In what order should I watch the star wars movies?

WOW ... I've never seen a question on here where so many people have bent the facts around to conform with their opinions. Don't get me wrong, everybody is entitled to their own opinion but ... WOW

Sorry for the rant ... if you want to feel the "magic" that the Star Wars Saga is then you have to watch them in the order that they were released ... ep 4 - 6 THEN ep 1 - 3. Almost every reason that is given here in the other answers and pretty much any other reasons given by the people who say watch them 1 - 6 can be rebuffed rather easily but in order to do that I would have to give away many of the "surprises" of the saga but I can give you a couple of reasons why that won't give too much away ...

Start with the fact that they were released that way and that is how the story was meant to be told. Watching them this way will also keep the "suspense" in them. Both of the trilogies "tell" on the secrets of the others but the prequels take much of the suspense out of the OT with some of the info learned in them. There is a scene in episode V: The Empire Strikes Back that was voted # 4 by SAG as one of the most shocking revelations in the entire history of film ... if you've seen the movies then you know what scene I'm talking about ... if you watch them 1 - 3 then 4 - 6 you will lose the "WTF" value it carried in 1980 because you will already know what it is and it won't seem like a big deal to you. The problem with that is that this event WAS a big deal to the saga itself. It basically took everything we thought we knew and tossed it into the recycle bin. To this day I remember what happened in the theater I was in to watch this movie for the first time and heard Darth Vader utter 5 words that turned the Star Wars saga upside down ... absolute silence ... you could have heard a pin drop 10 miles away ... we were stunned silent by this "revelation" ... this went on for about 10 seconds and then one by one you heard people say, no way ... he's lying ... don't believe him Luke ... and it went on until Luke made his decision and then another cheer went up in the crowd. Yeah, that's the kind of "crazy" we were back then ... remember ... this trilogy grabbed the people of our generation and said ... you think that was cool ... watch this. It's kind of like it was back in the 50s when all the kids were listening to that "Devil Music" called Rock n Roll. It was one of those things that had to be felt not seen. I doubt we will ever seen any movie in any genre that will come close to topping this saga

In the end it is up to you but I would strongly urge you to watch them in the way they were released.

May The Force Be With You ...

To "mystmoonstruck":

Your "book theory" would probably work for just about any other movie series but it doesn't work in this instance. Also ... The third trilogy no longer exists ... it was supposed to be about "the other Skywalker" that Yoda mentions in ep 5. They no longer exist because in order to bring ep 6 to a close Lucas had to take much of what the "other Skywalker" trilogy would have been about and put it in Return of The Jedi. I'm sure that you know who the other Skywalker is but the guy that asked the question doesn't so I can't really give you the proof of this but again, you know who the other Skywalker is and how it changed the story when it was revealed.

Basically, the six movies follow Anakin Skywalker from childhood, through Jedi training, through basically the rest of his life including his battles with Luke Skywalker. I don't wanna give away too much of what happens in each of the movies because I don't know how much you've seen or heard yet. If you wanna follow this sequence, and basically follow Anakin's life, watch them in this order:

Episode 1-Phantom Menace

Episode 2-Attack of the Clones

Episode 3-Revenge of the Sith

Episode 4-A New Hope

Episode 5-The Empire Strikes Back

Episode 6-Return of the Jedi

If you want to watch the films in the order they were made, then you would go in this order: 4,5,6,1,2,3.

The newer movies (1,2,and 3) are considered prequels to episodes 4,5,and 6, meaning that they cover what happened before episodes 4,5,and 6. A prequel is basically the opposite of a sequel.

So you can either watch the movies in order, 1-6, or you can go in the order they were made: 4-6, then 1-3. Either way is up to you. Between those two methods, there really is no "wrong" way to watch Star Wars. They're all good.

I hope I helped. Enjoy Star Wars!!

Star Wars I-VI

Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace

Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones

Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith

Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope

Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back

Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi

That is the story in order. Would you open a novel in the middle to begin reading? If you're reading a book series, would you skip the first three volumes? Why, now that we have two-thirds of George Lucas' vision, would anyone start so late in the story?

Some will say to start with the "middle"~from IV to VI; but, if you want to see how the events of the second trilogy come to be, please watch I, II and III. Those films are the setup for the next three movies. If Lucas fulfills the plans he stated in the Seventies, perhaps we'll have VII, VIII and IX (7, 8 and 9); he vowed he would do three trilogies, and he's made good by giving us two so far!

Perhaps you need to schedule 2 weekends: Weekend 1: Film release order. (oh yeah, I tried it this way and at the end of ROTJ the missus was like: "who the hell is that guy?" when the ghosts appear all together cos I couldn't get hold of the un-tarted-about-with versions). Weekend 2: LucasArts extended prequel story order. I have to say I think I could skip the larger parts of both episodes 1 and 2. There are a few scenes which are important for the plot but a LOT of filler. Episode 3 is where the real plot meat of the prequels sits IMHO. Kind of more satisfying in this order from the point of view of the story arc and making sense of the bits they've tarted about with in the older films, although you do need a 20 year bog-break between episodes 3 and 4. Maybe reverse the order of these weekends, do the story order first to avoid the WTF??? at the end of ROTJ which might spoil it otherwise.

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In Order to watch.

1.Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace

2.Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones

3.Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith

4.Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope

5.Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back

6.Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi

It's extremely confusing but this is the way to watch them. It's in order from watching the new ones first, then the old ones. Watch them in this order above.

Episodes four through six (A New Hope, Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi) happen after the newer trilogy, but were made many years before. The newer trilogy, episodes one through three, happen before, but were made only a few years ago. That's why they are referred to as prequels. I would suggest watching the original trilogy (ep. four through six) first, but if you want to watch the movies in chronological order, watch the newer trilogy first, then the older ones. Just to let you know-- the newer movies have great special effects, but the older movies are one hundred times better in every other way.

Well that depends. Have you ever seen any of the Star Wars movies??? If not then do what I did with my girlfriend. Sat down and watched them all in order. Because if you watch them in the order they were made you will know stuff that will ruin the episodes 1-3. She said she loved the surprises and for me being someone that watch the originals and then the new ones I felt like they were just a reminder of stuff I already knew.

well, the correct sequence would be 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and then 6...

but i would watch them in the order that they came out.

4, 5, and 6 came out in the 70's i believe, so i would watch those

then watch 1 - 3.

watch it in 1 - 6 order if you already know what the big plot twist in the old movies is.

this is the order they released

4, 5, 6, 1 , 2 ,3

so you could watch they way they released or in order you wont get confused because 1 starts it out and 4 interduces you the series..i watched it in order : )