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When did a new hope first hit uk screens? 79? I'd have been 6 and i think it may have been the first film i saw at a cinema. Then of course i saw it on tv every Christmas for a decade, or so it seemed. Times have changed though and i am not even sure my kids will like it.... but i guess it needs to be tried at some point. Girls of 8 and 6, lad of 3. Both girls are quite girly girls. None have watched anything like it before. The lad loves rockets and space. It would be fun to do some family film watching if they all enjoy it. Try or wait?
Oh and with i-player now having the whole who-niverse i guess I should ask the same question about Dr who!
With the benefit of hindsight, it's mediocre at best.
I mean, what is going on with Skywalker and Princess L? Meh.
When did a new hope first hit uk screens? 79?
Jan 78
It would be fun to do some family film watching if they all enjoy it. Try or wait?
JDI 🙂
be prepared for dissappointment i "started" to watch the original with my two 12 and 8 last weekend got half way through when my son complained this is a bit boring can we watch avengers 3<br /><br />its very of its time and slow paced compared to modern films
scaredypants
Full Member
stand by for lengthy debate on what order to watch ’em all in
and if you should watch the Phantom Menace at all
Some things are best left in the past. They weren't even good films when they were current. Start your kids off with Guardians of the Galaxy, which they will enjoy, and drip feed them the dross like Star Wars when they're older.
With the benefit of hindsight, it’s mediocre at best.
This, and, with the exception of the odd one or two that are either pretty decent or pretty dire, the same can be said for all of it's progeny.
*cue some squealing from middle-aged man babies*
having the whole who-niverse i guess I should ask the same question about Dr who!
Off topic, but kind of on-topic... A fair few years back I was having drinks etc. around a friends and they were all really into DR Who...basically a geek party, and there was a heated debate going on regarding this very subject. A mixed group of men and women for reference.
I'm more geeky/nerdy than average, but I was slighty out ouf my depth here... anyway, I was asked my opinion, If I recall correctly it was when it was announced that Jodie foster was going to be the new doctor for the next series.
My answer, as I recall, was something along the lines of... "it's a sci-fi series aimed at children, it's not supposed to be super serious, so I don't understand why anyone really cares".
Well, you could hear a pin drop after I said that! It was like time slowed down and all the air got sucked out of the room, before someone very tactfully and promptly changed the subject!
It still makes me laugh thinking about it!
It’s a good kids film. So yeah, why not? Not so great for middle aged misanthropic fun sucking tosspots, though.
Star Wars is ace. Even if no-one can stand Jar-Jar Binks
Try or wait?
Do or do not. There is no try.
It’s pretty slow moving by the standards of modern kids films. My son wasn’t interested.
I have a short term free membership of Disney Plus, so have been working through all of the Star Wars spin offs - Andor is the only one worth bothering about. I then watch Rogue One again, still good. Then felt brave and watch the original Star Wars (which will always be just Star Wars!). It has not aged well, very clunky, acting varies between wooden and bad. For me, it reminds me that I went with my Dad, and he has been gone nearly 30 years.
Hard to realise how ground changing it was at the time. But times have moved on. Watch for it the nostalgia, but todays generation of kids won't understand why it is so highly loved.
The Phantom Dennis is an ethical punishment for naughty children
The lasting effects are only temporary
Thump (17) was ill last week.
He amused himself by watching all the Star Wars films. We agreed the first one (IV - the original Star Wars film) was the best film ever. There was another one that Thump said was very good - but some of the plot holes in the series were enormous.
He's the kind of kid that can read "All Quiet on the Western Front" in a weekend so I take his word for it.
PS: Age 3 is too young I'd say.
Well, you could hear a pin drop after I said that! It was like time slowed down and all the air got sucked out of the room, before someone very tactfully and promptly changed the subject!
That my friend was a tear in the space time continuum, if i'm very much not mistaken
Star wars? Always think it has a bit of a Monty Python complex about it - everyone thinks it was bloody fantastic but the reality is there was lots of good bits but also a lot of not good bits. We only remember the good bits of course - which can be roughly boiled down to light sabre sound effects, yoda, chewbacca howl, and anything said by Darth Vader ie "This tray's wet. And this one"
oh yeah and the AT-AT things. Very cool.
