AOTC deleted scenes & the lovestory

A lot of footage from AOTC was cut not only from the film but also from the DVD Deleted Scenes. Some of those scenes actually sound really cool and even important, but, alas, they didn't make the cut. Some of those could have even given other keys of interpretation or deepened characterization (for example Yoda telling Padmé she's strong in the Force, or the extended workshop scene where Anakin expresses all his remorse at having slaughtered the Tuskens). It's a shame though that they weren't even included into the deleted scenes.
Most of the major and legit complaints about AOTC revolve around the way romance was handled. Unfortunately, there were originally a lot more scenes detailing Anakin and Padmé's budding relationship and falling in love. Even apart from the extended landing scene & Theed family scenes (lunch, kitchen with Sola, and Padmé's bedroom):

(Padmé also wiped sweat off his face and brought him something to eat).

[image=http://i55.tinypic.com/2vm68fk.jpg] [image=http://i51.tinypic.com/zofjlv.jpg]

[image=http://i56.tinypic.com/s4upmr.jpg] [image=http://i54.tinypic.com/2elxopj.jpg] [image=http://i51.tinypic.com/343rqpt.jpg]

(This vaguely reminds me of a popular AOTC fan edit where all the pulling back from Padmé was excised and a romantic relationship between the two was established since the first kiss.)



Am I the only one who feels cheated?
I am not even overly critical of the way Lucas handled the love story, but I have to admit that including only a couple of these very brief scenes could have done so much good to the love story plot. Yes, maybe they would have slightly disrupted the flow of the film, but heck, if you're making a film that relies SO much on the love affair between a Senator and a Jedi, get it right even at the expense of slowing down a bit the film.

Instead, we all know what we got. On a good day I would describe it as an old-fashioned, Renaissance-inspired love story fueled by a shared sense of responsability between two young characters and some extremely good looks. On a bad day...


Other Deleted Scenes are here: http://www.theforce.net/episode2/cut/



For Trivia:
Alessandro Mazzotti, the Italian actor that played in a shot the Naboo priest at the wedding, said he was asked to read some lines and in Italian too, but it was cut from the film and DVD release.
Maybe the Naboo speak Italian?

 

Could not agree with you more if I tried. Seriously, make the film 10 minutes longer and put in those scenes. Make it 30 minutes longer and add the scenes at Padme's parents' place, which would have added a lot to the love story. Cut Obi-Wan's fight with Jango by a couple of minutes, cut the Geonosis battle by a couple of minutes, and put these scenes in the film. It's almost like Lucas was afraid of alienating the people who love action scenes, when IMO the die-hard SW fans who like the action scenes, would have appreciated a well-told love story that created the background for Anakin's fall, and created the son who redeemed him.

I'm a big A/P 'shipper and I liked AOTC, but I understand why people complained that the love story didn't feel realistic. The scenes you mentioned would have added a lot to it.

 

Not...really. To be honest, it would still mean they got married after knowing each other for no more than a week tops after not seeing each other for a decade. Solid relationships don't work that way, even having embellishment such that "Oh, they shared a kiss in a meadow before a romantic waterfall" They're in love! "Anakin looked through some old photos of her!" They're in love! "Padme comforted him after a bad dream!" They're in love!

To be honest, Padme's character would have been a LOT stronger if she too had been a Jedi. Then, there would be some basis for her and Anakin's love. They very well could have known each other since their childhood days, and having shared similar challenges, they would have been ideal sources of emotional comfort for one another. Something like that could grow into love. Because Padme has literally NO REASON to even love Anakin. Even in TPM, she showed very little confidence in Anakin's abilities and was somewhat annoyed that Qui-Gon was going on a dangerous excursion to free him. As a Senator, her life would be entirely too busy to even incorporate a romance with a man who is traveling all over the Galaxy, who she has not seen in ten years, and of whom she knows VERY little. Admittedly though, she does very little legislating and spends most of AOTC being a typical action girl + a strawman idealist.

And speaking of ideals, did Padme even consider that Anakin's support of a dictatorial form of government was sincere or was she too taken with his good looks to really care that they are on diametric opposite ends of the political spectrum? Stuff like that matters! A vegan hippie leftist is NOT going to fall hard for a neo-Nazi unless she has some SERIOUS self-esteem issues. Padme doesn't seem like she does, as she is an intelligent, driven career woman.

