How I (hawk that is) envisioned Episode I

Hey. Before I start, I am not claiming MY ideas are better than Lucas' or anyone else. I have not gone to an extensive re-write like Oakes (can we get to that first page yet man?!) and these "ideas" are separate from AOTC...which I really like. Feel free to attack them but it is only for fun!


Years before the prequels, I had my own ideas for Ep I like we all did. However, Lucas followed a path that I don't fully agree with.

How did I envision Ep I?

Something I have always liked was to keep things "simple". There is no need to have hundreds of characters or scenes to keep an audience happy. Focus on few characters and that's it. I always saw Anakin and Obi-Wan's relationship as the main focus of Ep I. I saw Obi-Wan first meeting Anakin climbing out of a starfighter (a great pilot). He tracked Anakin down because of his exceptional piloting skills and belived he was potential for Jedi training. Recently, I have thought that a great opening scene would be a group of Jedi on a small cargo ship under attack from fighters. Anakin swoops in to save them. Later we discover Obi-Wan to be one of the Jedi!

Anyway, I imagined EP I to already be deeply into the Clone Wars. It would have nothing to do with Clones though. Instead, it would involve many Sith (dark Jedi) who are the main enemy of the Jedi.

The Jedi would be like the knights of the round table. Yoda would be like Merlin who advise the arrogant but talented crew. Obi-Wan would not be the leader but a talented Jedi who trained under Yoda and was always in conference with him. He eyes Anakin and tries to train him like Yoda "instructed" him but fails. Anakin, who is no chosen one, falls from grace and chooses the Emperor's side with his minions. This would not happen until Ep III though.

All Ep I would be about is Obi-Wan discovering Anakin and initially training him in the force. They become good friends and fight the dark Jedi during the Clone Wars. Anakin would probably meet Padme but nothing too romatic would happen. The three of them would be the best of friends while the war goes on in the background.

This film would be a "space" movie in that most of it would be set in space or on space staions. There would be more dog-fighting than ANH and lots of zipping around the galaxy. One scene I imagined is a dark Jedi chasing Anakin whose ship is damaged. He crash lands on a nearby planet and they duel in an intense finale.




Needless to say, these ideas are sketchy and, unfortunately, a bit pointless. But I just wanted to share some creative ideas with you. Thankyou if you took the time to read my ideas and reply.

I will post a few more ideas later.

 

hawk, there some nice ideas in there.

Actually, for me, TPRE with some additional changes is really what I would have liked TPM to be.

I would have liked to have seen 3PO be introduced as Amidala's protocol droid, not as Anakin's science project.

The pod race segment needed to be trimmed down extensively. In fact, I wrote a general summary of what would have removed the boring scenes of Tatooine out of the film. My idea was that we should have been dropped right into the Tatooine scene with Anakin getting ready to race.

Here are my thoughts:

The new Tatooine segment begins the same as TPM.

The streets are not deserted but mostly empty. Qui's group ventures to Watto's shop only to find Watto coming out of his shop, locking up. Qui's inquires about parts but Watto tells him that he's on his way to a pod race to watch his slave race. Watto invites them to come along.

The group gets to Watto's box and joins Shmi but Watto and Qui go down to the race pit and meet Anakin for a final "good luck". Qui senses that Anakin is not only a good candidate for being a Jedi, but that there is something more about Anakin, that perhaps he's far greater than anyone he's ever seen. He's never felt such a presence before with any other Force-sensitive person. The race proceeds as before. Qui is amazed that Anakin has such fast reflexes and surmises that Anakin must have Jedi reflexes.

Anakin wins the race, and makes Watto a bunch of cash, and has won his freedom with that race, but not the freedom of his mother. Watto won't let her go (He's trying to get more money off Anakin by competing again).

The group goes back to Watto's shop where they and Anakin meet up to return Watto's pod racer and to have the slave device disengaged. Anakin does his, "Are you an angel?" stuff while Qui is looking at parts with Watto just like before.

Meanwhile, Watto accepts the RC's as payment for the parts. The parts are to be delivered to the ship and work will be done the next day.

Anakin and Shmi invite Qui and the group to have dinner with him at his house. The dinner conversation has some similarity to the original.

OPTIONAL: Qui can do a midi test on Anakin just like before, or leave it out completely. If you want to have a script without midi's then you can say that there's no possible way of knowing for sure if Anakin is the Chosen One, only that there is a strong suspicion based on Jedi sensitivity to the Force. This is a whole other subject which is not meant to be covered right now, but I think if midi's have no real role in the other prequels, then, yes, this would be the best way to go.

