It is safe to say that I am a "Star Wars" nut who has attempted to express my love for the franchise at fanatical levels. Fanatical in the sense, that if you look at my theatrical viewing history (when I have been single), you can see that I am very forgiving of what many fans will consider low points.
- Episode IV: A New Hope (1982 reissue): 1
- Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back (1982 reissue): 1
- Episode VI: Return of the Jedi (1983 original release): 11. I do not know what that says about my parents. They always "complained", but never denied this three year-old.
- Episode VI: Return of the Jedi (1985 reissue): 2
- A New Hope: Special Edition: 5. It made Spanish class on Monday's easy. What did you do last weekend (en espanol)?
- Empire Strikes Back Special Edition: 2
- Return of the Jedi Special Edition: 1. I then turned 17, so the world of R-Rated cinema took my attention away.
- Episode I: The Phantom Menace: 12ish (3 viewing including premier and 2 opening day). All the classic movies of 99 came out in the fall, so do not hold this against me. I saw "South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut" instead of "Wild Wild West" opening weekend, so I deserve some credit despite "Phantom" being my regular Saturday night thing. My dedication to the Church of Lucas needed be expressed. Thank God for "ECW on TNN" to change this up.
- Episode II: Attack of the Clones: 3 (including premier). Bad acting is worse than child acting in terms of Anakin Skywalker.
- Episode III: Revenge of the Sith: 2 (including premier). I was drinking six nights a week and had lost my virginity just seven months before the release. Temptations man.
- The Clone Wars: 1 (opening weekend). This viewing inspired the opening scene of my second untitled screenplay draft. Still drinking six nights a week.
- The Phantom Menace 3-D: 1 (premier). Was it out long enough to have seen it more than the midnight premier?
- Episode VII: The Force Awakens: 5 (including premier and the next showing). After this feature, I have been with my better quarter (Eva the Cat gets half) for the last three releases.
That is 47 viewings, over half of them occurred in my adulthood. I may not be able to call myself an expert or maester like the crew on Binge Mode since I have yet to play all the video games and felt the Legends books pre-Phantom's release were just cash grabs. My fandom defines me as much as religion defines anyone not in the clergy who tries to be holier than thou. Justifies the imperial emblem tattooed on my chest.
What the Disney purchase of Lucasfilm has done is allowing me to become an addict to the fandom. A new movie a year to get pumped about, I find the sensations to be awesome. But what am I to do with this two-year gap that is about to occur?
Once "Rise" leaves theaters in March, the jonesing will begin. All because Disney dropped the ball on how to release these features. They thought they had another Marvel Cinematic Universe and it did not turn out that way, so it has to be restructured. If it is going to be restructured, why not base it off the MCU, and start doing the yearly reissues to avoid the goosebumps based on this.
Everybody wonders, with the mixed qualities among the "Star Wars" features, how is the proper way to introduce them. If we spread the quality about like Disney did once they had complete control of the universe, I think everyone will get over dialogue like "Are you an angel?"
Star Wars: A New Hope
(The Avengers [MCU 2012])
This means we are going to put "A New Hope" in the spot where "The Avengers" was. "Iron Man" was excellent, but the four films between that 2008 film and the 2012 did not feel like must view features. "The Incredible Hulk" was quick to include the Tony Stark cameo in TV ads. A liberal cynic is not going to immediately run to "Captain America: The First Avenger". Does it makes sense to incorporate gods into this universe? I think we were all just accepting "The Avengers" as being de facto "Iron Man 3". We enjoyed all the characters in that film, so we became invested in the MCU at that point, not anytime before.
Star Wars: The Phantom Menace
(Iron Man 3/Thor: The Dark World [2013])
2013 Marvel may have been the weakest year. "Iron Man 3" seemed like a forced conclusion to his story and "Thor: The Dark World" is not very memorable (especially after "Ragnarok"). We were still high from "The Avengers" though, and I think we would overlook a lesser flick at this point. I will venture to say that "Phantom Menace" is better than these two MCU entries, so my MCU Star Wars format is doing better than the structure I was inspired by. And we are still only doing a film a year at this point.
Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back
(Captain America: The Winter Soldier/Guardians of the Galaxy [2014])
2014 may have been the strongest year for the MCU. "Guardians" is pretty much just a ship full of Han Solos, so it is a cool parallel to place the most Solo-centric portion of the Saga in this spot. "Winter Soldier" is also the first film to add stakes to the MCU after the thrill-ride that was "The Avengers". "Empire" is all about stakes.
Star Wars: Attack of the Clones
(Avengers: Age of Ultron/Ant-Man [2015])
As I am typing this up, it seems like I am inadvertently taking Game Radar's Alternating Order. I think the problem with that is, who wants to watch "Jedi" before "Sith", regardless if "Sith" is the strongest prequel? "Age of Ultron" was the weakest of the "Avengers" films and "Ant-Man" is hard to take as seriously as the rest of the MCU. It is a good time to return to the prequels.
Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith
(Captain America: Civil War/Doctor Strange [2016])
It turns out to be a nice parallel between the two universes. Obi-Wan/Anakin Skywalker break up like the Avengers and things should get really dark in the "Strange" franchise.
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
(Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2/Spider-Man: Homecoming/Thor: Ragnarok [2017])
Everything was pretty solid from December 2016 to November 2017. Why change that?
Star Wars: Return of the Jedi
(Black Panther/Avengers: Infinity War/Ant-Man and the Wasp [2018])
I doubt anyone would have too much of an issue with three films being viewed before a pivotal one. Look at how many were between "Infinity War" and "Age of Ultron".
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
(Captain Marvel/Avengers: Endgame/Spider-Man: Far From Home [2019])
Pivotal films come in pairs.
Solo: A Star Wars Story
The problem that "Solo" had was that it came out six months after the most divisive film in the Saga. The idiots needed at least another six months and assurances from J.J. Abrams of quality to come.
Star Wars: The Last Jedi
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker
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