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[SickBoy]

With Eps. I and II I'd want to do more trimming than is available... like some of the others, I'm not sure the prequel story unfolds in the ideal manner, but I'll play the game:

I'm a little foggy on the first two episodes. It's just been a while since I've seen them -- I'd intended to rent them before seeing Ep. 3, but was unable to.

Episode I:

- Cut the pod-racing scene at least in half.
- No midichlorians.
- Reduce Jar-Jar time.
- Edit out yippee, possibly reconceive the "oops I won the battle" scene.
- I would also consider reworking the ground battle, possibly giving Jar-Jar a less prominent role, or at least not such a "good thing I'm so stupid or I'd be dead by now" role.

Episode II:

- Digitally enhance the romance between Padme and Anakin through any means necessary
- Condense, condense, condense!
- Take out some of the more annoying Anakin. My impression watching Ep. 3 up until a certain obvious point was that the Ep. 3 Anakin was a "better person" than the Ep. 2 Anakin. Again, maybe I need a rewatch here, but if that impression holds true, I don't think that should be the case.

Episode III:

- Digitally enhance the romance between Padme and Anakin through any means necessary
- Noooo? No!
- Have Anakin show at least as much remorse on killing Jedi as he did killing separatists (digital tears? I don't know .

Episode IV:

- Remove about 20% of the digital stuff added on Tattooine.
- In particular, delete "Boba Fett shamelessly mugs for the camera." As a person who was pretty strongly disappointed by the first to prequels, I will go on record and say I think this pandering to fans is possibly the least favorite thing George Lucas has ever done.
- Otherwise rework the Jabba scene or remove it completely. I like the improvement it got over the theatrical cut for DVD, but it could use some more work. I don't mind this scene, though.

Episode V: No big concerns here for me. Wasn't heavily touched for the SE and with good reason. But...

- Someone mentioned the idea of a bit of an "escape from Hoth" scene featuring Rebels fleeing/fighting off the planet. I'm down with that, except for maybe the timing -- since the Falcon is the last ship to go, IIRC.

Episode VI:

- Return the original Jabba's palace musical number and get rid of that super annoying musical number.
- Someone else mentioned a little more Ewok carnage. I agree on this one.
- As Hito said, kill the "instant celebration" scenes, return to the smaller, more intimate celebration of the victory. If you feel that level of scope is essential, add the scenes in a way that makes it clear they occur chronologically after the celebration on Endor.

 

[Tabris]

Thank you Sickboy.

See that all you PT haters, that's how you reply to this thread

He obviousely hates on the PT, but still offers suggestion besides "scrap them all"

 

[ManaByte]

Episode II:

- Digitally enhance the romance between Padme and Anakin through any means necessary
- Condense, condense, condense!
- Take out some of the more annoying Anakin. My impression watching Ep. 3 up until a certain obvious point was that the Ep. 3 Anakin was a "better person" than the Ep. 2 Anakin. Again, maybe I need a rewatch here, but if that impression holds true, I don't think that should be the case.

You're describing the IMAX cut right there.

 

[Tabris]

You're describing the IMAX cut right there.

you have anything to offer up for what you would do for the SE's?

I'm curious since you're the biggest SW fan on this board.

 

[Triumph]

Episode I
-Completely re-cast and reshoot. Hand script off to someone competent, same as directing duties.

Episode II & III
-Rinse and repeat.

 

[Ichirou]

I think this discussion is interesting, but I'm more interested in the changes to the OT because Lucas, throughout the years (even as far back as 1980, as I recall) has spoken about how unhappy he was with the special effects and how he wanted to do so much more than he was able to.

I like the suggestions for SEs of the prequel trilogy, but George Lucas is pretty happy with these films so I know that they're not gonna get the SE treatment anytime soon...

I've been thinking about what small trims I could make to improve the PT, and this is what I've come up with (things that Lucas himself might have done in the editing room if he'd had someone beating some sense into him):

Episode 1:
Minimize the Jar Jar humor. I know what Lucas was trying to do, getting a CG character to interact with real people in a believable way, but he went about it incorrectly. Get rid of little sequences like Jar Jar stepping on crap, Jar Jar making an ass out of himself...tone down the character, basically.
I like the pod race sequence a lot, and I personally wouldn't change it.
Add a bit more dialogue between Darth Maul and Sidious talking about exactly WHY they're seeking revenge on the Jedi. This isn't mentioned in ANY of the movies and it seems sort of dumb because it just shows that the whole "exterminate the jedi" thing is just a plot device...besides, more Darth Maul is always good.
Show some Gungans actually dying on the battlefield, and show the Trade Federation actually causing some havoc on Naboo...they talk in the movie about how "our people are suffering" but they don't SHOW any of the suffering.
Try to cut as much of Anakin's "Yippees!" and "I'll try spinning, that's a neat trick!" as possible.

