Star Wars viewing theory

[wuapinmon]

So, my 5 y/o son brought me a Star Wars: A New Hope DVD the other day and told me that he wanted to watch it. My parents took me to see it on December 4, 1977. It was my 4th birthday, so if he's too young, I can place the blame on my parents.

I told him, "no," because I wanted to watch them all with him and Marley all at once. But, I'm conflicted. Do I show them to my kids in the same order I experienced them, or do I start with Episode 1: The Phantom Menace?

What say ye? I'm leaning toward Episode 4 first, but maybe they'll be really excited by the time Luke finds out who his father is.

Oh, and I'm debuting this quick-and-dirty summon card; it's time:

[Slim]

I just did this a few weeks ago with my 4 year old (who loved it btw).

We ended up starting with episode one. Still not sure whether that was the way to do it. He'll probably forget everything and we'll be able to watch them all again in another couple of years.

Neither my wife nor I had seen these movies in a long time and we were both surprised at how much better episodes 4-6 were than 1-3 despite the more primitive special effects.

[Pheidippides]

I just did this a few weeks ago with my 4 year old (who loved it btw).

We ended up starting with episode one. Still not sure whether that was the way to do it. He'll probably forget everything and we'll be able to watch them all again in another couple of years.

Neither my wife nor I had seen these movies in a long time and we were both surprised at how much better episodes 4-6 were than 1-3 despite the more primitive special effects.

Same with my son, only we haven't watched 1-3 (he's a year older than yours, but loved it just the same). I'm still struck by how good of a movie Empire was. It was all downhill from there.

[wuapinmon]

Same with my son, only we haven't watched 1-3 (he's a year older than yours, but loved it just the same). I'm still struck by how good of a movie Empire was. It was all downhill from there.

How do you fight the urge to not explain things to them?

[il Padrino Ute]

I saw them in order as they were released - IV, V, VI, I, II, III. Episodes I, II, and III all sucked and were a waste of time and money.

I would just show your kids the "real" Star Wars trilogy and explain to them that the rest is just crap that was made to make money under the guise that it was supposed to explain what happened to Darth Vader to make him a bad guy.

[Pheidippides]

How do you fight the urge to not explain things to them?

They've played all the way through Lego star wars. Explanation not needed.

[Color Me Badd Fan]

I would start with Episode 3 which I actually think was pretty good. Episodes 1 and 2 are horrible and simply not worth viewing.

[marsupial]

I hate Star Wars and don't view it with my kids. However, all three have seen at least some of the Star Wars movies and they all watched the first one (as in the first one Lucas made) first.

My youngest has been obsessed with Star Wars ever since this Super Bowl commercial:

[YOUTUBE]R55e-uHQna0[/YOUTUBE]

He won't actually sit through an entire Star Wars movie, but he'll watch this commercial over and over again for an hour.

I have a box full of Star Wars toys to give him in a couple of weeks when he turns 3. I found them at a garage sale a month or so ago. Anyone have ideas for a Star Wars birthday cake?

[Soccermom]

I hate Star Wars and don't view it with my kids. However, all three have seen at least some of the Star Wars movies and they all watched the first one (as in the first one Lucas made) first.

My youngest has been obsessed with Star Wars ever since this Super Bowl commercial:

[YOUTUBE]R55e-uHQna0[/YOUTUBE]

He won't actually sit through an entire Star Wars movie, but he'll watch this commercial over and over again for an hour.

I have a box full of Star Wars toys to give him in a couple of weeks when he turns 3. I found them at a garage sale a month or so ago. Anyone have ideas for a Star Wars birthday cake?

We had a Star Wars party for my son a few years ago. I made two cakes. One was a very large lightsaber. Super easy to make. The other was the death star. I made little lightsaber knives that the kids could attack it with. In hindsight, it should have been knives that looked like ships, but it worked nonetheless.

[marsupial]

We had a Star Wars party for my son a few years ago. I made two cakes. One was a very large lightsaber. Super easy to make. The other was the death star. I made little lightsaber knives that the kids could attack it with. In hindsight, it should have been knives that looked like ships, but it worked nonetheless.

