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What's the best order to use when watching the Star Wars saga?

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I'm planning a new SW marathon (all 6 episodes) and I wanted to hear your opinions on the preferred order to do so. So far I like the so-called machete order (IV,V,I,II,III,VI). I've seen other order suggestions but the don't seem appealing including the regular 1 to 6 order. Also I feel that most of the people here hate (or at least dislike) the prequels but that aside I would like to know your input. Also there is the possibility to skip the episode I completely since plot-wise you won't be losing to much, I have the Phantom Edit/Attack of the phantom Cuts as well so should I skip episode I, watch the edit or watch the full original movie? I won't be skipping episode II but I should go for the full version or the edit version? I've never seen the edits of episodes I and II so I don't know if they are good enough or if I should stick with the originals.

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I would recommend watching the OT first, then the PT. I don't know if you've seen Adywan's Revisited edit of Episode IV, but if not, then I recommend that over the Special Edition. Unfortunately, he hasn't yet finished Episode V or VI, but they're coming...eventually.

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RicOlie_2 said:

I would recommend watching the OT first, then the PT. I don't know if you've seen Adywan's Revisited edit of Episode IV, but if not, then I recommend that over the Special Edition. Unfortunately, he hasn't yet finished Episode V or VI, but they're coming...eventually.

I've never seen any edit of any kind, only official DVD/BR releases so far so I'm open to recommendations . What is the difference between the official release and the Adywan's Revisited edit?

Puggo - Jar Jar's Yoda said:

I'd watch them in the order, and form, that they were released... as close as possible.

Have you tried any other order? Any particular reason on why following that specific order? Just trying to gather input :P

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I personally don't HATE the movies, I just think they're stupid.

But I like to watch them in the order 1,2,3,4,5,6

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dclarkg said:

Also there is the possibility to skip the episode I completely since plot-wise you won't be losing to much

Plot-wise, you could skip all the prequels, and you wouldn't lose too much. Use that six hours to watch something you haven't seen before, read a book, etc.

"It's the stoned movie you don't have to be stoned for." -- Tom Shales on Star Wars
Scruffy's gonna die the way he lived.
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Puggo - Jar Jar's Yoda said:

I'd watch them in the order, and form, that they were released... as close as possible.

 I suggest going with Puggo's suggestion.

The prequels assume you've already seen the original films as they spoil all the major surprises in them.

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dclarkg said:

RicOlie_2 said:

I would recommend watching the OT first, then the PT. I don't know if you've seen Adywan's Revisited edit of Episode IV, but if not, then I recommend that over the Special Edition. Unfortunately, he hasn't yet finished Episode V or VI, but they're coming...eventually.

I've never seen any edit of any kind, only official DVD/BR releases so far so I'm open to recommendations . What is the difference between the official release and the Adywan's Revisited edit?

 Well, for starters, he colour-corrected the whole thing to remove the awful blue tint present in the SE, but he also did cool things like adding blinks and other facial movement to the cantina creatures (and it doesn't look fake at all), removed some of the sillier moments of the SE while preserving some of the better aspects, added background dogfights and several other improvements to the Yavin battle, updated some displays to look more futuristic and jive better with the PT, etc. Very little he did looks fake or doesn't match the rest of the movie visually, aside from a new Death Star intro he did, which is still cool even if it could be better.

The only downside is that he sourced his edit from the DVD version, so it isn't in HD, though I don't know how much that matters to you. He has plans to redo the edit in HD in the future, however.

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Scruffy said:

dclarkg said:

Also there is the possibility to skip the episode I completely since plot-wise you won't be losing to much

Plot-wise, you could skip all the prequels, and you wouldn't lose too much. Use that six hours to watch something you haven't seen before, read a book, etc.

Well I do understand that I could skip the entire PT but of the 3 movies ATOC and ROTS do have valuable things to add to the story (despite their flaws at some points) which is not the case on TPM. Plot-wise there is nothing that happens on the TPM that is not later clarified or inferred in ATOC, maybe there are one or two minor things left out but I can't remember any right now. ATOC is watchable in it's original version and it contributes to the story far more than TPM. I agree that the OT is a saga by itself and that you could dispose the entire PT any day of the week while in the other hand the PT by itself is tasteless. My dilemma here is watch or not to watch TPM or at least watch a good fan edit on a 6 movie marathon.

pablumatic said:

Puggo - Jar Jar's Yoda said:

I'd watch them in the order, and form, that they were released... as close as possible.

 I suggest going with Puggo's suggestion.

The prequels assume you've already seen the original films as they spoil all the major surprises in them.

 That's true indeed but I think that the order IV,V,I,II,III,IV eliminates a lot of spoilers because of the order of how the plot evolves, for example you hear from Darth Vader itself that he is Luke's father instead of realizing that on ROTS. Inserting the PT as a flashback not only ties in the characters histories but also sets the background of what is told on episodes IV and V. Also you end episode V on a cliffhanger, watch episode I and II (or just episode II) and close with the last movies of both trilogies which are the strongest and everything settles.

RicOlie_2 said:

Well, for starters, he colour-corrected the whole thing to remove the awful blue tint present in the SE, but he also did cool things like adding blinks and other facial movement to the cantina creatures (and it doesn't look fake at all), removed some of the sillier moments of the SE while preserving some of the better aspects, added background dogfights and several other improvements to the Yavin battle, updated some displays to look more futuristic and jive better with the PT, etc. Very little he did looks fake or doesn't match the rest of the movie visually, aside from a new Death Star intro he did, which is still cool even if it could be better.

