GuyKazama
Member
These edits made the movies tolerable. The best change is that he replaced most of the alien dialogue with subtitles.
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How would you fix the Star Wars prequels?
- Thread starter SolVanderlyn
- Start date
- Status
These edits made the movies tolerable. The best change is that he replaced most of the alien dialogue with subtitles.
QuantumZebra
Member
Bobby as usual is correct concerning Star Wars matters
OMG the salt from Lucas if that happened would be glorious. Like if they totally changed everything, No more stupid Gungans, no midochorians, no more dumb comments from the battle droids.
cereal_killerxx
Junior Member
Make some references here and there in the new movies, maybe a couple of anthology movies like Obi Wan having stronger connections to them.
That way they would only be a part of something much bigger and while not remarkable, they would set the stage for great movies all under the Star Wars name.
See Marvel.
That way they would only be a part of something much bigger and while not remarkable, they would set the stage for great movies all under the Star Wars name.
See Marvel.
efyu_lemonardo
May I have a cookie?
AOTC is unquestionably the worst of the bunch. Which is not to say TPM is a good film.Fixed that for you.
Dash_Riprock
Member
He's already shown us his version of Jar Jar:
Visually at least TPM has aged the best out of the three.
1) No kid Anakin. Introduce him and start the prequels with Anakin being a teenage padawan. Introduce Padme as a Senator and use the Queen of Naboo shit as backstory.
2) One villain for all three movies, preferably Darth Maul. The prequel trilogy handled its villains terribly and since Maul, Grevious, and Dooku all die in sub-movie length time it detracts from the rise of Vader and makes Vader simply feel like the Emperor's new flavor of the month.
3) No Anakin being Force Jesus storyline
4) Flesh out Obi-Wan and Anakins relationship. Make them actually seem like believable friends. The Clone Wars TV show really helped with this.
5) No Yoda lightsaber fighting
6) No Emperor lightsaber fighting
7) Make Anakin's descent to the Dark Side more believable. The prequels actually started down a believable path in Attack of the Clones when Anakin watches her mom die and then goes ham on the Sand People (which is the best scene in the movie). But then they back off that and instead have Anakin get tricked into going Dark Side. Simply have Anakin get a taste for the Dark Side, like it, and not back down from that.
8) Have Anakin turn to the Dark Side relatively early in Episode 3 and turn into proper suit Darth Vader earlier in the movie. Make the final act of the movie Vader hunting down and murdering Jedi. Make the entire fall of the Jedi Order much scarier, tragic, and impactful.
9) Switch it up so Padme is the one lusting for Anakin instead of Anakin lusting for Padme. It makes more sense that Padme would be the one to coerce Anakin into breaking the Jedi no-love rule instead of the stupid "I'm a senator!" bullshit.
10) Palpatine's "evil" look is simply caused by prolonged use of the Dark Side, not because he took Force Lightning to the face.
11) Nobody besides Palpatine gets to use Force Lightning.
12) Less over choreographed fights. The lightsaber fights in Episodes 2 and 3 are fucking awful when it comes to having tons of unnecessary flips and twirly bullshit. The Maul fight in Episode 1 is actually better about this and feels like a more believable fight between trained lightsaber users (based off of what he saw in the OT).
13) No C-3PO and R2D2. They're pretty unnecessary for the prequels.
14) No Padme dying of a broken heart.
15) More practical effects, less CG
16) Do all of the Stormtroopers really need to beBoba Jango Fett clones? Like the "Anakin Force Jesus" thing, this felt like the franchise being too self aware of one character's popularity.
17) More dynamic camera work, less soap opera cam-1 cam-2 type stuff.
18) Less Jedi being killed by people who aren't Darth Maul or Darth Vader. The Geonosis battle pretty much murders the mystique of the Jedi because it shatters their aura of invincibility. Keep the Jedi deaths reduced, this helps make Vader's rise more impactful once he starts offing Jedi.
2) One villain for all three movies, preferably Darth Maul. The prequel trilogy handled its villains terribly and since Maul, Grevious, and Dooku all die in sub-movie length time it detracts from the rise of Vader and makes Vader simply feel like the Emperor's new flavor of the month.
3) No Anakin being Force Jesus storyline
4) Flesh out Obi-Wan and Anakins relationship. Make them actually seem like believable friends. The Clone Wars TV show really helped with this.
5) No Yoda lightsaber fighting
6) No Emperor lightsaber fighting
7) Make Anakin's descent to the Dark Side more believable. The prequels actually started down a believable path in Attack of the Clones when Anakin watches her mom die and then goes ham on the Sand People (which is the best scene in the movie). But then they back off that and instead have Anakin get tricked into going Dark Side. Simply have Anakin get a taste for the Dark Side, like it, and not back down from that.
