A couple of weeks ago, I found this post that explained an order of watching the Star Wars movies that I had never heard of before: Machete Order.
I've always struggled between starting with the Original Trilogy versus the Prequel Trilogy when I re-watch the movies, and even more so when I'm showing them to someone new to Star Wars.
Starting with Episode I had many flaws:
It is the weakest film in the franchise, and therefore more likely to cause new viewers to stop there.
It doesn't explain the universe well at any point.
Jar Jar Binks.
A decent chunk of the characters are introduced and die off, leaving few returners for the following films.
Several of the main characters look drastically different from their future versions, which can be confusing to new viewers.
Etc...
Starting with Episode IV had a few flaws:
Beginning with "the fourth movie" is confusing in itself.
The movie is dated, which can dissuade some viewers from progressing in the series.
The jump from Episode VI to I is jarring.
Etc...
The article above introduced me to a new order, called Machete Order (honestly, I'm basing that title off of the blog I found it on -- I don't know if it has another name). It goes as follows: IV, V, II, III, VI.
In case you didn't notice, it completely removes Episode I and puts II and III in the middle of the series. Confusing yet?
Read the article if you want an in-depth explanation for the reasoning behind this order before watching it. After reading it, I found that it made perfect sense and, conceptually, I 100% agreed with it.
Now I'm putting it to the test. I'm going to watch and review each film in relation to where it is placed on the viewing timeline. I'll list pros and cons and key points to consider when a jump between two films occurs. If there are any glaring issues, I'll post them up here as well. This review will be broken into a series of five posts, starting with my review of Episode IV after the break.