The only downside is that he sourced his edit from the DVD version, so it isn't in HD, though I don't know how much that matters to you. He has plans to redo the edit in HD in the future, however.

 I wouldn't mind a non-HD edit as long as it is good, I was planning to watch the Harmy's edits since those are the only ones I know so far. Of course I'm open for suggestions so if you have any recommendations feel free to share them :)

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If you _must_ watch all 6 movies without skippinh any, I would recommend, in order, Harmy's edits, 4-6 and then Fall of the Jedi, 1-3.    

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I prefer 4, 5, 6, sometimes 1, and sometimes a fan edit of 2. Jar Jar disappoints me a whole lot less than Anakin's attempt to court Padme in 2 and I simply can't stand 3.

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Puggo - Jar Jar's Yoda said:

I'd watch them in the order, and form, that they were released... as close as possible.

 I don't know how anyone can put up with that much Jar Jar.  TPM's gotta be a fanedited version for me.

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KilroyMcFadden said:

If you _must_ watch all 6 movies without skippinh any, I would recommend, in order, Harmy's edits, 4-6 and then Fall of the Jedi, 1-3.    

 So you mean the chronological order? Also,what is ''Fall of the Jedi''?

TV's Frink said:

I use my eyes and some glasses.

 "Your eyes can deceive you. Don't trust them. Stretch out with your feelings"

AntcuFaalb said:

I prefer 4, 5, 6, sometimes 1, and sometimes a fan edit of 2. Jar Jar disappoints me a whole lot less than Anakin's attempt to court Padme in 2 and I simply can't stand 3.

 Really? Is the first time I hear that someone prefers episode 1 over the other two, also I can't find any reasons why you can't stand episode 3 at all being the most consistent one of the PT with the OT. Also for me Jar Jar is far more annoying that Anakin in any movie so...

stretch009 said:

Puggo - Jar Jar's Yoda said:

I'd watch them in the order, and form, that they were released... as close as possible.

 I don't know how anyone can put up with that much Jar Jar.  TPM's gotta be a fanedited version for me.

 TPM is overall lame so I'm thinking a fan edit is the way to go, the question is which one writes out all the dullness of the film without altering too much the original script.

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Skip the prequels altogether and get Harmy's versions. Don't waste your precious time.

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Beatleboy99 said:

Skip the prequels altogether and get Harmy's versions. Don't waste your precious time.

 I know the OT is the real deal but do you think that the PT doesn't contribute at all to the SW saga? Not even a positive thing? I'm just trying to get a different perspective here since even though I'm a big OT fan I do see some value in the PT despite it's lameness.

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I would recommend, like everyone else, Harmy's editions if you want something close to the original, but Adywan's, if you want a better special edition than the one we got and something that helps tie the OT and the PT together, visually.

As for the PT, I enjoy watching them occasionally, but don't think they really add much to the saga, storywise (in fact, storywise, I think they detract from the saga). Visually, however, they're a fun addition with all the new planets, environments, spaceships, and of course the war aspect of it.

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There are a lot of people here who prefer Ep 1 over 2 and 3, mainly because it is closer in tone to an actual Star Wars movie.  And there's CPY, of course.

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I didn't think to recommend it before, but TV's Frink's edits of Episodes I and II are probably (read: definitely) more worth it than the actual movies.

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dclarkg said:

Really? Is the first time I hear that someone prefers episode 1 over the other two, also I can't find any reasons why you can't stand episode 3 at all being the most consistent one of the PT with the OT. Also for me Jar Jar is far more annoying that Anakin in any movie so...

I find Jar Jar to be significantly less annoying than Hayden Christensen's wooden Anakin performance. I'd take "meesa" and "yousa" over "I don't like sand" any day.

With that being said, I think you'll find that many around these parts prefer Episode I over the other two. I think it has more to do with our opinion that it feels more like a Star Wars movie than the others, despite its overall low quality. This is probably due to its tone and the fact that it visits a planet (namely, Tatooine) very familiar to OT fans.

I don't like Episode III because I believe that its attempt at a dark tone feels artificial and forced. I also don't enjoy 45-minute-long lightstaber duels. The following post might help you understand why I like Episode III the least. http://originaltrilogy.com/forum/topic.cfm/Episode-VII-Discussion-WARNING-HEREIN-LIE-SPOILERS/post/731906/#TopicPost731906

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I’m late to the party, but I think this is the best song. Enjoy!

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I prefer the 456123 order because it doesn't spoil all the best surprises in the PT.  Even the SE spoils some surprises, such as seeing Jabba before we meet him in the palace.  Also, the PT is so bad that you get the wrong idea about the personalities involved, so it is harder to enjoy them when you get to the OT.

And I also prefer ep1 to either 2 or 3, because the latter two are just too non-stop frenetic and have too much crap in them.  Ep3 is like watching a 2-hour videogame.  Ep1 at least has the pacing of a SW movie.  Jar Jar doesn't bother me that much.  And I'll take creepy puppet yoda any day over fighting-like-he-stuck-his-tail-in-the-light-socket Yoda.

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My preferred viewing order:

Star Wars AKA A New Hope (OOT version)

The Empire Strikes Back (OOT version)

Return of the Jedi (OOT version)

The Ridiculous Menace

Attack of the Ridiculousness

Revenge of the Ridiculousness (Once it comes out, of course.)

The Star Wars Holiday Special

Caravan of Courage: An Ewok Adventure

Ewoks: The Battle for Endor