Gratuitous Lists: The Star Wars Movies Ranked (updated again)

The philosophy of the Gratuitous Lists feature was to have lists of stuff that are unranked, because frankly if you're talking about the 12th best thing of all time or the 9th best thing of all time, the differences are going to be pretty minor. In the case of a Star Wars movie list, however, that's kind of pointless because there's too few things to put on the list. So for these ones I'm ranking them and people can argue away to their heart's content. So let us proceed.

For the record, Lucasfilm have seemingly ruled both Caravan of Courage (1984) and The Battle for Endor (1985) - which were both released in cinemas in Europe - as non-canon, so I'm going with the eleven Star Wars movies theatrically released since 1977.

Previous versions of this list appeared in 2018 and 2016.

12. The Clone Wars
Released 15 August 2008 • Directed by Dave Filoni • Written by Henry Gilroy, Steven Melching and Scott Murphy

Over the course of five-and-a-half seasons, The Clone Wars evolved into a fantastic, gripping and fun pulp SF adventure show. However, it took a while to get there. The first few episodes were made on a limited budget with very few CG assets, whilst producer Dave Filoni and his team were still finding their feet with pacing and characterisation. George Lucas was a little bit too impressed by what the guys at Lucasfilm Animation had achieved when he decided it was good enough quality to go on the big screen. Coming in the same year as Wall-E and with a juvenile tone that turned off adult Star Wars fans, The Clone Wars just couldn't cut it.

If some of the later, much better arcs and episodes had been made into an animated film, the results may have been different.

11. Attack of the Clones
Released 16 May 2002 • Directed by George Lucas • Written by George Lucas & Jonathan Hales

Well, where to start? The worst live-action Star Wars movie has the most risible performances, dialogue (including the epic "hatred of sand" speech), execrable plotting and confused structural tics out of all of them. It's embarrassing to see actors of the calibre of Natalie Portman and Christopher Lee working with scripts this awful and the hyper-polished CGI sheen over the effects is sterile and uninvolving. Hayden Christensen isn't quite as bad as is often said (given that even Samuel L. Jackson and Ewan McGregor are struggling with this material, Christensen doesn't really disgrace himself) but is still an uninteresting protagonist. Even John Williams is feeling uninspired, only rising to the occasion in his score when he revisits themes from previous movies.

10. Revenge of the Sith

Released 19 May 2005 • Directed by George Lucas • Written by George Lucas

Revenge of the Sith and The Phantom Menace are at a very similar level of quality and you could swap their positions quite easily. Sith, for me, falls short for several reasons. The first is that the utterly pointless CG overload of Attack of the Clones is pursued and doubled down on in Revenge of the Sith, making the film feel even more artificial and sterile. The next is that the dialogue has somehow even gotten worse, along with the performances. Natalie Portman's cringe-inducing "You're breaking my heart!" and Ewan McGregor's completely flummoxed reaction to Anakin murdering children are both awful pieces of acting.

There are some good moments in Sith - the dialogue-less moment where Anakin decides to betray the Republic and the execution of Order 66 - and John Williams remembers to show up with a couple of excellent scoring moments, but the long-awaited Obi-Wan/Anakin lightsabre showdown is awful and the conclusion of the Clone Wars is bitty and unsatisfying. Revenge of the Sith had the potential for greatness and wastes it thanks to George Lucas's ego. On that level Revenge of the Sith isn't the worst Star Wars movie but it is, easily, the most disappointing.

9. The Phantom Menace
Released 19 May 1999 • Directed by George Lucas • Written by George Lucas

Enjoying The Phantom Menace is possible, especially if you cheat and watch The Phantom Edit (which cuts out the majority of Jar-Jar scenes and dramatically reduces the "endearing" antics of little Anakin). But even the original edit is fine if you can simply ignore Jar-Jar. The Phantom Menace emerges as (marginally) the best film of the prequel trilogy thanks to its absolutely stellar soundtrack (a never-better John Williams), the grounded, inspiring presence of Liam Neeson as Qui-Gon Jinn and the use of real sets and models for many of the effects. It also helps that our main villain Darth Maul almost never speaks, so retains some menace rather than losing it by uttering inanely awful dialogue. Some CG overload is still present, but it's nothing as bad as the latter two prequel movies. There's also a pacier feel to events, with the shifts in location and plot meaning that weaker scenes don't drag on as long as they do in the two other prequels, and the movie may feature the prequel trilogy's best set-piece with the pod racing sequence, as well as its best (if occasionally showiest) lightsabre duel.

