Star Wars movie watching order

So there are now many Star Wars movies and the question is

Do I watch them in the order they were released (4 5 6 1 2 3 7 R1 8 S), or the diegetic order (1 2 3 S R1 4 5 6 7 8)?

The Machete Order is well known (4 5 2 3 6 7 8, postponing The Phantom Menace and Rogue One) but I disagree with it.

I think Rogue One is the perfect start, and I’m willing to cut out even more movies to make place for it. I do like his idea of putting the prequels (1 2 3) between 5 and 6 instead of the diegetic order (before 4) or the release order (after 6), but... he’s willing to cut out one movie, I’m willing to go a lot further.

I’m proposing a new order called “Let the old dreams die” order, or LODD Order.

Machete Order

Here’s my suggested order

If you feel like watching one movie

The three that works best as stand-alone movies are Rogue One, the fanmade Pulp Empire and the original 1977 Star Wars. You’re missing out on my favorite, The Last Jedi. Could it be watched stand alone? Yeah, anyone of them could, but those three are the ones that work best as stand alone.

If you feel like watching four movies

Rogue One

Star Wars (the original, also known as Episode IV A New Hope)

The Force Awakens (Episode VII)

The Last Jedi (Episode (VIII)

If you feel like watching five movies

A lot of the twists in the Pulp Empire remix pack the most punch if it’s watched first of all.

Pulp Empire (fanedit)

Rogue One

Star Wars (Episode IV)

The Force Awakens

The Last Jedi

If you feel like watching six movies

RotJ has some awesome parts and some... not so good parts, but it ties up some loose ends from Empire so it’s hard to include one without the other. This list, and the next, uses the original Empire Strikes Back over Pulp Empire. I’m not sure if that’s the right call or not, Pulp Empire is pretty great.

Rogue One

Star Wars (Episode IV)

The Empire Strikes Back (Episode V)

The Return of the Jedi (Episode VI)

The Force Awakens (Episode VII)

The Last Jedi (Episode (VIII)

If you feel like watching seven movies

Solo was a cool heist movie in space! Let’s treat it as a prequel in that it’s more backstory for the characters you’ve gotten to love normally, rather than a good introduction to the characters.

Rogue One

Star Wars (Episode IV)

The Empire Strikes Back (Episode V)

Solo

The Return of the Jedi (Episode VI)

The Force Awakens (Episode VII)

The Last Jedi (Episode (VIII)

If you feel like watching ten movies

I’m not the biggest fan of AotC and RotS but they tie up some loose ends from Menace, so, again, it’s hard to include one without the other.

Rogue One

Star Wars (Episode IV)

The Empire Strikes Back (Episode V)

Solo

The Phantom Menace (Episode I)

The Attack of the Clones (Episode II)

The Revenge of the Sith (Episode III)

The Return of the Jedi (Episode VI)

The Force Awakens (Episode VII)

The Last Jedi (Episode (VIII)

Why does LODD-10 include The Phantom Menace here, which the original Machete order cut out? His reason for cutting out The Phantom Menace and Rogue One is because they are peripheral to the story of one of the characters, Luke Skywalker. LODD has a different focus.

If you don’t know how many movies to watch

See Rogue One or Pulp Empire or both and then think about it♥︎