What Order should the Star Wars movies be watched in?

[Kurgan]

It's funny, because this is constantly being asked on IMDB's minimally moderated Star Wars forums (like three times a day, on average), but I don't recall seeing a topic about it here, at least not since the saga was completed.

So I'm curious what folks around here think.

This can be seen in two ways:


1) What is the "best" way for a person who has never seen the series, to see them for the first time?

2) As a Star Wars fan, presuming you have all six movies and see them as one story, which order do you prefer to watch them in?


This presumes of course you don't just chuck out certain movies and ignore them because you don't like them.

I personally prefer production order, simply because that's how it has always been, and because more surprises are ruined and the technology gets worse if you see them in George Lucas' new "preferred order." I have tried watching them in "chronological order" but it just seemed less satisfying.

So thanks in advance...!

[Havok]

I'm tempted to say chronological... but I think production is the best way. You get the cool Vader reveal, and the chance to love the series, and not get discouraged by TPM and especially AOTC.

[Themightytom]

I would say production order because in chronological order the reveals are clunky and predictable, whereas production order you get to see the "core story, and then relive it in your mind while youw atch the prequels and see how it all began

[The Defenestrator]

If I was showing all 6 to someone who had never seen them, I'd show IV, V, and then I, II, III as sort of a flashback, then VI. That way they get started off on a good note, the prequel trilogy doesn't spoil much other than Luke and Leia being twins, and RotJ feels like a real conclusion to the series.

[Darth Wong]

Definitely 4,5,6,1,2,3. Despite what Lucas says, it just doesn't work as well to go the other way. Episode IV gives you the "lay of the land" in terms of good guys and bad guys in a beautifully arranged opening sequence that still stands today as one of the best in cinema history, and which lays the groundwork for the entire emotional arc of the trilogy. Episode I starts far more weakly, although I still say it's been excessively slammed by the male-insecurity geek community that didn't think it was manly enough.

[TC Pilot]

My knee-jerk reaction would be in order of production, but I've been rethinking that a bit of late.

Rather, how about 4,5,1,2,3,6? That way, you don't know what happens with Anakin/Vader until the very end. You keep the ESB reveal, and you even keep the Luke-Leia reveal for ROTS.

[DrStrangelove]

Chronological order, save the best for last

[Agent Sorchus]

1,2,4,5,3,6 with 1 and 2 being "optional." This gives us the main story of 4,5 & 6 and the and creating the proper sympathy for Darth Vader why also keeping a favorable passing between the OT and PT. Chronological gives away to much while production separates and all the good it does from the artistry of the 4,5 & 6.

[Oskuro]

For people who have never seen them, I'm also in favor of the 4,5,1,2,3,6, doing the Flashback thingie. It's the best way to not spoil the best twists of the Saga, and more importantly, you get to enjoy the awesomeness of Vader before the prequels turn him into a pussy-whipped moron.

Also, in order to properly enjoy R2D2 flying in Episode II, as well as Yoda pulling his lightsaber on Dooku, you need to have experienced A New Hope and Empire Strikes Back.

[Kurgan]

Episode I starts far more weakly, although I still say it's been excessively slammed by the male-insecurity geek community that didn't think it was manly enough.

Seriously? I remember people complaining about the crawl being boring, talking about taxes and trade routes... is that what you're referring to? Not to derail this thread...

[JME2]

I agree that new inductees begin with IV-VI, then I-III, though I personally prefer I - VI; everything more or less falls into place in that order.

[Littlefoot]

Im in the flashback crowd. 4,5,1,2,3,6, is how I'm going to show them to my nephews when they are old enough to understand what is going on.

[Rochey]

I'd go 4, 5, 1, 2, 3, 6.
Ep 4 is the best introduction to the series you can get. It clearly establishes the good guys, the bad guys, the extermination of the Jedi Order, etc.
Ep 5 continues with this, further setting up how things are going and gives the whole "I am your father" reveal.
Then drop back to the prequal trilogy. This shows how things came to be as they are "now" as a sort of flashback. You get to see how all the pieces came together to propel the Empire into power, how the destruction of the Jedi happened and how Anakin became Vader.
Then back to the OT to watch Ep 6, to see the final and ultimate conclusion of everything.

[Stofsk]

Definitely 4,5,6,1,2,3. Despite what Lucas says, it just doesn't work as well to go the other way. Episode IV gives you the "lay of the land" in terms of good guys and bad guys in a beautifully arranged opening sequence that still stands today as one of the best in cinema history, and which lays the groundwork for the entire emotional arc of the trilogy. Episode I starts far more weakly, although I still say it's been excessively slammed by the male-insecurity geek community that didn't think it was manly enough.

