If you could make any changes to the "Special 3D Edition" of TPM, what would you do?

I'm thinking just listing one thing per post and an explanation.

I think we can already all agree
#1. Take out/change/make a less annoying Jar Jar Binks.

So I'd change:
#2. Anakin is replaced with an older actor and is already a good pilot, and shows these skills in the battle for Naboo.

Instead of dumb pure luck, and comments like, "Let's try spinning, that's a good trick!" he destroys the Seperatist ships with skill and cunning piloting ability. He rallies the troops and leads a stratagized attack on the Seperatist ship. Instead of a seemingly whimsical ability to pod race, Anakin is 15-18 and is skilled as all get out and his force premonitions only enhance his abilities. I know it doesn't make him as "Special" since he's not just a little kid only relying on the force, but I think it makes him a character you can connect with and believe more (also you could more believably insert beginnings of a relationship with Padme.)

 

Have Jar Jar's dialogue redubbed with the voice of Michael Caine or Peter O'Toole. Edit out the midichlorians.

 

Rats Tyrell re-inserted into the podrace ceremony. He was awesome. *growl*

 

In 2002 I made a fan edit on VHS of the TPM DVD, with some judicious cutting and the re-insertion of some of the deleted scenes. If an alternate reality in which LFL hired me to re-edit the film, I'd simply do a more professional job with what I've already done.

Some of the highlights are as follows:

* Cut from the TF Meeting Room before Q-G and OB1 ignite their sabers. This way it's a mystery and a surprise when the door slides up, the white gas fills the hallway and the lightsabers seem to ignite in mid-air.

* Cut around Jar Jar so that his screen presence is minimal. I actually find him very funny in small doses. You can lose at least half of his extraneous lines and (IMO) grating outbursts and still maintain the essence of the character and his necessity in the plot. For example, you can excise his whole "Whena yousa thinkin wesa in trubbal" screech-fest and just cut straight to "Power's back"/"Oh! Monstah's back!", which is actually a pretty funny line.

* Re-insert the waterfall scene at Theed, in which the bongo plummets to its destruction after Q-G saves the day with a little Jedi gadgetry. 'Cause it's fun and Star Warsy!

* Just a little nip and tuck here and there in the Theed courtyard fight scene makes the sequence a bit more brisk and exciting. (My favorite musical cue remains, though, as Q-G and OB1 are sneaking along the balcony arcade!)

* Similarly, tighten the flow in the "Let's meet R2-D2" scene, which drags.

* Delete the scene where Jar Jar meets Padme as she's cleaning R2. It's poorly acted and just plain dumb and unnecessary.

* On Tatooine, as the company is walking into Mos Espa, cut right before JJ steps in crap. Because, that's why.

* In Watto's junk shop, cut out most of JJ's antics but leave the bit where he juggles the oil cans and crashes off-camera. It's also funny when he walks out of the shop and turns the wrong way, then spins and his ears flap him in the face. Also, some nipping and tucking of the dialogue between Ani and Padme makes their exchange flow better.

I'll leave it there, as this is getting tedious. But I will mention that the re-insertion of the Probe Droid encounter is vital, IMO, to the flow of the action in that sequence. Also, later on Naboo, removing the plot device of the automatic pilot, and showing Anakin as being in total control of the yellow fighter, goes a long way toward making this sequence more viscerally engaging. Take out his "Try spinning -- that's a neat trick!" line and just have the kid spin of his own recognizance. Sheesh.

Also, during the ground battle vs. the Gungans, it's possible to cut around JJ's wacky antics so that the battle doesn't come across like a Bugs Bunny cartoon. It's really an exciting sequence once the ridiculous comedy has been toned down.

 

The biggest change I would make is replacing the puppet Yoda with a CGI Yoda to match what he looked like from Episodes II and III. I mean, man, that puppet looks horrendous and looks nothing like the puppet from Episodes V and VI.

