Star Wars Episodes I-VI: What order would you watch with your kids

[barbos]

4,5,6,1,2,3. I enjoyed every single one of them, specially growing up ( I was about six years old) and the suspense of having to wait about three years between movies. They should have a G version and a PG-13, that would make it easier to watch the movies with younger kids and still enjoy them. Just my two cents. 

[Rowdy1138]

I would go OT, then PT. But let them watch the movies and decide what they "do or do not" like for themselves. I know some kids get their dislike of the PT only because mommy/daddy didn't like it. A lot of kids find Jar Jar hilarious. He is what he was meant to be, the Scarecrow of the Star Wars universe. As far as the inconsistencies between the trilogies, most kids will not notice that "these blast points, too accurate for sand people", but they can snipe a podracer going 600 mph. Whether they love or hate it, let them discover STAR WARS through their "own eyes."

[Grolim]

I've been think about this myself.  My eldest is 7 and have a 6 yr old as well.  Both are just starting to take an interest in SW.  I think the new movies once out will push them into wanting more as well.  I think I've decided that when they are ready it will be 4 5 6 1 2 3 .  It just feels right to do it the same as I got to view them as a kid/adult.  I think going 1 2 3 4 5 6 would be pretty jarring at the 3 4 stage with the new tech and look of the prequels jumping backwards despite the timeline moving forwards.

[@rtisan]

 

 

as suggested above.  I would do 4, 5, 1, 2, 3, 6

I'm all about that way. 

4, 5, 1-3, 6.  1-3 are dreadful to get through for many including myself.  

​Hmm, been a couple years at least since I`ve seen any of them (due for a marathon before VII is out). Original Trilogy is best IMHO. I really like the order above, Episode IV is definitely the best place to start, then V. If you start with I at the begining they might loose interest, it`s terrible in comparison. Yes I would the above first, or: 4,5,6, 1-3. But the Death Star getting blown up at the end and Luke burning Vader, etc really caps the first 6 off really well, so 6 might be the best place to end at. Go with the original suggestion, that`s the best. 

[Sprocket77]

Don't know what any of you lot are talking about, there were only three movies. George Lucas wouldn't have been stupid enough to do prequels to such an amazing storyline, would he, would he???

[Frank Brickowski]

The first thing I would ask is not about the order of the movies but about the age of the kids. Some people here do, most don't as far as I have seen. Weird.

[jaisonline]

I went with 4,5,1-3,6 because it makes Vader the key figure in the star wars universe to-date.

4 gives us the beginning.

5 introduces Yoda and ends on a cliffhanger with Vader telling Luke's the whole daddy thing.  The viewer is left wondering if its true.

then we sit through the 1-3 ordeal which confirms Vader wasn't lying in ESB.  We also now have a better understanding of the collapse of the Republic.  Too bad we don't have the Topher Grace 1-3 edit

ROTJ wraps everything up and like you said, adding ends with a bang.

​Hmm, been a couple years at least since I`ve seen any of them (due for a marathon before VII is out). Original Trilogy is best IMHO. I really like the order above, Episode IV is definitely the best place to start, then V. If you start with I at the begining they might loose interest, it`s terrible in comparison. Yes I would the above first, or: 4,5,6, 1-3. But the Death Star getting blown up at the end and Luke burning Vader, etc really caps the first 6 off really well, so 6 might be the best place to end at. Go with the original suggestion, that`s the best. 

 

 

[citymorgue]

For me, I'm not sure what people are so worried about with regards to the 'darkness' of the movies.  It's honestly no darker than a damn Disney movie, who ALWAYS kills off some sort of character.  I know a lot of people may not agree with me, but I let our kids watch rated R movies, and they are only 11/10.  We've raised them well enough they can handle it.  Granted they don't have free roam of those kinds of movies.  We do have our limits, but your general R movie with cursing and stuff is a moot point.  They hear all that crap by that age anyways.  Might as well slowly introduce the real word.  I just don't want the kids to be so sheltered that everything is a shock to them.

Anywaysssss, off my little soap box about that.  As far as the movies, I see some points about letting the kids watch it for themselves, but I think it's a travesty to even show EP. 1-3.  I'm sorry, but for me, I want the kids to fully appreciate the genius that was Star Wars EP. 4-6.  It's a lot simpler, much more coherent story line than 1-3.  1-3 is just simply a bunch of fancy graphics and flashes.  And honestly, it completely ruins the mystique of Darth Vader.  I never grew up wondering what made Vader turn to the dark side.  It didn't matter.  That was up to my imagination.  George Lucas IMO took away from the mystique of Vader as this all powerful ruler of the dark side, and turned him into the biggest freaking whiny p**** punk.  /rant

Sorry, I got a little carried away.  I think watching 4-6 is more than sufficient for any kid honestly.

Edited May 12, 2015 by jaisonline
minor rewording. change now reads, " George Lucas IMO took away from the mystique of Vader...

