What's On's film writer, Mike Shaw, gives his view on the build-up to the new Star Wars film release - and debates the merits of the films so far

There’s a new Star Wars film coming out. You may have seen me mention it once or twice, or perhaps the masses of Star Wars-related merchandise clogging up supermarkets has caught your eye.

Get used to it. It’s only going to get worse, and if you have kids, they’re going to be all over it.

“Dad, is that Darth Vader on the poster?” (It’s not.)

“Dad, is this before or after the one with Jar Jar Binks?” (It’s set after all the other films.)

“Dad, why are you sleeping in the living room again?” (It’s definitely not because of snoring)
My boy is six now, and he’s the perfect age to be bitten by the Star Wars bug.

I tried watching the first one (the 'real' first one, A New Hope) with him about 18 months ago, but it was no good. Too slow. Too boring. Not enough Lightning McQueen.

'It was exactly what a Star Wars-loving father would want from the first proper time he sits down to watch Luke, Han and Leia with his kid'

But last weekend, I decided to try again, and it was exactly what a Star Wars-loving father would want from the first proper time he sits down to watch Luke, Han and Leia with his kid.

It just clicked. He was glued to the film, barely asked any questions (that’s a pretty big deal for this six-year-old), got excited at the right places, laughed in the right places and asked for it to be paused during the 15 times he went for a wee.

The next day he asked to watch The Empire Strikes Back. What was I going to say?

If you ever find yourself jaded and tired of movies, find yourself a six-year-old, a copy of The Empire Strikes Back, and watch their reaction when that parental bombshell is dropped at the end of the film.

But… is A New Hope (Episode 4) the right place to start?

After all, George Lucas made the prequels because that’s the story he wanted to tell, and he’s said that the films should be watched in episode order.

But, George Lucas is also the person who decided to revisit the old movies and add in horrible CGI creatures and misplaced comic relief, so his opinion can’t be fully trusted.

So, does that mean release order is right after all? That’s the option I’ve chosen, but there is a third way.

A much nerdier man than myself concocted Machete Order.

Machete Order was cooked up in 2011 by a computer programmer, and since then it’s picked up quite a lot of fans who think it offers the best Star Wars viewing experience.

It says the best order to watch the films is:
4 - Star Wars: A New Hope
5 - Empire Strikes Back
2 - Attack of The Clones
3 - Revenge of the Sith
6 - Return of the Jedi

You’ll notice there is no film No.1, no The Phantom Menace. There are a number of reasons for that, many of which revolve around “Boooo! It sucks!” but the most convincing is essentially that every character established in Episode One is either killed before it ends (Darth Maul, Qui-Gon), unnecessary (Watto) or established more effectively in a later episode (Darth Sidious, Mace Windu).

It’s inconsequential to the saga that Palpatine had an apprentice before Count Dooku. The same goes for the fact Obi-Wan was trained by Qui-Gon.

Machete Order maintains the momentum of the story as well as the really exciting surprises and plot twists.

But… I was smart enough as a kid to understand that some stories can take place before others, and my boy is infinitely more intelligent than me, so I chose to be a traditionalist.

There’s also the little matter of The Phantom Menace not actually being completely awful.

The pod race is great, everything Darth Maul does is ace, and I can imagine it’s a hell of a lot more fun to watch as a child than as an adult.

Ultimately, all that matters is he’s caught up before Thursday, December 17 when the new film Star Wars: Episode 7 – The Force Awakens opens.

Read Mike Shaw every week in What's On