the deadly voyage full movie

Deadly Voyage (1996) Stream and Watch Online

Looking to watch ' Deadly Voyage ' on your TV or mobile device at home? Tracking down a streaming service to buy, rent, download, or watch the John Mackenzie-directed movie via subscription can be challenging, so we here at Moviefone want to do the heavy lifting. Read on for a listing of streaming and cable services - including rental, purchase, and subscription options - along with the availability of 'Deadly Voyage' on each platform when they are available. Now, before we get into the fundamentals of how you can watch 'Deadly Voyage' right now, here are some particulars about the HBO Films BBC drama flick. Released June 14th, 1996, 'Deadly Voyage' stars Omar Epps , Joss Ackland , Sean Pertwee , Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje The R movie has a runtime of about 1 hr 30 min, and received a user score of 53 (out of 100) on TMDb, which collated reviews from 10 experienced users. Interested in knowing what the movie's about? Here's the plot: "When stowaways are found on board a Russian cargo ship some of the officers and crew decide to dispose of them at sea The last time they had a stowaway on board the ship was fined heavily and black marks entered into their records when he made it off the ship into a foreign port" .

'Deadly Voyage' Release Dates

Popular drama movies.

Featured News

Movie Reviews

Follow Moviefone

Latest trailers.

Log in or sign up for Rotten Tomatoes

Trouble logging in?

By continuing, you agree to the Privacy Policy and the Terms and Policies , and to receive email from the Fandango Media Brands .

By creating an account, you agree to the Privacy Policy and the Terms and Policies , and to receive email from Rotten Tomatoes and to receive email from the Fandango Media Brands .

By creating an account, you agree to the Privacy Policy and the Terms and Policies , and to receive email from Rotten Tomatoes.

Email not verified

Let's keep in touch.

Sign up for the Rotten Tomatoes newsletter to get weekly updates on:

• Upcoming Movies and TV shows
• Trivia & Rotten Tomatoes Podcast
• Media News + More

By clicking "Sign Me Up," you are agreeing to receive occasional emails and communications from Fandango Media (Fandango, Vudu, and Rotten Tomatoes) and consenting to Fandango's Privacy Policy and Terms and Policies . Please allow 10 business days for your account to reflect your preferences.

OK, got it!

Movies / TV

No results found.

• What's the Tomatometer®?
• Login/signup

Movies in theaters

• Opening this week
• Top box office
• Coming soon to theaters
• Certified fresh movies

Movies at home

• Fandango at Home
• Netflix streaming
• Prime Video
• Most popular streaming movies
• What to Watch New

Certified fresh picks

• The Fall Guy Link to The Fall Guy
• I Saw the TV Glow Link to I Saw the TV Glow
• The Idea of You Link to The Idea of You

New TV Tonight

• Hacks: Season 3
• Star Wars: Tales of the Empire: Season 1
• Shardlake: Season 1
• The Tattooist of Auschwitz: Season 1
• A Man in Full: Season 1
• The Veil: Season 1
• Acapulco: Season 3
• Welcome to Wrexham: Season 3
• John Mulaney Presents: Everybody's in LA: Season 1
• My Next Guest Needs No Introduction With David Letterman: Season 4.2

Most Popular TV on RT

• Baby Reindeer: Season 1
• Fallout: Season 1
• Dead Boy Detectives: Season 1
• We Were the Lucky Ones: Season 1
• Shōgun: Season 1
• Them: Season 2
• Best TV Shows
• Most Popular TV
• TV & Streaming News

Certified fresh pick

• Hacks: Season 3 Link to Hacks: Season 3
• All-Time Lists
• Binge Guide
• Comics on TV
• Five Favorite Films
• Video Interviews
• Weekend Box Office
• Weekly Ketchup
• What to Watch
• Star Wars TV Ranked

Netflix’s 100 Best Movies Right Now (May 2024)

Asian-American Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander Heritage

What to Watch: In Theaters and On Streaming

2024-2025 Awards Calendar

Movie Re-Release Calendar 2024: Your Guide to Movies Back In Theaters

• Trending on RT
• Movie Re-Release Calendar
• Best Movies of All Time
• Play Movie Trivia

Deadly Voyage

Audience reviews, cast & crew.

Stuart Urban

Kingsley Ofusu

David Suchet

Joss Ackland

Jean-Claude La Marre

Sean Pertwee

Deadly Voyage

Film details, brief synopsis, cast & crew, john mackenzie, luka javanovic, david dontoh, wakefield ackuaku, augustus kobina kudmson, brew riverson, technical specs.

