PT 3 changes you'd make to each prequel, to make the PT nearly universally-loved?

I wouldn't like a forced overly friendly shtick either. But more natural warmth between the two than what we got would have been nice. Obi-Wan doesn't seem arrogant to me, it just seems like he's not able to show natural warmth or empathy towards Anakin and his attempts at doing so come across as rehearsed stock advice ("Dreams pass in time"); it doesn't let me believe that they really like each other. Perhaps having it be this way is good because it shows growth to how their relationship is in ROTS. But more friendliness in moments where it was appropriate would have worked well. Like when Anakin is about to leave with Padme, Obi-Wan still can't help lecturing him about not doing anything "without either consulting myself or the council" and the most he can say for a goodbye is "may the Force be with you". Anakin being a little snarky in response to hide his nervousness about the mission would have worked and the two could have had some banter whilst conveying real warmth underneath the smiles and grins. It wouldn't have detracted from their prior or future arguing, wouldn't have been overly schticky and would have conveyed so much with such little effort.

 

Indeed. Obi wan is unable to show any natural warmth or empathy and his words are absolutely rehearsed stock advice. I think that is sort of the point. That is because Obiwan doesnt know how to empathize with him because he doesnt have the same background as Anakin. So I think it kind of makes sense to his character and their relationship.

 

Episode I changes:
1. Anakin is a 14 or 15 year old and not 8
2.Qui Gon does not exist and Obi Wan takes his place in the movie
3. The midichlorians do not exist either the Jedi are not X-men and they are still mystical wizards as in the Original Trilogy and Anakin is not a Space Jesus

Episode II changes:
1. The Clone Wars begin but there is no "Clone" army the Clones are the villains in the movie
2.Anakin meets Padme in the movie and not in Episode I
3.Palpatine gets more power

Episode III changes:
1.Anakin is already a respected Jedi Master
2.Anakin turn to the Dark Side for more complex reasons and not only because his "wife is going to die"
3.Padme flees with Leia after Vader has betrayed the Republic
She care Leia for several years until she is killed by imperial soldiers and that is why Leia remembers her mother as she told Luke in episode 6

 

Episode I changes:
1. Make Anakin older, a fully former teenager
2. Make it actual slavery, have Watto as far crueler, make Anakin and his mother work side by side in a mine or factory where you can see the abuse and bare existence
3. Make the scene where Anakin blows up the Droid control ship more of a force moment, also show him losing his temper and not being cute which goes to 1 and 2

Episode II changes:
1. Write proper dialogue between Anakin and Padme, dump the sand is course stuff
2. Really put Obi-Wan and Padme in jeopardy in the arena, see Anakin give into his rage and pretty much show his power, have him crushing Dooku until Obi-Wan or Yoda talks him down
3. Introduce Grievous in this movie during the battle, have him kill some jedi

Episode III changes:
1. Put Padme in real jeopardy that forces Anakin to chose the Jedi or choose his own path, show his fall as slow and painful and deliberate. Show more and more that he realizes that he needs more power and he knows that he can't be a Jedi
2. Take the dialogue from the novelization where Palpatine reveals all and put it in this movie
3. Find a better cause of death then losing the will to live, if you can't put it on a death certificate its not a real reason

 

Above all else:

No Rule of Two and no Grevious. Instead, Dooku is Sheev's Apprentice throughout the entire trilogy and Maul has the role that Ventress has in the first two seasons of TCW. In ROTS, Maul and Dooku try to gang up on and kill Sheev, so Sheev decides to make Vader his only Apprentice, but he doesn't tell Vader this (hence the dialogue in ESB).

 

These are pretty good and many of us have the same ones on our lists. I liked QuiGon though and almost wish he played a larger role even if it messed up some of the OT continuity. Heres a few from me:

EP1:
- Darth Maul lived and replaced Dooku, lasting until Revenge of the Sith.

