Watching Star Wars for the first time [lvl 3]

Watch the three original release films without cgi updates first.

I believe the general consensus among fans is that the machete order is the best way to experience the films. Though I've never tested this out myself.

Just watch the Christmas special and you'll be good

Watch the original trilogy.

Just watch the original 3 movies.

Regardless of how and which order you watch them, you are going to be in for a lot of fun. :)

You know, it could be fun if you gave us your impressions as you watch them. We promise to stay quiet throughout.

Well, I do.

Cheers!

I personally think that the better way to experience the series is to watch it in the release order, it just flows better because you're meant to have the benefit of hindsight when watching the prequels. About the shows, watch them after you're done with the movies, but feel free to watch them in whatever order you feel like since they were all written to slot in quite random parts of the story.
As a side note, I've been putting off watching episode IX ever since it released, I'm aware of it being a complete train wreck so I just keep telling myself "maybe next weekend" every single time I remember it exists.

I recommend watching both the movies and shows in release order if you want to experience the universe expanding as the lore grew with the franchise.

That said, I still think it's perfectly acceptable to watch in chronological order... provided you're okay with the in-universe tech being all over the place. One moment things will look shiny and new, the next things will look old and clunky. Part of it can be explained away with lore... Some just can't.

Hope you enjoy your time though. And thanks for the giveaways!

I've been watching them with my kids for the last few months.

I went chronological order (Just the movies, too many TV shows).

Reflecting back I think I like watching episode 4 & 5 with the knowledge from the prequels about Vader, Obiwan, Luke & Yoda's previous relationships.

I think I dislike watching episodes 1,2,3 with the knowledge of where it is all leading. I think it's more impactful/shocking if you didn't know.

The Clone Wars cartoon does a great job establishing groundwork for Clone Protocol 66, but that's a lot of viewing. Worth it, but a lot of viewing.

Story-wise, chronological order. But you already know enough of the story because of the references, you're probably gonna be this all the time:

View attached image.

The end of V is supposed to be a surprise (meaning, don't go chronological), but now that it's decades old, virtually everyone has had it spoiled. Still, against chronological because if I saw Episode I first, I'd probably rethink my plan to watch 8+ more of these.

The best order is to watch the episodes as follows: 4, 5, 2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 9
Watching episodes 2 and 3 as an extended flashback between 5 and 6 preserves the two biggest surprises.
You can then watch the other movies and TV shows in no particular order.

When you rewatch them later, you can do so in chronological order, with the additional movies and TV shows in the appropriate spots

I love the order of release tbh, bc IV, V, VI were what was supposed to be told and (just skipping the intro), then realizing "oh, maybe we should tell the intro after all, bc ppl are interested! let's do that!" So yeah, the main focus should imho be on the first released ones, the rest is a nice addition (sometimes) to an universe we love. Some failed (imho) (ty disney) and others are just awesome. And Mandalorian is just... omg, i have to watch the new season! runs

You could try doing it in order (1 through 6) or starting from 4-6 and then 1-3, i would prefer the first one as that's the chronological order. I would also recommend watching some animated series such as "The Clone Wars" and it's sequel "The Bad Batch" and of course "The Mandalorian" but i see you're already watching it, everyone says it's amazing.
I haven't watched 7-9 completely so i can't say if they're good, but if you want to watch them I would also add Rogue One after watching 7, it's a nice spinoff movie.

I did chronological order of just movies first then watched the shows in chronological order. If you try and mix the shows in with the movies you will be on the shows for awhile, that is if you are going to watch the cartoons as well. Ive really enjoyed The Bad Batch. Only downside Id say to watching in chronological order with movies is that after seeing how nice the prequals look its hard to watch the originals even with the updates.
Edit: Also thanks for chance lol didnt even realize there was a GA too seen it was a Star Wars thread and got exited. XD

Personally, I'd lean towards watching the movies in order of release, and then watching any side movies and/or tv series you're interested in afterwards. My main reason is actually technical. Episodes I, II and III are using more advanced CGI and choreography than what was possible with episodes IV-VI, meaning you might feel simply visually disappointed after going from a high point of ep. III to the poor beginnings of ep. IV. (most relevant with space/ground battles and lightsaber duels).

However, the above advice pales in comparison to what I saw only 1 person above mention - BEWARE of watching episodes VII, VIII and IX.
Those movies have no purpose other than to be a cashgrab. Story and charactrs suck, while graphical advantages of being made in modern age are used to create merely flashy cgi that technically looks good, but forgets to use other visual techniques to actually show anything of substance on screen.
To sum up, the final trilogy is uninspired recycling of original trilogy that is executed so poorly, that it broke my love for the franchise. ;_;

I understand if you won't become an instant fan after watching the first 6 movies, but even then, I'd see final trilogy as a waste of time. If you really want to dip your toe in the water, try to watch episode VII, and knowing it doesn't get any better after that, decide for yourself if you want to continue. I've met with both opinions (that final trilogy is decent - or bad) from some SW fans/enjoyers, so it could go either way to be perfectly honest.
Personally, I'd rather not have watched episodes VII, VIII and IX at all.

Bump and thank you.

I'd watch the movies in release order first -
Original trilogy: IV, V, VI
Prequel trilogy: I, II, III
Then watch Rogue One!

Depending on how you like it, and if you want to dedicate a LOT of time to watching the TV Shows etc.
Clone wars will give you a lot more knowledge on references made in shows like The Mandalorian.

The Sequel Trilogy is.. not great. Even the creators had no idea on what story they were trying to tell, so it feels very off. Some great cinematography though. VII felt very Star Wars, and I feel it could have been good, if they didn't just blatantly copy and paste the plot of IV which was very evident especially in the second half of the film haha.
The prequels can be hilariously bad, especially some of the writing, but it has a story over the trilogy and was fun (and I really enjoy how it expanded the whole Star Wars universe).

See in release order so you can experience the freshness of the initial adventures before watching Disney gradually sucking the life out of all that.

Very bump. I like the old movies better than any other.

I really loved the original trilogy growing up, however after the prequels came out I realised that George Lucas isn't great at writing dialog. So movie wise I would probably say IV, V, VI, II, III, and Rogue One. VII and VIII felt disjointed and recycling elements of the previous movies. That's about when I stopped watching any new Star Wars
I really enjoyed the animated series, Clone Wars (only saw the CN seasons though) and Rebels

Machete order sounds quite interesting, though if I were to do it again I'd probably just watch them as I have, in release order.

I find it best to watch them in release order - that way you have more mystery and lore in all movies by not knowing things you are not supposed to know in each movie :)