Our 6 year old is very into Star Wars Lego sets, thought maybe should watch the films over winter.
However, mild peril terrifies her, even in things like Paw Patrol movie last week where she buried her head in the cinema seats at times (and stood on it to sing at others).
Also, the viewing order. Start at 4 because we all did or start at 1 because it's story chronological and Jar Jar Bink's could be the 5th telly tubby to gradually introduce it.
I think it’s fab. Loved watching it with my kid. Get in with it
On my experience they're 5 years too young at least. But they're good films despite what the sci fi freaks might think
It’s pretty slow moving by the standards of modern kids films.
I get that, but the problem with a lot of films these days, (IMO) and not just childrens stuff, is it's just a non-stop assault in the ears and eyes, with very little narrative or story telling or anything.
It seems most hollywood or disney or marvel/DC stuff is just 90mins of back to back explosions and gun fights, and there might be a bit of story buried underneath all the noise, somewhere, if you are lucky.
Like the movie equivilent of drinking a pint of redbull and doing a line of speed.
Jan 78!? Wow, assuming it took 6 months to get to the suburbs I was 5 then.
Wow, surprised so much disdain. Yes of is time, dated and the acting is painful but... well I guess ... can they get into the modern bits and spin offs without the beginning (4-6) if they could then maybe....
As for other films they enjoy, we've recently started on harry potter, ps and cos. Girls were fine, youngest may have been a bit scared but not overly so, they have mildly scary bits largely on a par don't they? It's years since I've seen star wars myself so can't really remember.
The thing is, it's not actually possible to legally buy or even watch the original Star Wars films anywhere, only the bastardised "Special Editions" that have been increasingly ****ed with over the years. So if you must watch them, do the kids a favour and do it properly, by which I mean obviously buy a Laserdisc player & whatever kit you need to hook it up to a modern telly, and source the originals on LD. (or just BitTorrent the LD rip 😃)
stand by for lengthy debate on what order to watch ’em all in
https://www.rodhilton.com/2011/11/11/the-star-wars-saga-suggested-viewing-order/
I'd never noticed till I watched it with my kids, but the original film shows the bodies of Luke's aunt and uncle more clearly than I expected, and when Luke later gets his hand cut off it also might surprise/scare kids.
They are your kids, only you know what is right for them, the rating will give you a clue
I waited until my son was about 6, he had no clue what to expect. I started with A New Hope. He got off the sofa and was cheering when the deathstar exploded. He loved it.
When the third trilogy came out a bunch of us parents then clubbed together to hire a mini cinema in a local hotel for a couple of hour to screen a new hope for our then ~3 and ~6-7 year olds to try and coax them into the whole SW thing (and to avoid pissing off too many people in a normal cinema with screaming kids)...
Total waste of time, they couldn't give a shit, it's a bunch of old films, for old people apparently. The most engagement I've had was my youngest sitting down with me to watch the Bad batch when she was about 10.
I reckon If you want to indoctrinate your 21st century kids into liking Star Wars get them hooked on one or other of the animated series, once they bottom that out they might be persuaded to move onto the live action stuff...
Star Wars is ace. Even if no-one can stand Jar-Jar Binks
the guys I work with are all about 30ish, so saw Jar Jar at about the same age we saw 3CP0. And they think he's great.
the guys I work with are all about 30ish, so saw Jar Jar at about the same age we saw 3CP0. And they think he’s great.
That's because they don't really undersand the true story of Jar Jar.
It'll be up to them, as others say, Star Wars is pretty poor when you stand back and remove childhood rose tinted spectacles, pretty much all the spin offs are a struggle to go through, there's much better available in modern TV shows or movies, it's amazing to think modern Disney have pretty much worked both Marvel and Star Wars into the ground in the last few years, with so much chaff that is meaningless.
To counter the not interested kids, I watched the 9 episodes (in release order) with my lad over a 12 month period when he was aged 8-9 and he loved them. He had read some books of the original 3 episodes which gave an abridged version of the story so he did already know the gist of it.
This place is full of old miserable e-bikers. 😕
Started watching the original trilogy with my eldest when he was just about to turn 5. Had to skip some of the scarier bits but I think he preferred the pace of them to some of the more modern sci-fi he's seen. I can see why some folk find the early films unexciting but I think there's a lot to love about them even now. It was really great to see the movies (including the prequels) through his eyes.
