Evangelizing The STAR WARS Saga. Where do I begin?

[DioramaMaker]

Do the Machete cut. In my opinon, it's the best way because it preserves the surprise of Darth Vader being Luke's father and provides tension build up because we see a parallel between this Anakin character and the way we leave Like at the end of Empire. Cutting episode 1 also removes a lot of confusing jargon and events, unfortunately at the expense of Qui Gon and Darth Maul.

4, 5, 1 (optional), 2, 3, 6.

Here's some more detail.
Absolutely No Machete Juggling » The Star Wars Saga: Introducing Machete Order

 

[Dr.Mirakle32]

Decided to go with chronological order, starting with Ep I.

Turns out I made the right choice:

Spoiler

Anyway, even though the movie seemed even slower and more disjointed to me this time around, she actually liked TPM! She was sad Qui Gon died and is predicting Obi Wan will turn evil because he's jealous the little kid is the Chosen One.

She also said Jar Jar was cute and endearing.

Since it only gets better from here (after taking a dip with AOTC,) I'd say it was a success.

 

[WWEJedi]

Decided to go with chronological order, starting with Ep I.

Turns out I made the right choice:

Spoiler

View attachment 223494

Anyway, even though the movie seemed even slower and more disjointed to me this time around, she actually liked TPM! She was sad Qui Gon died and is predicting Obi Wan will turn evil because he's jealous the little kid is the Chosen One.

She also said Jar Jar was cute and endearing.

Since it only gets better from here (after taking a dip with AOTC,) I'd say it was a success.

Thank you sir. You made a excellent choice. Everything I said came true. I applaud you. Glad she enjoyed them.

 

[Dr.Mirakle32]

The thing is, if you're completely fresh to the Star Wars universe and experiencing it all for the first time without any preconceived notions, the prequels aren't completely terrible since you don't have anything to compare them to. While poorly structured and written, they do a good job establishing and fleshing out the series's mythology and archetypes.

And as much as I hate the overuse of CGI and lazy green screen filmmaking, at the end of the day, they are EXACTLY the films George wanted to make. That doesn't make them good, but it does make them valid since they are the un-compromised vision of the man who fought to create this universe back in 1977.

If we lived in an alternate universe where the prequels were directed by someone else, it doesn't matter how amazing they'd be, we'd still would be asking, "what if George Lucas wrote and directed these himself like he did with the original? They'd be SOOO much better!"

The same with Peter Jackson and LOTR. Del Toro's HOBBIT double feature could have been every bit as classic as the original LOTR Trilogy. Doesn't matter. You'd still have a fraction of fans who would salivate at the thought of the alternate universe where Peter Jackson shoulda/woulda directed his version of the HOBBIT. Well, for good or bad, we live in that alternate universe where the visionary men responsible for the masterpiece originals came back and told the very backstory to those originals that they wanted to make. Warts and all.

With all things considered, sure, some more practical effects and sets and clone armor would have made the prequels exponentially better. As would an accomplished writer taking another pass at the scripts. But I still admire George for being able to reverse engineer this elaborate backstory, and still have the guts to take it on himself, all those decades after the original movie.

 

[Aliaz]

I did this 2 years ago since my fiancee had never seen any SW film. Now she's seen all three. I love her to much to make her watch the PT.

 

[Solidus]

Going with chronological order takes away two big twists from Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, if you haven't seen the movies before. To hear Darth Vader say, "Luke, I am your father!" was as much of a shock to me, when I was a kid watching it on VHS, as it was to Luke . Then there's the revelation in Return of the Jedi that Leia is Luke's sister. Both of those are going to be spoiled if you watch the prequel trilogy first. Then, there's also the mystery of Vader from A New Hope that gets completely ruined if you've watched the prequels first.

I just can't imagine going in chronological order, or recommending it for others as well. The original trilogy was meant to be self-contained, and they should be treated as such. Then, after you've watched them, go ahead with the prequel trilogy.

 

[The Clown Prince of Crime]

Then there's the revelation in Return of the Jedi that Leia is Luke's sister.

I'm not sure that's a good surprise Chewie's reaction makes it even more hilarious...it's like he knew

 

[Xenoburger_]

Going with chronological order takes away two big twists from Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, if you haven't seen the movies before. To hear Darth Vader say, "Luke, I am your father!" was as much of a shock to me, when I was a kid watching it on VHS, as it was to Luke . Then there's the revelation in Return of the Jedi that Leia is Luke's sister. Both of those are going to be spoiled if you watch the prequel trilogy first. Then, there's also the mystery of Vader from A New Hope that gets completely ruined if you've watched the prequels first.

I just can't imagine going in chronological order, or recommending it for others as well. The original trilogy was meant to be self-contained, and they should be treated as such. Then, after you've watched them, go ahead with the prequel trilogy.

