Ideal Movie Viewing Order?

No offense, but this is a terrible order. I do not like the machete order on the best of days (there's no real good reason to interrupt the flow of one trilogy to show another) and the odd mixing of Rogue One and Rebels is strange and confusing (especially since it is weird to watch Rogue One before The Force Awakens).

Here's what I said in another (admittingly buried) topic on the same subject:
FIRST TIME VIEWERS:
A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi, The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones, Revenge of the Sith, The Force Awakens, Episode VIII...
Of course, that's how I viewed them (I am at the tail end of people who remember a time before The Phantom Menace), but I have three really good reasons for this:
1) Film quality.
To be blunt about it, the prequels are simply not that good as movies. This could turn people off of the series if they find them boring, which many do.

2) "Questions and Answers"
In his video on this exact subject matter, YouTuber HelloGreedo calls this (his preferred viewing order) the "Question and Answer Viewing Order". While watching the original trilogy, you wonder about the backstory. You ask, "How did Anakin fall to the Dark Side?", "What were the Clone Wars?", "Who was the mother of Luke and Leia?", "How did the Republic fall?", and many others. It adds a layer of mystery and going back to find out is a more interesting way to see them. And it is better to have the full set of questions (i.e., watch Return of the Jedi first), THEN go and get all of the answers.

3) Prequels rarely can be watched first.
Honestly, most prequels (not just Star Wars ones) are rarely made in a way that allows you to watch them before you ever see the originals. Mostly since they act as if you know what's going to happen. Because the original audience does. And this is very obvious in the prequel trilogy. The foreshadowing for Anakin's fall is blatant. Palpatine being Sidious is obvious just from looking at him. And there is always this shot: right after Mace and Yoda talk about the Rule of Two and Mace asks the question, "Which was destroyed, the master or the apprentice?", the camera pans and then lingers on Palpatine's face in the foreground.
Plus, The Phantom Menace doesn't really explain much of the general setting of Star Wars. There's no real explanation of the Force (other than kriffing midichlorians) for example. A New Hope eased you in with relatable characters and understandable situations.
And there is one other problems with prequels in general: fan service. Typically, there are characters who are only there because we know who they are, even if they add exactly nothing to the plot. And references, too. Any joy that could be taken from seeing them (such as Chewie in Revenge of the Sith) is non-existent if we view it in chronological order. Here's an example from one of The Hobbit films: Legolas sees a picture of one character's son and makes a comment on how ugly he is. This is only funny if you know that said son, Gimli, would eventually becomes friends with Legolas during the course of The Lord of the Rings trilogy. One example in the prequels is the "Why do I get the feeling you are going to be the death of me?" that Obi-Wan says about Anakin.

When it comes to Rogue One and other spin off films, I don't know, but I don't recommend chronological order due to aforementioned problems with prequels in general. And since they are optional films, you can include them at the end or in release order if you wish.

Side note: Watching The Clone Wars between Clones and Sith isn't required, but if the person you are showing this too is open to it, go for it. This is especially okay since if you are following this viewing order, there is nothing that is really spoiled for Revenge of the Sith that the OT doesn't already really cover. Except for Order 66, but it's kinda obvious that the clones will somehow be a part of the destruction of the Jedi.

SECOND ONWARDS:
The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones, Revenge of the Sith, A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi, The Force Awakens, Episode VIII...

The main arguments for viewing order to me really only makes sense in the perspective of the first time viewer. When it comes to a second or third or one thousand and thirty eighth viewing, it doesn't really matter. So to me, it just makes more sense to view them chronologically in this case. It's what I did for both the 30th anniversary and for celebrating the release of The Force Awakens.

When it comes to the spin off films (and TV shows if you are doing a long term marathon) in this case, you can keep them separate (watch them after the films), watch them in chronological order, or not watch them at all.

NEW STATEMENTS:
When it comes to where to put Rebels, we just have to wait. See, Rebels is the first time we have an ongoing TV show when films are coming out. We don't know where Rogue One, Episode VIII, Episode IX, the still untitled Han Solo film, other future films, and Rebels itself will go. As of now (before the release of Rogue One and Rebels Season 3), I would just recommend watching it after The Force Awakens. In the future, we'll just have to see.

 

Yes, you can't watch the prequels before the originals first time round. That would ruin the surprise reveal that Darth Vader is Luke's father .

 

So my girlfriend was never a big Star Wars fan... until NOW muhahahaha. So I watched every SW film with her in the Chronological Order. Phantom Menace to Jedi and then we watched The Force Awakens on the day it came out.

She loved most of them but she thought Episodes 1 & 2 were a bit slow... and I could tell her mind was wandering during the slower bits of those episodes. Interestingly, her absolute favourite Star Wars film was The Force Awakens. She adores it.


