Stars Wars: Suggested Viewing Order

[zero]

Found this on Tumblr, I like it.

Star Wars Saga: Suggested Viewing Order

The order is:

Star Wars

Empire Strikes Back

Attack of the Clones

Revenge of the Sith

Return of the Jedi

Phantom Menace is eliminated since nothing that happens in it is relevant to the rest of the story, but I kinda dig this. I want to try it out.

[gunnar hendershow]

I'll make sure to be drunk enough by the time Attack of the Clones rolls around where I won't notice.

It is interesting though, I'll have to try it out one day.

[Gazz]

Option B) Anything else

[SRN]

The movie is called A New Hope!

But yeah, I'll have to try the Machete Order some time, actually been quite some time since I watched ANY of the Star Wars movies.

[apsham]

Found this on Tumblr, I like it.

Star Wars Saga: Suggested Viewing Order

The order is:

Star Wars

Empire Strikes Back

Attack of the Clones

Revenge of the Sith

Return of the Jedi

Phantom Menace is eliminated since nothing that happens in it is relevant to the rest of the story, but I kinda dig this. I want to try it out.

That makes sense - I quite like that.

[apsham]

The movie is called A New Hope!

But yeah, I'll have to try the Machete Order some time, actually been quite some time since I watched ANY of the Star Wars movies.

A New Hope was tacked on after the fact.

[Stormshadow]

As this poster proves

[gunnar hendershow]

That artist must have never seen Mark Hamill or Carrie Fisher up close.

[Hailtothechimp]

Found this on Tumblr, I like it.

Star Wars Saga: Suggested Viewing Order

The order is:

Star Wars

Empire Strikes Back

Attack of the Clones

Revenge of the Sith

Return of the Jedi

Phantom Menace is eliminated since nothing that happens in it is relevant to the rest of the story, but I kinda dig this. I want to try it out.

Any reason in particular for the staggered order? I've watched in release order (IV, V, VI, I, II, III) and I've watched it in chronological order as well. Hell, sometimes I tack on The Clone Wars show from 2003 in between II & III if I'm feeling up for wasting away in front of my TV.

[TKz]

I think the idea is that it has a better start and a definitive ending whilst including the prequels. Best I can figure it's to create some kind of investment in the Anakin/Vader character before he turns on the Emperor. I guess it'd have a little more impact that way.

Prequels really aren't that awful though. Phantom Menace's biggest crimes are just being fairly boring and Jar Jar Binks. And I'd argue Qui-Gon almost makes up for that first bit by being awesome.

[Hailtothechimp]

I think the idea is that it has a better start and a definitive ending whilst including the prequels. Best I can figure it's to create some kind of investment in the Anakin/Vader character before he turns on the Emperor. I guess it'd have a little more impact that way.

Prequels really aren't that awful though. Phantom Menace's biggest crimes are just being fairly boring and Jar Jar Binks. And I'd argue Qui-Gon almost makes up for that first bit by being awesome.

Yeah, I finally broke down and read the article. I can see his point, but skipping Episode I just feels wrong if I'm watching it all. I don't hate the prequels either, but I still might take up this viewing one day. It got me interested to see how it works out and hell, I could always use another excuse to watch Star Wars again.

[Walker]

I always get put in an awkward position of defending the prequels despite not really liking them. They aren't terrible, they just are not in the league of the original trilogy.

I do think this is a good idea for a viewing order though. My only problem is I found Attack of the Clones incredibly boring for the most part. If there was an abridged version that was about an hour long it'd be perfect.

[Daniel Bryan]

I always get put in an awkward position of defending the prequels despite not really liking them. They aren't terrible, they just are not in the league of the original trilogy.

Ah, they're fairly terrible, now. If they weren't Star Wars films, they'd probably be regarded as even worse. Not from the die-hards who see them as the worst thing ever done to humanity, but the average person wouldn't even look twice at crappy sci-fi like the prequels if it wasn't for that nostalgic connection.

[KONGO]

Yeah, the prequels are pretty bad. I don't think you can really get around the vortex of suck that is Hayden Christensen in the second two prequels, and in the first one... well. Pod-racing.

So to sum up, Hayden Christensen = pod-racing.

[Walker]

but the average person wouldn't even look twice at crappy sci-fi like the prequels if it wasn't for that nostalgic connection.

I'd say they are viewed as mediocre sci-fi anyway. I've never met anyone who has out right praised them. Sure, if they weren't part of the franchise they would be forgotten about, but that is down to George Lucas doing everything he can to keep them in conversation.

On an unrelated note, Cracked had an article saying the prequels would have been better if it was a buddy movie.

[probablyoliver]

Pod racing was wonderful on the N64 though.

[zero]

I always get put in an awkward position of defending the prequels despite not really liking them. They aren't terrible, they just are not in the league of the original trilogy.

Ah, they're fairly terrible, now. If they weren't Star Wars films, they'd probably be regarded as even worse. Not from the die-hards who see them as the worst thing ever done to humanity, but the average person wouldn't even look twice at crappy sci-fi like the prequels if it wasn't for that nostalgic connection.

I'm totally going to be in the minority on this, but I think the prequels aren't that bad and I think if 1-3 were released in the 70s and 80s and 4-6 were released in the 90s/00s, everyone would love the prequels and bash the originals.

The biggest hurdle the prequels had were that they had the Star Wars name attached to them, if they were franchise-less sci-fi films, people would've enjoyed them a lot more.

Just my two cents on the issue, but I think the original Star Wars films are entirely rose-tinted glasses territory. I've never met someone who watched Star Wars for the first time in their 20s and fell in love with them. Especially now, trying to get an adult into Star Wars would probably be met with "that's it?" at best and "that was fucking stupid" at worst. Don't get me wrong, I love, love, love, love, love Star Wars, but you had to grow up with it... which is probably why a whole generation of kids are going to grow up loving the prequels, they grew up with them.

[Walker]

I agree and disagree. I don't think an adult could watch Star Wars for the first time and love it, but you could say that about a lot of movies. I didn't watch the Rocky movies until late last year for example, and I felt really meh about them. I probably would have loved them if I was a kid watching them for the first time.

I don't think if the release dates were switched things would be the same. I was 9 when Episode 1 came out and had virtually no interest in where it was going. Then I watched the original trilogy and suddenly I cared, and I think that was because they were better films in terms of story and the characters. Writing, acting and all that is probably just as bad on reflection, but I hardly noticed that back then.

[zero]

I was 9 when Episode 1 came out

Christ.

[KONGO]

The original trilogy tells a better and tighter story. Also, although the acting in the originals was pretty uniformly terrible (Harrison Ford is the least terrible of them), they had soul and feeling. They give it a sort of campy charm. Hayden Christensen is wooden, what'shisface Kenobi just could not give a fuck less, Mace Windu is muted because Sam Jackson thinks the only way to act without yelling is to be very boring. I saw the original trilogy after the prequels (both in my late teens/20s) and liked the originals a lot more, even though I don't think they're that great.