This may seem like sacrilege, but in terms of objective movie quality, Force Awakens may in fact be better than A New Hope. Are we not supposed to take into account things that naturally evolve over time, like production values, special effects, complexity of character? I mean, the settings feel so much more real in Force Awakens than in New Hope. The stormtroopers feel like realer people. Kylo Ren is a more complex and interesting villain than the Darth Vader of A New Hope (Vader didn't gain his true awesomeness until Empire. The genius Vader costume does not exclusively make the character.) The structure of the scenes, and particularly the "action" scenes, is more fluid in Force Awakens. The action scenes don't feel like distinct "set pieces" in Force Awakens, as they do in A New Hope, because they're integrated into the narrative with more sophistication. So, if we were not to disqualify elements that are almost inevitable due to the progression of filming techniques since the 70's, Force Awakens may actually be a better movie than the original.
It does, however, fall below A New Hope in one quality that could never be helped - originality. It isn't the first. And, for that reason, people will likely never see Force Awakens as better than New Hope. But I think, really, originality aside, Force Awakens may be a better-made film.
Return of the Jedi is hard to place, because much of it is utter crap, except that the Luke/Darth/Palpatine stuff is brilliant. Is Return of the Jedi a better film than Revenge of the Sith? I've never decided. Sith is more poorly made, but it has emotional weight almost due to elements outside of the film's ability to ruin.
So...no list, I guess. Obviously, Phantom and Clones are far at the bottom. Empire and Force Awakens are probably the best. A New Hope perhaps deserves a place alongside it for being the first. Revenge of the Sith and Return of the Jedi fight for the mediocre middle.
