The Underworld series of movies currently has four movies. According to Wikipedia, the movies were released 1, 2, 3, 4: but chronologically, they are ordered 3, 1, 2, 4 (3 is a prequel).
In what order should one watch the movies to achieve the greatest continuity and best understanding of the story?
Is it better to watch them in the order released: Underworld (1), Evolution (2), Rise of the Lycans (3), Awakening (4)? Or in chronological order: Rise of the Lycans (3), Underworld (1), Evolution (2), Awakening (4)?
Having not watched the movies before, my concerns are that the prequels assume knowledge of future events that occur in movies 1 and 2: or that there events in movies 1 and 2 that benefit from an explanation in the prequels. Of course, I cannot know this ahead of time.
My default approach is always: watch the movies in the order that they are released. My reasons are:
I want to experience the “historical” perspectives of the people who watch the films as they come out. An easy example of this is the Star Wars series. I haven’t seen any of them yet (gasp!) but when I get around to do it, I will watch 4,5,6,1,2,3. This way, I’ll get to see the supposed old-school magic first and then the new-school prequels that seem to disappoint many fans. In sum, I want to see things in the same order that those fans have seen.
While film makers usually make new releases in a franchise in such a way that new viewers who have no prior exposure to the franchise can get in, these film makers must have in mind the people who have seen the previous installments in the franchise. Thus, I believe that you can get more out of the new releases if you have seen things in order, regardless of whether the new ones are prequels or sequels.