Patton Oswalt Discusses the Proper Way to Watch Star Wars Movies - Late Night with Seth Meyers

[@mnchls]

Patton Oswalt. This man is just so... so right.

[@Moviefan2k4]

When "Revenge of the Sith" first came out, I watched Episode I & II, saw III in a theater, then got about 5 hours' sleep. After waking up, I then watched the original films...and it amazed me how well everything synched up. None of the films are perfect, but George clearly put tons of thought into the whole thing...so no one could rightfully claim he was lazy with the prequels.

[@DeepwaterDoor2]

I like both the prequels and the original trilogy, they they definitely don't match up perfectly. For example, why doesn't Obi Wan or Yoda recognize C3P0 and R2-D2 if they've known them the whole time?

[@Moviefan2k4]

DeepwaterDoor2 Well, their recognition's neither affirmed or denied; Obi-Wan simply says he doesn't recall ever owning a droid, which was true since Artoo was the property of Naboo in "Phantom Menace". As for Yoda, he doesn't even bother to address it, either way. Its called plausible deniability.

[@DeepwaterDoor2]

+Moviefan2k4 True, but then why does R2 remember being the property of Obi Wan? Why does he remember Obi Wan at all? In Revenge of the Sith, Bail Organa says that they are going to wipe the minds of R2 and C3PO.

[@Moviefan2k4]

DeepwaterDoor2 No, Antilles is specifically instructed to wipe the protocol droid's mind, meaning Threepio. R2D2 retains everything, but chooses when to divulge certain info.

[@DeepwaterDoor2]

+Moviefan2k4 Fair enough. It's been a while since I've seen Revenge of the Sith. But still, why does Leia remember Padme if she died right after giving birth to her?

[@MoTown-qd8fl]

I acknowledge Episode one for 3 reasons: Qui Gon Jinn, Qui Gon/Obi Wan vs Maul, and my 2nd favorite Star Wars song, Duel of the Fates.

[@mk0664]

+MoTown2112 The Machete theory actually explains why Qui Gon is irrelevant to the story.

[@user-ss8wh4kk3m]

+The Dapper Committee Yeah I just read it but it Qui Gon is relevant to the story because he was the one who found anakin and was the one who got him into the jedi order even though the jedi masters and obi-won disagreed on letting him in.

[@Jonsse]

+MoTown2112 It seems to me Qui Gon is only relevant with people that like and have read the Extended Universe stuff. His role in the movie could have been Obi Wans story and it would have been much better for the continuity.

[@Golemoid]

+The Dapper Committee true, doesn't mean it's not worth watching.

[@laurenhahn8569]

The only REAL Star Wars order goes thusly: 1. Star Wars Holiday Special 2. Star Wars Holiday Special 3. Star Wars Holiday Special 4. Star Wars Holiday Special 5. Star Wars Holiday Special 6. Star Wars Holiday Special

[@toahordika6]

When do I watch Phantom Menace in this order?

[@toahordika6]

Unpopular opinion Bladerunner is a bad movie

I wholeheatedly agree.

[@masteryoda394]

Well said

[@hellolovely2]

what a cool dude, cheering on Weird Al :)

[@TheLaurenkent]

I could listen to him talk all day

[@amirue]

Why follow the Machete order when you can just watch Phantom Menace six times instead?! Now that's the best cinematic experience

[@eskreskao]

+Ameer Uddin Why watch Phantom Menace six times when you can watch Phantom Menace in 3D six times instead?

[@shack8110]

What is the reasoning for watching 4, 5, 2,3 in that order?

[@Tigerman1138]

O.P. Wilkituski You just dropped the 🎤

[@kevinrhea7332]

Just watch Episode 5 Once

[@Ana_Ng]

@@shack8110 machete order looks at star wars as the story of skywalker, and tries to preserve the twist in ep 5 for new watchers. if you watch them in episodic order, it gets spoiled. so you start luke's story in 4, go on to 5 where you see the big twist (and it was a HUGE deal back when empire got released), then you go back to 2 and 3 to see how luke's father became darth vader, and finally you wrap the story up in 6.

[@scottwellman8846]

Machete Order sounds amazing

[@gamaterian0122]

Now THIS is Pod Racing!

[@Golemoid]

no it's not

[@Shadownumber206]

He wore that same ugly jacket on Fallon.

