Let's start with the Original Trilogy.
A New Hope:
It is a period of civil war. Rebel spaceships, striking from a hidden base, have won their first victory against the evil Galactic Empire.
During the battle, Rebel spies managed to steal secret plans to the Empire's ultimate weapon, the DEATH STAR, an armored space station with enough power to destroy an entire planet.
Pursued by the Empire's sinister agents, Princess Leia races home aboard her starship, custodian of the stolen plans that can save her people and restore freedom to the galaxy....
Nothing wrong here. All the major groups, people, and events are listed.
Score: 0.
Score: 0.
The Empire Strikes Back:
It is a dark time for the Rebellion. Although the Death Star has been destroyed, Imperial troops have driven the Rebel forces from their hidden base and pursued them across the galaxy.
Evading the dreaded Imperial Starfleet, a group of freedom fighters led by Luke Skywalker has established a new secret base on the remote ice world of Hoth.
The evil lord Darth Vader, obsessed with finding young Skywalker, has dispatched thousands of remote probes into the far reaches of space....
Again, this sets up the movie perfectly.
Score: 0.
Score: 0.
Return of the Jedi:
Luke Skywalker has returned to his home planet of Tatooine in an attempt to rescue his friend Han Solo from the clutches of the vile gangster Jabba the Hutt.
Little does Luke know that the GALACTIC EMPIRE has secretly begun construction on a new armored space station even more powerful than the first dreaded Death Star.
When completed, this ultimate weapon will spell certain doom for the small band of rebels struggling to restore freedom to the galaxy...
Yet again, this sets up the movie. The only minor quibble could be that the first paragraph deals with one plot thread (rescuing Han), while the rest of it deals with the main story. The movie opens with the main plot and transitions between the two in a smooth fashion.
Score: 0 or -1 (maybe).
Score: 0 or -1 (maybe).
Let's try the Prequels.
The Phantom Menace:
Turmoil has engulfed the Galactic Republic. The taxation of trade routes to outlying star systems is in dispute.
Hoping to resolve the matter with a blockade of deadly battleships, the greedy Trade Federation has stopped all shipping to the small planet of Naboo.
While the Congress of the Republic endlessly debates this alarming chain of events, the Supreme Chancellor has secretly dispatched two Jedi Knights, the guardians of peace and justice in the galaxy, to settle the conflict....As much as people hate this movie, the opening crawl is accurate to the movie. We saw the Senate debating and arguing, not actually accomplishing anything. The Trade Federation blockades Naboo. Two Jedi Knights are central to the story.
Score: 0.
Attack of the Clones:
There is unrest in the Galactic Senate. Several thousand solar systems have declared their intentions to leave the Republic.
This separatist movement, under the leadership of the mysterious Count Dooku, has made it difficult for the limited number of Jedi Knights to maintain peace and order in the galaxy.
Senator Amidala, the former Queen of Naboo, is returning to the Galactic Senate to vote on the critical issue of creating an ARMY OF THE REPUBLIC to assist the overwhelmed Jedi....Again, this is accurate to the movie. It could be docked a point or two for not showing the Jedi Knights struggling to maintain peace or solar systems seceding. It's a borderline case between background information and plot information (see Rebel spies text in A New Hope's opening crawl). The line about the Army of the Republic is actually useful since the whole movie is about obtaining a clone army.
Score: 0 or -1 or -1.5.
Revenge of the Sith:
War! The Republic is crumbling under attacks by the ruthless Sith Lord, Count Dooku (-1). There are heroes on both sides (-1). Evil is everywhere.
In a stunning move, the fiendish droid leader, General Grievous, has swept into the Republic capital and kidnapped Chancellor Palpatine, leader of the Galactic Senate.
As the Separatist Droid Army attempts to flee the besieged capital with their valuable hostage, two Jedi Knights lead a desperate mission to rescue the captive (-1) Chancellor....This is the first title crawl with major issues. First up, Count Dookuis mentioned, but quickly killed off in the movie to little impact. Grievous is in the movie more. "There are heroes on both sides" loses another point because that is never seen at all.
It also loses a point for "rescue the captive Chancellor" because that isn't the main plot of the movie. Like Dooku, that's resolved in the opening act. All other opening crawls were related to the main story of the movie, but not this one. ("Rescue Han" from Jedi isn't either, but the main plot was referenced. A simple line about the Senate/Republic crumbling under the war might fix it.)
Score: -3.
And now, The Force Awakens:
Luke Skywalker has vanished (-1). In his absence, the sinister FIRST ORDER has risen from the ashes of the Empire and will not rest until Skywalker, the last Jedi, has been destroyed.
With the support of the REPUBLIC (-1), General Leia Organa leads a brave RESISTANCE. She is desperate to find her brother Luke and gain his help in restoring peace and justice to the galaxy.
Leia has sent her most daring pilot (-1) on a secret mission to Jakku, where an old ally (-1) has discovered a clue to Luke's whereabouts....The "Luke Skywalker has vanished" is a plot thread that is quickly abandoned by the movie in favor of the Starkiller base plot. It barely factors into the movie at all.
Leia's Resistance doesn't seem to actually have the support of the Republic, or wouldn't they have more ships? And wouldn't they be more willing to listen to her? She apparently sent her assistant to the capital to deliver warnings that the New Republic failed to heed.
In fact, let's check Wookieepedia's article on the Resistance:
When the First Order arose from the ashes of the Empire, Organa urged the Republic to take the threat seriously. Rebuffed and being labeled a paranoid warmonger, Organa was disgraced in the eyes of the New Republic's Senate following the revelation that her father was Darth Vader."Rebuffed" and "labeled a paranoid warmonger" doesn't sound like "support".
Poe Dameron is barely in the movie and isn't even really a character. The fact that he is mentioned at all is astounding considering he was originally supposed to die. Replacing him with Han, even though he himself dies, would have made more sense. At least Han had some importance to the movie.
"An old ally" is again a pointless reference to someone who doesn't matter at all. Max von Sydow plays someone who somehow knew Leia in a book or something. If it were someone more important (Lando, Ackbar, Wedge Antilles, etc.) and they had some more involvement in the plot, mentioning them would make sense. As it is, it's just useless cruft.
Score: -4.
At a score of minus four, The Force Awakens narrowly beats Revenge of the Sith for the title of Worst Opening Crawl. Sith's opening has no relation to the main plot of the movie (Anakin's turn to the Darkside and the fall of the Republic), whereas Awakens' has a slight relation to the plot (Luke has vanished, which is quickly superseded by the Starkiller base plot).
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