8) Have Anakin turn to the Dark Side relatively early in Episode 3 and turn into proper suit Darth Vader earlier in the movie. Make the final act of the movie Vader hunting down and murdering Jedi. Make the entire fall of the Jedi Order much scarier, tragic, and impactful.
9) Switch it up so Padme is the one lusting for Anakin instead of Anakin lusting for Padme. It makes more sense that Padme would be the one to coerce Anakin into breaking the Jedi no-love rule instead of the stupid "I'm a senator!" bullshit.
10) Palpatine's "evil" look is simply caused by prolonged use of the Dark Side, not because he took Force Lightning to the face.
11) Nobody besides Palpatine gets to use Force Lightning.
12) Less over choreographed fights. The lightsaber fights in Episodes 2 and 3 are fucking awful when it comes to having tons of unnecessary flips and twirly bullshit. The Maul fight in Episode 1 is actually better about this and feels like a more believable fight between trained lightsaber users (based off of what he saw in the OT).
13) No C-3PO and R2D2. They're pretty unnecessary for the prequels.
14) No Padme dying of a broken heart.
15) More practical effects, less CG
16) Do all of the Stormtroopers really need to be
17) More dynamic camera work, less soap opera cam-1 cam-2 type stuff.
18) Less Jedi being killed by people who aren't Darth Maul or Darth Vader. The Geonosis battle pretty much murders the mystique of the Jedi because it shatters their aura of invincibility. Keep the Jedi deaths reduced, this helps make Vader's rise more impactful once he starts offing Jedi.
We're done here
- Get rid of The Phantom Menace. None of it matters. The time jump from it to Attack of the Clones is so huge that all of the characters are basically completely different. It doesn't do a good job setting up any of the characters or the antagonists. Have the movies be "Setting up/Starting the Clone Wars", "The Clone Wars", and "The End of the Clone Wars". We don't need this weird other movie that has nothing to do with the main conflict.
- Find someone that can write a love story and dialog to go with it. Anakin falling in love is good. Using the threat of losing the one he loves as a means of turning him to the dark side is good. All of the acting and dialog associated with this is just the absolute worst. It's embarrassing listening to the words coming out of these people's mouths.
- Make the war matter. No one cares about clones fighting robots. Have actual people fight in this war. Show repercussions. Have entire planets get blown up or civilizations go extinct. Show some fucking stakes!
- Related to the last point: the robots are just jokes and the jedi are overpowered. I can't take any action scene seriously because outside of the few times that they fight a sith, none of the jedi are at any point in any danger from being killed by the robots. The robot armies are completely worthless but at the same time they're the antagonists. They have to be threatening. Either make them an actual threat or replace them with one.
- Find someone that can write a love story and dialog to go with it. Anakin falling in love is good. Using the threat of losing the one he loves as a means of turning him to the dark side is good. All of the acting and dialog associated with this is just the absolute worst. It's embarrassing listening to the words coming out of these people's mouths.
- Make the war matter. No one cares about clones fighting robots. Have actual people fight in this war. Show repercussions. Have entire planets get blown up or civilizations go extinct. Show some fucking stakes!
- Related to the last point: the robots are just jokes and the jedi are overpowered. I can't take any action scene seriously because outside of the few times that they fight a sith, none of the jedi are at any point in any danger from being killed by the robots. The robot armies are completely worthless but at the same time they're the antagonists. They have to be threatening. Either make them an actual threat or replace them with one.
CaviarMeths
Member
It uses the most practical sets and effects. II especially looked like real actors pasted into an early PS3 cutscene. Dated AF CGI making up environments, effects, and whole characters throughout most of the movie.
A few things would imo make it better
1) scrap the whole financial aspect / blockade of Naboo by bankers/ long Senate boring talks. Make a Sith / Dark empire they fight against from the get go that uses war droids (but more of a cold war/ guerilla by proxy at first). That's to put the Republic in contrast as the "good guys", but as time goes we then realize it's equally corrupt at its core, just in a different way.
2) Jar Jar doesnt talk or act like a mentally deficient Jamaican native, but like a decently thoughtful individual. Make the comic factor coming from culture shock of him having never been outside the Gungan village (underwater).
3) Young Anakin should have had a more tortured relation with his mother, in spite of him loving her very much. Also hints of a "darker" personality behind the surface.
4) Teenage Anakin goes back to get his mother after gathering money or whatever he needed. She refuses to follow him, having made a new life. He feels anger and frustration, but also love for her, starting to paint the conflict within him.
5) Padme also triggers commonly ambivalent responses, both loving him but opposing his rash decisions pretty often.
6) Young Adult Anakin blames himself for not having forced his mother off Tatooine before her death. Padme disagrees, saying it wasn't his choice to make, and thus he is not responsible for her fate.
