This is my first time watching any Star Wars content. From what I understand and remember I should be watching it in chronological order and I should only watch I-VI since from what I heard that those are the only ones that are actually worth a watch.
Main question
For the original trilogy I’ve decided to watch the 4K77, 4k80, and 4k83 v1.0 no DNR but I want to know what is the the definitive way to watch the prequels so I wanted to ask which Blu-ray release or fan edit or any release should I look for?
Sorry if I’m asking the wrong community, but I saw a post before in a Star Wars community and it doesn’t look like there was much discussion on it.
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:
- Star Wars Holiday Special
- The Ewok Adventure
- Ewoks: The Battle for Endor
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
- The Phantom Menace.
Stop watching before the pod race ends.
Play the videogame
- Star Wars: Pod Racer.
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
- Clone Wars
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.
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.
- Don’t listen to anything the fans have to say. It’s well-known that the worst thing about SW is the fans. Especially their opinions.
- I suggest watching them in release order, including the sequels. That’s how the rest of the world experienced it.
- I didn’t hate the OT remasters. I actually liked the continuity with the prequels. CGI is about what you can expect from a 2000s remaster of a 1970s-era movie.
- I liked the prequels, I grew up with them. Jar Jar is funny. #1 is a bit more slow-paced and deals with politics more than action, but it’s enjoyable (and quite relatable at the moment).
- Disregard anything the fans have to say. The worst thing about Star Wars is the fans.
- Fan theories are an absolute waste of time, and if you go down that rabbit hole, you’ll get more hate than you’ve ever experienced before. SW fans suck.
Some things to keep in mind (spoilers):
- “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.
- 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.
- Snoke is a throwaway character. Don’t think too hard about it.
- 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
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:
- A New Hope (4)
- Empire Strikes Back (5)
- Attack of the Clones (2)
- Revenge of the Sith (3)
- Return of the Jedi (5)
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.
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.
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?”
Yes.
456 123 789
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!”
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.
Add Rebels into the mix as well, it delves into some of the nature of the force (plus, more Sam Witwer being awesome as his character.) And leads into Ahsoka.
