Ignore 1,2,3 and go with 4,5,6,7….

I don’t believe they’re suitable for young children.  Obviously depends on the child in question, but I’d be looking at min age of 8-11.

As above, they’re kids’ films. 1 &2 were panned because the people watching them generally forgot they’re aimed at 8year old versions of themselves not 40 somethings.

3 was dire mind.

Watch them in episode order and accept they’re more for your 6 year old than you and it’ll be fine. Don’t expect to be wowed, they’re not that good, enjoyable don’t get me wrong but not great. In the 70s this might not have been true but it is now. Same with indiana Jones, back to the future, ET etc, good (in terms of watchable) films in their day, not great now.

A story is a story and a good story endures, which is why I think the original start wars films are as good now as they were back in the 70’s, and for me getting better – the more CGI takes over the more I appreciate the models and sets of the original films. They are flawed if you look closely, but are far more real than a lot of the modern Sci Fi films. In fact I’m struggling to think of a Sci Fi film in the last 20 years that have been any good and will endure as a piece of cinematic history like the original Star Wars films have. I still enjoy them and my kids do, so not just a nostalgia thing.

Are 1&2 suitable for kids?  I watched 3 recently to see if it was suitable for kids and it isn’t- I assumed 1&2 would have the same level of violence/ blood etc

(I have seen them but cant remember a bit of what happens!)

Oh – I forgot. If you are watching 4, 5 and 6 and if you are computer savvy, get the Harmy Despecialized versions*

They are superb. He’s working on some new 1080p versions at the moment, but no need to wait – the current ones are great.

(*once you legally own an HD copy obviously).

Don’t forget

Caravan of courage

&

Ewoks: The Battle for Endor

which slot in somewhere before 6

reckon you can forget the Star Wars Holiday Special which is after 4

As much as it pains me to say it has to be in numerical order 1, 2, 3, Rogue One, 4, 5, 6 & 7.

The ‘prequals’ (1-3) aren’t brilliant, but the set up the back story and kids actually seem to like them – my 11yo rates Attack of the Clowns (sorry Clones…) as his favourite.  Revenge of the Sith is quite dark, but my 7yo has no problem with it or any of the others.

Rogue One is up there with the best of them – Empire & New Hope.

Dangeourbrain

As above, they’re kids’ films. 1 &2 were panned because the people watching them generally forgot they’re aimed at 8year old versions of themselves not 40 somethings.

3 was dire mind.

Watch them in episode order and accept they’re more for your 6 year old than you and it’ll be fine. Don’t expect to be wowed, they’re not that good, enjoyable don’t get me wrong but not great.

The “made for kids” defence is something Lucas said when his films got panned. There’s no logic to it, it’s not even accurate because the term is family film. Postman Pat: The movie is a kids film and we can forgive it some degree of simplicity because it is actually aimed at 3 year olds, but family films should be good enough to entertain most if not all of the family. For kids isn’t a synonym for shit.

Take the Harry Potter franchise, the main target demographic obviously isn’t adults but they are decent well made films. Some are weaker than others but not because they are more kid-centric. The same is true for most Disney films, Pixar films, any good family film for that matter. After the original three Star Wars films everything since has been aimed at 30+ men, regardless of quality.

I think you should include at least the Rebels cartoon and the Clone Wars.

Rebels is really good and fits with the story arc and Clone Wars adds a chunk of back story to ep3 (and the now irrelevant EU ) although it can be a bit long winded.

You can’t really ignore Ep1 as in the Machete order because you lose out on two really cool spaceships and Qui Gon.

and lets not forget midicloreans, and Ja Ja Binks! Yes, Episode 1 is the gift that keeps giving.

I’ve been disappointed at the latest films Rogue 1 excepted. I would have loved them to be a bit darker and more sinister, but have to remind myself they are essentially kids films, or at least aimed more at kids than adults. They are owned by Disney at the end of the day and they know that what really makes the money is the merch, and for the merch they target the kids.

Actually I think the Harry Potter films did a great job. They started out as out and out kids films with a bit of an edge and got quite sinister and dark towards the end. Star Wars should follow the same format going forward but they’re playing it safe.

Haven’t even the originals (456) been dicked around with now though? I was interested in having a Starwars odyssey myself. Not 1,2 & 3 obviously. But the originals and all the newer ones.

Somebody told me that Lucas keeps fiddling with the originals by inserting new stupid characters and dodgy CGI, so unless I own the old VHS tapes i’ll be disappointed.

is that true?

Yeah he was forced to do that for the kids.

Yes George has messed about with them.

All sorts of annoyances in there, mostly for no reason.

That’s why the Harmy Despecialized versions are great. He’s gone back to the cleanest versions of the originals (including a 35mm print) and combined them with the best untouched bits from the blu-ray.

He’s posting editing videos on Facebook too so you can see the amount of work that goes into it.

Look them up!

I’d be inclined to watch them in the sequence they were released, so like us your children can be as confused as we (we’ll certainly me) are regarding the storyline links 🤦‍♀️

Similarly never watch a sequel or a reboot.