7) make his progressive slide to the dark side more visible yet gradual, instead of suddenly deciding to cut Windu's hands because "Palpatine is my pal, he says he can save Padme and the guy would never ever lie to me in spite of being a Sith lord, like totally". The seduction of Palpatine needs to be far more convincing than a few corridors talks, and pointing out how the Jedi council is mean to him and sometimes contradicts itself. Palpatine has to demonstrate to him that the dark side can help him where The JC failed him (maybe JC forbidding him to ever set foot on Tatooine again after his initial visit to mom, and Palpatine helping to both go there -and- track down the Sandmen responsible. Also pointing out that The Force didn't help him to save her.
8) when Anakin finally fully embraces the Dark Side and his new position, it needs to make sense for him. Reveal that the council betrayed him on a fudamental level that also make the Force look bad (one master, either Obi Wan or Yoda, saw his mother's or Padme's death and they chose to keep that from him. Also, it was decided that it seemed an important event enough that The Force strongly hinted the event should not be prevented "for balance".
Also, no need to double down on Anakin is now Evil by having him visibly kill kids. We get it, he is now Eeeeeeevil.
8) the final fight between Obi Wan and Anakin needs to be more catharthic and less ridiculous. Fighting near lava (even though you couldn't possibly breathe)... sure. Jumping back and forth on tiny crates floating on lava, that works only for Lego Star Wars parody level.
At this point, Anakin is probably a bit stronger fighter than Obi Wan, and Very strong with the Force. But make Obi Wan's experience and Zen count. He would intentinonally piss off Anakin (mention of Padme?) , and then demonstrate that remaining calm allow him to channel The Force better at a crucial moment, and win, when Anakin falls in Lava. Obi Wan would try to help, but Anakin would say he'd rather die, consumed by both rage and fire (scene not unlike V for Vendetta with powerful music).
9) Padme dies not of a broken heart or something minor like a bruised pharynx (they have advanced medical tech), but of a lightsaber blow given by Anakin in a fit of rage and meant for Obi Wan. They manage to save the babies, but not Padme.
Just a few ideas
1) scrap the whole financial aspect / blockade of Naboo by bankers/ long Senate boring talks. Make a Sith / Dark empire they fight against from the get go that uses war droids (but more of a cold war/ guerilla by proxy at first). That's to put the Republic in contrast as the "good guys", but as time goes we then realize it's equally corrupt at its core, just in a different way.
2) Jar Jar doesnt talk or act like a mentally deficient Jamaican native, but like a decently thoughtful individual. Make the comic factor coming from culture shock of him having never been outside the Gungan village (underwater).
3) Young Anakin should have had a more tortured relation with his mother, in spite of him loving her very much. Also hints of a "darker" personality behind the surface.
4) Teenage Anakin goes back to get his mother after gathering money or whatever he needed. She refuses to follow him, having made a new life. He feels anger and frustration, but also love for her, starting to paint the conflict within him.
5) Padme also triggers commonly ambivalent responses, both loving him but opposing his rash decisions pretty often.
6) Young Adult Anakin blames himself for not having forced his mother off Tatooine before her death. Padme disagrees, saying it wasn't his choice to make, and thus he is not responsible for her fate.
7) make his progressive slide to the dark side more visible yet gradual, instead of suddenly deciding to cut Windu's hands because "Palpatine is my pal, he says he can save Padme and the guy would never ever lie to me in spite of being a Sith lord, like totally". The seduction of Palpatine needs to be far more convincing than a few corridors talks, and pointing out how the Jedi council is mean to him and sometimes contradicts itself. Palpatine has to demonstrate to him that the dark side can help him where The JC failed him (maybe JC forbidding him to ever set foot on Tatooine again after his initial visit to mom, and Palpatine helping to both go there -and- track down the Sandmen responsible. Also pointing out that The Force didn't help him to save her.
8) when Anakin finally fully embraces the Dark Side and his new position, it needs to make sense for him. Reveal that the council betrayed him on a fudamental level that also make the Force look bad (one master, either Obi Wan or Yoda, saw his mother's or Padme's death and they chose to keep that from him. Also, it was decided that it seemed an important event enough that The Force strongly hinted the event should not be prevented "for balance".
Also, no need to double down on Anakin is now Evil by having him visibly kill kids. We get it, he is now Eeeeeeevil.
8) the final fight between Obi Wan and Anakin needs to be more catharthic and less ridiculous. Fighting near lava (even though you couldn't possibly breathe)... sure. Jumping back and forth on tiny crates floating on lava, that works only for Lego Star Wars parody level.
