# Star Wars: Release order or numerical order? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 11, 2011, 8:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-release-order-or-numerical-order/605813 "2011-12-11T08:34:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2011, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-release-order-or-numerical-order/605813/21 "2011-12-12T00:40:32Z")
By the way, I can’t take credit for this order of events I suggested. It has been around the net before, and had an interesting payoff when Drew McWeeny, of Hitfix and formerly AICN, [tried it out on his young kids](http://www.hitfix.com/blogs/motion-captured/posts/film-nerd-2-0-we-kick-off-a-special-series-with-a-first-viewing-of-star-wars). ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2011, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-release-order-or-numerical-order/605813/22 "2011-12-12T00:42:10Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > IV, V, I, II, III, VI > > It’s the way the story unfolds. Right, watching them in numerical order is like watching Memento chronologically. ---
**Author:** ![MJinks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/da6949/32.png) [@MJinks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MJinks)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2011, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-release-order-or-numerical-order/605813/23 "2011-12-12T05:22:30Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > By the way, I can’t take credit for this order of events I suggested. It has been around the net before, and had an interesting payoff when Drew McWeeny, of Hitfix and formerly AICN, [tried it out on his young kids](http://www.hitfix.com/blogs/motion-captured/posts/film-nerd-2-0-we-kick-off-a-special-series-with-a-first-viewing-of-star-wars). Thank you! I’ve just finished reading all six of his articles and not only did it make me cry (the Revenge Of The Sith one was heartbreaking) but it’s given me a completely new appreciation for the prequels. I was a huge Star Wars fan before they came out and I allowed myself to be caught up in the hatefest that followed. I’m off to Amazon. Oh, and I’m completely sold on IV, V, I, II, III, VI now too. ---
**Author:** ![PSXer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/48db29/32.png) [@PSXer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PSXer)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2011, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-release-order-or-numerical-order/605813/24 "2011-12-12T05:45:49Z")
IV V VI stop ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2011, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-release-order-or-numerical-order/605813/25 "2011-12-12T05:51:46Z")
IV, V, VI. The prequels are insultingly blatant money grabs with no regard for storytelling. They’re just shit movies. If possible, watch the original versions of the original trilogy too, none of that Greedo shot first bullshit. ---
**Author:** ![heathen\_earthling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/13edae/32.png) [@heathen\_earthling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/heathen_earthling)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2011, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-release-order-or-numerical-order/605813/26 "2011-12-12T05:54:12Z")
never mind, I found the link I was looking for ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2011, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-release-order-or-numerical-order/605813/27 "2011-12-12T06:28:46Z")
> [@MJinks](#): > > Thank you! > > I’ve just finished reading all six of his articles and not only did it make me cry (the Revenge Of The Sith one was heartbreaking) but it’s given me a completely new appreciation for the prequels. I was a huge Star Wars fan before they came out and I allowed myself to be caught up in the hatefest that followed. > > I’m off to Amazon. > > Oh, and I’m completely sold on IV, V, I, II, III, VI now too. I’m curious as to what you appreciate about them now. ---
**Author:** ![ProbablyProcrastinating](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/57b2e6/32.png) [@ProbablyProcrastinating](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ProbablyProcrastinating)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2011, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-release-order-or-numerical-order/605813/28 "2011-12-12T06:33:59Z")
In medias res. Start at IV and go in release order. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2011, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-release-order-or-numerical-order/605813/29 "2011-12-12T07:10:19Z")
Here’s a thought I had shortly after seeing Episode I. Immediately after seeing Ep. I (if at all), also watch the animated “Tarzan” movie that came out shortly after that. “Tarzan” was the movie that Episode I _ought_ to have been. (Aside from being fully animated rather than fully live.) (And also setting aside that the story takes place only about 150 years ago in a galaxy very near here.) Tarzan has amazing skills and abilities, well beyond what his “family” (the gorillas) know of. He has “The Force” with him! He makes a spear out of a twig of wood. Call it a “light (weight) saber.” Just like Luke makes his own light-saber. But his light-weight saber fails him in the heat of one-on-one battle, and he must go mano-a-mano with the fearsome Sabar The Catt! And with the Force with him, he wins. etc., etc. ---
**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2011, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-release-order-or-numerical-order/605813/30 "2011-12-12T15:18:19Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > I had no hesitation about voting for IV, V, VI, I, II, III: in general, works of fiction should be experienced in release order rather than internal chronological order (see: the Narnia books). But now that you mention it, your idea makes a certain amount of sense. Ditto. I can’t stand the desire many (most?) people seem to have to take non-chronological stories and re-arrange them so that the events happen in the “right” order, completely ignoring how the storytelling is shattered in the process. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2011, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-release-order-or-numerical-order/605813/31 "2011-12-12T15:24:50Z")
You forgot the, “IV, V, VI” option. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2011, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-release-order-or-numerical-order/605813/32 "2011-12-12T15:34:34Z")
