Which ‘Star Wars’ is the best? A political study

How politics and other factors affect opinion

I have done yet another study, and I suspect the results may be controversial in some areas. With 739 participants, and a thorough analysis of the data, we can see which Star Wars films, of Episodes I through VIII, are considered the best, as well as how certain variables affected that determination by participants. First, let us see which films ultimately proved the most popular.

Here, we can see that, far and away, Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back, is considered the best entry in the saga, with 45.5% declaring it to be the best. That is no small figure. With the vote split eight ways, one movie accounted for almost half of the choices. Empire triumphantly led, even when we focus on age, residence, sex, and political affiliation.

Another common feature, in most groupings, was that Episodes III and IV (Revenge of the Sith & A New Hope), tended to hold second and third place. Episode VIII: The Last Jedi, was a frequent claimant to fourth place, but we will see that only Empire managed to hold a consistent spot.

When we group the films by trilogy, we see that the Original holds a solid majority of support that one of those films is the best. The data here seem to suggest that respondents think the Prequel is better than the Sequel, but it is worth noting that the Sequel is not yet completely finished, with only two entries so far. When you look at the average support they received per film, the Sequel’s is 7.6%, while the Prequel’s is 6.2%. Moreover, Episodes I and II were consistently at the bottom of the rankings, so while Revenge has a decent number of fans, the overall view of the Prequel is much less pleasant.

Now, let us begin to examine differences that occurred, when we isolate specific variables.

Relationship between Film and Character Preferences

While the main focus of the survey was which film is considered the best, respondents were also allowed to choose which characters were their favorite, and we will look at that before we get into the more controversial stuff.

I gave the participants twenty-five options (twenty-four characters and “other” for anyone not listed). Careful examination showed that character preference and film preference tended to align. What exactly does that mean? An example is in order.

Darth Maul

We will first focus on Darth Maul, since he has the convenience of being both in just one movie, while still having a decent fan base. Now, the percentage of all fans polled who thought Episode I: The Phantom Menace was the best film was a measly 2.9%. When you isolate those who said Darth Maul was their favorite character, 18.8% of them preferred Phantom, about seven times as much. This may indicate, for example, what people liked about the film. If Darth Maul is such a draw to Phantom, then perhaps the lightsaber fights are what people enjoyed in that movie. To this day, they are usually considered the best of the saga. These YouTube comments seem to confirm that view. Maybe people who are big on lightsabers would find Phantom to be the best for that reason.

Most Popular Characters

Moving on, we can see that who one’s favorite character was had a lot to do with their preferred film. Despite having over twenty choices, almost half of the respondents chose Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Obiwan Kenobi, or Darth Vader as their favorite character. Obiwan was the big winner, at 24%. If we match favorite characters with film preference, some patterns emerge.

The preference for the Original Trilogy and Empire specifically is still apparent, but fans of Luke Skywalker and Han Solo did not care for the Prequel Trilogy, really at all. None of the Luke/Han fans even selected Phantom as the best, while just over 4% chose Revenge, which was about a third of the overall rate. The Sequel films did better, by comparison, and this is hardly a surprise. Luke and Han do not star in the Prequel, but they do appear in the Sequel. A big part of what makes someone enjoy a movie is the characters in it. If someone’s favorite character from a series is not in a certain entry, then they have less reason to like that movie.

The same logic holds for the characters of Darth Vader and Obiwan Kenobi. These characters appear in all of the first six films and none of Sequel films. Consequently, the Prequel enjoys better support than the Sequel among these fans. Episodes I and II are actually visible, and Revenge was chosen at almost double the rate of the overall figure.

Interestingly, if we look at attitudes toward Empire, we can glean a few more things. Han fans overwhelmingly preferred it, at 62.8%, the largest preference for that film that you will see in this article. Luke fans, by comparison, were basically as enthusiastic for that film as the rest of the study, while Obiwan and Vader were a little bit under the average. What does this all mean?

Consider Han Solo in Empire, compared to Episodes IV and VI. He is a much more involved character, in many ways. In IV, he is next to Luke most of the time and somewhat more in the shadow of the protagonist. This is a bit true in VI as well, and Han is even frozen in carbonite for most of the first act. In Empire, he and Luke are separate for most of the film, so he enjoys more of the spotlight, when the camera is on him. Applied in reverse, this might explain why Luke fans are spread a little more evenly across the Original Trilogy.