It's still an enormously flawed film with plot holes you can drive a Star Destroyer through, of course, but not quite as awful as its reputation suggests.

8. The Rise of Skywalker
Released 19 December 2019 • Directed by J.J. Abrams • Written by J.J. Abrams

J.J. Abrams course-correcting from the divisive Last Jedi meant doing two things with The Rise of Skywalker. The very good thing is focusing even more on the Kylo Ren/Rey relationship, which gives the film (and the whole sequel trilogy) its dramatic spine and several genuinely epic moments.

The bad thing is fanservice. Fanservice! Everywhere. If a classic Star Wars sound effect, spaceship or character doesn't show up in the extraordinarily loud and bombastic closing half-hour of the movie, it's not for want of trying.

At its best, the film is an epic and dramatic struggle between two characters struggling with their destinies. At its worst, it's an exercise in weaponised nostalgia, J.J. Abrams walking into the amphitheatre on Geonosis and playing the full four seconds of the film in which Wedge Antilles appears and screaming "ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED?" at baffled nine-year-olds.

But when the film works, it does tickle the old Star Wars magic out of hiding. It just feels like it struggles to do it as well the films higher up this list.

7. The Last Jedi
Released 15 December 2017 • Directed by Rian Johnson • Written by Rian Johnson

The Last Jedi is certainly not the worst Star Wars movie but it's clearly the most divisive. The film does so much so well - Luke Skywalker's return does not go the way you expect, the disturbing Rey/Kylo relationship is something Star Wars hasn't really done before and the signature lightsabre battle is outstanding - but also squanders a lot of goodwill through an utterly pointless filler storyline on a casino planet and some very strange character choices, along with a musical score phoned in by John Williams on an off day.

There's a huge amount of unrealised potential in the movie, which a few more rewrites and judicious editing could have fixed. But the biggest problem is that The Last Jedi does not follow through on its promise: Rey should have joined Kylo Ren at the end and either become the big villain for Episode IX, or perhaps tried to work to redeem him from within. By instead snapping back to the status quo at the end of the movie, it betrays its own promise to be an edgier and different kind of Star Wars movie. Instead, it returns things to normal and J.J. Abrams doesn't do anything too unpredictable in the next movie to keep things fresh.

6. Solo
Released 25 May 2018 • Directed by Ron Howard (with Phil Lord & Christopher Miller) • Written by Lawrence Kasdan & Jonathan Kasdan

This is a story that didn't really need to be told and there were audible groans when it was announced, but ultimately it ends up being a worthwhile ride. This is Star Wars in its purest form, a pulp space adventure with fun characters getting into hijinks against the backdrop of entertaining set pieces. There's some great quips, some fine performances (the best from Donald Glover as the young Lando Calrissian) and some rousing action.

Most impressive is Solo's ability to surprise, albeit in the form of opening up the ending to allow for a sequel (which is now unlikely to happen). Completely unexpected characters show up, one character whose storyline you thought you could write from the first scene goes in an unexpected direction and the movie overall rises above its troubled production (including the firing of the original directors halfway through production) to become a watchable, solid film.

5. The Force Awakens
Released 18 December 2015 • Directed by J.J. Abrams • Written by Michael Arndt, Lawrence Kasdan and J.J. Abrams

The Force Awakens is two movies sitting on top of one another. The first is the struggle of the Resistance to avoid the destruction of their hidden base by the First Order's planet-destroying superweapon, which is ludicrously powerful but has a rather-easily-exposed weakness. This plot is less than satisfying, since it's a retread of Star Wars (A New Hope). However, the second is the family drama of Han Solo and Princess Leia having a son strong in the Force who brutally betrays them, murders his way into a position of power in the First Order and embraces the Dark Side, but is constantly tempted by the lure of good. New character Rey has the chance to take his place as the new champion of the Force, but only if she can overcome her own limitations in the process.

This latter story is far more interesting and provides The Force Awakens with its real dramatic meat. Excellent performances by newcomers and old hands alike, excellent effects and John Williams dropping an awesome musical score combine to make a movie that couldn't feel any more Star Wars if it tried. Far from a perfect movie, the main problem with The Force Awakens is that it sometimes tries a little too hard to be Star Wars rather than going with the flow. But as franchise-resurrecting reboots go, this is impressive. The Pacific Rim of the Star Wars franchise: oh, oh so dumb, but so much fun you just don't care.