Qui offers Anakin to take him with him to train as a Jedi. Anakin accepts but is sad that he won't be able to take his mother with him as before. Later that night, Shmi relates Anakin's conception to Qui.

The next day, repairs are finished, and the good bye scene with Anakin and Shmi is as before.

Maul shows up as before.

BAM!! No more boring Tatooine!! No more watching boring irrelevant events!!

Just a good example of how the Tatooine segment could have been much improved.

 

The Tatooine portion of ANH was also long and boring......care to rewrite that too?

Oh, I forgot. That movie's a classic, and to even suggest rewriting a part of it is sacrilege.

People should show the same respect for Lucas regarding TPM that they do with ANH, which is protected from critique by it's "classic" status and little else.

 

The Tatooine portion of ANH was also long and boring......care to rewrite that too?

Maybe to you it was but to any other SW fan, it was not. There's a diference between a long & engaging segment and a long & boring segment.

What we saw in TPM was clearly long and boring. What we saw in ANH was long and engaging. To this day when I watch ANH, I still love every second of it.

And your suggestion that we show respect to GL by not re-writing TPM is silly. The mere fact that we undertake such an excersise is an act of respect. I have no problem seeing people re-write ANH as well since I know they do it because they love SW in general.

You may now beg my forgiveness.

 

TrueJedi, You probably spent ages reworking the tatooine scenes,but I'm sorry . your version is aweful, and I would be embarassed to see it in a star wars film.
COME ON! Qui gon see anakin race just because watto is going there

It really very imbalanced, and shows much less character development.

I am actually fine with the tatooine scenes themselves, the thing that tainted them was Jake Lloyd's awful acting, I know he's only young , but look at Haley Joel Osment.

 

I like your ideas, Hawk. I too thought that Episode I was going to focus on the relationship between Obi-Wan and Anakin. I also thought both of them would be older than they turned out to be. I figured Anakin would be in his late teens, and when I first heard that Liam Neeson had been cast in Episode I I thought they were on the right track because I assumed he'd be playing Obi-Wan.

Oddly enough, the film I can point to that most resembles what I thought Episode I's overall style would be is "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon". Not that I would have wanted the fight scenes to be quite so over-the-top, but to me it almost feels like a "Star Wars" movie. Li Mu Bai and michelle Yeoh's character (who's name escapes my feeble brain at the moment) are pretty much how I always pictured the Jedi. Their adversaries are a lot like the Sith, and the Green Destiny Sword takes the place of <insert evil weapon of mass destruction here>. The story has a nice balance of spirituality and politics and the action is great. Call me crazy, but the first time I saw it my initial reaction was "this is what I thought Episode I would be like".

 

Great thread, hawk. Let me respond to your opener:


Hey. Before I start, I am not claiming MY ideas are better than Lucas' or anyone else.

I'll do it for you, then. These ideas are light years ahead of the stuff we got in TPM. In every single particular, you beat TPM hands down.


Something I have always liked was to keep things "simple". There is no need to have hundreds of characters or scenes to keep an audience happy. Focus on few characters and that's it.

Exactly. Give us a clear and clean storyline of good vs. evil. That's the genius of SW.


I always saw Anakin and Obi-Wan's relationship as the main focus of Ep I.

Me too. Where the devil did Qui-Gon come from? And I never, ever wanted to see Vader as a little kid. Give me a break.


I saw Obi-Wan first meeting Anakin climbing out of a starfighter (a great pilot). He tracked Anakin down because of his exceptional piloting skills and belived he was potential for Jedi training. Recently, I have thought that a great opening scene would be a group of Jedi on a small cargo ship under attack from fighters. Anakin swoops in to save them. Later we discover Obi-Wan to be one of the Jedi!

Very good ideas. You're taking the OT seriously here. You're addressing the things we always wanted addressed ("Just how good a pilot was Anakin?") while ignoring questions nobody ever wanted addressed or even asked ("Qui-Gon, sir, what are midichlorians?").


Anyway, I imagined EP I to already be deeply into the Clone Wars.

Good call. In the OT, the galactic civil war began in the crawl of the first movie and ended at the end of the last movie. This gave thematic unity to the trilogy. I still can't believe we had to wait until the end of the second episode of the PT for the Clone Wars. Of course, we had some very important points to address instead: Vader's childhood and his teen-age crush. [rolls_eyes]


It would have nothing to do with Clones though.

Another good call. IMO, literal clones are too Star Treky.


Instead, it would involve many Sith (dark Jedi) who are the main enemy of the Jedi.

