Never watched Star Wars - where to begin before visiting?

[ambula603]

This is going to sound dumb, but I need help! We are hoping to explore the new Star Wars attractions when we go in November but we have never watched any of the movies. Just looking at my Disney+ last night had me completely overwhelmed! I am not interested in watching all of the movies but wouldn't mind knowing a little bit of the overview.

In order to understand the RotR ride (assuming we actually get to ride it!) which movie could we watch? I also noticed there were lots of Lego movies that I think my girls would like, so if any of those are helpful, let me know.

(Hangs head in shame for being out of the loop!)

 

[MrWonderful]

They are good movies, you should watch them!

IMO, the best way to watch the Star Wars films is in release order: A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi, The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones, Revenge of the Sith, The Force Awakens, and The Last Jedi.

 

[Pyxie]

You can understand RotR by only watching the sequel trilogy, but you'd be doing yourself a disservice only watching those. They aren't the best Star Wars movies (though I hear the ride is amazing). If you really want to devote some time, watch in release order. Original trilogy, prequels, then sequel trilogy.

 

[gatorlisa]

Galaxy's Edge is mostly focused on the lore from the newer Disney produced movies (The Force Awakens, The Last Jedi, The Rise of Skywalker). Those will introduce you to Rey, Kylo Ren, The First Order, Finn, etc. If you only care about being familiar with some of what you'll see in Galaxy's Edge, start with the newer movies, and begin with The Force Awakens.

Now, as a Star Wars fan, if you really want to understand all of the characters, I would watch most of the main movies, probably in this order:
A New Hope
The Empire Strikes Back
The Return of the Jedi
The Phantom Menace
The Attack of the Clones
The Revenge of the Sith
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
The Force Awakens
The Last Jedi
The Rise of Skywalker

 

[Grumpy by Birth]

... we have never watched any of the movies.

 

[PanchoX1]

I agree with the others, focus on episodes 7-9 to relate to the Galaxy's edge environment. I would recommend "Machete" order for main saga over all. that is episode 4, 5 then episodes 2, 3 then 6-9. You can add Rogue one before episode 4. And the Solo movie is a stand alone story for the most part but has ties to the main saga and to some episodes of the Clone wars show.

 

[ambula603]

I know, I know! I never grew up watching movies as a family (just wasn't our thing!) but my husband did. He watched a few SW but didn't just love them.

I know I could watch them all and probably should, but I don't see that happening before our trip! Last year we watched the first Pirates of the Caribbean the week before our Disney Cruise and it was a fun memory. The year before that we watched Hocus Pocus before our Halloween WDW trip. I was hoping for a similar night with just one movie.

 

[MrWonderful]

Here you go:

 

[Befferk]

This is going to sound dumb, but I need help! We are hoping to explore the new Star Wars attractions when we go in November but we have never watched any of the movies. Just looking at my Disney+ last night had me completely overwhelmed! I am not interested in watching all of the movies but wouldn't mind knowing a little bit of the overview.

In order to understand the RotR ride (assuming we actually get to ride it!) which movie could we watch? I also noticed there were lots of Lego movies that I think my girls would like, so if any of those are helpful, let me know.

(Hangs head in shame for being out of the loop!)

I'm in the same boat as you, never watched a single one, and was going to watch some to get a clue on what it's all about, but gave up when I started looking at all the movies. So I'm glad for this thread.

 

[ambula603]

Here you go:

This was exactly what I needed, just maybe a teeny bit longer!

 

[MrWonderful]

This was exactly what I needed, just maybe a teeny bit longer!

Then this will help too

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL386bwYsgSwQENwPI84D3PClx9jS6hsqW

 

[teach22180]

I believe Bantu is set between movie 8 and 9. If you can squeeze in two movies, I would watch 7 and 8. I think just watching 8 would be confusing.

 

[Cynt]

OMG! This was me until a few months ago, thanks covid. I kind of remember the very first star wars movie but I was a kid and not into sci fiction when it came out in the 80s. A few months ago when covid hit some tv station was playing all the SW movies back to back, on and off for a few weeks. DH is a SW fan so we spent some quality time watching Some of them over a weekend. I think it was the last three movies. I watched and asked a million questions. He was so patient and answered them all. I know it helped because now I want to go and see Galaxy edge where as before I could careless. I'm all in this sub forum trying to figure out the best strategy to get a BG. Do I just catch the okw bus? Catch lyft to speedway? Have breakfast at bw and Walk the path to dhs? I'm practicing getting a bg on my phone every day at 9am CST. This is crazy. I have 2 DHS days reserved just in case I don't get a bg the first day. Smh! I think my dh is going to lose his mind when he sees it.

 

[jdrum3]

Just stay away from JarJar and you will be fine.

 

[Dina]

I'm a Star Wars nut....was taken to see the original (now referred to as A New HOpe) in the theater when I was 4 and have been crazy about it ever since. I feel very strongly that they should be watched in order of cinematic release A New Hope, Empire, Return of the Jedi, Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones, Revenge of the Sith, The Force Awakens, Rogue One, The Last Jedi, Solo (in my opinion can be skipped...and I'm saying that as a huge Han Solo fan ), Rise of Skywalker

They are incredible movies, and I hope you enjoy them. My personal favorite is The Empire Strikes Back

 

[Grumpy by Birth]

Just stay away from JarJar and you will be fine.

 

[PanchoX1]

I'm all in this sub forum trying to figure out the best strategy to get a BG. Do I just catch the okw bus? Catch lyft to speedway? Have breakfast at bw and Walk the path to dhs?

wondering this myself! Staying at Caribbean Beach Resort.

 

[ElizabethG]

I like chronological order. Although, I skip episode 1 when I do that. It doesn't add too much to the narrative, it features JarJar and it makes the Padme/Anakin relationship creepy. I like to pretend that movie does not exist.

 

[Alpengeist04]

Honestly, I agree episodes 7&8 is plenty to get you ready for Galaxy’s Edge. But if you really just want to go with the bare minimum, episode 7 will give you a feel of the characters in RotR.

...with that said, A New Hope, The Empire Strike Back, and Return of the Jedi are by far the best of the Star Wars movies. Not even close actually. Well, Rogue One was pretty darn good too.

 

[ambula603]

Will watching The Mandalorian correlate to the rides/land?