>>> What WAS all that about?
>>
>>The original Star Wars trilogy worked well - each film a story in its own right. I actually saw Return of the Jedi before Empire Strikes Back - which caused a lot of confusion to a child of 11 ;) I still maintain that all 3 work well stood alone.
>
>But why weren't they shown in episode order anyway?
>

Because no one knew what a phenomenon it would become when the first movie was released. (That would be Episode IV in official marketing parlance, for those of you scoring at home). The story was at that point underway and "The Empire Strikes Back" and "Return of the Jedi" completed it. It wasn't until years later that George Lucas decided, damn, I want MORE money. Unfortunately he had forgotten in the interim how to direct a compelling movie. Plus he no longer had a real story to tell, since we already knew how it turned out.