What is the best alternative order to watch the Star Wars episodes?

nerfherder78 wrote this:

"I have recently become an uncle and I am wondering how to "release" Star Wars to my nephew. I want him to see it the the way I did, Episode IV, V, VI, I, II, III. I can't see it being good ruining the fact that Vader is Luke's father. Please tell me this is a good choice."

The eternal dillemma... first of all, don't expect your nephew to experience it the same way you did. He won't have to wait 3 years between each episode and he'll see it on a small screen. He's also of a different generation, so he will experience SW in a different cultural context.

But there's no way around it: You'll either ruin the "I am your father" revelation in ESB or the Anakin becomes Vader revelation in ROTS. I think that both are equally strong.

Personally I say start with the PT. Obviously a chronological story is easier to follow, but I also think that the PT is easier to get into for young children, who are more accustomed to big CGI spectacles. I think ANH would bore them, but if it's the 4th episode, the story might have them hooked by then.

 

2,1,4,5,6, 3...

thats the best alternative...but it really should be 1-6

 

The "I am your father" line is a huge part of American pop culture. EVERYBODY knows about it, whether or not they're fans or have even seen the movie.

This whole thing about 'preserving the Vader surprise' is bunk.

 

I think it should be viewed in release order, but it could be interesting to watch I and II and see Anakins youth. Then watch IV and learn that hes been killed. Then watch V and learn hes Lukes father and Vader. Then watch III and see it all go wrong. Then VI for a nice happy ending.

 

personaly i think I II III IV V VI is the best but the IV V I II III VI sound interesting except I do agree that revenge of the sith may overpower jedi

heres my reason for liking the I II III IV V VI order:

The Phantom Menace - light hearted adventure but with foreshadowing of inevitable darkness

Attack of the Clones - light hearted adventure matures into love with lose of innocence as a consequence

Revenge of the Sith - loss of innocence leads to the inevitable fall from grace into darkness but with a fleeting glimmer of hope

A New Hope - triumphant return of good taking the offensive against the darkness as the glimmer of hope grows

The Empire Strikes Back - the glimmer dies down as darkness responds but truth is finally revealed in its ultimate form preparing hope for one final confrontation with darkness

Return of the Jedi - Hope, no longer buckling under evil, takes the final offensive as good rises against darkness in all corners

i posted this under the thread star wars themes

it makes a nice story arc

 

Interesting question.
For someone who was totally new to the saga I would probably do it this way:

1. IV - establishes most main characters.
2. Holiday Special - IV left off on a happy note, it should continue for a bit.
3. V - keeps the shock of the Vader/Luke revelation intact and unknown if a lie.
4. I - fresh enough from the revelation and IV to show the parallels clearly between father/son, plus a comic break is needed from the revelation.
5. II - the parallel training frustrations are close enough to show the relationship between father/son and the Emperor is still a mystery man at this point even after 4 movies and a special and we still don't know if Vader spoke the truth but suspect there might be something there.
6. III - the turning of Anakin here gives a lot more weight to the possible turning of Luke later and consequences while establishing all of Vader's history and his truthful statement, and the Emperor is finally revealed.
7. VI - the culmination of the Vader/Luke arc.
8. Ewok adventure - the lightheartedness from the end of VI translates well here.
9. Battle for Endor - concludes the ewok arc. A parallel here could be seen as the scouring of the shire in lotr.
10. Droids cartoons - they're just fun.
11. Ewok cartoons - more fun.

 

if you are going to include the cartoons what about clone wars!!!! thats the best and where could you see the christmas special, i thought lucas was trying to forget about that?

 

Personally, how about:

4
1
2
5
3
6

?????

 

1 - introduction of characters, of a certain anakin skywalker (how cute!) and obi-wan; you have no idea of the anakin-vader-connection
4 - introduction of more characters, (what happened to obi-wan???) you have no idea of the anakin-vader-connection yet
2 - you may be able to guess that there is in fact more to the little story ben told luke about his father
5 - darkest part of old trilogy, truth is revealed
3 - that's how it happened, it gets even darker
6 - vader is redeemed

1-4-2-5-3-6

I think you'll be able to discover a lot of parallels between the movies that way (betw. 1 and 4, 2 and 5 and of course 3 and 6).

