I’m a pretty big fan. Here’s my 2 cents:
Given you are curious and not even committed to doing it I wouldn’t dance around anything. Just stick to the Original Trilogy. They are the best movies and easy to consume.
4- New Hope
5- Empire Strikes Back (my favorite)
6- Return of the Jedi
What I’ll say about the Prequel Trilogy is that Lucas wanted to do a lot of world building. They are like a sci-fi political thriller. Don’t watch them unless you are completely sold on the series. I don’t think you will. Die hard fans really like them because of what they did to the broader storylines and things like Clone Wars that came out of it.
The Sequel Trilogy in terms of entertainment are fun watches. But there are endless problems that the fandom legitimately has with them. For example, “Star Wars” is supposed to be a saga about the Skywalkers. The ST broke that. They also didn’t have clear direction on what they wanted to do. Abrams stated he was going to figure it out based on what worked in the movies. Well, they hired Ryen Johnson to do the middle movie and he threw up a big middle finger to the established plot from the first movie. And instead of going with it, JJ took over for the final installment and tried to retcon things. Not hard to imagine how clunky the story telling was because of it.
The suggested order of watching I would have given if you are a sci-fi and elaborate story fan was what was previously stated with one tweak; 4, 5, 2, 3, 6. Skip 1 until you are hooked. And watch the ST after if at all inclined. Again, they are fun movies if you don’t go into them with hopes and dreams that are about to be destroyed.
Tag on movies:
Solo- Actually pretty good. Every time I rewatch it I’m surprised by how much I enjoy it.
Rogue One- Goos drama and story telling. Also the best live action Darth Vader being a bad ass.
Disney+ shows
Mandolorian- very well done. A little monster off the week combined with well executed action. They are releasing the third season now. Quick episodes. Also feels like it’s most important to the grand story line.
Book of Boba Fett- I didn’t hate it but it was the weakest of the shows. Don’t really know the point of the show other than to profit off of our love for Boba.
Obi-Wan- only slightly better than boba. Slow. But better acting. Felt more epic than boba.
Excited for Ahsoka. The “villain” she mentioned is someone I’m excited about but that’s all I say here to not spoil anything.
Cartoons
Clone Wars- gives you a lot more FaceTime with anakin and obi. Also answers some questions for those that care.
There is another one I’m blanking on right now I liked better than clone wars. It took place after clone wars and dealt with former Jedis on the run doing gorilla warfare against the empire.
Book
Thrawn series. I’ve read all of them in the new cannon. So fun. They are like Star Trek TNG in feel. I think this is their best avenue to expand the universe and introduce new villains instead of recycling the same one.
High Republic. These are written by a bunch of different people so some are harder to get through than others. Enjoy the significant separation on timelines along with the new challenges they face in that timeline. I think they are going to make a series about this timeline too.
A lot of others I liked. The aftermath series was good. Will have to dig through my books if anyone is looking interested in recommendations.
