Stars Wars: Suggested Viewing Order

[TGC]

I'm still waiting for VII, VIII & IX.

George Lucas says no since we're all too mean to him, so he's going to go make "independent" movies now.

Plus he officially retired. Again.

EDIT: From making new movies I mean, not from remaking the same 6 movies over and over and over.

[TKz]

I was 9 when Episode 1 came out

Christ.

Hey, I was 9 as well when Episode 1 came out. But then again, I saw the original trilogy, through and through, like three times before I saw Episode 1 so...

I watched the shit out of them VHS tapes.

Exactly the same. Even the age. >_>

I quite like my Blu Rays of Star Wars. I mean, I don't really care for the added stuff, but I'd heard Yoda was replaced with a CGI Yoda. So when it turned out that was a lie, the rest seemed a little more forgivable. Other than Hayden in Jedi. Fuck that.

[LittleDaniel]

Though, I'll always have a soft spot for Phantom Menace. Darth Maul was the bomb.

Really? He looked badass, but what did he do beyond have an incredibly (boring) choreographed fight? Give me Obi Wan vs Vader from the first film over that garbage any day.

[Walker]

The best thing about Episode III by the way is Anakin using the iron clad argument of "From my point of view the Jedi are Evil!"

[Daniel Bryan]

The best thing about Episode III by the way is Anakin using the iron clad argument of "From my point of view the Jedi are Evil!"

Almost as good as Obi-Wan's "Only a Sith deals in absolutes!"

[Matt]

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.

Really? I was 8 when the Phantom Menace came out, I didn't like the prequels and I don't know anyone my age that does (save for one girl who admits she likes them purely because she fancies Hayden Christensen).

[Liam]

I'm of the opinion that if they weren't Star Wars films, the original prequel would be better thought of. That being said, I also think that they aren't as bad as a lot of people believe they are, they just don't live up to what was expected of them.

[TKz]

I'm of the opinion that if they weren't Star Wars films, the original prequel would be better thought of. That being said, I also think that they aren't as bad as a lot of people believe they are, they just don't live up to what was expected of them.

I kind of doubt it. Without being something to set up the other films, Episode 1 is pretty much just filling in the blanks (none of which were really needed or very interesting) for a film we haven't seen. It really has no central villain to speak off and there's so many characters that you have no idea who's story it's supposed to be.

It's not really Anakin's because he doesn't even come into the film until halfway through and doesn't do much of anything in this one. It's not really Obi-Wan's because despite being what most people were probably most excited to see, he's really just a sidekick for Qui-Gon. He gets a big moment at the end, but if he wasn't a young version of Obi-Wan and just some character, no one would know enough about him to care. It's kind of Qui-Gon's story, but it doesn't really focus much on him as a character at all. And I guess you could argue it could be Padme's, but again, she doesn't even show up until halfway through and is treated like a plot device up until Tattooine... and even then, we don't know she's the Queen.

I always thought the big problem with the prequels is that they're one film made as a trilogy. Collectively, they're not bad, but individually, they're pretty weak. Outside of Revenge of the Sith, which apart from some awful dialogue and the Padme death, is fairly good.

[METALMAN]

Having not seen any of the films for ages, could someone please explain this bit?

No virgin birth. We simply don’t know or care who Anakin’s father is, and the subtle implication that it’s Palpatine is gone.

And I have a real soft spot for the Phantom Menace. It was the first Star Wars film I ever saw, and I was like eight at the time and it was all so new to me and I loved it. Quite possibly still would. It remains the only film out of the six I've seen more than once.

[TKz]

Having not seen any of the films for ages, could someone please explain this bit?

No virgin birth. We simply don’t know or care who Anakin’s father is, and the subtle implication that it’s Palpatine is gone.

And I have a real soft spot for the Phantom Menace. It was the first Star Wars film I ever saw, and I was like eight at the time and it was all so new to me and I loved it. Quite possibly still would. It remains the only film out of the six I've seen more than once.

If I remember my crazy fan theories correctly, I think Palpatine says something like his Sith Master was so strong with the force that he could create life. That's about it. Apparently it was also in the first draft of the script, but if that's true or if that even means anything is completely up for debate. Google also tells me there's also something about Anakin not arriving on Tatooine until he was 8, so his past is something of a mystery.

[Toe]

I think Phantom Menace is infinitly better then Attack Of The Clones. AotC is nearly unwatchable.

[Stormshadow]

I was 9 when Episode 1 came out

Christ.

Hey, I was 9 as well when Episode 1 came out. But then again, I saw the original trilogy, through and through, like three times before I saw Episode 1 so...

I watched the shit out of them VHS tapes.

Exactly the same. Even the age. >_>

I quite like my Blu Rays of Star Wars. I mean, I don't really care for the added stuff, but I'd heard Yoda was replaced with a CGI Yoda. So when it turned out that was a lie, the rest seemed a little more forgivable. Other than Hayden in Jedi. Fuck that.

What was meant by that is the puppet version of Yoda used in The Phantom Menace was replaced by a CGI version, which it was.

