Intro to Star Wars: New Trilogy Before Original Trilogy, or Not?

[M3Shark]

Soooo,
I'm introducing someone to Star Wars for the first time and was wondering what the general consensus is on the order to show the movies to someone who has not seen them before? Which order do you show the movies in? Is it even worth showing the new ones or is the feeling that they might ruin the brilliance of the original trilogy if shown at the same time?

[menaceuk]

Showing the Prequels first would ruin the

[Show spoiler] Luke, I am your father

Part to be sure.

[Foggy]

Watch them in the order of release, that's the way they're supposed to have been seen, regardless of Prequel hate and what not

[Chordata]

I'd vote for "I don't care/Can't Decide" if there was an option. I can see the merit of watching the OT first like I did, which made the PT cool in the sense that it provided all the background (maybe) to the OT that I loved.

I can also see the merit of watching the PT then the OT to have a sequential, chronological viewing.

Either way is ok.

[Bucky]

If you want to mix it up a little bit could do it in the following order.

Star Wars
The Empire Strikes Back
The Phantom Menace
Attack of the Clones
Revenge of the Sith
Return of the Jedi

Not sure what order I would use myself, will worry about that later.

[Blu-Benny]

i'd watch #'s 4, 5, & 6 and then go back to 1, 2, & 3.

then u get the shock in Empire and then get to see how Anakin became Vader.

[Al_The_Strange]

Based on the three choices, I voted on showing the OT first and the PT second, buuuutttt...

Originally Posted by Bucky

If you want to mix it up a little bit could do it in the following order.

Star Wars
The Empire Strikes Back
The Phantom Menace
Attack of the Clones
Revenge of the Sith
Return of the Jedi

Not sure what order I would use myself, will worry about that later.

...this might be the way I'd do it.

[Chordata]

Originally Posted by Bucky

If you want to mix it up a little bit could do it in the following order.

Star Wars
The Empire Strikes Back
The Phantom Menace
Attack of the Clones
Revenge of the Sith
Return of the Jedi

Not sure what order I would use myself, will worry about that later.

Yeah I take back what I said, that's definitely the way to do it for the ultimate suspense.

Well done Bucky!

[M3Shark]

Originally Posted by Bucky

If you want to mix it up a little bit could do it in the following order.

Star Wars
The Empire Strikes Back
The Phantom Menace
Attack of the Clones
Revenge of the Sith
Return of the Jedi

Not sure what order I would use myself, will worry about that later.

That is a pretty cool way of doing it. I never even thought of showing them in that order.

[EricJ]

Originally Posted by menaceuk

Showing the Prequels first would ruin the

[Show spoiler] Luke, I am your father

Part to be sure.

Also ruins the cool mysticism of The Force, as Alec Guinness first explains it to Mark Hamill in "Episode IV". (sic)

What caught our national fancy in the OT 70's was the idea of a little bit of pop-spirituality to go with the Good-vs.-Evil (like Harry Potter's meetings with Dumbledore), but "Midichlorians" in the PT?...Uh-uh. That was our second complaint, next to J*r-j*r.

But starting with the order of release also goes in the direction that Lucas was discovering the series to begin with:
Star Wars first, for the naive, old-movie sensibilities, Empire next for the Big Serious Epic Story-Arc, Jedi to wrap it up, and the PT to clean up the nerdy-completist backstory details.

Originally Posted by M3Shark

That is a pretty cool way of doing it. I never even thought of showing them in that order.

Yes, the "Extended flashback" of PT after Empire would be also a good way of covering up the "years of training" Luke is supposed to have had between Empire and Jedi.
(When he walks into Jedi, he's supposed to be cool and expert, but we're still thinking of him as the impulsive amateur from Empire.)

[Al_The_Strange]

Originally Posted by EricJ

Yes, the "Extended flashback" of PT after Empire would be also a good way of covering up the "years of training" Luke is supposed to have had between Empire and Jedi.
(When he walks into Jedi, he's supposed to be cool and expert, but we're still thinking of him as the impulsive amateur from Empire.)

We are? I thought he was cool. Especially after reading that "Shadows of the Empire" novel.

[BluBonnet]

Originally Posted by EricJ

Also ruins the cool mysticism of The Force, as Alec Guinness first explains it to Mark Hamill in "Episode IV". (sic)

What caught our national fancy in the OT 70's was the idea of a little bit of pop-spirituality to go with the Good-vs.-Evil (like Harry Potter's meetings with Dumbledore), but "Midichlorians" in the PT?...Uh-uh. That was our second complaint, next to J*r-j*r.

Nothing has been ruined... at least not for me or most of the fans I know. What is wrong with knowing more about the Force beyond the rather superficial explanation given in the OT? Obviously at that point in time Obi-Wan had neither the time or inclination to go into a more detailed explanation. He could very easily get away with telling Luke the force was strong in him because his father had been a great Jedi. That was already enough of a revelation for Luke, who'd always been told his father had been just a pilot.

And Jar Jar? Again, the kids that watched the PT movies with no preconceptions seem to like him a lot. Many of us old-time fans also like Jar Jar. He's an important character and he's there for an important reason. Not to mention the fact that he's also the first CG character ever to have had a substantial role in *any* movie.

I don't know who you are referring to when you say "our complaint". Maybe it is a complaint for *some* viewers, but for many SW fans there's nothing wrong with any of that, nor for many younger viewers who were introduced to the SW universe with the PTs.

[blg]

Show him/her the original trilogy and try to pretend the prequels never happened.

[Another_Dude]

When I took my nephew through the movies a couple years ago we went 4, 5, 1, 2, 3, 6. I wouldn't do it any other way.

4 and 5 set up the story. Not just in Star Wars, but what these movies meant to the culture at the time. Explain the blockbuster before there was such a thing. A "movieplex" with one screen that showed the same movie for the entire summer because people came back every day. The lack of options for viewing a movie at home until it was on broadcast TV or eventual LD.

1, because of what it meant to finally come back to the story. You might even watch "Fanboys" before Episode 1 just to set the tone.

2 and 3 to see what happens to Anakin and the other characters from the PT.

6 because its a happy ending, and it ties together all of the loose ends. You lose the shock in 6 of the "sister", but you still get it in a different way when you see the end of episode 3.

[Breather]

Originally Posted by EricJ

Also ruins the cool mysticism of The Force, as Alec Guinness first explains it to Mark Hamill in "Episode IV". (sic)

What caught our national fancy in the OT 70's was the idea of a little bit of pop-spirituality to go with the Good-vs.-Evil (like Harry Potter's meetings with Dumbledore), but "Midichlorians" in the PT?...Uh-uh. That was our second complaint, next to J*r-j*r.

But starting with the order of release also goes in the direction that Lucas was discovering the series to begin with:
Star Wars first, for the naive, old-movie sensibilities, Empire next for the Big Serious Epic Story-Arc, Jedi to wrap it up, and the PT to clean up the nerdy-completist backstory details.



Yes, the "Extended flashback" of PT after Empire would be also a good way of covering up the "years of training" Luke is supposed to have had between Empire and Jedi.
(When he walks into Jedi, he's supposed to be cool and expert, but we're still thinking of him as the impulsive amateur from Empire.)

I agree completely.

[arcadeforest]

I would go with the original first.

[boxterduke]

The way they are meant to be played, original then new ones.

[toneloctr]

Original first, I like the thought of everyone experiencing them in the same order many of us did.