So, I've never seen a Star Wars movie before...

And I kind of want to figure out what all the hype is. Is there any services that offer the movies on streaming? Also did the older movies age well?

The original trilogy - the "old" movies - are almost universally considered better than the newer movies.

Find the boxset of the original trilogy on VHS. It's the best way to see the movies as they were made. All the newer versions of them are full of CGI and weird edits.

As for the prequels I recommend just watching the RedLetterMedia Plinkett Reviews of them which go into in depth detail about every single little thing about them that makes them terrible while being way more entertaining than the actual movies are.

@corevi said:

Find the boxset of the original trilogy on VHS. It's the best way to see the movies as they were made. All the newer versions of them are full of CGI and weird edits.

The laserdisc set would be your best bet. Also there is a fan effort to "Despcialize" the first movie

@insanetj: Most people don't own laserdisc players dude. Also the VHS boxset is super easy to find while I've never seen the laserdisc set.

None of them are on streaming and probably won't be for awhile.

The originally trilogy might hold up well but I'm not sure how they would look to someone new to the series. Especially the first one, A New Hope, since the production values were limited. If you can borrow someone's Blu Ray or DVD I'd suggest watching A New Hope and Empire Strikes Back and then moving on from there if you're still interested.

The newer ones, the prequels, are fine and since they're newer might be easier to watch. The acting and storytelling is a tad weaker in those movies, especially the acting, and how serious the movies take themselves skyrockets.

Avoid the prequels at all costs. Or at least watch the original trilogy first before watching the newer ones.

Get the Despecialized Editions of the original three.

Avoid the prequels.

There's only a Despecialized Edition of New Hope.

If you want to watch the "whole" story and include some prequels, I'd suggest watching them in this order. As it includes 2 of the 3 prequels that technically add plot. Or just watch the original trilogy and stay in a happy safe place.

In this order:

Episode IV: A New Hope (or look up "Star Wars Revisited," the definitive way to see this film. I can't go back to the original after watching it.)

Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back

Episode I: The Phantom Menace

Episode II: Attack of the Clones

Episode III: Revenge of the Sith

Episode VI: Return of the Jedi

What's A New Hope? I only know Star Wars.

I have all three. They're easy to find if you search for "Despecialized". I'm not sure if they're all part of the same project, though. But my versions are in HD and don't have the Special Edition changes.

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan

Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (Not very good, but necessary for the beginning of IV to make sense. Christopher Lloyd is at least fun to watch.)

Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home

Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country

Don't bother with any of the TNG movies. Even at their best, they are only middling films.

It is hoped that Disney will release the theatrical versions of the original trilogy. If there are despecialized versions of them then get those. Just don't watch the prequels. If you must do it for scientific purposes, watch them last and watch the Red Letter Media reviews for all of them after that. They really put in perspective just how bad they are compared to the original movies or well compared to anything really. Just poorly paced scenes with bad actors and over abundant aging CGI. Even if you had never seen a Star Wars movie they are just bad subjectively.

@corevi said:

Find the boxset of the original trilogy on VHS. It's the best way to see the movies as they were made. All the newer versions of them are full of CGI and weird edits.

As for the prequels I recommend just watching the RedLetterMedia Plinkett Reviews of them which go into in depth detail about every single little thing about them that makes them terrible while being way more entertaining than the actual movies are.

Agreed with RedLetterMedia. I saw that years after seeing the prequels, after I forgot all the details of the narrative, and still got more enjoyment out those videos than episodes 1, 2, or 3.

Watch the original trilogy, but the prequels are optional, in my mind. They go into the beginnings of a certain character and there are decent moments... but if you don't want to pay for them, stick with RedLetterMedia.

@ltsmash: You take that back. First Contact is great. The rest are bad though.

Do people still own VCRs?

It's 2015. Most people don't own VHS players either.

You're gonna want to start with Christmas Special. The running joke among fans is that "it sucks" (same with Episode 1, which you must watch next. Jar Jar Binks is basically the reason Star Wars is so popular), but it's a beloved part of the franchise that works wonderfully as a primer to the fiction.

After you've watched that and Episode 1, you're basically done. The rest are filler.

I mean, take this line from the opening of Episode 1: "The taxation of trade routes to outlying star systems is in dispute." Maybe it's just me, but for me, disputed trade route taxation is far more interesting than "Oh, I'm a laser sword man, look at me jump about!". (actual quote from Star Wars Episode IV [citation needed])

@chaser324: @friendlyphoenix: I figure most people have a VHS player somewhere, even if it's not set up and plugged in.