4. Rogue One
Released 16 December 2016 • Directed by Gareth Edwards • Written by John Knoll, Gary Whitta, Chris Weitz & Tony Gilroy

Rogue One is a fine movie with some fantastic performances, action sequences and individually powerful scenes. CG overload is mostly avoided and the film feels punchy, nailing The Dirty Dozen in Space vibe it is shooting for. The movie also, and rather surprisingly, justifies its existence by mostly avoiding continuity problems and fixing a couple of niggling problems in the original Star Wars.

On the negative side of things, characterisation can be a little variable (Jyn's motivations seem to have gotten lost in the edit) and the way the film ends is structurally messy, whilst the score is forgettable. But congratulations to Lucasfilm for having the resolve to end the film in the only manner that makes sense.

Rogue One is the big winner over previous lists, where I ranked it below The Force Awakens and Solo. In retrospect, Solo's big grin enjoyability doesn't endure through rewatches, whilst The Force Awakens' rewatchability is better but the film's sillier side does grate a bit more. Rogue One is the only one of the new-era Star Wars film which really creates a sense of weight and jeopardy, particularly in the utterly outstanding space battle (the only one outside the original trilogy that's worth a damn) and the decidedly grimmer tone of events.

3. Return of the Jedi
Released 25 May 1983 • Directed by Richard Marquand • Written by George Lucas and Lawrence Kasdan

Return of the Jedi always comes last from the original trilogy when these lists are written, which feels a little unfair. It's got the best space battle of the entire saga, it has a fantastic three-way showdown between Luke, Vader and the Emperor, it has awesome music and also some very fine dramatic moments (Luke and Vader's conversation at the docking platform may be the most underrated scene of the saga). Mark Hamill also gives arguably his best performance in this movie (although it's close between this one and Empire).

It's also a bit of a structurally weak film. Spending so much time at Jabba's palace doesn't quite work, since Jabba is a secondary villain not really worth the screentime he eats up. Also, and this is far more prevalent on marathons when you don't have three years between films, Han Solo's entire kidnap storyline feels like a waste of time given how easily it is resolved. Han and Lando's morally dubious sides have also been eroded away with both now straight-up good guys and white hats, which makes them a bit less interesting. And of course, Ewoks (although I've never had that big a problem with them).

But it's still a fine capstone to the first six films in the saga which earns its (mostly) happy ending.

2. Star Wars
Released 25 May 1977 • Directed by George Lucas • Written by George Lucas, Gloria Katz (uncredited) and Willard Huyck (uncredited)

This is where the fun begins. Released in 1977 and made on a modest budget, Star Wars (reluctantly aka A New Hope) utterly transformed cinema in a way not seen before or since. Watching it today, it's clearly the cheapest Star Wars movie but this also means it has to focus more on story, character and dialogue. It's also pacy and energetic, steered by a never-better George Lucas clearly realising he has the chance to reinvent the wheel here. A brilliant space battle, a tremendous musical score and some very effective Tunisian location filming all give the film a sense of scale and scope that goes beyond its meagre resources. Thrown in tremendous performances from Peter Cushing and Alec Guinness and a star-making turn by Harrison Ford, and the original Star Wars is still a brilliantly-conceived piece of entertainment.

1. The Empire Strikes Back
Released 21 May 1980 • Directed by Irvin Kershner • Written by George Lucas, Leigh Brackett and Lawrence Kasdan

The Empire Strikes Back being the best Star Wars movie has been clear for years, but it's still remarkable just how good it is. It goes dark compared to the original movie, but its power comes more from how invested the audience is in the relationships from the first movie and how effectively this sequel messes around with those relationships (Han and Leia hooking up wrong-foots the audience expecting her to get together with Luke). The film also feels more naturalistic, with director Irvin Kershner letting his actors breathe, discussing character motivation and improvise dialogue in manner that George Lucas was incapable of doing. Most importantly, new characters such as Yoda and Lando grab hold of the imagination and are just as strong as the returning characters, which is quite a feat for a sequel.

The film also has arguably the Star Wars saga's greatest effects set piece as the Millennium Falcon swoops balletically through an asteroid field with John Williams' soundtrack framing events perfectly, with the Battle of Hoth not far behind it in quality.

