CT I just introduced someone to Star Wars

I introduced them to my 7 year old in the following order: IV, V, Black Mantle Edit, VI. I gave him the prequel DVDs after that. He watched half of TPM, about ten minutes of AOTC, and three quarters of ROTS, but hasn't really shown much interest beyond that. His favorite is ROTJ.

 

I like many first watched the saga in release order and since me and my friends have watched the saga 1-6 and 4-3. However i saw an Episode of Big Bang where they reference a shotgun order which is basically ANH, ESB then AOTC and ROTS as flashbacks before finishing with ROTJ. Their suggestion is you dont watch TPM. Whilst i do not advocate skipping any of the films, I do now, surprisingly, really enjoy watching the PT as a flashback trilogy before ROTJ. Maybe its because that way it opens and finishes with my two favorites (ANH & ROTJ) Maybe its because after the revelation (ok not a revelation if you seen it before) in ESB you get to go back and discover who Anakin was before Vader. You as the viewer, like Luke, believe there is still some good in Vader because you just watched two and a half films where he's the Hero. ANH by design is perfect for setting the scene and introducing viewers to the SW universe. ROTJ is the big finale and happy ending every saga needs. ROTS works as a penultimate because it has a pretty bleak ending. If this is the first time youve seen the films, then youre still shocked to learn that Vader is Lukes father. The only thing i will say is that, after watching the PT, you kind of forget about Han needing to be rescued and youre a bit like 'oh yeah Luke needs to come back and do this before he can take down the Empire'

I encourage you to at least give it a shot before you call it blasphemy and label me a philistine.
Choose the order you show newbies carefully though because that order will forever be how they perceive the story.

 

... a shotgun order which is basically ANH, ESB then AOTC and ROTS as flashbacks before finishing with ROTJ....

DjangoKet: This is my preferred viewing order. It really, really works.

Alternately you could do ANH - AOTC - ESB - ROTS - ROTJ, which also works beautifully and removes the problem of forgetting about Han Solo!

 

I don't like mixing the trilogies, and I can only imagine how weird that will feel after the sequel trilogy is complete. For me, showing people the movies in release order is the only way to do it, but how you rewatch them afterwards is completely up to you. For me, I still find Saga order to be completely inaccessible because of the jarring jump from Revenge of the Sith to A New Hope. I'm really hoping that Rogue One (and eventually the Han Solo film, and maybe the Boba Fett film depending on where it falls in the timeline) can help smooth that transition over, because as of now that ruins the Saga order for me more so than losing A New Hope as the introductory film does.

 

TBH the only movies that feel natural to watch back to back are ROTS and ANH imo.

But to watch all three prequels, and then all the originals just feels odd. I do love the Christmas marathons though.

 

I think the "flashback order" is pretty great because I think a lot of what's set up in "Revenge of the Sith" pays off in "Return of the Jedi" as opposed to what's set up in "Sith" doesn't exactly pay off in "Hope". Hell, I'd say "Jedi" is a better sequel to "Sith" than it is "Empire"!

As for introducing people to Star Wars, I show my nieces some Lego Star Wars episodes. Full 2hr+ flicks are a bit heavy for young kids - also they're girls who are more into MLP and general princess stuff - but Lego Star Wars is a nice intro. True, some of the lego star wars eps blow the Luke is Darth Vader's son reveal but it's done in such a jovial, jokey manner that I don't think it'll connect the dots to the series proper.

 

A classmate of mine has never seen Star Wars before, so I lent him a flashdrive with the Despecialized Editions of A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back on it. Hopefully he likes them; I'm curious to hear his thoughts.

 

any updates on it yet?

 

No, I haven't seen him since Thursday. Later tonight during class I'll ask if he got a chance to watch them over the weekend.