[SeanDMan]

Having not seen any of the films for ages, could someone please explain this bit?

No virgin birth. We simply don’t know or care who Anakin’s father is, and the subtle implication that it’s Palpatine is gone.

Also, since I'm here and we're discussing the required viewing order of Star Wars: These pieces are both absent from the Blu Ray editions of Return Of The Jedi, so if you don't have the original VHS releases, watch these at their appropriate moments to enhance your viewing experience.

[Sousa]

Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones are the most god-awful shit. There's no "they'd be better remembered if they came first" or "they would've been better remembered if they weren't called Star Wars" about it; they're just bad. We're talking about a movie in Phantom Menace where the bad-ass supervillain has less screen time than the fucking jiggly-faced frog king guy. His role is literally this:

1. Show up in a place where the heroes previously were in a scene that lasts about thirty seconds.

2. Show up for final battle.

3. Die quickly.

There's no explaining away the "comedy shenanigans won us the war" bit at the end, the ridiculous Imp Fake Amidala, or the utterly boring trade bullshit. Attack of the Clones may well be worse because it combines the shit that made no sense with the most dreadful love story in cinematic history, and no, it's not Hayden Christenwhatever's fault, it's George Lucas's fault. Even Revenge of the Sith is worthless beyond pure popcorn, but that's how I've always felt about the original trilogy anyway, so... I dunno, high marks or whatever.

[Kane's Mullet Slacker]

Having not seen any of the films for ages, could someone please explain this bit?

No virgin birth. We simply don’t know or care who Anakin’s father is, and the subtle implication that it’s Palpatine is gone.

And I have a real soft spot for the Phantom Menace. It was the first Star Wars film I ever saw, and I was like eight at the time and it was all so new to me and I loved it. Quite possibly still would. It remains the only film out of the six I've seen more than once.

If I remember my crazy fan theories correctly, I think Palpatine says something like his Sith Master was so strong with the force that he could create life. That's about it. Apparently it was also in the first draft of the script, but if that's true or if that even means anything is completely up for debate. Google also tells me there's also something about Anakin not arriving on Tatooine until he was 8, so his past is something of a mystery.

Palpatine says to Anakin in Revenge of the Sith that he even has the ability to create life. I also heard it was in the first draft of the script that Palpatine was revealed to be Anakins father. So it might be implied that Palpatine is Annie's father.

I was 9 when Episode 1 came out

Christ.

Hey, I was 9 as well when Episode 1 came out. But then again, I saw the original trilogy, through and through, like three times before I saw Episode 1 so...

I watched the shit out of them VHS tapes.

Exactly the same. Even the age. >_>

I quite like my Blu Rays of Star Wars. I mean, I don't really care for the added stuff, but I'd heard Yoda was replaced with a CGI Yoda. So when it turned out that was a lie, the rest seemed a little more forgivable. Other than Hayden in Jedi. Fuck that.

What was meant by that is the puppet version of Yoda used in The Phantom Menace was replaced by a CGI version, which it was.

Yeah the puppet Yoda was originally used in The Phantom Menace but I guess he was cross eyed. So for the BluRay release they replaced him with a CGI Yoda. The 3D version of the film is the same as the BluRay release.

Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones are the most god-awful shit. There's no "they'd be better remembered if they came first" or "they would've been better remembered if they weren't called Star Wars" about it; they're just bad. We're talking about a movie in Phantom Menace where the bad-ass supervillain has less screen time than the fucking jiggly-faced frog king guy. His role is literally this:

1. Show up in a place where the heroes previously were in a scene that lasts about thirty seconds.

2. Show up for final battle.

3. Die quickly.

There's no explaining away the "comedy shenanigans won us the war" bit at the end, the ridiculous Imp Fake Amidala, or the utterly boring trade bullshit. Attack of the Clones may well be worse because it combines the shit that made no sense with the most dreadful love story in cinematic history, and no, it's not Hayden Christenwhatever's fault, it's George Lucas's fault. Even Revenge of the Sith is worthless beyond pure popcorn, but that's how I've always felt about the original trilogy anyway, so... I dunno, high marks or whatever.

George Lucas is a terrible writer, those prequel movies are evidence. Some of the cheesiest dialogue I've heard in a movie. The lightsaber duel at the end of the Revenge of the Sith is so over the top, drawn out and unnecessary. Also another problem I have with the prequels is that during space battles there's so much shit going on all over the screen it's impossible to focus on one thing.

The original film is a classic, and I love Empire Strikes Back. Return of the Jedi I have a few gripes with but it's still a good film. The prequel movies are hot garbage though. I grew up watching the original trilogy as a kid on VHS and went to see the 1997 special editions in the theater. So when Phantom Menace was released I was obviously excited. Then I actually saw the movie besides the Pod Race the rest is shit. I bought the Complete Saga on BluRay just so I could get those deleted scenes from the original trilogy.

Edited February 27, 2012 by Don Ready Slacker

[SeanDMan]

Now this I'd like to see.