[@Chaekmeout]

That funny

[@iggystompbarnyard]

Just did it. It kinda works, you have to start episode 2 right after 5 and keep going or else it falls apart. 4 and 5 are no sweat but I was dreading 2 and 3 but it actually kinda works out. Definitely the order for someone who's never seen the trilogy's. It's so hard not to go right to 6 after 5. 6 was my favourite as a kid.

[@mustardsfire22]

That's actually a great idea!

[@kupodrinksmilk]

Im not a big fan of the prequels but i gave the machete order a shot. Yeah, Ep II was still meh and Ep III alright. But what it does to Ep VI is fucking amazing. VI becomes a more powerful experience; specifically the confrontation between Luke and Vader. I understand the disdain some fans hold for the PT but viewing SW in machete order should be tried at least once.

[@squidcaps4308]

The only way to insert prequels in to the story, by far the best. Allthou, both II and III should be edited to remove a LOT of the unnecessary establishing shots, politics and the "romance" dialogue as that really didn't work (i think both of the leading actors are better than they are in those scenes, yes, even haydennsnnessenenchristsenssesnnees is by far better actor than those scenes are, it's directorial failure more than actors fault..)

[@theGreenGoblin]

SquidCaps It appears as though a fan has delivered exactly what you need. Look up Star Wars Episode I-III: A Phantom Edit. Put this in place over the prequels in the Machete order and I think you'll be very happy.

[@squidcaps4308]

theGreenGoblin Thanks, i've been searching for this exact version. I even thought one day that i've been just dreaming about it cause i coudn't find it..

[@realTexans2024]

Start with episode 1,2,TCW,3, Jedi: fallen order, obi wan, rebels, Han Solo, rogue one, 4,5,6, mando, 7,8,9

[@eddiesrockinvlogs1781]

I love looking at all the comments from 7-8 years ago saying how bad the prequels are and to just skip them, now years later everyone loves them because the kids who grew up with them are the fanbase. New fans don’t realize the hate the prequels got and I’m glad it’s different now

[@mikenadj.j4355]

It still exists they’re just a little harder to find now. Eventually they’ll be gone almost completely 50 years from now when new generations recognize these films as one giant 12 hour picture. George Lucas’s death whenever that happens, hopefully not soon will chance the landscape a lot.

[@a1-x-yt]

Harmy despecialized 4,5 HAL9000 1,2,3. HD 6. You could chuck Rogue One in at the start too.

[@JacksunGavin]

Or just watch Star Wars, Empire, Jedi.... then make up in your head episodes 1, 2, and 3 with better acting and Anakin and Obi-Wan actually liking each other.

[@eliezerrodriguez5863]

what movies did you watch

[@lastdragon55]

Episode III is actually really good.

[@kellybrincks]

you have do the anti-cheese versions of 2 and 3 to make it a tad better

[@soth1sol]

there should be a warning sticker on the boxset: "for a tad better version of each movie, don't eat cheese while viewing"

[@rde4017]

For a newbie the machete order is a must. The "Leia" twist at the end of ROTS is a killer!

[@archedmash2]

Nobody who is a fan of Star Wars watched it for the first time through the machete order.

[@Hadraedan96]

There was another clip from this interview where Patton explained how watching the Phantom Menace broke his addiction to watching bad movies. It doesn't seem to be on KZbin anymore. Does anyone know where I can find it?

[@tylerwalsworth2002]

And So everyone voted for Weird Al and he got a Grammy!

[@gr8dalmuti]

Don't forget to watch the Star Wars Holiday Special between episodes IV and V! . . . . . Ok, just kidding! ;^)

[@darthvalor07]

Personally, I think the best way to watch Star Wars is episodes four through six and then (optionally) episodes one through three. Never episodes one through six because it ruins the plot twist in episode five.

[@GregorySigmundsson]

I like trying to preserve the twist, but it seems Iike EVERYONE knows Vader is Luke’s father

[@Ana_Ng]

this is still viable for the goals of machete order (machete-approved?) if you have a despecialised version of rotj. if you finish up episode 6 to stare at anakin's smug face when you have no idea who he is, it does feel weird

[@MrStensnask]

So movies 4, 5, 2, 3 and then 6..? Huh. Maybe I should try that...

[@ianpg9891]

4, 5, 6, 1, 2, 3, 7, Rogue One, 8, Solo, 9, untitled Anthology movie, Rian Johnson trilogy. Or if your rewatching do 1, 2, 3, Solo, Rogue One, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9. I don’t know where Rian’s trilogy would go because it’s not announced story wise.

