Submitted by bschwag (not verified) on May 13, 2008 - 2:26pm.
Against the urge to have my son experience Star Wars like I did, we watched them in order, not by theatrical release. I'm glad I did.
My oldest son is 6. He started getting very interested in Star Wars and of course started playing the LEGO game and asking me all kinds of questions. So I opted to go in order starting with Episode I primarily because that movie was overly geared towards kids and I thought it would scare him the least. However, since I was raised with Ep. IV, V and VI first, I didn't feel guilty revealing that Anakin eventually becomes Darth Vader and a few other elements of the plot that were to come. My wife, even though she thinks I'm a Star Wars dork, has really supported my son and I watching them together, and in order, when we found out he was planning to skip one and watch a later movie in the series at a friend's house. So we narrowly avoided the sleepover issue. It has been a great bonding experience for us.
I will say this...He has enjoyed the "original" trilogy much more (IV, V, VI). It's not surprising considering the first three are so thick with government issues. It was difficult for me to explain in kid terms about dictatorships and overthrowing democracy.
All in all, I'm glad we went in order and I was able to guide him along with the knowledge of what was to come, still allowing some things to surprise him and learn along the way. Think about the number of times we've all probably watched Ep. IV, V and VI before we were introduced to the prequels (and how much older we were when we were introduced to that concept).
in order
Against the urge to have my son experience Star Wars like I did, we watched them in order, not by theatrical release. I'm glad I did.
My oldest son is 6. He started getting very interested in Star Wars and of course started playing the LEGO game and asking me all kinds of questions. So I opted to go in order starting with Episode I primarily because that movie was overly geared towards kids and I thought it would scare him the least. However, since I was raised with Ep. IV, V and VI first, I didn't feel guilty revealing that Anakin eventually becomes Darth Vader and a few other elements of the plot that were to come. My wife, even though she thinks I'm a Star Wars dork, has really supported my son and I watching them together, and in order, when we found out he was planning to skip one and watch a later movie in the series at a friend's house. So we narrowly avoided the sleepover issue. It has been a great bonding experience for us.
I will say this...He has enjoyed the "original" trilogy much more (IV, V, VI). It's not surprising considering the first three are so thick with government issues. It was difficult for me to explain in kid terms about dictatorships and overthrowing democracy.
All in all, I'm glad we went in order and I was able to guide him along with the knowledge of what was to come, still allowing some things to surprise him and learn along the way. Think about the number of times we've all probably watched Ep. IV, V and VI before we were introduced to the prequels (and how much older we were when we were introduced to that concept).