What's your preferred viewing order for the Saga, and why? (Mine is IV, I, II, V, III, VI)

I usually watch in one of these two ways too.

This would be an unusual but very interesting way to watch it... I may have to try this sometime.

 

And the ESB Emperor... come on, who is he? Senator Glow-in-the-Dark Goggle Eyes? Of course
Senator Palpatine, to avoid detection, and being a master of disguise, simply spoke in a normal voice
instead of growling from the back of his throat of puffing through his cheeks the way the Emperor does.

You don't get to be Emperor without having a few tricks up your sleeve. Puh-leez.
Sometimes you need wings to stay above it.

 

If we are talking about first time viewing, I'd have to go with 1-6, because that's the way that retains all the chronological surprises. You never hear about something that happened before you see it happen.

You certainly lose the "I am your father" moment, but I kind of like the "what will Luke do now?" feeling it has after seeing the way Anakin was seduced by the dark side.

After the first viewing though, I think you can mix it up as much as you want.

There's only one first time.

 

It's funny how only the hardcore gushers insist on watching the films in numerical order. Why is that? You'd think there'd be a least a few out there that'd insist that newcomers watch the films in the order they were released in first.

 

I love all the films equally and my kids will watch them in order of release.

 

I think the reason a lot of us didn't like the prequels very much had a lot to do with knowing how it all ended up front.

 

"Us"? You didn't like the prequels very much?

Nah, the people I know who disliked the prequels just honestly thought they were poorly made. I don't know why there are so many repetitive attempts to unearth ulterior motives...

 

Probably because they don't seem poorly made to me.

 

Yet oddly enough, there are remarkably few attempts by those on my side to come up with "reasons why you SAY you like the PT, even though you don't really".

 

Let's keep on topic, shall we

 

I just think there is a lot more dramatic impact to have things revealed to the viewer as they unfold as opposed to watching something unfold after they've been told how things end up.

Of course the concession I have to make towards the idea of seeing them in production order, is that the "Vader is Luke's Father" revelation is arguably one of the best twists for a viewer in the history of film. I can see why people would want to preserve that experience for their children.

At another board, there was a guy who came up with "The Ernest Rister Viewing Order", which I think reaches a decent compromise.

A New Hope
Empire Strikes Back
The Phantom Menace
Attack of the Clones
Revenge of the Sith
Return of the Jedi.

The important thing about this is that it starts with the Classic trilogy, keeps the surprise of Vader being Luke's father until ESB, but then explains Anakin's whole story before opening the gates on Luke and how he will choose to fulfill his destiny.

One of the biggest things I love about the addition of the prequels is it gives a lot more weight to the things that are so suddenly resolved in ROTJ, like Leia being the other, and Vader suddenly turning back to the light.

I think ROTJ just plays out better when you've seen Anakin's misteps beforehand. When Luke shows up at Jabba's palace, in a black cloak, force choking Gammorean guards and telling Jabba not to underestimate his power, you realize how similar it feels to Anakin slaughtering the Separatists and talking back to Obi-Wan, which simply ratchets up the tension.

 

You make repetitive attempts to unearth ulterior motives because you don't think they were poorly made.

 

It's why when I try to figure out why so many were let down, I don't tend to gravitate towards the conclusion that it was because they were "poorly made".

I was just saying that I think the prequels lost some of their dramatic impact due to the order in which we saw them. I never said it was an "ulterior motive".

 

Definitely 456 and then 123.

Ep. IV provides a far better introduction to the basic concepts of Star Wars compared to I. Questions one might have - what's the Force? what's a lightsaber? who are Jedi? are answered in a better, more concise fashion. I know Ep. I also provides these answers, but they are not as simple or concise to serve as an introduction to the series.

The shocking revelation at the end of Ep. V is also a big factor.

 

I see. Thanks for the clarification.

 

I-VI is too powerful to miss out on, but I would like to try out IV, I, II, V, III, VI some time, as well.
It seems like a very interesting and rewarding way to view the Saga.





I-VI - it's powerful
/LM

 

I agree with what someone mentioned earlier about A New Hope being the best place to start due to its clear-cut introduction to all things Star Wars. Empire builds on it and Jedi concludes it nicely.

From a visual standpoint, things continue to get more complex as the PT is introduced. Even though it takes place years before the OT, the PT is a much larger visual impact.

From a story perspective, I agree that leaving the revelation of who Vader really is should be kept intact and not ruined by the ending of ROTS.

So, I prefer the OT first, the PT second.

