Saga First Trilogy vs Favorite Trilogy

It's time for a scientific study.

I've always been curious to the trilogy bias among Star Wars fans, and it seems to be the first trilogy one sees in the theaters tends to be their favorite trilogy. Now I may be wrong about this, but I thought a poll would shake out how true this is. For me personally, I saw the original trilogy in theaters as a child, and it remains my favorite trilogy to this day. My nephew on the other hand, even though he saw the original trilogy first, the sequel trilogy was the first he saw in theaters and the sequel trilogy is his favorite.

The voting options read as: first trilogy seen in theaters - favorite trilogy(Original Trilogy - Original Trilogy)

This is not a thread to bash the trilogies you do not like. This is not a thread to compare which trilogy is better than the other. This is not to rank the trilogies, either.

Comments on why you voted as you did are welcome, but any comments that bash, discredit, or are overtly negative towards any trilogy will be flagged and reported to a Mod.

 

Technically Revenge of the Sith is the first Star Wars film I saw in Theaters, and it's ...defiantly in the top 5 favorite Star Wars films

Return of the Jedi was the first Star Wars film I saw and it's my favorite Star Wars movie

and the Sequel Trilogy was my first WHOLE trilogy I saw in theaters...and it's my favorite Star Wars Trilogy.

I'm curious how just the forum itself will effect the vote though...Not sure what the common age range of members are, but I do wonder how many younger folks (Who just by the nature of time the ST would be their first trilogy) are actually on the forum.

 

As I was saying about my nephew, he was born in 2003, so at 17, he wasn't born early enough to have seen any of the previous trilogies. The sequels were his only option for first seen in theaters, but it holds up to my theory. Even though he saw the previous six movies, the sequels are still his favorite. To me, this is part of what makes this an interesting question to be asked of Star Wars fans.

 

The first trilogy I saw in the theatres was the PT (actually, AotC and RotS only) but I can't really vote because both the OT and the PT are favourites for me.

 

TPM and AOTC were the first SW films I saw, but ROTS wasn't out yet when I saw the OT. So, I guess my introduction to SW was through 2 of the PT films, but the first actual trilogy I got to see was the OT first.

I only got to see AOTC in theaters before TFA (and the 08 TCW movie if ya want to count that).

 

Oh I defiantly agree...I mean it's one thing to see the OT or PT now on DVD/Streaming but to go to theaters and see the big screen....There is something magical.

I remember seeing TFA in Theaters again thinking I was never going to get another chance to see a Star Wars movie in theaters, since the last one was TECHNICALLY the TCW movie....That's something magical.

 

Although I saw A New Hope in '97 during the 20th anniversary Special Editio rerelease, I've never actually seen either The Empire Strikes Back or Return of the Jedi in a movie theater. I did however see each of the PT films in theaters upon release, but would say that the OT is my favorite trilogy without hesitation, and I'd actually give the ST as my second favorite.

 

Prequel - Prequel for me

I’d seen the original trilogy many times before the prequels were released, but the prequels were the first out in my lifetime and so were the first I saw on the big screen.

I think there’s definitely a sense of nostalgia around the ones you see first. For example, the first 10 minutes of TPM still give me chills as I can remember the feeling of watching it at the cinema and being so unbelievably enamored and excited with what I was seeing. I do just personally prefer the prequels for many other reasons too though

 

Yeah, despite what I said earlier, I'm gonna go with PT-PT. My entire introduction to SW was through TPM, AOTC, and the 2003-2005 CW microseries, with ROTS being the film that solidified my love for the franchise. And that has remained my favorite trilogy and era to this day.

 

So far it seems like the theory is holding up.

 

Yeah. So far it looks to be bearing out as I thought.

 

Your theory also sorta plays into my own personal theory about Star Wars being a generational affair as well to a point.

Like some people weren't able to see the OT and PT in theaters because well....they weren't born yet ;p

 

Saw ANH/Star Wars in 1977 and seen every film since, I didnt like to vote for which is my favourite trilogy as I like all of them, though the if push came to shove I would probably choose the original trilogy as that is the trilogy I have seen the most through the various rereleases home video etc

 

You bring an unique perspective. This leads me to ask you if there was a difference in seeing the OT special editions in theaters and seeing the prequels in theaters? Considering you had seen the OT movies prior, was that level of anticipation there when you saw them in theaters? How did it compare to the level of anticipation of when the prequels where hitting the theaters?

 

I'm not sure how to vote because the first trilogy I watched was the OT, but it was on VHS. RotS was the first Star Wars film I saw in theatres. I don't know if I could say which trilogy - OT or PT - is my favourite anymore. Nostalgia is definitely a powerful factor though, so your theory might be right in general. The OT was the trilogy that made me take my first step into a larger world, but I grew up with the PT in a way I didn't with the OT. Even before seeing the films, I admired the Lego sets and action figures from afar. I remember all of the merchandise and the feeling in the air when each film came out. Even if I liked the ST, I think it would be hard to compete with childhood memories.

 

My first trilogy was ROTJ-TPM-AOTC, catching tv showings of those three. Saw ROTS a little while later, then ANH and ESB on dvd (after having already played the Lego game adaptions ).

Though, technically my first theatrical trilogy would be TCW-TFA-R1... what was the question again?

Anyway, Prequels are my fave, don't know what metric that really translates to.

 

Will say looking at the vote we sure do have a lot of older fans in the audience who were even able to see the OT in theaters period.

Speaking of though...I did have a friend who saw Empire Strikes Back in a drive -in theater recently and said their experience was quite unique. I mean they liked Empire obviously but being able to see it on a theater screen defiantly upped the experience. especially with scenes like seeing Vaders Star Destroyer for the firs time and the sense of scale that came with it.

 

I understand this poll leaves a gray area as there are those who weren't old enough to see a trilogy in it's entirety and missed one or two of the installments of said trilogy. So I suppose I would ask of your first entire trilogy seen in theaters. And I'm not counting the anthology movies(Rogue One, Solo, The Clone Wars) in the make up of a trilogy. Those movies are supplemental to the trilogies, and to the saga on the whole.

 

When I made this, I forgot about the OT SE re-release. But that does add an interesting layer to this in that it gave an extra change for many to see the OT in theaters, and potentially influence their view on which trilogy is their favorite.

 

Saw the first six on video in release order. OT is my favorite but not by far.

 

But which one was your fist venture into the theaters to see, as opposed to which one is your favorite?

 

Sorta funny that your poll is showing the age range of the average member of the forum ;p

I and one other person so far the only person whose first trilogy was the Sequel Trilogy in theaters.