Proper Star Wars viewing order

[Sunrider]

So in his attempt to show us how 4/5/6 came to be he had to sacrifice the script and the acting for a lightshow?

Shit is shit. I can appreciate the lightsaber duels but the wooden acting due to Lucas is a dealbreaker.

The Clone Wars cartoon series is superior in its storytelling than the prequels.

The Clone Wars series is fucking garbage. Just as contrived and corny as you claim 1-3 to be. I could barely sit through the movie, the series turns my stomach every time I try. The only Clone Wars that was any good were the animated shorts, before the CGI.

The thing about Lucas is that he's not well known for being an actor's director. it was said his assistant director for 4-6 did the most direct work with the performers, Lucas stuck mostly to technical details. And, of course, the last two, as we know, weren't even directed by him.

Lucas must have been eager to use tools he simply didn't have making the originals, and like a Christmas tree loaded with too many ornaments, the more sublime qualities of the film got lost. There is also, I think the baggage of twenty years of hype that rested on the shoulders of 1-3, both from expectant fans and starry-eyed performers finally playing in a film they fell in love with. Watching Phantom Menace, I got the impression the performers were maybe taking their roles too seriously, and failing to really bring them to life, which seemed to get better (a little bit) by Revenge.

Mind you, none of this really absolves Lucas, I'm simply saying I can see where the problems manifested, and I still don't think they were entirely unwatchable. As I said in my previous post: If nothing else, there is the benefit of watching 1-6 and seeing the quality improve.

[Ratatapa]

watch the last hour of 1-2 then full of 3-4-5-6

[Sepukku]

Yoda going nuts and flipping all over the place was probably the biggest suspension of belief ever. If you told me back in what(?), 2002?, going into #2 that Yoda was going to make the X-games seem like child's play and he was going to do quadruple corkscrew backflips all over the walls of a cave I would've punched you in the face. I remember the theater laughing during that scene, even before he picked up the staff and calmed down and went back to limping. They were laughing during the actual battle. The climax of your movie shouldn't be funny unless its got Will Farrell or Seth Rogen in it.

[Sunrider]

Yoda going nuts and flipping all over the place was probably the biggest suspension of belief ever. If you told me back in what(?), 2002?, going into #2 that Yoda was going to make the X-games seem like child's play and he was going to do quadruple corkscrew backflips all over the walls of a cave I would've punched you in the face. I remember the theater laughing during that scene, even before he picked up the staff and calmed down and went back to limping. They were laughing during the actual battle. The climax of your movie shouldn't be funny unless its got Will Farrell or Seth Rogen in it.

I liked that scene, it got me hyped. Maybe folks are different where you are, but everyone in the theater I attended went a completely different kind of nuts: cheers all around the moment Yoda started bouncing around.

He was supposed to be the most powerful Jedi in the Order at the time, but the only thing we ever got to see him do was act like a loon and lift an X-Wing out of a swamp. Now, the filmmakers could have left him intentionally ambiguous, allowing the audience to continually wonder just how powerful he was, but I thought the extreme expression of Yoda's power was rather timely.

Of course, maybe it was meant to be both intense and funny; as hyped as I was, I couldn't help thinking "this must be what Kermit the Frog would look like if he were pissed and on speed."

[Sepukku]

I felt the degree of flips/spins/etc was the same vein of thought as "more explosions." I don't care if Yoda was incredibly agile and could jump and bounce off walls, but he didn't have to do a 1080 triple backflip every time he did it. The flips/spins were added just to look cool, I felt.

[ronin sparthos]

The Clone Wars series is fucking garbage. Just as contrived and corny as you claim 1-3 to be. I could barely sit through the movie, the series turns my stomach every time I try. The only Clone Wars that was any good were the animated shorts, before the CGI.

The thing about Lucas is that he's not well known for being an actor's director. it was said his assistant director for 4-6 did the most direct work with the performers, Lucas stuck mostly to technical details. And, of course, the last two, as we know, weren't even directed by him.

Lucas must have been eager to use tools he simply didn't have making the originals, and like a Christmas tree loaded with too many ornaments, the more sublime qualities of the film got lost. There is also, I think the baggage of twenty years of hype that rested on the shoulders of 1-3, both from expectant fans and starry-eyed performers finally playing in a film they fell in love with. Watching Phantom Menace, I got the impression the performers were maybe taking their roles too seriously, and failing to really bring them to life, which seemed to get better (a little bit) by Revenge.

Mind you, none of this really absolves Lucas, I'm simply saying I can see where the problems manifested, and I still don't think they were entirely unwatchable. As I said in my previous post: If nothing else, there is the benefit of watching 1-6 and seeing the quality improve.

I didn't say the movies were unwatchable and I agree with most of what you said except for Clone Wars which I think did a better job of going into depth on some issues unresolved in the prequels. It's a show for preteens and on that front it does well whereas all of the political mumbo jumbo goes clear over the heads of people in Phantom Menace/Attack of the Clones. What's that about a trade federation? Naboo? Who cares, the guy with the dual-lightsaber seems sinister so I'll root against him.

Most of the points about Lucas you bring up have been covered in pretty much every review of the prequel trilogy but the fact of the matter is that the prequels are more action oriented whereas the original films had character driven storytelling which is partly why 4/5/6 remain so strong within pop culture today. People remember the old series because the emotional scenes leave an imprint on the memory whereas the 'splosions are fleeting.