 

Of course the emotional powerhouse that was the Vader revalation will be ruined by anyone who has yet to see the movie, due to all the constant mockings and jokes built off of it, and of course all the fans will know what happens ahead of time, even though I think once the circle is complete and we can see the rise and fall of Anakin in one sitting that the revalation will get a revitalization.

 

I like the Spiegel Method, that is one of the ways I would watch it.

-4-5,1-3,6 = Luke's POV, with an Anakin backstory
-4-6,1-3 = Luke's POV & then Anakin's POV
-1-6 = Anakin's POV

 

The Lynch and Pulp fiction methods wre hilarious. Personally I think that everything has been building to this point the Ep.III really visually and emotionally has to be viewed as the Climax to the saga. That is just how time and Technology have made it, This being the last movie, the franchise is going out with a huge bang which will likely make the chronological order for a newbie a bit of a letdown. Each episode was bigger and louder and more umph than the last. Solely on the viewer appreciation I feel it has to be see this way. now as we've all been there and done that the chronological order may be the way to go.

The Spiegel method has some really good points, but after III, VI might not have enough oomph for the newbie. On the merits of the Spiegel method, I'm not a big fan of flash backs. I just keep thinking Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. I really enjoyed the first part, but then they warped to this out of place back story and I got seriously iritated to the point I wanted to FFWD back to the rest of the movie. (Wife wouldn't let me). In the end it ruined the whole movie for me.

I will say that if I were to watch it in the Spiegel method I would actually watch to the point in ROTJ the Obi-wan says "When I met him he was already a great pilot..." and then flash back to Ep.I, then you have closure to the Han Solo side story, and are in a frame of mind to get the Jedi back story. It would also keep the importance and flow the base story without distracting the viewer. If you were to extend that scene slightly to the line "I thought that I could train him as well as Yoda/fade" the TPM haters out there could just forego Ep.I all togther. You'd sacrifice the Palpatine story somewhat, but the Anakin story (as it is relevant to Luke)would be intact for all intents of purpose, and may actually flow better (a brutal edit worthy of George).

One other thing about the Spiegel method (or the abbreviated 4-5-6a-2-3-6b) is that the complexion of the saga doesn't change much from the pre-Pt mindset. It kind of keeps the focus on Luke rather than Anakin.

Edit: yeah, just like Atticus said above.

GD

 

I think Serendipity and Mr-Mynock_ are on to something. There is definitely something to the flashback method of how we watch these movies for the greatest impact.

This thread only works in a perfect world where we can get someone who knows nothing of the GFFA. So let's assume we are in a perfect world and we have that person. This is the way I would have it played out.

1) Episode I - We are introduced to some of the main charachters and especially to a young, innocent, sweet, caring Anakin Skywalker.

2) Episode II - We need some more story on Anakin and Obi-Wan and we want to see Anakin progress with becoming a Jedi from watching Episode I.

3) Episode IV - We jump up a long way, but we are now introduced to a Young, sweet, innocent, caring Luke Skywalker, who we could only figure is the son of Anakin or atleast a relative, since he lives with Ben and Beru Lars and they are his Aunt and Uncle. The commentary where they talk about him being like his father would make so much sense this way, being that the last time we saw Anakin, he was around the same age as Luke is in ANH. Then we are wondering what happenned to the republic. Obi-wan gives us some explanation in his "Before the dark Times" Speach to Luke as to what happens to Anakin and the Jedi. The end will be so tied in with TPM when Anakin blows up the Trade Feds ship, And it means more now without the knowledge that Anakin=Vader.

By this time, since there is a big gap there are a million questions jumping around due to there being no closure from the first two movies.

4) Episode V - We continue with this story, there is more main charachter development as seen in AOTC. The scene where Yoda talks to Obi-Wan's ghost will tie into Anakins behavior in Episode II perfectly. At this point we are boiling as to the missing 20 years. Cut to the battle of Luke and Vader on Bespin And this is the grabber point of my whole post.

As Vader says to Luke "Obi-Wan never told you what happened to your father", Then we fade out and show (5)Episode 3 and we are just as blown away by seeing this as the first time we heard it 25 years ago or whenever the first time we saw ESB. As we see the rest of ROTS after we discover Anakin turning to vader and the subsequently turning into suited Vader, we are busting to find out what happens on Bespin when Luke finds out. We need to leave the part where we see that Luke has a Twin and Bail Organa takes her to Alderran for later.

