Which is the Proper Order to Watch Star Wars Movies?

[GodAtum]

Some of us are young enough to have watched 1-7 in that order. That makes me wonder for those veterans who watched 4-7 first, did you know a lot about the backstory? Like in the prequels Yoda is shown as a powerful Grand Master, but I dont think it's mentioned in the OT.

[Annoyed]

Yoda is shown as a powerful master as early as episode 5, TESB, when the reincarnated Ben Kenobi sends Luke off to Dagobah to train under him.

I'm old enough where I seen the first one, now titled episode 4, ANH in the theater when it first came out in 1977.
At the time it was widely reported that Lucas planned on a series of 9 movies, so we sort of had an inkling that it was planned to be an extended, epic saga. But that was about it. As the years went on after 1983 (RotJ) with no 4th film until 1999, most sort of assumed that the franchise had run its course. It was quite a surprise that when he decided to go the prequel route. But as to the details that were revealed in the prequels, I suspected nothing aside from what was shown in 4, 5 & 6.

[mr_kennedy]

I dont know about the proper order, but i watch 1,2,3,4,5,6

now after next year ill be watching star wars movies like this 1,2,3,Rogue One, 4,5,6 7

[ecgordon]

I'm not sure I'll ever watch the prequels again. They suffered from bad writing and bad acting from Jake Lloyd and Hayden Christensen, and too much reliance on CGI. We already knew what was going to happen to Annakin, and I didn't care about the petty politics and trade squabbles.

Star Wars peaked with The Empire Strikes Back in 1980, and it's been down hill from there. I still haven't seen The Force Awakens, just not a high priority for me, but if it brings the magic back I'll be happy.

[P-90_177]

Ignore the first two prequels. Watch the Clone Wars cartoons, Episode 3 (grudgingly) then 4, 5, 6 and 7

[VampyreWraith]

If someone has never seen them before and really doesn't know anything about Star Wars (yes, there are people like that out there lol), I'd recommend watching 4-7 and then 1-3 for the backstory (just because watching 1-3 first would spoil somethings in 4-7, it's not too much of a big deal since some of the stuff seemed obvious though). If someone has already seen them, or has read about them already or whatever, watch them in number order I guess, but it really doesn't matter to me.

I watched 4-6 first when they were on TV and later on, on VHS, then I started reading EU books (some of which really didn't work as well once 1-3 came out), then I watched 1-3, and finally I watched 7 last night.

[Annoyed]

If someone has never seen them before and really doesn't know anything about Star Wars

I think I heard about that person. Lives under a rock in New Mexico, I think.

[VampyreWraith]

I think I heard about that person. Lives under a rock in New Mexico, I think.

Lol, I actually had a friend a few years ago who hadn't watched any of the movies and didn't really know anything about them, he thought they were too nerdy to watch. I made him watch the OT though, and he actually ended up enjoying them. My brother and his wife also haven watched any of the movies and they don't plan on watching them (they're not really into sci-fi or fantasy, my bro will sometimes watch superhero cartoons while he's watching his daughter, but that's mostly it lol). I'm pretty sure they don't really know anything about Star Wars (story wise) either.

[DigiFluid]

Release order is best. The joy of the OT, the massive disappointment of the prequels, and now the salvation of the films with TFA.


That said, in recent years I've found the "Machete Order" works incredibly well at both preserving surprises and at building the story. That order is 4, 5, 2, 3, 6. That way you get introduced to the universe they way you should be introduced to it, you get the massive revelation in Empire, followed by a giant flashback to show that Vader is not lying, which then also does a wonderful job of building up the gigantic undertaking of facing down the Emperor in Jedi. It also really nicely emphasizes Yoda's regret--having just watched him beaten by Palps in 3, his "do not underestimate the power of the Emperor" rings incredibly poignantly that this was Yoda's greatest failure.

[garhkal]

For me, i go in 1,2,3,4,5,6 order..

[GodAtum]

A friend who is young enough to have watched them from 1-7 has a totally different outlook. For example, Ewan McGregor is Obi-Wan and Anakin/Vader is Hayden Christensen, and cannot understand why people where upset when George changed ghosts.
Also, he does not see Vader as pure evil, just a fallen Jedi.

[Annoyed]

Yes, it probably does appear to be a different story to those whose initial experience is 123456
Particularly the story of Anakin/Vadar. Viewing in release order, starting with 456, Vader is the prefect "evil villain". The story told in 123 humanizes him, which changes the character of Vader in 4 completely.

[rushy]

Yes, it probably does appear to be a different story to those whose initial experience is 123456
Particularly the story of Anakin/Vadar. Viewing in release order, starting with 456, Vader is the prefect "evil villain". The story told in 123 humanizes him, which changes the character of Vader in 4 completely.

I'd argue that the revelation in 5 changes the character. In Return Of The Jedi, he was nothing like he was in the first two films.

[Annoyed]

But watching order 123456, by the time of # 5, Luke's parentage is known to the viewer, completely negating that reveal.
More importantly, viewing 123456, the childhood Anakin lived is laid out, humanizing Vader in the viewer's eyes, changing him from a pure evil villain to be feared into a figure to be pitied.

Therefore, to answer the question of topic title, I think the original release order, 456123 is the best way for a newcomer to view the series. Otherwise, the viewer loses the villain factor of Vader, which was a big part of the magic.

[rushy]

But watching order 123456, by the time of # 5, Luke's parentage is known to the viewer, completely negating that reveal.
More importantly, viewing 123456, the childhood Anakin lived is laid out, humanizing Vader in the viewer's eyes, changing him from a pure evil villain to be feared into a figure to be pitied.

Therefore, to answer the question of topic title, I think the original release order, 456123 is the best way for a newcomer to view the series. Otherwise, the viewer loses the villain factor of Vader, which was a big part of the magic.

I think Vader works perhaps even better in 4 and 5 if you've seen 3 and know who he really is and how he relates to Luke(plus you also get the reveal of the Emperor in Episode 3). So I'd go 1234567.

4561237 is not bad if you want to experience the universe the same way most other fans did(not me though so that explains my choice, I guess), but I think it's best to view them in the order they were intended to be viewed, which is obviously 1234567, because that's the way they're numbered.

I definitely don't recommend 4512367. Watching the films out of order just for the reveals is a step too far and you lose narrative consistency, which is more important in my opinion.