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Denzark
04-22-2011, 02:36 AM
My spawn is 3 years 8 months. He knows who Darth Vader is, but not the context because he has never seen it. Given Star Wars has multiple limbs being lopped off, and nasty scabby Darth Vader with his melty head, I planned to wait until 4 to watch (this is when I saw it). Is this too young?

But the main question is:

Do I start with Episode I The Phantom Menace, or Episode IV A New Hope? And with IV-VI do I show him the originals or the special editions?


AAAAAAAAAAAAAAIiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiEEEEEEEEEEEEeeee eeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!! It burns! What a consideration - get this wrong and I scar him for life - what happens if he grows up thinking Gungans are a good thing?

MC Tic Tac
04-22-2011, 03:05 AM
Start with "A New Hope"

Get him into the good stuff first!

But on the other hand Episodes 1-3 are more "kiddy" for lack of a better word and could appeal to him more....

eldargal
04-22-2011, 05:02 AM
I'd start with ANH, if I had kiddies. I was watching them when I was three so I wouldn't say 3 and 8 months would be too young.

The prequels aren't bad if you skip through the romance and gungan scenes. I was really surprised when I sat down and watched them again on DVD, enjoyed them a lot more than I thought I would. Especially III. Which was pretty good to begin with mind you. Lovely seeing all those Jedi get what was coming for them.

Teach them to go stealing my solo krayt dragon kill in SWG. Who laughing now, eh? Not you because you got order 66d and are dead.:cool:

archimbald
04-22-2011, 05:50 AM
A New Hope, its no Contest, at that age i doubt plot continueity matters that much

Drew da Destroya
04-22-2011, 07:37 AM
Definitely start with A New Hope, especially if you want him to get a good context for Vader. Badass Sith Lord > Whiny Kid.

With original vs. special edition, I guess it depends on what you have on hand. I thought that the special editions were cool, except the awkward Han moments in a ANH (that weird meeting with Jabba and Han shooting second). Some purists prefer the original, obviously, but for a 3-and-8-month-old, it likely won't make a huge difference.

Also, you're clearly late on showing these movies... he already knows who Vader is, but hasn't seen the movies? Mr. Denzark, you should be ashamed!

DrLove42
04-22-2011, 08:13 AM
I've recently had the same situation...kinda. my fioncee's 21 and has never seen any of them!

So i had to decide what order to run through them. You either start with ANH, then go back to prequels....but then you end on Ep3, which is a very depressing ending, and so you have to watch 4-6 again to remind yourself it ends well

Or you watch 1-6, in which case you watch the worst 2 first, and might not be able to convince to watch on through 3-6.

Necron2.0
04-22-2011, 12:22 PM
Start with the original Star Wars (aka "A New Hope"). End with "Return of the Jedi." Tell your son that George went insane sometime during the making of Jedi (which explains the army of mad Teddy Ruxpins), and that we don't watch the prequels out of respect for Mr. Lucas' delicate mental condition.

I had the exact opposite reaction that Eldargal had. I watched them all several years later, thinking maybe I'd been too harsh. I found I hated them even more, especially the last one. The plot seemed rushed, the action was implausible at best, many of the effects were terrible, and writing was atrocious ("Hold me like you did on Naboo, when there was no war ..." WORST LINE EVER).

I found myself completely agreeing with this guy (Warning: Although done for comedic effect, the author of the following uses graphic language and disturbing imagery. Viewer discretion advised.)

http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=D4D5469C3A9C9644

Denzark
04-22-2011, 04:11 PM
All in all, I reckon I will go with 4-6 first, then gungan madness later. I will also go special edition as I am not sure if the remastered originals have the 5.1 sound and there is nothing to match the sound of twin ion engines screaming left to right behind your head (although Jango seismic mines sound pretty cool).

On the subject of Phantom Menace, I must confess to a sneaking like of this film. 2 reasons really. When I was younger I went to the release of RotJ but don't recall the hype - I was not a die hard fan then as I was 4-5 ish. But Phantom was the first new SW film for my generation. It also has what i reckon is the best light sabre fight of the series - Darth Maul. I love the start when they look at each other and drop cloaks - this is like a classic 'outside now' moment in a pub fight.

Drew you're correct - the missus got in there with Lego Star Wars T-shirts before the indoctrination started. On Sunday I will rectify this with a grand showing.