Episode 2:
The characterization problem that arises here is only worsened in Episode 3. Episode 2 Anakin is a completely different person than Ep. 1 and Ep. 3 Anakin. He acts like a whiny teenager who bitches and moans when he can't get his own way...his relationship with Obi-Wan is adversarial and some of Christensen's line readings gave me the vibe that Anakin genuinely disliked Obi-Wan - the one where he says "He's like a father to me!" sounded like he was trying to convince HIMSELF that he cared about Obi-Wan. I'd try to cut out the worst offending footage, and try to minimize the stuff on Naboo with Padme...if it had been up to me, I'd actually not have done the whole Tusken Raider village slaughter...maybe shown Anakin lighting up his saber, going towards the head of the tent with murder on his mind and then at the last minute switching it off and carrying his mother's body out back and escaping...thus showing how he is struggling with his hatred, but has yet to fall to the dark side. Thus, his exchange with Padme later on would be more poignant:
"I hate them...when my mother died, I wanted to kill them all - even the women and children!"
"But you didn't, Anakin, and that's what makes you a good person..."
Then I could totally buy her falling in love with him, seeing that he hadn't taken revenge even after suffering such a great loss.
Then, in Ep. III when she finds out *spoiler* he's killed the younglings, the line "Don't do this, Anakin! You're a good person!" would have even more resonance, IMO.

Episode III
I wouldn't have replaced Dooku with Grievous to start with. I would have sent Obi-Wan to Utapau after Dooku instead of Grievous. I also would have tried to make the turn a bit more convincing. Let there be more hints that make Anakin think the Jedi don't trust him/are conspiring against the Chancellor.
Have Anakin actually duel Mace to save the Chancellor. The idea I had was, when Mace raises his lightsaber to kill Palpatine, Anakin blocks him with his own saber, thus recreating the scene in Return of the Jedi when Vader blocks Luke from killing the Emperor. Then they have a lightsaber fight in which Anakin tries to convince him that killing Palpatine is wrong, that that is not what the Jedi stand for...while Mace tells him that he's fooling himself and that the only reason he wants to save Palpatine is for his own selfish purposes (to save Padme).
I would've gotten rid of that silly "NOOOOO" at the end too, hehehe.

 

[Anyanka]

They just need to add Palpatine to A New Hope and maybe a bit more of him in Empire Strikes Back. It's lame how he is so important in the PT and then basically disapears until the very end of the series.

 

[Boogie]

They just need to add Palpatine to A New Hope and maybe a bit more of him in Empire Strikes Back. It's lame how he is so important in the PT and then basically disapears until the very end of the series.

Not at all. Good grief. When watching the OT, the Emperor is a mystery. Only mentioned in IV, then just a brief hologram conversation in ESB. When the Commander on Death Star II ask Vader "The Emperor's coming HERE?", it's a big deal: you finally get to see this mysterious Emperor.

If he's seen all throughout the OT, his role in ROTJ is diminished, in my opinion.

 

[Anyanka]

It worked originally, but he isn't a mystery anymore with ROTJ. He's all over that movie. We know what he looks like, what he can do, we know like everything about him.

It wouldn't have to be anything major, just show Vader reporting to him after the deathstar is destroyed or whatever. Just to show he's still around.

 

[Tabris]

Now that I think about it, a vader appearing before the emperor regarding the whole death star thing scene before the ceremony might work.

 

[Boogie]

It worked originally, but he isn't a mystery anymore with ROTJ. He's all over that movie. We know what he looks like, what he can do, we know like everything about him.

It wouldn't have to be anything major, just show Vader reporting to him after the deathstar is destroyed or whatever. Just to show he's still around.

But why? "Just to show he's around" is a crappy reason to put something in a movie (though it has been a driving force in Star Wars since the SEs). It's that kind of reasoning that puts Chewbacca in RotS for no reason

 

[Anyanka]

Chewy is different, he wasn't part of I & II and didn't have a big role in III's story. Palpatine is the main villain of the series. It just feels weird and doesn't flow well that he just goes away in IV after being in III so much.