Ever since reading the ESB novelization, I thought the bad guys in the Clone Wars would be an army of evil humans in the same type of armor Boba Fett later wore. But armies of Sith would be far, far more interesting than various battle droids and clones.


The Jedi would be like the knights of the round table. Yoda would be like Merlin who advise the arrogant but talented crew. Obi-Wan would not be the leader but a talented Jedi who trained under Yoda and was always in conference with him. He eyes Anakin and tries to train him like Yoda "instructed" him but fails. Anakin, who is no chosen one, falls from grace and chooses the Emperor's side with his minions. This would not happen until Ep III though.

Once again, good call. You're taking the OT seriously again. In ROTJ it is made clear that Obi-Wan was the one who insisted on training Anakin. In the PT, Obi-Wan is the only one who keeps cautioning all the Jedi Masters about Anakin. *sigh* Also, the "chosen one" stuff is utter nonsense. Why in the world would Lucas clutter-up the PT with it? It's not like you can make a toy out of it.


All Ep I would be about is Obi-Wan discovering Anakin and initially training him in the force. They become good friends and fight the dark Jedi during the Clone Wars. Anakin would probably meet Padme but nothing too romatic would happen. The three of them would be the best of friends while the war goes on in the background.

Music to my ears. Sounds like a fun and exciting series of adventures. Too bad Lucas had other ideas.


This film would be a "space" movie in that most of it would be set in space or on space staions. There would be more dog-fighting than ANH and lots of zipping around the galaxy.

Interesting point. I hadn't thought about this before, but recently another poster mentioned that he wished that the PT had some stuff taking place on ships rather than on planets. It would

 

You know what? I think that Tatooine was portrayed the best in TPM. WAY better than in the other movies. It was almost magical for me. It looked way more alien than in the classic trilogy.

 

You know what? I had no expectations before seeing TPM other than that it would be an entertaining Star Wars film.












It was

I do enjoy reading people's rewrites, though. As a writer myself, I always appreciate seeing other people's take on similar material. However, I must be honest and say every rewrite I've read feels more like EU than a proper Star Wars film. That's not an insult. I just think when Lucas writes a Star Wars episode he takes the action, locations and plot developments to a higher level.
For example, after TPM I wrote some outlines of what I thought Episode II would be about, just for fun. But compared to my somewhat basic ideas, AOTC has so much going on with the story and characters its unreal. That's why I am but the learner while Lucas is the master
One question for Binary and the others: what would be the purpose of referring to a conflict as the "Clone Wars" if it never involved any clones? Why not the Sith Wars, or the Mandalore Wars? Just curious.

 

hawk, I demand you make a TPM rewrite! Can't have too much of those And it'll be darn interesting to see your ideas here fleshed out.

 

Why do I get the feeling that some people just want a complete rehash of the OT in the prequel trilogy ?

It's getting a little sad, you know...

 

Thanks Binary, Coop, TJ and Lurking_Around. I watched ANH or "Star Wars" the other day with my girlfriend. I think she was bored. Oh well. Anyway, I was very suprised by how the scene went with Luke and Obi-Wan in his home. Forget the line "he murdered and betrayed you father"! The biggest continuity error is the general "feeling" from his words.

He talks a lot about Luke's Uncle and how he didn't want Luke to go off on some darn fool adventure like he did with Obi-Wan. This is very telling. First, Owen didn't know Anakin when he went off with the Jedi. Second, he went off with Qui not Obi-Wan. The way the scene plays is that Owen and Anakin were brothers. Obi-Wan recognises Anakin's potential and excites him with the prospect of becomming a Jedi. Anakin takes off with Obi-Wan, is struck down by Vader and Owen vows not to let Luke out of his sight. We can change that to Owen sees Anakin become Darth Vader and refuses to let Luke go off down the same path. But after the PT, we have to make huge contorting of Obi-Wan's words in order for them to fit. It siply does not fit though. A simple scene has become the most cryptic of all.

Hence, in Ep I, I would introduce Owen too. Obi-Wan would be like Gandalf in that he takes the young Skywalker off on an adventure where they become good friends. And it wouldn't be like the OT but why does everyone accept the rehashes in the PT but gets so uptight with sticking to a winning formula that the OT had?

In regards to the Dark Jedi, they would not necessarily be the main villains as I stated. I saw them as twisted, ugly creatures worn away by the darkside. They were reckless and arrogant and fewer than the Jedi. The Clone Wars would be between humans and the bad side would be under the influence of Palpatine who instructs the Sith. The Sith become their allies and help wipe out the Jedi. "Clone" refers to many wars or something like that.

