That is the best one to watch as an adult who has already seen all the movies. I do not think that is the best movie to get young kids interested in Star Wars.
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ESB is one of the first movies I ever saw in a movie theater. (That, and âLady and the Trampâ.) I was 7 at the time. I was too young to see ANH when it was at the theater (both releases). It wasnât until years later that I finally got to see both ANH and ESB again because the VCR finally came out!
Is Lukeâs arc really what you want to teach kids though?
The story of an orphan boy who becomes radicalized after a military strike kills his family. He is indoctrinated into an ancient religion, joins a band of rebel insurgents, and carries out a terrorist attack killing 300,000 people.
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Why not? Itâs where I began. Give kids credit, not everything needs to be super-happy-fun-time-whiz-bang to keep them interested 
Regarding Lukeâs no longer whiningâŚoh but he does. Citation: intro of Yoda scene. Actually ALL yoda scenes.
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Not sure what you mean by this.
Yes.
âŚDeath Star employees.
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Yeah, I guess. I see that more as frustration than whining. In ANH, it was most definitely whining. âBut I was going to go into Tashi to pick up some power converters!â
bingo!
The first time wasnât as bad, but the second time it was under construction so they just killed thousands of trade workers.
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Luke went to face Darth Vader and, ultimately, the Emperor.
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for whatever reason, that just made me think of what I really didnât like in episode 7. Ray, with no training whatsoever was able to fight off Kyle ren. To me that was way worse than jar jar binks
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If was fully operational, despite being under construction.
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Rey is coming into her power much in the same way Luke did with almost no actual training until he met Yoda. Iâm sure her mitichlorian count is higher than Lukeâs. 
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Wow, lots of info to chew on, thanks! For what itâs worth, we are headed there before galaxy edge opens and I am primarily interested in familiarizing my kids with the basic outline of the story and characters.
I shouldnât have opened this thread âŚ
I love all the Star Wars movies (yes, including the prequels, sequels, OT, and âstoriesâ). I am a fanatic. Personally, I think you canât go wrong watching a SW movie. Kids especially love the prequels.
However, I agree with those who said that if you are going to pick one to prep for WDW, Episode 7 is best. It introduces you to all the relevant characters (including a few from the OT) and sets up the universe that is explored in SWGE.
Setting aside WDW, the best introduction to Star Wars is Episode IV (aka âStar Warsâ aka âA New Hopeâ). Itâs a great self-contained story and a classic. If you like it, itâs the perfect place to kick off a viewing of the entire saga.
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I suspect you didnât begin recently. Young kids today are used to different types of movies/shows. I know the best way to turn my DD off to Star Wars would be start her with Empire.
So youâre saying kids of a certain generation canât enjoy movies from others? I think kids will recognize quality, no matter when it was created.
This is true.
However, it was funny. Iâve been slowly going through the Star Trek movies with my DS9. And, unfortunately, it starts with âStar Trek: The Motion Pictureâ. And, aside from maybe 2001:A Space Odyssey, it has some of the boringest space sequences ever found in any film. I had to assure my son that the rest of the movies are not like this. But it takes like 15 minutes for Kirk to fly around the Enterprise, and 20 minutes for the Enterprise to fly into the energy cloud surrounding V-ger. Fortunately, he was patient enough to get to Star Trek II. Next up is Star Trek VI.
Or you can download the âDespecializedâ versions from the Dark Web.
Not every child. The of age of the child matters too. And the interests of the child matters as well. But take the average kid under 10 and I think they would prefer Episode 7 over Episode 4 or 5 (even though I agree with you that Empire is fantastic).
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This is the basis of the theory that Hayden Christensenâs whiny portrayal of Anakin was not bad acting but instead a brilliant acting choice to demonstrate the family connection.
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