Dr. DVD

I agree with the 4-5-1-2-3-6 approach. This approach sets out a story, then hits you with a bombshell, then gives you a backstory concerning how things got to be that way, then you get the end of everything knowing what happened. This order definitely gives Vader turning and chucking Sidious down a shaft more power!

Timber

I don't know now. There are 2 good arguments here.

4-1-2-5-3-6 Here you get 3 1/2 chapters of setup and 2 1/12 chapters of the shit hitting the fan.

But then with 4-5-1-2-3-6 you get the main story with a 3 chapter interlude to see how we've gotten to that point.

Both would probably work out quite well.

GuessWho

I like this idea a lot... 1-3 become a flashback

Drop

First time viewers should watch them 4-5-6-1-2-3. After that you might as well watch them 1-2-3-4-5-6. That's how I'll watch them for now on.

MartinBlank

Try viewing from the standpoint of someone who's never seen Star Wars, and they decide to pull a marathon of it and watch it IN IT'S CORRECT ORDER! I don't think Lucas's "backward" execution is gonna work well.

To be honest, if there were no such thing as the "original trilogy", and this guy named George Lucas made episodes 1 and 2 as he has, I'd probably wait to see Ep. 3 on DVD, seeing as I paid to see Ep. 1 on the big screen, and was HUGELY disappointed, I would have then rented Ep. 2, which was a slight improvement.

Dr. DVD

The more I think about it, I believe that the 4-5-1-2-3-6 approach is the best, both from a story and character standpoint. Think about it. ANH is the only one without either Yoda or Sidious, both of whom play very pivotal parts to say the least. This way it can flow with consistent appearances by the two of them and make their deaths in ROTJ all the more meaningful. Imagine seeing Yoda die after you have seen him do such awesome feats and duel Sidious himself. Also, if you take the 1 thru 6 approach in order, you basically have a gap of two whole movies before Sidious reappears in the flesh as his dastardly self again. Not to mention it could also build Jabba quite well for his ROTJ appearance. And don't forget the duel of Vader vs. Luke while Sidious observes. While we all know better, and newbie would have no reason to doubt Luke turning to the dark side after having the events of ROTS in mind.

bothanspy

I'm sorry, but this is the greatest thread ever.

rabbit77

Have you seen this girl skank?

BassDude

Another vote for 4,5,1,2,3,6. Seems to flow the best, and for all the comments mentioned above.

Noonan

Sorry, I still stick with my original order I posted of 4,1,2,5,3,6. Why spoil the biggest twist of the 6 movie saga during the 2nd film...Plus, I'd rather get 1 & 2 out of the way quick considering they were the weakest two films out of the 6.

BassDude

I like the helplessness at the end of 5.
4 - Death Star gone, everyone happy. (Should I have spoiler tagged that?) 5 - our hero beaten, a revalation about Vader, and a feeling of..."how could that be?" or "how did we get here?" Seems like a great time to flashback and explain what happened many years ago.

I remember the hype of 'Is Vader really Luke's father?" I think Starlog had an article claiming Boba was actually Luke's dad. It was a fun feeling, wondering, that could be carried over a backstory like 1-3.

Of course the above is all brought to you...IMHO

mikehunt

skimmed the thread, sorry if this was said
watching them 1-6 totally spoils the surprise of who yoda is, and who vader is
possibly spoils the luke and leia siblings thing too depending on how much ep3 covers

bothanspy

That thread is set as my homepage. I meant this thread was great because it's the ultimate in geekdom for a star wars fan.

rabbit77

I know, it was just the first thread that popped in my head as my current all-time champion. Back on topic, I vote 4,5,1,2,3,6.

It would be interesting to see a 3 hour movie cut from scenes from all 6 films.

Derrich

Not to throw a monkey wrench in this but how about

4-1-2-CloneWars v1-5-CloneWars v2-3-6

empire is hard to place because its almost like it's from a whol different series of films.

D

silentbob007

I think it's impossible to say how we would have judged episodes 1 and 2 without the original triology. Sure, the same problems with the scripting/editing would exist, but the huge problem of expectations would be eliminated. God forbid people go into a theater expecting to have fun as opposed to expecting something equiavlent of a religious experiences.

MartinBlank

I started this entire thread in thinking about my nephew who is five years old. Given the short attention spans of adults now-a-days, I just got to thinking how entirely different the two trilogys are. As far as I'm concerned Episodes 1 through 3 can rot, I don't like them, IMO they are not Star Wars, it's a completely different story, told in a completely different way, told to appeal to a completely different generation....that's my beef! That's was the point of this thread, it had nothing to do with the order in to watch all the films. Basically I wanted to get the point accross about how different the two trilogys are. For as little of a story as existed, Episodes 4 through 6 at least told a story, with a little action throughout....Episodes 1 through 3 are just eye candy and action, with a little story thown in for good measure. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy what little backstory Lucas has thrown in, the midoclorian B.S. is a little retarded and the whole "look how pivotal Boba Fett is to the entire S.W. universe" is reaching just a tad much, but if I were asked to choose, I would take the original trilogy with Han shooting first and leave it at that.

Lara Means

I don't know about you guys, but I'm going to watch them 6-2-5-3-1-4

chess

4,5,3,6

jarofclay73

Actually, the people who watched the OT first (us older folk) tend NOT to appreciate the prequels as much.

JCWBobC

In my opinion it is like reading a complete book that was originally released as individual books. I wouldn't read the chapters out of order just because they take place at different times. I would let the story unfold in the order the author intended it to. Just because we couldn't watch them in this order when they were originally released doesn't change the fact that we now have the opportunity to watch them in chronological order.

Personally I am going to sit down this weekend and watch 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and try to enjoy them as if it was the first time I was seeing them. I may watch the 25 episodes of the Clone Wars before watching 3 if time permits.

Bottom line is that we all have our own ways of watching them and as long as we enjoy the movies that is all that matters.

jarofclay73

It's interesting but non-Star Wars fans tend to like TPM more than Star Wars fans.

Digweedrocks

Watch A New Hope right after Phantom Menace. Straight from little Anni and Jar-Jar to Big Helmet and Force choking.

hypeiv

"luke... i am your father" surprised me the first time i saw that... it won't be such a shocker if you watch 1-2-3-4-5-6 so I will be showing my kids star wars 4-5-6-1-2-3. Also 3 is a bad a movie at the end if you havn't seen 4-5-6... you won't understand why they are tieing up all the lose ends.

edit... i was very young when i first saw the first 3 thats why i didn't figure it out.