But of course the real reason the film emerges as the best in the saga is down to that climactic confrontation between Luke and Vader which turns what was supposed to be a disposable popcorn series into an epic, generation-spanning family tragedy. This remains the Star Wars bar of quality that needs to be beaten.

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Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker

The First Order has conquered much of the galaxy, but the Resistance is continuing to be a thorn in its side. As Supreme Leader Kylo Ren continues his search for Rey, he is contacted by a most unexpected source: Emperor Palpatine, mysteriously returned from the dead in the Unknown Regions of the galaxy with a powerful new weapon he will gift to the Order, in return for their help. The stage is set for a final showdown between the Light and the Dark Side, the Sith and the Jedi. Until the next one.

The Rise of Skywalker concludes the Star Wars sequel trilogy, an exercise in film-making where one writer-director gets to write the opening movie a trilogy, another one gets to trash it and do something completely different, and then the original writer-director comes back and trashes what the second one did but can't do his original plan (because it's been trashed) so says screw it and just turns in a greatest hits compilation. The Rise of Skywalker is fanservice turned into nothing less than avant-garde performance art, an unrelenting assault on the senses where it feels like the director spends two and a half hours playing you sound effects and video clips of the previous ten Star Wars movies and yelling "Remember that this was cool when you were twelve?"

We'll skip over the main storyline, which is a mostly forgettable travelogue of unoriginal new planets, including the 476th desert planet to appear in the franchise, in search of increasingly forgettable maguffins (a magic dagger, a droid memory decoder and a magic pyramid thing) and meeting almost completely pointless new characters. Richard E. Grant, Naomi Ackie and Keri Windsor are all great but have maybe 15 minutes of screen time combined. Palpatine - a screen-chewing Ian McDiarmid on fine form - has maybe less.

Instead the focus is firmly on our new friends: John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Daisy Ridley and Adam Driver, with an even tighter focus on Ridley and Driver. The Rey-Kylo Ren relationship drives this entire trilogy and is the best thing about it, and it's especially the best thing about The Rise of Skywalker. The ambiguity of their relationship, Rey's pull towards the Dark Side and Kylo Ren's pull towards the Light Side makes this all quite tense and interesting in a way that Lucas never quite managed with either previous trilogy (since we already knew how Anakin was going to go and we never really thought that Luke was going to go bad). This thread gives the movie a spine to hang onto even when the overload of plot coupons, laser fights, fake-out deaths and lucky escapes get out of hand elsewhere. Expect a "Reylo Cut" of their relationship to emerge after the final film comes out on physical media which strips away a lot of the distracting frippery.

That distracting frippery gets very distracting as the movie builds towards its bombastic but - as with so much of this trilogy - strangely weightless climax. There's no real worldbuilding depth to this trilogy, with ships continue to be able to jump in and out of hyperspace directly from planetary atmospheres, and almost from planetary surfaces (ignoring the first six films which established you couldn't do that). The movie does bizarrely retcon the hyperspace ram from The Last Jedi, revealing it's not actually possible and they're not sure how it was done. This is probably the most overt of several decidedly juvenile, snide digs Abrams gets in at his predecessor film which feels both infantile and also hubristic; The Last Jedi had a lot of issues of its own, but it is also a more coherent, original film than The Rise of Skywalker.

The final thirty minutes of the film play like The Return of the King's five endings but on crack, with so much fanservice hurled at the audience that it is physically exhausting. Almost every single spaceship that's ever been in a Star Wars film or TV show turns up. Tons of characters from all three trilogies get cameos (some so short that you wonder why they bothered), and they even live-action canonise (albeit only through audio clips) several characters from the Clone Wars and Rebels TV shows. Fan-favourite musical cues from across the series are weaponised with merciless efficiency by John Williams on autopilot, who in lieu of new material seems to have merely hit "shuffle" on his Star Wars Greatest Hits playlist and handed it over to Abrams. The very end of the film goes full overload in burying the audience with cheese. It's not totally ineffective - it turns out that a sunset shot and John Williams' stirring theme still can't get old after forty-two years - but it feels a bit obvious and a bit safe.