EP2:
- Total rewrite of the love scene dialog and situations. It was just bad.
- Seeing more friendship developing between Ani and Obi. We have to be told they are friends because for most of the prequels they appear to be quite irritated with each other. Hardly a good friendship! This takes away from the end saber fight in ROTS since instead of feeling bad they are fighting it feels more like they cant WAIT to slash each other up.

EP3:
- Not much here, its damned good and my 3rd favorite SW film overall. Just some tweaks to the dialog between Padme and Ani along with some of nthe other already highlighted changes mentioned by others.

Thats really it.

 

There are a lot of good, thoughtful ones in here. I’ll just randomly select the first three that come to my mind for myself, and my first is pretty shallow . This is not about making the PT universally loved though. I don’t know what would do that. I’m speaking only for myself.

1. No robes for the Jedi like Obi’s in ANH. I didn’t like how Jedi attire basically retconned ANH Obi as wearing the Jedi uniform as opposed to wearing desert clothes. Also, I think the robes are visually boring. It’s fine for one or two, but as a uniform? I’d rather more personality among the Jedi, like Ahsoka. I’m not sure why she got to not wear the robes, but I always appreciated it.

2. Someone besides GL writing the dialogue. I am totally on board with his story concepts, but the dialogue really could have been a lot better. Just that one change I think would have made a world of difference in the reception of these movies.

3. No begging Padme in RotS. This is my biggest issue with the prequels. I get that GL was trying to show that there was something wrong/unhealthy about their attachment to each other, but I don’t at all see why Padme had to be made pathetic. She’s not force sensitive. She isn’t at risk of falling to the dark side. She was a strong woman in love. That’s not a bad thing and being in love doesn’t turn women pathetic. Also, besides the OOC destruction, it is always women specifically that are written that way. It’s so sexist, this idea that she literally lost the will to live while delivering twins after begging her mass baby killing husband to run away with her. It absolutely ruins RotS for me in a completely ugly way.

 

TPM

1. Have Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon swap roles (master and apprentice)
2. Gunguns speak in subtitle.
3. Jar Jar doesn’t step in poop and by doing so he silences the pod race announcer for the entire race.

AOTC

1. Yoda never touches a lightsaber (he could levitate one using the Force.)
2. No Fetts
3. No wasting time with going to Naboo. Have most of that stuff happen on Coruscant.

ROTS

1. Palpatine never touches a lightsaber.
2. Padme is seemingly killed as collateral damage in battle by order of the Jedi. This helps push Anakin to the Dark Side. Padme survives the film in secrecy; birthing the twins on Dagobah.
3. The last shot of the movie is switched to the one of Vader and Palpatine overseeing the Death Star construction.

 

That wasn't a retcon. Ben was always supposed to be wearing an outfit like a samurai. That's why his outfit features a long, floor-length kimono and a cloak with billowing sleeves, as opposed to Owen who sports a ratty waist-length shirt and a robe with quite thin sleeves. Ben's outfit was likely inspired by the one Toshiro Mifune wore in Seven Samurai:




Ben's outfit vs. Owen's oufit--both Japanese inspired, but Ben's is clearly distinct in cut and style:



Furthermore, Yoda's outfit was based on Ben Kenobi's outfit in A New Hope. Costume designer John Mollo from The Making of Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back:

“Ben Kenobi’s outfit now seems to have turned into this costume of the Jedi Knights, really,” says Mollo. “Yoda wears a variant of the same thing.”

Luke's Jedi outfit in Return of the Jedi was simply meant to be a more functional, combat oriented version of Ben's outfit from A New Hope. Concept designer Nilo Rodis-Jamero from The Annotated Screenplays:

"I remember George telling me that in samurai movies costumes say a lot about the characters; the way the costume is folded, the way it's tucked in is very important. So I thought, Luke has become a Jedi; he's more distant, more serious. I thought, What do gunslingers wear when they mean business? They wear black. If you look at Luke's costume, it's all derivative of Japanese designs... Ben also wore some kind of Japanese kimono. So I tailored the costume in a way that would allow Luke to fight in the action sequences."

