PT Rewriting the Prequels...

I think the prequals are good as they are and dont any changes.

 

I took a comparative literature class last spring my freshman year in college and did a re-write draft of the Prequels using a plot synopsis format and had my professor, who is a Star Wars fanatic read it. I wish I could find it I would paste what I wrote. From the top of my head at the moment this is what I had. The following is simply a change of a couple of key characters as well as who i thought the Separatists forces should have been instead:


I like the plot how Sidious pretty much used everyone involved to overthrow the Republic from within. And to add insult to injury, have his arch-enemy raise the Chosen One only to snatch him away and using him to not only wipe out the Jedi Order but to also fool him into joining the ranks of the Sith, the very order he fought against. It's diabolical and insidious, and it's the one thing that fulfilled what I had expected the back story of the saga and Ani/Vader's character to be. Of course if given the chance, I'd change a few things: (mind you, the Sidious' plot to mastermind everyone will remain)


- do away with the Neimodians and their droids as the main Separatist force. They just were not menacing. They were too cowardly to be persuaded to make threats to a centuries old Republic supported by Jedi Knights. And the fact that this same trade federation had an army of droids at their disposal just didn't make any sense. Are they suppose to be an armed civil service entity of the galaxy or a gang? And not to offend anyone who's a fan, but I would not have included Grievous at all either. This character seemed too clownish. Someone mentioned on the first page of this thread saying that to allow a half alien to be able to easily kill Jedi just because it's able to wield a saber yet not have Force powers only made the Jedi meaningless and a mockery to saber combat onscreen since all Grievous did is spin its saber then grabs with one of its other arms, pulls out its gun and shoots...wth...Why not just have Darth Maul as the main Jedi threat/killer throughout the PT? At least we would have seen other actual saber fights other than Ani or Obi vs______ and perhaps seen Anakin vs Maul in their prime dueling. Looking at the stories of KOTOR makes me wish the writers of that game had a hand in this. I would've used Mandalorians as the main Separatist force. Have Dooku as the main Separatist leader. Fracture the Republic & Jedi and have defectors join the Mandalorians in their bid to take control of the Republic. Heck if they still wanted a droid army, just use a legion of prototype IG-88 or HK-47 models to aid them. At least those are more menacing than the Gungan-lookalike designed, infantile sounding Neimoidian droids.


- Anakin is 17-20 years old and already a Knight as we are introduced to him. The 1st film would showcase his friendship with Obi Wan along with his skill as a pilot. Throughout the first half of this 1st episode as he is on missions or doing tasks and is confronted with dilemmas, Ani has flashbacks seeking what he learned from Yoda and Obi Wan when he was a Padawan, similar to the 1970s tv show, Kung Fu, portraying a young Caine seeking guidance from Masters Po and Kan. But during the first half of the 2nd episode, these flashbacks start to fade as Anakin begins to listen more to Palpatine. I've read many critiques online regarding how lame the Jedi were portrayed. It would've helped to at least give them a half hour of the 1st film to see them at their best so we get to know them and their Order. Order 66, for me, would have been more emotional.
With Anakin already a part of the Order you don't have to mention midichlorians. I know some of you are already tired of hearing about this, but as a newbie in this forum I just wanted to give my own thoughts. It just made it seem that if one had a lot of this in their bodies then they are capable of being the "strongest" Force user in the galaxy without the need to meditate or study it from infancy....if that's the case, why would the Council hesitate to take Anakin? I know it's because they sensed he was troubled, but let's say they let him go and he learns of the Force on his own without guidance or the Code. Wouldn't he end up being a rogue, dark Force user (if he still harbored anger or fear when he returned back to his mother as a slave) where the Order would likely have to face anyway but this time as the enemy? As for Palpatine, if he knew about the midichlorian in the blood stream thing, why not just extract Anakin's blood (in case he died after rescuing him) and inject it to thousands of muscular imposing beings in the galaxy and create an army of Arnold Schwarzaneggar-like Force users? I mean, isn't that what "The Force Unleashed II" did with Galen's character? And the PT introduced us to cloning..

