So my son is quite a few years away from being an acceptable age to watch the Star Wars saga. However, I am anxious to share this with him. Honestly, almost since his birth I have contemplated in what order I will share this bit of epic sci-fi geekdom with him; will we watch the films in order of their original theatrical release(IV-VI, I-III) or in chronological order(I - VI)? Or, is it best to watch episodes IV-VI and never speak of episoded I-III? Curious what others thoughts / opinions are on this matter...
Replies
ah hell, we'll probably start that long before the kid is ready to watch the movies. He is already book obsessed as it is :-)
Gav
HA HA HA HA.
I thought that was a bit cruel, but I think the originals first, (agreed, ORIGINAL, not the Lucas 'improved' ones) and then the new ones.
To be honest, if your son watches all six films, he'd probably love Jar Jar from episode I, and he'd love the Ewoks in episode VI. Everything in the middle won't be Harry Potter.
Also, it really depends on what age your son is and if he's old enough to understand the story and lore behind Star Wars to appreciate it like you do. If you just want to show him films he's going to enjoy, I don't think it will really matter what order you show it in (and I don't think he'd really care if its the original trilogy or the special edition trilogy).
My $0.02
-caseyjones
After recently seeing The Phantom Menace I don't mind the pod-racing. The accents on the Trade Federation still bother me a little, but Jar-Jar is the modern generation's C3P0 and is just another character if you take him for what C3P0 was, comic relief. And beyond those 3 specific parts theres really nothing else wrong with the movie.
Anyways, I happen to not mind watching them in the order 1-6 and 1-3 have grown on me quite a bit over the last few times I've seen them.
i would keep him the hell away from the special editions though - it's not because of all that gittish "oh greedo shoots first, what a travesty" nerd bollocks, its just cos they were shit, looked rubbish, and were totally unnecessary.
Why eat your pudding first?
maybe splice up the proceeding with ewoks. after ep 5 - think of it as an after eight mint
Seriously Jar-Jar is quite a bit more annoying than C-3PO ever got. Also remember C-3PO was in episodes 1-3 so there goes your argument about him being this generations C-3PO. You forgot the retarded midichlorians crap? seriously that alone made me hate it. Ruined the whole mystery feel. Then from a continuity standpoint everything in the past is more advanced than future technology (yea yea use the excuse of when the movies were made).
Then there's the horrific love story in episodes 2 and 3. Who can forget the epic writing of "i love you" "no I love you more" "no I love you more" of episode 3? Lucas couldn't pull a decent love story out of a wampa's entrails.
No. Not possible. I refer to you Attack of the Clones. You are wrong.
The newer ones were meant to target kids more (at least the first two were), so they would probably work best to hook your kid.
It was a story told in a specific order, it doesn't matter if that was on purpose or if by accident, thats the way it was told. I'm not going to use scene selection on Memento so she can get the whole story spoon fed to her. That destroys one of the major plot devices of the movie, same with Star Wars.
- Hardly any of the ground breaking moments in IV-VI are all that important if you watch I-III first. I feel like I would be Homer Simpson coming out of V spilling the beans, why bother watching... Oh and by the way, Santa and the Easter Bunny told me to tell you, they are real but they aren't coming around any more.
- Watching V-VI first you get to know the Good Vs Evil universe within minutes. It was that clear, well established line that made the movies so interesting. Going I-VI bypasses those back and forth moments and really destroys what little I-III has to offer
EDIT: As for the whole not knowing Anikin was Vadar. My nephews watched IV-VI before I-III came out and they didn't put it together right away but when they did it was mind blowing. I guess it depends on what age they see it if they pay that close of attention. I guess it comes down to watching someone descend slowly into evil over time.
Or
Seeing what that evil is in all its brutality and bitterness front and center. Getting to know its humanity, wondering how it got like that, and then finding out it started out pretty much like you a little kid. That was worth more then having the story logically and methodically explained from A-Z.
the pudding is indeed the best bit. eat the pudding and dump the chewy overcooked steak in the bin
Or take it to the next level, and have one child watch I-VI and another IV-VI/I-III. Then put them in a pit and fight it out.
As i read this thread my 3 year old came up and asked if he could watch STAR WARS....lol
my kids are obsessed with the star wars saga....lol
Its also funny because my kids hate the old GOOD episodes and only like the new trilogy..
guess all the flashy colors really appeal to kids .
I say let him watch them 1-6 because im sure the new episodes will make him interested enough to set through the old ones.
My 2 kids obsess over episode 3....for some odd reason....guess its the light sabers.
make them watch that first
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