--- description: All six Star Wars feature films are being made available for digital download Friday. Try watching them in 'Machete Order.' title: This Is the Best Way to Watch Star Wars This Weekend image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbb37983ad13c2bc6/6987ea895f570f3d3db1913d/186414662.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [movies](/tag/movies/) ## movies Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # This Is the Best Way to Watch _Star Wars_ This Weekend  by [Alex Fitzpatrick](/author/alex-fitzpatrick/)  ## Alex Fitzpatrick Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Updated: Jan 24, 2024 2:29 PM CUTPublished: Apr 10, 2015 1:27 PM CUT  In a scene from George Lucas' epic space opera Star Wars, the American actor Harrison Ford as rebel smuggler Han Solo draws a gun against enemies; behind him can be seen a fantastic space shuttle. In a scene from George Lucas' epic space opera Star Wars, the American actor Harrison Ford as rebel smuggler Han Solo draws a gun against enemies; behind him can be seen a fantastic space shuttle.MONDADORI PORTFOLIO  by [Alex Fitzpatrick](/author/alex-fitzpatrick/)  ## Alex Fitzpatrick Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Updated: Jan 24, 2024 2:29 PM CUTPublished: Apr 10, 2015 1:27 PM CUT All six _Star Wars_ feature films are [being made available for digital download Friday](http://time.com/3773571/star-wars-digital-download/ "undefined"), meaning lots of people will be sitting down and enjoying some of the best movies of all-time this weekend — some for the first time. But one of the most common problems when running a _Star Wars_ marathon is: Which order do you watch the movies in? Do you go with the order of release: Episodes IV, V, VI, then I, II, III? Or do you see the story “in order,” doing I -> II -> III -> IV -> V -> VI? This is no small question, especially for first-time viewers. The original trilogy (IV-VI) gives the impression the main character in the _Star Wars_ films is Luke Skywalker, while the new trilogy (I-III) are all about his pop Anakin’s turn to the Dark Side. But here’s a little _Star Wars_ secret: Neither of those orders is the best. The best way to watch _Star Wars_ is something called “Machete Order,” [detailed here](http://www.nomachetejuggling.com/2011/11/11/the-star-wars-saga-suggested-viewing-order/ "undefined") by computer software blogger Rod Hilton in 2011\. Machete order works like this: IV, V, II, III, VI, skipping I entirely because the only good things about Episode I were the pod race scene and the Darth Maul lightsaber duel, please never, ever mention midi-chlorians, thanks. Machete Order has lots of benefits: Most notably, a whole lot less Jar Jar Binks and super-whiny Boy Anakin. But it also makes the entire experience of the _Star Wars_ saga more rewarding. Here’s Hilton: --- > “” --- If you’ve never tried Machete Order before, there’s no better time than now, thanks to the _Star Wars_ movies finally being available for legal download online. Where should [_Star Wars: The Force Awaken_](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B019G7X7QG/ref=as%5Fli%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&tag=timemovies-20&camp=1789&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=B019G7X7QG&linkId=692ac969a4829ffa3d52ec6b5d65ef38 "undefined")_s_ fit into Machete Order? As it stands, the logical place is to add it to the end. But there must be plenty of people for whom _Awakens_ was their first entry into the _Star Wars_ universe, putting it at the beginning by default. While I haven’t tried that yet, I’d like to give it a shot and see how it goes. [(_Read TIME’s affiliate link policy_.)](http://time.com/4605406/time-affiliate-link-policy/ "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3817072/star-wars-download-machete-order/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3817072/star-wars-download-machete-order/"},"headline":"This Is the Best Way to Watch Star Wars This Weekend","datePublished":"2015-04-10T13:27:35.000Z","dateModified":"2024-01-24T14:29:07.000Z","description":"It's called 'Machete Order'","url":"https://time.com/3817072/star-wars-download-machete-order/","keywords":["movies","Star Wars topic"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbb37983ad13c2bc6/6987ea895f570f3d3db1913d/186414662.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alex Fitzpatrick","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/alex-fitzpatrick/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbb37983ad13c2bc6/6987ea895f570f3d3db1913d/186414662.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"186414662","caption":"In a scene from George Lucas' epic space opera Star Wars, the American actor Harrison Ford as rebel smuggler Han Solo draws a gun against enemies; behind him can be seen a fantastic space shuttle. 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