Based on the terrifying true story of one ship and the nine stowaways hiding beneath its deck, who dream of finding wealth and happiness in America. But their existence threatens the career of the ship's captain, and when a lack of water forces them out of hiding, they become a problem to the overly ambitious officer; his solution is a very final, deadly one. One by one, the stowaways are to be taken from the ship's hold and slaughtered. The plan of the ship's officers cold-bloodedly proceeds, until one of the stowaways manages to escape. Now, somewhere in the deep bowels of the ship, he runs and hides as armed crew members hunt him down. As long as he is alive, the captain and his crew must take the risk that their plot will be uncovered. They must make him the final victim if they are to put an end to the Deadly Voyage.

Michael Byrne

Tomas lukes, carl antolin, levani ilia volokh, oscar provencal, alex kodela, stephanie cornicard, juliet asante, chiwetel ejiofor, henry nartey, ravil isyanov, sean pertwee, roman varshavsky, adewale akinnuoye-agbaje, andrew divoff, omanza eugene shaw, joss ackland, david suchet, george meyer, maxine burth, jean-claude lamarre, fred abuaku-asare, bradley adams, davies adjei, emmanuel adjetley, dan adjokathcer, adam aldridge, brian aldridge, john allotey, christine allsop, francis annan jr., francis annan, afari annobil, seth ashong, paschal awotwi, ekow baidoo, craig bariwck, constance barzay-browne, orin beaton, erica bensley, dick bernstein, becklyn boateng, adjetey boye, lucy bristow, wendy broom, jaki brown-karman, howard burden, colin callender, johnny carmichael, david carrigan, michael a carter, alan chesters, anthony cleal, ian corbould, paul corbould, cathy cosgrove, richard davies, sam degraft-johnson, bobby dhillon, gillian dodders, martin duncan, simon emanuel, george faber, james foran, simon fraser, kathy friend, roberta gardiner, danny glover, john goldschmidt, constantine gregory, brian hampton, brian harris, verity hawkes, ted hawkins, claire hirsch, simon holland, morgan johnson, dinah logan, kate mackenzie, david marsh, dedo mate-kole, david mellor, james metal, paul minume, caroline moore, charles nettey, clive noakes, robert ote nyansah, terry o'neill, sue parkinson, rob patridge, kieron phipps, fio kojo pobi, michael povey, trevor puckle, tony reading, mickey reeves, george s richardson, franc roddam, terry royce, crispian sallis, sammy seitz, dan shoring, helen smith, sam southwick, eddie stacey, kitty stanbrook, dave stapleton, gail stevens, heather storr, seth tandoh, raphael teiteh, emmanuel tetteh, gary thomas, darkoa tsibu, tony tucker, stuart urban, peter van der puije, graham walker, chris wheeldon, paul wrightson, miscellaneous notes.

Aired in United States June 15, 1996

Aired in United States June 5, 2007

Released in United States on Video November 19, 1996

Budget source: Viva Films 07/11/1994

Estimated budget: $5,000,000

Began shooting November 4, 1995.

Completed shooting January 1996.

Sign Up now to stay up to date with all of the latest news from TCM.

Your Browser is Not Supported

To view this content, please use one of the following compatible browsers:

Safari v11+

Firefox Quantum

Microsoft Edge

Beautiful, interesting, incredible cinema.

DEADLY VOYAGE

When stowaways are found on board a Russian cargo ship, some of the officers and crew decide to dispose of them at sea. The last time they had a stowaway on board, the ship was fined heavily and black marks entered into their records, when he made it off the ship into a foreign port.

MPAA Rating

Produced by, deadly voyage (1996), directed by john mackenzie.

• AllMovie Rating 6
• User Ratings ( 0 )
• Your Rating
• Overview ↓
• User Reviews ↓
• Cast & Crew ↓
• Releases ↓
• Related ↓

Synopsis by Cavett Binion

Characteristics, related movies.

• Movies & TV
• Featured Categories
• Action & Adventure

Enjoy fast, free delivery, exclusive deals, and award-winning movies & TV shows with Prime Try Prime and start saving today with fast, free delivery

Amazon Prime includes:

Fast, FREE Delivery is available to Prime members. To join, select "Try Amazon Prime and start saving today with Fast, FREE Delivery" below the Add to Cart button.