Accordingly, the Jedi outfits in the prequels are very similar to Luke's outfit in Return of the Jedi, save for the coloring:




The Jedi wear Japanese samurai-inspired garb. They always have. It isn't a retcon or a sign of laziness on the part of the creators. It fits the characters, and it just makes sense. I wish this canard would die already.

 

Well, I definitely didn't use the word "lazy." I didn't think it was a lazy choice on GL's part. I always understood or felt that he was taking inspiration from far eastern monks. But watching ANH and the OT, I never saw Obi's attire that way. It looked and still looks like desert clothing to me, appropriate for the setting. That's backed up by Luke's badass appearance in RotJ. I loved how he looked when he went Jedi. It never led me to believe that ANH Obi's clothing was the official attire of Jedi.

Your distinction between Obi and Ben and Luke's Tatooine garb just falls flat to me. It's splitting hairs imo. In a visual medium, if I was supposed to discern Obi as dressing differently from the locals in ANH, it needed to be more obvious.

And it's not a canard. It's an opinion. It's how I feel watching the films. Opinions you don't like aren't going to die out. This education you've given me hasn't changed my opinion on it one iota. I prefer Ahsoka's look and RotJ Luke's look to those robes.

 

Just because you didn't notice the distinction doesn't mean it doesn't clearly exist. Luke's "badass" ROTJ Jedi outfit looks way more similar to his ANH outfit than Ben's ANH outfit looks to Owen's, so I'm not sure what metric you're even judging everything by.




Change the top one to black and it's almost the same.

Luke's ROTJ outfit is just a shortened version of the one Ben wore In ANH. And so are the prequel Jedi outfits. That's what Jedi wear. What exactly do you want?

 

My comment wasn't that serious about what was intended. I didn't notice a difference, and that's what matters to my movie-going experience. The metric by which I'm judging is what I think looks good on film, what I enjoy watching. In all honesty, I mainly loved Luke in black. This might shock you, but I prefer his look in the throne room to the one on Tatooine at the beginning of RotJ, without the vest thing and where his belt is showing.

As I said in my first post on this subject, which you quoted to argue semantics over the phrase "basically retconned," I think the robes aren't visually interesting and I prefer more personality in appearance among the Jedi. I don't even like the idea of a Jedi uniform. If there must be a uniform, I'd rather it be something that looks good. I get the monk influence, but I'm not here for a history lesson on why Earthly monks wear robes to shed attachments to stuff, or whatever. I like watching cool looking Jedi because I'm shallow (which, btw, I prefaced that bullet point with). I like Ahsoka's look. I like RotJ Luke's look. I don't enjoy those robes. They're ugly and boring. Although interestingly, I do think the real samurai look cool in their shots.

BTW, about your argument over the word "retcon," you posted a quote which backs up my point. So yeah. It became, it was turned into, the Jedi uniform. From day one Ben's desert robes may have been influenced by Samurai stuff, but they were still just Ben's clothes. They became the Jedi uniform.

 

Episode 1
1. Anakin is 19 years old, and Obi-Wan is around 35 years old. They meet on Tattooine, and ObI-Wan catches him using the Force to move things around in the Lars Homestead garage. He sees his potential and persuades him to leave Tattooine and go with him, as his apprentice.
2. "Amidala" is the daughter of the ruler of Alderaan, sent with her guard Captain Antilles to Anoat, a jungle planet and location of the Jedi Temple to seek Obi-Wan's help. The temple is surrounded by a moat of hot lava type substance. "Amidala's" brother Bail is a dashing Han Solo / Poe Dameron type character.
3. Alderaan is occupied by a force of Mandalorians led by Darth Maul, who are looking for the "MacGuffin" which will help them find a lost cloning facility. The movie ends with the cloning facility found, but destroyed during a ground battle. "Boba Fett" a mandalorian warrior makes contact with Palpatine via hologram to tell him he managed to retrieve the plans before it was destroyed.