We then cut back to Bespin - Luke: "He told me enough, he told me you killed him." and then of course "No, I am your father" It still has meaning because we are seeing Luke's reaction.

6)Episode VI - We now are wondering with all the other parallells if Luke will follow in his Father's footsteps and turn to the dark side. Another flashback would be on Degohba when Obi-Wan's ghost says to Luke "Your twin sister, search your feelings." and before luke responds we see how Obi-wan hid her anonymosly through Bail organa and we cut back to Luke saying "Leia, Leia's my sister." Then we watch the rest and there is a happy ending for all. The final scene with all the Ghosts will have so much meaning to someone seing it for the first time at this point.

WOW, I GUESS I GOT OUT OF HAND WITH THIS ONE, SORRY AND I HOPE IF YOU READ IT ALL THE WAY THROUGH YOU APPRECIATED IT.

 

1-4-2-5-3-6

I hereby dub thee the "Godfather 2" method.

 

I feel extremely strongly about the Spiegel Order. In a positive way!

4,5, 1, 2, 3, 6.

IMHO, this order serves the entire story of the saga the best. We start with a galaxy under Imperial rule, one lone hero emerging from Tatooine. After quite a few truly great adventures, he finds out that DV is his Dad, and that he seems to have some deep mystical connection with Princess Leia.
We now flash back to "yipee" Anakin, his obsessive love for Padme, the Jedi order, the Clone Wars, Yoda as CEO, Obi-Wan as a young man. Then comes 3, Padme fades away, and we understand WHY Luke and Leia had this "Force" connection in 5: they are twins! Anakin turns into DV, all is darkness.

Now the denouement that is so essential after RotS: will Luke be able to save Anakin? After the flashback of 1-3, we desperately WANT Anakin to return to the Light Side. Also, as the audience has just seen a lot of Padme, it makes sense for Luke to express an interest in her in RotJ. Then the final redemption, the freedom celebration all over the galaxy, the Force ghosts. It's the perfect way to end.

IMHO, without knowing ANY of the OT, the PT story is a little flat. And there have been ample hints in 1 and 2 that Sid = Palps and Anakin is walking on the edge of the Dark Side. Though RotS will definitively address these two issues, the revelations are hardly the HUGE surprise that "I am your father" was. So, watching 1-3 and then 4-6 is not essential.

 

4, 5, then 6. Rinse, wash repeat. THE PREQUELS DO NOT EXIST.

*Waves hand and uses jedi mindtrick*

 

After watching RotS, I think the Spiegel Method (TM) is now more powerful. With that order, the parallels between Luke and Anakin's life become really evident. And after the emotional rollercoaster that is RotS, the RotJ ending is much more significant.

 

While it took me a while to come around (a while = the time it took me to read this thread) I am a whole-hearted supporter of the Spiegel Method, so much so that I will now encourage the use of the name The Spiegel Method when talking about the film order.

Apart from all of the benefits listed so far, the Spiegel Method also allows for all of the greatest surprises to still take place. We get the Vader = Luke's father, but thanks to the dialogue that Lucas inserted into the newest DVD version, we are led to believe that Vader is not the same person as Anakin, and that he just happened to have knocked up Anakin's girlfriend/wife. We also get a strong start to the series this way, so the disappointment that is TPM (it gets worse every time I watch it ) is not so severe.

Then, we still have the suprise that Palpatine = Sidious, since ESB doesn't provide enough of an opportunity to deduce which one actually is the Emperor. The presentation of Palpatine in this role will also make him look like a kindley, innocent old man who takes it upon himself to mentor the lost slave boy, and the audience will expect the tragedy of him being cut down by Sidious when the Sith make their bid for power. This will make the scene where Mace goes to arrest Palpatine even stronger and more significant, since the viewer would still be reeling from the Sids=Palpy revelation. Around this time, the audience also realizes that Anakin and Vader are the same person, but the true revelation will still be unspoiled for the viewer.

