I know it looks like there's a lot but it is really easy since most shows are considered to be alternate universes with no connections to each other. There will be some shared tropes like the "Char-clone" aka the character that wears a mask but it is not necessary to know all those things. If you want to get into the main Gundam timeline then there's a certain watch other but to get you started I will focus on the AUs.

Now the big question of "Where do I start?". I'm gonna list a few of my favorites that you can watch as a beginner but it is by no means the only ones to watch.

Gundam 00 - Probably my favorite on the list. Great characters, great mecha designs, and a decent story split over two 24 episode seasons and a movie.

Witch From Mercury - The most recent entry that actually finished its story today. Has a younger cast since it has a school setting. However do not expect this to stay light hearted because of the setting.

G Gundam - A bit older since its from the 90s. Basically what if you took the action of DragonBall Z and did it with giant robots. To get the full effect you must watch the dub on this one.

Let me know if you have any questions, I'm a huge fan of Gundam and love helping people find the Gundam for them.

There are a lot of standalone Gundam. You can start there. The most recent one is Gundam: Witch from Mercury which just ended today. Gundam:Iron-Blooded Orphans is also a beginner friendly Gundam series.

It's kinda long but bonsai pop put this out recently for the I guess main series Gundam line https://youtu.be/7ixcLdRUjx8

Not OP but thanks to everyone answering cause I also was interested since I only sawn the old 80s movies that got remastered recently and was looking for more to watch.

Most of the shows are in their own timelines, so you should be good to go. Universal Century (UC) is the timeline that goes all the way back to the OG.

It's only the Hathaway movie and Cucuruz Doan's Island that are in that timeline, out of the recent releases.

If you later decide you want to get into the UC timeline, just watch the 3 movies that summarize the original Mobile Suit Gundam as an entrypoint.

http://otakurevolution.com/content/where-to-start-getting-into-gundam - this is what I used. They are for the most part all stand-alone.

From personal experience watching Seed and Witch from Mercury, you can pick and choose series as they're all standalone like JoJo parts

There is a community on lemmy for gundam where you can ask for help and share your futur love for the franchise: !gundam@possumpat.io