Help! What Star Wars movie to watch first?

[disneydreamerinny]

OK, so I live in the dark ages. I have never seen a Star Wars movie. It just never interested me. However, now that Disney is all about Star Wars, I figure I better jump on board so I know what all the hype is about. I just don't know where to start. Any suggestions? Should I start at the very beginning from the 1970's movies? Or can I just watch the newer ones to get an idea of what Disney is promoting? If I start with the newer ones, which ones should I watch so I can get a good idea of what the characters and plots are all about. Thanks everyone!

 

[minnie mum]

Start with the original 3, episodes IV,V,VI. Then catch the new one. Leave episodes I, II, & III for last or don't bother with them at all. IMO, they're pretty awful. But if you catch SW fever from the original trilogy, the first 3 episodes fill in a lot of back story.

 

[jediteacher]

I would agree to start with IV, V and VI. At that point it's up to you--either go straight to VII if you want to be caught up with the latest one, or you can go back to I, II, and III and then do VII last. You'd be just fine if you decided to skip I, II and III. (Though I'm a Star Wars nerd so there are elements of all the movies that I like and dislike. So personally, I'd say to watch them all at some point. )

 

[Rhie]

Watch the Original Trilogy, starting with New Hope. Ignore the prequels, they suck. Disney has more or less said the same, so I doubt there will be any thing in those that will come up in their trilogy. Especially since Disney's trilogy takes place after the Original Trilogy.

 

[egjensen8532]

I vote machete order: 4,5, 2, 3, 6, then 7. Skip 1 or watch it (after 5, before 2) if you're really into the entire series or if you have young children.

 

[DVCcurious]

Start with VII, then watch IV. You'll be shocked how much of the plot of IV is a total rip off of VII.


But really....

Machete Order is the appropriate way to watch them if you want to watch all of them. But honestly if you watch IV and V you'll be fine. Everything else just fills in more details around those two, but those two are the heart and soul of Star Wars.

All the main characters are introduced in IV and V, the mythology is flexed out in IV and V...frankly there isn't much to add after those two films. This is assuming you want to understand the pop cultural significance, and not because you actually like the movies. If you actually like them then watch all of them in Machete order, but if you just want to know who "Yoda" or "Luke" is, or what "The Force" is, then IV and V are sufficient.

 

[kbmartin]

IV, V, VI, I, II, III, VII.


I dislike the prequels as much as anyone else does, but I disagree that Disney won't be using any kind of material from them. Many, many people theorize that Rey is actually a Kenobi, and I'm on board with that.


Welcome to the fandom, and may the force be with you!

 

[Accident]

I personally like the machette order. read about it more here: http://www.nomachetejuggling.com/2011/11/11/the-star-wars-saga-suggested-viewing-order/ but be careful as it might hit some spoilers..

It's IV, V, II, III, VI then awaken (this order was made pre-awaken). Yes episode 1 is missing and for good reason.. it really follows a good storyline of vader and luke.

 

[LinderInWonderland]

The recent Disney offerings include quite a bit of the prequels (I, II, III). Hate on them all you want, the score for I is one of the best movie scores ever and there are some fantastic moments in those movies. There are quite a few prequel scenes in Star Tours, as well.

As a purist, I would watch them in the order they came out (IV, V, VI, I, II, III, VII) and let the chips fall where they may.

 

[JediAng]

I highly recommend this order.

Episode 4 A New Hope,
Episode 5 The Empire Strikes Back,
Episode 1 The Phantom Menace,
Episode 2 Attack of The Clones,
Episode 3 Revenge of the Sith,
Episode 6 Return of the Jedi,
Episode 7 The Force Awakens.

That way you get the original story & surprise first, then the back story, then the conclusion. Makes the story of Anakin Skywalker much more powerful.

I also STRONGLY recommend The Clone Wars Movie (2008) and Series Seasons 1-6, if you don't want to watch all 6 years, and just want a general idea of what the clone wars were, The Arc I suggest to start with is in season 3; The Mortis Trilogy. These 3 episodes were GAME CHANGERS, and everything that happens in them and after them are very relevant to the story. It's weird watching Star Wars as Animation at first, but after a while, I forgot it was a "Cartoon" and it just felt like normal star wars to me. Rebels is good as well, the current animated show, but it is not as significant to the overall trilogy as the clone wars, most of the characters on rebels are original just to that series, except for a few that tie into the clone wars series, more than the movies themselves.

For reference, The Clone Wars timeline is in between Attack of The Clones and Revenge of The Sith, and Rebels is in between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope, closer to A New Hope Era.

 

[Clifton Tesh]

Regardless of what order you watch them in, it is important to remember

Hans shot first!

 

[MrsCobraBubbles]

The newer movies get progressively more graphic and brutal. So, if you have kids then I'd stick with watching Episode 1 and then the original 3 and the animated Clone Wars movie. There's a spot during the fight at the end of Episode 1 that you will need to skip if you have young kids watching, I don't want to give you spoilers here though.

There are also some so-bad-they-are-good animated stories from the early 80s that focus specifically on the Ewoks and R2D2 and C3PO, my son loved those. You also have to watch the Star Wars Holiday Special once in your lifetime, it's never been released on video but you can find it on YouTube.

 

[MrsCobraBubbles]

Regardless of what order you watch them in, it is important to remember

Hans shot first!

This is debatable : )

 

[DVCcurious]

Regardless of what order you watch them in, it is important to remember

Hans shot first!

The only Hans I know is the one who has a brother named Franz and they keep telling me they want to pump (clap hands) me up

 

[Clifton Tesh]

The only Hans I know is the one who has a brother named Franz and they keep telling me they want to pump (clap hands) me up

Lol, didn't even notice that auto correct got me.

 

[disneydreamerinny]

Thank you everyone for all your responses. Can't wait to get started. I'm glad almost everyone is on the same page with which ones to watch first. IV first is is!!

 

[Bianca and Bernard]

Regardless of what order you watch them in, it is important to remember

Hans shot first!

Which is misleading, as Han is the ONLY one who shot in the original version....

 

[Shanti]

OK, so I live in the dark ages. I have never seen a Star Wars movie. It just never interested me. However, now that Disney is all about Star Wars, I figure I better jump on board so I know what all the hype is about. I just don't know where to start. Any suggestions? Should I start at the very beginning from the 1970's movies? Or can I just watch the newer ones to get an idea of what Disney is promoting? If I start with the newer ones, which ones should I watch so I can get a good idea of what the characters and plots are all about. Thanks everyone!

Start with the original three ("Star Wars", "The Empire Strikes Back", and "Return of the Jedi"), which are the only ones worth seeing, in my opinion.

Try to rent the older DVD versions that have fewer changes to them, if you have that option. (They went back and changed the original 3 movies a bit in preparation for the prequels, and the changes are minor but not good.)

 

[TreeFalls]

And from a non-Star wars fan... If you don't want to watch a lot of them, watch Empire Strikes Back and then the newest one. I really didn't want to watch any of them, but my husband wanted me to come see the new one with him and he said it would make a lot more sense if I watched Empire Strikes Back first. I liked the newest one a lot. Empire strikes back was not great, but the backstory was helpful.