@bonorbitz said:

I'm reading this:

And I actually totally agree with it. It cuts out Episode I and has you watch IV, V, II, III, and then VI, preserving all of the story's twists and he makes a good argument that it adds some new dimensions to characters. Hell, it's even making me want to go back and watch them in that order, and maybe wishing that I'd seen them in that order in the first place. Plus I get to skip the first movie, which I don't think is completely deplorable but the last time I saw part of it, the acting was painful.

@projectino There's some merit to this argument about the "despecialized" editions, but I seriously doubt you'll care at all if this is your first time watching them.

There's no place to legally stream them, not to my knowledge. You'll have to buy them. Star Wars tells a pretty good story and I think you'll enjoy watching them, but keep in mind that these movies aren't going to be anything mindblowing or groundbreaking if you're watching them as an adult and it's not 1977. It's definitely a hero's journey, kind of a young adult fantasy story in space, it's got some nuance to it but I can't say that I know how an adult will react to it when seeing it for the first time. In any case, I definitely recommend seeing the Star Wars movies if you've never seen them, and watch them in the order I mentioned above (IV, V, II, III, and VI). And don't read that article telling you why, just watch the movies and then read it and you'll understand why.

The special effects look cheap and are distracting and the other changes (which go far beyond who shot first) are distasteful. You don't have to have seen the theatrical cuts to realize that.

Good man. I kind of enjoyed Nemesis as a 12 year old, but a more recent viewing has changed my opinion on that one.

But you do have to have seen the theatrical cuts to really give two shits about it.

And guess what, everything looks like shit on VHS. I'll take a remastered Blu-Ray with its CGI dinosaurs over a grainy pan & scan cassette, but I guess I'm the crazy one.

First Contact convinced me that the TNG cast, as a group, forgot who their characters were immediately after filming All Good Things.

The main source for the despecialized editions were the Blu-rays. You're kind of saying the changes are worse. Why do you hate the OP, to still recommend them?

@chaser324: It's probably a lot easier to get a VHS player then it is a laserdisc player.

@ezekiel: It's not a question of better or worse, it's a question of what is a reasonable way to watch these movies. The OP asked what was the easiest way to watch a Star War, and the thread immediately became Baron Von Internet's Fantabulous Journey to the Center of the VHS Temple of Cinematic Purity. There's like thirteen shots that are noticeably different. It's not worth the trouble. Watch the Blu-Rays.

Ignore the fanboi crazy people and just watch them on blue ray in chronological order they are good films (ALL OF THEM!!!) even if you dont like them there are at least many cool designs that are woth the look just dont expect insane acting skills from any of the actors (not even on the old ones) but the star wars universe is filled with very cool ideas and you will see how much people have been inspired by them in today´s media , from design choices to down right parody and pop culture.

I love these threads. These Star Wars purists really have no idea how crazy they are.

There was a DVD set in 2006 that contained both the Special Editions and the original theatrical prints of the original trilogy, but nowadays it fetches a pretty high price online. In order to "morally" watch the films I'd say rent or buy the recent Blu-ray release, but then download the Despecialized Editions and watch those. I wouldn't recommend the prequels, but if you do watch them at the very least watch all of the films in the order they were released so that you experience the story in the same order the rest of the world did. The prequels were written after the original trilogy, and therefore should be experienced after the original trilogy (if at all).

@TechnoSyndrome:

This guy. I have this set it's the best legit way to watch them.

The despecialized editions are nice.

If you can, instead of watching the prequels, I'd look into one of the fan recuts. Episodes 1-3 have been recut into one movie to cut the filler and have it make sense.

The popular ones to look for are: A Last Hope, Turn to the Dark Side, or The Last Turn to the Dark Side (which is a blending of the two versions into an arguably better cut).

The order I'd recommend is: 4, 5, 5.5 (any of the recuts), then 6.

EDIT: Or, just skip the prequels altogether.

While the DVD laserdisc ports are the best official (and easiest) way to watch the movies, the blu-rays are a acceptable way to watch the films. And go in release order, I don't care about all the confusing info on whether or not George Lucas had the ideas for the prequels while making the original trilogy, they were still made with the expectations that the audience is familiar with the older films. Like all prequels.

Also because of this thread, I just bid on a boxset of the Special editions VHS, the last release of the Original with major differences that I don't have. I'm not crazy enough to get first printing or aspect ratios though.