The Rise of Skywalker (***) puts all of its dramatic heavy lifting on the shoulders of Adam Driver and Daisey Ridley's shoulders and they pull it off with aplomb, giving the film and the trilogy a dramatic spine which is really fascinating and well-played, when the movie remembers to focus on it. The rest of the time the move is an unrelenting popcorn rollercoaster ride which never stops moving and never stops hurling references to the previous movies at the viewer. On a base level that's fun, but those hoping for some new twists on the classic formula will leave disappointed.

The Rise of Skywalker is on general release worldwide.

Galadriel cast in LORD OF THE RINGS: THE SECOND AGE

Amazon has cast the first familiar character in its upcoming fantasy TV series, The Lord of the Rings: The Second Age.

Morfydd Clark is playing the role of Galadriel in the series. Clark is a Welsh actress who has racked up an impressive number of credits in recent years, including The Alienist, Patrick Melrose, Dracula, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and The Personal History of David Copperfield. Her main genre credentials of note are playing Yolanda in the BBC's The City and The City and her current role as Sister Clara on His Dark Materials.

Galadriel is an elvish noblewoman, a powerful figure played memorably by Cate Blanchett in Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings and Hobbit trilogies. The Second Age takes place some 5,000 years before the events of The Lord of the Rings, before Galadriel and her husband Celeborn become the rulers of the kingdom of Lorien.

Amazon has not yet fully confirmed The Second Age's story and focus, but it is believed that the story will involve the forging of the Rings of Power, the corruption of the elves of Eregion by Sauron in the guise of an elven prince and the resulting War of Sauron and the Elves which almost breaks the last remnants of elvish power in Middle-earth before they are joined by the mighty men of Numenor, a great island-kingdom in the far west. Galadriel plays a supporting role in this drama, which is expected to more fully focus on Celebrimbor, the elven king of Eregion, and a new band of human and elven heroes.

The Second Age is due to start its main shooting period in February, with production expected to run through the end of 2020. The show is likely to hit screens in the second half of 2021. Amazon have already renewed the show for a second season.

RUMOUR: WHEEL OF TIME Season 1 will be eight episodes, due to air in 2020

Rumours are now strongly suggesting that The Wheel of Time's first season on Amazon Prime will be eight episodes long and Amazon want to get it out of the door before the end of 2020.

The eight episodes claim comes from agency sources who have cited their clients (the actors, stunt performers and extras) being needed for only eight episodes.

The 2020 release date comes from the same source and also Valyrian Steel's recent licensing deal with Amazon.

The reasons for Amazon wanting to get Wheel of Time out before the end of 2020 are clear. Amazon are also producing the first season of Lord of the Rings: The Second Age (due to start intensive production in February) for release in mid-2021. Lord of the Rings will be a bigger and higher-profile project and Amazon likely want a reasonable amount of daylight between their two fantasy productions, ideally about six months.

Previously it was assumed Wheel of Time's first season would be 10-13 episodes, with more time needed for effects work. However, the revelation that it will be only eight episodes means significantly less post-production work will be required. Wheel of Time is shooting until mid-to-late May 2020, so there'll be a good six months for post-production to be completed before airing.

For comparison, Season 1 of The Witcher wrapped on 30 May 2019 and will hit the air this coming Friday, on 20 December, so it would seem doable (although Wheel of Time is expected to have far more visual effects shots, but also likely has a higher budget and more resources to call upon to get the work done faster).

Confidence in the eight episodes report seems to be very high, but less so in the 2020 release date; the show slipping to January or February 2021 seems eminently possible. More news as we get it.

First DRESDEN FILES novel in six years will be released in July 2020

Ace Books have confirmed that the sixteenth novel in Jim Butcher's urban fantasy Dresden Files series, Peace Talks, will be released on 14 July 2020, after a six-year wait. The book's release will coincide with the twentieth anniversary of the series.

Butcher began publishing The Dresden Files in April 2000 with Storm Front. The books have been a huge hit, with sales approaching 10 million. Butcher released almost a book a year until 2014 when Skin Game was released, whilst also working on other projects.

The long delay for Peace Talks has been due to a number of personal crises, including building a new house and having to move into suboptimal temporary accommodation in the meantime. Butcher reported a few months ago that these problems had been overcome, leading to the book's completion.

Butcher is envisaging around twenty-three books in the series in total, and is hoping to return to a much more normal production rate from now on.

Valyrian Steel signs merchandising deal for THE WHEEL OF TIME

Valyrian Steel, who rose to fame creating replica weapons for George R.R. Martin's Song of Ice and Fire novels, have signed a new licensing deal with Sony Television related to their Wheel of Time TV show (which will air on Amazon Prime).

