Star Wars I - VI (1977 - 2005)
If you haven't seen any of the Star Wars movies, then this is very simple:
Watch Episode I, II, III, IV, V and then VI. (i.e. episodes 1 to 6 in that order.
End of story. Read no further.
Well, except go watch Episode 7 if you haven't done that already.
| Director | George Lucas, Irvin Kershner, Richard Marquand |
|---|---|
| Starring | Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Liam Neeson, Ewan McGregor, Natalie Portman, Jake Lloyd, Hayden Christensen |
| Supporting actors | Samuel L Jackson, Alec Guinness |
| Studio | 20th Century Fox |
If you are continuing the reading, then it is assumed that you have seen the Star Wars movies and so don't blame me for any spoilers.
"Star Wars" the movie came out in 1977. It was an overnight phenomenon. It brought stardom to 3 unknown actors at the time and made the names "Luke Skywalker", "Princess Leia", "Han Solo" and "Darth Vader" famous.
The unusual thing about it was it started off as "Episode IV" as if in a story book.
Then came the sequels, "Star Wars Episode 5" and "Star Wars Episode 6". (Thank God George Lucas didn't named them "Star Wars 2" and "Star Wars 3"!)
These 3 films became a very popular and famous trilogy in movie history.
20 years later, the PREQUELs (Episodes 1-3) came out. The original "Star Wars" was renamed "Episode 4: A New Hope".
But here lies the problem:
- We know that cute little kid Anakin was going to turn bad.
- We know the cute little kid was going to father two kids.
- We know the cute little kid was going to become - (surprise! surprise!) Darth Vader. *gasp!*
Hence when we were watching Episodes 1-3 for the first time, we were thinking of one thing - "He's Darth Vader"!
What made it worse for me, was Hayden Christensen. He's supposed to be seduced by the dark side of the Force but to me, he looked more like a pouting spoilt child. Good thing that Natalie Portman was lovely.
So was there really a point in watching the first 3 episodes then?
Recently, after watching the new Episode 7, I decided to give it a try. I decided to find a new way to enjoy watching all 6 movies.
I put it in the mindset that this is a re-watching of a series of old films, e.g. the Rocky, Rambo, Die Hard series.
I started the story book from the beginning - episode 1.
And it was actually quite good!
We can't help that Jar Jar Binks is still annoying but when you watch everything from the beginning, you get to appreciate one thing:
The amount of details that went into retrofitting the story was just incredible!
In actual fact, after watching the fight between Anakin and Obi-Wan in Episode 3, then watching Darth Vader fighting Obi-Wan, it generated new emotions watching that scene - that these two knew each other and had a deep history. I like it!
In a funny way, Episodes 1-3 and 4-6 are like two symphonies with 3 movements. In a symphony, the 1st movement is usually a fast one, the 2nd a slow one while the 3rd movement returns to a fast tempo. Episodes 2 and 5 are actually like the slower 2nd movement in a symphony.
The most important thing though, is that episodes 1-3 are generally not as well received as the episodes 4-6 so by watching them in sequential order, you know that the movies are only going to get better and better.
And it did, ending on episode 6 when evil was defeated and the movie ended on a song and dance.
Like all good fairy tales - good triumphs over evil at the end.
Then comes Episode 7, which is the start of another saga...
p.s. to get an even better experience watching these movies, I'd recommend getting the blu-ray edition of the movies. Episodes 1-3 are particularly crystal sharp!
Visit 
for more information about these movies and their stars.
Photos by:
