Our family has pizza and movie night together every Friday. It’s something we all look forward to but sometimes deciding on a film we all want to see can be tricky! One solution we have found that helps make the decision easier is to work our way through a series. So far some of the series we’ve watched our way through are Harry Potter, Marvel movies, and the Star Wars franchise. We watched Star Wars in order last year and opted to watch them by release date. However, I think it’s interesting how many different viewing order there are for the Star Wars saga. Today I wanted to share some of my favorites with you in preparation for Star Wars Day (May the 4th) in a couple weeks!

how to watch Star Wars in order

Just to reiterate–there are several ways to watch the Star Wars franchise in order. I’m only sharing the three of them that make the most sense to me.

| Disney+ Movie Marathons to Watch |

Star Wars release date order

Release date order will be the order that most people from my generation watched the films because, after all, that’s the order they came out in. If you grew up watching Star Wars then there’s no way you saw the newer films before the originals. By the way, did anyone else get to watch the re-release of episodes IV-VI in the theaters? I remember that was such a big deal! Of course, this viewing order does have some problems.

pros: The biggest pro is that you’ll still get that “gasp” moment when you realize who Luke’s father is. Another pro is that obviously the special effects get way better as time goes on, so you’re not regressing technology-wise.

cons: Everything is all out of order in the Star Wars Universe so you’ll have to keep reminding yourself when something is in the past or the future.

Star Wars timeline order

Timeline order will give you all the movies and shows in a chronological order of when events happened. This is how we watched the Marvel movies and this is mostly my preferred method of viewing. Why do I say mostly? Well, there is a pretty big con to watching Star Wars in this order.

pros: You’re watching events unfold as they’re happening to the characters in the correct order so it’s easier to keep things straight.

cons: That shocking moment from The Empire Strikes Back isn’t so shocking when you’ve seen episodes I-III.

“The Godfather” order

This viewing order accounts for the first six episodes of the franchise. It starts with the first two films that were released, then flashes back to episodes I-III once you already know about Luke’s parentage. Then it finishes up with the (original) last film of the series.

pros: Watching Star Wars in this order gives you the events mostly in order, while still presuming the biggest shock in the franchise.

cons: For whatever reason, “The Godfather” order only takes into account the first six episodes. So if you want to experience all the shows and movies you’ll have to do a lot of sleuthing on your own.

Regardless of which order you choose to watch in, Star Wars is a fun franchise to watch with your family. With all the films and series within the Star Wars Universe it will keep you entertained for quite awhile!

Have you seen all the Star Wars films and shows to date? Which order do you like to watch in?