The new deal allows Valyrian Steel to create replica weapons, jewellery, armour, statues and replica angreal (magical artifacts which play a key role in the series), based on the designs that will be used in the TV series.

According to the press release, Amazon are currently musing a late 2020 airing date for The Wheel of Time, which is earlier than expected. There's also some correlating evidence for that which I will deal with in a separate post.

Whitecloaks and Trollocs cast for Amazon's WHEEL OF TIME show

Some more casting news for Amazon's Wheel of Time TV series has made its way out into the world.

Eamon Valda is a member of the Children of the Light, or "Whitecloaks," an order of fanatical warriors bitterly opposed to the Dark One and also the Aes Sedai, whom they consider witches and abominations. Valda is the senior Whitecloak operating in the city of Caemlyn and provides an unlooked-for "escort" for Elayne Trakand when she and her party travel to Tar Valon. Interestingly, although mentioned several times Valda does not appear "in the flesh" until the sixth book in the series. This suggests his off-screen storyline in the first two novels will be depicted on-screen.

Valda will be played by Abdul Salis, a British actor whose previous credits include Love, Actually, Strike Back and a stint as a regular on popular British medical soap Casualty.

Master Hightower is a ferryman from the Two Rivers. He lives in the village of Taren Ferry on the northern edge of the district and helps transport people back and forth over the Taren. He is a relatively minor character, though he has a memorable scene in the first book.

Hightower will be played by Pearce Quigley, whose credits include The Detectorists, Car Share and the film Peterloo.

Czech stuntman Roman Dvořák is being drafted in to play at least one and probably more Trollocs. The main footsoldiers of the Dark One, Trollocs are large, bestial brutes, scary but too angry to be disciplined soldiers. Effective they're the orcs of The Wheel of Time. It sounds like there'll be a lot of them, with Dvořák potentially playing the "featured" Trollocs who'll be prominent in the camera view. Whether this means Dvořák will be playing the memorable role of Narg, the only named Trolloc character in the book series, is unclear. Dvořák's previous roles include Britannia, 12 Monkeys and Knightfall.

Eldrin and Bode Cauthon are the little twin sisters of Mat Cauthon. They will be played by twins Lilibet and Litiana Biutanaseva.

Season 1 of The Wheel of Time is shooting now in the Czech Republic and Slovenia. Shooting will continue through May, with the show expected to debut on Amazon Prime in early 2021.

The Legend of Korra - Book III: Change

The Harmonic Convergence has resulted in unforeseen consequences, including the return of airbending to the world. Korra, after a public falling-out with the President of the United Republic due to her decision to allow spirits to enter the physical world, teams up with Tenzin to recruit the new airbenders to help restart the Air Nomad Nation. Unbeknown to Korra, a criminal named Zaheer has gained the power of airbending and seeks to reunite his old gang of elite benders, the Red Lotus, to renew their quest to find and eliminate the Avatar...permanently.

The second season of The Legend of Korra was a major disappointment, the first letdown provided by the five seasons (at that point) of the combined Avatar: The Last Airbender/Legend of Korra franchise. The third season of Korra has a lot riding on it: is the rot permanent or could the show recover?

Fortunately, the latter is the case. The third season of The Legend of Korra drops a lot of the more spiritual and nebulous elements of the previous show in favour of a much firmer story. A charismatic enemy, voiced by Henry Rollins, assembles a notable "anti-Team Avatar" to take down Korra. The spine of the season is Korra taking the fight to Zaheer and working out what his motivations are. These motivations are complex and less concerned with power than freedom, verging on anarchy. The bad guys are thus presented as having somewhat understandable motivations, but are over-zealous in their application. These ideas are sophisticated for a kids' show but presented well. It's particularly interesting to see the scale of the struggle and the price of victory.

There's also a lot of excellent subplots, such as the recruitment of the new airbending recruits and Tenzin's difficulties in establishing himself as a leader, and the introduction of Lin's family and the city of Zaofu. We learn more about metalbending and the new art of lavabending as well.

The Legend of Korra's third season (****½) is the show getting its mojo back and becoming compelling viewing, the finest season of the show overall. The season is available now as part of the complete series box set (UK, USA) and on Amazon Prime worldwide.

