Watching the "Star Wars" Series in "Machete Order" - Proposed on Rod Hilton's nomachetejuggling.com Blog

[DanielK]

As more of a Star Trek nut than a Star Wars nut, I did enjoy the three original Star Wars films, especially the first one. I even got to see it auf Deutsch.

I really did not like the 4th movie made, and only skimmed the other two that came after, long after their release to TV.

This trailer makes me think there might be some hope. 

One might even say you have a new hope for the franchise.

Machete order is the only way I watch the "prequel" movies.

[DonRocks]

Machete order is the only way I watch the "prequel" movies.

I don't understand how the episode numbers relate to ... anything. What do they mean? Are they the order in which the films were released? Are they in chronological order? What do they signify?

The author in the link you cite really busts on Episode One, and I don't *think* he's referring to the 1977 original, but I'm not sure. I think the original Star Wars film was not only "complete in-and-of itself," but was one of the seminal films in movie history. I suspect a lot of younger people don't realize just how monumental this film was at the time it was released, or what an effect it had on our current American culture (think, for example, of "The Force.")

Daniel, can you, or someone else, explain? I watched the original trilogy, and *might* have seen one other up until yesterday, and I'm wondering if it's worth my time to invest in learning of the entire saga. I feel as though it I do, I'll be playing right into what Hollywood wants me to do, and not doing what *I* want to do. But perhaps I'm wrong.

Do I watch the entire set of movies, and if so, in which order? Or do I study the late Beethoven String Quartets?

Also, I'm the first-and-only person to write about the movie. What do other people think about it? I'm genuinely curious what there is about this thing that generated two-billion dollars in revenue, and what caused it to become one of the most popular movies in history. Is it marketing? Or is there some concealed greatness that I'm simply not seeing? Is it Danielle Steele? Or is it William Shakespeare?

I cannot stress enough how *great* I thought the 1977 original-release movie was. It wasn't a "literary" work of genius, but as a film? Absolutely fantastic.

[DanielK]

I don't understand how the episode numbers relate to

Do I watch the entire set of movies, and if so, in which order?

The episode numbers are chronological, and are in the title crawl at the beginning of the film (except for the original release of A New Hope, which we won't discuss here).

I: The Phantom Menace (1999)

II: Attack of the Clones (2002)

III: Revenge of the Sith (2005)

IV: A New Hope (1977)

V: The Empire Strikes Back (1980)

VI: Return of the Jedi (1983)

VII: The Force Awakens (2015)

What the Machete Order guy says is that watching 4-5-6, then 1-2-3 (especially if you've never seen them before) doesn't work well narratively. And if you watch 1-2-3-4-5-6, the "Luke/Leia/Vader" relationship surprise is totally ruined.

So you watch 4 and 5 - this sets up a cliffhanger with Luke wondering whether his father really is Vader - and then you go on an extended flashback (2 and 3) to see it all develop, and then finish off the story with 6.

And you skip 1, because other than the pointless but fun pod racing scene, the movie SUCKS. The elements it introduces SUCK (Anakin's mother being a slave who had a virgin birth, midichlorians, the origins of C3PO, and a bunch of others). The plot SUCKS (really, a trade war over a blockade). And the acting SUCKS (Jake Lloyd is awful, and Liam Neeson never glared so hard for a paycheck, somewhere off to the right of the camera). 2 and 3 actually suck too, but not nearly as much as 1.

[DonRocks]

I: The Phantom Menace (1999)

...

And you skip 1, because other than the pointless but fun pod racing scene, the movie SUCKS. The elements it introduces SUCK (Anakin's mother being a slave who had a virgin birth, midichlorians, the origins of C3PO, and a bunch of others). The plot SUCKS (really, a trade war over a blockade). And the acting SUCKS (Jake Lloyd is awful, and Liam Neeson never glared so hard for a paycheck, somewhere off to the right of the camera). 2 and 3 actually suck too, but not nearly as much as 1.

But did you *like* it?

[DonRocks]

What the Machete Order guy says is that watching 4-5-6, then 1-2-3 (especially if you've never seen them before) doesn't work well narratively. And if you watch 1-2-3-4-5-6, the "Luke/Leia/Vader" relationship surprise is totally ruined.

So you watch 4 and 5 - this sets up a cliffhanger with Luke wondering whether his father really is Vader - and then you go on an extended flashback (2 and 3) to see it all develop, and then finish off the story with 6.

And you skip 1, because other than the pointless but fun pod racing scene, the movie SUCKS. The elements it introduces SUCK (Anakin's mother being a slave who had a virgin birth, midichlorians, the origins of C3PO, and a bunch of others). The plot SUCKS (really, a trade war over a blockade). And the acting SUCKS (Jake Lloyd is awful, and Liam Neeson never glared so hard for a paycheck, somewhere off to the right of the camera). 2 and 3 actually suck too, but not nearly as much as 1.

So Machete Order is:

4-5-2-3-6 and skip 1 (which *nobody* is going to do (are they?)).

But what about 7? Obviously, that came out post-Machete Order, but where does one insert it in the ordering? I guess Rod Hilton would get first dibs since it's his baby, but does anyone else have a logical idea?

I've written Rod and asked him to chime in, so we'll keep our fingers crossed - if he does, it might just inspire me to rewatch the entire series.

[DanielK]

Yes, you skip 1.

7 comes at the end.