Re-watching Star Wars

[osufiji]

Any thoughts on alternate orders? I just started with the dog-shit Phantom Menace in order to keep things in chronological order, but a lot of people on-line seem to be fans of the Machete order, which is IV,V,II, III, VI with I completely excluded.

Just going to stay the path since I already put the time in re-watching Episode I, but curious if anyone else has gone the machete route or something entirely different.

 

[ThorOdinson13]

I've considered the machete order but I really don't understand why it is preferred by so many. I should google the answer.

 

[osu_orangestreak]

Watch IV, V and first 15 minutes of VI and ignore the rest.

 

[TheRedSon]

First hour of VI, but yeah.

If there was a way to do VI without Ewoks that would be ideal.

 

[Orange Jennyslipper]

Here's the original Machete article/post with the author's explanation for why he thinks it's best along with his critique of other orders. I came to the board to ask a bunch of insipid questions about the viewing order and ended up googling Machete. This guy seems to answer my questions.

I haven't read all the post yet. It appears I could watch a couple of episodes while reading his explanations.

http://www.nomachetejuggling.com/2011/11/11/the-star-wars-saga-suggested-viewing-order/

Went to the theater an embarrassing number of times to see the original Star Wars in 1977. It literally created its own genre of movies. The special effects blew everyone away. No one had seen anything like it. 2001: A Space Odyssey had been out for a decade and even its great effects had become passe'. I worked in the oilfield for several years after the release of the second episode and lost touch with civilization. By the time I returned, I had lost interest in the series, so I'm starting over.

 

[ThorOdinson13]

@AggiesBoy

Thank you for that. Makes perfect sense and I think I may rewards in that order.

 

[Orange Jennyslipper]

Having read about the Machete order now, it makes sense to me, too.

Now, where does The Force Awakens fit in? Does it just follow VI, since it looks to be the aged original characters?

 

[MegaPoke]

My family will be watching in the machete order next week. Also, i have opening night tickets and will be going in costume with my wife and my 17 year old daughter (who is a Natalie Portman clone and will also be in costume), because screw growing up, you old boring bastards!

Also, semi-related, we did a Star Wars inspired shoot at my studio this past weekend and will be creating a series of Star Wars universe scenes of both iconic and unknown characters, just for a fun self assignment. Here's the first... I call this piece, "some jedi guy preparing to kick ass."

 

[ThorOdinson13]

Also, i have opening night tickets and will be going in costume with my wife and my 17 year old daughter (who is a Natalie Portman clone and will also be in costume)

Probably safe to say that there will be some geeks that will be eternally grateful to you and your family.

 

[cornichon]

Someone asked this exact same question recently. I said the same thing then, but the Machete order seems dumb to me if you're rewatching. The only real reason to do it at all seems to be avoiding spoiling the "who is Vader" issue, but even then, I figure most everyone on Earth knows that spoiler at this point just from references in other shows.

Just forget watching the prequels at all, and watch the Red Letter Media critical destruction. These are weird and long, but they're full of surprisingly smart content on why the prequels failed. I've linked Part 1 of the Phantom Menace review:

 

[Rulz]

The Phantom Penis sucked badly, I agree.

But, I did enjoy Liam Neeson as Qui Gon. After that....meh. Natalie Portman was fun to watch, but...as an old Star Wars geek, I don't watch Star Wars for booty.