For Vader and Obiwan, a major part of their story is in Revenge, which explains the bloated support for that film by their fans. In fact, that episode largely centered on the end of their relationship as friends. The climax of the film (and the entire trilogy) is their painful, heartfelt duel. If one focuses more on the Original Trilogy, one can still see how their primacy in each episode reflects preference for the film. Darth Vader is less involved in IV. He never actually meets Luke Skywalker or the other characters (except Obiwan). He is almost a secondary character, with Grand Moff Tarkin acting as the main antagonist. Obiwan, meanwhile, is central to the start of Luke’s journey in that film and operates as wise mentor and father figure, so it is not odd that he finds more supporters from those who chose IV.

Film Preference and Politics

So now we are going to wade into the potentially controversial stuff. The first is on the matter of politics. As in previous studies, we asked participants if they were liberal, conservative, libertarian, centrist, or none of the above. When we intersect those data with their preferred film, this is what we get:

Here, we see that the difference is largely split between the Prequel and Sequel Trilogies. Liberals were almost three times as likely to choose a Sequel film over a conservative. Conservatives, meanwhile, were 1.7 times more likely to prefer a Prequel film over a Sequel one. Libertarians and centrists were in between conservatives and liberals on affinity for the Sequel, but they were more akin to conservatives on support for the Prequel.

Explanations are tricky but will be attempted. The data appear to align with the commentary that has surrounded the release of the Sequel films. Both films (as well as Rogue One) have received criticism from conservatives for allegedly trying to push an agenda of multiculturalism and having political overtones. Meanwhile, liberals have praised the films for having a female lead in Rey and giving high-profile roles to minority actors such as John Boyega and Kelly Marie Tran. Much of the division surrounding The Last Jedi in particular has been based on this point of disagreement.

The Prequel films, for all their flaws, generally did not face this kind of vitriolic criticism. This might explain why they enjoy better support among conservatives, who find them less politically correct.

Bizarrely, Libertarians were much more likely to prefer Episode I than any other group (and to prefer the Prequel overall). While 8.7% is not much, it is still three times the support given by the general sample. Support for Phantom also appeared to come at the expense of Revenge. No explanation for this can be found. Just what is in Phantom that would make libertarians like it? Is it Darth Maul? Is it the pod racing? Is it Jar Jar Binks? I have no answers at the moment.

A Look at Sex

When sex is the focus, more space for controversy is made. For Episodes I through IV, support was about the same between men and women. Unlike with conservatives and liberals, the difference was not split between the Prequel and Sequel Trilogies. Rather, it was between the Original and the Sequel. Among women, the Sequel films were certainly more popular, almost 1.65 times as much, and support for them not only came at the expense of the Original but of Empire specifically. Only 38.2% of female respondents ended up choosing that film.

So why do women hate good movies? That would be asking the wrong question, and a loaded one at that. This is one possibility: the fact that the protagonist of the Sequel films is female. The story seems more likely to resonate with women for that reason alone. That only gets us halfway, however.

The next question is why this comes at the expense of Empire. Is there something about that film that makes it less appealing to women? It is certainly the most romantic of the Original Trilogy. We get to see Leia function more as military officer during the Battle of Hoth, compared to her role as a princess to be rescued in IV. Could it be that too much “masculine energy” clouds the film for any of that to matter? As with the libertarians and Phatom, this is a hard one to place.

National Preferences

One’s country of residence had some insightful patterns. Some are not surprising: Americans were generally more likely to prefer Empire and the Original Trilogy. Others are merely interesting. Britons were twice as likely as the general study to prefer Revenge. Aussies were a bit strange. They actually had the lowest preference for Empire of any group, at 26.2%, bringing Revenge to a close second at 23.8%. If you thought that was odd, the Germans, just like they did in the Harry Potter study, defied all norms yet again. They were the only group where Empire actually failed to win, losing instead to Revenge, which got a whopping 42.1%.

It is only fair to note that the sample for Germans was rather small, at 19. Statistically significant sizes are usually at least 30 large. This means that the sample is, perhaps, not very precise, but it is hard to imagine, given the divergence that we do see, that Empire would rebound with a larger sample of Germans. It is perhaps worth wondering, then, why Revenge is so popular there. My guess is that the plot of the movie, which details the fall of the Old Republic and the rise of the Empire, is the central detail. George Lucas openly modeled this story off of the historical example of Hitler’s rise to power in Germany. As such, there might be some cultural resonance at work here. Whether they are aware of Lucas’s inspirations or not, Germans might appreciate the third episode as a cautionary tale against putting too much trust and authority in a single man.