[biking_tiger]

+1 for the point about Vader. I always thought Lucas planned the whole "in media res" thing with A New Hope. Audiences were dropped into a world and had no choice but to suspend disbelief (an important thing in spec fiction), but the PT fails because it tries to explain too much of what is best left to fertile imaginations. I remember all the discussions as a kid about rumored Star Wars movies that were X-rated or too dark for audiences, and that's why we never saw them. We invented back story, and that was better than anything Hollywood (and certainly Lucas) could give us. There was a lot of mystery, and mystery builds interest.

Just look at Boba Fett--he probably has the biggest fan base per minute of screen time. Mystery.

 

[Darth_Raichu]

  I'm sorry, but for me, I want the kids to fully appreciate the genius that was Star Wars EP. 4-6.  It's a lot simpler, much more coherent story line than 1-3.  1-3 is just simply a bunch of fancy graphics and flashes.  And honestly, it completely ruins the mystique of Darth Vader.  I never grew up wondering what made Vader turn to the dark side.  It didn't matter.  That was up to my imagination.  George Lucas IMO took away from the mystique of Vader as this all powerful ruler of the dark side, and turned him into the biggest freaking whiny p**** punk.  /rant

Sorry, I got a little carried away.  I think watching 4-6 is more than sufficient for any kid honestly.

​This. What kids want to sit through 20-30 minutes per movie of senatorial debates and or convoluted expositions on trade blockade, possible wars, midichlorian,  blah blah blah. Or the badly acted "love story".  Boring.

I firmly believe had movie 1-3 been condensed to 2 movies they would have flown better

[ISO8T0]

Some great points being made here.

where is our movie buff: Emazers?

[jaisonline]

4-6 is still my pref.  that is the order my son watched them.

if my wife would ever watch them i would go 4, 5, last 1/4th of ROTS and then 6.

​This. What kids want to sit through 20-30 minutes per movie of senatorial debates and or convoluted expositions on trade blockade, possible wars, midichlorian,  blah blah blah. Or the badly acted "love story".  Boring.

I firmly believe had movie 1-3 been condensed to 2 movies they would have flown better

​

[Darth_Raichu]

Your honor, I present exhibit A:

 

[ISO8T0]

Awesome!!

I love Honest trailers.

 

[meowsmeowsmeows]

The first thing I would ask is not about the order of the movies but about the age of the kids. Some people here do, most don't as far as I have seen. Weird.

​Episode 4 is about the most kid-friendly movie of the bunch.  Start with that one if you have younger kids.  If they like that one, then 5 and 6.  If they want more before Ep. 7 comes out, then 1-2-3.  I grew up with the OT so I'm partial to it.  I like portions of the prequels, especially Ep 3, but the OT is what defines Star Wars.  I suppose people who grew up with the prequels and didn't view the OT until later may view things differently.

 

[MarleyMoose]

I recommend everyone watch Mr. Plinkett's reviews of the Prequels. He's pretty spot on but it can seem a bit crass at times.

[Locutus001]

OT!

If you watch the prequel before you spoil the whole Darth Vader thing (if it has not already been spoiled otherwise...).

The prequels have been produced long after OT, so naming these Episode I-III is stupid... just name them Prequel.

The real Movies (OT) are by no means Episode IV-VI, even though this might be chronological in terms of the Star Wars Universe, it is not chronological in terms of film history. But ( the idea of) the prequel actually builds on the OT and not the other way around, so I would do it that way. Then again I'm preoccupied because for me there never was another way since I've already seen OT long before the Prequel came out.

 

(On the other hand OT will spoil that Yoda survives ;-) But when watching the OT haven't we all wondered what Yoda and ObiWan have been like in the days of the old republic? So after watching the OT isn't that one of the things that makes it a good choice to watch the Prequel afterwards, so we can find out how they have been before, instead of seeing what they have become afterwards (which is a little bit less spectacular...).

 

Also I think that the OT is better for younger children. !

 

So if you watch OT and then the Prequel and they still want more you can start on Clone Wars ;-) (or put it in between the Prequel Episodes).

And if you're done with that all... You can start Rebels! (If they are not already watching it that is).

 

And if you're done with that... books you know! ;-)

Actually what happens between the second and the third movie (OT) has got it's own story. There's a game, a comic book and I think a normal book as well who cover these events. (It has been planed like that during the time when they shot the OT, so this is a nice part of the extended universe!).

 

And you know, even though they say the extended universe never existed I would start reading some of the novels. These can be really great.

As it might be difficult to find them all as paperbacks or even kindle versions you might wanna try to google for PDFs, as some of them can be found that way.

(I'm very ambivalent when it comes to this point as I normally like to support the authors by buying their stories, for those of you who see it the same way the following might be a small relief: Personally I doubt that the authors still get money for the sold books, since the deals might probably not have been % deals but raher a fixed sum deals)

 

[paladyr]

download the unadulterated 4-6 and watch that, then if they want to torture themselves watch 1-3.

[Brickson]

download the unadulterated 4-6 and watch that, then if they want to torture themselves watch 1-3.

​Couldn't agree more.

