How do you like your Star Wars saga?

How about watching them IV, V, I, II, III, VI? That would let Vader still have the menace he carries from the first scene in ANH, the reveal is still potent in empire. Then you flash back find out how he got that way, then forward to Jedi and see his redemption.

Release order

Chronological = Happy Ending

Off to the massage parlour!

I like the Chronological-Godfather part II style Tymac and someone else mentioned. That seems the only plausable way w/o getting angry. The prequels don't make sense chronologically speaking. but I like them anyways.

These two trilogies are really apples and oranges. They don't have a similar feeling at all. The OT has a charm to it, and sticking the PT in the middle of it would be too much. I know if I ever have kids, they're seeing the OT first. And if they ever misbehave, they're getting the Phantom Menace.

CLONE WARS 1, CLONE WARS 2, REVENGE OF THE SITH, A NEW HOPE, THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK, RETURN OF THE JEDI

That's the saga I prefer, dependant on how ROTS holds up.

I would like it in chronological order if it weren't for the Leia reveal at the end of Episode III. My girlfriend was watching them all for the first time, and she wanted them in chronological order. After the prequel trilogy, the flirting and kisses between Luke and Leia were making her laugh, which definitely wasn't the intention. Because of this, I like them in release order, it makes it a little less creepy, I guess - I don't know why. Not to make this another nitpick thread, but does anyone else think if they had cut away before Padme named the girl, it would have been better? Like maybe just as she opened her mouth to name the girl, they cut away. Everyone knows Darth Vader is Luke's father whether they have seen the films or not, but my girlfriend didn't know that Luke and Leia were related before Padme named the twins. I think this would have established at least one little mystery when you watch them chronologically. Now the IV, V, and VI are just long setups for a bunch of reveals the audience knows are coming. I love the PT...that was my only big problem.

I tried to sit down and watch Episode IV (or as I like to call it, "Star Wars") after seeing RotS in the theater... and I just couldn't bring myself to sit through it. Try as I might, the older movie just didn't sync up in my mind with what I'd just seen, and all the little nostalgic touches towards the end of Episode III couldn't smooth the transition. Ewan McGregor as Obi-Wan =/= Alec Guiness as Ben. Broken, post-lava Vader =/= cool, enigmatic Vader from the opening of Episode IV. And the shiny, super-advanced technology of Episode III =/= the clunky, beat-up, sluggish vehicles of the OT era.

I couldn't help feeling that maybe if Lucas had taken a radical, experimental film approach to the second half of Episode III, such as phasing out CGI effects in favor of miniatures, matte paintings, and rubber-mask aliens and droids (maybe even using the pre-"Imperial March" Vader theme from Ep. IV), the PT might have made a subtler, cleaner segue into the OT. As it stands, the PT and OT trilogies feel totally disconnected from each other not just in the way they look but in terms of basic storytelling. If I were a total newcomer to the saga with no understanding of the fan-generated controversies or criticisms (Jar Jar, Ewoks, midi-chlorians), say someone born right now, watching the saga from beginning to end for the first time ten or twelve years in the future, I'd probably be disappointed by the lack of closure or continuity by the time the end credits rolled on RotJ. Why didn't anybody mention that Anakin was the "Chosen One" again, or mention Qui-Gon, the Sith, or the "Balance of the Force"? Why couldn't Luke use his powers to push people around, or gain sudden bursts of speed? Why didn't anybody ever go back to that nice Naboo planet? Since when did Obi-Wan become such a massive bullshit artist? There's a total lack of unity between the two trilogies, because Lucas retroactively created a surplus of characters, themes, and backstory that couldn't, in the end, be comfortably shoehorned into the world established in the older movies, and no amount of Special Edition tinkering can fix that tension. I'm not even sure that another movie or trilogy could resolve it.

I prefer them in release order for the first time or any other. They were made to be enjoyed that way, intentionally or not.

The story elements of the prequels rely on one's knowledge of the Star Wars universe from the previous installments-- the slow build and the introduction of the Force concept in ANH, and the elaboration of that concept in ESB, where its mystical connotations are more important than any mechanical explanations (midichlorians, which I don't have a problem with, but would have if TPM were my introduction to the Force concept), etc.

Various other elements, from throwaway gags to momentous events also rely on or purposely "resonate" with OT scenes to the point that it would just feel completely awkward to watch in chronological order. And then of course there is the fact that the scope of the story, as well as the detail and quality of the SFX degrade suddenly if watched chronologically, but steadily increase if viewed in release order.

Basically, I view the PT as one giant flashback.

One idea I had for showing all of the films to my kids (if I have kids) or some other uninitiated viewer was to play 4, 5, and 6 up to the point where the emperor begins attacking Luke with force lightning. Stop the movie right after the emperor says "And now, young Skywalker, you will die," as Vader begins to look back and forth, conflicted. Then play Ep.s 1-3 all the way through as if the 3 films were a flashback, of sorts, that Vader is having of his early years, before showing the end of ROTJ. This leaves the viewer hanging as to the ultimate climax of the films until the very end, and preserves both the final pay-off and (for the most part) an as-released viewing order.

