What do you call the movies?

[Mr. JabbaJohnL]

I wondered about this recently: in your actual conversations, how do you refer to each of the movies? I mean, on here, I call them by their abbreviations - TPM, AOTC, ROTS, ANH, ESB, and ROTJ. However, when I'm actually talking, I'm inclined to call them "Episode I," "Episode II," and so on. What about you? And do any of you old fogies still call ANH "Star Wars"?

[Rocketboy]

I've noticed that it varies.
Episode I or Phantom Menace or just Menace.
Episode II or just Clones
Episode III or just Sith
Star Wars The Original Star Wars or Episode IV or A New Hope (depends on who I'm talking to)
Empire and Jedi are usually Empire or Jedi

[Blue2th]

Depends on who I'm talking to. Someone who might not know which movie I'm referring to when describing a scene, I'll mention the whole title. But then sometimes they still get confused.

Funny how A New Hope is called "the original Star Wars movie," or just "Star Wars." or the "first one" even though it's not the first in the story timeline.
If you can't get past that explanation in a conversation, there might be some confusion on the part of the un-Star Wars-knowledged.

[Darth Jax]

A New Hope is "Star Wars" to me. The other episodes I refer to by name. I will occasionally shorten ESB to "Empire" and ROTJ to "Jedi", but I have no shortcuts for episodes 1-3. But honestly, I really don't talk about them unless I'm asking the girlfriend if she wants to sit down and watch them once again with me.

[Slicker]

I'm actually pretty much the same as RB.

The Phantom Menace
Clones
Sith
Original Star Wars
Empire
Jedi

And when referring to the ANH, ESB, and ROTJ it's ALWAYS called The Holy Trilogy.

[TeeEye7]

And do any of you old fogies still call ANH "Star Wars"?

You betcha! Because that's what it was first called! We old f@rts were puzzled when the film was released with Episode IV on the opening credits after seeing it a million times without it.

I usually refer to the OT by their full titles. The PTs get the number treatment.

[DarthQuack]

I like to say A New Hope because it doesn't get much play for how great of a film it is.

[JediTricks]

To me, "Star Wars" is both the first movie and the OT, while all 6 movies are "The quote-unquote Star Wars saga" - I don't actually say the "quote-unquote" part, I just make sure it's obvious I'm being clear that it's not my words when I say it. The OT I might call "The O-T" or "The original trilogy" or occasionally "The Star Wars Trilogy". The PT is almost always "the prequels" in a flat tone, said fast to inform the listener without handing any specific inflection to it.

Here's how I generally refer to the individuals:

Ep 4 - "Star Wars", "A New Hope", "The original Star Wars", "A-N-H", and for some reason, when talking to Tycho in person or on the phone, his prequel-love makes me say "Episode IV" without thinking, then I correct it with one of the others.

Ep 5 - "Empire" or "Empire Strikes Back", never with "the" (this was quite a problem when I worked at the video store), or on occasion, "E-S-B".

Ep 6 - "Jedi", occasionally "Return of the Jedi". I think I may have called it "Ep 6" a few times to fellow SW-fan friends, literally the word "ep" rather than "episode". Tycho always wants to call them by episode number which throws me.

Ep 1 - "Episode I" is virtually the only thing I call it because that's what the advertising pitched it as. Plus, "The Phantom Menace" sounds ridiculous to me even 10 years later. I've heard a few folks say "Phantom Menace", that always makes me think for an extra beat because I don't get it right away.

Ep 2 - "Episode II", occasionally "Attackoftheclones" (all 1 word run together).

Ep 3 - I kid you not, the first thing out of my mouth is generally "ugh", followed by "R-O-T-S" or "Episode III". Occasionally, I'll stumble over saying the whole title like so "Return of... Revenge of the Sith", though that may only occur in my head so it'll come out "[pause] ... Revenge ofthesith", 2 words, the second half often taking me by surprise that I got it right, so it may then proceed "no... wait, yeah".

[Bel-Cam Jos]

I'll make a list (LISTS... :drool: ), to delineate to whom and in what situtations...

AMONG KNOWN STAR WARS FANS:
A New Hope
Empire
Jedi
Phantom Menace
Clones
Revenge of the Sith

AMONG ASSUMED STAR WARS FANS:
A New Hope
Empire Strikes Back
Return of the Jedi
Episode I
Attack of the Clones
Revenge of the Sith

AMONG NON-STAR WARS FANS:
Star Wars
The Empire Strikes Back
Return of the Jedi
The Phantom Menace (sometimes Episode I)
Episode II
Revenge of the Sith

AMONG ACQUAINTANCES/PASSERS-BY:
the original Star Wars
the Star Wars movie with snow
the last Star Wars film before the news ones
the first new Star Wars movie
Episode II
the most recent Star Wars movie

AMONG POSSIBLY TOTAL STRANGERS:
the Star Wars movie from 1977
the second Star Wars movie, from the '80s
the third Star Wars film in the '80s
the new Star Wars movie in the '90s
the Star Wars movie from 2002, the second new one
the Star Wars movie from 2005

There you go.

[Mr. JabbaJohnL]

You betcha! Because that's what it was first called! We old f@rts were puzzled when the film was released with Episode IV on the opening credits after seeing it a million times without it.

I usually refer to the OT by their full titles. The PTs get the number treatment.

Wasn't it subtitled "Episode IV" starting in 1981, a full year after Episode V had already come out? I bet that was confusing! I remember seeing it in the theaters for the first time (as the Special Edition) and wondering why it was called Episode IV. I figured at the time that it was the first four episodes, even though that doesn't make much sense. I guess it made sense to a seven-year-old.

And JT, it's good to know that you don't put too much thought into this.