As Episode 3 comes ever closer (31 hours and counting), one has to ask themselves, "Do I find out what happens before I see the movie or not?"

Should you not find out anything so that you can enjoy the movie without knowing a shred of what is to come and be surprised at every turn?


Or has your patience worn thin and you just HAVE to know what happens NOW?

For Ep 1 and 2 I was COMPLETELY Spoiler-free (well, almost completely...I still read the articles in the Insider Magazine before the movies were released). I remember one time I came across the opening crawl for ep 1 in the "Making of Episode 1" book like a month before the movie came out. I read the first sentence, realized what I was doing and dropped the book. I didn't want to absorb ANYTHING.

I was the same way with episode 2, only limiting my material to things like Trailers and Pictures from Insider Magazine.

But for Episode 3, I have decided to take a different route. I was a COMPLETE spoiler hound. I absorbed EVERYTHING I could get my hands on. Rumors, leaked pictures, snippets from the novel, comic...everything. The only thing I DIDN'T do was read the novel. Not because I didn't want to, I just didn't have the time.

Now you Spoiler-free people may ask, "but aren't you ruining the movie? Dont you want to be surprised?"

No. Not in the least. Ever since I found out the entire plot outline somewhere in 2004, I was completely enthralled with Episode 3. I was able to ponder the various plot elements and scenes. I would find out something new and my initial reaction would be, "wtf??"

But as I thought about it, it grew on me. I was able to discuss it and debate it before I had even seen the movie. For those of us in the Spoiler Forum, we felt like we've already seen the movie...and now it was merely sinking in and growing.

When I first saw Episode 1, I admit, my knee-jerk reaction was dissapointment (*shock, gasp*). Like many people out there, my expectations were not met. But the more I thought about it, and the more I watched the movie, the more it grew on me. The less I focused on trivial things like Jar Jar's ears, or "yippeeee!!", the more I enjoyed the plot and where this series was headed. As of today, Ep 1 is one of my favorite movies of the saga (now you're thinking, "this guy is just loony", but it's true, my credibility as a blogger be damned).

With Episode 3, I'm already past my "knee-jerk" reaction and I haven't even seen the movie. Not that I expected to have a negative reaction, but for months now, I've let the movie sink in and I've analyzed it and debated it many times.

So, being the Ep 3 spoiler hound that I was, it allowed me to appretiate the movie without letting my initial reactions get in the way.

Ordinarily, your initial reaction comes first, and then only on repeated viewings do you learn to appretiate the movie.

Doing it this way, my appretiation for the movie came first...and come this Wednesday night, I'll let my "initial reaction" run free like a giddy little kid.