Kai Lord said:
For those who've seen all six, I agree with the chronological order. For those who haven't seen them, I recommend: 4,5,1,2,3,6. You've *got* to have your first introduction of Star Wars be those ships flying overhead...
> SNIP<
I'm torn, myself. I've been wondering what it would be like to see Star Wars (never seeing it before) from 1-6 without knowing what is to come. You lose the punch of Empire but you gain all types of background on the rest of the characters and the whole story. So I'd probably end up using your setup except I may just go 4,5,6,1,2,3 just to keep the flow in order. But it could work either way. It's just cool to know that I could put one together however I liked.
I don't know if I could do all 6 in one day. I've seen Trek 1-5 in one day and the LotR Trilogy (Fellowship & Two Towers Extended, Return of the King regular) in one day in the theater. Both of those lasted easily 12 hours with minor breaks between each flick. Let's break it down. All info gathered from imdb/amazon.
Lord of the Rings Trilogy
Fellowship of the Ring (EE) - 208 minutes (theatrical was 178)
The Two Towers (EE) - 208 minutes (theatrical was 175)
Return of the King - 200 minutes (EE is 250)
Total Marathon (without breaks) run time is 616 minutes or just over 10 hours. This is for the marathon I saw. Home viewing would include all the EEs which brings the total time to over 11 hours. I assume 30 minutes between in film for leg stretching, food runs and such.
Lord of the Rings Marathon Time: 12 hours.
Can easily be done in one day is planned in advance. No weak spots in the viewing of all the films and the flow seemlessly.
Star Trek I-VI: The Classic Films
The Motion Picture - 136 minutes (this is for the Director's cut, the original time is 132)
The Wrath of Khan - 116 minutes
The Search for Spock - 105 minutes
The Voyage Home - 118 minutes
The Final Frontier - 113 minutes
The Undiscovered Country - 113 minutes
Just under 12 hours for all 6 films. The marathon I saw was missing VI because it hadn't been released yet. They had 25 minute break between each film so the total time in the theater was just over 11 hours, same as the LotR Trilogy.
Assuming a home viewing session and 20 minute breaks (shorter breaks for shorter films)...
Classic Star Trek Marathon Time: Just over 13 hours.
Do-able but stretching it as The Final Frontier stunk and could put less hardy fans to sleep, especially if they've seen it before. I'd be tempted to remove it completely from the marathon depending on the company. And just for poops and giggles...
Star Trek Movie Marathon - All Films
The Motion Picture - 136 minutes
The Wrath of Khan - 116 minutes
The Search for Spock - 105 minutes
The Voyage Home - 118 minutes
The Final Frontier - 113 minutes
The Undiscovered Country - 113 minutes
Generations - 118 minutes
First Contact - 106 minutes
Insurrection - 103 minutes
Nemesis - 116 minutes
1031 minutes. 17 hours and that's with no breaks. Let's throw in 15 minutes between each and we're now at 1166 minutes or over 19 hours. That's almost a full day.
Star Trek Marathon Time: Over 19 hours.
Ouch. And the movies don't get better as they go along. Okay, I've never seen Nemesis but from what I've heard it's not great. If the later movies were of the same quality as the earlier films it would be worth it. I'd break it into 2 days. 1-5 day one and 6-10 day two. I'd even be temped to view 1-6 in one day and then show the Next Gen Finale (which could have been a feature film) then 7-10.
Star Wars
The Phantom Menace - 133 minutes
Attack of the Clones - 142 minutes
Revenge of the Sith - 140 minutes
A New Hope - 125 minutes
The Empire Strikes Back - 129 minutes
Return of the Jedi - 135 minutes
The run times assume you are using all the Star Wars DVDs, not the original cuts on laserdisc or anything wacky like that. 804 minutes or just over 13 hours. If we assume an average of 15 minute breaks between each movie...
Star Wars Marathon Time: Nearly 15 hours.
That is quite a haul. Luckily, the films get much better as they go along. There is a slight quality dip in the final movie but by that time you should be bleeding and breathing Star Wars. This is a once or twice in a lifetime thing, IMO. Watching the trilogies separately is probably what most people will do. One day, 15 hours and tons of fun.
A good alternative could be to throw in the Clone Wars DVDs. Each is 1 hour. Here are a few ways to do it -
Day One: Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones, Clone Wars 1 & 2. Run time of 395 minutes. Throw in a few breaks and you have 7 hours of Star Wars.
Day Two: Revenge of the Sith + the original trilogy. Run time of 529 minutes. Throw in breaks and there is 10 hours. You could show RotS either day and you end up just swapping the run times. One day will be around 7 hours and the other will be around 10.
Other Genre Marathons
Because I'm on a roll here's a list of other notable film franchises (minimum 3 feature length films). Assume 15 minute breaks between each film and if there is a director's cut assume it's being watched instead of the theatrical version.
The Matrix (with Animatrix) - just over 9 hours
The Matrix (w/o Animatrix) - just over 7 hours
Indiana Jones - 6.5 hours
Alien Quadtrilogy (Director's Cuts) - 9.5 hours
Alien Quadtrilogy (theatrical release) - just under 9 hours
Back to the Future - just over 6 hours
Blade - 6.5 hours
Jurassic Park - just over 6 hours
Terminator - just under 7 hours
Harry Potter (the first 3, of course) - just under 8 hours.
Evil Dead - 5 hours
Die Hard - 7 hours
Robocop - just under 6 hours
Superman (I-IV) - just under 10 hours
Batman (Burton & Schumacher versions) - just over 9 hours
Rambo - just over 5 hours
Man with No Name Trilogy - just over 7 hours
Kevin Smith's Jersey Films (Clerks, Mallrats, Chasing Amy, Dogma, Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back) - just under 7 hours
Sorry if I missed your favorite.