I'm with you Mike. I think watching the OT in sequence, then the PT, is the best bet.

Regardless of what Lucas reckons, if the story was supposed to be seen sequentially, then it would have been made sequentially. But it wasn't. Which I think speaks volumes. If Lucas truly thinks the saga should have been viewed from Episode 1 onwards, he would have made Episode 1 first. But in 1977 he felt that the 'middle act' of the story he had was the more interesting, and hence we got the OT. I'm not a PT basher by any stretch, but I just think it works best to watch the films in the order that they were released.

[Darth Hoth]

Regardless of what Lucas reckons, if the story was supposed to be seen sequentially, then it would have been made sequentially. But it wasn't. Which I think speaks volumes. If Lucas truly thinks the saga should have been viewed from Episode 1 onwards, he would have made Episode 1 first. But in 1977 he felt that the 'middle act' of the story he had was the more interesting, and hence we got the OT. I'm not a PT basher by any stretch, but I just think it works best to watch the films in the order that they were released.

Or, in the beginning he simply intended that there should be a single self-contained film, with possible sequels. No "Greater Saga," no prequels, no Luke and Leia being siblings, and Vader was not his father or the main character of Star Wars, but rather the cool henchman to the villainous Grand Moff Tarkin who was scheming against a weak Emperor of the line of Palpatine. If one looks at the history of Star Wars, it becomes eminently clear that Lucas had no Grand Master Plans in the beginning, or at the least not any remotely similar to what he eventually turned out. Anything else he would say is blatant lying on his part.

[Stofsk]

Did you read the original drafts of the script for Star Wars?

What we got as the end product wasn't what was originally conceived. You can see most of the OT in the first draft script.

[Darth Hoth]

The script history, as well as the novelisations and early EU, fairly clearly show that Lucas changed his mind quite a lot over what his setting was supposed to be over the several revisions the series went through.

[Stofsk]

The script history, as well as the novelisations and early EU, fairly clearly show that Lucas changed his mind quite a lot over what his setting was supposed to be over the several revisions the series went through.

*shrug* That's the creative method at work, buddy. But the first few drafts of Star Wars was way too long for one feature, and you can see bits and pieces of the OT in there.

[Darth Hoth]

"Bits and pieces" is a lot different from a complete whole. I am not saying that he had no wider ideas at all, merely that he had no clear or finite plans for the future of the series when the original Star Wars was in the making.

[Kurgan]

Michael Kaminski's "The Secret History of Star Wars" is a fantastic read. It convincingly debunks the mythological "one massive story script" idea that Lucas has been promoting for so long.

He really did "make it up as he went along" (which is perfectly fine, except for the popular mythology Lucas himself and his fans have promoted, which is that he had this huge visionary tome detailing almost everything before the first movie came out).

It's not only true of the Prequels, but in large part also true of the OT as well (the stuff from ESB and ROTJ was very skeletal, and in ESB's case, almost non-existent, pre-1978).

[JME2]

"Bits and pieces" is a lot different from a complete whole. I am not saying that he had no wider ideas at all, merely that he had no clear or finite plans for the future of the series when the original Star Wars was in the making.

Exactly and I'm tired of all the praise/claims that he's a master storyteller who had this in place for decades.

[JointStrikeFighter]

There are only 3 starwars movies so its easy to decide which ones to watch first?

[Solauren]

4, 5, 6, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.

Yes, Seriously.

Watch the original trilogy, then the prequels, then the original trilogy again.

You get the emotional impact of both trilogies, then you have the original trilogy put into it's "ultimate perspective".

Mind you, doing that in one marathon sitting would probably make your ears bleed and your head explode....

[Ryushikaze]

The 'flashback' order of Hope, Empire, Menace, Attack, Revenge, Return.

You get the 'Vader killed your dad' 'no, I am your dad' bit, then you learned what made vader, then you get to come and learn of his fall only to come back and see his redemption. Besides, it's proper epic form to begin en media res and return to start later on.

[Pint0 Xtreme]

Watching anything other than ROTS right after AOTC doesn't quite make sense to me since the two films are connected by the Clone Wars. I would even lightly suggest watching a bit of EU Clone Wars in between them.

But in any case, I'd preferably watch them in this order: 4, 1, 5, 2, 3, 6. I figured Episode 4 and 1 are both introductory films of both the Republican and Imperial times so they should be the first two films to watch (clearly with Episode 4 being the superior introductory film). As said before, I prefer to keep AOTC and ROTS together and in order but I left TESB with higher priority since it is essentially the "Star Wars film of revelation".