Star Wars Watch Order: Release, Chronological, or Machete?
No franchise generates more watch-order debate than Star Wars. There are three established approaches, and the right one depends on whether it's your first time through. Here they all are, with an honest recommendation.
Release order (the purist choice)
- Star Wars (1977) — Later retitled A New Hope.
- The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
- Return of the Jedi (1983)
- Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999)
- Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002)
- Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005)
- Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015)
- Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017)
- Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019)
Release order preserves every twist as audiences originally experienced them — above all the reveal in Empire, which chronological order spoils completely. For a first viewing, this is the order we recommend.
Chronological order (episodes I–IX)
Watching by episode number tells the story of Anakin and then Luke in timeline order, with Rogue One slotting in just before A New Hope and Solo before that. It reads like one long biography of the Skywalkers — satisfying on a rewatch, but it defuses the saga's most famous surprise, so save it for a second pass.
The Machete order
A fan-devised compromise: IV, V, then II and III as an extended flashback, then VI — skipping The Phantom Menace entirely. It keeps the big reveal intact while giving Vader's backstory maximum dramatic weight going into Return of the Jedi. It's clever, and it works, but it's best appreciated once you already know the films.
Bottom line
First time: release order. Rewatch: chronological or Machete, according to taste. The films tend to sit on one major platform per country, but the standalone entries sometimes live elsewhere — search a title on this site to see the current picture where you live.