If I were showing the films to someone who hadn't seen them, I'd go:

IV
V
VI

Done. I wouldn't suggest someone watch a bad sequel to a good film(s), why would I inflict bad prequels on them?

I have to come down solidly on the side of release order. There are too many cases of big reveals and little mysteries in the original trilogy which, if you've seen the prequels, simply come across as playing coy with what the audience already knows. "No, there is another" simply doesn't have the "huh?" factor if you already know that Luke has a twin sister. And the "I am your father" moment has no power if you've known about it for two movies already; you're just waiting for somebody to tell Luke that Vader is his father.

There's also the issue of scale. The sheer breadth and scope of the battle sequences in the prequels dwarfs those of the original trilogy. The Death Star battle in Star Wars is pretty small after the spectacular battle over Coruscant that opens Revenge of the Sith.

And, as somebody pointed out, much of what works in the prequels does so based on the viewer's familiarity with the originals. You could argue that this simply creates rewatch value, I suppose, but I think they play better with that future knowledge in your head.

Finally, and this may only be me, but I simply have never liked Return of the Jedi very much. I was disappointed with it in 1983, and it's never really improved for me. I think that it's essentially a pretty bad movie that's redeemed in its final act. As poor as the first two prequels are in places (though I like them overall), they're still head and shoulders over Jedi. I feel that Revenge of the Sith is a much better, more dramatic piece of cinema than Jedi, and sends the series out on a much higher note.

I dunno, maybe the whole thing about respecting someone enough to make up their own mind...

Clearly, Fett, you don't understand how modern Internet fandom works. See, Step 1 is you're supposed to decide whether you like a film or not before it's released, based on vague movie site rumors and stills of the characters. Step 2 is to never, ever waver from that opinion. Step 3 is to enforce that opinion upon others, and to deride and attempt to ostracize those who do not agree. That is the law...are we not men?

IV, V, VI, Episode I (I, II), Episode II (Clone Wars I, Clone Wars II), III.

I was saying this exact thing to a friend of mine right about the time you were posting this. GET OUT OF MY HEAD!!!

Sorry Richard. Maybe theres a SW geek collective conscience out there.

How about respecting their time and dignity? I sort of think of the prequels in the same way that I think of the Two Jakes, Godfather 3, Psycho 2, etc...

Best to just recognize them as the cynical, relatively sub standard misfires that they are and enjoy what went before.

Exactly. A lot of what works in Episode III (which is almost all of it, I personally think) is the impending knowledge that Anakin will become Darth Vader. It adds to the tragedy, personally.

We are Devo!

D-E-V-O.

OKay, let's go!

And if I was showing Star Wars to my non-existent children, it's the OT, and nothing else.

So will episodes i and ii be edited by you or are they the complete versions to be considered as one film?

I think of Episodes I and II as like SIGNS - i.e. shite. However, some people seem to like them, and god knows, SIGNS has its fans out there. Which is why I'd prefer to let someone choose for themselves, whatever their quality.

Well, my kids are watching them chronologically. Still, I have two guinea pigs for more immediate "tests." A friend who's seen Episodes I and II, but not the originals, and my girlfriend's aunt, who has seen the originals but not the prequels. Both have generally the same taste in movies. We'll see who enjoys the series more.

Chronological Order has the bigger plot twists though. If you watch from Episode I on not knowing anything about the series it becomes a huge surprise in Episode III when that kindly old man Palpatine turns out to be some madman, Anakin becomes a badguy and becomes Darth Vader, and all the jedi die and the stormtroopers turn bad. Not to mention the fall of the Republic and everything. It brings a sense of danger to the SW universe and makes the viewer go "God I gotta see what happens next", eventually culminating with the epic battle between the Rebellion and the Empire in Episoded VI and Luke confronting his father and the emperor.

Completed versions as one film.

Although, if I was given the Hand of God to change reality as I see fit, Phantom Menace would be the Cartoon Network's odd duck in the series.

Showing my kids both trilogies, in release order:

IV, V, VI, Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, Return of the King.

Exactly.

A: "Hey buddy, wanna watch a movie?"

B: "Sure."

(2 hours later)

B: "Egad, that sucked! You liked that movie?!?"

A: "Oh, heck no, I hated it, but I wanted you to make up your own mind!"

B: "You're never picking the movie again. And no reach-around either."

Do people actually spend their time showing their friends & loved ones movies they think suck?!? It might reduce your group of friends to only those who will stand by you no matter what, but I don't see it serving any other purpose.

With all the forms of entertainment available to share with someone I like, popping in a disappointing film doesn't rank. Hopefully the people who self-righteously claimed that was an injustice can remove Star Wars from the equation for one second, and realize how braindead their reasoning is.

Or they just like the prequels.

I don't suppose it would occur to you for a moment that if we're showing the movie to others, that maybe WE DON'T think it sucks. I mean, obviously, if you think it does, then that's clearly an inescapable fact, provable on any home computer. Please submit the math to back up your facts.

Release order. My daughter is seeing them the way I did. But I think that would mean I'd have to tell her about Matrix Reloaded and Revolutions. Dilemma.