Reddit user TheNeptunianSloth caught the interest of Star Wars fans this week after going to great lengths to establish the most and least divisive films in the franchise.
Though the latest instalment The Last Jedi (2017) achieved critical acclaim, many fans were disappointed and some even called for the movie to be deleted and re-made.
Several media outlets called The Last Jedi the most divisive film in the franchise.
“It got me wondering: can we know for sure that it actually is the most divisive film in the series,” said TheNeptunianSloth.
“By how much is it more divisive than the second most divisive film?
“What is the least divisive one?”
The user then used the statistics on IMDB to establish the ratings for every film, calculating the standard deviation from each film’s set of ratings, with a higher deviation making a more divisive film.
Here are his results:
1. The Last Jedi – 2.696
2. The Phantom Menace – 2.062
3. Attack of the Clones – 1.914
4. Revenge of the Sith – 1.837
5. Return of the Jedi – 1.695
6. The Force Awakens – 1.612
7. A New Hope – 1.602
8. The Empire Strikes Back – 1.517
9. Rogue One – 1.405
His results indicate that The Last Jedi is officially the most divisive film in the series, swiftly followed by the widely panned ‘prequels’ – The Phantom Menace (1999), Attack Of The Clones (2002) and Revenge of the Sith (2005).
However, TheNeptunianSloth stresses that we should be careful with the data.
They said: “This probably means that the people who disliked TFA are simply more vocal about it, and that many people who liked that film simply haven’t expressed it as much.”
READ: Star Wars Episode 9 – what we know so far about the final film in the trilogy
Rogue One (2016), not part of the official saga but the first of a series of stand-alone spin-off films, is the least divisive.
The next spin-off film will be Solo, an origin story centring on the Millennium Falcon captain, set to be released this spring.
Some of the criticism levelled at The Last Jedi has focused on a plot hole from the opening sequence which sees Resistance fighters planting bombs inside the First Order’s Dreadnought ship.
However, this week it was revealed that the issue is solved in the downloadable content for the Star Wars: Battlefront II video game.