With the arrival of The Rise Of Skywalker last year, the Star Wars saga became (once again) complete – a trio of trilogies depicting the legend of the Skywalker family, the Jedi, the Sith, and a galaxy’s worth of heroes and villains. The complete saga not only represents three generations of the Star Wars universe, but three distinct eras of filmmaking, from the ‘70s and early ‘80s, to the late ‘90s and early ‘00s, to the mid-to-late 2010s – coming together to form the ultimate cinematic story told across 42 years with some of the most iconic images ever committed to the silver screen.
There are plenty of trailers out there – some official, many fanmade – that encompass the entire Skywalker Saga, and for May the 4th we’ve collected the very best together. Featuring characters, locations, musical cues, dialogue, and more from across the nine-film series, they’re guaranteed to leave you with goosebumps. Watch them, and prepare to binge Episodes I to IX all over again.
1) The Complete Skywalker Saga – Disney+
This official Skywalker Saga trailer from Disney is short but sweet, deftly zipping between eras with smartly-chosen imagery that echoes across the three trilogies. Particularly great is the way it begins by summing up the throughline of each trilogy with one line of dialogue from each. “I want to learn the ways of the Force and become a Jedi like my father,” says Luke. And then, “You referred to the prophecy of the one that will bring balance to the Force,” says Mace Windu, speaking of Anakin. And finally, we hear Rey: “I need someone to show me my place in all this.” Beautifully done – and that musical crescendo is killer.
2) Star Wars: Always
This supercut, by Topher Grace (yes, that Topher Grace) and his editing partner Jeff Yorkes came out pre-The Rise Of Skywalker – but includes moments from the other eight films, plus Solo and Rogue One. Across five minutes, it gives you the best of each character in turn: we start with Luke, then move on to Obi-Wan, then to Han Solo, then to Leia. From there we get ruminations on the meaning of the Force, leading us into the Sequel Trilogy. The best bit? Yoda’s “There is another” line, accompanied by the image of Luke’s lightsaber flying into Rey’s hand at the end of The Force Awakens.
3) Star Wars – The Skywalker Saga
This fanmade trailer finds a great way into the Saga – using the moment Rey touches Luke’s lightsaber in Maz Kanata’s castle in The Force Awakens as the catalyst to flash back through each film one at a time, from Episode I to Episode IX. Where some saga trailers blend the eras together, this one keeps them separate in a way that displays the unique atmosphere of each trilogy – the grand digitised worlds of the prequels, the classic well-worn aesthetic of the originals, and the visual pop of the sequels. Beautifully done, and it comes full circle from that opening with a final shot of Rey wielding Luke’s lightsaber in The Rise Of Skywalker.
4) Star Wars: Legacy Trailer
More than just a Skywalker Saga trailer, this one focuses largely on the Skywalker clan itself – with a few exceptions. For the most part it’s centred on Luke, Leia, Ben and Anakin, cutting cleanly through the family at the heart of the trilogy of trilogies. Still, there’s a surprising amount of General Hux in here, so its creator Jon Arryn Garza must be a big fan. It was also made before The Rise Of Skywalker arrived – i.e., before we found out that Rey was actually (SPOILER WARNING) part of the Palpatine bloodline, even if she eventually counted the Skywalker as her chosen family.
5) The Skywalker Saga – Trailer
The precision of the editing really stands out in this one. Over the course of just two minutes it perfectly blends all nine films, picking just the right imagery and the most spine-tingling dialogue to weave the whole saga together. There’s a sense of pace too, one that encapsulates the joy and the energy of the series, with lightsaber clashes cut right on time to the beat of John Williams’ score. It makes great use of 3PO’s “one last look” quote from The Rise Of Skywalker, gets BB-8’s thumbs-up in there, and ends neatly on a final glimpse at each trilogy’s protagonist: Luke, Anakin, Rey. A nice touch, too, that it gets each episode name into the final title card.
6) Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga 4K
As well as being presented in shiny Ultra-HD, this fan edit contains plenty of Rise Of Skywalker footage that brings things full circle – opening on Rey attempting to pick herself back up while facing Palpatine on Exegol, and closing with that ‘Rey Skywalker’ line. In between, it jumbles up the eras nicely – even finding a second for Anakin and Padme’s frolic in the grass. It loses a point, though, for cutting away just as the Porg is about to do its little scream in the Millennium Falcon cockpit in The Last Jedi.
7) Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga – Tribute
Undoubtedly the best thing in Christian Dvorak’s fan edit is the use of music – segueing between Williams’ themes and cues with all the skill of a Jedi Master. From the original Star Wars suite, to Rey’s theme, to Duel Of The Fates, it masterfully blends the iconic sounds that have so enriched the saga. Visually, it moves perceptively through moods and recurring motifs – betrayal, grief, redemption. And making use of The Rise Of Skywalker’s major moments, it compares and contrasts them nicely to the scenes they echo in the original and prequel trilogies.
8) Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker | The Saga Trailer
This pre-Rise Of Skywalker trailer uses Luke and Rey’s conversation about the Force in The Last Jedi as its starting point, before zipping through a potted history of the Jedi Order – the Republic, the Clone Wars, the meddling of Count Dooku, the rise of Vader, and Order 66. Elsewhere, it manages to get in Yoda’s “luminous beings are we” speech, delivers a great cut between the Rey and Kylo Ren’s lightsaber duel on the Death Star in Episode IX and Obi-Wan vs Anakin on Mustafar in Episode III. There’s more magic editing, too, with a match-cut between the Millennium Falcon flying through the asteroid field in Empire Strikes Back, and soaring over Jakku in The Force Awakens.