 

1. Some of the slapstick Jar Jar crap removed.

2. Jar Jar redubed.

3. The scene which explains why Qui-Gon Jinn and Anakin are running through the desert reinstated.

4. CGI Yoda replacement.

 

Oh! I would scrap the entire movie and start from scratch!

Wait, no I wouldn't. Instead, I would make the following changes:

1. Scatological humor excised.
2. Hideous yoda fixed with CGI.
3. Reinsert podracer starting grid (yes I know it's too long and unnecessary, but it's awesome). Maybe leave out Tyrell's family unless the CGI can be fixed to make them less cartoony.

 

The full extended-length version of the pod race!

 

Pretty sure that will happen, for both the Blu-Ray & 3-D releases - the new shot in Empire Of Dreams indicated as much. I didn't have a problem with the puppet in terms of continuity with the OT, but it doesn't match AOTC or ROTS Yoda.

As for other changes, where do you start? About the only realistic change I'd really want that could be expected would be the inclusion of the scene where Anakin & Qui-Gon are leaving Mos Espa & Qui-Gon nails one of Darth Maul's probe droids - explaining why they're suddenly running in terror towards the ship. No idea why it was cut out in the first place. You wouldn't have to include Anakin's farewell to the old woman.

Oh, & replace Jar-Jar's entire role with Watto, then replace Watto's former role with a cruel Rodian or Twilek slavemaster.
And no midichlorians. Or virgin birth. And get rid of that silly James Bond style ascent up the wall of the Naboo palace. Turf that rotten scene with Anakin's rotten little brat 'friends' altogether. Fix Ewan McGregor's haircut continuity. No "Yippee!"s from the future Darth Vader.

And and and and and...

Bugger it, start over. PT remake with 3-D in mind, & this time, GL doesn't get to build a green house despite everyone wanting a white house - WE MADE YOU RICH, WE GET A WHITE HOUSE THIS TIME!!!

 

The CGI water monsters REALLY need work.

They looked bad, even in 99...

 

My standard answer to "how to improve TPM" generally includes:
- removing the Jar Jar Eopie-fart and crap-stepping scenes
- adding the probe droid deleted scene
- removing the puppet of Yoda (more like his distant cousin) and replacing it with the CGI Yoda we saw in AOTC and ROTS

Merlin's answer below is really thorough, and would make for great improvments in the film...

 

I say SCRAP THE WHOLE THING!!!!
Get Christopher Nolan to direct!
Get David Mamet to write the script!
BRING BACK GARY KURTZ!
Less CGI, more stop motion!
Darth Maul needs to senselessly murder at least seventeen people every time he's on screen!
Replace Jar Jar with either Carrot Top, Dennis Miller or Pauly Shore!
Recast Anakin with Haley Joel Osment, or or that kid from "Arthur and the Invisibles", or the girl who played Newt in "Aliens", or...

Oh wait, you mean realistic changes?

Only a few things come to mind:
CGI Yoda ,which seems all but inevitable at this point, so no worries.
Put the Pod Race back to the way it was (DVD Pod Race= Too frickin' long!)
Maybe add a few shots to the space battle.
Extended Eopie fart, because the ensuing nerd rage would amuse me.

That is all.

 

Gotta disagree here. I'm not sure what your criteria are for realistic animation, but I've always thought the water monsters look awesome. I thought so in '99, and I think so now.

The fact that you're the guy who wants to insert Jar Jar into the Cantina scene is leading me to not necessarily taking your posts all that seriously.

 

Well i am serious, i assure you. I challenge you to find anyone that agrees with you that the sea monsters in TPM look real and convincing and not like cartoons from a pixar movie.

 

Jar Jar looks like a cartoon character. The space slug looks like a hand puppet. The Taun Tauns look like stop motion armatures and/or mechanical props. The Wampa looks like a guy in a suit and/or a hand puppet. Dex from AOTC looks like a CGI creation. Etc., etc., etc.

So...?

 

All those creatures have a more believeable quality about them. More so that the sea monsters. And you know it.

