CNET Top 5 - Best ways to watch Star Wars

Planning a movie marathon to warm up for the new Star Wars? Here are the five best ways to structure the viewing order.

[xcmalvarez]

His all time top five brought me here. I'll miss this guy good luck where ever you are headed.

[darkgodofdeath]

I actually love the Machete order. It just flows better. Though if you have time, watching the Clone wars animated series between Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith helps explain things even further.

[Silverdeamon]

Since I've seen all six I agree I would watch IV, V first then II, III and VI. Episode I is of another story of another time of another universe.

[LeonLindProductions]

PERFECT ORDER! (1 2 4 5 3 6) Try watching it this way, it's a great and entirely new experience to watch them in this order, you will find that in this way almost nothing get's spoiled (like in 456 123 and 123 456 you know that Anakin will become Vader or you know that Lukes father is Vader), and characters like Boba Fett get whole new arks throw out the saga that they didn't have before (we see his origin in ep 2 when he is a little kid, then we see some mysterious bounty in ep 4 hanging out with Jabba, that looks like Jango... In Ep 5 he helps the empire capture Han and in 6 we hear Han say: "Boba Fett!" (Jangos son OMG!!!), just before he gets killed...).
And if you want to split it in to two trilogys it works pretty fine - 124 - 536. Fits doesn't it? You can also do: 12 45 36(ending) - even better! :D
And the best part of all... With each film the story get's more complex, the emotion higher and we keep learning a little more about the truth of what happened to Anakin and how Sidious got the power. Think about it, imagine you go in knowing NOTHING about Star Wars...
Ep 1: We learn about the Jedi order, the force, their prophesy, we met the players and we set up the story. There isn't really a war but a crisis that leads to a battle, and eventualy something bigger (Ani, Maul). We leave with a hint that Palpatine is the Sith Lord...
Then we go to Episode 2: A little more is going on this time around, Anakin and Padme develop a romance witch is forbiden both by the laws of decent scripts and the Jedi order. Meanwhile Obi-Wan go on a mission that turns out to be bigger than they first thought, the Jedi start to learn the truth about the coruption of the republic, Sidious is stronger than ever and The Clone Wars starts... We even see some Star Destroyers the Death Star at the end and learn that war is all part of Sidious plan... And just when shit start to get real...
We jump ahead 22 years... Ep 4: At first it's not clear who won. The Star Destroyers and Clones was on the Republics side, but the Death Star and Dark side of the force was on the Seperatists side. We meet are new hero Luke, then meet are old one, Obi-wan. He is the only one that we can recognise so we amidietelly trust what he tells Luke. Lukes father who was a Jedi died, he was betrayed by Darth Vader who was a good guy and Obi-wans apprentie ones... But witch one is Anakin? Throw out the movie the old story (prequels) get's forgoten more and more and we think about saving the Princess and Destroying the Death Star. The Rebells win, the Empire loose and just when it feels like the trilogy is completed and everything is great...
Ep 5: In this one we realise that just  because they blow up a space station and saved a princess, it's not over. Things are worse than ever for the rebellion. We also are reminded of Ep 1 and 2 and realise that what happened between 2 and 4 madders more than we thought, the truth start to reveal itself more and more. We learn about Vader, the force. Ultimately the movie leads to a big confrontation, 2 even. The one with The Empire (Boba and Clones) vs The Rebellion (Leia, Chewie and Lando) is more about the story we saw in Ep 4, while the one with Vader vs Luke is more about the story we saw in Ep 1 and 2. But the good guys loose in every way possible. And just when it seems like all hope is lost for the characters we love...
We return to the characters we were bored by, who now are sort of interesting... Ep 3: After seeing that The Empereror in Ep 5 is actually Sidious who actually was Palpatine, and seeing Vader tell Luke that he is Luke's father, we think we know everything. Anakin became bad, Palpatine was bad all the time. But Ep 3 shows us HOW and WHY, we get all the details and the tragedy of it all... The two most epic Lightsaber Battles yet take place, Yoda vs Sidious and Obi-Wan vs Anakin, nobody really wins, everybody looses, except for Palpatine. And at the end we really do know everything. Now all we need is an ending... Who will win, the good or the bad?
Ep 6: The ultimate confrontation between evil and good, the light and the dark side. I really think you need to watch this as the last movie. Here all the themes about redemption, family, the force and choice shines more than ever. And now that ending with Hayden Chirstinsen will actually make sense... We start of with some classic old fun Space Adventure on the main setting, Tatooine, before we finish the saga with the biggest battles of all. Vader redeems himself and forfils the Jedi prophesy by killing the ultimate evil force in the galaxy, the Emperor... The Death Star gets destroyed for the second time (and now it dont feel like rehash because we havent seen it in a long time), the Ewoks look cute and do unbelievable things tht would never happen really, and Anakin get's to become a ghost along with Obi-wan and Yoda. The good guys win. Happy ending! :3
And now you've watched the saga in the perfect order and can feel completely ready for the new trilogy.