My friend made a lightsaber cake and it looked, uh, a little too phallic to me. I'd love to see a picture of your Death Star though.

[wuapinmon]

My friend made a lightsaber cake and it looked, uh, a little too phallic to me. I'd love to see a picture of your Death Star though.

Now you're just toying with us.

[smokymountainrain]

My son saw 1 and 2 first, then 4, 5, 6. It wasn't intentional, rather it just worked out that way. Mrs SMR wouldn't allow him to see the 3rd one for a while because she thought it was too violent. He has since seen the 3rd one and he seems to enjoy all of them equally. To this day - he is 9 - he will try to watch them any time they come on TV despite the fact that he's seen each one at least 5 or 6 times.

[Green Lantern]

My earliest theater-going memory is seeing Empire Strikes Back with my friend and his mom when I was four. The weird thing is, I had somehow already seen Star Wars because I knew the whole story going in; I'm just not sure how or when I saw it.

I haven't shown my six year old any of the prequels, and as long as I'm in charge of what she sees I don't intend to. They are just terrible movies. Not only that, but in their naked desire to explain everything they actually ruin a lot of the great thematic points of the original trilogy. A few examples:

• The introduction of Yoda--How great is his intro in Empire? We've been led to expect that Luke is going to meet some badass Jedi warrior and instead we get this little weird looking dude who forces Luke to figure out his true identity. All ruined if we've been watching him and his tortuous grammar for three films already.
• Wait, more Yoda--I always loved his statement that "Wars not make one great." We are to understand that being a Jedi is about more than just fighting. It's a way of life and of understanding the universe. Watch the prequels and what do we see? Yoda is just another badass with a lightsaber, no different than any of the other Jedi.
• The Empire--I always kind of liked that the Empire seemed to be dominated by humans. It was like one species and one way of thought had decided to gang up on the rest of the galaxy. It showed the dangers of uniformity and dogma while the motley gang of rebels represented individualism and liberty. But in the prequels? Not so much. We get a bunch of droid armies, a robot general with a heart condition and whole assload of clones. Did people buy into the Empire's way of thinking? "No!" say the prequels, "they were just manufactured that way!"

[Clark Addison]

My earliest theater-going memory is seeing Empire Strikes Back with my friend and his mom when I was four. The weird thing is, I had somehow already seen Star Wars because I knew the whole story going in; I'm just not sure how or when I saw it.

I haven't shown my six year old any of the prequels, and as long as I'm in charge of what she sees I don't intend to. They are just terrible movies. Not only that, but in their naked desire to explain everything they actually ruin a lot of the great thematic points of the original trilogy. A few examples:

• The introduction of Yoda--How great is his intro in Empire? We've been led to expect that Luke is going to meet some badass Jedi warrior and instead we get this little weird looking dude who doesn't forces Luke to figure out his true identity. All ruined if we've been watching him and his tortuous grammar for three films already.
• Wait, more Yoda--I always loved his statement that "Wars not make one great." We are to understand that being a Jedi is about more than just fighting. It's a way of life and of understanding the universe. Watch the prequels and what do we see? Yoda is just another badass with a lightsaber, no different than any of the other Jedi.
• The Empire--I always kind of liked that the Empire seemed to be dominated by humans. It was like one species and one way of thought had decided to gang up on the rest of the galaxy. It showed the dangers of uniformity and dogma while the motley gang of rebels represented individualism and liberty. But in the prequels? Not so much. We get a bunch of droid armies, a robot general with a heart condition and whole assload of clones. Did people buy into the Empire's way of thinking? "No!" say the prequels, "they were just manufactured that way!"

Not to mention spoiling the whole "Darth is Luke's father" thing, although it may be impossible to not know that at this time.

[SteelBlue]

My kids love the older movies and even the new ones to a much lesser extent. I can barely sit through a single one of them old or new. Of course the old ones are much better and they have a nostalgic appeal for me, but beyond that they're all pretty cheesy.