In my near 33 years on this planet, I’ve never seen any of the Star Wars films. I think the closest I got was catching the tail end of Return of the Jedi on TV once, but that was about it.
Should I watch all 6(?) movies back-to-back in a weekend marathon, or should I see one, let it set in, then watch another next weekend?
And for those of you who I know will ask, “How did you get through 33 years without ever having seen Star Wars??”, I answer, “Because it never came up.” Really.
I would suggest you google “Machete order” and watch them that way. I haven’t done it but I have seen all six and it made a lot of sense to me to do it that way.
They are not so excited or edge of your seat thrilling that you’ll want to see them all at once. Make them a weekly thing. Go with Episodes, four, five and six. Pretend the prequels don’t exist. Trust me, even as someone who hasn’t seen the original trilogy, you’ll think the prequels were a waste of your time.
I was kinda interested in the events that lead Anakin Skywalker to become Darth Vader, which is what prompted me to finally watch the movies. Aren’t those events in the prequels?
Definitely. That’s the whole point of the prequels.
Let me jump in here before the onslaught of people tell you to act like the prequels don’t exist. Watch 1-6 as marathony as you have time to accommodate for it.
I happen to really like the prequels, which as you will see is a very unpopular opinion around here. But even more importantly than that, you are a perfect test subject, there are so few people like you who haven’t seen any of them, and the few there are always just watch the original trilogy as the internet mob tells them to. A lot of us fans would find your thoughts very interesting if you experienced the story in chronological order. What worked and didn’t work for you, what if anything were you confused by, and what if anything do you think the prequels may have enlightened for you about the later movies that you don’t think you would have otherwise understood as well.
I’m telling you this could be a nerd gold mine, make the right call:)
You won’t be interested after you watch the prequels. Trust me on this. Just watch IV, V and VI, which are 2.5 decent movies. Space them out over a week or two.
I would also recommend skipping the prequels. I was a kid when they came out, and I didn’t think they were that bad, but I recently rewatched a portion of them and they’re just laughably terrible.
EDIT: Not in a good way. I mean, you may be laughing, but you won’t be having fun.
And I am not some kind of obsessive Star Wars fan either. They’re just bad movies.
The prequels aren’t very good, but I wouldn’t skip them entirely, especially if Anakin’s story is what got you interested. I would however skip Episode 1. Looking at it in retrospect, it adds very little besides plot holes to the overall narrative.
A friend recently convinced me that the best order is 4-5-2-3-6 (skipping episode 1 entirely). This treats episodes 2 and 3 as essentially a flashback inserted into the most appropriate position in the flow of Episodes 4-6. It helps that episode 6 brings closure the stories from both 4-5 and 2-3. Afterwards, if you really want to see what you missed, you could go back to episode 1.
As for pacing, I’d say to plan on one per week and pick up the pace later if you feel so inclined. Each movie has its own story and none end with edge of your seat cliffhangers so you aren’t likely to feel compelled do dive right from one movie into the next.
I do hope you take me up on my proposal that you be the first person in existence to watch the story chronologically and report back on your relatively unspoiled perspective without all that irrational prequel hatred weighing you down. If you don’t like the prequels then that’s fine, but at least you’ll find out for yourself.
I’ll reiterate that unlike most people here I love all the movies, episode 1 included, but this isn’t the place to re litigate that who mess yet again. But even if you are convinced that the prequels are not even worth a try, under no circumstances should you skip episode 3. Not only is it easily the best of the prequels, but it perfectly sets up the original trilogy for you in pretty exciting ways.
And just a minor nitpick from an earlier post, I think that episodes 2,3, and 5 are very clifferhangery and should leave you wanting to charge into the next chapter.
Don’t say I didn’t warn you.
The mystery and wonder that comes with “how did Vader get that way” and several other things in the original series feels like it’s better off never being explained. Like what’s in the suit case in Pulp Fiction, for a simplistic example. The prequels only ruin the mystique that made the original three so captivating.
This is the “Machete order” I was referring to in an earlier post.
I have done a full 6 movies in a day marathon a couple of times (in Episode Order). It is tough and by return of the Jedi (ep. 6), you get really antsy. I would suggest splitting three and three.
I would suggest splitting it up. My guy says you should watch Star Wars (episode 4) first.
And while I have never done it, I have been convinced that 4,5,1,2,3,6 is a good order to watch them in.
The only problem I have with that order really is Episode 3 leads into Episode 4 so perfectly…
tl;dr Split the movies but I am no help on the order you should watch them in.
Plan on watching them one at a time, and then after each one give yourself an opportunity to decide “Do I want to watch then next one right away?”. I mean, it’s not like you’re going to be watching them simultaneously. Whether you’ll enjoy a marathon session depends not only on the movies themselves, but on how you personally enjoy movies, and you’re a better judge of that than any of us.
And I think it provides a lot of context that makes the bleak world of the OT a lot more tragic. I’m avoiding spoilers here, which I’ve never had to do with Star Wars:)
Definitely. The contrast is part of the reason I’d suggest against just skipping the prequils entirely.
I made a ton of typos and missed my edit window. Sorry folks.
I don’t like the prequels myself, but I agree it would be interesting to hear from someone who’s watched them for the first time in chronological order.
My whole perception of Pulp Fiction changed when I broke down the film and rearranged its segments in chronological order. I saw and understood things I had missed watching it the conventional (Tarantino’s) way.
Maybe the same would be true of STAR WARS?
Watching the prequels first is a horrible idea for someone who is completely unspoiled, because it telegraphs the most important reveal in ESB.
But the OP has apparently already been spoiled on that, so the prequels-first would do to him is increase the squick factor of two corners of the love triangle in A New Hope and ESB.
Also, of course, there’s the risk that starting with the prequels after watching Phantom Menace the OP’s will to live will be so crushed that he’ll never survive to watch the next one. Skipping Ep 1 would only leave him momentary wondering who the annoying floppy-eared CGI thing is, but Star Wars is full of random walkons so not a big deal there.
Concur with this. Episode 1 is absolutely useless, and only watchable as a curiosity if you’re satisfied with the rest. Episodes 2 and 3 do have some value, though.