- Padme is a 16-19 year old Jedi Knight, not a politician in my re-write. Again referring to the KOTOR revelation bit of Duron Qel-Droma and Shaela Nuur, I would've used this as the love story of Ani and Padme as they fall for each other when sent together to Alderaan on a mission regarding that planet's concern over a Mandelorian threat from the Outer Rim. Palpatine senses this forbidden relationship and uses it to persuade Anakin to seek the dark side of the Force. I thought this bit in ROTS was important because it showed two things: 1) Anakin did not fully turn to the dark side seeking it on his own, but only sought it out of desperation for his wife, whom he could not tell the Order. This also revealed the root of his anger toward the Jedi. I would've just used this instead of his whining over not being a part of the Council. 2) Luke sensing his father wasn't completely turned by the Emperor when he talked to him on Endor.


- The Jedi Council - I'd use thespian actors of our time recognized by the Academy: Christopher Lee, Daniel Day Lewis, Anthony Hopkins, Tom Hanks, Gary Oldman, Laurence Fishburn instead of Sam J., Colin Firth, Pat Morita, Ralph Feinnes, Hugh Jackman, even Sean Connery to go along with Liam and Ewan as the human Council members. Some of these guys will defect with Dooku where we see Anakin or Kenobi fighting them one on one and the others will fall during the Jedi purge or when Vader hunts them down as they are caught hiding in exile in my version of the 3rd episode. I mean, you only do this once, why not go all out. The only alien Council member's I'd leave are Yoda, Plo, Fisto, Kolar, Adi Mundi, and even include Ventress before she breaks rank and joins Dooku. We know Palpatine is manipulating this anyway with Dooku. Just go with familiar types of character (Jedi) we already know and do that from the get go. Use betrayal, an old but useful tool for storytelling and have these actors portray and react to it in dramatic form. Show how come and why Dooku chose to turn against the Jedi in the first episode.

anyway, those are the only things I'd change. If I could find my draft of my re-writes of Ep 1-3, I'll post it here asap

one more thing, before i go. Having more than one dark Force user is plausible. It is assumed that when Maul was Palpatin'es apprentice, that Dooku had already fallen to the dark side but was somehow not mentioned until later. iirc, and if i'm not mistaken, this would explain Sifo Dyas' murder at the hands of Dooku, no? Also, Ventress never assumed or had the title of "Darth" but embraced the dark side. So I think to be able to suspend the Sith order of two can be done...at least for the sake of having the chance to see groups of Sith in numbers fight the Jedi onscreen. That would've been cool.

 

I would add:

1. Tarkin, Sidious, and Dooku discussing the Death Star at some point before Sidious duels Windu.

2. A scene explaining why Vader being Anakin was hidden from the public.

 

Why would it be bandied about?

 

I'm sure you've heard it all before, but:

1. Anakin should've been 18 or 19 in The Phantom Menace.
2. Darth Maul should've been the bad guy in the entire PT and not killed in TPM.
3. The relationship between Padme and Anakin should've been written in a more believable way.
4. Anakin shouldn't have been portrayed as a whiny emo with mommy issues and prone to temper tantrums.
5. The midichlorians should have never been mentioned.
6. The battle droids shouldn't have been programmed to act like retarded idiots. They should've actually been menacing.
7. No prophecy nonsense
8. No rule of two
9. No slapstick humor.
10. No "he didn't have a father" nonsense

 

Add Dooku to TPM. I'd love to see his reaction to the Senate's refusal to help Amidala.

 

You're right. The mommy issues were pivotal to the story of Anakin. Well, I guess what we did not need were the tantrums.

 

Do you know what helps the battle droids alot? I've watched an edit with their voices taken out and it helps immensely. No voices.

 

More Moff Tarkin

 

Hm… sounds interesting.

 

It sounds like a small change but it really works.

 

WHAT IF YOUTUBE VIDEOS CRITIQUING THE STAR WARS PREQUELS WERE ACTUALLY GOOD?

 

What if They were good.

 

In fact they were so good they totally exposed what a horrible writer George Lucas actually is..... remember Lucas himself basically had total control of the prequels inculding story, writing, directing, effects, the whole thing. And he did many things that should lead the more inclined people among us to sumize that......

1.) Lucas planned on Jar Jar being a MAJOR CHARACTER thoughout the Prequels, hence the unbelievable amount of screen time given this horrible idiot in TPM, but after the Fan rebellion, they had to write him out in the next two so by ROTS he barely shows up but it was not planned this way or written this way so now the now the whole Jar Jar being the deciding vote to create the Empire is shocklingly unbelieveable......

