[Anjelus]

It's really not overly complicated. The core of Gundam is the conflict between two pilots, Amuro flying for the Federation and Char flying for Zeon.

Their story is told in the original Mobile Suit Gundam from 1979 and Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam from 1985 and Char's Counterattack from 1992/1993 ish. Zeta Gundam is THE best of the entire series, easily. Fortunately for you both MSG and MSZG are very available on Netflix as high quality movie trilogies which is how I would recommend you see them.

Outside of Amuro and Char there's several spinoff miniseries', the best of which is 0080 War in the Pocket, also available on Netflix.

Actually pretty much every Gundam is available off Netflix... Amuro/Char are contained within the Universal Century timeline, which basically boils down to being a history of the wars between Earth and her renegade colonies in various incarnations (primarily Zeon). If you search Wikipedia for 'Universal Century' you'll get a rundown of it.

Gundam Seed, 00, etc all take place in wholly different timelines if not alternate universes altogether.

If you want the Fed/Zeon War in chronological order it goes:
MSG MOVIE TRILOGY
8th MS TEAM
OO80: WAR IN THE POCKET
OO83
ZETA GUNDAM MOVIE TRILOGY
CHAR'S COUNTERATTACK

[StarSlayer]

UC has the added benefit of most of its mobile suit designs being industrial grade with a minimum of the stupid frills like angelwings and cheesetastically OTT weapon systems that commonly pollute the alternate universes.  My personal favorite units are often the "grunt" suits in UC.  08th, 0080, 0083 and Unicorn stand out as having some great suits, gotta love the katoki designs.

[NGTM-1R]

My personal favorite units are often the "grunt" suits in UC.  08th, 0080, 0083 and Unicorn stand out as having some great suits, gotta love the katoki designs.

I always had this mad desire to see somebody use intelligently coordinated Leos to beat up on the main characters in Wing.

[PsychoLandlord]

The UC series are the best, IMO, with MSG, 08MS, and 0080 standing out at the front of the pack. They got progressively more difficult for me to get into after that, but most are still a decent watch.

Wing is only OK, SEED is terrible, and G is just goofy.  I mostly enjoyed 00, however.

I've also heard good things about Turn A, though I haven't watched it myself.

[JGZinv]

I always had this mad desire to see somebody use intelligently coordinated Leos to beat up on the main characters in Wing.

Um... that would be the Mobile Doll System... it didn't work too well after the series 2 Gundams were made.

Agree on the stupidity of Wing 0 Custom's angel feathers though. They really messed up the design of Wing 0.
Tis why I only have a Perfect Grade W0 rather than a W0C.

[NGTM-1R]

Um... that would be the Mobile Doll System... it didn't work too well after the series 2 Gundams were made.

The only time we saw Leos used as mobile dolls, they had giant cables running out of their backs like some kind of commentary on how silly EVAs are and Treize came in and ****ed them up. Taurus, maybe.

But I wanted Leos with human pilots, used intelligently.

[Scourge of Ages]

OK, it's coming together nicely.
Original series: should I try to find all 47 episodes boxed, or just go for the trilogy? I'd usually go for the compete thing, but it's hard to find one I don't suspect of being bootleg.

[Anjelus]

They don't have the trilogy on netflix or amazon? If you want to see the whole original series then by all means, but it it might be hard to find a copy that's not crappily dubbed into English and I believe the DVDs don't come with Japanese subtitles. At least they didn't the last time I checked some 2 - 3 years ago.

Erm, unless you want English dubbing? That way lies madness. I watched some of Zeta Gundam dubbed and it was sad how effectively it turned a great dramatic series into one big joke.

[General Battuta]

I tried to watch a Gundam on Youtube the other day but it had English dubbing so I was forced to put chopsticks through my ears.

[T-LoW]

I watched the first four episodes of the original series but the story was kinda meh to me (especially the school part). But nice action sequences

[Scourge of Ages]

They don't have the trilogy on netflix or amazon? If you want to see the whole original series then by all means, but it it might be hard to find a copy that's not crappily dubbed into English and I believe the DVDs don't come with Japanese subtitles. At least they didn't the last time I checked some 2 - 3 years ago.

