Manny Jacinto has picked his favorite Star Wars movies, and honestly, the man has range.
The Acolyte actor, who played Qimir/The Stranger, recently said his top choices outside of his own show are Rogue One and The Phantom Menace. On paper, that sounds like two very different corners of the galaxy.
One is grim, grounded, tragic, and ends with Darth Vader turning a hallway into a horror movie.
The other gave a generation podracing, battle droids, Naboo politics, Darth Maul, and the eternal childhood thrill of going way too fast on Nintendo 64.
Somehow, the combination makes perfect sense.
Rogue One Is the Easy Pick, But for Good Reason
Jacinto pointed to Rogue One partly because of the stunt team connection to The Acolyte, but also because of that Darth Vader hallway scene.
Fair.
That scene has become one of the most talked-about Vader moments in modern Star Wars because it understands something very simple: Vader is terrifying when the story stops treating him like an icon and starts treating him like a nightmare.
No speeches. No debate. Just red light, panic, and everyone suddenly realizing the boss fight started without their permission.
It makes sense that Jacinto would connect with that kind of physical storytelling. The Acolyte also leaned heavily on movement, stunt work, and brutal Force-user combat. Qimir did not work only because he looked cool in a helmet. He worked because the fights made him feel dangerous.
The Phantom Menace Pick Is More Interesting
But The Phantom Menace is the choice that says more.
Jacinto said he grew up on it, and specifically mentioned playing the Pod Racer game on N64. That is not just nostalgia. That is the exact kind of Star Wars memory a lot of fans understand immediately.
For some people, Star Wars was a cinema moment.
For others, it was a controller, a bad turn on a desert track, and the sound of engines screaming through Boonta Eve like your childhood depended on it.
That is why The Phantom Menace still has such a strange grip on people. Whatever anyone thinks of the movie, it created images, sounds, characters, and games that lived far beyond the first reaction.
Star Wars Works Best When It Spreads Out
Jacinto’s two picks basically show the full Star Wars spectrum.
Rogue One is sacrifice, war, fear, and myth.
The Phantom Menace is color, speed, weird creatures, big music, political drama, and a video game memory that refuses to die.
That combination is exactly why Star Wars has survived for so long. It is not one tone. It is not one generation. It is a galaxy big enough for tragic rebels, Sith horror, podracing, tactical games, MMOs, LEGO chaos, and every strange playable detour in between.
That wider gaming legacy is something we keep tracking in our Complete List of All Star Wars Games Ever Made, and Episode I: Racer is a perfect example of how one movie moment can become an entire childhood memory.
Manny Jacinto Gets the Appeal
There is something refreshing about Jacinto’s answer because it is not trying too hard to sound like the “correct” Star Wars opinion.
He likes the brutal Vader hallway scene.
He likes the prequel he grew up with.
He remembers the N64 podracing game.
That is Star Wars fandom in its natural habitat: dramatic, nostalgic, oddly specific, and impossible to explain without sounding slightly unhinged.
Which is exactly how it should be.