 

[Boogie]

Chewy is different, he wasn't part of I & II and didn't have a big role in III's story. Palpatine is the main villain of the series. It just feels weird and doesn't flow well that he just goes away in IV after being in III so much.

No, he's the main villain of the prequels. Vader is the main villain of th OT.

 

[Anyanka]

Maybe it seems that way in IV and V, but that's exactly why he needs to be added. Vader has the most screen time and emotional connection to Luke, but it is Palpatine that is in charge. He is responsible for everything. He is the one that needs to be beaten for it to all end. The PT makes this even more clear.

 

[Boogie]

Maybe it seems that way in IV and V, but that's exactly why he needs to be added. Vader has the most screen time and emotional connection to Luke, but it is Palpatine that is in charge. He is responsible for everything. He is the one that needs to be beaten for it to all end. The PT makes this even more clear.

See, you keep viewing the OT through the eyes of the PT: "The PT makes this even mroe clear". Why are you doing that? The OT came first. The OT is superior. There is not a single good reason for changing the Awesome Star Wars in order to accomodate the Passable Star Wars. It doesn't make sense. Period.

 

[Anyanka]

Even though PT isn't as good as OT, it's still Star Wars and it'd still be cool to watch all 6 in order.

Besides, even without the PT Palpatine is just cool.

 

[Boogie]

Even though PT isn't as good as OT, it's still Star Wars and it'd still be cool to watch all 6 in order.

Besides, even without the PT Palpatine is just cool.

This is true.

I just don't like the idea of changing the OT much at all. They were basically perfect. Lucas' changes already piss me off enough :lol

 

[Drozmight]

Lucas' wife needs to remodel a bathroom... so I hear. Thus, a new edition will come out soon enough.

 

[Dan]

See, you keep viewing the OT through the eyes of the PT: "The PT makes this even mroe clear". Why are you doing that? The OT came first. The OT is superior. There is not a single good reason for changing the Awesome Star Wars in order to accomodate the Passable Star Wars. It doesn't make sense. Period.

I think the truth of the matter is that these are two different trilogies in the same universe. They both have own priorities with regard to what portions of the story are presented. I can't imagine that I would ever sit down and want to watch all six in a row (over several days, but you get the point). They're too different, in style and substance. For those reasons, I've been completely against these lame connections being added to the PT (Boba Fett, Chewbacca) and the SEs (Coruscant, Naboo, Hayden). Adding crap like the Senate or Palpatine to A New Hope would only serve to harm that film. Each trilogy serves very different purposes and covers the events of the galaxy from very different perspectives. Mixing and matching elements from each into the other is only a recipe for disaster. The original trilogy has only been weakened by attempts to incorporate stuff from the PT. Those things just don't make sense.

Lucas' wife needs to remodel a bathroom... so I hear. Thus, a new edition will come out soon enough.

Lucas hasn't been married since 1983.

 

[Vormund]

Ep1: Have a CG model Yoda to replace the dodgy puppet (it was a puppet right?, you'd think they would have the original in storage and make a new one from that)
Cut down the amount of time Jar-Jar has during the battle.
Lengthen the duel between Quai-gon and Maul on tattooine?

Ep4: Fill in the Obi-wan/Vader duel with a decent sabre fight. (edit: just rewatched it. It would be good if the original sabre battle retained right up until the end of the talking -Vader saying: "You should not have come back" then re do it from there. )
Maybe have a scene showing the Emperor disbanding the senate.

Ep6: lengthen the Luke/Vader duel
Add more ships to the battle above Endor's moon

There's more (like touching up the switching on of the lightsabres and fixing the green sabre in ep4) , but those are the main ones I'd like fixed.

 

[sol5377]

If you were George Lucas and you were making the "SE Pt.2", what would you do?

I'd invite Natalie Portman to my trailer and give it to her doggie style.

 

[AeroGod]

Episode 1-6:

-Digitally replace all the blasters and lightsabers with walkie-talkies.

 

[Spike Spiegel]

Some of these changes carry over into other films, especially with the prequels. Also, I've only seen Episode II twice, and Episode III once, so my memory of them's not as clear as with the other films.