Dr Love if your missus has gone 21 years without seeing the holy of holies you must really love her - you need to see if she has seen Godfather II and Bladerunner - if not you may be in trouble...(joking of course)

EG surely JEDI wouldn't have stolen your krayt dragon unless it was sort of impounding a dangerous creature interfering type goodness - theft is not a good trait???

eldargal
04-22-2011, 05:45 PM
That is why you need to skip the romance and gungan scenes Necron, there is much less of it in the third film but still enough to justify skipping.;)


Jedi in SWG were famous for kill stealing because there was no tagging. I made some of the best armour in the game, bought the best rifle in the game,got the best bufffs in the game and went and soloed a Krayt dragon (world raid boss) and they came along just before I did enough damage to it to claim whatever it dropped and killed it.

lobster-overlord
04-22-2011, 07:49 PM
At one point I figured the optimum sequence for best effect would be

4, 5, 1, 2, 3, 6

You still get teh surprise revelation of Vader in 5, and then get his back story, then get the heroic redemption. As a good story from the Call to Adventure point of view, it can work still.

From a good story telling point of view, skip 1, 2, and 3. no point any more. If Lucas had left out the whole part about anakin taking on the name of Vader, and then the whole suiting up, you coudl get the shock effect of 5 by watching them in order never having seen them, but otherwise, that is gone... and that was the whole poitn of 5 and that story element in the first place ("oh crap, Vader's his dad!")

DarkLink
04-22-2011, 10:03 PM
I like that ordering.

Cyberscape7
04-23-2011, 08:50 AM
My order is a little bit odd but bear with me. In order: episodes 1,4,2,5,3 then 6.
This way you start off with the first film introducing all the characters that play an important part in the upcoming films. Then episode 4 shows you the characters future and still keeps the mystery behind who vader is (if you don't know yet of course). Then you get to say Anakin older as a mature jedi, and you can see his progression to the dark side. This is followed by the revelation of who darth is:eek: Then you finally get to see the birth of vader and the empire. and finally you end with the concluding film. Personally I find the jumps to-and-fro the original and prequel trilogies, interesting and keeps things mixed up.
Of course if the kids only goin 2 be 4 then its better to go with the original trilogy followed by the prequels. Method mentioned above is only for the moderatley insane or brave...

Denzark
04-23-2011, 12:45 PM
Having thought about this I think the only order to explain things is 4,5,6 then 1,2,3 then 4,5,6 again. I can't see the mix and match approach doing anything other than confusing new padawan although could see how it would make sense to a veteran of say, the 181st's standing.

Emerald Rose Widow
04-23-2011, 08:33 PM
Teach them to go stealing my solo krayt dragon kill in SWG. Who laughing now, eh? Not you because you got order 66d and are dead.:cool:

OH GOD, fraking SWG, taht game pissed me off to no end. Frakking ridiculous crap of a game -mutter grumbles-



As for order, I say go for 4-6 first, just stick to the order they were made, then go back and show the few good parts of the first 3. When I say this I mean the lightsabre battles of course -giggles- sorry, i do love me some lightsabre duels. But seriously, 4-6 first, the originals, the best of the best, bring that boy into the series the good way.

I will say I do love the clone wars cartoons, its a really lighthearted look at star wars taht is great for the new generation of nerds. It brings the kids in by doing it in a way that fits with their sense of humour as well as how they like a story. I think the cartoons were done very well to be honest, and really gets you into the whole thing, so the cartoons are a great way for a kid to get started in the star wars universe.

eldargal
04-24-2011, 02:09 AM
SWG had great potential, it had all the usual launch problems but it was shaping up to be a superb sandbox mmo. No heroes, just soldiers, dancers, craftsmen etc. Sure i you joined the Empire you could meet Darth Vader and the Emperor but they just ordered you about, you weren't fist bumping them from the start and being treated as super important heroes. Then they changed it all with the NGE and you have Luke Skywalker on speed dial and everything is dumbed down beyond recognition.:(

Bigred
04-24-2011, 08:29 AM
Start with IV, and add in a long multi-year pause between the two trilogies. I-III are so bad, you need to be older to really appreciate it.

I still remember the sensation of horror when Padme and Anakin roll down the meadow with the music rolling in Ep.II and I thought I was watching a Summer's Eve commercial... *shudders*

Emerald Rose Widow
04-24-2011, 11:39 AM
SWG had great potential, it had all the usual launch problems but it was shaping up to be a superb sandbox mmo. No heroes, just soldiers, dancers, craftsmen etc. Sure i you joined the Empire you could meet Darth Vader and the Emperor but they just ordered you about, you weren't fist bumping them from the start and being treated as super important heroes. Then they changed it all with the NGE and you have Luke Skywalker on speed dial and everything is dumbed down beyond recognition.:(

Yeah, it was worse when later they made it so that you could be a jedi from the get go, from that point on there was no fixing it, SWG was forever destroyed and dumb. Ugh i was so disappointed, I cant wait for the bioware star wars game to come out SWTOR, it will kick SWG's butt.

scadugenga
04-24-2011, 08:08 PM
Denzark,

Definitely go the original trilogy first. (Han shot FIRST, damnit!) :)

If you want to see what Lucas should have done with the "prequel" series. See if you can't find a copy of "The Phantom Edit."

