Did you see the Star Wars prequels before you saw the originals?

[shimyia]

i saw the original - then the 3rd prequel and then the 3 original and so on...

i was very young - i wouldn't understand shit...

but the ones i absolutely know i saw were : the original first and the 3 prequels.

and IMO the 3rd preques is the best of the group i saw

 

[bauke67]

I saw the prequels first, and I don't care what anyone says, I liked'em better than the originals.

 

[Jumping_Over_Fences]

I remember wanting to walk out of the theater when I saw Han talking to Jabba when I saw Star Wars Special Edition.

I think that statement alone should answer all of your questions.

 

[bdcjacko]

I'm 30. So I would have to have been living under a rock not to have seen Star Wars before I saw the prequals.


****I should mention I'm 30 on a nerd interest website, I know there are plently of people who aren't into scifi and older than me that had to see the prequals first when their kids begged and pleaded to go see them in theaters.

 

[Zack Alklazaris]

My parents forced me to watch the originals and by originals I speak of the old VHS this picture has been formatted to fit your tv originals.

I hated it. Then the movies came out on the big screen. While I didn't care for most of the changes I was blown away with Star Wars once I saw it on the big screen. That goes with the entire series. Yes the prequels have some crappy moments, but they always look spectacular in a theater. Add in a healthy Star Wars crown and no matter how bad the movie is its a good experience.

 

[Vivi22]

Nope I was born in the late 80's era and thus watch the original on VHS tapes. So I guess I'm bias to say the original is better compared to 1,2 and 3.

My story is much the same as yours, and I actually used to wonder sometimes if maybe it was just bias that made me like the originals more than the prequels since I grew up watching those movies a lot. But since the prequels were released I've seen them a few more times each over the years on TV and whatnot and I've long since come to one, almost inescapable conclusion: the prequels are not only worse than the originals in just about every conceivable way, they're also worse than I remember them being when I was young and naive and saw them in theatres.

Everything from the acting, writing, directing, pacing, it's all not only worse than the originals, but objectively bad. The only reason I can see anyone liking them is if they can shut off their brain to the idiocy of their characters and stories and just be impressed by the mediocre CG battle scenes and lightsaber fights. So basically, I imagine the prequels do well among the same audience that enjoys Michael Bay films.

And none of this is said with the intention of indicating that I hold the originals sacred either. They may not be perfect films, but by god they're better than anything Lucas has had a firm hand in since.

 

[Airon]

I watched the original three films at the cinema as a kid. Star Wars, 3 x in a week(I was six), Empire Strikes Back twice (darker with plenty of action and fine character development) and Return Of the Jedi thrice, though not in a week this time.

I found the prequels to be fun, though I only liked them when seeing through the eyes of kids. Alone and being an adult I found them too simple and very bad in the character department.

Judging by Drew McWeeny's viewing with his kinds ( check that shit out at the Motion/Captured blog http://www.hitfix.com/blogs/motion-captured ) the perfect sequence to view these films with kids is :

Star Wars
Empire Strikes Back
Phantom Menace
Attack of the Clones
Revenge of the Sith
Return of the Jedi

 

[Bassik]

The prequels were the first Star Wars films I ever saw, and I hated them instantly.
No, it wasn't Jar Jar, although he didn't help, but the entire plot was a confusing mess with static, robot-like characters that I didn't feel any connection with and acted out of character whenever it was convenient for the plot.

I never saw the third film until years after it came out, and while the special effects in every film just blew me away, I did not care about anything that was happening in the action scenes, because the film did not always tell us what was going on and why. The most glaring example is General Grievus, who came out of nowhere for me, but was written as if the audience knew exactly who he was. That''s just terrible writing. The whole prequel trilogy was poorly written and over-relaint on special effects. Would it have killed the film makers to use some real props and sets for their actors to interact with?

My friends bugged me enough to watch the original trilogy, and while it didn't blow me away like it has so many people, they were quite enjoyable. And I knew what was going on, and the actors at least tried to make a connection to the audience. They felt like real films, unlike those prequels did.

 

[Tinybear]

Saw the originals first, think I was 7-8 first time I saw them, and saw episode 1 when I was about 14. I liked it when I first saw it, but that was very much because of that I thought the special effects were cool. Saw it again three years later, and realized it was utter shit, just like ep. 2 and 3 (special effects had faded on me, and dear god, the plot is based on everyone having an average IQ of 80).

To put it simple, the originals have a rating of 9.7/10 in my books, the new ones are 4.0.

 

[Leninv3l]

My dad showed me the original trilogy on VHS (theatrical versions) when i was four, so like 1998, and i was intrigued by its coolness. Everything was cool to me, the characters, setting, battles. It was just brilliant.

In like 2000, i recall my brother,dad and I going to the theater to see PM. I thought the battles were cool, but saw most of the movie as boring and hard to follow. I saw the other prequels, and thought they were awesome at the time, but I quickly forgot about them, besides the action parts.

Fifth grade must've been about when I realized how superior the originals were, after I saw RotS. All in all, I still see the original trilogy as a great series, and I don't believe that I've watched any of the prequels since 2006.