Film Preference and Age

I doubt the data on this will surprise anyone. As age tended to increase, so too did preference for the Original Trilogy. Meanwhile, the Prequel and Sequel Trilogies decreased in appreciation. The graph above shows the breakdown. It also shows that this was not a hard rule. The Prequel was most popular among Generation Z, as we can see, but for the bottom of the millennial bracket (18–25), we can see that preference for the Sequel actually increased and peaked.

If we fall back on the politicization and culture wars that surround those two movies, perhaps this means that minors are not as attentive to those matters as young adults and college students are. It is one theory.

It’s also worth noting that the data for people over the age of 45 look a bit funky. This is probably because its sample size was also only 19. Once again, this suggests the data is imprecise and may explain why favor for the Original seems to decline. That may actually just be for lack of participants. Still, it is interesting to note that support for Empire radically drops, allowing IV to have its highest score yet seen: 35.3%. What can possibly explain this reversal in the ninetieth minute?

If we do a little math, by subtracting 46 from 2018, we get 1972. Episode IV: A New Hope came out in theatres in 1977 and was run multiple times before Empire finally debuted in 1980. This was also the time before Netflix, before blu-ray, and before DVD. VHS also only just debuted that very year, so nearly everyone who saw the first Star Wars around that time would have seen it in the theatres, and people in the age group above 45 would have either been adults, or they would have been children just old enough to remember going to the theatre and seeing it when it premiered. This is not something that can ever be replicated en masse for an entire generation.

I once talked to my father about what it was like, seeing Star Wars when it first came out. Given that he was born in 1951, he would have been about my age (26), when it came out. Skipping over details, he told me that it was a genuinely amazing experience, and it was something that every person felt at once. Star Wars truly changed the world.

I should reiterate that IV was the first Star Wars. Until then, no movie had ever come close to doing what Star Wars did. When Empire finally did come out, the lid was already off the box. It could not hope to match that essential “wow factor” that IV brought. I think this is what the data are showing right here, with the fourth episode scoring so high among the oldest respondents, and this is the finding that I believe to be the most beautiful of any yet discussed.

If my explanation is correct, then what we are seeing in the rise of Episode IV is a photograph of a moment in time. It captures a collective memory of the people who lived in that time, who experienced something authentic, innovative, and exciting. That moment will never again be felt, but we are able to preserve it through this study and through the comparison of the data.

That is my main joy, as I write this.

Doing a line for each film would have been a jumbled mess.

Conclusions

Imprecision

As with my previous studies, there are some things that muddy the waters of the data. One such thing is that this study was done primarily on Reddit, so the participants were overwhelmingly young, liberal, and male. While The Empire Strikes Back is undoubtedly considered the best, even with this imperfect sample, its score of 45.5% is imprecise. We could, however, estimate it, if we weight the scores of the smaller groups to be representative of the real world. That is possible to do with females, by essentially making it equal to the male figure. That would bring the score down to 42.8%.

Unfortunately, without the adequate population data on the breakdown of age groups and political affiliation across many countries, it is hard to sharpen the figure more than that. In fact, given the implications in this study and the effect of female participants lowering the score for Empire, while older generations raise its score, the original figure of 45.5% is probably more accurate, in the end, if only accidentally.

Feelings on Other Films

By asking for people to name the one film that they believe to be the best, the survey is simplified but lacks much nuance. It does not ask, for example, which films people think are second best, and so we are unable to see how that may have correlated with certain groups. It also does not ask how positive or negative one’s view of each film is. We might surmise that IV was the second option of most people but not a very common first choice by comparison. Merely asking someone what film they think is best is also different from asking which film is their favorite. Some respondents may have seen the difference. Others may have not, but we have no way of knowing.

Final Thoughts

The Empire Strikes Back was, beyond dispute, the most acclaimed film of all eight. Even with a more balanced and random sample, we have every reason to believe that it would still come out ahead in being cited as the best.

Factors such as age, sex, politics, and nationality all played a role in attitudes toward the film. Lovers of the the Original Trilogy tended to be older and more male. Young people tended to prefer the Prequel and Sequel Trilogy, while females and liberals preferred the latter. Much of the cultural and political debate around the recent films is visible in this data, at the marginal level.

“At the marginal level” is key, because the bottom line is that the appeal of the Original Trilogy mostly transcended boundaries among groups. This study therefore confirms a few stereotypes, while also cementing the universal appeal of the Episodes IV through VI.

When the last part of the Sequel trilogy comes out, this study will have to be re-attempted for posterity, and I expect similar results. For now we are just going to have to be content in the knowledge that we already have.

Sit vis tecum.