My Top 10 Favorite Star Wars Action Scenes

  When you have the word “WARS” in the title, you know you’re going to get some awesome Sci-Fi action set-pieces, and epic battle scenes. With twelve theatrical movies now, and so many thrilling highlights, I felt the time was right to look back at some of the best action scenes to come from this classic franchise. So, here’s a little list of my personal top 10 favorite action scenes from the theatrical “Star Wars” film series, which will include the animated 2008 movie “The Clone Wars” , as that was released in the theater. 

Now, I better set some ground rules first, before I begin my countdown. I'm not going to include any straight-forward light-saber duels, as I've already got a ranking of favorite Light-Saber Duels this month. I’ve also ranked all the Climax’s, so no final battles will be included on this countdown. For this post, I'll be covering action ranging from ground assaults, to space battles, to chase scenes, to brawls in the interiors of a space ship, and there will still be fight’s that involve Lightsaber’s, they just won’t be direct duels with an opponent using the same weapon. With all that said, here are my personal Top 10 Favorite Action Scenes from the “Star Wars” film series.

#10 Escape from Jakku (The Force Awakens)

The action scenes in "The Force Awakens" are some of the best shot yet. Whenever, the action in this movie reeves up, the focus is always on the characters, while the spectacles are in the background without being distracting, and that's when action is done right. Case in point, one of the films best scenes is when our heroes are on board the Millennium Falcon, battling attacking fighters while on the surface of a desert planet. We see them flying through the interiors of a downed ship, there's some fun banter between our hero's, and the build-up to this escape is also top notch. There's an awesome moment when a cannon on the ship is locked in one position, yet through some skilled flying, their still able to take out their attacking target. It's just a really fun scene, and one of my favorite space ship chases.

#9 Battle of the Blockade Runner (A New Hope)

It's the classic opening of the first movie, and technically the first action scene of the whole series. When Princess Leia's ship attempts to flee with the plans of the Death Star, her ship is attacked by Imperial forces, leading into arguably the most iconic laser gun shoot-out in film history. The simplicity of this scene is what makes it work, we have invading troopers, and soldiers making a desperate last stand in an effort to fight them off. The tension and build-up before the shooting even begins is likewise riveting, and gets us hooked from the start. The one down-side is that it doesn’t really feature any of our main characters, so it puts this shoot-out a little lower on my list. It may not be a battle on a big scale either, but it's still one of the franchises most memorable scenes.

#8 Monastery Siege (The Clone Wars)

The battles in the animated “Clone Wars” movie are mostly boring and repetitive, but the movie still isn't without some noteworthy highlights. When our heroes undergo a mission to rescue a kidnapped infant, it leads to an especially fun assault on an enemy base hidden in the ruins of a monastery. The base is on the top of a cliff side, which leads into a siege with armies and war machines fighting vertically on the side of a mountain … I can’t say I’ve ever seen anything like that before. The battle itself is very creative with its vertical set piece, and takes full advantage of what the characters can do. It's all very over the top, but extremely entertaining, and with a rocking soundtrack to boot.     

#7 The Chancellor Rescue Mission (Revenge of the Sith)

I honestly hesitated to include this on my countdown, as it's not just one action scene ... it's several spread throughout the opening thirty minuets of the movie. When the evil droid General Grievous captures the Republic's leading Chancellor, our two Jedi heroes Obi-Wan and Anakin set-off on a mission to rescue him. What follows are massive space battles, sneaking aboard the enemy ship, close quarter combat with battle droids, a big confrontation with the villain, and finally ... crashing the ship back on their home planet. Needless to say, the action in this opening cooks ... and really kick's things off with some high-energy.     

#6 Brawl on Jabba’s Sale Barge (Return of the Jedi)

As our heroes are about to be executed at the hands of the sinister Jabba the Hutt, Luke Skywalker pulls a fast one on his captures, and leads his friends in an awesome revolt against the slimy gangster. I’m not entirely sure what it is about this fight that I love so much, it’s just so simple, and doesn’t feel as over the top as other battles from the series. This is actually the first time we see Luke Skywalker bust out his light-saber in a fight, not including duels with Darth Vader. The location is good, every main character is helpful in some way, and the stakes are higher as there all battling over a monster pit with a worm creature at their heels. There’s also a lot of little things that highlight this fight, we see Boba Fett make his last stand, we see Princess Leia kick some butt, and it’s a refreshing change-up to see our heroes battle Jabba’s soldiers, as opposed to the Empire for once.

