This question has been asked a lot, so here's my take on the subject.

Yes, if you watch 1-3 first you'll have ruined the plot twist that Darth Vader is Luke's father. You'll also ruin that Luke and Leia are siblings.

And yes I don't think anyone should be deprived of hearing "No, I am your father" for the first time and being shocked.

But less often do I see people look at what you ruin by watching 4-6 first now?

Imagine for a moment you've seen many other movies, but somehow have managed to live under a rock and don't know anything about Star Wars.

This whole thing may be a moot point because of the unlikely possibility of that happening

So here's a quick run-down of what I've thought of right now.

Anakin turning to the Dark Side.
This is the big one, for a long time I was on the 4,5,6,1,2,3 realm of thought. But then I thought about some of the lines in The Phantom Menace: "I had a dream I was a Jedi, I came back and freed all the slaves."
Provided you don't know he grows up to be the man in black, you'll likely guess Star Wars to end up... well... Like that. Anakin at the end will come back and free the slaves. Simple movies, simple plot. Like so many other films out there.

For most of us seeing how and when Anakin turned to the Dark Side in III was interesting, but imagine seeing it as a plot twist in itself. How easy would it have been for Anakin to kill Palpatine and the movie ending with the galaxy going back to being... just peachy? Maybe even a final montage with Anakin freeing the slaves on Tatooine.

So you have to choose between the twist of the hero's fall, or the classic "I am your father"

Maybe I'll get around to smaller issues, like lightsabers, Jedi, the force, Yoda, Palpatine, Obi-wan, R2D2, C3PO and such later.
But that's really what it comes down to for me. What's the bigger plot twist in your mind? The main hero becoming the main villain? Or the main hero being the son of the main villain?

Personally I'm starting to swing to I,II,III,IV,V,VI working the best, even if I am an Original Trilogy fan.
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-=Rive Caedo=-
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