The Star Wars Movies Order: Best Shows and Watch,Since Lucasfilm was acquired by Disney in 2012, two prequel/spin-off films have been released (Rogue One and Solo) alongside the now nine-strong “Skywalker saga”, and now The Mandalorian is on streaming service Disney+, marking Star Wars’ live-action TV debut and the birth of Baby Yoda memes.
The way you watch the franchise will probably rely on your feelings towards the prequel films. If you choose to kick off the chronological order you have to work your way through these first, it also means you miss out on the big plot reveal around Luke’s father.
The production order can also flag up issues. While you keep that big twist, you do have a few problems with the story order as you hop around the timeline.
Right Star Wars viewing order
Though some sources claim there are up to five different orders you could watch the Star Wars saga in, there are three generally accepted ways to do it. One is in order of episodes (following in-movie chronology), the second is in order of production (going by release date) and the third (the so-called “Godfather cut”) to best tell the Sky walker story’s plot twists.
Star Wars chronological movie order
- Episode I: The Phantom Menace (1999)
- Episode II: Attack of the Clones (2002)
- Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008-present)
- Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (2005)
- Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018)
- Star Wars Rebels (2014-2018)
- Rogue One (2016)
- Episode IV: A New Hope (1977)
- Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
- Episode VI: Return of the Jedi (1983)
- The Mandalorian (2019-present)
- Star Wars: Resistance (2018-2020)
- Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
- Episode VIII: The Last Jedi (2017)
- Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker (2019)
(Or) going by movies only:
- Episode I: The Phantom Menace (1999)
- Episode II: Attack of the Clones (2002)
- Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (2005)
- Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018)
- Rogue One (2016)
- Episode IV: A New Hope (1977)
- Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
- Episode VI: Return of the Jedi (1983)
- Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
- Episode VIII: The Last Jedi (2017)
- Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker (2019)
If you choose to watch Star Wars in this order, you’ll be living the story along with the characters, following the official chronology of the series. It does, however, come with a couple of downsides.
Star Wars movies in ‘The Godfather’ order
- Episode IV: A New Hope (1977)
- Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
- Episode I: The Phantom Menace (1999)
- Episode II: Attack of the Clones (2002)
- Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (2005)
- Episode VI: Return of the Jedi (1983)
The idea of this ordering is to watch the original two Star Wars movies then, after the shock reveal at the end of Empire Strikes Back that Darth Vader is Luke Skywalker’s father, jump back to the prequel trilogy to fill in the background of Anakin Skywalker.
After Revenge of the Sith, you then return to watch Return of the Jedi, adding new depth to Vader and Luke’s final clash without disrupting the big twists of the story.
Star Wars movies in The Rinster Order
Another order you can opt for is dubbed as The Rinster order. It gets its name from Star Wars superfan Ernest Rinster. Rinster is such a huge fan he wanted to create an order that would protect that big Luke/father twist but also retain The Phantom Menance. He leaves out the sequels.
- Episode IV: A New Hope (1977)
- Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
- Episode I: The Phantom Menace (1999)
- Episode II: Attack of the Clones (2002)
- Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (2005)
- Episode VI: Return of the Jedi (1983)
How to watch all the Star Wars movies
It will take you 25 hours and 7 minutes to watch all 11 live-action Star Wars films (original versions).
This count includes the nine instalments from the Skywalker saga and the two anthology films, Rogue One and Solo.
Excluding the anthology films, Episode I to IX will take you 20 hours and 39 minutes to watch.
Here are the run times of all Star Wars movies, from shortest to longest…
- A New Hope – 121 minutes
- The Empire Strikes Back — 124 minutes
- Return of the Jedi — 131 minutes
- Rogue One: A Star Wars Story — 133 minutes
- Solo: A Star Wars Story — 135 minutes
- The Phantom Menace — 136 minutes
- The Force Awakens — 138 minutes
- Revenge of the Sith — 140 minutes
- Attack of the Clones — 142 minutes
- The Last Jedi — 152 minutes
- The Rise of Skywalker – 155 minutes
Where can I watch the Star Wars movies
If you have NOW TV can watch the original trilogy (Episodes IV-VI), the prequels (Episodes I-III) and Solo on the streaming service.
As for Rogue One and Episodes VII and VIII, they are only available to buy from the usual channels – Amazon, iTunes and Google Play. Now Disney Plus has launched in the UK