It really is the superior version of the film. :cool:

Emerald Rose Widow
04-24-2011, 11:44 PM
Denzark,

Definitely go the original trilogy first. (Han shot FIRST, damnit!) :)

If you want to see what Lucas should have done with the "prequel" series. See if you can't find a copy of "The Phantom Edit."

It really is the superior version of the film. :cool:

I will have to look into it

Grailkeeper
04-25-2011, 05:39 AM
If he's three years old he's the perfect age for Jar JAr Binks. People forget star wars is aimed at kids

Denzark
04-25-2011, 07:08 AM
Heresy!

Drew da Destroya
04-25-2011, 07:38 AM
Good lord, Jar Jar.... I kept hoping that at the beginning of Episode 3, during the opening crawl, you'd see Jar Jar's head scroll up, you'd hear a Lightsaber, the head would go rolling off, you'd hear Han shout "You're all clear, kid!" and then the crawl would restart with "Episode 1: We're really, really sorry about those first two. Forget they happened."

Skragger
04-25-2011, 11:29 AM
Heres my advise.
4,5 and 6. and then, in a few years. 1, 2, and 3. BUT ONLY THE RIFFTRAX versions. Its the only way to survive those films.

I saw epsode 1 when I was.. what.. 8? Back when I thought GI Joe reruns from the 80s were the epitome of cool, and even then I hated it.

Emerald Rose Widow
04-25-2011, 01:19 PM
If he's three years old he's the perfect age for Jar JAr Binks. People forget star wars is aimed at kids

yeah, the problem with that is that you are now exposing them to Jar Jar and they'll start to think star wars is some cutsie world full of stupid people who in the end do well by accident.

Drew da Destroya
04-25-2011, 07:02 PM
yeah, the problem with that is that you are now exposing them to Jar Jar and they'll start to think star wars is some cutsie world full of stupid people who in the end do well by accident.

I dunno if he does well in the end... he puts the most evil man in the galaxy in charge of the galaxy... if the rebels didn't murder him, you can be sure Palpatine did, if only to tie up loose ends.

eldargal
04-26-2011, 02:07 AM
The fate of Jar Jar:
http://www.euro-chimaera.co.uk/forum/imagehosting/145947b5a7c8c68e9.jpg

I did love the housing decoration system in SWG, I got a lot of satisfaction from having this on my private yacht.

Emerald Rose Widow
04-26-2011, 02:32 AM
hehe, thats awesome eldargal

Aenir
04-29-2011, 12:13 PM
Now it may be me, But if he is a true vader fan, show 3-4-5 and end it there, The Empire rules all!! :)

no need for gungans, general idiocy (both in the actual term, and in the context of an army leader) or fuzzy bears...

Emerald Rose Widow
04-29-2011, 12:19 PM
Now it may be me, But if he is a true vader fan, show 3-4-5 and end it there, The Empire rules all!! :)

no need for gungans, general idiocy (both in the actual term, and in the context of an army leader) or fuzzy bears...

Hey, other than the clusterfrak of the whole ewok incident, RotJ was an awesome movie, and you get to see more of the emperor. Other than those small bits RotJ is better than the rest by far, the story concludes, you get to see Luke become less of a whiny little *****, and you can never go wrong with the emporer.

Aenir
04-29-2011, 11:23 PM
that is quite true, but with a child that young, all he will remember is the ewoks! which is sad because you get to hear the most famous line of the series!

But you do have to deal with the unfortunate idiot ball of the Empire :(

Denzark
04-30-2011, 09:42 AM
So, I went with Episode IV first. My boy thought it was awesome, although wants to know why Luke Skywalker is sad. He was unfazed by a burnt crispy Aunt Beru and Uncle Owen (possibly didn't recognise them luckily). He doesn't like jawas, particularly when they ion-blast R2-D2. He is poo-scared of Sand people.

Whilst I think Empire is ace, and one of the best of the series, I think with torture and hand-loss (Ponda Baba excepted) it may be a little much. I also find Yoda and Dagobah a wee bit tedious, as well as hiding in a giant space slug.

I therefore must admit I am considering Episode I - the Phantom Menace next. Just for child friendliness.

bfmusashi
04-30-2011, 01:32 PM
In our house we decided he will be 5 (so he can fully comprehend the awesome) and start on 4, because it should be a surprise that Yoda is a badass. It's also a lot harder to think of Vader as a big bad dude when you watch him whine through the second movie.