I thought Andor was superb, the best Star wars ever... there I said it.
But I guess kids wouldn't really get it as it's kinda political.
May I suggest Star Trek? The Jean Luc Picard ones, or the Captain Janeway ones. Not the Kirk ones.
With the benefit of hindsight, it’s mediocre at best
They're kids' movies. I was impressed as a kid. I'd watch the first three, skip the prequels, then watch the newer stuff. Andor was actually a pretty good show, the Mandalorian was ok, the other one with Temuera Morrison was dire. If you kids don't like it, they don't like it, no point arguing with a kid about what they like or don't like.
As someone else pointed out they are great kids films (particularly the original ones) and all these miserable sods are telling you what they think not whether or not your kids would enjoy it. My kids loved it and it opened up a whole (expensive) world of other activities, costumes. Lego, drawing the figures, even an interest in playing the piano learning the Imperial March. From aged 4 or something, at his insistence, my eldest and I used to watch 15 minutes before bed every night for a while. We would literally go through the whole set and then start again (apart from the awful one where Vader/Anekin is burning. So I say ignore these old killjoys and let the children decide if they like it or not! Watch the original ones first as they are the most family friendly.
I'm pretty surprised at the dislike for Star Wars to be honest.
Every film is of its time but there are very few that are remembered with such fondness near on 50 years later. They are so ingrained into popular culture that even people that have zero interest in the original films will still understand the premise and the absolutely iconic characters involved.
Even now, my heart still pounds when Luke turns off the targeting computer on that do or die run on the Death Star with R2-D2 as his loyal copilot. Then just as he is about to be blown to pieces Solo and probably the most iconic space ship ever dreamt up swoop in to save him! All this accompanied by a soundtrack that is as epic as the film itself.
Hell, the reality is it doesn't matter if "our" kids never like the films (my lad has never watched them to the best of knowledge, not his thing) as long as you remember how blown away you were when you first saw them. I can still remember specific star wars conversations in the playground from back then at the age of 8.
Our kids will find films that they remember with the same fondness decades later no doubt and that's the real magic of films Like this.
Crossing the streams a bit here... but that's the reason films like Star Wars are still so loved, they are our very own Tardis back to our childhoods.
That is the real magic and magic doesn't need justification. 😁
They’re OK, but as folks have said they are slow-paced and fairly uneventful compared with modern movies. Historic/cult interest only for the yoof.
plus, 46 years old now! What 1931 movies did your parents of grandparents make you watch in 1977?
showing my children these movies over a decade ago got some mild interest if I remember correctly but also some complaints at ‘it looks old’. They were marginally more interested in The Matrix though that was over a decade old at the time.
Crossing the streams a bit here...
Think you're getting Star Wars and Ghostbusters mixed up.
I’d never noticed till I watched it with my kids, but the original film shows the bodies of Luke’s aunt and uncle more clearly than I expected
Crispy bodies by the door!
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=RySHDUU2juM
What 1931 movies did your parents of grandparents make you watch in 1977?
King Kong and The Wizard of Oz. They are both classics. Plus a bunch of Chaplin, Little Rascals, etc. Just because something is old doesn't mean it's not good.
and if you should watch the Phantom Menace at all
All 3 of the prequels were pretty awful. It wasn't jar-jar (great name as he really jarred) but probably need doing to complete the "set".
Phantom was just a bit meh but the other two they completely overcooked the Anakin character (imo) and made him behave too much like a shouty toddler right through his transition to the dark side. I guess someone thought people needed it spelled out to them. It was a shame because the basic story and premise of his turning kind of worked for a fantasy film.
Just because something is old doesn’t mean it’s not good<br /><br />
that is true. <br /><br />
King Kong 1933 is a fairly good parallel I think. Still works today for me.
Just because something is old doesn’t mean it’s not good.
While I agree there was an editorial in the mag a few years back called
Just because it's old it doesn't mean it's not ****
Sometimes it's better not to meet your childhood heroes. Doesn't apply to Star Wars though. 🙂
Crispy bodies by the door!