At this point, Anakin is probably a bit stronger fighter than Obi Wan, and Very strong with the Force. But make Obi Wan's experience and Zen count. He would intentinonally piss off Anakin (mention of Padme?) , and then demonstrate that remaining calm allow him to channel The Force better at a crucial moment, and win, when Anakin falls in Lava. Obi Wan would try to help, but Anakin would say he'd rather die, consumed by both rage and fire (scene not unlike V for Vendetta with powerful music).
9) Padme dies not of a broken heart or something minor like a bruised pharynx (they have advanced medical tech), but of a lightsaber blow given by Anakin in a fit of rage and meant for Obi Wan. They manage to save the babies, but not Padme.
Just a few ideas
efyu_lemonardo
May I have a cookie?
So if Lucas is Anakin/Vader, a perspective that's easy to get behind in terms of all the parallels with reality (in the way Bobby so eloquently explained it, not in the sense that he's an evil person or anything), who else is part of the story?
Who is Rick McCallum for instance? I feel like it makes the most sense that he's Sameul Jackson's character, Mace Windu: a guy who in theory is in charge of a whole lot and with a lot of influence, but in practice doesn't exercise it nearly as much as he should and is mostly just kind of there in the background, wearing this uneasy look on his face, not too sure who to trust or where he stands on anything, ultimately demolished by the surrounding chaos just as he fully realizes the size of the shitfest he's stepped into.
Who is Rick McCallum for instance? I feel like it makes the most sense that he's Sameul Jackson's character, Mace Windu: a guy who in theory is in charge of a whole lot and with a lot of influence, but in practice doesn't exercise it nearly as much as he should and is mostly just kind of there in the background, wearing this uneasy look on his face, not too sure who to trust or where he stands on anything, ultimately demolished by the surrounding chaos just as he fully realizes the size of the shitfest he's stepped into.
brandonh83
Banned
Leave them alone and make better movies. Let it the fuck go.
Fortunately, that's what's happening.
Fortunately, that's what's happening.
Bobby Roberts
Banned
Well that's the other part of the problem: I don't think he ever looked at anyone else in the story as characters in their own right. There was Anakin, and there was Lucas pouring part of himself into Anakin, and then there's a bunch of ciphers doing bad imitations of themselves bouncing off Anakin while Lucas maneuvers the POV character (that shouldn't be) into positions so that he can fall, but you understand (and partially even sympathize with) why he fell.
Whereas if he doesn't make Vader a POV and doesn't write the entire three film cycle from that POV, you might actually end up with more interesting characters.
Three things:
First:
Make Jar Jar just clumsy not an idiot. Everybody is clumsy sometimes, kids for example. So make him this straight unlucky guy who gets into an adventure which is totally over his head. By pure luck he is the hero of the battle against the droids, still straight and now has this burden of being a hero which he always believes he does not deserve. Then he grabs the chance in the senate to give the chancellor the power to end the civil war, to finally make up for his undeserved fame. So he is getting even more power is regarded even a bigger hero in the senate. In the third movie you could show how he is now a prisoner of the power he was getting and trying to do the right thing but ultimately failing.
Second:
Make Obi Wan into to the hot head he was supposed to be. Let him question his masters, he wanted to be a warrior a noble knight not a diplomat or a peace keeper. Anakin learns this from him, but while Ob Wan learns during the war, that there is no glory in battle just suffering, Anakin is getting more and more reckless. But Obi Wan is just too close to change that. He sees what Anakin is going to become, but is still helpless and he feels responsible for it. At the end, after fighting Anakin he is hiding in shame, because he thinks it was his failure which led to the end of the Jedi.
Third:
Make Anakin more reckless, but let him also become a hero because of that. Which makes him believe that he can do anything and every risk is worth taking. His recklessness kills so many, but let's him win every time and so he is becoming the hero of the Republic. He is getting so much fame, that he feels that he is beyond the other Jedis. Let the Emperor play on his hubris and increase it. Padme is blinded by the glory and stays with him, because she thinks that he will save the Senate and the Republic and even some Jedis think that he is the chosen one. The Emperor finally makes Anakin believe that the other Jedis are so jealous of him, that they want to kill him and he has to stop them, before they attack him. In his rage he kills the Jedis, even Yoda has to flee. Padme sees all what he has done and finally sees the true Anakin. She tries to protect one of the young Jedis but is attacked by the raging Anakin who thinks that even she betrayed him. Obi Wan arrives at the Jedi temple and sees that he has no chance to defeat the raging Anakin, so he causes an explosion which buries him. He finds the light saber, takes it with him and also the injured Padme an flees. Padme gives birth on the flight to safety, but dies because of her injuries. Anakin rises but is injured and burned and becomes Darth Vader and starts hunting down every remaining Jedi, while Obi Wan hides in shame, waiting for Luke to grow up and being able to redeem himself.