Viewers could relate to Luke's plight, could rally behind him after his house gets torched, fall for Han Solo's charm, be fans of Tarkin's loyalty to the Empire or appreciate the sinister Palpatine pulling the strings. The story was simple, to the point and pretty much anyone could get into it. When Obi-Wan finally dies, you're meant to feel it even if the duel between him and Vader is extremely lame by today's choreography standards.

When the Death Star is destroyed you're excited for the rebels in their attempt to take back the galaxy from the clutches of the Empire. Hell, you can even feel for the Stormtroopers who just seemed like guys doing a job - even if that job was opposing the protagonist.

When Qui-Gon dies in TPM? He's just some Jedi that got taken down to advance the plot, piss Obi-wan off and put Anakin under his tutelage. The most emotionally charged parts of the prequel trilogy is towards the end of ROTS when some emotion is finally injected into the script.

I'll also never get over that "high ground" bullshit though.

[samalis]

I'll also never get over that "high ground" bullshit though.

Obi-wan switched from Form III: Soresu to Sokan and used the environment to get the defensive upperhand.

Edit: Best things the new movies ever did was give us this game


And the music.

I'm sad Ewan Mcgregor got stuck with an awful script though, he's such an awesome actor. One of my favorites. Wish he was in more movies.

[Cail]

TPM had Duel of the Fates. prolly in my top 5 star wars songs/music pieces. darth maul was awesome too. too bad he died so fast (1 movie)

Spoiler: show

in no order, my top 5 is prolly duel, a new hope's intro starting with the fox fanfare through the intro space battle, imperial theme (duh), the last piece of a new hope, the death star fight from the take off on yavin to the end when the DS blows up, and i cant think of #5 atm for some reason

as for viewing order, i never heard of 4 5 1 2 3 6, but i kinda like it

[Cail]

also relevant, though i didnt read it cuz its too long and i dont agree with the premise:

Why the Star Wars Prequels are Better than Original Trilogy

[Judai]

as for viewing order, i never heard of 4 5 1 2 3 6, but i kinda like it

same, otherwise 456123.

Does she really not know Vader is Luke's father though? I mean, I would expect pretty much anyone to have heard some sort of Vader/I am your father joke.

[Headspace]

same, otherwise 456123.

Does she really not know Vader is Luke's father though? I mean, I would expect pretty much anyone to have heard some sort of Vader/I am your father joke.

She's incredibly sheltered regarding movies.

It makes all my humor fall flat.

[aru]

Honestly, just go 4,5,6. If she seems genuinely interested in the prequels after that then do 1,2,3. If she's just being a good girlfriend and humoring you or trying to share in something you like don't force her through 1,2,3 first as it'll likely turn her off of the whole thing before getting to the more universally well regarded original trilogy which, if she lasts that long, might bring her into it with a preconceived notion of the original three being bad. If you do end up seeing 1,2,3 then throw on the redlettermedia reviews after each movie, should be pretty entertaining with his points/references still fresh in your minds.

[Cail]

It makes all my humor fall flat.

you have humor?

Spoiler: show

Joking!

[Stilzkin]

4, 5, 6

No reason to force yourself through 1, 2, 3.

I think the Plinkett reviews do a good job explaining why the prequels sucked and are much more enjoyable than actually watching them:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FxKtZmQgxrI

[Enygma55]

Well for someone who has never seen the series, I highly doubt she would be so inclined to dissect and analyze the plot so heavily. 123 are cool enough for the visuals and fairly enjoyable for a casual moviegoer.

I do believe the order of 4-5 1-2-3 6 will work best for her case. It jumps you straight into the starwars universe just enough to understand what's going on, then does a classic flashback into the wonderyears for strong backstory. Then back to the conclusion after seeing vader reborn.

A lot of movies use this formula and I find it works fairly well. The whole "throw in the intense action scene" first then do a "Three months earlier" to start the next scene. Swordfish comes to mind and the trailer for Chronicle lol.

[aru]

You don't need to dissect and analyze the plot heavily to just have a general feeling that the prequels are sub-par storytelling, introduced illogical/contradictory elements and pandered to a target audience of children to maximize their merch sales. Guaranteed his girlfriend gets up to do something or starts texting when toddler vader is competing in his hour-long pod racing scene.

[Ratatapa]

Am i the only who one didn't like 4 that much? 5 and 6 were genius tho

[Weeks]

I really dont see why theres so much hate on the prequels.

Because we weren't five years old and stupid when they came out.

Watch the original trilogy two or three times, let them sink in for a week or so, then subject her to the prequels. Then have her explain to you how the prequels really are that fucking bad.

[Anoat]

as for viewing order, i never heard of 4 5 1 2 3 6, but i kinda like it

If you go this order, probably her biggest omgwtf moment won't be "I am your father" but it will be that Palpatine is the Emperor. And she'll probably be much more sympathetic to Vader and his internal struggles in RotJ.

Slight derail: Question for fellow SW nerds, in Revenge of the Sith, do you think Mace Windu actually kicked the Emperor's ass? Or do you think Palpatine was using the situation to turn Anakin and was actually in control the whole time?

[Ratatapa]

Was in control and wanted Anakin to kill him to complete his 'dark side'