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Watch the original Star Wars, then The Empire Strikes Back, then Return of the Jedi. The versions you found are good.
Here's the important bit, turn off Jedi as soon as you see a fat fuzzy walking teddy bear creature. The introduction of the Ewoks is when Star Wars dies.
Watch the L8Wrtr edits of the prequel trilogy, then the Despecialized versions of the OG trilogy. Some say to watch in release order. I don't think it matters as much as watching the content as it was originally created, and without the stupid fluff in the prequel trilogy.
Watch the odd-numbered ones first, then the evens.
All jokes aside: my preference is the release order, though the Machete order seems like it would be a good plan (feel free to include Rogue One, it is superb in my book).
First watch these:
When you have finished those, you should be filled with hate and suffering. You will welcome the dark side. Now you are ready.
Start watching
Stop watching before the pod race ends.
Play the videogame
Crash the first pod race, killing little Anakin.
Congratulations!
You've stopped the evil Sith lords from rising to power. You've saved the Ewoks. You've saved Jarjar. Balance in the universe remains balanced. You truly are one with the force. You are ready for the light side.
Watch
The animated series that aired on Cartoon Network. Not "The Clone Wars"!!! That's different. Don't watch that one. It sucks. You want the one made by Genddy Tartakovski, known for his masterpieces, Samurai Jack and Dexter's Laboratory and his pivotal work in the series The Powerpuff Girls.
You wont need to watch anything else.
You wont want to watch anything else.
Ever.
Season 7 of the Clone Wars is actually worth watching, and ties up a few loose ends. Other than that, I would add read the books. The good stories all happen well away from the cinematic stuff.
Some things to keep in mind (spoilers):
7. "Somehow, Palpatine returned" is actually how it goes down. The memes are accurate. Seriously, it really is that stupid. It's a trainwreck. But you should enjoy the trainwreck anyway, because it's fun.
8. Kylo Ren is the perfect embodiment of a nepo-baby. Approach his character that way. He's supposed to be a whiny piece of shit who let the power get to his head. He's supposed to be annoying.
9. Snoke is a throwaway character. Don't think too hard about it.
10. At some point in the sequels, you will notice the "and then they fucked" tension.
Go for release order. People (including me) can complain about episode 1 all they want, I think it's better to get a good grasp of "what was intended" first before understanding the whole fan recommendations
I think that 4K77, 4K80, and 4K83 are the best way of watching the original trilogy. As for the order I think that's really up to you if you prefer the release order, or chronological order, or something else.
Watch in release order. This is the way they were written so it will make the most sense as a first time viewer.
You will hear about the Machete order if you research Star Wars viewing orders, but this is best for subsequent watches.
Aside from the OT and PT, the projects I recommend are the Clone Wars series (it's a lot though), Rogue One, Andor, and the Mandalorian.
Kenobi was meh but had some really good moments.
Watch the sequel trilogy once if you must, but I think they're pretty bad and forgettable.
I'm a fan of the Machete Order.
There may be some spoilers in that blog post, it's been a while since I read it, so here it is in summary:
Phantom Menace is omitted because it's the weakest of the prequel trilogy and everything that happens in it is summarized at the beginning of Attack of the Clones anyway. If you want to be a completionist then watch it between Empire Strikes Back and Attack of the Clones.
There's good reasons for following this order, but it's hard to describe them without spoiling anything. Basically, Lucas assumed you'd watched the original trilogy when he made the prequels, so it's got a bunch of spoilers in it that the Machete Order preserves quite nicely.
The Phantom Menace goes together with Rogue One as interesting expansions that aren't crucial to the main plot. Better watched after all the others.
Rogue One is far and away a better movie though
Absolutely. It's great in every way.
This is the way
get 6 screens and watch them all simultaneously, no audio, just subtitles.
I'd do my best to watch them in the order they were commercially released so you can appreciate how damaging and awful the edits are.
Either or, but the commercial release order is more dramatic. 1-3 are technically prequels, so they are more answering questions and laying backstory. Release order also follows the evolution of the sfx.
There's also the Machete Order. The TL;DR is to watch the movies in the order of: IV, V, II, III, VI. The reasons why are explained at that link and can't be discussed without spoilers.
The non-spoiler tl;dr is that it maintains Star Wars as Luke's story.
Do you mean watching the theatrical release of the original trilogy, then watching the specialized edition, then the DVD re-releases, then the prequels, then the blu-ray re-releases, then the sequel trilogy?
"Is this an episode of The Big Bang Theory?"
Another vote for Machete order. Simply put, it is a good way to watch the original trilogy, experience the story plot in episode 5 and get the back story in the subsequent trilogy.
Watching it in episode order for new viewers will mean they will experience episode 5 very differently.
Ctrl+f: "holiday special" - Phrase not found.
This thread epic fail.
Why is it good?
It is the single best demonstration of the damage cocaine does to people. Before there was "this is your brain on drugs", there was the Star Wars Holiday Special.
Watch it with your children so that they think "Holy crap, if this is what people come up with on coke, I never want to even try the stuff!"
456 123 789
Definitely 456-123 order, I know some people have different ways they prefer to watch but I think that kind of detracts from watching how the franchise evolves over the years.
If you want more after that, rogue one and andor is pretty good, clone wars/bad batch has some good stuff (though I'd recommend finding a watch guide for clone wars, some episodes are straight up kids stuff, other episodes are almost literally Vietnam war and decapitations)
I think the sequels are interesting to watch, I'm a bit of an 8 apologist in some areas, but you have to go in with the expectation that there's a general decline in story progression and making sense from movie to movie.
