the final trailer's—but for its famed title change. The story goes that screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan thought Return of the Jedi was "a weak title," so Lucas changed it to Revenge of the Jedi during production. However, he later decided that a Jedi wouldn't seek revenge, and he switched it back to his original title for the final release.
14) 'The Empire Strikes Back' Teaser
This one is notable for only featuring concept art by Ralph McQuarrie, including paintings of Luke's final confrontation with Vader and introducing "Landau" Calrissian! While not the most heart-pounding teaser, it's definitely unique in that there's no actual footage from the film.
13) 'Attack of the Clones' Trailer
Eventually, Lucasfilm came out with a proper Episode II trailer, giving fans their first glimpse at the clone troopers in action. While some fans were skeptical after The Phantom Menace—rightfully so—the prospect of 200-plus Jedi fighting alongside an army of proto-stormtroopers was hard to resist. However, the trailer may have also given too much away, as it revealed pretty much every plot point of the movie.
12) 'The Phantom Menace' Trailer
To this day, the Episode I trailer is one of the best examples of how to polish a turd. At the time of its release, the film was one of the biggest disappointments in cinema history. (Critically, that is. It made bank at the box office.) To some fans, The Phantom Menace "ruined" their childhood. Personally, I enjoy the movie, but that's another article for another time. In any case, if there's one thing we learned from Episode I, it's that a skilled editor can make any movie look good when it's cut down to two and a half minutes.
11) 'Revenge of the Sith' Teaser
As the presumed final chapter of the Star Wars Saga, Revenge of the Sith kicked off its marketing campaign with a nostalgic teaser that went straight to the source: Obi-Wan Kenobi describing the Jedi and the fall of Anakin Skywalker. Of course, the highlight here was seeing Darth Vader for the first time since Jedi. If only we had known he was only slotted for eight measly minutes of the film...
10) ‘Rogue One’ Trailer #1
Perhaps the most striking thing about the first trailer for Rogue One is its gorgeous cinematography. Director Gareth Edwards and DOP Greg Frasier understand the sublime better than most filmmakers, and the way they juxtapose the massive and the minuscule is pure artistry—from the tiny Star Destroyers hovering around the Death Star to Rebel soldiers firing up at AT-ATs. Granted, the trailer doesn’t give you much in the way of Jyn’s importance, and the blatant one-liners are a bit at odds with the trailer’s darker tone, but—hey, look, Darth Vader’s helmet!
9) 'The Force Awakens' Teaser #1
The first Force Awakens teaser wasn't quite as celebrated as the next two previews (more on those later), but it was still new Star Wars dammit! Made up of only about eight shots, this teaser gave fans just enough to whet their appetites, including the much-ballyhooed crossguard saber and a money shot of the Millennium Falcon. This was a "teaser" in every sense of the word. No more, no less.
8) 'Rogue One' Trailer #2
Rogue One’s final trailer provides some much-needed context for the story, even if—like the other Rogue One trailers—it doesn’t explicitly say what time period it’s in. (Believe it or not, some casual moviegoers still think they’re watching a trailer for Episode VIII.) In addition to finally showing us why Jyn is picked for the main mission (because of her father, who helped create the Death Star), this trailer boasts some great action moments and a heart-pounding score to match.
7) 'Rogue One' Teaser
From the start, we knew that Rogue One was going to be a different kind of Star Wars movie, but we didn’t really know how different until the first teaser showed us a galaxy without Jedi, without black-and-white conflict. At the same time, this footage is packed with classic Star Wars imagery: stormtrooper helmets, Star Destroyers, the Death Star, etc. It also makes great use of the Imperial alarm, which acts as a kind of metronome for the latter half of the teaser. (That’s not to mention the dueling Force and Imperial March themes at the end.)
6) 'Attack of the Clones' Teaser: "Breathing"
Remember those godawful Attack of the Clones teasers I mentioned earlier? Well, one of those actually didn't suck, and it was this one. Punctuated by the sound of Darth Vader's breathing, this teaser remains one of the series' best—even though Vader himself doesn’t show up in Episode II.
5) 'The Force Awakens' Trailer
Seriously, what's not to love about this trailer? Between Kylo Ren's menacing stance, Han Solo speaking like a true Force convert, and the chilling new arrangement of Han and Leia's theme, this trailer has something for just about everybody. Plus, it didn’t give away any of the film’s major plot points, which is a rarity in trailers these days.
4) 'Revenge of the Sith' Trailer
I like to think of this trailer as the actual movie rather than just a preview of it. So many potentially great moments—like Palpatine getting ready to fight four freaking Jedi at once. “Are you threatening me, Master Jedi?” Oh, the possibilities of that moment! Unfortunately, that fight turned out to be a bust, which, over time, has become my opinion of the whole movie. Still, nothing reminds me of what Episode III might have been quite like this trailer.
3) 'The Phantom Menace' Teaser
Let's be real, the Phantom Menace teaser was an event unto itself. It famously screened before Meet Joe Black, Wing Commander and The Waterboy, boosting all three of their ticket sales. And much like the Episode I trailer, this teaser made the movie look awesome. I mean, in retrospect, we should have known that no amount of blades on Darth Maul's lightsaber would make up for the abomination that is Jar Jar Binks... but those were simpler times.