STAR WARS: Prequels first or last?

My order would be IV, V, I, II, III, VI. That way the Vader reveal is still there, then you go back and get the backstory, and then you watch the redemption in Jedi with the fall fresh in your mind.

Yeah, i've heard about watching it like that, but I still think its best if you watch it in the order they were made. If you can get your head into the context of the time that they were released, its still really exciting every time the opening crawl comes on.

Well, that's exactly what I was going to say, leaving the prequels out altogether, but if you really want her to show all the movies I certainly wouldn't start out with them.

The original was almost universally adored, so I say start her off where everybody else did. Move her on to the rest of the series, and if she's still digging it after Jedi, you can show her the prequels.

IV does a much better job of putting you in this world than Episode I does. Alec Guinness' explanation of the Force seals it. Hell, in Episode I they don't even say lightsaber!

That and IV has a cynic. You have Han Solo saying how the Force is a bunch of bullshit and then when he starts to believe, the audience does as well.

Best to start by showing IV,V,VI before the prequels. Part of the true STAR WARS experience is the massive overall letdown of the prequels, she should be allowed to get a little taste of that.

After having done this little marathon both ways, I can say with scientific certainty, 4, 5, 6 is the better place to start.

I've definitely gotta try Richard Dickson's way sometime, though.

Everyone keeps mentioning how the Vader reveal in EMPIRE will be ruined if you watch the films in the order Lucas wants you to, but to me, the Vader/Luke soap opera is even more powerful and gripping when you take the events in SITH in to account. A whole new layer of emotion and sorrow is cast upon the father-son tribulations of Vader and Luke.

If you're showing these films to someone that has never seen them, I say go in chronological order.

I think showing the prequels first is a fairly terrible idea, because you run the risk of the utter shiteness of Eps I and II turning her off to the whole thing. Better to show the OT first, then the prequels.

If you're gonna relegate how to watch these films based on your own opinions of them, then it really is a pointless endeavor if a fresh experience is to be had by a Star Wars newbie. Or at least I wouldn't throw my opinions of the individual films out there initially to prevent any clouding of a newcomer's perception.

So if you're gonna show them these films in a non-chronological way, and they ask you why are the Episodes out of order, I'd give them a different answer other than, "The prequels suck, and I want to spare you the agony of watching them."

Well, I see your point, but I have to think if I had seen the prequels first they'd have cast sort of a pall over the whole thing. It would just be a shame if she was so put off by the first two that she wouldn't even give the originals a chance.

But yeah, I suppose it would be best not to tell them outright which ones suck and which ones don't. It's just that I'd find it hard not to.

well the question is which version of the OT are you going to show her? now you mentioned Greedo shooting first so i take it either the SE or the dvds. but if this is her first time i would first start with the THX version of the OT or the version before that on vhs and then the prequels.

i had a friend that is a girl that did something like this a couple of weeks ago and she already knew about the whole Vader/Luke thing. she blamed it on it's cultural impact it had. kinda like being born and already knowing it. i don't blame her. but whats funny is that she was watching this movies without me and with this other guy that i know, so he calls me up to ask me what movie comes after A New Hope. i almost had a shitfit. i mean what kind of question is that to ask?

my wife and i are actually planning an experiment about this...we have a couple of friends who have never seen any of the movies so this is waht we're going to do...we're going to show the original versions to one friend in order of release...another will see the dvd's in the same order...and another will get them in order of 1-6 (probably dvd's)...we're trying to find out if the prequels work better not having seen the originals first or if he don't like them as much because we've loved the originals for so long...
by the way...the "vader is luke's dad" reveal is meaningless to anyone who has lived at all in modern society...you can't not know that he's luke's dad...it's such a part of our culture...skott

Personally, my feeling is that prequels are made assuming a foreknowledge of the originals. There are several little references to future events that only have any impact if you know what's going to happen. The rumbles of the dark side, the rise in use of the Imperial March on the soundtrack; touches like these work if you know the future of the characters. Watching it in episodic order leaves several logical gaps, too. Given how important Yoda is in the first three films, why is he completely absent in the fourth? Why do four through six make it sound like Yoda trained all the Jedi, with no mention of Padawans or Qui-Gonn?

In the end, I just think it flows better when you watch the original trilogy first.

Edit: And as for original edition vs special edition, I think it's high time we retired this little debate. I think we'd all be happier if Lucas made both version available; that much is a given. And at this point, with the death of laserdisc, and VHS on its last legs, the special editions are all anybody's going to see from now on. And I'm sorry, but suggesting that somebody watch the Star Wars films for the first time on VHS is akin to suggesting that somebody have their first prime rib meal at Denny's.

Nigel just said what I had planned to, and he did so perfectly.

However I'd add that another reason to watch the OT first is to not start out such an epic space opera with a bunch of talk of trade embargoes. Exciting stuff, that!

Agreed. Imagine if Peter Jackson went back to Tolkien someday and made a 10-hour adaptation of The Silmarillion. Sure, all that stuff takes place before LOTR, but would you really want to have to watch it first? No. It's backstory. Backstory is the stuff the storyteller needs to know, not the audience.

A bigger question is why he makes such a big deal of the buildup to Boba Fett, as if he's going to play some major part in future events, only to watch him die like an ass clown in Return of the Jedi. It was bad enough in the original versions, but the way the prequels foreshadow him, it looks like he'll be the Emperor in 20 years.

I'd just show her the pre-special edition OT and be done with it personally, thats what Im going to do with my missus when I finally sit her down to Star Wars.

The prequels don't even make sense without the original trilogy. I think if you showed the first three films to someone completely unfamiliar with the entire Star Wars saga, they would not understand why the story of Anakin Skywalker is important. If the prequels were the only Star Wars movies, people would rank them alongside Underworld and I, Robot in terms of Sci-Fi/Fantasy in terms of quality.

I say do it in episodic order if at the very least as an experiment to see how somebody unfamiliar with the saga would respond to it that way. The problem with eliciting the opinions of people who are intimately familiar with the saga in release order is that our opinions are going to be colored by our preconceptions regardless of whether we like them or not. I say a lot of the gripes on certain issues raised in the prequels only matter if you had come to certain conclusions during the 16 year break between movies. It would be interesting to get a fresh perspective on the matter.

Second we have to look at the issue of artistic intent. I believe that George Lucas intends for the audience to come into this in episodic order in spite of the fact that they were not made that way. They are structured in such a way that they yield their own surprises for the uninitiated. Episode III also ends in a very cliff hanger like fashion as though you're supposed to look forward to Episode IV to see what happens next.

If nothing else start out with Episode I. If she responds unfavorably, go on to Episode IV.

Hyperbole noted.