Star Wars: Episode VII

So this is something really interesting I came across. When you're watching all six Star Wars films, what order do you watch them in? Prequels then the Original Trilogy? Or Original then Prequels? Prequels first ruins the big reveal that Vader is Luke's father, which according to a youtube video of some kids watching it for the first time is apparently still a really big deal.



And watching the original trilogy then the prequels, especially with the new trilogy edits has Hayden Christensen appear as a force ghost at the end of Jedi and you're like "who the f is that?!"

So there's this suggested re-ordering of the movies to watch, especially for someone who has never seen them before, that I find myself agreeing with. The order: IV, V, II, III, VI. The radical part is, it cuts out episode I all together.

I know we've talked about how some of us actually enjoyed episode I, and as I was reading this at first I all But as I kept reading, it started making some serious sense. By the end of the this article, I think I'm going to try this.

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


I'm especially interested in how this new order seems to portray Luke as starting to fall to the dark side throughout Return of the Jedi. I never thought about it that way before! And apparently it's supposed to be that way, but without the direct parallels to Anakin's fall, the impact of it is completely lost it seems. But it makes sense when I think about it in the context of the order this article suggests. Think about if you watched episodes II and III and then Jedi afterwards. You see Anakin wearing black and making veiled threats and all angry... then you see Luke walking into Jabba's palace wearing black, force choking the guards, then making the same kinds of veiled threats and HOLY CARP!!! DARK SIDE LUKE!!!

The other thing is that, at the end of the article, he suggests that episode I is more of a standalone episode that's not really necessary or part of the main story arc. And I actually kind of agree with that. I really liked the movie, but I can totally see how it doesn't actually fit in with the rest of the story, especially Anakin's character. There are some major inconsistencies between the happy gleeful child and the always almost angry and confused teenager. It seems like the child anakin doesn't really fit into the main story at all. But that doesn't mean it's not a bad story, just that it maybe doesn't belong in with all the others when you're watching them together.

I know it's a long article, but if you have some time give it a read 'cause that's a very interesting suggestion. What do you guys think?

Yeah I looked at a bit of the article (I'll read more later), and there were things about Episode I that really confused the living crap out of me when I was a kid (it came out it '99 but I watched it on VCR later on from Blockbuster, I remember). I didn't understand the conflict about trade disputes and I didn't understand who Anakin's father was. I remember not understanding the politics behind what was going on to the fullest extent. The vocabulary was too big for me haha.

All I cared about was the action I think lol.

The more I think about it, the more I think the guy writing that article has a real point with that kind of stuff. Episode I creates a lot of confusing inconsistencies.

There was something else linked to in that article where some things Yoda says get put into a new context when you watch the episodes in the order he's suggesting. In RotJ (I think) when Yoda tells Luke not to overestimate the emperor's powers, taken out of the context of the prequels it's just some random warning. But when the last movie you watched was Episode III where Yoda got his ass handed to him by the emperor... it's kind of like.... Oh. Snap.

It just puts a whole new spin on things, and I'm pretty sure that these types of things are the context you're supposed to have. Remember that George Lucas had the whole six films planned out for years before he even began making the first movie. So all of this kind of stuff is supposed to fit together exactly this way. Problem is nobody really ever thinks of the prequels as part of the original trilogy to this extent because they either hate them or love them. Opinions about the prequels are so polarized that I don't think most people realize it's all supposed to be one continuous story that ties into each other so directly.

Thinking about it this way actually makes me want to sit down and re-watch all of them in a row in this new order and see what else changes.

You're right, and a lot of it was rather contrived, but I just like it because it was still a part of my childhood and stuff. I grew up wanting Star Wars toys for Christmas and whatnot, so I feel like I'm kinda biased on the matter. In fact, I think that you have to look at Star Wars really critically to really understand it because people who love Star Wars (aka us) have some personal connection to it that may affect our judgment (I spelled that as judgement first and then changed it to judgment and then Googled to find that both are correct, but we use judgment here in the US but brits use the other).

It's nice that the article does that. Even I thought that Luke was totally badass, stone-cold evilish in the beginning of episode 6. He was even as cocky as Anakin was in his younger years. But then, by the time they're in the pit, I felt like he became "normal" again and concerned about his friends and whatnot, instead of "You WILL free Han Solo bish."

I guess I didn't like episodes 2-3 as much because I felt like episode 2 was too lovey-dovey to capture my interest in '02 (I wanted action haha; I loved the ending though, I wanted more of that). And by the time episode 3 came out, I just didn't like seeing the Jedi so battle-borne so much as opposed to sangfroid, assertive keepers of the force. In episode 2, they were forced to fight, and the change was welcome. But in episode 3, I thought it would be more like the Rebel's war against the empire in the original trilogy with methodical planning as opposed to GUNS LASERS BOOM!

I know that one of the themes surrounding Star Wars is that of war in general (like relating it to humanity and stuff), but I just like how that was done in the original trilogy more.


I am digressing so much haha my bad.

I really don't find episodes II and III memorable at all, personally. I have a hard time remembering what occurs plotwise besides the major fall of anakin bit. Episodes I, IV, V, and VI all are very memorable to me. I'm wondering if that's just because of the ordering of them though, as the article suggests, which is why I really want to rewatch everything to see if it makes a difference.

The point he makes about how episodes II and III become like an extended flashback in the same way some movies start you off at the end, then flash back to the beginning, before wrapping it up in a final scene... well that's a very interesting perspective and I usually like it when movies do that.

Also, from this kind of perspective where Episode I is more like an extra addon to the story that adds to but isn't directly a part of the main storyline, this new episode VII, whatever it may be, would also fit into that category of movies. Just addon material that doesn't have to interfere (hopefully) with the main story arc of the original trilogy.

Also also, when watching them in the order suggested by the article, the prequels are simply a flashback in the story of the main original trilogy. That perspective has gotta make people who don't like episodes II and III happy, right?

And then Episode I can stand on its own and still be cool. So I dig that.