 

[HardkorSB]

I saw bits of the old trilogy when I was a kid but I didn't remember much so when I saw the new ones , it was pretty much my first contact with Star Wars. I saw the prequels before the hate began. Here's what I think:

Ep.1 - with the exception of the final light saber scene, it was boring as fuck
Ep.2 - the action sequences weren't bad and the CGI was pretty, I didn't care for the plot (I payed so little attention to it that I thought that Count Dooku was the emperor
Ep.3 - it all seemed like an excuse to kill off all the characters that weren't in "A New Hope", the CGI was still pretty

Ep.4 - with the exception of the Death Star battle scene, it was boring as fuck (it's like poetry, they rhyme
Ep.5 - the visuals are great, I really liked the snow planet battle scene, the twist was OK, the plot wasn't that bad either, all in all the best of the 6
Ep. 6 - Yoda was cool, the scenes with the Emperor were quite engaging as well, the visuals were also nice,

As a whole? The most overrated movie series ever made.

 

[Slash Dementia]

I watched the original trilogy first. Two of my uncles are completely obsessed with them, so I got to watch it with them. After a few years, I watched the new trilogy and it was okay. I mean, I was 15 when the last movie came out. By then, the new movies started to lose everything because I watched the originals again. Nothing seemed to even compare. The new movies were pretty dull and didn't have that same adventurous feel as the first three.

Now ,I don't even watch the new ones when I go on a Star Wars marathon.

 

[Varanfan9]

Kind of. My watch order was I,II,IV,V,VI,III. I had watched the original trilogy while waiting for episode 3 to come out. As for which trilogy is better I really don't know. Both trilogies had there ups and downs. I more compare the movies themselves than the trilogies they're in. So for that here is how I list them in order from greatest to least:
V,I,II,IV,VI,III. Though II and IV are kind of in a tie with each other in my opinion.

 

[mental_looney]

I saw the originals first and still think they are better, I enjoyed the prequels ok at the time but really don't like them as much as the originals

 

[Muspelheim]

I saw the Phantom Menace first, and I remember I adored it. Hey, I was a kid, it was more or less made for me. I loved Jar Jar Binks the Bumbling Sidekick, and I liked all the amusing sounds and flashes. Also, there were kickass robots. I really wanted the robots to win.

Then, I saw the first three films. I liked them as well. Less colour and flash, but enough to keep me interested. Also, I fell flat for Darth Vader. I thought he was so damn cool with his cape and raspy breath.

Then I saw the other two prequels. They fell alot flatter. But by then, I had realized I just came into a Star Wars film for the lasers and explosions anyway, so it didn't matter very much. I had enough sense to find Anakin's preformance cringe-worthy, however. Sort of ruined my relationship with the old chainsmoking sod.

Now that I've grown a modicum of taste, I'd say the original three is better. The prequels are not entirely awful, but I wouldn't want to see them sober. But it's still just Star Wars. Good films and responsible for bringing sci-fi into furnitured rooms, but it's still just Star Wars. There's loads of better films.

And because I think it's related... I saw all the Indiana Jones-films as a kid. I still like the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Not the best one, but it's a good Indiana Jones-flick. I never felt like George Lucas had done indecent things to my nostalgia, pretty much because I didn't have any real nostalgic feelings to the first three. They weren't a monolithic part to my childhood or anything, they were just amusing little films about adventure and nazis.

Furthermore, the fridge-scene is my personal highlight of the series. I'm sorry, but I love it. Makes about as much sense as anything else Indie gets involved in.

 

[Bassik]

Want a good Star Wars alternative? The new Star Trek film, ironically, did everything Lucas should have done. The same flashy effects were there, the action scenes were just as breathtaking, but everything that wasn't an action scene was still compelling and interesting, probably because they used a lot of real sets so the actors could move around more, interact with the environment, and it didn't look like a cartoon.
Also the script and dialogue worked much, much better.
It's not a perfect film, and it sure as hell didn't feel like Star Trek, but it did everything the prequels should have done.

 

[ace_of_something]

The first movie I saw in a theater was Return of the Jedi. Granted I was like 3 years old and don't remember it but...

My wife hadn't seen any of the star wars movies until we got married, we watched them in order Phantom Menace being first... she loved them all. I actually like the prequels too (though aiden whatever his name is was aweful) so maybe we're not the best to ask.
They;re fun movies.

 

[Smooth Operator]

Saw new ones first at the ripe age of sugar snorting puberty and I thought they were awesome, so much splosions and pewpewpew lazorz! Like totally OMG!

Then after a couple of years I gave up on my hyperactive habits and saw the originals, I was quite shocked that Star Wars had some actual substance in it, so then of course I had to watch the prequels again to pull all the knowledge together... and the horror, the horror!
Why are these actors casually reading teleprompters, why are you dispelling the force mystery, why are you portraying mister Darth awesome as a sobbing *****, why do half the people already know what's gonna happen, Jar Jar ... why would you do this!?