In what order should the Star Wars movies be watched?

Question

Please don't lynch me, but I've never sat through an entire Star Wars film. I'm aware that the 3 (new) films are technically prequels, but I feel strange watching 3 new films then 3 old films?

Do I need to watch the new ones then the old ones?

Answer 1

The best order I've seen suggested is as follows:

Basically, you have a very extended flashback between episodes V and VI.

That puts the oldest and clunkiest SFX first, avoids spoiling the revelations from episode V, and finishes at the end of the story. And it means you won't stop and give up in disgust after only watching one movie.

Answer 2

No. Don't watch the new ones. In fact, ignore them. Just watch the old ones (A New Hope, Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi).

See if you can find ones that have been unadulterated. The originals were brilliant. The recently released DvDs have been altered to retcon in stuff they screwed up in the prequels.

Or you can watch the old ones and watch the prequels, but just be ready to be thoroughly disappointed by how very bad the prequels are in comparison to the originals.

Alternately, if you promise not to run screaming when you discover how much the prequels suck. You can watch them in order and instead of disappointment, you may experience a certain level of gratification as they steadily get better.

Answer 3

There is no "official" recommended viewing order for the Star Wars series, but there are two main approaches:

• Watch the series in numerical (in-universe chronological) order (I, II, III, IV, V, VI)
• Watch the series in release order (IV, V, VI, I, II, III)

My personal recommendation would be to watch the series in release order. That is, watch the original trilogy first, and then watch the prequel trilogy after that.
A number of factors weigh in on this decision.

• There are revelations in Episode V (Empire Strikes Back) which will be spoiled if you watch the Prequel trilogy first.
• The Original trilogy was made with very little knowledge of the story of the prequel trilogy, but the Prequels were made knowing the full story of the Original trilogy.
• The Prequels were made to tell the back-story of characters from the Original trilogy; rather than the Original trilogy telling the future of the characters in the Prequels.
• The original trilogy developed a huge fan-base based around it, but the prequel trilogy has been largely criticized by fans of the original trilogy.
• Much of the appeal of the Prequel trilogy was the suspense of knowing how the chracters would end up, and finding how they got there.

Answer 4

If you enjoy reading, there might be an even better way to enjoy it.

• Watch Episode IV: A New Hope
• Watch Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
• Read Shadows Of The Empire
• Watch Episode VI: Return Of The Jedi
• George never made any prequels...

Answer 5

Don't watch the prequels- at least at first. Let the weight of the first trilogy settle in before going to the prequels.

Watch Episodes 4, 5, and 6 first. I'd suggest also watching three of the most popular original trilogy parodies- Spaceballs, Steve Oedekirk's "Thumb Wars", and the "Laugh it up, Fuzzball" Family Guy parody trilogy (Blue Harvest/Something Something Something Darkside/It's A Trap). This will allow you to get a general idea about the cultural impact of the original trilogy before moving on.

If you are still interested in what happened before "A New Hope", watch the Clone Wars animated series. Don't expect Shakespeare from the animated series, and you may be pleasantly surprised by their content from time to time. "The Clone Wars" really helps in fleshing out the relationship between Obi-Wan and Anakin Skywalker. Keep in mind that "The Clone Wars" refers to two separate series - a two dimensional series from 2003 and a 3D CGI series from 2008. Technically, both of these series occur in the time between Episode II and Episode III, so you could watch Episode I and Episode II before each iteration of the Clone Wars series.

If you want, you can watch the prequels, once. You may not ever want to watch the prequels again after that, and that's OK. However, the Robot Chicken Star Wars Trilogy (I, II, and III)) does parody several of the moments from the prequel trilogy, so it would be best to wait to watch them until after you've finished watching I, II, and III. Honestly, I enjoyed the Red Letter Media critiques of the prequels (I, II, III) more than I enjoyed the films themselves, because the critiques helped lend voice to the reasons that the prequels didn't have a lasting emotional impact on my life. However, if you like the prequels, great! Feel free to watch them as much as you want. If you don't like them, consider watching a "fan-edit" version that may match up better to what you're looking for.

TL;DR - IV, V, VI, Spaceballs, "Thumb Wars", "Laugh it up, Fuzzball", I, II, Clone Wars (2003), Clone Wars (2008), III, Robot Chicken Star Wars I-III, Red Letter Media Critique of Episodes I-III, (Fan-Edits?).

EDIT: I apologize for editing the answer several times. If anything, the multiple edits of my own answer prove that there is definitely more than one way to watch Star Wars.

