Obi-Wan never told you what happened to your movie...Originally posted on the OS on May 29, 2006
As I mentioned in my last entry, there's an article in Star Wars Insider #86 called "A New Order" by J.W. Rinzler about viewing our favorite movies in numerical order. "Now that Episode III is out on DVD, future generations will watch the Star Wars saga in Chronological story order-what does that mean?"
First off, people can watch them in whatever order they want... geez... but mostly the article is explaining how much better it would be to see the six installments in their proper order.
Well, in the immortal words of Obi-Wan Kenobi, "I don't think so!"
I'm not going to go through every point of the article, because frankly, that would be boring and my attention span isn't long enough for that. I had enough trouble finishing the article the first time... too much shaking my head, saying "no, no, nooo, that's not good..."
One point I just have to address is the one about Darth Vader surviving the battle of the death star. Sequels were not common in the 70s, so I can understand a young child not realizing the significance of DV spinning off into space. Nowadays, sequels are as common these days as sand in the desert, so even a person who knows nothing about Star Wars will assume he survives to appear in another movie. And, besides that, there are two movies sitting the box waiting to be watched, and Vader's on the cover!
My point is, it has nothing to do with what order you watched the movies in! There's nothing in the PT to indicate that DV is going to be in Episodes 5 & 6.
I am so glad I saw the movies in the order that I did. If I ever meet someone who's never seen the saga, who knows nothing about the saga (yeah, right), I will recommend that they see it as I did, Episodes 4,5,6,1,2,3. Now, I don't recommend waiting years in between episodes, especially those 16 years between Return of the Jedi and The Phantom Menace... but hey, if you want to go authentic... but if you try to wait 16 years and you die before you see the complete saga, don't come complaining to me...
I admit I like "prequel moments," those times when I'm watching a movie and the light bulb goes on... "Oh! That's how that happened..." or "I know what that's from..."
One of the greatest "prequel moments" for me was at the end of The Phantom Menace... when Mace Windu says, "But which was destroyed, the master or the apprentice?" and the camera pans to the right and focuses on Palpatine... who we know from the OT as THE EMPEROR!
But beyond that, I think viewing the PT first simplifies the story too much. Some people may like it that way, but I feel it takes away a lot of the depth and wonder of the story.
When we first meet Obi-Wan Kenobi, he is a total mystery. Luke thinks of him as a crazy old hermit, and we are as amazed as Luke is to learn about "Old Ben" as the story unfolds. The amazement when he saves Luke from the drunk in the cantina...(which gives us a great "prequel moment" in Episode Two).
Do we really need background information to know that Obi-Wan was at peace when he sacrificed himself to Vader? Sir Alec's terrific acting conveyed that to me way back in 1977... "If you strike me down I will grow more powerful than you can possibly imagine..." The look towards Luke, the smile, and then the closed eyes... I knew...
Most of all, if you see the PT before you see The Empire Strikes Back, you're missing out on one of the most jaw-dropping moments in cinematic history...
"No, I am your father!" Instead of that gasp for air, that "NO WAY" running though your brain, you think, "Yeah, I knew that". I still remember my sister, who'd already seen the movie, giving me an elbow to the ribs and whispering, "What do you think of that?"
Then there was that three-year wait to find out if it was really true! In 1983, a group of people I worked with planned an outing to see ROTJ... during work the night before one of them came to my office to confess that he had never seen ANH or ESB! So I gave him a synopsis of the story... and when I got to the part of "no, I am your father" he was SHOCKED! "Is he really?" My friend asked. "You'll find out tomorrow!" I told him. "I had to wait three years to find out, you can wait until tomorrow afternoon." LOL
Like I said, I don't recommend waiting years, but that sort of suspense for even a few hours can be delicious!
There's more of course, but this is getting too long! And I've had Padawan help in writing this (my thanks for the "yeah, right").
I can imagine seeing all six episodes in order, but I can't imagine the story having the same impact. I don't think Episode One would get anyone hooked on Star Wars like the original. I have always believed that Episode Four was made first because it was a great adventure story, self contained without any dangling plot lines... in case it flopped, of course... but still it left us wanting MORE!
And I still want more Star Wars!
Episode Ten Special Edition: Attack of Senility
I forgot to write about one of the best prequel moments in AOTC...A moment I never would have experienced if I'd seen the PT first...
Near the end of Episode II we see Palpatine, Sen. Organa and others standing on a balcony, watching clone troopers boarding star destroyers, and those star destroyers taking off... and we hear The Imperial March for the very first time... I get chills every time, no matter how many times I see it...
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