To be honest, these deleted scenes would not really have built upon anything. It would have turned the love story into an even bigger cliche storm than it was. Adding in a scene where they visit Padme's family home doesn't take away from the fact that they still got married within days of what was essentially their first date.

 

Where we disagree is this: Anakin was obviously teasing her in the meadow scene and I doubt it crossed her mind that he was even remotely serious. We know that he supported dictatorship because we see the entire picture, but how would Padme have known? By the time of the Clone Wars, it was pretty well known that the Jedi were generally not fond of politicians, and vice versa (source: Wookieepedia under "anti-Jedi sentiment"), and Anakin was smirking when he said it. Her next move was to laugh and say "You're making fun of me!" and she genuinely seemed to think that he was (actually, I think that he was, no matter how much genuine belief was behind his statement). If she had thought that he wholeheartedly supported fascism, she would have said "You are going down a path that I can't follow" much sooner. It would have been much easier for her to run from him at that point than it was on Mustafar.

The "Well, if it works..." line of Anakin's gets blown way out of proportion, foreshadowing though it might be. I can see that if you don't like Anakin's character, you would think that Padme had "no reason" to love Anakin, and no amount of additional scenes would change that.

I also don't think that AOTC took place over a few days' time. Seemed more like a few weeks, just the flight time between planets would have taken several days. Not everyone knows each other for years before marrying.

 

That scene with Anakin teasing Padme having powers sounds interesting for sure.
But I think the love story works well enough as it is. The only scene I'd like to see re-incorporated is Padme in the Senate.

 

Some people in real life do get married after just a couple of days/weeks.

The way I took A/P's romance is simple: two people from two different walks of life bearing great burdens on their young shoulders meet, Cupid strikes and it's first(or second)-sight love for both parties - which is possible. While one half is burning to start a relationship, the other, older, more experienced half feels the call of duty and resists it until they are faced with what is (in her eyes) certain death - which is reasonable. They escape, and since the other half is going to be sucked into a war, they decide to hastily marry (because deep down we know they're both very traditional and proper people ) - which is more than plausible.

Cliché? Maybe. Can happen? Heck yes, it does and did. War history is full of hastily arranged marriages when the possibility that the other may not survive the year is very real.

So the part about marrying in a matter of a couple of weeks (that's roughly how long I think AOTC lasts) doesn't really bother me.

Even though the premise isn't out of this world, especially if we are to take the story as a highly romanticized, Renaissance-flavored fable (and well, it was the aim of George Lucas and is evident in the choice of setting and clothing), I do agree that execution could have been better.

How? Putting in some of those deleted scenes, which show that enamourement has taken place (or at least tenderness and care). The way the film presents it feels rushed, choppy, and when you arrive at the declaration before the arena you can think only of 'kiss by the balcony', 'black bodice-cheesy script' and 'frolicking in the grass'. IMO, those tender scenes would have eased the transition greatly, but all in all the romance serves its purpose even as it is.

That being said, romance almost always has a 'cheesy' factor (in fiction and in real life more than in fiction LOL) and always has a cliché factor (maybe because it's the most common thing in the world and 'it's all been done'?). Plus, what is cheesy for one person isn't cheesy for another, but that's digressing, since I guess we can say that everybody thinks AOTC is cheesy

 

Except that it is out of character for her. For Padme, idealistic democratic politics are serious business. It's one of the few constants for her as George Lucas likes to mold her characterization to fit the setting. The fact is that Anakin outright states that he supports a dictatorship, and she frowns. Noticing her frown and realizing that he might have burned his ticket to the bedroom, he quickly backpedals with the smile, the laughter, and everything, because he realizes that she disapproves. Also, she doesn't actually say "you're going down a path I can't follow" until he commits mass murder (of children, no less). She refuses to believe any ill of him even though the guy was practically Palpatine's butt boy.