So, in retrospect I think I'd recommend the following order:

1) The Original Trilogy
2) The Force Awakens
3) The Prequel Trilogy
4) Other Canon (Rebels and The Clone Wars)


I think Rogue One will make this even harder though

 

I watch the saga once every year. This is (will be) my order:
1. Plinkett reviews (it entertains me much more than the PT)
2. OT
3. ST (in the future)
4. Anthologies (in the future)

For newcommers I think the ideal order is:
1. OT
2. PT
3. ST
This is the ideal order if you dont want the plot twist spoiled (if you managed to avoid it somehow). Its also a tour into movie history.

If you are already a fan I think just follow the numbered/timeline order.

 

4,5,6,1,2,3,7,8,9.

This order created a whole generation of SW fans, why fix something if ain't broke?

 

I thought of something last night before I went to sleep, so I wanted to add this:
As I said before, I dislike the machete order, but I thought of two things to really illustrate why it is a terrible idea:
1) You do spoil the twist that Leia is Luke's sister (it wasn't revealed until Jedi, and it is said again in Sith). Minor, but still there.
2) You make the viewer sit through three movies to find out what happens to Han. This is even worse if you show them The Clone Wars, too.

This doesn't work. For starters, The Clone Wars was made with the understanding that the odds were good that the audience had seen the six films. And this wouldn't avoid spoiling the "Vader is Luke's father" twist. Why? This scene:

Yeah, this kinda spoils the surprise just a little bit.
I really don't understand why people feel the need to jump around. I can understand the basics of the "release order vs chronological order" debate, but trying to make some weird compromise just makes for less enjoyable experiences by constantly interrupting the flow.

 

My turn
The Phantom Menace
The Empire Strikes Back
The Revenge of the Sith
Attack of the Clones
A New Hope
The Force Awakens
The Return of the Jedi
Rogue One
Han Solo
Episode 8
Episode 9.

 

Nothing here makes any sense.

 

Rogue One
A New Hope
Empire Strikes Back
The Phantom Menace
Attack of the Clones
The Clone Wars
Revenge of the SIth
Return of the Jedi
Star Wars Rebels
The Force Awakens.

 

Ah, the eternal debate.

Here's mine:

A New Hope
The Empire Strikes Back
Attack of the Clones
Revenge of the Sith
Return of the Jedi
The Force Awakens

The Phantom Menace as an extra.
The series... no idea yet. Will review at some point.

My reason for this is that if you see the prequels as an extended flashback of the original trilogy that explains how Vader is Luke's father right after the reveal, it constructs a much more cohesive narrative and gives extra weight to Luke's decision to throw away his lightsaber and say "You failed, Your Highness. I am a Jedi, like my father before me" to the Emperor; the moment is much more potent and meaningful.

 

Very original idea. I'll have to try this!

Edit: scrolled up and all the other posts were variations on this. Maybe not so original. But still not something I'd seen before.

 

I believe Anakin does say things about what he will become during that arc. I could be mistaken, though.
Again, with the machete order, you are interrupting the flow of the original trilogy. People are going to care more about Han's fate along with having followed Luke for two films that stopping for three movies (and possibly more) is just going to be annoying. I know since stuff like this happens in TV shows and it ticks me off! Just get on with it!
Also, all these alternate orders other than chronological and release are just too convoluted and complicated. That's really my feelings on this.

 

I never did any special order when showing them to my niece and nephews, born in 99, 2001 and 2002 respectively. When I did show them the films I went Episode 1-6 when they were about 8. Episode IV was the toughest for them to get through, and they enjoyed all 6 quite a bit(the prequels more when they were younger, as they have gotten older Empire has become their favorite). Most of the modern films they grew up with have great special effects and I found showing them the older films to be more difficult when they were young as they had less action, less flashy CGI and not as good choreography for action sequences.

 

I give my viewing order of the movies.

 

The reason I would say to watch it in it's theatrical order, is because both trilogies spoil the other. That is essentially the flaw by Lucas is that whatever trilogy you watch first, the other one is spoiled.

The only way Lucas could have made it to work 1-6 is if he wrote the PT that way without any wink-wink references. There would be no naming of Darth Vader, there be no showing of Suited Darth Vader. Anakin would die on Mustafar, and the audience would think he is dead because when they watch Episode 4, they would think that Darth Vader was a new villain just like Dooku and Maul. The twins would never be shown to be born, as a pregnant Padme would be taken away in Hibernation and never be seen again in Episode 3. That way you wouldn't know Luke/Leia are siblings until ROTJ. 1-6 is not a linear story, or even 1-9 now, so I would recommend newcomers watch it the way we did as it worked for us 4,5,6,1,2,3,7,8,9!