How To Watch Star Wars In Order

The Star Wars universe is an epic space opera franchise created by George Lucas. The story of the universe notoriously begins in a galaxy far far away where there is an ongoing battle between good and evil; the way of the Force and the Dark Side. 

There are 11 live-action films in the Star Wars Universe. The original trilogy follows the main protagonist Luke Skywalker who is thrust from his quiet and mundane life on the dessert planet of Tattooine into a galaxy of lightsabres, action and discovering the truth of his lineage. 

The prequel trilogy unveils the mask of Darth Vader, the antagonist in the original trilogy, going back to his childhood where he was originally known as Anakin Skywalker and understanding how he came to be one of the most feared but also redemptive Dark Lords in the galaxy. 

The Star Wars sequel trilogy picks up 30 years after the ending of the original trilogy and focuses on a conflict between the First Order, a military state led by the Dark Side of the force, and the Resistance, an uprising formed to oppose the First Order. The trilogy follows Force-sensitive scavenger Rey, Finn a deserter of the First Order and Kylo Ren, the son of Leia Organa and Han Solo from the original trilogy, who had fallen to the Dark Side of the Force. 

Adding to the mix we also have the two standalone film live-action movies Solo and Rogue One. Solo follows the early life of fan favourite Han Solo from the original trilogy played by Harrison Ford. We find young Solo, played by Alden Ehrenreich, trying to escape from the life of a slave. In a time where hyperfuel is in demand, Han Solo finds himself deep in a large-scale heist of the criminal underworld where he befriends a wookie and undertakes challenges the change the course of his life. 

Now that we’ve got the introductions out of the way, what order should you watch the Star Wars films? Particularly if you’ve never seen the Star Wars films before, this is a crucial question. There is a long-standing argument on whether its best to watch the Star Wars films chronologically or to watch the movies in release order. 

Some fans are now also suggesting the Machete Order, to help new watchers understand the narrative of the Star Wars Saga. For the machete order, you’re going to start with the Star Wars stories, Solo and Rogue One which will pave the way for A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back. Watching these four films first will give you a more rounded picture of the threat the Empire actually posed and won’t reveal any spoilers. Then after finding out that Darth Vader is Luke’s father in the Empire Strikes Back, go to the prequels and watch Episode I, II and III to understand how Darth Vader came to be. What’s great about this order, is after you’ve got the through the intense final scenes of The Revenge of the Sith, you’ll jump back to The Return of the Jedi to see the storyline come full circle. 

Watching the Saga this way also places Han Solo at the centre of the storyline which makes sense, when watching the third sequel that focuses on Han’s family. So, after revenge of the Sith you will then jump to the third prequel and watch the story continue to unfold. 

• Solo 
• Rogue One 
• A New Hope 
• The Empire Strikes Back 
• Episode I: The Phantom Menace 
• Episode II: Attack of the Clones
• Episode III: Revenge of the Sith 
• Return of the Jedi 
• The Force Awakens 
• The Last Jedi 
• The Rise of Skywalker 

Watching the Star Wars films based on release order is the traditional way to watch Star Wars for the first time, this way you experience the films the way would have in the cinema. You watch the story unfold as the first generation of Star Wars fans did. 

Watching the films this way also minimises any early spoilers and preserves some of the biggest twists in the Saga. So, to experience the Star Wars universe as it happened you’ll start with the original trilogy, then move onto the prequel trilogy, followed by the final trilogy and the Star Wars story movies. Here’s the full list of films in that order: 

• A New Hope 
• The Empire Strikes Back 
• Return of the Jedi 
• Episode I: The Phantom Menace 
• Episode II: Attack of the Clones
• Episode III: Revenge of the Sith 
• The Force Awakens 
• Rogue One 
• The Last Jedi 
• Solo 
• The Rise of Skywalker 

Die-hard Star Wars fans struggle the most with this order of watching the Star Wars Saga. A New Hope was such a radical movie in terms of special effects and the cinematic experience in the 80’s, the original trilogy will always mark the beginning of the Star Wars Saga rather than the chronological beginning of the prequel trilogy. 

The only hang up with watching the movies in this order, is perhaps the most popular character, Luke Skywalker, won’t come into the Saga until the fifth film. However, watching the movies this way is the most honest in a way, as it depicts the events in the order in which they happened. 

For the first time, all Star Wars movies and series’ are on the Disney+ streaming platform, so you can stream all films one after the other. However, you will need a monthly subscription to stream on Disney+. Alternatively, you can also rent the movies from services such as Amazon Prime and other rental platforms.

To watch all 11 Star Wars films, the original trilogy, the prequel trilogy, the final trilogy and the two stand alone films, Solo and Rogue One it would take a total of 26 hours and 55 minutes. 

Since their release, there has been some controversy surrounding the Star Wars prequels. Fans argued that they didn’t have the same narrative and mythos of the original trilogy and the mystery surrounding the back story of Darth Vader and the clone wars was much better when they had a sense of mystery about them. 

The prequels introduced us to Trade Federations, new villains and comical characters like Jar Jar Binks. That combined with the special effects sequences left some fans wondering where the storytelling, wit and mythos of the original Star Wars trilogy had gone. 

Even though the special effect in the original trilogy weren’t as advanced, the elaborate set designs and fight scenes were eye-catching and believable. Whereas the prequel trilogy primarily consisted of CG generated backgrounds that took away the realism that was felt with Tattooine, the Death Star etc in the original trilogy. 

Even so, the prequel trilogy was valuable in transporting us to a time before the Death Star, to an innocent young boy with a knack for flying and we got to see Master Yoda in full action. The original trilogy will always be the pinnacle of Star Wars but the prequels serve a huge purpose in showing us the wider picture of the galaxy far far away, it gives us another piece of the puzzle.