Star Wars

Another very well known series but one that I have always loved. That is not to say I love every part of it though. see my recommendations below in the order I think you should watch them. I am going to use this page for TV and films because I think the best way to watch some of the shows is to watch them between some of the films.

I think the best parts of Star Wars present a unique setting in a way that makes it feel believable even though it is fantastical. I would describe it as Science Fantasy rather than Sci-Fi because of various elements such as the force and the lack of any real hard physics based stuff.

Rouge One

Great

This may seem like a weird place to start for Star Wars fans but I think watching the original trilogy first is the best way to go and Rouge One leads in very nicely to A New Hope.

This is a very good film that has good stakes, introduces some key characters to the original trilogy very well and feels great to watch.

Unlike a lot of my other fan edit recommendations which I think are the best way to watch a lot of the films or series where I have recommended them I don't think this film needs the fan edit as much. However there is a good fan edit called: The Battle of Scarif that really trims this down and just has the main battle at the end if you want a short mini film to watch before watching A New Hope.

A New Hope

Masterpiece

My favorite Star Wars film. I think this has incredible world building, introduces the wonder of Star Wars perfectly and is just all around a great film. If you are not going to watch any other Star Wars film watch this one.

So why the originals first? Well I think watching the prequels first spoils a few things and it is more fun to watch them as a kind of flash back after watching the originals.

George Lucas went back and edited a lot of the originals adding CGI that wasn't really needed. I don't mind watching the films with this in, but if you want to watch them like they were in cinema when they first released try Harmy's Despecialized Editions.

The Empire Strikes back

Masterpiece

My second favorite Star Wars Film after A New Hope. This one is probably the fan favorite too. We see some incredibly realised worlds, get some iconic plot twists and see a great defense from the rebels.

Return of the Jedi

Great

A good conclusion to the original trilogy but it has some slightly weird plot points that aren't the most logical if you think too much about them. Worth watching but not the best of the films.

Tales of the Jedi S1 ep2 + ep3

Masterpiece

The Tales of the Jedi series is possibly one of the best released by Disney. It is an animated show but fills in some gaps for different Characters. These show Qui-Gon and Dooku before The Phantom Menace and lead into that film very well.

The Phantom Menace

This is probably my least favorite of the Star Wars films that I recommend watching. I find this film to have bad pacing, the Gungans are annoying and many elements don't really matter that much to the wider story. However there is an interesting story of a Jedi who doesn't entirely agree with the order doing what he believes is right here. I highly recommend the Hal9000 fan edits for all of the prequels but I think The Phantom Menace one called: Cloak of Deception helps most and made this film a lot more enjoyable for me. It removes the Gungan city section and tightens up the pacing a lot.

Tales of the Jedi S1 ep4

Masterpiece

Another Tales of the Jedi episode that fits well between The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones.

Attack of the Clones

Great

I think this is where the prequel trilogy and the Clones Wars as a whole really gets going. The introduction of the Clones is great, I think Kamino is a really interesting planet and Obi-Wan is particularly good in this one. Again I recommend the Hal9000 edit called: The Approaching Storm for this one. It adds in some deleted scenes that make the love story feel more believable.

The Clone Wars

Masterpieces

There are two Clone Wars Series both of which I believe are incredible and possibly some of the best Star Wars to exist. Both are animated and have rather different styles and have some inconsistencies between the two. If you want something short to watch just watch the Genndy Tartakovsky 2003 Clone Wars series. If you want the full story of what happened throughout the clone wars watch the new Clone Wars series that started in 2008 with a film and then an animated series, just be wary that these start a little rough and improve a lot later. There are also a few wacky episodes that are probably better skipped. Also the last 4 episodes of the final season overlap with Revenge of the Sith and should be watched after Revenge of the Sith if you haven't seen it.

Personally I think the best way to watch the Clone Wars as a whole is to watch The Clone Wars: Refocused which is a fan edit by Eddie Dean that brings all of this clones content into a nice whole and removes a lot of filler. If you do watch this way I recommend not watching the extra episodes if you want to avoid any filler. Eddie has a great spreadsheet that has a viewing order and what to watch based on you preferences though. I also recommend watching his coda for rebels as that show has a lot of filler and I personally can't recommend it has a whole.

Revenge of the Sith

Masterpiece

The best of the prequel trilogy films in my opinion. There are some great battle scenes in this one. Obi-Wan and Anakin are both at there best here. We also get a good tie up to lead in to A New Hope. All in all a good film with some iconic moment. I still recommend the Hal9000 edit called: Labryinth of Evil for this one. The changes are reasonably light but work well, although do watch the alternate version if you want this to fit in with the Clone Wars series.

Other Stuff

I can't fully recommend any of the other TV or films. Some I just don't like and others aren't finished yet or have open plot threads that need concluding before I would recommend them. The best of the ongoing shows are undoubtedly Andor and The Mandolorian and I would highly recommend them based on what has been produced so far. The Han Solo film was also pretty good as a prequel about the character but I don't think it is really needed.

Star Wars has some amazing video games you can see them here in my video game recommendations.