Ever since the final closing credits of ROTS, every fan (at least every fan I've talked to) has addressed the issue of what is the proper way to watch the Saga? Both in the future for our own enjoyment and for showcasing the Saga to those (gasp!) who have never seen any of the movies before.

So now, I'm sitting here watching ANH for the thousandth time and the idea occured to me that I needed to write it all down in a blog entry. Now, I must admit up front that I have not yet done th e1-6 Saga Marathon in one sitting. In fact, it's been a while since I watched TPM, too much Lego Star Wars and Battlefront 2.

Where was I? Oh yeah, I had a point to this once.

Honestly, I don't think there is a "proper" way to watch the Saga. I think that is one of the great things about it, is that all the movies are so good that they can stand on there own (to a point). Like pieces in a puzzle once they are all assembled together the whole is greater than the sum of it's parts.

Now, I did first experience the saga in what we will call for arguements sake, the Classic Experience, that is to say 4,5,6,1,2,3. Personally, I think this is the wrong way to look at it. Just because they were released in this order, doesn't make this the right way. We only saw the movies in this way because there was no other way. The biggest problem with this viewing is that I really and truely believe that ROTJ is the finale of the Saga and should be viewed last, it is truly where all the strings are tied up.

The next experience we'll call the Saga Experience, that is 1-6. On the surface, this one immediately rings as the proper way to see the movies. But it too has it's flaws. People like to argue that the "surprises" of the Classic Trilogy are lost in this viewing. Yes, "I am your Father" and the reveal of Yoda are diminished, but we do get new "surprises." Think of watching 1-6 to see the Emperor reveal himself, or the watching Vader scheme behind the Emperor's back, or the fall of the Republic into the Empire. In this viewing, you gain as much as you "lose"

Other ideas have been put forth, that I as a movie and film fan find very interesting. How about watching 1,4,2,5,3,6. We could call this the Parallel Experience. You could truly watch the stories of Anakin and Luke parallel each other, compare and contrasting each other, watching where one failed and the other succeded.

Another out of order Experience would be 4,5,1,2,3,6. This one preserves the classic "surprises" and you can get the symbolism and "deeper" meanings of the prequels, and you get the true finale of the saga. It's hard to find faults in this viewing, it's almost a Godfather-esque way to view it. We see the actions of the son, and then go back in time to see the actions of the father and can see how they compare.

The last viewing that I can come up with is 4,1,2,3,5,6. This is one that I really like because ANH has so much background info on the galaxy, the force, the Jedi, it's just a great introduction to the Saga. It worked that way in 1977, and it still works that way today.

The only problems I see in these last two ways, is the need to explain the change in time periods. But, that's minor and may not be fully neccesarry because of the episode #'s and the opening crawls.

As I said above, I don't believe there is any one proper way to view the Saga. It's a very personal thing and I think that everyone will find there own personal way to sit and watch the Saga as a whole. It could be even more fun to try out all the different ways and see how different views are put forth and how different scenes and characters play off each other when viewed back to back.

It's just that many more reasons to watch our favorite movies again and again and share it with those who have never experienced it.