• Cardmembers earn 5% Back at Amazon.com with a Prime Credit Card.
• Unlimited Free Two-Day Delivery
• Streaming of thousands of movies and TV shows with limited ads on Prime Video.
• A Kindle book to borrow for free each month - with no due dates
• Listen to over 2 million songs and hundreds of playlists
• Unlimited photo storage with anywhere access

Important:  Your credit card will NOT be charged when you start your free trial or if you cancel during the trial period. If you're happy with Amazon Prime, do nothing. At the end of the free trial, your membership will automatically upgrade to a monthly membership.

Return this item for free

Free returns are available for the shipping address you chose. You can return the item for any reason in new and unused condition: no shipping charges

• Go to your orders and start the return
• Select the return method

Image Unavailable

• Sorry, this item is not available in
• Image not available
• To view this video download Flash Player

Deadly Voyage

• VHS Tape $7.97

Purchase options and add-ons

Customers who bought this item also bought

Product Description

Based on the terrifying true story of one ship and the nine stowaways hiding beneath its decks. When their existence threatens the captain's career, a means must be found of disposing of them - and so the hunt is on. There can be no survivors who might tell the tale of this deadly voyage. "A chilling, nerve-jangling film." (N.Y. Daily News)

Product details

• Aspect Ratio ‏ : ‎ 1.33:1
• MPAA rating ‏ : ‎ R (Restricted)
• Product Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 7.5 x 5.5 x 0.5 inches; 2.72 ounces
• Media Format ‏ : ‎ NTSC
• Run time ‏ : ‎ 1 hour and 31 minutes
• Release date ‏ : ‎ March 28, 2013
• Actors ‏ : ‎ Joss Ackland, David Suchet, Omar Epps, Sean Pertwee
• Dubbed: ‏ : ‎ Spanish
• Studio ‏ : ‎ HBO
• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B007VX02WU
• Country of Origin ‏ : ‎ USA
• Number of discs ‏ : ‎ 1
• #17,724 in Action & Adventure DVDs

Customer reviews

Customer Reviews, including Product Star Ratings help customers to learn more about the product and decide whether it is the right product for them.

To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. It also analyzed reviews to verify trustworthiness.

• Sort reviews by Top reviews Most recent Top reviews

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. please try again later..

Top reviews from other countries

• Amazon Newsletter
• About Amazon
• Accessibility
• Sustainability
• Press Center
• Investor Relations
• Amazon Devices
• Amazon Science
• Sell on Amazon
• Sell apps on Amazon
• Supply to Amazon
• Protect & Build Your Brand
• Become an Affiliate
• Become a Delivery Driver
• Start a Package Delivery Business
• Advertise Your Products
• Self-Publish with Us
• Become an Amazon Hub Partner
• › See More Ways to Make Money
• Amazon Visa
• Amazon Store Card
• Amazon Secured Card
• Amazon Business Card
• Shop with Points
• Credit Card Marketplace
• Reload Your Balance
• Amazon Currency Converter
• Your Account
• Your Orders
• Shipping Rates & Policies
• Amazon Prime
• Returns & Replacements
• Manage Your Content and Devices
• Recalls and Product Safety Alerts
• Conditions of Use
• Privacy Notice
• Consumer Health Data Privacy Disclosure
• Your Ads Privacy Choices

Join or Sign In

Sign in to customize your TV listings

By joining TV Guide, you agree to our Terms of Use and acknowledge the data practices in our Privacy Policy .

• TV Listings
• Cast & Crew

Deadly Voyage - Full Cast & Crew

• 1 hr 32 mins
• Drama, Suspense
• Watchlist Where to Watch

Docudrama about stowaways being tracked down---and murdered---aboard a New York-bound freighter from Ghana. Omar Epps, Sean Pertwee. Captain: Joss Ackland. Vlachos: David Suchet. Albert: Jean-Claude LaMarre. Romachenko: Andrew Divoff. John MacKenzie directed.

Screenwriter

Executive producer, cinematographer, production company.

• Cast & crew
• User reviews

Deadly Voyage

• Episode aired Jun 15, 1996

When stowaways are found on board a Russian cargo ship, some of the officers and crew decide to dispose of them at sea. The last time they had a stowaway on board, the ship was fined heavily... Read all When stowaways are found on board a Russian cargo ship, some of the officers and crew decide to dispose of them at sea. The last time they had a stowaway on board, the ship was fined heavily and black marks entered into their records, when he made it off the ship into a foreign p... Read all When stowaways are found on board a Russian cargo ship, some of the officers and crew decide to dispose of them at sea. The last time they had a stowaway on board, the ship was fined heavily and black marks entered into their records, when he made it off the ship into a foreign port.