[@ArgoLupus]

I am probably not the only one who decided that 45236 before I learned of said order. I wondered about omitting ep. 1 from the canon but it really is that bad. Fans care was the best way to introduce them to young friends. I have watched it more than once and Phantom Menace has three cool characters/actors but is just ruined, ruined, ruined, ruined by two other performances.

[@johnpaulsmajda]

+Tye Wolfe It's not about how bad ep. 1 is. Episode 2 is a far worse movie. Episode 1 is removed because it brings absolutely nothing to the story arc. Nothing even has to be explained if you take it out.

[@DougUnfunny]

There is only one order 4-7 and so on...

[@RalleB19881]

this aged poorly XD

[@Tigerman1138]

Rogue One 4,5,6 And that is it.

[@greenmanatee3368]

My machete order replaces attacking of the clones with Gennedy Tartakovsky’s 2003 Clone Wars microseries (I love the 2008 version as well, but if I’m marathoning the movies or introducing them to someone who’s never seen them before them this is a lot more convienant since the microseries is only 2 hours, while the 2008 series is God knows how many hours with its 6 seasons worth of episodes)

[@spidrmage]

I love machete order but throwing in rogue one makes a mess of the whole thing

[@EggPlanet492]

Not really; if you go back to the original article of the guy who came up with the thing, he says that the machete order is just meant to refocus the original story on Luke's arc. Outside of that, he considers everything else to be isolated "anthology movies," including Episode 1. For example, if you're introducing someone to Star Wars, just have them watch the machete, and watch the others separately, later on. Open with "This one takes place between X and Y," so they have context, and you're all set. This other stuff fills in the gaps, like Clone Wars, Rogue One, the Han Solo movie, etc, but isn't relevant to Luke's story, so you don't need it right at the start.

[@eternalhalloween1]

Not really Spidrmage. My biggest complaint about "Machete Order" is that in "Return of the Jedi,'" Darth Vader isn't quite the menace he was in SW or TESB. He doesn't even torture anyone with the force, and his sword fighting isn't what it was. If you go 4,5,1,2,3, "Rouge One," 6, then you get to see Darth Vader at his most menacing after you see Anakin fall in 3, and before he redeems himself in 6. See if that works for you.

[@vekunde]

So: 4, 5, 2, 3, 6. got it

[@Uroboro_Djinn]

+Thunder Chile 4, 5, 2, 3, 6, 7 now. :P

[@elgangsterchido]

I support Machete order in leaving Ep I out. But best lightsaber duel ever...

[@DestructoPop]

+Daniel Espinosa I hope you've seen The Force Awakens since you wrote this!

[@Golemoid]

And i disagree, Ep I is worth watching, just to see Darth Maul and the epic duel.

[@Dizzy_Rebel]

+Bolek Lolek thats dancing not an epic duel, what IS epic thought is John Williams score in that scene, holy cow. Also that comment was hoping they had watched the new movie in the time between when they originally posted the comment till now.

[@Golemoid]

Matthew Johnson yeah because the duel between obi wan and darth vader was the epitome of epic, right?

[@elgangsterchido]

+DestructoPop Yup, but we can have that conversation some other day, lets not spoil it for others.

[@sansabeaches8052]

In what order have you watched/played other epics? Example: Final Fantasy

[@Megahton]

Skip Episode II as well. In my opinion it's worse than Episode I.

[@ValpasKankaristo]

No.

[@ValpasKankaristo]

9Madd1Dogg1 Attack of the Clones is story-wise much more important movie. If you skip it and watch E3, you will be confused.

[@9Madd1Dogg1]

Valpas Kankaristo Yeah, it's true. But story-wise 1, 2 and 3 are completly irrelevant, all they do is show you, that Anakin really is Darth Vader, but for that, you just have to watch E5/6. I don't think, the machete order is as smart, as it fans think it is. If u don't like the prequels, skip them.

[@ValpasKankaristo]

***** Excactly.

[@ohfrickitsphil]

+Johan Gustafsson It IS worse than episode I. Actually, it's the worst thing ever made by a human.

[@eliezerrodriguez5863]

how about the clonewars 4,5,plaguies book,2,3,6.

[@ahunter316]

We're doing the machete order - enhanced. where you skip episode 1 2 and 3.

[@henkman00]

machete order - enhanced - TURBO! where you skip episodes 1,2,3,7 and 8...