First:
Make Jar Jar just clumsy not an idiot. Everybody is clumsy sometimes, kids for example. So make him this straight unlucky guy who gets into an adventure which is totally over his head. By pure luck he is the hero of the battle against the droids, still straight and now has this burden of being a hero which he always believes he does not deserve. Then he grabs the chance in the senate to give the chancellor the power to end the civil war, to finally make up for his undeserved fame. So he is getting even more power is regarded even a bigger hero in the senate. In the third movie you could show how he is now a prisoner of the power he was getting and trying to do the right thing but ultimately failing.
Second:
Make Obi Wan into to the hot head he was supposed to be. Let him question his masters, he wanted to be a warrior a noble knight not a diplomat or a peace keeper. Anakin learns this from him, but while Ob Wan learns during the war, that there is no glory in battle just suffering, Anakin is getting more and more reckless. But Obi Wan is just too close to change that. He sees what Anakin is going to become, but is still helpless and he feels responsible for it. At the end, after fighting Anakin he is hiding in shame, because he thinks it was his failure which led to the end of the Jedi.
Third:
Make Anakin more reckless, but let him also become a hero because of that. Which makes him believe that he can do anything and every risk is worth taking. His recklessness kills so many, but let's him win every time and so he is becoming the hero of the Republic. He is getting so much fame, that he feels that he is beyond the other Jedis. Let the Emperor play on his hubris and increase it. Padme is blinded by the glory and stays with him, because she thinks that he will save the Senate and the Republic and even some Jedis think that he is the chosen one. The Emperor finally makes Anakin believe that the other Jedis are so jealous of him, that they want to kill him and he has to stop them, before they attack him. In his rage he kills the Jedis, even Yoda has to flee. Padme sees all what he has done and finally sees the true Anakin. She tries to protect one of the young Jedis but is attacked by the raging Anakin who thinks that even she betrayed him. Obi Wan arrives at the Jedi temple and sees that he has no chance to defeat the raging Anakin, so he causes an explosion which buries him. He finds the light saber, takes it with him and also the injured Padme an flees. Padme gives birth on the flight to safety, but dies because of her injuries. Anakin rises but is injured and burned and becomes Darth Vader and starts hunting down every remaining Jedi, while Obi Wan hides in shame, waiting for Luke to grow up and being able to redeem himself.
efyu_lemonardo
May I have a cookie?
So kind of like how the prequels were his project and everyone else working on them was there to serve his vision, even if that vision was going to lead to failure?
I mean no disrespect whatsoever to Lucas but these parallels make it seem like the entire prequel trilogy was basically a gigantic therapy session.
Hmm..maybe Woody Allen has some competition.
SolVanderlyn
Thanos acquires the fully powered Infinity Gauntlet in The Avengers: Infinity War, but loses when all the superheroes team up together to stop him.
There's so many good ideas in here, and they're all on the same wavelength. I love it.
DeaconKnowledge
Member
Start the series off with Anakin as a padawan To Obi Wan. The first movie is strictly about an adventure he and Obi Wan go on as Jedi and apprentice. The movie helps to demonstrate Anakins gifts with the force and helps establish the brother like bond with Obi Wan. While gifted, Anakin has a taste for cutting corners to reach solutions which is problematic. There are 1 or 2 instances in the first movie of Anakin betraying his Jedi training, which upsets Yoda and the other higher ups. Maul is introduced in this one, though he isn't the main villain.
Introduce Padme in the second film. The Emperor wants to get to her and Anakin is forced to protect her. Forbidden love blooms. Maul is the assassin that is tailing her. Anakin and Maul stalemate a few times but nothing is resolved. He knocks her up, she's pregnant with twins. The Emperor finds out and starts his seduction of Anakin, he feeds the assassin Maul to Anakin as proof of his loyalty. Anakin delights in murdering the would be assassin.
Third movie is all about Anakins fall. He is a Jedi and consort to Palpatine, who is constantly filling his head with foul thoughts. He is at war with his Jedi training vs. what Palpatine is telling him. Padme sees the change and tries to get away with the children, he murders her in a confused rage, plunging him into the Dark side. The Jedi manage to squirrel the children away before the Emperor cuts them all down via the order. Obi Wan confronts his former padawan and (barely) manages to best him in battle, changing him into Vader.
All of the political stuff can stay intact, but it needs to be put in the rear. The interesting story is about Anakin, his bright future, and his fall from grace.
Introduce Padme in the second film. The Emperor wants to get to her and Anakin is forced to protect her. Forbidden love blooms. Maul is the assassin that is tailing her. Anakin and Maul stalemate a few times but nothing is resolved. He knocks her up, she's pregnant with twins. The Emperor finds out and starts his seduction of Anakin, he feeds the assassin Maul to Anakin as proof of his loyalty. Anakin delights in murdering the would be assassin.