2.) Lucas surrounded himself with YES MEN and people who would follow his orders unquestionable, the OT did not have this, they had free thinkers and creative minds and they gave us the EMPIRE STRIKES BACK, but with Lucas in total control the Story goes geeky in a big way...................I Really hate Sand..etc.

 

One can only wonder what the original trilogy would have been like if Lucas had had the same amount of control back in 1977, 1980 and 1983 that he had when he made the prequels. *shudders*

 

1. Nah, I loved child-Anakin. Not jaded in the slightest, a genuinely good person, always looking out for others. A true Jedi in the making.
2. Disagree. Maul was, for all intents and purposes, Sidious' attack dog. He came in, showed the Jedi and the Republic that the Sith had returned, and then died, all according to Sidious' plans. Plus, his death opened up the door to Dooku, and I would never want to see Dooku removed. Talk about a fascinating and under-recognized character.
3. The dialogue was clunky, but that's Star Wars for you. Everything about their relationship, especially in Attack of the Clones, is dripping in elaborate symbolism and foreshadowing of what is to come in Revenge of the Sith and the Original trilogy. "That sounds an awful lot like a dictatorship to me." "Well... if it works." Cue the Empire. "I hate sand." Anakin hated Tatooine more than anything, and he never did return there after the war, thus making it the perfect spot to hide Luke.
4. "Much anger in him... like his father." Yoda's words in The Empire Strikes Back. Also, Anakin never had "mommy issues." He had a mother that he absolutely loved died, and he's a kid that has huge problems dealing with attachment and loss.
5. The midi-chlorians were a fascinating addition that only add to the mystery of the Force. What they mean in the grand scheme of things boggles the mind. Relationship with the Force, the Jedi/Sith ideologies, the Prophecy, the nature of life and death...
6. Oh, menacing like the Stomtroopers? Anyways, Battle Droids put up a decent fight against the Gungans and Clones, but I think it's a given that the Jedi should be able to take them down with ease unless faced with overwhelming numbers. It was more interesting seeing the Jedi get taken down by corruption than blasters, anyways.
7. Like the midi-chlorians, the Prophecy was a fascinating addition and revelation made in the Prequel trilogy and is the main reason why I am so hesitant about the Sequel trilogy. I wouldn't trade the Prophecy elements for the world.
8. The 'rule of two' added a really interesting dimension to the Sith, especially in The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. As Vader and Palpatine were both planning on converting Luke to the Dark Side, they ultimately would have been pit against one another. They both wanted Luke in the end, but first they would have needed to wash their hands of one another.
9. Were C-3PO and R2-D2 really any different in the Originals? What about the box falling on Han's head in The Empire Strikes Back? Or Yoda beating R2 with a stick?
10. Again, keeping in line with my thoughts on on midi-chlorians and the Prophecy, I absolutely loved the virgin birth angle. So much fascinating symbolism when compared with outside sources that had influence on Star Wars, and also a lot of highly intriguing scenarios within that world as well. Especially the implication that Anakin could very well have come from Palpatine and/or Plagueis' manipulation of midi-chlorians and the Force; the opera scene in Revenge of the Sith (one of my favorite scenes in all of Star Wars) could very easily be seen as some sort of screwed up version of the iconic "I am your father" scene from The Empire Strikes Back.

But to each their own.

If I had to change anything about the movies, Dooku and Bail Organa would be seen in TPM, Qui-Gon would be heard communicating with Yoda in RotS, and maybe the start of the Rebellion, which wound up getting cut, would be added back into RotS as well. Perhaps with Vallorum added, and some remnants of the CIS, so we can see just how closely the CIS parallels the Rebels of the OT.

 

This is an assumption that his screentime was the result of the fans. Especially when Lucas says this...

"Right or wrong this is my movie, this is my decision, and this is my creative vision, and if people don't like it, they don't have to see it."

--George Lucas

"The thing about science-fiction fans and "Star Wars" fans is they're very independent-thinking people. They all think outside the box, but they all have very strong ideas about what should happen, and they think it should be their way, which is fine, except I'm making the movies, so I should have it my way."