Another idea I played around with (everyone hates this) is the introduction of Vader's armour on the bad guys. It would be white and varies from the armour to match the Stormtroopers. I never understood why Vader would make such an elaborate costume with that face. What would be interesting, is to see Vader in the armour used in the Clone Wars, modified to fit his twisted body. That would futher emphasise him being a relic of the past. Of course, the Mandalore (spelling?) idea is cool too.

More later.

 

Oh and Coop, I also got that feeling watching CTHD.

 

Very good points, hawk, about Owen. This is yet another area in which Lucas took something clear and obvious and twisted it beyond recognition.

In the PT, Owen doesn't even meet Anakin (who is not his brother) until he's already, essentially, a Jedi. There is and can be no question in AOTC of Owen having this sort of attitude: "Oh, no. Anakin is going to follow Obi-Wan on some damn fool idealistic crusade. He can't do that! I don't care if he's a Jedi knight. I want him to stay here with me and work on the moisture farm!"

Sometimes I wonder if Lucas is trying to systematically destroy the OT.

 

Hawk, if Anakin lives on Tatooine with Padmé at the beginning of episode 3 and Obi-wan comes to ask him for help in the final battle of the clone wars, Obi-wan speech to Luke in ANH will make perfect sense !
I'm growing tired of people seeing continuity errors in a trilogy that isn't even complete yet. Give George Lucas a chance.

 

If it makes sense after EpIII then I will retract everything I have written. Ok?

 

Obi-Wan would be like Gandalf in that he takes the young Skywalker off on an adventure where they become good friends

Exactly! Especially since Kenobi's death mirrors Gandalf's in quite a number of ways.

Hawk, if Anakin lives on Tatooine with Padmé at the beginning of episode 3 and Obi-wan comes to ask him for help in the final battle of the clone wars, Obi-wan speech to Luke in ANH will make perfect sense !

Yes, I do hope Episode 3 will have this. It really needs this, or else I'd be left scratching my head.

Just MHO

 

Interesting OT-PT parallels.

In OT there's Han and Luke and Luke's mentor, Obi-Wan. Luke is discovered on Tatooine as basically a slave to his uncle. They go off to rescue a princess and Luke blows up the battle ship. Obi-Wan dies. Then Han rescues Luke and they fight a battle on Hoth, then they separate as Luke goes off to a planet to get philosophical with Yoda. Then Luke goes to rescue Han, and loses his hand. Leia shoots at a departing ship.

In PT there's Obi-Wan and Anakin and Anakin's mentor, Qui-Gon. Anakin is discovered on Tatooine as a slave to Watto. They go off to rescue a princess's planet and Anakin blows up the battle ship. Qui-Gon dies. Then Anakin rescues Obi-Wan (actually they sort of rescue each other) as they chase a potential assassin, then they separate as Anakin goes off to a planet to get philosophical (and more) with Padme. Then Anakin goes to rescue Obi-Wan, and loses his hand. Padme shoots at a departing ship.

I'm sure there are many other parallels, and there are differences also. But Lucas seems to be going for some symmetry, wanting to ultimately show the lifespan of Anakin, which I think is why he starts him younger, and even mentions his origins. If he'd started with Anakin in his 20s, then maybe we'd all be screaming for Episode 0 - The Birth of Anakin.

I'm waiting until Ep 3 to see how it all falls into place.

 

"Clone refers to many wars or something like that."

I'm sorry, but that makes no sense to me whatsoever.
Ever since I first saw Star Wars as a kid I always imagined the clone wars would have actual, you know, clones in it
If Lucas had changed that I'd be just as pissed off about it as you guys are about Qui-Gon discovering Anakin, or Anakin being a kid in Episode I.

Oryx, that's actually a pretty cool idea about Anakin and Padme living on Tatooine at the start of Episode III (I'm presuming Anakin will have been expelled for breaking his vows). The only problem with that is I believe Lucas has said he's already filmed one shot in Tunisia for Episode III, and no more shooting is required. That means Tatooine won't have a big role in Episode III.

 

Any_kin__Skywalker:

TrueJedi, You probably spent ages reworking the tatooine scenes,but I'm sorry . your version is aweful, and I would be embarassed to see it in a star wars film.

I don't know how you can say that considering that basically what I'm suggesting is EXACTLY the same film except a few scenes are reworked!! This must mean that you are so in love with whatever Lucas throws out that should even one single sentence be changed, all of a sudden you think it's aweful. Come on, man, wake up and smell the poodoo.