Exactly how I feel. It would be devastating to experience the PT first. That's not at all how the saga was meant to be viewed.

 

[cmiller99]

Agreed 100%. Chronological is not the way to go at all.

 

[Patriot666]

I might skip I-III in our pre episode 7 run having seen them recently. No doubt we'll be rewatching the OT before the 18th though...and I can't wait because this time it's on my projection system!

 

[loki2371]

The thing is, if you're completely fresh to the Star Wars universe and experiencing it all for the first time without any preconceived notions, the prequels aren't completely terrible since you don't have anything to compare them to. While poorly structured and written, they do a good job establishing and fleshing out the series's mythology and archetypes.

And as much as I hate the overuse of CGI and lazy green screen filmmaking, at the end of the day, they are EXACTLY the films George wanted to make. That doesn't make them good, but it does make them valid since they are the un-compromised vision of the man who fought to create this universe back in 1977.

If we lived in an alternate universe where the prequels were directed by someone else, it doesn't matter how amazing they'd be, we'd still would be asking, "what if George Lucas wrote and directed these himself like he did with the original? They'd be SOOO much better!"

The same with Peter Jackson and LOTR. Del Toro's HOBBIT double feature could have been every bit as classic as the original LOTR Trilogy. Doesn't matter. You'd still have a fraction of fans who would salivate at the thought of the alternate universe where Peter Jackson shoulda/woulda directed his version of the HOBBIT. Well, for good or bad, we live in that alternate universe where the visionary men responsible for the masterpiece originals came back and told the very backstory to those originals that they wanted to make. Warts and all.

With all things considered, sure, some more practical effects and sets and clone armor would have made the prequels exponentially better. As would an accomplished writer taking another pass at the scripts. But I still admire George for being able to reverse engineer this elaborate backstory, and still have the guts to take it on himself, all those decades after the original movie.

I really hate the bashing Lucas gets. His creation, his stories. Without him, no Star Wars.

If you don't like the prequels, don't watch them..

 

[SnakeDoctor]

Do the Machete cut. In my opinon, it's the best way because it preserves the surprise of Darth Vader being Luke's father and provides tension build up because we see a parallel between this Anakin character and the way we leave Like at the end of Empire. Cutting episode 1 also removes a lot of confusing jargon and events, unfortunately at the expense of Qui Gon and Darth Maul.

4, 5, 1 (optional), 2, 3, 6.

Here's some more detail.
Absolutely No Machete Juggling » The Star Wars Saga: Introducing Machete Order

That's actually pretty clever. I'm still inclined to say 4-6 first ... but, I can see why that makes sense.

SnakeDoc

 

[a-dev]

If I ever cared to see the prequels again I'd agree that's very clever indeed.

 

[The Clown Prince of Crime]

Most prequels are unnecessary. They answer few questions....unnecessary questions. If you watch 4,5,and 6, you learn everything that you need to know about SW, the rest, meaning the prequels, EU, and cartoons is nice if you're curious about certain characters or events, but they don't add much to the original films.

 

[YankeesFanboy]

Harmy Despecialized OT. That's it.

 

[Dr.Mirakle32]

My friend had been showing them in numerical order to his girlfriend. He said she enjoyed the prequels, but couldn't get past IV.

**** her.

Meanwhile, we just finished III which she found depressing, but compelling. She's stuck around this long, so I'm really curious how she'll feel about the originals.

 

[RavenEye]

My friend had been showing them in numerical order to his girlfriend. He said she enjoyed the prequels, but couldn't get past IV.

**** her.

Meanwhile, we just finished III which she found depressing, but compelling. She's stuck around this long, so I'm really curious how she'll feel about the originals.

Ha I'm lucky mine likes OT and not PT.

 

[WWEJedi]

My friend had been showing them in numerical order to his girlfriend. He said she enjoyed the prequels, but couldn't get past IV.

**** her.

Meanwhile, we just finished III which she found depressing, but compelling. She's stuck around this long, so I'm really curious how she'll feel about the originals.

+1 For the PT!

 

[Patriot666]

Harmy Despecialized OT. That's it.

I haven't gotten to watch those discs yet. I did put in ROTJ and the picture quality didn't look as good as the official CGI blu disc...but it wasn't a side by side comparison so I'm not positive about it. It'll be awesome to see them without the cartoons added in though.

 

[Dr.Mirakle32]

So we finally got to IV tonight. I'm excited since the original is my favorite SW film. I feel like we're having a good time... she's getting into it... roll credits. The very first words she says afterwards?

"I think I prefer the first three."

Say what you will about the prequels, they obviously have some sort of appeal to someone who's never seen a SW movie before. Take away the expectations, nostalgia and butt hurt and you have a trio of films that seem to work on some level for newcomers.