Star Wars for the next generation

Hi,

My little girl is six and I think she'd quite like to see the Star Wars film (she has seen the first one but she was too young and has apparently forgotten). But it made me wonder which, from the point of view of a new generation with no nostalgic baggage, was the best of the various versions in circulation to watch? I have no particular axe to grind over whether Han shot first or not, and neither will she. Might perhaps the newer versions with the added special effects and back story be more fun?

Also what do people reckon as to the running order? Original trilogy first, or prequels first? Or maybe the recent fashion to do Star Wars, Empire Strikes back, then the prequels and finally Return of the Jedi?

The original versions of Star Wars, Empire and Return of the Jedi are still the best. All the additional stuff did not add a single thing to the movies other than an excuse to re-sell the same movies to fools.

I won't rehash my hate for the prequels. Inflict them on your daughter as you will.

Interestingly my Dad has no preference between the old and new films, or any of the edits. All the films come under the fun but silly B movies in his book.

The older films are darker and perhaps a little scary. When i was six i found episode V pretty nervy. I still watched it loads but i sometimes used to hide during the degobah bits.


Personally i think the story is easier to grasp in the older films, but im fair biased in this. They have a stronger and more memorable moments and images and therefore might be easier for a Child to comprehend. Having said this though, you don't really need to understand Star Wars in detail to enjoy it.

I'd be tempted by the recent fashion option you noted. Mainly so as not to spoil the I am your father moment.

The unfortunate truth that a lot of Star Wars fans face is that kids these days really did embrace the prequels. I personally like them way more than just about anyone else I know. They work better as a whole than individual movies, while the older trilogy is able to work both ways.

The prequels are definitely more complex in terms of plot, and that does them no favors. Through my most recent rewatch (earlier this year) I think I only just figured out the plot of that trilogy.

As for the new versions of the original trilogy, whatever. I'm not going to pooh-pooh people's problems with the Special Editions and so forth, but the truth is that the Special Editions were the ones I grew up with. For me, Greedo has pretty much always shot first, and I don't think I'm any poorer for it. The only edit that Lucas has made to the old movies that I simply have no use for is the addition of Vader's "No. NO. NOOO!" in Jedi when he chucks the emperor down one of the Deathstar's many pits. I think that's in the Blu-ray version only.

So I'm one of those guys who thinks of it as a six-movie series, reads EU books, etc. I suspect most kids would like all six movies. I would recommend the DVD versions then, or else the Blu-ray set of all six. If you're going to watch them all, that brings them the most in-line with each other. They look like they belong in the same series.

Don't underestimate how much kids are able to understand in these movies. Also, don't overestimate the "problems" that aging nerds have with the special editions or prequels. I despise the prequels, but they're still a far god damned sight better than a lot of kid movies with trash-talking, disco dancing badgers and on-the-nose pop culture references that will date badly by next year.

River is two, and he's watched ANH and liked it just fine. He knows the characters and places, and I'm sure he has at least some idea of what's going on in it.

As for the earlier films being more scary, pish...kids NEED to be scared and then shown that things are all makeup and effects. I can't stand when parents shelter their kids from something that might scare them...THAT'S what scares the kid, the parental concern and coddling. I'd let River watch anything as long as it's not violent or sexual.

I was watching ET last night with him, and I remember seeing it when I was six and thinking about how ET was SO REAL to me then...and how I was kind of scared of him. But then I very distinctly remember seeing this thing on TV where they showed how they (I'm guessing it was Carlo Rambaldi) made the puppet. Then I wasn't scared. Instead, I thought it was awesome.

I've already told him that I'm gonna whip his butt if he gets scared at monsters. We are a monster-loving family.

Anyway, on a more practical level...put all six movies on the table and let the kid pick. Don't overthink this. Don't impose nerd OCD on the situation. I did this with River and he went straight for ANH, probably because of the cover.

Thanks for the thoughts so far. Keep 'em coming. For the record I enjoyed the updated versions of the original trilogy but disliked the prequels. However the whole six hours was worth it for that one scene where Christopher Lee got to have a lightsaber duel with Yoda.