 

I like this a lot. I would tweak it ever so slightly to cutting away from ROTJ in a different spot - right after Luke asks Yoda, "Is Darth Vader my father?"...show the prequel trilogy right there...and then resume ROTJ with Yoda sadly confirming to Luke, "your father he is".

 

^ That would be cool! It would also leave "No, there is another" hanging until the end of ROTS, where Padmé gives birth to twins and names the second one Leia. That should be a bit of a shocker, don't you think?





Leia - she's a girl
/LM

 

^ Hey I didn't even think about it from that angle...but yes, it totally works for that cliffhanger too...in fact it prolongs the sister surprise as long as possible, you are right!

 

To reiterate PoodooWarrior's brilliant idea, and grimlockbedi's essential refinement, we have the following SAGA Method:

Episode IV: A New Hope

Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back

Episode VI: Return of the Jedi - Up to Dagobah, with Luke's asking Yoda: "Is Darth Vader my father?"

(Stop VI here and start I.)

Episode I: The Phantom Menace

Episode II: Attack of the Clones

Episode III: Revenge of the Sith

(Resume VI.)

Episode VI - Continue with Yoda sadly confirming to Luke: "Your father he is."

This is ingenious, IMO, as it maximizes every secret and revelation in the Saga! The father, the sister, Yoda's identity, all the plotting shenanigans of the OT, are kept intact. We do find out the truth about "the Other" in advance of Luke, very briefly; we will already know it's Leia, even before Yoda's deathbed confession. But other than that, it's really the ideal viewing order...

... if, that is, you're willing to break up the flow of the films -- read: the opening fanfare and text crawl -- and insert three movies into the middle of another one.

I think I'll give it a shot one of these days. My IV - II - V - III - VI attempt got forestalled after II, when I realized it was radically different from both IV and V, and did not sit well between the two of them, despite my hopes that it would.

 

i do not like where this is going, personally. breaking up RotJ? for shame.
BUT consider this one.

I, II
IV, V
III, VI

Setting up both trilogies and leaving the viewer with a cliffhanger.
This is kind of a hybrid between the alternating trilogy and the Godfather methods.

I must confess that I'm following the I-VI method these days though. ANH is very interesting as a transition after Anakin's story ends. The change of trooper uniforms (black, white, grey) the whole galaxy seems to be sucked of enthusiasm down the lack of the imperial march itself, but the music and characters of Ben and Luke recall the PT.

 

I know there was just a big stink about "The SAGA = ALL SIX" but - what about just IV, V, III, VI?

Or, while we're interrupting movies:

IV
I
II
III (up to Anakin and Padme staring across Coruscant)
V
VI (to just before Obi-Wan/Luke)
III (the rest of it)
VI (the rest of it)

 

As much as I hate to admit it now, the whole mixing of trilogies is not only confusing to the average viewer, but completely jarring to the story itself. if you're going to clump the movies together, you should at least let one trilogy end before another one begins.

 

This actually occurred to me today while watching V. Of the PT, III contains the most essential information for understanding the OT -- character motivations and plot background -- to the point that, if desired, I and II could be skipped without losing much in the way of exposition or character development. Stylistically too, III is also the PT film most similar to V -- it features more close-ups, more emotion, "darker" subject matter, and less "kid-friendly" images and events than any other PT film.

So I agree that IV - V - III - VI would work quite well, especially if one is adverse to I and II but puts primacy on the OT, as many of my fellow oldschool fans do.

This is getting quite absurd... but fun! While watching V today I imagined any number of flashbacks and cut-ins, toggling back to Anakin's childhood adventures (in I) without blowing who Yoda is, then after Yoda's revelation in V, toggling back again to scenes of the Jedi Council and Coruscant.

Then, after running far afield and conjecturing as to how to break the films up into Tarantino-esque a-chronological story parcels -- purposefully distorted in time so as to preserve maximum dramatic impact -- I realized I was interrupting the flow of the film I consider to be among the greatest ever made, namely ESB, and so put an end to my fruitless ruminations. At the end of the day, I am of the opinion that the films are what they are, and should not be broken up and wedged together like a pictographic collage.

The best ways to view the Saga must be either I - VI, which entails knowing important plot details before the characters in the OT do, or IV - VI / I - III, which entails knowing the end of the story before the beginning. Either way it's a mixed bag and not entirely satisfying... which is of course why we have this thread: to discover the most satisfying viewing order. I contend that there is no single preferable order; we're stuck with what we've got!