Today is a special day. May 4th. Star Wars Day! May the Fourth be with you! To celebrate, I wrote a Star Wars post. If you’ve never seen Star Wars, this post is for you. Surely there have been many people telling you which order they think is best to watch them in. Here’s the order I’d suggest to a newcomer.
Episode 4: A New Hope
Episode 5: The Empire Strikes Back
Episode 6: Return of the Jedi
Episode 1: The Phantom Menace
Episode 2: Attack of the Clones
Episode 3: Revenge of the Sith
Episode 7: The Force Awakens
Rogue One
“Wait, you mean 456, then 123, then 7? Then a movie that isn’t an Episode? What?” Yes, that’s the order they were released in. If you’re going to get into Star Wars, the Release Order is the best way to go. This is the order that all original fans came to love that universe by, and it should be celebrated. Some people will tell you to watch them in the storyline order. DO NOT DO THIS! You get the least interesting 3 films first, and the true spirit of SW LAST. NO!
Now, for anyone who doesn’t want to watch all the movies and simply wants a gist for what the universe is, watch Episode 4: A New Hope. You get the original whiny Luke and his power converters, Leia and Han in their prime (plus Chewy, R2-D2, C-3PO and YODA) and the story that started a franchise.
For anyone who just wants to see a cool action movie, watch Episode 7: The Force Awakens. It’s new, the graphics and sound design are spot on, and it’s a lot more racially balanced than the previous films. We get to watch Oscar Isaac AND John Boyega. Plus, John Williams’ brilliant score.
Rogue One can be appreciated by anyone who hasn’t seen Star Wars before, but it’s best for fans. For example: blue milk. Anyway, Michael Giacchino’s score is not Classic SW but it’s still good. I mean, he also scored the TV series Lost, Pixar’s Up and Ratatouille among many many others. Still, the iconography isn’t the same. Watch another one first.
So you’ve seen all the films in order. Now what? When you finish Rogue One, go back and watch A New Hope. Rogue One is the story that happened JUST BEFORE A New Hope, and really ups the stakes of the 1977 film.
This whole Which To Watch First problem is going to be even more complicated when the Han Solo movie comes out. But for now, I’m very much looking forward to Episode VIII: The Last Jedi. December 15th!
Eva Moe 