#5 The Train Heist (Solo)

“Solo” was one of the first movies in the franchise to drop the big battle scenes in favor of action that felt tighter, more contained, and it did a great job putting me right in the action. My favorite action set piece by far was the train heist, which closed out the first act of the film. When our team of anti-hero’s find themselves in debt to a crime boss, the race is on to steal valuable fuel from a train to clear the debt, and they’d better hurry before a rival gang beat them to the prize. This scene was very creative, with a train that operates like a roller-coaster, multiple adversaries shooting at our heroes, high stakes, and lots of tense choreography as characters-maintained balance on the vehicle. The music is likewise riveting, and the visual effects on display are top-notch. Also, I’ve always loved chases that involve more then one threat, and this sequence features Han and team fighting off both Pirates and the Empire, which help raise the stakes. It’s fast, it’s exciting, and stands as my favorite chase sequence in the “Star Wars” line-up.

#4 The Asteroid Chase (The Empire Strikes Back)

Of all the space ship chase in the series, nothing thrills me more than the classic asteroid field chase in "The Empire Strikes Back". While our hero's try to outrun attacking enemy ships, Han Solo dares to fly through a dangerous asteroid field. The music, the imagery, the pascing … this whole sequence is just a work of art. I mean holly cow, we have ships dog fighting in a canyon...in outer space, that’s awesome! When it comes to battles among the stars, this is one of the franchises shining moments. It’s also cool to have a Spaceship-fight that can stand out without being part of the main climax.

#3 Obi-Wan Kenobi vs. Jango Fett (Attack of the Clones)

While Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi is on the trail of a murder mystery plot, his search leads him into a confrontation with the armored Bounty Hunter Jango Fett, who’s packing more than enough fire power to take on a Jedi. This is a very unique one-on-one duel, as one player isn’t fighting with a lightsaber, but that’s also what makes it so special. Personally, I think this is one of the greatest duels in the whole series, like top 5 best easy. It’s such a treat to see a non-Jedi warrior put up a fight against a Jedi master with nothing but combat skills, and lots of explosive toys. The rainy Kamino platform was also an excellent location for these two to fly around, jump all over the place, and it’s just really cool to see a fight take place outside in a rain storm. Bounty Hunters in general haven’t always gotten the chance to shine in the action, so it helps make Jango Fett stand out as one of the coolest for holding his own against a Jedi.

#2 Rey and Ren Versus the Pretorian Guards (The Last Jedi)

During this installment of the Star Wars saga, the vileness Kylo Ren has taken our lead heroine Rey captive, and presents her before his vile master Snoke. Much to my surprise and delight, Kylo Ren refuses to follow the orders of his master and slays him, which leads into a battle with his remaining Pretorian Guards. Oh Boy ... time for a Hot-Take ... as a highlight a much debated scene from a much debated movie. While I'm aware of the many continuity and staging flaws on display with this sequence ... it's just not enough to spoil the novelty of seeing our main protagonist and lead antagonist team-up for an all-out brawl against heavily armed guards. 

We’ve seen Jedi slice through brainless droids before, but these guards really made for exciting obstacles for our characters to face, as they had the means to combat light-sabers. The setting, the kills, the relentless energy, and even the long takes on display … it’s all one big feast for the eyes, and honestly one of my favorite fight scenes in all of “Star Wars”. While the long takes do regrettably show-off some flaws in the staging, I still prefer it over the rapid-fire editing that characterized action scenes in the early 2000's. For me, beyond being a riveting spectacle, it’s simply the novelty of just seeing a hero and villain team up for once, and give us a fleeing hope that maybe the enemy can reform ... which he doesn't ... but it's still riveting in the moment. 

Before I reveal my #1 favorite, here are some honorable mentions ...

Luke vs the Rancor (Return of the Jedi)

The Kessel Run (Solo)

Finn vs Captain Phasma (The Last Jedi)

The Speeder Bike Chase (Return of the Jedi)

The Attack on Takodana (The Force Awakens)

#1 The Battle of Hoth (The Empire Strikes Back)

While the Rebels plan to evacuate their base, the Empire lunches a full-scale ground assault on their outpost. This is a rare case in which the most epic battle of the movie is in the first half hour as opposed to the climax, and it’s even more rare for featuring the villain’s triumph over the heroes. Of cores, the big showstopper are the giant imperial walkers. Without a doubt, these are the coolest battle vehicles I’ve ever seen in a motion picture, and the effects for them still hold up today. The music is sensational, the cinematography is great, I honestly don’t need to say anything else, you’ve all seen this, and you know how awesome it is. This is the classic Sci-Fi movie battle that helped make “The Empire Strikes Back” a triumph over the original, and it will always be the most classic individual action sequence in the whole “Star Wars” saga.

Thanks for reading my countdown ... and continue to enjoy the action you Love!