--George Lucas

"So I had to ask myself, what was I trying to say and didn't I say it? Did it just get missed or it is it not there? I had to look at it very hard. I had to ask myself, Is this how the audience is going to react? Fortunately, Steven confirmed that most of everything was working. So I may lose a certain demographic - maybe, maybe not. But I had to make a decision, and I decided that I'm not going to alter the film to make it more commercial or marketable."

--George Lucas, The Making of ROTS, page 188.

"Oh, it always hurts. It hurts a great deal. But part of making movies is you get attacked, and sometimes in very personal ways," says Lucas. "The point is, like if you paint your house white and somebody comes over, 'Well that should be a green house.' Well, fine, but I wanted to paint it white. I don’t think there was anything wrong with painting it white. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with me for painting it white. Maybe it should be a green house, but I didn’t want it to be a green house. I wanted it to be a white house.”

--George Lucas, 60 Minutes Interview 2005.

Jar Jar's role is still fairly major in AOTC and in ROTS, even the droids disappear for all of Act II. Artoo has humor in the beginning of the film, but that's it. Threepio's scenes, both those in the film and those that were cut, were serious scenes. He didn't complain and he didn't have a pratfall of any sort. In TESB, he had that during the more serious scenes. The last scene with the droids was the only time there was humor with either of them and it wasn't much. Lucas made a conscious choice to tone down the humor in ROTS, which went double for the comic relief of the Saga.

Not entirely true. One of the ILM staffers tried to encourage him to make a Clonetrooper suit, rather than do it as a fully CGI creation from scratch. Lucas won that argument even when he was challenged. Liam Neeson had a discussion about Qui-gon putting his hand on Shmi's shoulder which he ultimately won, even though Lucas had been against it. Lucas also listened to his friends for advice on the story. In TPM, he listened to them and agreed with them, only to turn around and change his mind about "The Battle Of Naboo". Later on, he listened to them when it came to changing Act II of ROTS.

It all depends on if Lucas agrees with someone else's ideas.

Except for the dying part, then yes. That wasn't Palpatine's plan.

 

The prequels work. That they are also thrilling and gorgeous is a total bonus.

Only one bit I would change, and it's like 5 seconds long.

 

The amount of haters in this thread angers me to the core. It proves that so many of you didn't even understand those movies to begin with. I won't even bother to counteract any of it, and you people should go home and leave the people who like these films IN PEACE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

All films go through a period of adjustment as they're made. "Star Wars" was no different in that regard. No script is fully formed right off the bat. Characters, costumes, effects, locations all go through some sort of change. To say that Lucas was a rotten filmmaker because he hadn't settled on what Han should be doesn't even make sense in that regard.

Lucas didn't direct TESB because he stressed himself out making ANH. Damn near had a heart attack over it. But he still had creative says in that and this is clear in the Making Of book. In ROTJ, this much was true. Lucas was the one who told Kasdan that Yoda should never fight with a Lightsaber and then turned around and put it in the PT, because he ultimately changed his mind and agreed with Kasdan. Lucas originally wanted Anakin to live, was convinced that it shouldn't happen and then it was suggested that he at least appear as a ghost, even when Kazanjian later regretted suggesting it. The fact is that Lucas, like other directors, will do what they believe is best for the story. Sure, he gave control up, only because he didn't want to do what he ended up doing in the end.

Spielberg still agreed with his decisions regardless of directing, on more than one occasion. Lucas only directed the PT as a whole, because he found that it was easier than it was the first time and he could make up his mind as he went. As to the fans, speak for yourself, not for me. Certainly not for the fans who like the PT.

Really? The PT didn't capture the imaginations of the youth from the last twenty years? Funny. So how come a lot of those kids posted on here and elsewhere, in support of the PT? How come I see kids going to FCBD to take pictures with Jango Fett, Clonetroopers, Darth Maul, Darth Tyranus and PT era Jedi? How come children played Clonetroopers, Jedi and Sith on playgrounds at school and in public parks with other kids? How come TPM 3D was successful and filled with kids going to it for the first time? Kids loved it. Adults too. I saw plenty two years ago without their own kids, watching the film. How come those who saw TPM did so again and again in 1999? In 2002 with AOTC. In 2005 with ROTS. Who is running from the PT? You, apparently. But I didn't run. Three times for TPM, once for AOTC, twice for ROTS. If the 3D versions hadn't been shelved like they were, I'd go see them again. That's hardly running.