Which order should new fans experience Star Wars?

[The Josh]

My thoughts exactly. I prefer the Anakin Skywalker story to the Luke Skywalker story. I-VI is a phenomenal story. To that point, The Clone Wars is pretty cool too.

When we were kids, we only knew Anakin as a villain. Kids are growing up watching him as the hero we were always told he was, and that adds so much weight to what happens to him, not just how he gets played by Sidious, but ultimately how he is redeemed in ROTJ. THe parallels between what happens to Mace Windu and Luke Skywalker is spellbinding.

I truly feel bad for Star Wars fans that can't watch the prequels with the same suspension of disbelief they had as children with IV-VI. The new movies are incredible. Lucas didn't change his story. When the prequels came out, I watched them through the same eyes I watched the OT, and they are all a part of the big picture.

To the haters: Star Wars hasn't changed, you have.

 

[thenammagazine]

Subjective? Biased?

SCI-FI Magazine top 100

https://totalscifionline.com/features/3809-the-100-greatest-sci-fi-movies

#3 Star Wars
#13 Empire Strikes Back
#35 Return of the Jedi

Umm... no Prequels on the list... let's look for a longer list...

IMDB Top 250

https://www.imdb.com/chart/top

#11 ESB
#16 SW
#106 ROTJ

Umm... no Prequels on that list either...

Okay, how about on a REALLY long list then. With like, hundreds and hundreds of movies?

Empire Magazine Top 500

https://www.empireonline.com/500/

#3 ESB
#22 SW
#91 ROTJ

#330 ROTS
#449 TPM

Whew. Five hundred movies probably qualifies as a video store, but there they are.

Too much Agent Orange + = banned from the boards

Yet all 6 movies appear in the top 100 grossing films of all time.

 

[EVILFACE]

Yet all 6 movies appear in the top 100 grossing films of all time.

And bottom dollar is all that matters

 

[thenammagazine]

And bottom dollar is all that matters

Movies don't earn $400-$600 million because a bunch of people go see them once and say, "OMG! This sucks! Lucas raped my childhood! ____ the PT!"

 

[SwedishHeat]

I agree, but all of the suspense is gone when you watch the OT first.

So, you'd rather spoil the Vader reveal than know that Qui-Gon, Darth Maul, and all the Jedi are killed??

Honestly, at this point in Americana, hell, in movie history "No, I am your father" is one of the most best lines in movie history. Ruining that to keep the suspense of lightsaber duels?? Sorry, but that's just

Further, if your first introduction to a lightsaber is Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan just whipping them out and standing there waiting for the Battle Droids to start shooting. . . that seems kind of anti-climactic. With the OT first, the lightsaber is introduced as a 'magical weapon' Obi-Wan explains it, and gives the viewer the information he needs to process the story.

Watching the OT first, gives you the rules of the universe and establishes the stakes. OT is "OMG, GALACTIC WAR, Rebels vs. Empire, struggle, fight, fight" PT gives you "OMG, it's a political dispute, the planets are arguing over taxes and trade routes" I mean, seriously, which one would you rather watch?? Are we watching a space epic or CNN??

I think part of the strength of the prequels is knowing the eventual outcome, and watching how the players are moved towards that end. Knowing the Jedi are purged at the end of ROTS makes their actions more intriguing. Them fighting in the Geonosis arena, is more interesting from the perspective of "You know you're all going to die in 5 years anyway, right??"

As the prequels stand on their own, Anakin's actions are hasty, and really don't make a lot of sense, but if you go in with the knowledge that's he IS going to turn out bad either way, it allows you to take his actions with a grain of salt, and at least lets you just sit back and enjoy the ride. . . though enjoy is a relative term.

We'll know who lives and dies all throughout the PT's. When a little kid watches Phantom Menace after the OT he'll know right off the bat the Qui Gonn and Maul die and Obi Wan lives when that epic fight begins.

Considering the score of TPM spoiled Qui-Gon's death, I don't think it was deemed that important to the Star Wars mythos. . . I swear, when I picked up that CD at Target and read the tracklisting and it said "Qui-Gon's Noble End" I threw that CD down and was like "WTF?!?! Seriously?!?!" Why would you put that on there??

 

[Lejuan]

Whatever order your niece watches them in, pray she doesn't ask you to explain the inspiration for the Arena's peculiar architectural motifs:

 

[thenammagazine]

Along with Mrs. Doubtfire and Alvin and the Chipmunks 2.

Sound out the syllables - Cultural Relevance.

While sometimes synonymous, does not equal box office performance.

Again, subjective. Might wanna look that word up. From day one, the story of Star Wars was always about Anakin Skywalker. You can close the lid to your little box and go right back pretending the PT never happened, but for better or worse, it added to the story of Anakin Skywalker. As far as cultural relevance, it's not hard to remember that Star Wars was pretty much dead for almost a decade before being revived with the Special Editions which were gateways to the PT. So without that, your "Cultural Relevance" would've been lost to obscurity save the few of us fanboys who were stalking toy conventions during the near decade drought for vintage goodies.

 

[Puay]

Hi Nam.

It worked for old fans the way we watched it, ought not to change that for newcomers.

 

[big guy]

For my wee little ones I have shown the films from EpI through to EpVI.
For them it works and for me it`s nice to see them enjoy it.

 

[D. Martin]

Plus they won't have 3 years of psyching themselves up for ESB, becoming huge fans over that time based on one film, to be so invested in the characters that things like that will elicit anything more than a brief reaction from them (if even that) nor will they have to slowly digest this info over the 3 year wait for the next film. It won't be as significant to them as we OTers imagine. Same goes for any of the surprises from the OT or PT.