• John Mackenzie
• Nick Davies
• Stuart Urban
• Joss Ackland
• Sean Pertwee
• 11 User reviews
• 2 Critic reviews
• 2 wins & 1 nomination

• (as Adewale)

• Commissioner

• All cast & crew
• Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

Did you know

• Trivia The story of Kingsley Ofosu who hails from Ghana, West Africa.

User reviews 11

• Apr 1, 2008
• June 15, 1996 (United States)
• United States
• Viaje mortal
• British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)
• Home Box Office (HBO)
• See more company credits at IMDbPro

Technical specs

• Runtime 1 hour 30 minutes

Related news

Contribute to this page.

• IMDb Answers: Help fill gaps in our data
• Learn more about contributing

More to explore

Recently viewed

• 163.080 movies
• 10.337 shows
• 30.172 seasons
• 617.033 actors
• 9.011.912 votes

• Best movies top 250
• Movie updates
• News Updates
• TV Shows updates
• Celebrity News
• Most Popular Celebrities
• Top 100 Celebrities
• Highest Net Worth Celebrities
• Celebrities born today
• On demand News
• Amazon Prime
• BBC iPlayer
• Paramount Plus
• Awards & Events News
• Sundance Film Festival
• Cannes Film Festival
• SXSW Film Festival
• Tribeca Film Festival

• Deadly Voyage
• Cast & Crew

• Cast & crew

The full cast of Deadly Voyage

Here you will find an overview of the cast of the movie Deadly Voyage from the year 1996, including all the actors, actresses and the director. When you click on the name of an actor, actress or director from the movie Deadly Voyage-cast you can watch more movies and/or series by him or her. Click here for more infomation about the movie.

We have made an overview that includes: actors , directors , the production team , the camera team , writers and other crew members .

John Mackenzie

Actors & actresses.

Joss Ackland

Sean Pertwee

Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje

Chiwetel Ejiofor

Andrew Divoff

David Suchet

David Dontoh

Trending movies.

• Gojira -1.0
• The Idea of You
• Unfrosted: The Pop-Tart Story
• Dune: Part Two
• Turtles All the Way Down
• Chief of Station
• Challengers

Trending Shows

• Star Wars: Tales of the Empire
• A Man in Full
• Boku no Hīrō Akademia
• Baby Reindeer

Corporate & Media

Realtimes | Publishing Network

• FootballTransfers.com
• FootballCritic.com
• FCUpdate.nl
• FighterFans.com
• MovieMeter.nl
• MovieMeter.com
• MusicMeter.nl
• BoekMeter.nl
• GamesMeter.nl
• WijWedden.net
• Kelderklasse
• Anfieldwatch
• MeeMetOranje.nl

About MovieMeter

MovieMeter aims to be the largest, most complete movie archive with reviews and rankings, in the World. Our team of journalists delivers the latest news for movies and TV shows. Click here to read more about us .

Social media

• MovieMeterReviews
• moviemeter__
• @MovieMeter_

Popular top lists

• Top 250 best movies of all time
• Top 250 best scifi movies of all time
• Top 250 best thriller movies of all time
• Top 250 best action movies of all time
• Top 100 best movies released in the last 3 years
• Top 50 best family movies of all time

© 2024 MovieMeter B.V.

Advertisement

Supported by

TELEVISION;Into Africa to Tell An Unlikely Tale Of Survival

• Share full article

By Howard W. French

• Jan. 14, 1996

AS DANNY GLOVER TALKS, seated in his floating greenroom, the officers' mess of a rust-bucket cargo ship, his eyes seem to mist up and his jaw slackens slightly, the way they do in those police buddy movies when he discovers that his wife or partner is in peril. The display of emotion has nothing to do with the subplots of his latest Hollywood adventure, however; it's about a near lifelong obsession: Africa.

Mr. Glover has just landed in Ghana, flying 7,500 miles (by way of London) from Florida, where he was filming his latest movie, a fishing comedy with Joe Pesci. It is a Friday, and whatever the cost in jet lag, he is working through the fatigue on a dockside set a world away, knowing he must be back on location in the Everglades in just two days.

More used to performing before the cameras, the actor has swooped into West Africa as an executive producer of an HBO-BBC movie based on the true story of eight African stowaways who were slaughtered on the high seas by a Ukrainian crew in 1992. His juices are flowing because for him the film, "Deadly Voyage," scheduled to be shown in September, seems like the ideal vehicle to acquaint an American audience with an Africa it knows little about.