Which is why Aliens is such a shit film, then…

Watching the prequels before the original trilogy could reduce the impact of certain parts of the originals, particularly the end of Empire.

I watched the original trilogy as a kid, I probably saw Star Wars and Empire when I was 6 or so, then Jedi when it was released and I was 8. I haven’t had to evaluate the kid appropriateness of the prequels. Episode 1 should be fine but it’s been so long since I last saw 2 or 3 that I can’t really say if there’s anything too bad (in terms of child friendliness rather than quality) in them.

After the original three Star Wars films everything since has been aimed at 30+ men

30+ men who don’t have girlfriends and never will

Which is why Aliens is such a shit film, then…

Aliens is a shit film though

The thing with them being made for kids Jimjam is they’re intended to appeal to children and they do, very well, of the various under 10s in my family every one of them would choose ep1 over empire every time. Only two of them that i know of have managed to sit through the whole of new hope without getting bored and wanting to do other things.

Sure you can make films which apeal to the whole age spectrum but you don’t have to. I give you frozen, watch it with a 3 year old and see which of the two of you would watch it again immediately after and who is glad of the chance to do something else.

As children’s films ep1 -3 are fine* as family films they’re fine, as something other than starwars films they’re ok as films for dads** to watch and use their children as an excuse they’re rubbish.

Watch space balls instead (may not be ok for kids, can’t remember, but it is a more enjoyable film)

*3 may have unsuitable content for some kids.

**mothers may also do this, I’ve however never meet a mother who wanted to call their child Leia or bought scalextric/mechano/lego etc “for the kids”

Dangeourbrain

The thing with them being made for kids Jimjam is they’re intended to appeal to children and they do, very well, of the various under 10s in my family every one of them would choose ep1 over empire every time. Only two of them that i know of have managed to sit through the whole of new hope without getting bored and wanting to do other things.

I would posit the reason your under 10s prefer Episode 1 is that the central character is a child and in addition to that it’s brimming with CGI creatures colours and noise.

Sure you can make films which apeal to the whole age spectrum but you don’t have to. I give you frozen, watch it with a 3 year old and see which of the two of you would watch it again immediately after and who is glad of the chance to do something else.

You’re making my point. Frozen is a bad family film, not a film for 3 year olds. 3 year old girls will also sit mesmerized by Shimmer and Shine or Barbie and the Diamond castle and so on, doesn’t make them great. Adults will not. On the other hand take Moana. It’s no less “aimed at kids” than Frozen (because they are both family films) but it stands up to repeat viewings from children and adults because it has a reasonably coherent plot, interesting characters, a clearly defined lead character (Moana) and she has a satisfying developmental arc. Instead of Moana you could have Toy Story, Elf, Wall-E, Up, Nightmare Before Xmas, Monsters Inc, Princess Bride, Snow White, Spirited Away, Kubo and the two strings, Labrynth, How to Train your Dragon, Despicable Me, Jungle Book……….and many many more films that can be enjoyed by children and adults alike, or to put it another way, films that one could enjoy as a child and still enjoy in adulthood. It’s harder to make a great family film than a film which will only entertain very young children but you don’t set out to make a film for six year olds and base it around the political intrigue of the intergalactic EU and the complexities of interplanetary trade agreements.

As children’s films ep1 -3 are fine*

This is another way of saying “they are bad films”. As adults we are the arbiters and “for children” does not excuse shit quality in anything.

Having deleted my long winded reply…

If i accept your supposition not having broad appeal is a mark of a bad children’s family film, have you tried watching the original SW trilogy with a broad selection of adults who’ve never seen them before? I suggest you’ll be disappointed to discover a they also fail your test.

If i accept your supposition not having broad appeal is a mark of a bad children’s family film, have you tried watching the original SW trilogy with a broad selection of adults who’ve never seen them before? I suggest you’ll be disappointed to discover a they also fail your test.

I’m not arguing about the quality of the original trilogy. My point is simply that the prequels are substantially worse, and “they are for kids” isn’t an acceptable excuse. The first three Star Wars films are extremely generic, derivative adventure movies with laser swords and space ships.

Notice the complete lack of small children in the above clips from Star Wars and Jedi’s original release. It was a cultural phenomenon at the time because it had revolutionary VFX. Children obviously saw it and were impacted by it, but that doesn’t make it a children’s film.

If the Star Wars prequels are “for children” why do they centre around complex intergalactic politics? Why do they feature genuinely scary villains and show decapitations, people cleaved in half, the “hero” murdering a tribe of sand midgets and ultimately having his arms and legs cut off by his mentor? These things don’t emerge from a vacuum.

I completely lost interest in Harry Potter after the one with JaJa Binks in.

why do they centre around complex intergalactic politics?

That’s just there to stop them being standalone spin offs milking the fan base. (Oddly auto correct changed fan to cash)

The bits which make them ep.1-3 are a big part of why they’re rubbish fan films.

Sorry, my question was rhetorical. What I should have said was – you don’t start out to make a kids film that is largely focused around politics and trade deals, that also features fairly substantial amounts of violence.