[@crixxxxxxxxx]

Woodchipper Order: Throw the prequels in a woodchipper and enjoy the hell out of IV-VII.

[@moz7777]

4/5/6...nothing else exists.

[@MrPoeGhost]

+remi moses Actually, there's a 1, 2, and 3. Whether you acknowledge them or not. :V

[@moz7777]

Not in our house sunshine. You read the Qu'ran , ill stick to the King James.

[@moz7777]

maccajoe Its called an "analogy".

[@KyleMcNutt]

+remi moses Problem with that order is that at the end of 6 you go "Who the F is that guy on the left?" Unless your watching one the edits, pre-DVD boxset.

[@FunkyGhost37]

+remi moses But the Machete order is actually pretty good though. It removes Episode 1 and still keeps the Twist preserved for newcomers.

[@thecommercialarchive]

The EVEN BETTER Way: 4, 5, 3, 6, 7. Skip 1 and 2.

[@Yatsura2]

If you skip Episode 2, you will have no fucking idea what Episode 3 is about. No characters are introduced and the story arc starts right in the middle.

[@Yatsura2]

@@DTBootlegs This doesnt make any sense whatsoever. Of course you dont need any order whatsoever if you want to watch some random movies in some random order.

[@DavidLLambertmobile]

Cool. I thought actor Danny Trejo was involved! 🔪... 🎥💻😉

[@Normonaut]

Proper way to watch Star Wars: IV - V - VI - VII

[@Uroboro_Djinn]

+Normonaut Haha, true xD

[@Uroboro_Djinn]

Kylo Ren That's how I watched it too.

[@ProJatior]

Too bad The Phantom Menace is actually a much better movie than Attack of the Clones. AOTC is the only one out of the original saga I dislike. rogue One is awesome I don't know why the Force needs to get up apparently they think we need sequels to clear everything up.

[@VTRDC27]

Machete order doesnt save Ep II and III from being garbage though

[@TheGeorgeD13]

+Rump Buffalo That's your opinion. I quite enjoy the prequels for what it is.

[@lastdragon55]

Episode III is my second favorite Star Wars movie. I love it.

[@TheGeorgeD13]

lastdragon55 Same. Return of the Jedi being first. Then Revenge of the Sith. Then Force Awakens.

[@DestructoPop]

+Rump Buffalo Episode II is so cringey. Hayden Christensen is so BAD. The storyline is unfocused, stellar actors deliver a mediocre performance throughout, just... MEH. Episode III redeems the prequels, as much as it can do. The performances step up quite a bit.

[@ROOKTABULA]

+Rump Buffalo The Phantom Edit does though. 1,2+3 condensed to 1 movie with only 8 or 9 minutes of Ep 1

[@plissken2156]

The NEW "Machete Order": 1./ Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018) 2./ Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016) 3./ Kenobi (2022 T.V. series) 4./ Star Wars - Episode 4: A New Hope (unaltered version) (1977) 5./ Star Wars - Episode 5: The Empire Strikes Back (unaltered version) (1980) 6./ Star Wars - Episode 3: Revenge of the Sith (2005) 7./ Star Wars - Episode 6: Return of the Jedi (unaltered version) (1983) 8./ The Mandalorian (2019 T.V. series) 9./ The Book of Boba Fett (2021 T.V. series)

[@velvet1965]

i don't like sand.

[@DraphEnjoyer]

Or an even better idea is to completely disregard all the prequel films and just watch the Clone Wars cartoon instead. The Genndy Tartakovsky one's and the CGI one. Both of those series make you care about Anakin as a character and makes his fall even more tragic.

[@ElEscolta]

Yeah, but you still need context for what happens in II and III to fully understand both series. In my opinión, the Machete Orden should include the 2D Clone Wars right after Episode II, it gives the broken friendship, the tragic love story and the fall of Anakin more weight in Episode III.

[@awsomeDualshock]

My personal viewing method is IV-V-VI then read the books.

[@tarboy2144]

that's nt the machete order. Machete order is 4-5-2-3-6

[@Nee.]

- Gamericious - Pretty sure he meant A New Hope instead of just saying Star Wars. So basically he said, "[A New Hope] and Empire. When Empire ends..etc". Confused me as well for a sec.

[@shaneofthehillpeople]

Neetox People our generation (Patton and myself) forget that it's been renamed "A New Hope". To most of us, it was always just "Star Wars".

[@thomasbicknell175]

STAR WARS is the original name.