I can be your backpack while you run
That video is my kids preferred version of Yoda (and maybe mine too TBH)...
Some parallels to this statement embodied in posters on this thread/site.
Ouch 😂
The first one is quite universal story about princess and knights but set in space. Plot twist about family issues in later films is lifted from tales of Greek gods, isn’t it?
My lad commented something like “it was a great adventure” about the first film when he saw it at about 10 years old. Later we both laughed at stupid plots in the prequels and sequels.
Somewhat related, I am really fascinated by people who really get into the lore and fan fiction about any series or movies. All the made-up details and theories and debates about the backstories, capabilities and motivations of the characters might be based on just one film. But who am I to judge, I ride bikes in the woods for entertainment.
My daughter, 7 at the time (11 now), really enjoyed it. She really didn’t like anything scary so I had to coax her through the early Darth Vader bits but once it properly got going she was really into it.
I tried her on Empire Strikes Back the next weekend and the buildup to meeting Yoda was too much and she bailed out. Sadly, this seems to be her abiding memory of all Star Wars now.
These days she refuses to watch anything we suggest. Though she did like the musical episode of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. The ‘in’ there was having heard me listening to it Spotify beforehand.
Oceanskipper nails it 😆
Death Star canteen is the best thing to come out of Star Wars 🤪
I think 6-7 is a bit young even if that was the age you first saw it, too many other media distractions these days. Pre teen is probably the sweet spot I think mine were about that age.
I turned the lights down and wound the volume up... A few seconds of black screen and then the orchestra came it Pah-pah! Kids jumped and started giggling. It's nothing more than music and scrolling text but it was quite a moment and from that point on they were hooked. We watched them in release order over a few weeks, my kids main comment was 'how did they get so old' the gap between trilogies wasn't decades for them.
My lad was 9 and caught COVID when the 10 day isolation rules were in place. We decided to watch the Star Wars on the first evening.
I was prepared to be disappointed in both my memory and his reaction but he loved it and we did one a night for 9 days. We all looked forward to 5pm on the dot when we shut laptops and he cranked up the volume for the opening theme tune.
Empire Strikes Back was a clear favourite for him. I'd never bothered with the last three after Phantom Menace put me off but I really enjoyed them.
I'd say he wasn't ready before 9, based on the 'scary' bits and the slower pace. Depends on the kids and what they are in to though.
OK. Sounds like maybe something to try in a few years. Maybe. Ta all.
I'm 41 and have never watched Star Wars.
Just don't get the whole sci-fi stuff.
I think kids need to be around 10 to really get it. Younger than that, they enjoy the action, but the story is too slow (and in some places excessively complicated) to keep their interest.
With both my kids I’ve watched them all, in the original order both times. My son was 12 when we watched them, and he watched them all, but is unlikely to watch them again. SF just doesn’t appeal to him.
This year, watched them with my daughter who is ten. She got right into the story, even regaling me with stuff about the politics in the prequels! It’s definitely planted a SF seed with her, as we watched the latest version of Dune a month ago, and she declared it the best film ever, and the Emperor really had it in for the Atreides. Most adults struggle to pick that up…
Both kids agreed that watching them in the original order was good because it kept the surprise. They said it would have also been hard to go from films with more modern, albeit it 25 year old, production values, to very old films and then back to current. They thought that would have stopped them watching past Ep 4.
It was a chore to watch the 1st time round.
Just because you suffered doesn’t mean they should too. 😉
Rollin’ like I’m platinum
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=k9tgLnI0fFc
Honestly, the Bad Lip Reading take is better than Lucas or Disney.
I only watched them all for the first time a year ago. Im 39. First 6 were good. Last 3 were boring and didnt make much sense.
Girls of 8 and 6, lad of 3. Both girls are quite girly girls. None have watched anything like it before. The lad loves rockets and space. It would be fun to do some family film watching if they all enjoy it. Try or wait?
Watch Rebels. It grows with them. Ideal to get into at a young age.
You’ll find it too childish yourself at first, but it builds so, so well.
I’m pretty surprised at the dislike for Star Wars to be honest.
Every film is of its time but there are very few that are remembered with such fondness near on 50 years later.
This, really.