Well they do have the trilogy, but I was just wondering if it was worth it to find the whole uncut series. It's starting to seem like it's not necessary.

[Dark Hunter]

They don't have the trilogy on netflix or amazon? If you want to see the whole original series then by all means, but it it might be hard to find a copy that's not crappily dubbed into English and I believe the DVDs don't come with Japanese subtitles. At least they didn't the last time I checked some 2 - 3 years ago.

A dual-audio release of the original series is coming out soon under the "Anime Legends" label. Contrary to popular opinion, Bandai does occasionally listen to its fans.

[Anjelus]

They don't have the trilogy on netflix or amazon? If you want to see the whole original series then by all means, but it it might be hard to find a copy that's not crappily dubbed into English and I believe the DVDs don't come with Japanese subtitles. At least they didn't the last time I checked some 2 - 3 years ago.

A dual-audio release of the original series is coming out soon under the "Anime Legends" label. Contrary to popular opinion, Bandai does occasionally listen to its fans.

This is good news

[Flaser]

They don't have the trilogy on netflix or amazon? If you want to see the whole original series then by all means, but it it might be hard to find a copy that's not crappily dubbed into English and I believe the DVDs don't come with Japanese subtitles. At least they didn't the last time I checked some 2 - 3 years ago.

Well they do have the trilogy, but I was just wondering if it was worth it to find the whole uncut series. It's starting to seem like it's not necessary.

Trust me, the movie trilogy is the superior version. Granted, some encounters (and a whole batch of "monster of the week" Zeon mobile suits) are cut out, but the core of the story remains unchanged and IMHO getting rid of all that toy commercial baggage just made it better. (Also the final battle at A Baoa Qu was reanimated and looks a lot grander).

BTW, here, have a map of the Universal Century Earthsphere:

[Gortef]

I think all noteworthy has been said already.
I must add (like Dark Hunter already mentioned) that indeed Gundam fans are divided with their opinions on which show is watchable/good and which are not BUT then there are those like me who like almost all of them and don't think UC timeline is waaaay better than the others.

I thought that UC timeline had a bit too much drama to my likings, "Kill 'em all" Tomino really earned his nickname.
Nevertheless it is a good thing that some shows won't polish things up and keep it... err... "real". But it's a matter of opinion.
Granted all Gundams have some amount of drama and death, that's for sure. But UC makes to the top of that list hands down

That being said, I really enjoyed Wing, SEED (even Destiny... yes, you can stop gasping now), G Gundam (oh boy this was a blast ) etc.
So do start with the UC timeline, but don't yet throw away the alternate universe series either. Pick one and have a couple episodes to see if it's for your liking.
I'd recommend Wing or Gundam X or even SEED.

[NGTM-1R]

If you have ever stayed up late to watch a poorly dubbed Kung Fu flick, you must watch G Gundam.

[JGZinv]

Eh kind of like a serious take on Kung Fu Hustle....

[Anjelus]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gb9L94WRP20&feature=youtube_gdata_player


Clip from MS Igloo 2 The Gravity Front, epic One Year War is epic

I really liked Gundam Seed even though I saw the Universal Century years earlier. Its sequel Destiny though... that was just unspeakably awful.

[Pred the Penguin]

Enjoyed Wing and SEED. Destiny was... meh, but pretty colors!

[Dark Hunter]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gb9L94WRP20&feature=youtube_gdata_player


Clip from MS Igloo 2 The Gravity Front, epic One Year War is epic

If only MS IGLOO was available in the States. It seems like it had a limited release, but all vendors seem to be sold out. Malaysia still sells some English-subbed copies but I have a strong suspicion that they're bootlegs.

Why the **** is it called "IGLOO", anyway? 

Almost through Gundam ZZ and I'm not seeing why people hate it. It is FANTASTIC! Why, Bandai, why won't you release this over here?

Char's Counterattack is up next, followed maybe by Unicorn. And then my copy of Awakening of the Trailblazer should arrive within two weeks.
The Blu-rays for Unicorn seem to cost like triple the price of the normal DVD's, is it at all worth it, you think?