+Shane Hetzel I (born in 65) don't usually forget Episode IV is called "A New Hope" now. But, as you say, it was, is, and always will be "Star Wars". Edit to correct VI to IV, thanks, *Dogg ;-)

[@9Madd1Dogg1]

+Jürgen Erhard *IV

[@kristopheryunker1319]

Problem is if someone watches them in this order that has never seen it before they find out the reveal of Leia in Ep III instead of they way it should be revealed in VI. It should go IV V II VI III but then your left with a bad taste in your mouth ending with a prequel. This will be better when VII is out on disc cause you can end with that!

[@joby92]

Kristopher Yunker the sibling reveal is *better* in E3 than in E6 bc you just saw 2 movies with Leia before kinda forgetting about her during the extended flashback of E2 and almost all of E3

[@videomissionary]

I know machete order is designed partly for first-time viewers to experience the twist that Vader is Luke's father, while still being able to understand why young Anakin appears as a ghost at the end of VI. The only problem I have with machete order is that it spoils the brother-sister relationship with Leia...

[@Seriona1]

videomissionary How? Unless you are making the akward kiss in 5 and two movies later, they find out.

[@videomissionary]

+Caesar Seriona at the end of revenge of the sith, Padme gives birth and gives names to Luke and Leia. I guess it's not a bad spoiler since we find out in the next movie anyway...

[@Seriona1]

videomissionary Ah I see. I don't it matters as the six movies really is about Anikin. (sp?)

[@slo8503]

+Caesar Seriona the six movies are really about luke, not anakin

[@Seriona1]

Sl o No. Luke plays no role in the first three.

[@somebuddyX]

B-but they never made any Star Wars prequels LALALALA *I CAN'T HEAR YOU*

[@TAPKAC]

They did, however, make these really long deleted scenes that add up to about 7 1/2 hours. Not essential for watching.

[@jakeukalanemilegum]

4, 5 and 6 are not so good films.

[@Golemoid]

of course, episode 1 is the best.

[@bootybandit4459]

4/5/6/1/2/3/7 There that's the order

[@thelohrsaga8214]

I don't know why The Phantom Menace is the one everybody hates the most don't get me wrong I know its REALLY boring and hard to watch but Attack Of The Clones was always the worst in my book it has such wonders as the stiff creepy awkward romance between Anakin and Padme terrible c3po puns extreme over abundance of outdated cg random clothing tearing in battle in case you somehow couldn't tell that Padme is the attractive female character and speaking of Padme for some reason her character doesn't care that her stalker/bodyguard/boyfriend murders an entire village including helpless women and children and most likely infants, and she pretends to be strong and independent only to swoon to death (In the next movie) when her "love" turns into even more of a jerk even though she has two brand new kids to live and fight for unlike Lea who fights on even after her whole planet is destroyed and there is the terrible fight choreography between Anakin Obi-Wan and Dooku and even the choreography with Yoda was super sloppy, all that together makes Episode II the worst in my book but to each his own I guess lol

[@breakdown2218]

+The Lohr Saga I think Attack of the Clones is more palatable cause both the plot and dialogue are so insanely terrible that it's laughable, almost enjoyable to watch Lucas's devastation. Phantom Menace has 20 minutes of goodness but it is buried in plot that is too boring to watch.

[@thelohrsaga8214]

Solid Snack You know that's actually a fair point

[@SantaPorter420]

Watch the originals Only the originals

[@leons.kennedy2747]

Maybe if Patton Oswalt spent less time thinking about the correct way to view Star Wars then he would have noticed his wife was critically sick.

[@Yatsura2]

Wow, three logical fallacies in only 26 words. Congratulations on that one!

[@StrangersFromTheMist]

Dude ... this is probably hard for you to understand, but literally no one liked your comment. No one agreed with you. No one. That was a sick joke, and you need to realize that. You have shitty social skills.

[@leons.kennedy2747]

StrangersFromTheMist Pretty weird because I seem to have upvotes on Google+ :^)

[@StrangersFromTheMist]

No. What is pretty weird is that you believe you're funny.

[@Acrocanthosaurus]

The flaw in the machete orderconcept is that Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith are terrible Star Wars movies.

[@mikenadj.j4355]

People forgot how to count apparently

[@jackmartin2670]

First

[@DesertScorpionKSA]

Way back when Patton Oswalt was still kind of funny. He sucks now.

[@chrisclarke4665]

I hate Patton Oswalt.

[@silvandarart]

Literally the best