Prequel Trilogy

EPISODE I:
1. Y'know all those unnecessary "CG for CG's sake" shots that needlessly lengthen certain scenes? GONE.
2. Trade Federation goons now speak alien gibberish with subtitles.
3. Jar Jar's scenes cut to an absolute minimum.
4. All Gungans now speak perfect English and have European sophisticate accents... British or French.
5. Little Annie's whoops, yelps, and "are you an angel" remark? GONE.
6. Midichlorians? GONE.
7. Darth Maul gets an extra scene on Tatooine to show off. Have him kills some Sand People or something.
8. Cut length of podrace segment. And while we're at it, make Sebulba less of a cheater okay? No way he gets away with that in every race he wins.
9. Senate scene on Coruscant needs to be made more important than it seems; the whole trip there feels like an afterthought.
10. Put some Naboo soldiers in with the Gungan army, and give the Gungans/droids some aerial ground attack vehicles.
11. Cut Jar Jar's buffoonery in the battle completely. It's not that funny, even for kids.
12. Anakin did NOT singlehandedly destroy the Trade Federation flagship by accident, okay? Didn't happen.
13. Change Maul's death scene so it doesn't look like he just stood there and waited for Obi-Wan to chop him in half.
14. The boy's choir singing in the victory celebration song? GONE. Instrumentals only.

EPISODE II:
1. Anakin and Padme's scenes together get cut down to the most essential parts.
2. Either show Anakin slaughtering the Sand People or don't bother with it at all.
3. The droid factory scene or the execution scene, one of them has to be cut down in length.
4. Sappy love confession sucks, chop it down.
5. Did Jango Fett really have to go out like such a punk?
6. Lightsaber duels (duels, not battles) need more tension and thoughtful movement. So more crossed swords and hard stares, and less spinning and twirling and sh*t.
7. Yoda is the ONLY one allowed to flip out like a kung fu monkey. That, or have him wield his saber using levitation powers of the Force.

EPISODE III:
1. Newsflash, Lucas: average Joe didn't see Clone Wars. Give Dooku more screen time before killing him off and don't make Grievous a coughing chainsmoker.
2. Annoying droid voices gone in favor of something deeper, more fearful.
3. Anakin and Padme's secret love should be more of a SECRET, don't you think?
4. Qui-Gon's ghost scenes added back in, makes the big reveal to Obi-Wan less jarring.
5. Anakin should be more confused after helping to kill Mace, his turn seems too fast as is.
6. Extended scene on Kashyyk showing Chewbacca, ????-acca and Yoda killing a few more Clone Troopers as they make their escape.
7. Sadness and hesitation on Anakin's face before cutting down the younglings.
8. Oh, and "younglings"? They're children, you ass.
9. Palpatine doesn't get to flip out with the crazy skillz like Yoda.
10. Show a reason for Yoda running away, like the fall injuring him or Clone Troopers arriving to back up Palpatine.
11. Dying of a broken heart? Please...
12. I don't have a problem with "Nooooooooooo," but more Force crush would've been nice.
13. Add Yoda's arrival on Dagobah to the final montage.
14. Had an idea for another final montage scene: opening shot of a group of young Jedi knights and padawans in hiding. Suddenly the door to their hideout bursts open and Stormtroopers filter in; the Jedi stand firm, and light up their sabers, ready to fight. Then a tall, dark figure fills the open doorway; the Jedi hesitate upon seeing him, fear in their eyes. From behind, we see the helmeted figure move, and a red lightsaber lights up in his hand. He advances on the terrified Jedi, and the scene cuts away...

Original Trilogy

EPISODE IV:
1. Opening starship chase given the complete digital makeover, BUT with a degree of restraint.
2. Unnecessary "CG for CG's sake" scenes added for first SE removed or trimmed down.
3. Digital touchups for interior/exterior locations and visual gaffes.
4. HAN. SHOOTS. GREEDO. Greedo doesn't shoot at all, they don't shoot at the same time. Got it?
5. Cut the Jabba/Han scene out, or reshoot it with a Han body double who doesn't step on Jabba's tail.
6. After careful consideration... the Obi-Wan/Vader lightsaber duel can be redone. BUT, it would only be reshot to bring it up to the level of the other OT duels, not the crazy-ass sh*t of the PT. Obi-Wan (IIRC?) wears a hood for most of the fight, so it's possible to put a body double in there and use CG trickery to paste Sir Alec's head in. Throw some Force power in there too, but reign it in.
7. The Millenium Falcon's escape from the Death Star scene comepletely redone in CG. This is my main sticking point with ANH, as watching Hamill and Ford sit in gun turrets, while Fischer and Chewie twist their necks to look at off-screen nothings, just isn't very exciting or convincing. ESB's Falcon chase scenes are what I'm shooting for here.
8. New dogfight scenes added to the final Death Star battle so it looks like the skies are swarming with fighters.