This method also lends itself to the viewing of Vader as a total villain for the greatest amount of time, and makes his redemption more powerful. By seeing this black-garbed guy as the ultimate villain for the course of five films will make his turn against Palpatine more much more significant than if we had only known Vader for three films, as in both the chronological method and the OT-PT method (did that one get a name yet?) The viewer will also be sitting in suspense about the near-cliffhanger ending of ESB for six hours before getting to see the resolution in ROTJ, making the rescue of Han Solo, the death of Jabba (yes, that will be improved by the Spiegel Method, too) and the end of the Empire much more significant.

Sorry for the rambling, but the Spiegel Method is the true way to watch Star Wars.


Hehe...David Lynch Method. I'd love to find someone to show it to this way, and gage their reaction after every film. So much confusion...so much fun.

 

Dukhat:
"4, 5, then 6. Rinse, wash repeat. THE PREQUELS DO NOT EXIST.

*Waves hand and uses jedi mindtrick* "

As much as I'd love to say "oh the prequils are great," you're basically right. The prequils only work if:

a) you can easily digest and like a bad movie (the x-factor, the reason Pearl Harbor, I-Robot and a whole slew of other horrible movies are popular)
b) you've seen the OT and are already a SW geek
c) i dont know anyone who this has actually happened to, but possibly if you were a very observant person you could see most if not all of GL's main philosophical and social observations from the PT. And if you recognized these for what they were, and not as bad dialogue (which many times they also were), you could most likely appreciate the PT. However, this theoretical person would also have to be a kid at heart so things like Jar-Jar and 3P0 getting his head put on a battle droid wouldn't bother them.

Which is why I watch them in this order now that they're all out: 4, 5, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6...sometimes i have to watch 6 twice as well

I do like the PT in many ways. It's just that I'm in category B, and I dont think I could have enjoyed the PT unless it was enriching the saga as a whole. On it's own, it's just not as compelling or powerful as the OT.

PT- The fall of a complacent society into tyranny
OT- The redemption of society, and the reaffirmation that good will prevail, that even in the worst of times a hero will arise and things will eventually be set right.

I guess what I'm saying is, both these trilogies make up a part of life. But which one do you want to celebrate? Who do you like more, Luke or Anakin? The OT inspires people to stick together and put their all into something. To me, that was GL's main theme of SW from the start, and it's a theme none of us should take lightly.

 

IMO this would be the best order -

I II III IV V VI

This is another idea -

IV - Just an introduction to the force, but not necessarily saying that Anikan is Darth Vader

I - Ok, the first one, trying to formulate an idea in the viewers mind about how they connect.

II - More information on what is happening...

III - I am not placing this between I and II because otherwise everything that happens in Episode II is pretty much given away and so will be no fun (if it was ever fun anyway) to watch. And you do need a gap between this one and Jedi.

V - Jumping back to the present, everyone now knows the situation.... and will probably get everything out of this film, the emotion and seeing how Vader does not want to hurt his son during the duel, and his argument to the emperor not to destroy him.

VI - The happy ending!

 

There is only one order to watch them imo:

4,5,6, 1,2,3, 4,5,6 again


.. it makes for a veery long day but life's not meant to be all easy you know.

 

The SpaceBalls Method:
1-2-3-4-5
That's the same method an idiot puts on his luggage!

 

chewie, i like that

i dont think i could do it in one day, but thats the right idea. OT, PT, OT, get your mind off SW for a few days. and repeat.

 

I love STAR WARS I was 12 when I first seen it in 1977.
I have been a fan from that moment on...................
I could not wait for the new SAGA the PT.

Well it has come and gone................................

Sadly even with the big CGI FX it did not hit me between
the eyes only small parts of the PT left me saying WOW ! ! !

The PT is F A R from what I had H O P E D for.........
But I will still watch it just not as much as I will
watch the OT...........................................

If I DID watch it in order.............................

1 - A N H
2 - T E S B
3 - R O T J
4 - T P M
5 - A O T C
6 - R O T S
7 - A N H - over and over.
8 - T E S B - over and over.
9 - R O T J - over and over.

 

1-2-4-5-3-6

better!
(because I came to the conclusion that it would be too much to see a PT-movie, then a OT-movie, then a PT - ot - PT - ot ...)

so: 1-2->cliffhanger-4-5->cliffhanger-3(whaaaa!!)-6(YIPPIEHH!)