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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Charlaquin" data-source="post: 8075607" data-attributes="member: 6779196">The thing is, machete order is a complete thing. It’s Luke’s story. Inserting II and III between V and VI as an extended flashback recontextualizes those films as backstory to Luke’s journey instead of its own separate journey. And unless you can get your hands on pre-special edition VHS tapes or the despecialized edition, that backstory is necessary to explain why Hayden Christensen shows up with the force ghosts at the end of VI. I gets skipped because nothing that happens in it is relevant to Luke’s story. But II and III very much are. They show how and why Anakin became Vader, in a way that parallels Luke’s own path and leaves the viewer wondering if Luke will make the same mistakes, which makes his appearance at the beginning of VI much more tense. It also puts two extra films between the Luke/Leia kiss and the sibling reveal, and makes the Emperor more of a character instead of a vague villainous forceFollowing VI up with VII and VIII is a bit more questionable. Both films can fit the “it’s Luke’s story” framework, with VII being centered around the goal of finding Luke and VIII showing Luke coming to terms with his own legacy and ending with him giving his life to inspire the next generation to fight back against the resurgent evil. But it also deconstructs Luke’s story as we see it in the preceding films, and leaves the conflict unresolved, which certainly won’t be for everyone. Personally, I like the bittersweet and somewhat uncertain but hopeful tone it gives the series overall and find it especially appropos to today’s social and political climate. But, I can easily see why folks might prefer the more unambiguously happy ending of VI.Yeah. I hate that movie with a passion.I don’t think Rogue One is a good place to start the series. Like, at all. All the best parts of it rely on the audience already being familiar with the series. A newcomer to the series would miss out on so much that’s good about the film without that context. It also makes Vader’s introduction a terrible one-liner, which is a crime in my opinion.Now, if you’re already a long-time fan, then Rogue One might be a great place to start a re-watch of the full series. But I would absolutely not choose it as the first film to show someone who had never seen Star Wars.</blockquote>

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