Third movie is all about Anakins fall. He is a Jedi and consort to Palpatine, who is constantly filling his head with foul thoughts. He is at war with his Jedi training vs. what Palpatine is telling him. Padme sees the change and tries to get away with the children, he murders her in a confused rage, plunging him into the Dark side. The Jedi manage to squirrel the children away before the Emperor cuts them all down via the order. Obi Wan confronts his former padawan and (barely) manages to best him in battle, changing him into Vader.
All of the political stuff can stay intact, but it needs to be put in the rear. The interesting story is about Anakin, his bright future, and his fall from grace.
mavericktopgun
Member
Build a time machine and NEVER make them.
LegendofLex
Member
I'm actually fine with the general story skeleton of the prequels, and even some of the less popular stuff like Anakin being mysteriously conceived, the chosen one prophecy, and midichlorians.
The bigger problem is that the script, the actors, and the directing (so, basically, the moving parts that make up that story) completely flubbed basically every important idea and character moment that you'd need to execute the story beats.
- Jake Lloyd's "gee-whiz" performance didn't make a compelling kid Anakin and didn't draw us in very well to the flaws that the prequels seem to want us to believe precipitated his fall (he wants to save everyone, he has obsessive attachment issues).
- Hayden's adult Anakin never felt like he was authentically a hero character, even though Episode III seems to want us to think of him that way at first.
- The relationship with Obi-Wan and Anakin never feels genuine, either.
- Padme is a very boring character that the audience needed to be in love with. Since the audience doesn't love Padme (or Anakin), neither of them makes a good love interest. Her dying of a broken heart when the previous films tried to pass her off as a strong, independent woman was just ugh.
- The internal Jedi politics issues didn't work well given how poorly the films developed them. This pretty much killed any of the plausibility surrounding Anakin suddenly deciding Padme's worth slaughtering every single Jedi.
- For a story that relies so much on the evils of corrupt politicians, the films rely almost entirely on exposition to convey that theme which makes it feel hollow and boring. It's possible to use political scheming to create real drama, but the prequels don't do this well at all.
The bigger problem is that the script, the actors, and the directing (so, basically, the moving parts that make up that story) completely flubbed basically every important idea and character moment that you'd need to execute the story beats.
- Jake Lloyd's "gee-whiz" performance didn't make a compelling kid Anakin and didn't draw us in very well to the flaws that the prequels seem to want us to believe precipitated his fall (he wants to save everyone, he has obsessive attachment issues).
- Hayden's adult Anakin never felt like he was authentically a hero character, even though Episode III seems to want us to think of him that way at first.
- The relationship with Obi-Wan and Anakin never feels genuine, either.
- Padme is a very boring character that the audience needed to be in love with. Since the audience doesn't love Padme (or Anakin), neither of them makes a good love interest. Her dying of a broken heart when the previous films tried to pass her off as a strong, independent woman was just ugh.
- The internal Jedi politics issues didn't work well given how poorly the films developed them. This pretty much killed any of the plausibility surrounding Anakin suddenly deciding Padme's worth slaughtering every single Jedi.
- For a story that relies so much on the evils of corrupt politicians, the films rely almost entirely on exposition to convey that theme which makes it feel hollow and boring. It's possible to use political scheming to create real drama, but the prequels don't do this well at all.
B-B-Bomba!
Member
It's a good and well-presented question.
One thing I always thought I would do is remove Otoh Gunga, and all the Gungans, from Phantom Menace. I used to mean this in a stereotypically negative 'Gungans R teh CrapPeh' kind of way, but I do actually think their existence (as separate from their execution) bogs the film down unnecessarily, to no great benefit. Having said that, I can't disagree that the whole 'young Anakin' chapter of the PT is unnecessary anyway, so.
I think the answer is presented in the question:
All this would have worked very well imo and can be imagined very wistfully.
One thing I always thought I would do is remove Otoh Gunga, and all the Gungans, from Phantom Menace. I used to mean this in a stereotypically negative 'Gungans R teh CrapPeh' kind of way, but I do actually think their existence (as separate from their execution) bogs the film down unnecessarily, to no great benefit. Having said that, I can't disagree that the whole 'young Anakin' chapter of the PT is unnecessary anyway, so.
I think the answer is presented in the question:
SolVanderlyn said:
All this would have worked very well imo and can be imagined very wistfully.
Keep Darth Maul, get rid of Grievous and Dooku, keep Palpy as the guy pulling all the stings, and make the Clone Wars stuff way more interesting and expansive. Also, burn all of the dialogue and rewrite all of it. Shit was terrible.
Edit: Also burn down most of the first movie. Political intrigue is cool, but at least make it somewhat engaging. Naboo existed to bring Panda into the fold so shota Ani could get his grove on.
Edit: Also burn down most of the first movie. Political intrigue is cool, but at least make it somewhat engaging. Naboo existed to bring Panda into the fold so shota Ani could get his grove on.