And at this stage of his career, one that has swung pendulum-like between glitzy, high-budget action films like the "Lethal Weapon" series and smaller movies with "a conscience," that is precisely what the 48-year-old actor would like most to achieve.

"This is one of those tales whose ramifications speak to all people who are looking for a better life," Mr. Glover said. "It takes place in the 20th century, but then there are certain images that connect immediately with the Middle Passage," the route used by slave ships sailing between Africa and the colonies.

"African Americans in particular are going to be able to relate this story to a part of their struggle," Mr. Glover said. "At the same time, when we see Senegalese, and Nigerians and Ghanaians on the streets in America, we ask ourselves, How did these brothers get here?"

"Deadly Voyage" is, above all, the story of Kingsley Ofosu, a 22-year-old dockhand and dreamer from Ghana, the sole survivor in a party of Africans who hid themselves in the hold of the MC Ruby, a Bahamian-flagged freighter they believed was heading for America. Six days after the stowaways left the Ghanaian port of Takoradi, their water container broke, and as they moved about the ship in search of something to drink, they were discovered.

What ensued is a tale of cruelty that would be unimaginable if international shipping experts did not say it was commonplace. The Africans were robbed of their savings, interrogated, beaten and held for three days without food in the ship's peak, a tiny space at the front of the vessel where the chain bearing the ship's anchor is stored.

Then came the slaughter.

In twos and threes, the stowaways were called onto the bridge where they were beaten with metal rods, stabbed, shot and thrown overboard somewhere off the coast of Portugal. The last to be called were Ofosu, who had been a sort of leader to the group, and his brother, Albert. When they emerged and saw crewmen in bloodied shirts, the two made a run for it. Albert was felled by the gunfire, but Kingsley managed to escape.

Much of the film revolves around the uncanny survival instincts of Kingsley Ofosu, played by the American actor Omar Epps, who appeared in "Higher Learning," "Major League II" and "Juice."

For three days, the stowaway and the crew played a deadly cat-and-mouse game in the depths of the ship. When MC Ruby reaches the French port of Le Havre, Mr. Ofosu made his break for freedom, shimmying down the ship's side and running straight toward a building marked Police.

Never sure of survival, he had taken pains to hide his personal papers in the ship's hold, hoping that some trace of his ordeal would remain and that his story would be told. This precaution proved to be critical in a case that ultimately turned on the word of a stowaway versus the denials of a crew.

Weeks after the filming began, a French court sentenced the captain and his first mate to life imprisonment and several crew members to 20 years each.

French harbor police made clear that Kingsley Ofosu's tale was unusual on two scores: that he survived, and that his story received any attention. "There are hundreds, thousands of stowaways like Kingsley," said one French officer. "This is the nearest thing to a perfect crime. The sharks clear up all the evidence. And we will never know how many crews have similar killings on their conscience."

If Mr. Glover was drawn to "Deadly Voyage" by its parallels with the slave trade and its horrific conditions, the behavior and fate of the Ukrainian crewmen -- bitter newcomers to the third world -- was just as compelling.

The MC Ruby's crew members had only recently been members of the proud and powerful Soviet merchant marine. Now, in a reshuffling of the international division of labor, they found themselves reduced to low-paid grunts in a system that cared little for their illustrious past.

The film depicts insult being heaped on injury when the crewmen discover that they, not the shipping companies they hire themselves out to, are liable for the stiff fines imposed in European ports on ships bearing illegal immigrants.

"A ship like this is a heap of old rust that hires cheap labor, and it is people of the third world who work as crew," said John Goldschmidt, the film's British producer. "Those people used to be Filipinos and others, but nowadays you find Ukrainians and Russians who are making less money than the dockers in many African ports. In a situation like this, where you stumble upon stowaways, some people will be heroes, others psychotics."

For his cast, Mr. Goldschmidt assembled actors from the global movie business's own informal class system: American stars accustomed to high fees, British actors accustomed to finely hewn small-scale dramas, and third worlders from places as far-flung as Haiti and Nigeria angling for a break.

The result is a diverse international ensemble -- from British actors like David Suchet (familiar to Americans as Hercule Poirot), who plays the shipping-insurance agent, to a crew made up of Russian and Russian-American players and "stowaways" plucked mostly from Ghana's budding local film industry.