As for the time span. Let's say their journey took a couple days to get to Naboo. They spend a day in Theed, go to the Lake Retreat, spend a couple days there (confirmed by the fact that Anakin sleeps, and they have both lunch and dinner at some point), and then go to Tatooine. The journey from Alderaan to Tatooine, according to Wookieepedia, takes less than 16 hours due to the absence of cosmic phenomena that would serve as obstructions (asteroid fields, nebulae, supernovae, etc), so we can assume for simplicity's sake that this journey is shorter. So, we have a total of about six days. Then, at Mos Espa, they spend like...the morning at Watto's, and go to the Lars moisture farm outside Mos Eisley. This journey should take a miniscule amount of time since they're shuttling between two planetary points on a ship meant for interstellar travel. They talk to the Lars and Anakin goes huntin' for them Sand People. We are shown a journey by speederbike that takes up most of the day as it is clearly nightfall when he finds the village. You could say that he spent several days searching for the camp, but ordinary logic would disagree. Firstly, the Tuskens are not very well-equipped and are generally scavengers. A hunting band with a human prisoner would have to make a base camp close to where they are operating. Second, Anakin doesn't look like he's packing for a long journey. The desert is harsh and to travel for days, he'd need food and water, neither of which are in great supply on Tatooine. Anyway, he finds his dying -> dead mother and brutally butchers the entire village in revenge. Assuming he took the same path back, he probably arrived at the Lars farm in the late afternoon of the seventh day. Since Shmi's burial is shown to be taking place as the sun is high overhead, she was probably buried noon of the eighth day, at which point R2 comes with a message from Kenobi.

 

There's no way. Anakin had been gone for five months, therefore, Padme was five months pregnant. She could not have given birth to healthy twins nine days later. The twins would not have survived.

The only possible way that could have happened is if Padme was already a couple of months pregnant when Anakin returned five months' prior, but according to Labyrinth of Evil, she learned of her pregnancy while he was on the Outer Rim.

As to your other points, this comes down to, "There is no way she could have fallen in love with someone like Anakin, much less fallen in love with him that quickly." IOW it comes down to character perception, and we'll have to agree to disagree.

 

There's nothing to suggest that four months had passed, either. And unlike AOTC, most of ROTS takes place on Coruscant, meaning the hyperspace time skip isn't as much an issue. Logically, this would mean either a continuity error or Padme simply didn't tell him right away. But four months is a long time, and nothing suggests a huge amount of time passed. Anakin, Obi-Wan, Padme, and others look the same, wear largely the same clothes (for Padme and Palpatine, that's an issue), and Count Dooku's death is treated as extremely recent throughout the movie. If four months really do account for the entirety of the film's story, then that is really, really bad editing. This actually sounds like the seed of a new discussion, but I'll end here for now.

Anyway, I try to infuse as much common sense into my perception of characters without wholly dropping the suspension of disbelief. I just find it very hard to believe that two such contrary people could fall in love after a week without having anything in common, without having similar views, similar experiences, a similar upbringing, or anything, and still be a loving couple. Anakin knows very little about Padme except that she's a Senator and that she's "soft" unlike sand. Padme still treats Anakin like he's the slave boy she briefly met a decade prior. Suddenly, because they're both good looking adults, they fall in love? I question whether George Lucas understands the difference between lust and love, because Anakin just strikes me as a guy looking for sex, not a meaningful relationship. And Padme really sends mixed signals. She firmly says "You're making me uncomfortable" on Coruscant when he does creepy things like stare at her and throw a Cheshire Cat grin in her direction, but then on Naboo she dresses like a dominatrix, flaunting her body for Anakin while telling him no....

I dunno. Compared to what love, relationships, and marriage actually are, this just seems like Lucas ripped off the plot of a romance novel.

 

I don't think ROTS took place over four months, but I think it took place over two months or so. I don't think Padme was full term, most people don't go full term with twins even under good circumstances; I think she was about seven months along. Far enough along that the twins would have been viable and not need the GFFA version of a NICU. But then again, Lucas does an abominable job writing pregnancy and prenatal care. All that technology and Padme didn't know she was having twins? Really? So it's possible that he wrote a script in which Padme delivers perfectly healthy full term twins after five months gestation. The five months came from the script and the ROTS novelization.

As far as the love story, I don't know that there is anything logical or rational about why people fall in love anyway, and no, there is nothing logical or rational about that love story (heck, Anakin even says as much). I disagree with you about what Anakin wanted; there was way more to what he wanted than sex, or the attachment would have never been an issue. I don't think the Jedi would have objected to Anakin getting a bit of nookie at Padme's place on his leaves from the war, as long as he didn't become "attached" to her. As far as Padme, it is possible that an ordinarily perfectly-rational character could lose her head over a love interest. In fact, that's part of what the deleted scenes showed. She was falling in love with Anakin and fighting it as hard as she could.

I think, and the Naboo scenes showed this (which is why I think more of them should have made the movie cut) that they enjoyed each other's company. Which in and of itself doesn't make a marriage (or even love), but when looking for a marriage partner, it's pretty important.