Answer 6

Okay, I'm a little late here, but I would suggest the following: you start with IV, V, VI. That's the original trilogy and it will give you the guts to actually finish the whole marathon. Then go to I, II and III, so you watch them in order they were filmed and share the experience of all the people who watched them as they appeared. Now, the only downside to this approach is that you'll have the sense of unfinished story. Then you just go ahead and watch IV, V and VI once more, they are worth it and you'll complete the story in linear order.

So, IV, V, VI, I, II, III, IV, V, VI. It takes a little bit more time, but what the hell, you are going to rewatch the original trilogy anyway. Throw in Clone Wars series and movie between II and III if you like.

Answer 7

I just read a very good blog post arguing that Machete Order is the best way to watch them:

Next time you want to introduce someone to Star Wars for the first time, watch the films with them in this order: IV, V, II, III, VI.

Notice something? Yeah, Episode I is gone.

The blog post itself goes into a lot more (persuasive) detail about why this is better, which I shall merely excerpt as:

The Star Wars watching experience gets to start with the film that does the best job of establishing the Star Wars universe, Episode IV, and it ends with the most satisfying ending, Episode VI. It also starts the series off with the two strongest films, and allows you to never have to either start or end your viewing experience with a shitty movie. Two films of Luke’s story, two films of Anakin’s story, then a single film that intertwines and ends both stories.

Beyond this, Episode I establishes Anakin as a cute little kid, totally innocent. But Episode II quickly establishes him as impulsive and power-hungry, which keeps his character consistent with [his eventual spoiler-containing destiny]. Obi-Wan never really seems to have any control over Anakin, struggling between treating him as a friend (their very first conversation together in Episode II) and treating him as an apprentice (their second conversation, with Padme). Anakin is never a carefree child yelling “yippee”, he’s a complex teenager nearly boiling over with rage in almost every scene. It makes much more sense for Anakin to have always been this way.

Rod Hilton goes on to explain what works best is the tension around Luke's destiny — all the "will he, won't he?" in Episode VI:

Having the very real threat of Luke following in his father’s path made clear by watching II and III before VI heightens the tension of [Luke confronting the Emperor], and it actually makes Return of the Jedi better. Yes, watching Revenge of the Sith makes Return of the Jedi a better, more effective film. Considering it’s the weakest of the original trilogy films, this improvement is welcome.

The one thing that becomes noticeably less good, Hilton caveats, is that

Anakin returning to Tatooine

doesn't make much sense. We don’t know

his mother is a slave, and we don’t know he built C-3P0. When he has visions of his mother dying and returns, Watto says he sold her. That’s not something you expect to hear about a Jedi’s mother

, so it’s a bit jarring.

I can definitely see the strength in this argument; I may have to try it out sometime soon.

Any my favourite thing about the blog post has to be that it inspired this dude to suggest what Episode I should have been: What if Star Wars: Episode I was good?

Answer 8

Here's what I was told would be the best from a storytellers' point of view; of course I had watched the original trilogy from childhood long before the prequels came out, so there were no surprises left even in the new movies, but...

• Watch Episode IV: A New Hope
• Watch Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
• Watch Episode VI: Return of the Jedi up to where Luke sees Obi-Wan on Dagobah and Obi-wan explains himself.
• Watch all three prequels in order, I, II and III
• Return to Episode VI and watch the rest of it.

Now, the original story arch of Star Wars was supposed to be a "trilogy of trilogies"; A New Hope was chosen as the original release because if Lucas didn't get backing for the rest of the films, Star Wars was the best one to stand alone. The third trilogy, which was supposed to take place after the original trilogy, will probably never be seen in movie format. Between all the fanfics and the Star Wars: Jedi Knight video game series, the basic idea is that there are still Imperialists "insurgents" making trouble, Luke is rebuilding the Jedi Knights, and nature abhors a vacuum; there can be no light without darkness.

Answer 9

I know this is a long time after the original question, but in lieu of the recent blog post http://scifi.blogoverflow.com/2011/10/scifi-stackexchange-in-practical-use-in-what-order-should-the-star-wars-movies-be-watched/ I would like to propose a slightly different order:

4 - 1 - 2 - 3 - 5 - 6

See the Rebel Alliance and fall in love with the rebel ideals, and be confused and hurt by the fierce and uncaring Empire, then go back and see how the not one generation before the rebels were the ones that became the Empire, then watch Anakin grow old, get married, have his wife die, the children were hidden, now he and Luke get reacquainted, and then the finale.

Just my suggested order.