Contents
A list of all the Star Wars movies in chronological order.
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Introduction
It’s no secret that the Star Wars movies have been through some changes over the years. George Lucas’ original vision for the series was much different than what we ended up with, and as a result, the movies don’t necessarily follow a linear timeline. If you want to watch the movies in chronological order, there are a few different ways you can do it.
The first thing to understand is that there are two different timelines for the Star Wars universe — the “canon” timeline and the “legends” timeline. The canon timeline is the one that Lucasfilm has officially endorsed, and it’s the one that we’re going to focus on here. The legends timeline is no longer considered canon, but it includes all of the Star Wars stories that were published before Disney bought Lucasfilm in 2012.
With that said, here’s how to watch the Star Wars movies in chronological order:
1) Start with Episode I: The Phantom Menace. This movie takes place 32 years before Episode IV: A New Hope.
2) Watch Episode II: Attack of the Clones. This movie takes place 10 years after Episode I.
3) Watch Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. This movie takes place 19 years before Episode IV.
4) Watch Solo: A Star Wars Story. This movie takes place 10 years before Episode IV.
5) Watch Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. This movie takes place immediately before Episode IV.
6) Finish up with Episode IV: A New Hope.
The Prequel Trilogy
The Star Wars saga began with the release of Episode IV in 1977, but the story actually starts much earlier. In 1999, Episode I was released, telling the story of Anakin Skywalker, who would later become Darth Vader. Episode II was released in 2002, and it continued Anakin’s story leading up to his transformation into Vader. Episode III came out in 2005, completing the prequel trilogy by depicting the rise of the Empire.
If you want to watch the Star Wars movies in chronological order, you should start with The Phantom Menace. From there, you can watch Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith. These three movies tell the story of Anakin Skywalker from his childhood up through his turn to the dark side.
After watching the prequel trilogy, you can move on to the original trilogy. Episode IV: A New Hope was released in 1977 and it is set 19 years after Revenge of the Sith. In this movie, Luke Skywalker begins his journey to save the galaxy from the Empire. Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back was released in 1980 and it picks up three years after A New Hope. This movie sees Luke continuing his fight against the Empire as he confronts Darth Vader for the first time. Finally, Episode VI: Return of Jedi was released in 1983 and it brings Luke’s story to a close as he defeats Darth Vader and saves his friends from Imperial captivity.
If you want to watch all of the Star Wars movies in chronological order, your viewing order would be: Episodes I-III (The Prequel Trilogy), IV-VI (The Original Trilogy), I-III (The Prequel Trilogy again), VII-IX (The Sequel Trilogy).
The Original Trilogy
The original Star Wars trilogy, which consists of Episodes IV, V, and VI, is set in what is known as the “Old Republic” era. This era takes place about 4,000 years before the events of the prequel trilogy. In chronological order, the original trilogy should be watched as follows:
Episode IV: A New Hope
Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
Episode VI: Return of the Jedi
The Sequel Trilogy
The Sequel Trilogy is the third and final trilogy of movies in the Star Wars franchise. The movies are set after the events of the original trilogy, which ended with the destruction of the Death Star and the defeat of Darth Vader and the Galactic Empire. The new trilogy follows the story of Luke Skywalker and his rebel allies as they fight against a new enemy, the First Order.
The first movie in the trilogy, The Force Awakens, was released in 2015. It was followed by The Last Jedi in 2017. The final movie in the trilogy, Episode IX, is scheduled for release in 2019.
The order in which you should watch the movies is:
1. Episode IV: A New Hope
2. Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
3. Episode VI: Return of the Jedi
4. Episode VII: The Force Awakens
5. Episode VIII: The Last Jedi
6. Episode IX: TBA
The Anthology Films
Han Solo prequel Solo: A Star Wars Story is the newest release in the Star Wars Anthology series. These are the spin-off movies that are not part of the main Skywalker story. Here’s how to watch them all in chronological order.
-Solo: A Star Wars Story
-Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
-Star Wars: The Clone Wars (Animated)
The TV Shows
The Star Wars saga began with George Lucas’ film “Star Wars: A New Hope” in 1977. However, the story actually starts much earlier. If you want to watch the Star Wars movies in chronological order, you need to start with the TV shows. Here’s how to watch them:
“Star Wars: The Clone Wars” is a cartoon series that takes place between the films “Attack of the Clones” and “Revenge of the Sith.” It is available on Netflix.
“Star Wars Rebels” is another cartoon series that takes place between “Revenge of the Sith” and “A New Hope.” It is also available on Netflix.
Finally, there is “Star Wars: The Mandalorian.” This live-action TV show takes place after the events of “Return of the Jedi.” The first season is available on Disney+.
The Video Games
The Star Wars video games are a video game series created by Lucasfilm based on the Star Wars movies. The canon of the games is separate from the canon of the movies as well as from that of the Expanded Universe (which includes books, comics, and other materials). The first game in the series was released in 1982, and since then there have been many different games on different platforms. Here is a chronological list of all the Star Wars video games released so far:
-Star Wars: Battlefront (2015)
-Star Wars: Battlefront II (2017)
-Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy (2003)
-Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast (2002)
-LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga (2007)
-LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars (2011)
-Star Wars: Republic Commando (2005)
-Star Wars Bounty Hunter (2002)
-Star Wars: Rogue Leader (2001)
-Star Wars Episode I: Racer (1999)
-Super Star Wars (1992)
The Books
The Books:
The first six Star Wars movies were released in theaters between 1977 and 2005. If you want to watch them in chronological order, you have to start with the prequels. That’s because the events of the prequels take place before the events of the original trilogy.
The book series that accompanies the movies is called The Thrawn Trilogy. It was written by Timothy Zahn and includes the following three books:
-Heir to the Empire (1991)
-Dark Force Rising (1992)
-The Last Command (1993)
The Comics
If you want to watch the Star Wars movies in chronological order, you have a few options. You can watch them in release order, which is how they were meant to be seen. This is Episode IV, V, VI, I, II, III, Rogue One, and Solo. If you want to get a little bit more complicated, you can watch them in Machete order, which is IV, V, II, III, VI, Rogue One, Solo then finally I. However, the most complicated-and arguably most correct-way to watch the movies is in chronological order.
The easiest way to do this is to watch them in release order up until Return of the Jedi. At this point in the story Luke is still hopeful that Darth Vader can be redeemed so he cuts off his hand rather than fight him. This moment changes everything and from here on out Darth Vader is irredeemable. So instead of watching Jedi immediately after Empire Strikes Back like you would in release order or Machete order, instead we’re going to watch Darth Vader’s story with episodes III then rogue one and finally solo. These three movies show us how Anakin Skywalker became Darth Vader and by putting them after Empire we understand his character motivations much better when we eventually get back to Luke in Jedi.
This ordering gives us a stronger emotional investment in the original trilogy because we know more about Darth Vader’s backstory and we see the tragedy of his fall from grace. It also allows new viewers to have a much better understanding of the complex relationships between all of these characters without having to read any comics or other expanded universe material. So if you want to ensure that your next Star Wars marathon isthe best it can be make sure to watch the movies in chronological order.
Conclusion
Now that you know the order of the Star Wars movies, you can watch them in chronological order. This is the best way to experience the story, as it will make more sense and be more enjoyable. With that said, enjoy the movies!