Honestly though I think the series has a general decline after 5. It's all not bad, and there's some good stuff, but if you find yourself uninterested don't force yourself to continue after like episode 6.
Make sure to watch Rogue One between E 3 & 4.
I'd recommend watching them in release order, as that's how most people have experienced them. You'll have a better understanding of the commonly ascribed strengths and weaknesses of the respective films and trilogies if you watch them this way. It is also very common opinion that each trilogy is substantially worse than the previous one, so if you watch them this way then you have an off-ramp at the end of the first and second trilogies if/when you've decided you've had enough - you'll never have to sit through bad films to get to the good ones.
The Machete Order is an interesting idea but I'm a little hesitant to recommend it because so many of these fan edits are designed by people who are in so deep that they tend to skim/omit information that is actually relevant to first time viewers who have no idea what is happening. Star Wars fans, like all fans of these geek franchises, often have a hard time seeing things from the perspective of people who don't share their obsession. For that reason, I also strongly recommend against watching any of the TV series or filler/standalone films until you've finished at least the first two trilogies, because they are written for Star Wars fans to flesh out the events around the main films and are filled with tons of irrelevant references and fan service that are just going to confuse and/or bore you.
4 (A New Hope) 5 (The Empire Strikes Back)
Aaaaand.... STOP
Just posted this in a thread about watching the show Andor. Additional context, I’d watch the movies first before you decide to get into any of the shows
——-
I highly recommend Rogue One as well. It follows Cassian Andor as a spy for the rebellion immediately after the second (and final) season of the show.
Rogue One is a story set immediately before the first movie: Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. Immediately as in the final scene of Rogue One is the first scene of A New Hope.
Similar to the other commenter, the problem is that Rogue One is by far the best movie of the entire franchise, so you start at the high point.
If you like the movie and want more Star Wars, I recommend this order. I’ll list the title and the “episode” number
There are three more movies after #6, but there’s almost no point in watching them.
It’s really important to remember that a lot of the Star Wars movies aren’t good but they’re cultural institutions and you kinda have to accept them as they are. The writer/director of the original trilogy spent a lot of time tweaking and editing them after their original releases including adding new scenes digitally created decades after the release.
I'd disagree with Rogue One as a first intro to Star Wars simply because there's a lot of assumptions of knowledge of things explained at a minimum in ANH. If anything, ANH first, then Rogue One to cover the stolen plans story that is mentioned all throughout.
The only benefit for seeing Rogue One before ANH is to explain why Vader is so pissed at the princess.
I’d disagree with Rogue One as a first intro to Star Wars simply because there’s a lot of assumptions of knowledge of things explained at a minimum in ANH.
This is the problem with getting viewing recommendations from fans - they are so obsessed with the franchise that they fail to realise/appreciate how many of the additional films and TV series are designed and written for them to the exclusion of everyone else. Rogue One is a film written for existing Star Wars fans, filled with fan service and references designed specifically to excite viewers of the original trilogy. As an actual standalone story it is pretty fucking boring, as are its main characters who exist purely to service the main plot. Speaking of the plot, it is designed entirely around explaining a minor plot hole from the original film - something only massive fans of the franchise care about. It's a terrible recommendation for a first-time viewer.
That’s an interesting take. I don’t really like the mainline Star Wars films at all. I think the entire skywalker saga is incredibly boring and a massive waste of a fascinating universe.
Rogue One is great because there’s enough exposure to the universe without relying on any prior knowledge.
Discussion about the plot
The first half of the film gives us an interesting cast of characters who all have motivations that are at odds with each other. Then they earn each other’s trust and agree on a common goal.
The final hour of the movie is an exciting action sequence spanning space fighters to ground troops and an infiltration mission
The characters are well written and the main elements of plot don’t rely on any Star Wars knowledge to really understand what’s going on.
If you like the film, watch more. If you don’t, leave it at an action film that doesn’t explain everything about that dude with a laser sword or why the Empire is bad or what they do afterwards.
Watch versions as close as possible to the original theatrical versions of Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi. Don't even bother watching anything else with the words "Star Wars" on it, life's too short to sit around watching boring, shitty media that wastes your time. Can't say I recommend almost any of the novels, either.
Machete order or bust.
Definitely in chronological order of release as the other comment says, but make sure to find the despecialized edition fan re edit which brings the high quality changes to the resolution and sound, but leaves the movies as they were originally shown without the terrible edits from Lucas in the late 90s.
Also, feel free to skip all of the sequels. They are nonsensical and self defeating with every successive installment. I gave the episode 7 a pass on their rehashing of the original and was excited to see a female hero taking up the mantle, but 8 and 9 just undo any positive or coherent story/message structure that could have spun from 7.
Edit: Do not miss Rogue One or Andor. I'd watch those after the prequel trilogy and in order of release too
I'd suggest if you're going to watch both Rogue One and Andor, to watch Andor first.
The prequels were made with the idea in mind that people had seen the originals, and after they saw the prequels, they would watch it in Prequel->OT order.
The correct way to watch Star Wars if you've never seen it before is Original Trilogy, then Prequel Trilogy.
The machete method Is my recommendation, I did this with a newbie and they really enjoyed it. 4, 5, 2, 3, 6
with a lightsaber handle in your butt. and a droid on your lap.
While I don't recommend it for a first watch, I have access to a copy of the fulcrum cut, a super-cut of the last three episodes of Clone Wars and Revenge of the Sith.
You can DM me if you want it
Just watch Andor and Rogue One, the rest is for children.
The rest are not so good.
Try to find the original versions of the first three movies without the added CG that messes with the story a little.
The only Star Wars I’ve ever seen is the holiday special, can’t say I’d recommend it. :0 I guess to some degree that’s one way to experience the franchise though!