Ok, I’ll start with the original. Thanks guys.
The only reason I even considered R1 is because I think that R1 nowadays is an easier movie to watch than the original, especially in this case with a girl as protagonist (since I’d be showing it to my girlfriend; and more girls in general in the movie). However, I have noted in previous viewings that it doesn’t have “introductory qualities” like the original has, so it doesn’t function as well as the introduction to the SW saga to someone new. Plus it’s so different from all the others that the first time viewer might find some recurring things in the rest of the saga odd.
Again, thanks guys.