Extra Sauce
Member
Replace the bad dialogue and characterization with good dialogue and characterization.
QuantumZebra
Member
There, PT fixed.
Dash_Riprock
Member
They kinda were. Read up on what happened between Lucas and his wife Marcia. Then watch the ending talk in RotS between Anakin and Padme.
It actually becomes tragic...
Edit: I mean Marcia. Damn you BvS!!!!
Knuckle Sandwich
Member
Hmm... Have not read any others in the thread. This is after a good 30 minute think. First order of business is recasting everone except Obi-Wan, Palpatine and Windu but I ain't got time for that
Phantom Menace(Different name)
Obi-Wan is training his padawan Padme Amidala on some swamp or whatever. Padme is our Luke. she's our everyday person we can relate to. Anakin is 20 something, cocky Han Solo-ish and left the the Jedi Order to join the Republic as a pilot due to disagreements with how the order responded to the pro-cloning(cloning is illegal) seperatists' attack on his home planet. Jedi wanted diplomacy, Republic senate lead by Senator Palpatine wanted swift military retribution. After this skirmish, Anakin becomes an agent of the republic running around the galaxy doing dirty shit. Right now he is an undercover podracer because podracing still rules.
He has some mission or whatever but he is attacked after the podrace by Darth Maul and clone soldiers. He escapes on foot and then on his sweet ass ship and finds Obi-Wan and Padme. They have a reunion and then the jedi council holowhatevers in and informs them of an attack on a jedi training temple. They go there and find everyone slaughtered except Qui-Gonn Jinn, who did the slaughtering. 3 on 1 fight, Qui-Gon fucking owns them all. Oh shit here comes Darth Maul. They're fucked.
Wait, there's a survivor! A security robot (think HK47 only not a murderous creep) pops up and makes a distraction, allowing our heroes to fight back and chase the baddies away. I guess this is the end? I don't know. I'm jisting
Attack of the Clones
The clones actually attack the republic. Title makes sense. yay. This is the clone war right here. Qui-Gon and Maul have gotten the pro-cloning separatist forces under their control and lead a massive assault. Anakin and Palpatine are super buddies and he re-joins the jedi council to basically spy on them for Palpy. He and Padme fell in love between the last movie and now and have been keeping it a secret but she gets knocked up. Obi-Wan is like wtf but he's cool with it. Blah blah blah, Anakin is tired of the Jedi Order's diplomacy shit and comes to believe the only way to impose order on the galaxy is through force. Palpy's like ya me 2. Let's kill these Maul and Jinn scrubs and you and I will run shit.
Revenge of the Sith
Anakin is Vader out of the gate and this is just the annihilation of the Jedi and the complete takeover of the republic. Plenty of drama and stuff with Obi-Wan and Padme/the kids but the main focus is the eradication of the jedi.
The end.
Phantom Menace(Different name)
Obi-Wan is training his padawan Padme Amidala on some swamp or whatever. Padme is our Luke. she's our everyday person we can relate to. Anakin is 20 something, cocky Han Solo-ish and left the the Jedi Order to join the Republic as a pilot due to disagreements with how the order responded to the pro-cloning(cloning is illegal) seperatists' attack on his home planet. Jedi wanted diplomacy, Republic senate lead by Senator Palpatine wanted swift military retribution. After this skirmish, Anakin becomes an agent of the republic running around the galaxy doing dirty shit. Right now he is an undercover podracer because podracing still rules.
He has some mission or whatever but he is attacked after the podrace by Darth Maul and clone soldiers. He escapes on foot and then on his sweet ass ship and finds Obi-Wan and Padme. They have a reunion and then the jedi council holowhatevers in and informs them of an attack on a jedi training temple. They go there and find everyone slaughtered except Qui-Gonn Jinn, who did the slaughtering. 3 on 1 fight, Qui-Gon fucking owns them all. Oh shit here comes Darth Maul. They're fucked.
Wait, there's a survivor! A security robot (think HK47 only not a murderous creep) pops up and makes a distraction, allowing our heroes to fight back and chase the baddies away. I guess this is the end? I don't know. I'm jisting
Attack of the Clones
The clones actually attack the republic. Title makes sense. yay. This is the clone war right here. Qui-Gon and Maul have gotten the pro-cloning separatist forces under their control and lead a massive assault. Anakin and Palpatine are super buddies and he re-joins the jedi council to basically spy on them for Palpy. He and Padme fell in love between the last movie and now and have been keeping it a secret but she gets knocked up. Obi-Wan is like wtf but he's cool with it. Blah blah blah, Anakin is tired of the Jedi Order's diplomacy shit and comes to believe the only way to impose order on the galaxy is through force. Palpy's like ya me 2. Let's kill these Maul and Jinn scrubs and you and I will run shit.