The Expanse: Season 4

Billions of years ago a war raged between two races whose powers and abilities far outstrip those of humanity. One of those races sent a semi-intelligent compound known as the protomolecule to the Solar system with the intent of building an immense gateway, leading to more than a thousand other worlds orbiting other stars. The Sol gateway is now complete, sparking a gold rush as refugees and prospectors flee to the new worlds. The first world to be so settled is Ilus, now a potential flashpoint between Belter refugees and Terran corporate interests. UN Secretary General Avasarala sends James Holden and the Rocinante to mediate...at the same time an OPA breakaway faction is making a move of its own in the Belt and on Mars.

The Expanse is the best space opera TV series of modern times, maybe the finest since the 1990s genre heyday of Deep Space Nine, Babylon 5, Stargate SG-1 and Farscape. For three seasons, SyFy crafted a remarkable, entertaining slice of drama which can happily stand alongside any terrestrial-set "Golden Age" show. Then they cancelled it.

Fortunately, the richest man in the world turned out to be a huge fan of the series and was able to save it, with at least a further two seasons due to air on Amazon (Season 5, shooting at the moment, will air next year).

Season 4 of The Expanse is based on the fourth book in the novel series, Cibola Burn. Readers of the books will know that this story is the most static of the series, with the action being almost entirely restricted to one planet. To mix things up, the TV show also adapts the novella Gods of Risk, focusing on Bobbie on Mars, and adds some new storylines focused on Drummer and Ashford tracking down breakaway terrorist Marco Inaros (setting up the fifth season) and Avasarala seeking re-election as UN Secretary-General.

This addition of new storylines and a slightly reduced episode count (10 rather than 13) gives the series both a good sense of pacing and maintains the epic, solar system-spanning feel of the earlier seasons whilst also staying true to the books. The focus is firmly on events on Ilus, however, which gives the show a new feeling: open skies above our characters' heads, strange alien ruins to investigate (which occasionally makes things feel a bit like the movie Arrival) but still a lot of cynical politics to navigate.

This gives us the best new character of the season, Adolphus Murtry, played by Burn Gorman (Pacific Rim, Game of Thrones, Torchwood). Murtry is much more of an obvious villain in the book, but here gains slightly more nuance (pitting him as the mirror image of Amos). Gorman's performance is typically strong, being both charismatic and morally repugnant. Other strong new performers include Lyndie Greenwood as Dr. Elvi Okoye, Rosa Gilmore as Lucia Mazur and Keon Alexander as Marco Inaros, the latter of whom will play a crucial role in the next season or two and is suitably, sleazily charismatic.

The writing and performances are strong, and the visuals much improved by Amazon's higher budget. Many of the shots in this season feel like they're straight out of a much bigger-budget feature film. The show also continues its much greater focus (than most space operas) on realistic physics, such as a tense scene where one ship has to tow another to a higher orbit and another where the characters have to brace themselves for geological disturbances on the planet and the resulting tsunami.

The season does have a few weaknesses. The source material is probably the weakest book in the series (although still a pretty solid book) and the TV show can't quite overcome the fact that events are constrained to one setting. After seeing the much busier Abaddon's Gate adapted in just seven episodes in Season 3, it feels like giving ten episodes to Cibola Burn was a bit generous, even with the other storylines added to bulk things out. The pacing is therefore not quite as gripping in previous seasons. Another issue - one more for book readers than viewers - is that the show decides to spell out Marco Inaros' masterplan in the closing moments of the series. Given that the events alluded to are essentially The Expanse's "Red Wedding" moment, more effective when shocking, spoiling this ahead of time is a questionable move. We'll have to wait until next year to see if this move pays off in Season 5.

Despite some minor quibbles, the fourth season of The Expanse (****½) remains an excellent show with fine performances, great scripts and impressive effects. The move to Amazon hasn't hurt the show at all and whets the appetite for what will be possible next year. The season is available to watch now in the UK and USA.

Season 4 of THE EXPANSE hits Amazon

Season 4 of The Expanse, almost certainly the best TV show on air right now, has arrived on Amazon Prime today (UK, USA).

Adapting the events of the fourth novel in the series, Cibola Burn, the book sees the Rocinante crew dispatched to deal with problems on a newly-settled colony planet beyond the Ring Gateway established at the end of Season 3.

Season 5 of The Expanse is already shooting for a mid-to-late 2020 debut.