Has anyone voted for “IV, V, VI, and then stop”? ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2011, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-release-order-or-numerical-order/605813/33 "2011-12-12T16:15:26Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > IV, V, VI > > The other three do not exist. > [@mr.jp](#): > > IV, V, VI. > > I’m not that old, and didn’t see the old Start Wars movies until my 20s. > > But (at least two of) the three original Star Wars movies are great. The prequels are not just sub par, they are extremely bad. The story is muddled, large parts of it doesn’t make sense, little of it feels right due to the CGI reliance. > > If you are geeky about it, there are three great reviews at [redlettermedia.com](http://redlettermedia.com) that delve into this in devastating detail. > [@PSXer](#): > > IV V VI stop > [@Snarky\_Kong](#): > > IV, V, VI. The prequels are insultingly blatant money grabs with no regard for storytelling. They’re just shit movies. If possible, watch the original versions of the original trilogy too, none of that Greedo shot first bullshit. > [@garygnu](#): > > You forgot the, “IV, V, VI” option. 😉 > [@Ludovic](#): > > Has anyone voted for “IV, V, VI, and then stop”? What they said, and it should have been a poll option. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2011, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-release-order-or-numerical-order/605813/34 "2011-12-12T16:34:28Z")
I actually really like Episode III. More so than Jedi even. It was so good (to me) it made the other two prequels suck less. Is it as good as ANH and Empire, not by a long shot, but is it terrible? No. ---
**Author:** ![gazpacho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6f9a4e/32.png) [@gazpacho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gazpacho)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2011, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-release-order-or-numerical-order/605813/35 "2011-12-12T16:40:31Z")
I also agree that IV V and VI and then stop. I don’t have the hate for the prequels that a lot of people have but they don’t add much to the star wars mythos and the midi-chlorians really take away from the mythos that Yoda talks about in episode 5. ---
**Author:** ![NAF1138](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naf1138/32/3245_2.png) [@NAF1138](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NAF1138)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2011, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-release-order-or-numerical-order/605813/36 "2011-12-12T16:42:18Z")
I was strongly in the camp of IV, V, VI the others don’t exist, but after reading the hitflix article GuanoLad linked to I am a believer in the IV, V, I, II, III, VI order. ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2011, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-release-order-or-numerical-order/605813/37 "2011-12-12T16:50:35Z")
Watch the original trilogy _only_ if you have access to copies that are completely unaltered from the day they first opened in theaters. If your friend sees Greedo shoot first, or a ring around the Death Star as it explodes, she will be scarred for life and will never be able to appreciate cinema ever again. Doctors are still testing, but hearring Darth Vader shout “Noooo!” may very well prove fatal. And if she is allowed to even touch the edges of any of the sequel trilogy DVD’s, they will burn her fingers off, and if – God forbid – she actually _watches_ them, she will be blinded for life and left with only limited speech abilities and her IQ will be reduced to 47. That’s how bad they are. Nah, not really. But it’s fun to ride on the anti-Lucas nerdwagon for a bit. Just watch 'em in their theatrical release order. Let your friend form her own opinions. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2011, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-release-order-or-numerical-order/605813/38 "2011-12-12T17:03:05Z")
Does anyone have links to the Star Wars McWeeny articles? Hitfix is really hard to search on especially on mobile. ---
**Author:** ![NAF1138](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naf1138/32/3245_2.png) [@NAF1138](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NAF1138)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2011, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-release-order-or-numerical-order/605813/39 "2011-12-12T17:19:07Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > Does anyone have links to the Star Wars McWeeny articles? Hitfix is really hard to search on especially on mobile. Sure thing. [A New Hope](http://www.hitfix.com/blogs/motion-captured/posts/film-nerd-2-0-we-kick-off-a-special-series-with-a-first-viewing-of-star-wars) [Empire](http://www.hitfix.com/blogs/motion-captured/posts/film-nerd-2-0-we-finally-reach-the-moment-with-empire-strikes-back-on-blu-ray) [Phantom Menace](http://www.hitfix.com/blogs/motion-captured/posts/film-nerd-2-0-we-flashback-to-the-phantom-menace-as-the-star-wars-series-continues) [Attack of the Clones](http://www.hitfix.com/blogs/motion-captured/posts/film-nerd-2-0-yoda-seals-the-deal-for-attack-of-the-clones-on-blu-ray) [Revenge of the Sith](http://www.hitfix.com/blogs/motion-captured/posts/film-nerd-2-0-revenge-of-the-sith-devastates-the-kids-as-anakin-falls-from-grace) [Jedi](http://www.hitfix.com/blogs/motion-captured/posts/film-nerd-2-0-the-heros-journey-ends-with-return-of-the-jedi-and-many-many-shared-tears) ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2011, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-release-order-or-numerical-order/605813/40 "2011-12-12T17:21:50Z")
Release order. And in the prequels, skip over everything that is not a fight scene. And that INCLUDES the bits with Natalie Portman. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-release-order-or-numerical-order/605813.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-release-order-or-numerical-order/605813.md?page=3)