Star Wars was released in 1977, in made it to our shores the following year. I don't recall seeing it at the cinema but a mate and I watched it obsessively on hooky VHS. I remember like it was yesterday queuing up with my gran, all the way round the corner outside the cinema for ESB, I was well beyond excited. I'd have been, what, 8? They were giving out pin badges, I still have mine somewhere.
Curmudgeons bleating on about the prequels/sequels are missing the point. We are not the target audience here. Star Wars is a family film and at the time it came out there was nothing else like it. If it was released today it'd barely ripple because a) there's been a thousand imitators since and b) you're not a 7-year old.
The Phantom Menace is shit though.
Am I the only one that thinks the second of the prequels is shittier than Phantom Menace? At least the former had Darth Maul and the pod race bit. I can’t even remember the name of the second one off hand, Attack of the Clones?
I’ve never seen Star Wars (any of them), I think your kids can wait a few more years …
If you've never seen Star Wars how do you get any of the references in the Toy Story or the Lego movies?
It's a bit like being proud of having never read Shakespeare or Dickens. There may be better books out there but they all riff of each other.
Not showing Star Wars to your kids is neglect. And Monty Python too for that matter - else how do you explain the "Romans go home" graffiti by the Falkirk canal.
I tried ep4 with my kids last year (7 and 5), they didn’t like the early Darth Vader bits so leaving it a bit longer.
Look up “machete order”, it makes a good case for going 4, 5, 2, 3, 6 as a way to get the good Skywalker story without Jarjar and the other nonsense in 1.
The thing is, it’s not actually possible to legally buy or even watch the original Star Wars films anywhere, only the bastardised “Special Editions” that have been increasingly **** with over the years. So if you must watch them, do the kids a favour and do it properly, by which I mean obviously buy a Laserdisc player & whatever kit you need to hook it up to a modern telly, and source the originals on LD. (or just BitTorrent the LD rip 😃)
If you don’t mind downloading then seek out Harmy’s Despecialized Edition, they’re an amazing fan-made version of the original trilogy using the best available sources and an awful lot of work to have a high quality version that’s as true as possible to the originals.
No funky you are not, I agree completely and don't understand the hate for 1 for those 2 reasons.
St Crispy I agree which is why I likely will spend the few quid to by the blu-rays and sit them down with it at some point. Tbh, thinking back, the 5ish yo me didn't follow all the story but loved it anyway, an 8 yo me largely followed esb but I remember leaving the cinema thinking 'eh? Why are we leaving? The story hasn't finished!'
I can't really comment on 7-9, tried 7 and turned it off, same with 8, not tired 9, but I accept at 50 I'm not the target.... if sat with my kids I'd probably enjoy them.
Star wars was a western. Or maybe a rescue the Princess story. Or maybe something else . But also groundbreaking.
Loved it when 10.
Prequels were tosh.
Sequels were fun.
My kids liked the originals because they had story, although they found the effects goofy. But they also watched and liked journey to the centre of the earth and 20000 leagues, from about 1960, with even more goofy effects. They understood people couldn't do the stuff they can now, and they did the best they could with the tech of the day, and the crap effects don't make them bad films.
i think my children enjoyed the Lego Star Wars games more than the movies.
Or maybe a rescue the Princess story.
That might be doing the Leia character a disservice. A princess was rescued but despite her regal and political upbringing and imprisoning by some bad guys it becomes pretty clear she's a proper tough nut pretty quickly.
From her defiance in the face of Vader and Tarkin, her resistance to the mind probe (referred to by Tarkin), we go to the battle in the cell block where she quickly takes charge ("into the garbage chute Skywalker"), her sharpness with Solo and her obvious and cool leadership role in the rebellion. That theme continues throughout 4,5,6 through to Rise of Skywalker. Throughout the character is in harm's way and shows courage and composure but also compassion.
I think Leia is one of the original enduring cinematic female heroines. There was no weak and feeble swooning, no James Bond style 'save me' or leaping into bed, no hysterics.
Given the attitudes of the era in which it was made it stands out a little looking back compared to a lot of rather more male dominated stuff.
Look up “machete order”,
I linked to that on the first page.
Honestly, the Bad Lip Reading take is better than Lucas or Disney.
They're good, but the best 'reimagining' is:
Don't show it to your kids though.