Michael Barnes wrote: As for the earlier films being more scary, pish...kids NEED to be scared and then shown that things are all makeup and effects. I can't stand when parents shelter their kids from something that might scare them...THAT'S what scares the kid, the parental concern and coddling. I'd let River watch anything as long as it's not violent or sexual.

Thumbs up to this. A lot of movies made me feel very uneasy as a kid, and you know what? Those are the ones I have the strongest, most fond memories of now, and rewatched a ton (man, Return to Oz...). Kids like scary, deep down. At least, I did, maybe some kids don't.

My younger brother had a friend whose parents coddled the shit out of him, and I remember when he came over and watched Batman, the Burton one, with my brother...and literally could not sleep that night. He had apparently never learned the "it's just a movie" mantra. He wasn't helped by this scary as hell painting of my dad's that was hanging in my room over his bed, with X-Men villain Arcade presiding over a (S)Laughterhouse with Vermin and Mysterio and etc.

As for Star Wars: I couldn't care less about Greedo and Han (though I understand the complaint), but the jarringly different and flat-out WORSE special effects drive me CRAZY in the special editions: that Jabba who looks nothing like the other Jabba, the hideous music video dance scene in Return of the Jedi, and just the overall early CGI.

I have no plans to show my kid the new trilogy, unless he asks for it. There are *plenty* of awesome movies for kids from the last century without needing to resort to episodes 1-3.

What's this whole "recent fashion" thing?

yeah watch original trilogy first. It's a very special 3 movies to get through as a kid and I'm sure they'll love ROTJ more than we do.

Prequels are insanely violent in comparison but you can still watch those after.

Don't hold back the prequels if you don't like them, because they are part of the story (although that being said my wife refuses to let our girls (6,8) watch Revenge of the Sith as she is concerned about the violence). Kids will either love or hate them, and it is their decision not yours. My kids don't particularly distinguish between them and view it all as one big sextet.

Order is irrelevant (I think my kids watched 1,4,5,6,2, but they forgot so much on first viewing that it didn't matter). For kids, frankly the plot is irrelevant (I think I was 15 before I realized the rebels lost the battle on Hoth).

Ancient_of_MuMu wrote: Don't hold back the prequels if you don't like them, because they are part of the story

"Part of the story" is not a good reason to encourage anyone to read or watch anything. Should we always watch every awful sequel to a movie because they're all "part of the story"? If a friend wants to read my Morrison Doom Patrol comics, I'm not going to go out and make sure he reads all the Kupperberg and Rachel Pollack issues because they're "part of the story". Watch good movies, don't watch shitty movies.

But sure, I wouldn't "hold them back", I just see no need to encourage watching them.

The proper order is as follows:

The Empire Strikes Back
The Wrath of Khan
Stargate

dragonstout wrote: Thumbs up to this. A lot of movies made me feel very uneasy as a kid, and you know what? Those are the ones I have the strongest, most fond memories of now, and rewatched a ton (man, Return to Oz...). Kids like scary, deep down. At least, I did, maybe some kids don't.

The Gate did this for me.

dragonstout wrote:

Ancient_of_MuMu wrote: Don't hold back the prequels if you don't like them, because they are part of the story

"Part of the story" is not a good reason to encourage anyone to read or watch anything. Should we always watch every awful sequel to a movie because they're all "part of the story"? If a friend wants to read my Morrison Doom Patrol comics, I'm not going to go out and make sure he reads all the Kupperberg and Rachel Pollack issues because they're "part of the story". Watch good movies, don't watch shitty movies.

But sure, I wouldn't "hold them back", I just see no need to encourage watching them.

I think I focused on the wrong thing there, because you are right as there are a lot of terrible sequels/prequels. The point I have been thinking about this is that they may very well enjoy the prequels in spite of their parents not liking them, and why should this pleasure be denied to them. They may hate them when they grow up, but most little kids love the prequels.

Khaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaannnnnn

Space Ghost wrote:

dragonstout wrote: Thumbs up to this. A lot of movies made me feel very uneasy as a kid, and you know what? Those are the ones I have the strongest, most fond memories of now, and rewatched a ton (man, Return to Oz...). Kids like scary, deep down. At least, I did, maybe some kids don't.

The Gate did this for me.

TOTALLY. Seen the trailer to the new Joe Dante movie? Totally looks like a throwback to The Gate style kids horror movie.