ALWAYS NEAR THE FILM'S center, though, is Mr. Epps, a 22-year-old Brooklyn native making his first trip outside of the United States. Wide-eyed and surprisingly shy for someone whose film career has begun to take off so handsomely, Mr. Epps spent time with the real Kingsley Ofosu, who now lives in France, in Mr. Ofosu's native Takoradi to get a sense of the stowaway's life before the shipboard brutality.

"This had started out as just another job for me until I met Kingsley," the actor said over lunch in a hangar-like port warehouse opposite the ship that is standing in for the real MC Ruby. Mr. Epps quickly took to Ghana's spicy cuisine and even picked up a bit of Twi, the country's most widely-spoken language. He talked dreamily of buying land in Ghana and returning often.

Filming in the hold of the ship, the British director John MacKenzie somehow managed to look cool while all around him people sweated through multiple takes of the scene where the stowaways dropped their water tank. He had joined the project on short notice when the original director and screenwriter, Stuart Urban, became ill.

"Not being able to prepare, not knowing the script backward and forward, not having the kind of sense of character you get from being there at the start all make this a peculiar challenge," Mr. MacKenzie said. "If I accepted it, it is because I liked the story -- both the social issues and the action."

What hooked Mr. MacKenzie apparently also worked on executives at HBO, who say they never hesitated when considering the project. Mr. Glover's participation -- vetting the script and participating in casting -- was described by others involved as a "seal of Good Housekeeping." But the actor gives credit to HBO, the American cable programmer, not only for picking up a project that had made the rounds without success in Europe but also for doing much of the filming in Africa.

"HBO did something that is really cutting edge in taking this on," Mr. Glover said. "This is a story that a lot of people would say you could just not tell in a conventional way these days. For them it would just not be romantic enough."

He should know. Other dream projects of his -- from epics based on the Haitian revolution of two centuries ago to tales of West Africa's bloody resistance to colonial penetration -- have been rejected because of doubts over audience interest or concerns about the cost of filming big period pieces.

"I am not sure Hollywood will ever get beyond this sort of thing," Mr. Glover said of a seeming aversion to historic themes involving blacks. "But we have to push for it. Part of that involves doing projects like these, showing that they are viable."

Explore More in TV and Movies

Not sure what to watch next we can help..

The Netflix stalker series “ Baby Reindeer ” combines the appeal of a twisty thriller with a deep sense of empathy. The ending illustrates why it’s become such a hit .

We have entered the golden age of Mid TV, where we have a profusion of well-cast, sleekly produced competence, our critic writes .

The writer-director Alex Garland has made it clear that “Civil War” should be a warning. Instead, the ugliness of war comes across as comforting thrills .

Studios obsessively focused on PG-13 franchises and animation in recent years, but movies like “Challengers” and “Saltburn” show that Hollywood is embracing sex again .

If you are overwhelmed by the endless options, don’t despair — we put together the best offerings   on Netflix , Max , Disney+ , Amazon Prime  and Hulu  to make choosing your next binge a little easier.

Sign up for our Watching newsletter  to get recommendations on the best films and TV shows to stream and watch, delivered to your inbox.

Star Wars Day is here! Celebrate with our ultimate 'Star Wars' movie ranking

Unless you’ve been held captive by a Wampa, crash-landed a TIE Fighter on Jakku or were eaten by the Sarlacc – though  Boba Fett  did come back like a champ from that doomsday scenario – it’s probably not news that  "The Phantom Menace" is celebrating its 25th anniversary  this month.

In honor of Star Wars Day ( May the 4th ) – and the very special birthday – it's time to hit up Disney+ and/or bust out the old tapes, DVDs and Blu-rays to rewatch all 11 "Star Wars" films (the nine-chapter Skywalker Saga, plus a couple of spinoffs) in this galactic franchise. (Pro tip: If you're a total newbie, watch the original 1977 "Star Wars" first.) And if you're dying to see "Phantom Menace" on a bigger screen, it's back in theaters now for an  anniversary re-release .

But which "Star Wars" is the best of the best? These are the rankings you’re looking for .

11. 'Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace' (1999)

George Lucas’ prequels  get a bad rap  and, well, they kind of deserve it at times. Especially this one. What basically is a two-hour trailer for the rest of Anakin Skywalker’s story is kind of a mess – he was immaculately conceived? What’s this about midichlorians and the Force? The pod-race set piece is fun the first five times yet gets old quick, Darth Maul is the coolest guy in the movie and he's in it for all of three minutes, trade negotiations are not the way to start a sci-fi movie, and as for Jar Jar Binks … yeah. One thing it does do well is set up the political atmosphere that leads to the Empire and introduces Anakin as the chosen one who will bring balance to the Force. Just not in the way anybody expects.

