I'm getting ready to watch the Star Wars Saga on blu-ray. So, do I watch them in episodic order, Episode I: The Phantom Menace first to Episode VI: Return of the Jedi last or do I watch them in chronological order, Episode IV: A New Hope from 1977 first to Episode III: Revenge of the Sith from 2005 last?

Help me out here. I would have done a poll, but it appears we can't do polls?

Thanks for any opinions.

Depends really. If special effects and big battles aren't a problem for you and you love story to move in one direction, watch them in order from ep 1 to 6. However, if special effects are a problem and you dont care about going in order than 4-6 first then 1-3.

I liked to watch them 1 to 6 but my brother did that with me and didn't like it because after all the big cool battles in 1-3, 4-6 felt weird special effects taken into account. Plus the battles weren't that great to be honest.

All in all the danger stems from going from the 2005 Ep. 3 RotS to the 1977 Ep.4 A New Hope. There is a giant gap in fighting scenes and special effect quality that Ep. 3 does well and story which Ep.4 does well.

So In my opinion a true star wars fan watches them 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 because it emphasizes story above all else. Watching it in reverse order emphasizes special effect quality and action scenes.

So In my opinion a true star wars fan watches them 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 because it emphasizes story above all else. Watching it in reverse order emphasizes special effect quality and action scenes.

Excellent feedback, thank you very much. I am definitely leaning towards this suggestion. I realize the special effects and all that will be a bit strange to go from more modern to 1970's, but having watched all the films multiple times and being a fan of them all, I think watching it as an epic story unfolding would be more entertaining for the Star Wars fan in me. It has been a good 3-4 years since I have watched the films and the last time I watched them in chronological order.

here is my suggestion.

Watch Episodes 4 and 5 first... they really are the logical jump in point, the story was started in A New Hope and it was written in such a way for it to be the first step... Following it with Empire makes obvious sense (I would hope)

With Episode 5 ending on such a huge cliffhanger, and with the familial reveal at the end, this is when you want to "flashback" to watch episodes 1 2 & 3. This gets you caught up on what happened that led up to the forming of the empire and all the background...

Now that you have completed the flashback, it is time to finish the trilogy, get Han out of carbonite, and chuck Palpatine down a hole with episode 6.

So the order is Episodes 4, 5, 1, 2, 3, 6.

Hope this helps!

Chronological.

Watch the good movies (Episodes 4-6) first, so you can then go back and see what older fans had to suffer through when the prequels came out. To this day, I still denounce their existence. Don't ruin Star Wars for yourself by watching the prequels first.

for a first time viewer, in order to reserve all the big plot twists, this is the order:

4,5,1,2,3,6.

Just think of 1,2,3 being a long flashpoint to explain how Vader is Luke's father. This way, you still get the big reveal of Vader-Anakin, as well as the reveal that Luke and Leia are brother sister.

You also finish with the proper ending, with Anakin being redeemed, and Sidious being defeated.

for a first time viewer, in order to reserve all the big plot twists, this is the order:

 

4,5,1,2,3,6.

 

Just think of 1,2,3 being a long flashpoint to explain how Vader is Luke's father. This way, you still get the big reveal of Vader-Anakin, as well as the reveal that Luke and Leia are brother sister.

 

You also finish with the proper ending, with Anakin being redeemed, and Sidious being defeated.

Well, no spoilers there, eh?

lol. Well I assume anyone on the forums here already knows. But if you're showing them to a friend/children etc, that would be the order I recommend.

Also, It's a Trap!