 

Haha, you've got to love unnecessary taunting.

The sea monsters were fine for me, too.

 

Yeah, the sea creatures were fine. Nothing amazing I suppose, but they were at par back then and hold decently. Sadly, the same can't be said for pretty much most of the land battle at the end. Now that looks like a Pixar cartoon.

 

My changes aren't small edits that could realistically happen, but oh well:

1. Ditch the 3D
2. Add a one-hour "film within a film" that chronicles Coruscant before the beginning of Palpatine's machinations
3. More Ric Olie!

 

Easy fellas. No need to imply people are lying or being disingenuous because they like the core monsters.

zombie is much more accurate with the Naboo battle.

That should have been so much more. Funny enough, it originally was. It was going to have live action Naboo troopers for one, fighting alongside the Goongans.

One of the very few fx sequences from Dennis Muren that failed to impress me much. He's stated he looked at it as a challenge to tackle these entirely synthetic sequences and he chose them because of that(he also did the Otah Gunga and planet core sequence). I can respect that. But man, that end battle just didn't work for me, even back when I first saw it.

 

- Put in a CG Yoda in the place of the puppet.

- Add the Waterfall scene

 

In your personal subjective opinion, which at least three members here (so far) disagree with.

In what universe do people argue the exact opposite of what they know? That is a childish attempt at derogation, and I will no longer be discussing anything with you.

 

Hmm okay let's see. What follows are changes that would make the film better ImO for either the 3D release or the Blu-ray release.

1 - The first thing that pops into my mind is fixing the awful jump cut at the very beginning involving Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon darting away. That one jump cut is more jarring than any little glitches from the OT, lol.

2 - Naturally add in CG Yoda...I cannot wait for this addition in any version of the film.

3 - I'd go back to the shorter theatrical version of the pod race. Sometimes less is more.

4 - Overall trimming of silliness/stale dialogue. While I wouldn't go as far as to remove ALL of Jar Jar's antics (that's just who his character is) a few bits here and there could be cut and I wouldn't miss it. Same thing with the "yipees". Actually some smart trims here and there of excess dialogue from many characters would help a great deal. Also I'd cut Qui-Gon's cold line toward Shmi about not being there to save slaves. It's rude and unnecessary to state and only makes him come off like a (insert expletive here). Ideally I'd love to remove the midichlorine crap from TPM and ROTS but I'm not sure that's possible.

5 - I'd also cut Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan & Jar Jar's 2nd run in with the giant fish in the underwater sequence. I'd have to watch the film again but near as I can remember that whole scene is redundant and can probably go without any vital info being lost. The pacing could use this cut. Which is also why I'd definitely leave out that waterfall sequence...that would look awesome in 3D but it's yet another needless scene.

6 - The film would play better and strengthen Anakin's character if everything he does in the conclusion isn't played off as dumb luck.

7 - I'd also love a quick shot of Count Dooku added in at Qui-Gon's funeral service.

 

I assumed the purpose of this thread was to see what changes TPM would benefit from by means of 3D. This thread is nothing more than a gripe-fest about what people liked/disliked about TPM.

 

Well technically the thread title is "If you could make any changes to the "Special 3D Edition" of TPM, what would you do?" Thus people have posted some short and long lists. The gripes about TPM just come naturally when discussing things people might like to see changed or fixed.

As far as what aspects of the film can benefit from 3D...the underwater sequence and the pod race really come to mind. I think just converting them alone minus any major tweaks will probably yield some interesting results. Also, the final ground battle on Naboo can potentially look great as well. However as is that battle is VERY cartoony. Some modern CG enhancements there could work wonders. Overall I'd like to see that battle more grittier. Jar-Jar's antics in those scenes should definitely be trimmed down as well.

Furthermore to ground the movie a bit more it would be great to see some scenes of the damage on Naboo and the harsh experiences of the people - as opposed to characters just saying how bad things are happening off-screen.