 

However after all this talking, it occurred to me. As their father, it's your job to teach them life lessons. Like more expensive doesn't mean better. And old movies without fancy CGI don't make them worse. You should show them 1 2 3. Then, in 10 years, you show them 4 5 6. They may hate you for a week, but it'll make for a good story.

[biking_tiger]

Thanks for the Mr. Plinkett suggestion--the guy does make excellent points. When I was writing fiction (a helluva lot more than I do now), I often wrote too much exposition at the beginning of a story. New writers often do--and it's a bit of an amateurish mistake. The best fix for too much story? Cut, cut, cut in editing. The back story (PT) often kills the real story (OT). Mr. Plinkett was spot on: the PT was just to get Anakin in the Darth Vader suit.

Any child's imagination could fill that suit better than the prequels--too much story when he could have relied on his audience.

[TheOrcKing]

It is amazing the high level of reverence people hold the original trilogy of Star Wars at; sometimes to the point where a person on the outside looking in would be creeped out and slowly stepping away. I understand for many of us, Star Wars was our childhood and nobody likes it when those memories possibly get distorted or altered (slightly to greatly) or even challenged therefore when the prequels originally came about, we were excited for more stuff taking place within the Star Wars universe while reservedly apprehensive at the same time.

Let's be honest, expectations for anything remotely relating to Star Wars were (and still are) so high, the prequels never had a chance. True there are a number of items that could have been done better in the prequels but truth is the originals are far from perfection themselves between a handful of clichés and awkward scenes (all of which Family Guy and Robot Chicken have done a great job poking fun at respectfully). However despite any and all imperfections, they continue to be enjoyable films.

The complaints about the time taken for political debates and senate talks in the prequel trilogy I find amusing because apparently for Star Wars having those areas of focus were just wrong yet with the last iteration of Battlestar Galactica everybody raved about all that banter making the series. I can hardly wait for all the rage mail when the Disney trilogy (or "Disogy") hits theaters.

George Lucas IMO took away from the mystique of Vader as this all powerful ruler of the dark side, and turned him into the biggest freaking whiny p**** punk.  /rant

​Which strangely reflects his son, Luke Skywalker's own trip of starting out as a whiny boy living on a farm to becoming the badass Jedi knight by Episode 6.

I firmly believe had movie 1-3 been condensed to 2 movies they would have flown better

​Human nature dictates even if the three were compacted down to one, you still would have complained; only less material to do so with. (Now I feel like we are having the same discussion as the complaints over The Hobbit trilogy in being 'too long'.)

When I was writing fiction (a helluva lot more than I do now), I often wrote too much exposition at the beginning of a story. New writers often do--and it's a bit of an amateurish mistake. The best fix for too much story? Cut, cut, cut in editing. The back story (PT) often kills the real story (OT). Mr. Plinkett was spot on: the PT was just to get Anakin in the Darth Vader suit.

​Going off-topic in an already off-topic thread, I do enjoy stories that throw you right into the action from the start and you learn about the world as the story progresses. It can help to have some references explained at the beginning but not so much where it bogs down the tale to a sputtering crawl already leaving you asking "so at what chapter does this thing actually start?".

[Darth_Raichu]

I recommend everyone watch Mr. Plinkett's reviews of the Prequels. He's pretty spot on but it can seem a bit crass at times.

​I love Plinkett, especially this exercise on SW characters:

(Paraphrasing) Describe the following characters without mentioning any physical attribute, wardrobe, occupation, or role in the movie:
- Han Solo
- C-3PO
- Luke Skywalker

Do the same for these characters:
- Qui Gon Jin
- Queen Amidala
- Jar Jar Binks

Surprised at your answers (or the lack thereof) ?

[Sprocket77]

​I love Plinkett, especially this exercise on SW characters:

(Paraphrasing) Describe the following characters without mentioning any physical attribute, wardrobe, occupation, or role in the movie:
- Han Solo
- C-3PO
- Luke Skywalker

Do the same for these characters:
- Qui Gon Jin
- Queen Amidala
- Jar Jar Binks

Surprised at your answers (or the lack thereof) ?

​Han Solo                   - Brash

C-3PO                      - Whiney

Luke Skywalker        - Innocent (A New Hope)

Qui Gon Jin              - preferred him in Taken

Queen Amidala         - God she's annoying

Jar Jar Binks             - #################################################################################

[TheOrcKing]

​I love Plinkett, especially this exercise on SW characters:

(Paraphrasing) Describe the following characters without mentioning any physical attribute, wardrobe, occupation, or role in the movie:

​Han Solo - laidback
C-3PO - passive
Luke Skywalker - valorous
Qui-Gon Jinn - patient
Queen Amidala - amiable
Jar Jar Binks - klutz

[citymorgue]

I recommend everyone watch Mr. Plinkett's reviews of the Prequels. He's pretty spot on but it can seem a bit crass at times.

​After I saw that posting for the honest trailer I was going to suggest this.  redlettermedia is what you are looking for.  It's such an awesomely brutal take down of the prequel trilogy.  They are long reviews, but totally worth every second.