The Machete Order (Star Wars)
So Brian posted this on Twitter: The Machete Order.
It's a detailed analysis of what the best order to watch the Star Wars movies is. Now, you might immediately write this off as ultimate neckbearding, and that's fine. I'm a fan of Star Wars, but nowhere near the rabid spectrum. I liked Episode 1 when I first saw it in high school. Time has colored my perception of the entire prequel trilogy though.
The tl;dr summary of the article is the hypothesis that the best-possible viewing order is IV, V, II, III, VI. He makes a really, really compelling argument that doing it in this order A) refocuses the entire series on Luke, making II & III like a 2-movie flashback; B) Maintains the surprise of Luke's father; C) Makes legit the suspense of who the emperor is; and D) Vastly improves VI by heightening the drama and parallels it draws between Vader and Luke.
All this is done while eliminating Ep I, not out of fanboy rage, but because it does no service to the story arc and can be safely eliminated without confusion or loss. In fact, it makes the story BETTER by simplifying it and eliminating it's most heinous plot points. He describes Episode I as Star Wars' Animatrix and I completely agree.
Anyway, I highly recommend reading it. I'm excited to re-watch the series in this order and will use it from now on when showing it to new people.
It's a detailed analysis of what the best order to watch the Star Wars movies is. Now, you might immediately write this off as ultimate neckbearding, and that's fine. I'm a fan of Star Wars, but nowhere near the rabid spectrum. I liked Episode 1 when I first saw it in high school. Time has colored my perception of the entire prequel trilogy though.
The tl;dr summary of the article is the hypothesis that the best-possible viewing order is IV, V, II, III, VI. He makes a really, really compelling argument that doing it in this order A) refocuses the entire series on Luke, making II & III like a 2-movie flashback; B) Maintains the surprise of Luke's father; C) Makes legit the suspense of who the emperor is; and D) Vastly improves VI by heightening the drama and parallels it draws between Vader and Luke.
All this is done while eliminating Ep I, not out of fanboy rage, but because it does no service to the story arc and can be safely eliminated without confusion or loss. In fact, it makes the story BETTER by simplifying it and eliminating it's most heinous plot points. He describes Episode I as Star Wars' Animatrix and I completely agree.
Anyway, I highly recommend reading it. I'm excited to re-watch the series in this order and will use it from now on when showing it to new people.
0
Comments
Also, in the Release Order (your noted order), you get creepy Hayden Christensen at the end of VI without knowing who the hell he is.
I can't fathom preferring Release Order after reading that analysis.
Of all the threads on Star Wars this seems to be the most appropriate place for the most important thing posted online today. Fascinating read about an upcoming documentary defending the prequel films.
https://www.inverse.com/article/19900-defending-the-star-wars-prequels?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=inverse-ent&utm_campaign=promoted