COME ON! Qui gon see anakin race just because watto is going there

Of course, Qui was looking for parts, he goes to Watto like before, but since Watto is leaving for the race and invites Qui and gang promising them the parts that Qui needs later, why wouldn't he go along? Qui believes that every step he makes is due to the Will of the Force so obviously he wouldn't object.


It really very imbalanced, and shows much less character development.

Wrongo. There is as much character development as before but all the duplicating and unnecessary stuff is removed. Just like GL himself said, the pod race segment was becoming a film of its own and had to be pared down. Sadly, the whole Tatooine segment was bloated and had to be pared down. I mean, for Pete's sake, the frigg'in thing goes on and on boring the begeezus out of everyone in the theater. Why do you want to see people in such pain?


I am actually fine with the tatooine scenes themselves, the thing that tainted them was Jake Lloyd's awful acting, I know he's only young , but look at Haley Joel Osment.

Of course you're fine with the Tatooine segment. You would be fine with anything GL throws up on the screen. If there was nothing but a blank screen for 30 minutes, as long as GL did it, you would think it's brilliant. Wake up!! It's not good. It's very, very bad and I'm begging you to stop the insanity!!

Now, you may beg my forgiveness.

 

Well the Tatooine scenes in TPM take the time to make us truly care about the Anakin/Shmi relationship. It doesn't appear so in your version.

The way Qui-gonn just trust blindly Anakin, argue with Watto and listen to Shmi allow us to understand what kind of man he really is.
The way he believes in the living Force, the compassion he has, his moraly ambiguous actions...

And the time spent with Anakin before the race shows us his dreams of little boy, his good heart and all. That's why the podrace is interesting. We've got to know this caracter and to have faith in him, just like Qui-gonn, however crazy it seems !

 

Oryx-I:

Well the Tatooine scenes in TPM take the time to make us truly care about the Anakin/Shmi relationship. It doesn't appear so in your version.

Of course they do since much of that is still there. Like I said, it's only re-edited with the pod race build up garbage removed. It's boring stuff. Nobody wants it in the film. It's not interesting. It had to be removed.


The way Qui-gonn just trust blindly Anakin, argue with Watto and listen to Shmi allow us to understand what kind of man he really is.

Well, we still get alot of that in my version. But how much of that stuff do you really need to make the point?


The way he believes in the living Force, the compassion he has, his moraly ambiguous actions...

Pretty much all still there.


And the time spent with Anakin before the race shows us his dreams of little boy, his good heart and all. That's why the podrace is interesting. We've got to know this caracter and to have faith in him, just like Qui-gonn, however crazy it seems !

But it's boring. I mean, come on, how much of this nonsense do you want to subject yourself to? This was the first time in a SW film where I was truly bored. It had to be edited out. Even GL thought the pod race stuff went on too long so he edited alot out. The problem is that he didn't edit out enough.

 

Well it might seem boring to you but it is one of my favorite parts of the movie !
And I want lots of Qui-Gonn stuff, just like people wanted lots of Han stuff in the OT. It's a fascinating character and every single scene he has with Watto is just candy to me. There is a deep humanity in this part of the movie that you don't find anywhere-else. For me, it would be a shame to tone it down. It would be tearing apart the heart of this story.
Don't you get chills when Anakin starts his pod for the first time, when Qui-Gonn suddenly realizes that Shmi is watching him as he talks to Obi-wan and you can hear the "sith whisper", when Qui-Gonn just says to Watto "I'll take that bet" and Watto just stares in disbelief ?...
Those are classic moments to me !

 

DarthHomer, I always envisioned the Clone Wars as involving a star system named Clone. What I think hawk is getting at is that the Clone Wars would be a series of wars that closely resembled each other and were thus "clones" of each other. Either one makes perfect sense to me.

Of course, all this is subjective. The term "Clone Wars" didn't make it into Star Wars until the third draft of the screenplay, where there's a single reference to them. Luke, when he first meets Ben, says, "I know your diary of the Clone Wars by heart." There was never a backstory to the Clone Wars. It was just something that sounded neat and gave the movie the illusion of historical depth, so Lucas put it in.

In fact, that's why I sometimes think that perhaps Lucas should never have made prequels. Oftentimes, going someplace destroys the magic. I much prefer my own nebulous imaginings of the Clone Wars over Lucas's vision. Of course, that's subjective too. The PT holds no magic for me, but obviously many fans like it.

I guess we can all agree, though, on hoping for the best for E3!

 

But Binary_Sunset, even with the Clone Wars turning out to be different in your vision, did you not at all like the first battle of the Clone War? Did you not enjoy it at all?








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