We've seen seven numbered movies in the Star Wars saga, plus Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. Watching all those has taken some of us forty years. That's eight movies that your children or grandchildren have not yet seen, and they don't have forty years to catch up on them before The Last Jedi is released in December. So how do you introduce your kids to the Star Wars saga? The easiest (and laziest) method would be to show them in episode order, with Rogue One between episodes III and IV. But this causes some real problems.
Here’s why: the best part of the saga – Luke’s parentage, is rendered meaningless by the prequel trilogy, as well as the reality behind Luke and Leia’s familial bond – makes some of the sequences a little bit incestual. That said, the prequels were made with subtle nods to the original films, so there’s moments that make very little sense, unless you’ve seen Episodes IV-VI, not to mention the change in technology.
Finally, starting anyone who hasn’t seen the Saga with Episode I seriously ensures that someone won’t want to make it through the rest of them, if that’s the starting point. It’s easily the worst film out of all of them and suggesting that it gets better 3 films later, is a tough ask for a newbie.
Read up on the pros and cons of six different orders i which to see the Star Wars films at The Chive.
Despite the hate that the prequels get (and I used to share), I re-watched them a year ago and found II and III to be good. III was arguable brilliant in its depiction of the seduction of Anakin Skywalker.