 

I hope the blu ray releases these scenes. They sound pretty cool.

 

Very true, but the fact remains that no indication is given within the scope of the film that two months had passed. George Lucas isn't a science man, and has admitted it on several occasions. The five months figure may be because he was simply Book Dumb when it came to pregnancy and biology in general.

 

I do feel cheated! when I read the AOTC Novel all I did throughout was WHY??? I never understood why Lucas felt the need to sacrifice the love story for pacing of the movie when is one crucial element in Anakin's fall.

this is what I hope too...along with the political scenes & this...

[image=http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k166/redcr24/anakin-and-padme_26704_4.jpg]

 

You seemed to have had a similar reaction to mine. Unless it's some kind of "opposites attract" deal, they do seem to be incompatible. However, I do believe the idea that they were physically attracted to each other. And hey it works in that respect - they DO seem like they have the hots for one another physically. It's when the "true love" things come into play that it gets ridiculous.

She's not "in your soul", Anakin. What you're experiencing is known as a "boner".

Because of this, plus some truly ridiculous dialogue like the aforementioned "sand" business, the AotC love story sucks balls and could not IMHO be redeemed by editing in deleted scenes or whatever. It is almost the nadir of the Star Wars films, and its only strong point is the physical beauty of Natalie Portman. The only things worse than the AotC love story in Star Wars IMHO is the scatological humor in TPM, and maybe the whole stupid incestuous-overtones-creating "Leia is my sister" business from RotJ.

(and I'm saying this as a guy who generally likes and "appreciates" the prequels).

 

We finally agree on something!

I understand that the opposites attract business is to show how the bad parts of one person's personality is moderated through the influence of the other and vice versa, but Padme is treated as a Purity Sue. Her political views are pure without any thought of calculation, cunning, deception, or tactical foresight. You know, things you'd expect a politician to be a master of. People revere her and those who don't are either evil or corrupt. Anakin worships her, yet disagreeing with her political views. Obi-Wan and the Jedi have legitimate misgivings over her status of a politician and her closeness to Anakin, but of course they're all wrong about her, if not Anakin. It seems like blame, regardless of legitimacy, is never placed upon her shoulders and her negatives are never shown. Never mind the bad dialogue. George Lucas didn't write characters well either. The reason I object to this kind of thing is because real life is so much different, and I firmly believe that art should imitate life.

 

This may be the core of where we disagree. I want to look at art to escape life, I don't want my art to imitate it. IOW, I want my art to be a better version of life. I don't like sad endings, I don't like it when the villians win. Hence why I don't like ROTS, although the movie itself is well done.

While I sort of agree with you about Padme, I find it refreshing to find one politician, in real life or the GFFA, who isn't corrupt.

Mond: I don't agree with you about the love story, but that line "what you're experiencing is a boner" cracked me up.

 

Fair enough, I suppose. I don't like downer endings either. But I don't like happy endings that seem like they've been pulled out of the writer's ass, completely incongruous and out of nowhere. I've said this a lot, but I like endings which force characters to earn a happy one. They have to work for it, otherwise, they get a bad one. The problem with making popcorn fantasy - the kind with saccharine goodness that simply does not exist outside the self-contained confines of the work itself; you know, the kind where you sit down and basically tune out reality and logic for a solid two hours - is that it abuses the suspension of disbelief. Most of us have limits as to how much crap gets shoved into a work before we say "Hold up, this makes absolutely no sense!" When a work approaches life head-on, accepts that is gritty, and that it sometimes throws a downer, but still manages to see some goodness, that's meaningful. Having fairy-tale endings take away from that. On the other hand, grittiness and cookie-cutter tragedy are different. You don't need a woman dead of a broken heart and a Greek Chorus wailing a lament in the corner for something to be dark. In fact, something like that looks silly. When you infuse real life issues, concerns, dynamics, and relationships into a work of fiction, it connects with the viewer on a more personal level and allows them to take something away with them from the experience. Making it a fantasy romp that subverts as much of real life as possible means you end up getting up from the chair not really having gained anything, though you aged two hours while watching things getting blown up, people falling in love at first sight, and evil overlords take over an easily-conquerable galaxy with very little political depth. It's like shutting off your brain for a few hours.

 

I would disagree with this example. I feel one kiss ended abruptly on Padme's part is more than enough in the movie. For her to lose herself twice like this within two scenes would make her appear weak, I think. As for the photos you show, not wanting to be pernickity, but the first two I believe are posed for a Vanity Fair photo shoot - not actually being directed for the movie.