Revenge of the Sith
Anakin is Vader out of the gate and this is just the annihilation of the Jedi and the complete takeover of the republic. Plenty of drama and stuff with Obi-Wan and Padme/the kids but the main focus is the eradication of the jedi.
The end.
efyu_lemonardo
May I have a cookie?
These ideas have existed for many years as kind of fan theories, but having Lucas admit to parts of it is a whole different story as far as I'm concerned.
It does raise my curiously about how much of the psychological parallels are indeed true, for sure, because that would add an entire new level of analysis to the films which could be fascinating.
Confidence Man
Member
Should've started with Anakin as a pilot during the clone wars; his innate force sensitivity allowed him to excel even among genetically engineered clones. He gets noticed by the Jedi and recruited into the order. Over the course of three films he would grow in power, become resentful of Obi Wan and the Jedi wanting to control/limit his ability (with Palpatine's influence), and ultimately turn dark. His mom wouldn't be in the films, nothing about him being the "chosen one" or having some miraculous birth, and no drawn out love story.
Vanillalite
Ask me about the GAF Notebook
Start with Obi and Ani training and move into the clone wars.
Make this into EP II
Make this EP III
Cut out the cheesy dialog and don't make the love story soo cheesy.
Then keep the deeper strands from the two books. You get a deeper sense of the deception as well as a better look into the current state of the Jedi. In the end Yoda really capitulates on how the Jedi order went astray.
Make this into EP II
Make this EP III
Cut out the cheesy dialog and don't make the love story soo cheesy.
Then keep the deeper strands from the two books. You get a deeper sense of the deception as well as a better look into the current state of the Jedi. In the end Yoda really capitulates on how the Jedi order went astray.
Barajas_201
Member
They can't be fix, they can never be undone, the only positive outcome that came from them is the Red Media Letter reviews.
gutter_trash
Banned
the only way to fix them is to ignore them and pretend they never happened
Discotheque
Banned
anakin should have just followed the trajectory of we need to talk about kevin. disturbing young boy (but obviously make him a bit more empathetic so qui gon takes him in), and as he gets older he gets more fucked up but with a better actor than hayden.
1. Completely erase The Phantom Menace from existence. Nothing of importance happened in this film. There was nothing at all that contributed to the main narrative arc of the trilogy. That being - How Anakin Skywalker became Darth Vader. Anakin's origins - being a slave and having an attachment to his mother could have all been part of some exposition in later films. But really..nothing happened here in this film that was of any importance at all to showing us how Anakin became Vader.
2. The events of Episode II now become Episode I.
3. Episode III becomes Episode II.
4. Episode III becomes Darth Vader and The Emperor fucking up the galaxy, dropping the iron fist, and hunting down the last of the Jedi.
2. The events of Episode II now become Episode I.
3. Episode III becomes Episode II.
4. Episode III becomes Darth Vader and The Emperor fucking up the galaxy, dropping the iron fist, and hunting down the last of the Jedi.
Movie One: Obi-wan with a young padawan, Anakin, galactic problems boil over into the start of the Clone Wars. Maul the villain.
Movie Two: A few years later in the middle of the Clone Wars, Anakin and Obi-Wan being the heroes of the Republic, Grievious being a separatist general and an actual threat to the jedi. We should have seen him killing Jedi. Anakin shows flashes of darkness, Republic starting to win, but its falling apart in the process by the end of the movie.
Movie Three: The end of the Clones Wars, Obi-Wan stopping Grevious and ending the war, but Sidious using his separation to seduce Anakin. the betrayal of the jedi and the fall of Anakin.
Revenge had the right basic structure, but had no grounding to give it emotional or thematic weight because Episode 1 and 2 didn't show Anakin being a hero.
Movie Two: A few years later in the middle of the Clone Wars, Anakin and Obi-Wan being the heroes of the Republic, Grievious being a separatist general and an actual threat to the jedi. We should have seen him killing Jedi. Anakin shows flashes of darkness, Republic starting to win, but its falling apart in the process by the end of the movie.
Movie Three: The end of the Clones Wars, Obi-Wan stopping Grevious and ending the war, but Sidious using his separation to seduce Anakin. the betrayal of the jedi and the fall of Anakin.
Revenge had the right basic structure, but had no grounding to give it emotional or thematic weight because Episode 1 and 2 didn't show Anakin being a hero.
PeskyToaster
Member
It should be a story about Anakin's fall and not the origin of every action figure in the OT. Obi Wan and Anakin should be bros and go on Jedi adventures. Anakin should be naturally super good at everything, Obi Wan could be jealous for some conflict I guess. Naboo should be replaced by Alderaan and the fall should take place across all three movies. The dark side should be slow and insidious in its corruption.
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