[MrSpenben]

I'm skipping the Prequels and watching the Original Trilogy  on good ol' VHS.
Star Wars - December 14th
The Empire Strikes Back - December 15th
Return of the Jedi - December 16th
The Force Awakens - December 17th

[eternalhalloween]

I lean towards numerical order myself. (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6) Mainly because we get to see Darth Vader as much more 3d. We saw his innocent childhood, his degeneration into the dark side, his rise as Darth Vader, his rise to power, and then his redemption and death. Also, we can see why Darth Vader feels the way he does in Part 4 when he faces Ben. Being honest, I didn't think "Phantom Menace" was bad. I kind of liked it.

[JamalDantata]

Thank you! I've been waiting to see a video telling me how to watch star wars for the 1st time with my son (or daughter), which ever comes 1st..

[TheFaustusPHD]

I actually like the number 2 version of this, because it still includes Episode I. The Darth Maul battle is brilliant in that movie and should not be abandoned.

[SonofMrPeanut]

Ideally, a fan edit of the prequel trilogy would be the best way to include it in the Machete Order. Edits like The Phantom Edit and Last Turn to the Dark Side are on the right track, but I don't think we've hit "the" edit yet. I've actually laid one out, and I'd really like to work with someone on it.

There actually are 3 scenes from Phantom I would include in said edit: Darth Maul Fight, led into by space and on-Naboo battle (opens the movie), Anakin's Academy Test (aka Yoda's "fear" speech) and that part near the end when Yoda finally approves Anakin as Obi-Wan's pupil (placed right before Obi-Wan and Anakin exchange a friendly goodbye in Episode 3). The "fear" part is important because it establishes his mother's importance and how that associated fear leads directly into his Dark-Side descent. As for Qui-Gon Jinn dying, we know who Obi-Wan is and care if someone important to him is killed right in front of us (so long as the title crawl points that relationship out). In both characters' cases, they don't want to lose those closest to them again, and it's extra tragic to Obi-Wan when he finally does lose Anakin. This also gives additional weight to Vader's redemption in RotJ, as Palpatine has basically filled the role his mother and Padame held before.

[dotails]

I hear people don't like episode 1 but I enjoyed I couldnt get enough of the droids and flying vehicles and creatures. maybe not the best story ever but as a 10 yr old(as mentioned) I loved it... I'm 26 now.

[carlosespca]

You're wrong, the prequels are good movies and it have very good actors, the only problem with it was the terrible dialogues. But Hayden Christensen is a great dramatic actor and he did an amazing Anakin Skywalker

[constantupgrader]

I watched it as IV V VI and then I II III. I still love the prequels. Every movie is necessary imo. ^.^

[susmac]

If it's the first time you see them, you should go with options #4 and #3
If you know the movies by heart already, go with option #5 or try #1

[VibesofHarish]

It's funny, I only heard about the machete order maybe a month ago and I think it's so uniquely cool - it stunned me how rigid I was on the chronological/release date timeline. I was thinking to introduce my other half to the franchise and I love the prequels more from the story of the Emperor so I feel it's important to show how the Sith work. I'll stick to the 'flashback order' and simply skip a third of the Episode 1 chapters (no more pod races ever again!)

[MBusssin]

I remember in 1977 when episode IV came out I had to wait outside the movie theatre for 3 hours just to get in.

[anglojojo]

Since I watched so long ago the old trilogy, I will watch em all now in this order 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6... Already watched 1, 2, 3 and now gonna watch 4 :3

[VaderYouSeekVader]

The light saber battles in the prequels are actually pretty good.

[gametime]

My version of the Machete order:
1.Rouge One because of Spoiler Reasons
2, A New Hope because its the first one dummy
3. Empire Strikes Back because its the perfect sequel to A New Hope and my favorite Star Wars film
4. Revenge of the Sith. This one has multiple reasons
A) Because 1 and 2 both suck the most especially 2.
B) 3 actually has important stuff happen
C) Obi Wan and Anakin's friendship is established in the first fight
and D) You don't need to wait one or two movies to get back to Luke
5. Return of the Jedi because its the last of the original trilogy
And then the new trilogy.

This is the order I recommend if you want a Machete type order however I recommend you just cut all the bullsh*t of the prequels and watch it Rouge One, New Hope, Empire, Revenge, and the new trilogy.

[paulhallmark]

I've been watching, re-watching, the Star Wars movies to refresh myself with all of the story lines before going to see Episode VII.
Episode I is bad, on many levels.
I would recommend this...

1st... Episode IV: A New Hope
2nd... Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
3rd... Episode II: Attack of the Clones
4th... Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
5th... Episode VI: Return of the Jedi

..and, last, no one should see Episode I: The Phantom Menace!!!

[danielgartin]

I have all 6 of them on DVD, i even have a couple of them on videotape