At the end of the day it comes down to quality I think. If all these scenes were shot and they were well scripted/acted, then sure, they'd help amp up the romance. But if they weren't, their inclusion would be criticised. And we don't know if they're any good or not.

The one scene I really like and would liked to have seen in AOTC (in regards to Padme and Anakin) was the scene in Padme's room where she talks of her youth a bit. But then again, I don't like the scenes meeting her family and sitting round the dinner table, so ultimately I'd rather have neither than both. The Anakin waking up aboard the starship always intrigued me though, I must say.

I think we can all agree, we'd love to see every scene shot released on the blu-ray releases. But I think we should just be wary of speculating whether they'd have improved the finished movie or not. For years I loved the idea of the Vader/Luke deleted scene that we recently saw being finished for the Blu-Ray release. Having seen it though, I dont like it and I'm glad it was cut.

 

Not to mention that every scene in that sequence is filled with shameless romance cliches. I'm not saying these are bad, but good grief, they come in one after another. Anakin and Padme are playing in the grass! They stop with Anakin on top! Suggestiveness ensues! They look at each other! Suggestiveness ensues! They have a dinner where Anakin uses telepathy to impress her! Suggestiveness ensues! They retire to a dimly lit sitting room. Padme is wearing a suggestive outfit! Anakin is horny and begs for sex! Suggestiveness is turned up to eleven!

I mean, seriously, not particularly subtle.

 

Star Wars is basically, in terms of this romance and many other aspects, a period piece. Period pieces get away with what feels alien to us at times because they are intentionally and understandably disconnected from what a modern audience feels like is a proper, convincing love story. I would argue its lack of association with our own standards is crucial in making the alternate world investable. You wouldn't want period piece dialogue sounding like it was written by Kevin Smith any more than you would period piece dialogue in a Kevin Smith film. In both cases, it would remove you from the established world.

Compare the love story of Will and Skylar in Good Will Hunting and William Wallace and Murron in Braveheart. To a modern audience, only one is convincing and presented in a reasonably realistic fashion. Yet to the viewer who invests in the world and the period, the romance of William Wallace and Murron is perfectly plausible. And there are similarities with their story and Anakin & Padme here. The pair know each other fleetingly as young children, both are attracted to each other immediately on first sight again, they marry in secret after very little time together ? something which affects both of their destinies profoundly ? and it is absolutely evident, beyond logic or anything scientifically definable, that they love each other. In the cases of William and Anakin, they are entirely similar in this regard. William loves Murron as a young boy and Anakin loves Padme even when he?s back on Tatooine. He carves her a token so she will remember him. Its clear he?s infatuated with her, even if it is only initially because he believes her to be ?an angel?. He never loses this. Padme has plenty reason to treat Anakin as special to her at this point also ? he twice puts his life at risk to help her cause and ultimately becomes an important element in her planet?s quick release from the occupation of the Trade Federation. He is a hero to her and her people. In classical terms, this kind of stuff is far more important than establishing shared tastes in humour or culture (things we might think more important to our own interpretation of a realistic love story). Crucially though, I think it is only half-way through AOTC or more that Padme realises she too loves Anakin. And this occurs over and around the death of his Mother. In his confiding with Padme both before and after the death, Padme feels compelled by the complexity of the real man she sees behind the boyish façade. When she sees his trauma and concern on arriving at Tatooine and meeting the Lars, it resonates with her and draws her to him. She sees the passion, love and the emotion he is capable of and it attracts her more than just the physical attraction the kiss on Naboo clearly shows she felt regardless. It is on Tatooine where Padme realises the true extent of her feelings towards Anakin - it all comes together into one immeasurable emotion - though her reveal only comes as a result of her fearing she will die without informing him.

I don?t think in a classical sense there is anything wholly unconvincing about their tale. Of course it?s unconvincing by standards in our modern world and many might argue it should have been delivered in a more subtle fashion, but Star Wars isn?t fundamentally about mirroring our world. It?s a fantasy tale set in a classical tone (particularly the PT). It?s also mentioned here that Anakin looks like he?s merely after sex but lets not forget Han and what his obvious intentions were with Leia. His motivation was clearly driven by lust, yet nobody saw a problem deeming that a convincing love story ? yes it resonates with us as realistic but why should Han be excused as a character where Anakin is not? Han is a an everyday, common smuggler who wants

 

I feel one kiss ended abruptly on Padme's part is more than enough in the movie. For her to lose herself twice like this within two scenes would make her appear weak, I think.[/quote]

I believe that would be the point. Padme was weakened & currupted by love. Love is double edge sword, like all things it's positive and negative sides. The Jedionly recognized the negative aspect hence the "NO ATTACHMENT" rule.