10. 'Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones' (2002)

There are so many sleek special effects used in this thing that you miss the trash heaps and spit-and-gum filmmaking of Lucas’ original movies. Also, Hayden Christensen and Natalie Portman have ZERO chemistry as doomed lovers Anakin and Padmé – they have a picnic in the middle of the movie, battle monsters together on Geonosis and get married at the end, and yet even a modicum of actual romance isn’t to be found. That all said, "Clones" isn’t a bad film and it’s pretty good whenever Ewan McGregor’s Obi-Wan Kenobi is around: His and Anakin’s chase after Zam Wesell is a scene from the great Jedi buddy-cop comedy we never got, and the discovery of the Republic’s clone army on the rainy planet Kamino is obviously important. (Never forget, though: Stormtroopers > clone troopers.)

9. 'Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith' (2005)

It’s no coincidence that the prequel that’s closest to the original trilogy in tone, story and theme is the best one. Anakin finally has his full turn to the dark side, though it still seems a little whiplash-y how quickly he goes from broody, anti-authoritarian kid to child-killing, baddest man in the galaxy. And Padmé dying from a broken heart is a little much. However, Yoda takes on Senator Palpatine/Darth Sidious/Emperor in a neato lightsaber battle, when Order 66 comes down it’s a little heartbreaking, and Obi-Wan and Anakin’s violent brawl on Mustafar is arguably the most hellacious in any "Star Wars" film. (Those who miss those two mortal enemies definitely want to watch their rematch in the Disney+ "Obi-Wan Kenobi" series.)

8. 'Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker' (2019)

It could also be called " Star Wars : Attack of the Callbacks" since it bends over backward – and sacrifices a lot of good storytelling and fun new characters (we totally heart little Babu Frik) – to pay homage to familiar faces and aspects from previous films. Jedi-in-training Rey ( Daisy Ridley ), reluctant hero Finn ( John Boyega ) and X-wing warrior Poe Dameron ( Oscar Isaac ) lead the ragtag Resistance against a returning  Emperor Palpatine  (Ian McDiarmid) in a film that's full of logic fumbles and muddies the focus of the third and final trilogy.

The evolving relationship between Rey and the First Order's hotheaded Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) goes some interesting places, and director  J.J. Abrams ' "Skywalker" is one last tribute to General Leia Organa (the late Carrie Fisher) and the way certain returning characters have molded decades of this expansive story. Hardcore fans will find lots to love and it's plenty entertaining with bombastic spectacle, but "Rise" crashes and burns as an actual finale.

7. 'Rogue One: A Star Wars Story' (2016)

For its maiden standalone voyage, "Star Wars" brass blended the old – the Rebel Alliance freaking out about the construction of the Empire’s mighty Death Star – with something new: In this case, a war movie digging into the battlefields on land and in space with insurgents rising up against “the Man.”

The results are a mixed bag : Ex-con Jyn Erso ( Felicity Jones ) heads up the squad of armed misfits to steal the Death Star plans, though a snarky droid ends up being the best character in the bunch (for the record,  K-2SO is way cooler than C-3PO ); the Empire is full of bickering bureaucrats, which is fun to watch though bad for getting the Death Star done in a timely manner; and Darth Vader power walks into scenes that both undermine his icon status yet also cement it. While the fan service goes too far – for example,  the old-school CGI character who is just as distracting as Jar Jar  – "Rogue One" does introduce some neato supporting aliens like Admiral Raddus, a military mashup of Patton, Churchill and a lobster. 

6. 'Solo: A Star Wars Story' (2018)

A young Han Solo movie doesn't sound like a great idea ...  until you actually see a young Han Solo movie . Mostly free of lightsabers, Jedi and Rebels, "Solo" is a "Star Wars" take on an Indiana Jones jam, and the first movie to tackle the underworld through its most famous anti-hero. This Han ( Alden Ehrenreich ) is an idealistic sort willing to go to extreme and illegal lengths to see his girlfriend (Emilia Clarke) again. Han and Chewie ( Joonas Suotamo ) are awesome together, Han and Lando (Donald Glover) aren't bad either, it boasts a bunch of new creatures and crooks, and the film even ties into "Star Wars" past in surprising fashion. This, not "Rogue One," should be the template for future spinoffs.