A very important element in understanding the frame of mind of the OT only crowd. The three years between ANH and TESB can never happen again. We were so lucky to have experienced it, but it was only a brief moment of time. It can't be recreated for the next generation. That was for us only. We should always cherish it. The innocence of it all.

SW is meant to be seen I-VI and when my daughter is old enough, assuming she wants to see it, I'll offer her SW in that order.

 

[D. Martin]

You're just plain wrong it's that simple. Just cause you like em, don't try and make excuses about them like you have been doing since they came out about how we all changed.. But you can still see the light.

Actually, I'm not wrong, and in no way am I an apologetic Star Wars fan. I work in the film industry, and have been for a decade now, and I can assure you these three films are anything but crap. They, all three of them, are incredible achievements for when they were created. They hold up incredibly. There is a lot of story being told to us.

you want my personal opinion? Star Wars fans that disregard the prequels lack the ability to pull their heads out of their ***** and I doubt they can tell the difference between ____ and fine chocolate.

I refuse to listen to haters that can't articulate what exactly is wrong with these films. Star Wars fans that think these films raped their childhood need to reassess their opinions and should consider ____ing themselves.

 

[D. Martin]

For what it is worth, Ewan McGregor, not Sir Alec Guinness, made Obi-Wan Kenobi a household name.

 

[D. Martin]

Subjective? Biased?

SCI-FI Magazine top 100

https://totalscifionline.com/features/3809-the-100-greatest-sci-fi-movies

#3 Star Wars
#13 Empire Strikes Back
#35 Return of the Jedi

Umm... no Prequels on the list... let's look for a longer list...

IMDB Top 250

https://www.imdb.com/chart/top

#11 ESB
#16 SW
#106 ROTJ

Umm... no Prequels on that list either...

Okay, how about on a REALLY long list then. With like, hundreds and hundreds of movies?

Empire Magazine Top 500

https://www.empireonline.com/500/

#3 ESB
#22 SW
#91 ROTJ

#330 ROTS
#449 TPM

Whew. Five hundred movies probably qualifies as a video store, but there they are.

Too much Agent Orange + = banned from the boards

I've always been of the mind that people that quote the opinions of the popular media add nothing to a debate.

Fact: All six Star Wars films are among the highest grossing films of all time.

 

[D. Martin]

So, you'd rather spoil the Vader reveal than know that Qui-Gon, Darth Maul, and all the Jedi are killed??

In a second. Yes.

 

[D. Martin]

As the prequels stand on their own, Anakin's actions are hasty, and really don't make a lot of sense, but if you go in with the knowledge that's he IS going to turn out bad either way, it allows you to take his actions with a grain of salt, and at least lets you just sit back and enjoy the ride. . . though enjoy is a relative term.

Great point. Luke has a vision on Dagobah of his friends being tortured and runs off despite Yoda's warnings that he isn't honouring his friend's sacrifice (I.E. protecting Luke).

The funniest thing about OT purists is how they put the first three films released on this untouchable pedestal, as if somehow they are less corny than the prequels. The unbiased viewer will acknowledge that all six films are equally silly and equally awesome.


...and downplaying Qui-Gon's importance to the overall story is so short sighted I can't even begin to type a rebuttal for fear of writing a thesis on this one character's overall importance to the saga.

 

[D. Martin]

Again, subjective. Might wanna look that word up. From day one, the story of Star Wars was always about Anakin Skywalker. You can close the lid to your little box and go right back pretending the PT never happened, but for better or worse, it added to the story of Anakin Skywalker. As far as cultural relevance, it's not hard to remember that Star Wars was pretty much dead for almost a decade before being revived with the Special Editions which were gateways to the PT. So without that, your "Cultural Relevance" would've been lost to obscurity save the few of us fanboys who were stalking toy conventions during the near decade drought for vintage goodies.

Ah, the dark ages. Good point Nam. Between 1985 and 1991 there was no Star Wars. We all sat in basements watching the films on VHS. Things didn't really pick up in pop culture until 1997.

Besides, ANH is a far more interesting film now that we have the first three chapters.

 

[D. Martin]

Ah, how I love not using the multiple quote option

 

[a-dev]

A very important element in understanding the frame of mind of the OT only crowd. The three years between ANH and TESB can never happen again. We were so lucky to have experienced it, but it was only a brief moment of time. It can't be recreated for the next generation. That was for us only. We should always cherish it. The innocence of it all.

SW is meant to be seen I-VI and when my daughter is old enough, assuming she wants to see it, I'll offer her SW in that order.

While I didn't like things you said in your other posts (being myself an OT purist) yes this is what I was getting at. Strange how we both acknowledge this and can still have fundamentally different views on modern Star Wars. It just doesn't give me the power to enjoy the PT as it clearly does for you.

 

[a-dev]

...and downplaying Qui-Gon's importance to the overall story is so short sighted I can't even begin to type a rebuttal for fear of writing a thesis on this one character's overall importance to the saga.

Any chance you would? Because, though I happen to think he was the best thing to come out of the Prequels, I can't see how he was in fact anything but completely superfluous, even a damaging factor, to the overall story.

 

[SwedishHeat]

For what it is worth, Ewan McGregor, not Sir Alec Guinness, made Obi-Wan Kenobi a household name.

Really?? To me, that's like saying Sam Worthington is The Terminator. If you were born in 1995, you wouldn't know any better.