 

d_arblay: You have eloquently written what I've always wanted to write on the matter but never got around to write because I'm lazy and non-fluent foreign speaker and I think you might be my new hero

Seriously though. This is the crux of the situation.

As you have rightly said, the prequel trilogy of Star Wars is a period piece: in a futuristic setting, yes, but a period peice nonetheless. Everything about the love shared by Anakin and Padmé is intended to abide by and actively evoke that feel. The model here is not this elusive thing called 'a realistic love story': the model here is something akin to Provençal fin' amor, Medieval tales and Italian Renaissance poems. The love described in those immense works of literature is not what we would call realistic love, because it is always, archetypally, born out of beauty (nowadays called lust) and honor and, often, some degree of forbiddance.

Back in the ancient days - where George Lucas wanted to metaphorically locate the romance of Anakin Skywalker - a shared sense of humor, taste in books or similar experiences was NOT what a romance required to be true and meaningful. It simply was not the stuff epic, grand romance was made of (and I'd dare to say that it still is not).

Orlando, from the Orlando Innamorato (16th century), fell in love with the Chinese princess Angelica when he first laid eyes on her (and thus proceeded to literally lose his mind); Dante (13th century) fell in love with his Beatrice when he saw her for the first time, at the tender age of nine - and loved her so much that he wrote for her, years past her death, one of the biggest poems known to humankind, in which he travelled all the way up to Paradise to meet her again. It's not realistic love, but it's sincere and deep love nonetheless, and people are moved by it still now.

Back on topic. Han and Leia's relationship, although (or maybe SINCE it is) born out of Han's unabashed and unmasked lust, is deemed realistic because it's closer - no, is completely loyal to our - grittier - modern standards: brimming sexual tension and witty banter, a cocky kind of guy and a girl with a 'tude.

I think criticizing Anakin and Padmé's romance as unrealistic is just an exercise in pointing out the obvious, for it was the maker's intention to create it as 'unrealistic': Lucas did not set out wanting to portray a relationship that could happen between twenty-somethings these days, but looked upon older tales and manners of expressing love. Critiques about the stylistic way this was delivered, though, are obviously legit (e.g.: clunky dialogue, stilted delivery, whatever).

Apologies if this came out all confusing, my non-native speaker brain is fried at 1 AM

(Oh, and I'd also like to say that I've actually had a boy tell me stuff that wouldn't have sounded out of place in Anakin Skywalker mouth in the GFFA - seriously, even in the real world and in 2010, inexperience and nervousness and lack of smoothness can lead to this kind of mess As a guy over here said about AOTC: 'Many who criticize the AOTC romance probably have said worse stuff themselves' LOL)

 

In a universe where there are fiery explosions and sounds in space, I don't know why anyone would find Anakin and Padmé too unrealistic .

A couple of the prior posts explained it rather well. Lucas wasn't trying to create a contemporary love story, he was going for a much older convention and for me it worked. I'd love to see more of course, but only if it makes sense in the final product. I'd add in the family scenes on Naboo in AOTC mostly because it would help the audience understand Padmé and her motivations a little bit better.

--MissPadme

 

Some of those could have even given other keys of interpretation or deepened characterization (for example Yoda telling Padmé she's strong in the Force, or the extended workshop scene where Anakin expresses all his remorse at having slaughtered the Tuskens). It's a shame though that they weren't even included into the deleted scenes.

Most of the major and legit complaints about AOTC revolve around the way romance was handled. Unfortunately, there were originally a lot more scenes detailing Anakin and Padmé's budding relationship and falling in love. Even apart from the extended landing scene & Theed family scenes (lunch, kitchen with Sola, and Padmé's bedroom).


I've seen the deleted scenes featuring Anakin and Padme's visit to the latter's family. It was nice, but it would have considerably dragged a movie that was already 2 hours and 20 minutes long. Also, Anakin and Padme's love story began in "THE PHANTOM MENACE". What other scenes from Anakin's outburst at the Lars' workshop could be added? Again, it would have dragged the movie considerably.