This is my first time watching any Star Wars content. From what I understand and remember I should be watching it in chronological order and I should only watch I-VI since from what I heard that those are the only ones that are actually worth a watch.
Main question
For the original trilogy I’ve decided to watch the 4K77, 4k80, and 4k83 v1.0 no DNR but I want to know what is the the definitive way to watch the prequels so I wanted to ask which Blu-ray release or fan edit or any release should I look for?
Sorry if I’m asking the wrong community, but I saw a post before in a Star Wars community and it doesn’t look like there was much discussion on it.
Watch Ep 4, Ep 5, Ep 6 stop. Watch Ep1 as a non canon. Throw the rest in the trash.
- Don’t listen to anything the fans have to say. It’s well-known that the worst thing about SW is the fans. Especially their opinions.
- I suggest watching them in release order, including the sequels. That’s how the rest of the world experienced it.
- I didn’t hate the OT remasters. I actually liked the continuity with the prequels. CGI is about what you can expect from a 2000s remaster of a 1970s-era movie.
- I liked the prequels, I grew up with them. Jar Jar is funny. #1 is a bit more slow-paced and deals with politics more than action, but it’s enjoyable (and quite relatable at the moment).
- Disregard anything the fans have to say. The worst thing about Star Wars is the fans.
- Fan theories are an absolute waste of time, and if you go down that rabbit hole, you’ll get more hate than you’ve ever experienced before. SW fans suck.
Some things to keep in mind (spoilers):
- “Somehow, Palpatine returned” is actually how it goes down. The memes are accurate. Seriously, it really is that stupid. It’s a trainwreck. But you should enjoy the trainwreck anyway, because it’s fun.
- Kylo Ren is the perfect embodiment of a nepo-baby. Approach his character that way. He’s supposed to be a whiny piece of shit who let the power get to his head. He’s supposed to be annoying.
- Snoke is a throwaway character. Don’t think too hard about it.
- At some point in the sequels, you will notice the “and then they fucked” tension.
Go for release order. People (including me) can complain about episode 1 all they want, I think it’s better to get a good grasp of “what was intended” first before understanding the whole fan recommendations
Fan orders are a terrible idea don’t do them. Watch in release order, feel free to skip parts that aren’t interesting. The fact of the matter is that the entire series has been written by the seat of the pants of the people making it, meaning that there are absolutely no insights to be gained by watching prequels before the originals, and every entry in the series has taken great pains to be comprehensible on its own. If you skip stuff you might miss out on some “I RECOGNIZE THAT!” moments in later material, but that’s fine.
Also… the prequels are really bad. You may want to skip them entirely. I would suggest watching the Original Trilogy, The Clone Wars (the 2D animated tv movie, not the 3D animated tv show), the Mandalorian season 1, and then Andor seasons 1 & 2. Those series represent everything worthwhile in the Star Wars TV and movie canon, literally nothing else is worth your time.
It’s 2025 and people are still parroting “prequels bad” when the Disney sequels were a literal trainwreck. ishygddt.
Completely agree except you forgot Rogue One.
Also, the Han Solo movie was OK.
Prequels were bad, sequels were worse. Mandalorian was good but ended meh. Ahsoka looks promising.
Ahsoka looks promising.
It’s a Rebels sequel (which is a decent enough show on its own, just more for children than the average Star Wars), so kinda hard to recommend.
Watch the odd-numbered ones first, then the evens.
All jokes aside: my preference is the release order, though the Machete order seems like it would be a good plan (feel free to include Rogue One, it is superb in my book).
get 6 screens and watch them all simultaneously, no audio, just subtitles.
4 5 6 stop
skip it and watch stark trek TNG instead
Watch the original Star Wars, then The Empire Strikes Back, then Return of the Jedi. The versions you found are good.
Here’s the important bit, turn off Jedi as soon as you see a fat fuzzy walking teddy bear creature. The introduction of the Ewoks is when Star Wars dies.
Another vote for Machete order. Simply put, it is a good way to watch the original trilogy, experience the story plot in episode 5 and get the back story in the subsequent trilogy.
Watching it in episode order for new viewers will mean they will experience episode 5 very differently.
I think that 4K77, 4K80, and 4K83 are the best way of watching the original trilogy. As for the order I think that’s really up to you if you prefer the release order, or chronological order, or something else.
I’d recommend watching them in release order, as that’s how most people have experienced them. You’ll have a better understanding of the commonly ascribed strengths and weaknesses of the respective films and trilogies if you watch them this way. It is also very common opinion that each trilogy is substantially worse than the previous one, so if you watch them this way then you have an off-ramp at the end of the first and second trilogies if/when you’ve decided you’ve had enough - you’ll never have to sit through bad films to get to the good ones.
The Machete Order is an interesting idea but I’m a little hesitant to recommend it because so many of these fan edits are designed by people who are in so deep that they tend to skim/omit information that is actually relevant to first time viewers who have no idea what is happening. Star Wars fans, like all fans of these geek franchises, often have a hard time seeing things from the perspective of people who don’t share their obsession. For that reason, I also strongly recommend against watching any of the TV series or filler/standalone films until you’ve finished at least the first two trilogies, because they are written for Star Wars fans to flesh out the events around the main films and are filled with tons of irrelevant references and fan service that are just going to confuse and/or bore you.
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Watch the L8Wrtr edits of the prequel trilogy, then the Despecialized versions of the OG trilogy. Some say to watch in release order. I don’t think it matters as much as watching the content as it was originally created, and without the stupid fluff in the prequel trilogy.
watch them in release order for sure, starting with Episode IV and ending with Episode III.
As for prequel versions, wherever you got the 4kXX files from should also have Schorman’s HDTV rips of the prequels that I recommend. That way you get to see ugly ass puppet yoda in The Phantom Menace the way god intended, but you don’t have to suffer DVD quality. If you can’t find them, shoot me a DM or just download any blu-ray/disney+ rip, the prequels didn’t change too much over the years besides some effects being re-rendered here and there.
Also big recommend the Andor TV show and Rogue One once you’re done with the prequels. They connect the two eras nicely.
edit: oh yeah, i totally forgot. watch the Genndy Tartakovsky Clone Wars Miniseries between Episode II and Episode III. It’s not super important to the story but I have a lot of nostalgia for it, and you’ll enjoy seeing General Grievous actually looking cool before they completely squander him in the movie.
What’s the current recommend for the original trilogy? Last re-watch I picked up some fanmade recolours of the OG rips, but not sure what’s hotness today. For clarity, I’m looking for watching Alderaan explode like a poorly rendered image of a candle, not any remastered shit.