I'm in the camp of the people who think the prequels and the special editions are fine. I'll be the first to admit that Episodes I and II have their problems (notable the kid playing Anakin in Ep I is far more annoying than Jar Jar ever was, and the romance between Anakin and Padme in Ep II is terrible), but I thought Episode III was pretty good, and none of the stuff added into the Special Editions bugged me. Outside of the effects, I'd bet as a new watcher you won't be able to tell the difference.

Avoid the Christmas Special at all costs. It is literally the worst thing I have ever watched. It's is the Fifth Horseman of the Apocalypse.

This man is correct, though you can subtract The Phantom Menace if you want and watch it after you're done with the series if you're curious. Going with the Blu-Ray's is easiest. And while the original unedited versions are better do not worry about them, they are not worth the hassle.

I saw all the original movies for the first time last year by watching all the Despecialized versions, then watching YouTube videos where they compare the originals to the Blu-Ray releases.

As someone who doesn't really give a shit about Star Wars (at least not as much as some other people), those changes are really fucking stupid. So I guess you're right, but I really do think you're seeing a worse movie if you're just watching the Blu-Rays.

Look, you don't want to go out of your way to get the VHS or Laserdisc box-sets, the first DVD set is still better than the Blu-Ray. The edits in the first DVDs certainly stick out, but the movies is still very good. The Blu-Ray has further edits, that I think actually interferes with the story.

As for the newer movies, Revenge of the Sith had some good moments and I kinda like the B-story in Episode 2, but if you haven't felt a desire to see Star Wars until now, it's hard to recommend them.

If you start watching it from Epsiode 1 you might not like what you see.

As mentioned before watch in order of actual release: iv, v, vi, i, ii , iii

And make damn sure for Episodes iv,v and vi you watch the originals and not the year 2000's re-releases as the cgi upgrades and extra crap (that chick singing in Return of the Jedi for example...ugh) suck donkey balls.

I also recommend the RedLetterMedia reviews as others had before.

May the force be with you.

Forget everyone who is telling you to skip the new trilogy. It has some major flaws, but it was the thing that introduced me to Star Wars back in 1998, outside of occasionally seeing the old stuff playing on TV, and it's a pretty fun watch. Just go get the newest Blu-ray boxsets of the movies and watch them in order. People who grew up with the original trilogy hated every little thing that was changed in every subsequent release, but nothing in those changes made the movies worse, outside of not being the exact thing they were nostalgic for. In fact, I would say most of the changes are for the better, and make the overall six movies more cohesive as a result.

Don't be crazy, just buy them on dvd or blu ray. I do think you should watch them in the order they were released though.

@liquidprince: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27RVJJfny4I

Totally ruins the scene. How could we tell the characters emotion without literally ripping a sample from a earlier moment when he was very sad? That's a high price to pay for "cohesion".

No just no....

Reason? These characters and this scene looks so out of place. This cgi looks like hot garbage compared to the original characters in the scene that were real and could be touched, but each to his own. :D

IV, V, II, III, VI.

This is so confusing. I wanna watch Star wars (and maybe star trek?) and all the sci fi classic stuff, but this kind of a confusing discussion makes me less interested.

Plus it seems it needs to be selectively watched, and not all of it is actually good stuff. That's sorta surprising.

Exactly what I was thinking as I skimmed the thread.


Also, OP, if you're looking for the perspective of someone who doesn't think Star Wars is the most sacred thing on the planet:

I actually don't think the effects in 4 5 6 hold up too well, especially considering you'll be watching them for the first time in 2015, but that might depend on your tolerance for old stuff (we're talking nearly forty years hear, guys (I'm sure I'll get 8000 replies about this opinion)), and truth be told, 1 2 3 aren't really that bad, but, just like in the gaming world, people lose their god damned minds if you make a sequel/prequel to something they love after the fact. 1 suffers from having a child actor in one of the leading roles, but 2 and 3 are totally fine.

My advice to you: either watch them in the order that some people suggested earlier that makes the most plot sense (4 5 1 2 3 6. If you're already this invested there's no reason to skip 1), or just watch them in order of release (4 5 6 1 2 3). The plot order actually sounds interesting to me to burn a week doing, so I'm thinking I might try to do that in the next month or two.

As someone who was a major Star Wars fan as a kid and still holds the series close to heart I'd suggest you not listen to a lot of what's been said in this thread. Like @kevin_cogneto said ignore all the "original edition" stuff and just focus on finding the original trilogy (IV, V and VI) in whatever format you can. I just watched Episode IV on Blu-Ray yesterday and wasn't really bothered by the remastering. If you enjoy the first three films then by all means go ahead and watch the prequel trilogy as well, because there's a lot of interesting back story in there and a lot of memorable scenes.