EPISODE V:
1. Claymation Taun-Taun redone in CG.
2. Digital touchups for the AT-ATs and snowspeeders.
3. Asteroid monster redone not to look like a sock puppet.
4. Luke's SE pussy scream as he falls? GONE.

EPISODE VI:
1. For god's sake, do something with that awful SE song. Put the original back in, or replace it with a slow jazz -type song, or anything.
2. Rancor fight redone completely in CG.
3. Did Boba Fett really have to go out like such a punk?
4. Less time spent on Ewoks means more time spent on the Death Star battle.
5. Where'd the rebel strike team go? At least show some of them fighting alongside the Ewoks.
6. The SE celebration doesn't bother me as much as it does others, apparently. When the Death Star blows up, it's daytime on Endor, and when the galaxywide celebrations occur it's nighttime. Plenty of time for the word to get out to other worlds.
7. The SE victory song's grown on me, but I used to sing along with the original. Could go either way.
8. Hayden's insertion into the ghost scene doesn't bug me. Like Obi-Wan said, when he turned he ceased being Anakin and became Vader. It makes sense that his Force ghost would still be that young man.

 

[6.8]

When the Death Star blows up, it's daytime on Endor, and when the galaxywide celebrations occur it's nighttime. Plenty of time for the word to get out to other worlds.

Uh.... You know different planets and different locations on the same planet has a different time than other planets or locations on the same planet... RIGHT?

 

[Warm Machine]

Wilco, in 50 years you can make all the star wars movies you like and put Spiderman in them if you want. Both series will be in the public domain.

 

[galeninjapan]

After careful consideration... the Obi-Wan/Vader lightsaber duel can be redone. BUT, it would only be reshot to bring it up to the level of the other OT duels, not the crazy-ass sh*t of the PT. Obi-Wan (IIRC?) wears a hood for most of the fight, so it's possible to put a body double in there and use CG trickery to paste Sir Alec's head in.

Did you see The Mummy 2? That what thay did witht he rock and it looked horrible.

 

[Spike Spiegel]

Uh.... You know different planets and different locations on the same planet has a different time than other planets or locations on the same planet... RIGHT?

Uh, gee... ya think?!?

The Rebel strike team is ON FOOT, so it's not like they're traveling halfway around Endor and changing multiple time zones to get from the Ewok encampment to the Empire's shield generator. When their assault begins, it's daytime. When the Death Star blows up, it's still daytime. When they're celebrating back at the Ewok base, it's almost pitch black night, meaning quite some time has passed there. At least a few hours, which is plenty of time for word to get out that the Death Star and Emperor are gone. And you can bet the Rebellion would do anything to get that word out to all systems as soon as it happened, so that others could rise up and revolt against the Empire's remnants.

Now on other planets, of course it's different times of day. And IIRC the celebrations on other planets do take place in both day and night settings. So I don't see why a spontaneous celebration across different planets, taking place at the same "time" as the Endor party, is so far-fetched an idea to some of you.


galeninjapan: What do I care? It's all wishful thinking anyway.

 

[SickBoy]

Thank you Sickboy.

See that all you PT haters, that's how you reply to this thread

He obviousely hates on the PT, but still offers suggestion besides "scrap them all"

Heh.. I'd rather use the term "doesn't care for the PT" because "hates on" carries all sorts of implications

3. The droid factory scene or the execution scene, one of them has to be cut down in length.

I need a rewatch badly (it's the only one I haven't watched several times, with the exception of ROTS, which is still pretty fresh for me), but if the droid factory can be eliminated completely, I'd add that to my list.

5. Did Jango Fett really have to go out like such a punk?
3. Did Boba Fett really have to go out like such a punk?

I was watching Jedi recently and thought the "Curse of the Fetts" was sort of funny. Fearsome reputations, bad deaths

 

[Xenon]

edit I & II into a single movie