Best order to watch Star Wars

If you’re like me during this COVID-19 pandemic, I’m flipping through the various streaming services to find new content to watch.

Good news, Disney recently released the latest Star Wars movie two months earlier on their streaming platform (Disney +), The Rise of Skywalker.

In this third installment of the Star Wars sequel trilogy, and the last episode of the nine-part Skywalker saga, The Rise of Skywalker follows Rey and the Resistance’s last stand against the First Order.

If you have not watched the other Star Wars movies, or if you have never watched a Star War movie at all (maybe you’re watching with your kids for their first time), you may be wondering where to start.

There are some questions to consider:

• Do I start with the original trilogy or the prequel movies?
• Do I need to watch every movie?
• What about the standalone movies?

Here’s a guide on the best order to watch Star Wars, and my recommendations.

WARNING: there will be spoilers in this article for those who have never watched Star Wars before.

Option 1: Production Release Order

I believe most people will recommend watching the Star Wars movies in the original release date order.

In this option, you will first learn about the story of Luke Skywalker and the Rebel Alliance overcoming Darth Vader. Then you go back in time to learn about Darth Vader’s origin story, followed by Rey picking up the pieces and continuing the legacy that Luke Skywalker left behind in “present time”.

I recommend skipping the standalone movies, which includes Rogue One and Solo because it disrupts the sequel trilogy. However, I will come back to the standalone movies in a bit.

Here’s what the list looks like if you go by release date order:

1. Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope (1977)
2. Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
3. Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi (1983)
4. Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace (1999)
5. Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones (2002)
6. Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (2005)
7. Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
8. Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi (2017)
9. Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker (2019)

Option 2: Chronological Order

I may be one of the few people in the minority who supports watching the Star Wars movies in the chronological order.

Why? Just because A New Hope was released first doesn’t mean it’s the beginning of the story.

In case you didn’t know, when A New Hope (it was originally just titled as Star Wars) was released in 1977, George Lucas was unsure whether the movie was going to be successful. If it tanked, Star Wars would have just been one movie.

Luckily, Star Wars took off and The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi movies were produced to complete the original Star Wars trilogy.

With the chronological order option, you would simply watch the movies in order from Episode I to Episode IX.

The benefit of this option is you can add the standalone movies into this list between Episode III and Episode IV, and it will provide additional context when you watch the original trilogy (episodes IV to VI).

The downside of this option is you will ruin the “surprise reveal” about Darth Vader in the original trilogy because Vader’s origin story is explained throughout Episode I to Episode III.

Here’s what the list looks like if you go by chronological order:

1. Star Wars: Episode I: The Phantom Menace (1999)
2. Star Wars: Episode II: Attack of the Clones (2002)
3. Star Wars: Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (2005)
4. Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018)
5. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)
6. Star Wars: Episode IV: A New Hope (1977)
7. Star Wars: Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
8. Star Wars: Episode VI: Return of the Jedi (1983)
9. Star Wars: Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
10. Star Wars: Episode VIII: The Last Jedi (2017)
11. Star Wars: Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker (2019)

Option 3: Machete Order (I prefer to call it the Most Efficient Order)

A very popular order created by Rod Hilton and supported by many die hard Star Wars fans is the Machete Order.

I prefer to call it the Most Efficient Order because it condenses the list of movies to watch and allows viewers to complete the saga in the quickest time possible.

In this order, you begin with A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back. Once Luke Skywalker learns the truth about Darth Vader, the order of the list takes you to the prequels to watch how a young Anakin Skywalker slowly turns to the Dark Side, before concluding with Return of the Jedi.

And now, with the full conclusion of the sequel trilogy, you can add the sequel saga to the list after Return of the Jedi to complete the whole saga.

This order omits The Phantom Menace and everything from this movie. That means there is no Qui-Gon Jinn, the awkward/weird conversation about how Anakin Skywalker was conceived by the Force, and Jar Jar Binks.

Here’s what the list looks like if you go by the machete order:

1. Star Wars: Episode IV: A New Hope (1977)
2. Star Wars: Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
3. Star Wars: Episode II: Attack of the Clones (2002)
4. Star Wars: Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (2005)
5. Star Wars: Episode VI: Return of the Jedi (1983)
6. Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
7. Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi (2017)
8. Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker (2019)

Optional movies to watch:

• Star Wars: Episode I: The Phantom Menace (1999)
• Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018)
• Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)

My recommendation on the best order to watch Star Wars

If you are tight on time, go with the Machete Order. You will get the most out of the Star Wars experience with the least amount of time by removing three movies from the list.

If you have time, I recommend the Chronological Order because you will witness how everything within the Star Wars saga unfolds in a linear order. The only downfall is ruining the surprise reveal about Darth Vader.

But let’s be honest, I bet most people are aware that Darth Vader is the father of Luke Skywalker, even if they have not watched Star Wars at all.

Thank you for reading! I love chatting with anyone who takes the time to read my content. Please feel free to leave a comment here or reach out to me on Twitter or LinkedIn if you’re interested in talking more about personal development, business, or just about life.