5. 'Star Wars: The Last Jedi' (2017)

For those who love spectacular space battles, the cute audacity of  porgs  and bad guys with British accents snarling, “Rebel scum,” there’s a lot to love in writer/director Rian Johnson’s  "Episode VIII."  Fans have plenty to unpack in a lengthy runtime and  "Last Jedi,"  like other franchise vehicles, demands repeat viewings, but  Luke Skywalker  (Mark Hamill) is the coolest he’s been since "The Empire Strikes Back." Plus, the next-generation heroes of the Resistance take a great leap in being a real rebellion like we saw in the original trilogy.

Johnson is also winningly subversive, having Luke call out his own past and challenging the foundation that Lucas put in place 40 years ago – one character even says, “Good guys, bad guys. Made-up words.” The galaxy is no longer a hotbed of chosen ones, a place where a nobody, a lowly First Order janitor or a Resistance mechanic, can save the universe – a switch from the days of Anakin and Luke. "Last Jedi" is unsurprisingly dedicated to “our princess” Carrie Fisher, and her integral role speaks volumes to the legacy of the core characters played by her, Hamill and Harrison Ford, yet also points out the need for  fresh icons  to take the franchise to new heights.

4. 'Star Wars: Return of the Jedi' (1983)

Let's just put this out there now: Ewoks aren’t that bad. And the alien creature quotient is at an all-time high when you toss in Jabba the Hutt’s crew, Admiral Ackbar and Nien Nunb. What makes this movie so special are all the satisfying conclusions. Luke says goodbye to Yoda in a touching moment, Leia finding out that Luke is her brother is emotional but not cloying, the Rebel Alliance vs. Empire space sequence is a highlight, Han Solo is less of a scoundrel than ever, and Luke and Vader’s climactic father-son throwdown is a thing of redemptive wonder. Check yourself for a pulse if you’re not getting the chills after Vader tosses the Emperor down a shaft or when he says, “Let me look on you with my own eyes” to Luke before dying. A perfect ending – at least until ol’ George went and got rid of the Ewoks’ celebratory “Yub nub” song and stuck young Anakin in the Dead Jedi Ghost Club.  

3. 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens' (2015) 

J.J. Abrams introduces the best characters since fans first laid eyes on Han, Luke and Leia. Daisy Ridley's Rey is wicked smart and a capable hero in a universe with the baddies of the First Order on the warpath, John Boyega's ex-Stormtrooper Finn and Han are brothers from another mother, Oscar Isaac's pilot Poe is as cool and refreshing as a tall glass of blue milk, and Adam Driver's Kylo does his best Vader impression as a maniacal villain with some serious emotional issues. Abrams gets dangerously close to recycling old material, but instead  he uses those familiar motifs to set the stage for an exciting third trilogy  and crafts arguably the best final shot ever in a "Star Wars" film. 

2. 'Star Wars' (1977)

Whether Han shot first or not , the original remains the real deal mostly because of all the great character moments. Luke is a whiny farmboy who has big dreams when he looks out over the two-sun horizon of Tatooine and he knows his destiny lies beyond. Old “Ben” Kenobi explaining to Luke that Darth Vader “murdered” his father Anakin, a scene that has much more richness revisiting it later. Han cynically explaining that hokey religions and ancient weapons are no match for a good blaster, though it seems like he’s trying to convince himself of this a bit. C-3PO constantly complaining to R2-D2 and Artoo taking it like a champ. And Leia putting on a brave face as she faces Vader and the destruction of her planet. Even Vader feeling there’s something up when Luke makes his trench run on the Death Star. We don’t need to know much about their history or where they come from to quickly fall in love with all these players as they begin their long journey.

1. 'Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back' (1980)

Simply the best. It might rank highly just due to AT-ATs, the Imperial Walkers that are arguably the coolest things that have ever stomped across a movie screen. Yet there is so much greatness to "Empire" on a surface level but also digging deeper. Vader’s reveal to Luke about being the kid’s father is an all-time truth bomb, and is made better when compared to Luke’s visions of the man behind the mask when training with Yoda. Luke training with Yoda and each kinda getting ticked off at the other is priceless.

But really "Empire" is like a Star Destroyer full of these scenes: Han saving Luke in the deadly cold of Hoth by warming him up in Tauntaun guts; Lando Calrissian (Billy Dee Williams) betraying his old friend Han in order to save his city; Han and Leia’s "I love you/I know” exchange before the smuggler gets frozen in carbonite. And on and on. You could argue that it’s one of the best sequels of all time but for this series at least, it’s the chapter that takes a cool sci-fi fairy tale with Arthurian overtones and sent it on its way to being a masterwork of storytelling.