New To Star Wars Plz Help - watching Star Wars with my young son...

Hi there everyone, long story short I have never seen any of the movies, honestly I have no excuse on why even though I am an avid movie guy… Don’t hate me haha

So my son is now old enough (3) to know what’s going on on the tv (besides cartoons haha) so I want to make this kind of our thing together, my big question to all of you is what order do we go about watching them?

I really want to get the best Star Wars experience that we can so I figured this would be the place to ask, I really appreciate any and all replys and opinions, thanks for your time

Cris

It depends a bit on what’s important to you. If you watch the prequels after the original trilogy, then you’ll likely end on a sour note and it won’t lead into TFA (The Force Awakens) as well.

On the other hand, if you watch the prequels first, then several aspects of the original trilogy may be spoiled for you.

My choice would simply be to not watch the prequels at all (or save them for some time in the future). 😄

Setting aside the question of whether it’s worth it to watch the prequels at all, I kind of have to doubt a three-year-old’s ability to grasp a twenty-year time jump. Stick to the originals for now and hit the prequels in a few years (or don’t).

First:
Watch the original, original Star Wars (1977). You’ll want to watch some fan edit online, like Harmy’s De-Specialized edition or something that you can find via this website.

Second:
Watch the original, original Empire Strikes Back (1980). Again, you’ll want to watch one of the de-specialized fan edits online.

Third:
Watch the original, original Return of the Jedi (1983). As always, you’ll want to watch one of the de-specialized fan edits online.

Do yourself a favor and don’t ever watch the prequels period. They are terrible movies that will one day thankfully no longer be extant. The originals, on the other hand, may very well live on to be shown one day in a galaxy far, far away.

Watch the original trilogy (preferably original versions). Then, if you both will like the stories, you can watch the prequels (if you really want to). If you still won’t have enough, I recommend to watch the Clone Wars and Rebels cartoons. And as the last thing (if you will still want) you should watch the Droids and Ewoks cartoons from the 80’s, and maybe even the Ewok movies if you’re really desperate.

Ty for the replys… We’re going to start with the originals for sure, another question is it best to watch them in chronological order? I’ve read couple ppl say to watch them that way but also some say to watch them in an order like (4,5,1,2,3,6 the machete order).

I’ve also been told to watch the despecilized editions if that’s the case where do I find those?

Thanks again everyone

So watch them 4,5,6,1,2,3 is what your saying? Because arent the originals 4,5,6?

That is correct.

Awesome ty for clarifying it all…

Next question should I watch the despecilized editions of the originals? Or can I just watch the originals as they are on DVD?

Definitely go with despecialized. To figure out how to get it, check out the first post of the despecialized edition thread on this forum and if you have further questions, feel free to ask.

Do yourself and your son a favor and watch the Despecialized.

And then go see The Force Awakens.

Perfect thank you again, if I have any other questions I’ll ask

The problem is that they (he) have (has) done so MANY changes to the movies during the years that the 2011 Bluray versions feel almost like completely different movies if you compare them to the original theatrical versions.

Yes you have to watch Despecialized because they are as close to the originals as you can get.

The newer editions available on DVD and BluRay have been altered substantially, often to the point that the films become cringeworthy and unwatchable. That’s kind of what this whole forum is about – that Lucasfilm has never given us modern, high quality versions of the original films.

I always swore that I would never show my kids the prequels. Once you’ve watched them they can’t be unwatched. But eventually I relented, I figured if they were going to see them it might as well be at an age when they can really appreciate them (as much as it’s possible to any way). Your son seems like he might be at that age to enjoy the “humour”.

A good order to watch the movies is 4, 5, 1, 2, 3, 6. This keeps the saga framed in the OT and uses the prequels as flashbacks. It allows the OT to stay pure and unspoiled (mostly) while finishing on the high note of Jedi rather than the low point of Sith.

Then move on to The Force Awakens from there.

Yeah the thing with the prequels is if you see them as a kid you’ll still be able to enjoy them when you get older and realize how shitty they are.

My 8 year old nephew, in the last two weeks, has watched OT (Harmy’s), PT, and yesterday, TFA.

His favourite character? “Obi”.

His favourite films? Revenge of The Sith, Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens!

Anyone who loved the ROTS final duel must have a thing for twirling and Frogger.