(Time jump 3-4 years)

Episode 2
1. The Clone War is in full swing. Palpatine has built new facilities and has created a huge army. Obi-Wan and Anakin go to war against cloned Mandalorian warriors led by a new Sith Lord(?)
2. Anakin's romance with "Amidala" blossoms, but she cannot decide between him and Obi-Wan. Obi-Wan backs off for the sake of his friend. (Love triangle as part-catalyst for their eventual animosity toward each other) Anakin's impatience and arrogance are a worry to Obi-Wan.
3. Movie ends on a cliffhanger when Anakin heads off to fight the new Sith Lord. Palpatine reveals his true nature to Anakin and lures him to the Dark Side enabling him to defeat the Sith Lord and take his place. Anakin leaves the scene of the battle with Palpatine. Obi-Wan finds Anakin's robe and lightsaber, and eventually takes them back to "Amidala" who gives birth to Anakin's children, believing him dead. Being at war means Anakin did not know "Amidala" was pregnant before he turns.

(Time jump 3 years)

Episode 3
1. A new, masked Sith Lord is leading up the Mandalorian clones, now bedecked out as Stormtroopers. The last few Jedi make a stand across the galaxy but fall under the might of the new "Empire"
2. "Amidala" and her young children are in hiding at the Jedi Temple on Anoat, but eventually the Empire arrives to destroy it (Hence Leia's "Anoat, there's not much there") There is a frantic escape with "Amidala", Yoda and the twins on a starship. The starship is crippled by Imperial TIES and "Amidala" is critically injured. As they are making their way into escape pods, she fastens Leia in one and whilst in the pod reaches back for Luke, but Yoda shuts the pod from outside in the corridor and jettisons her. She screams for Luke frantically, but Yoda puts him in another pod with him and they eject in the other direction, ultimately landing on Dagobah. Yoda sets a beacon for Obi-Wan to find them. There are touching scenes where a dying "Amidala" holds and talks to young Leia in her escape pod (hence Leia's "beautiful but sad" memories), before it is eventually picked up by her brother Bail's ship. As they open the pod, "Amidala" is already dead, and Bail picks up Leia.
3. On Anoat, Obi-Wan is confronted by Palpatine, who introduces him to his new apprentice. The Sith Lord leading the Jedi purge removes his helmet and is revealed to be Anakin, now "Darth Vader". The fight at the Jedi Temple ends with Anakin falling from the drawbridge into the lava moat, and sustaining his terrible injuries. Obi-Wan escapes and heads to Dagobah to collect Luke (hence Luke's "There's something familar about this place") Movie ends with Leia playing on Alderaan, Vader fitting his familiar armour, robes and helmet (himself, not as a weakened entity, but fearsome, strong) and Obi-Wan and Luke arriving on Tattooine.

 

Leave them as they are. Period. They are internationally loved but they cannot be loved by everyone. Surprise but there are enough people who dislike SW (yes, even OT) saying that they ar just westerns in space with outstanding effects and simple story. So there is no such thing that movie loved by everyone. I consider many of the "most frequent" suggestions as big mistakes that would ruin the movie. As for example, making Anakin significantly older in TPM.

 

'Nearly universally loved' is a big ask. I like the prequels well enough, but for the sake of answering the question...

TPM
1. Get rid of all the prophecy stuff.
2. Get rid of midichlorians.
3. Keep Darth Maul on.

AOTC
1. Keep Darth Maul on.
2. Lose all the Syfo Dias stuff.
3. Don't have Boba Fett incorporated in the story.

ROTS
1. No Grievous. (Keep Darth Maul on.)
2. Padme has a better death.
3. Lose the lava surfing thing.

 

TPM
Either lose Jar Jar or make him less irritating with less comedy
Make Anakin a teenager with Hayden playing him
Don't kill Maul off

AOTC
Incorporate Maul into the story, maybe in place of Fett or Dooku
Lose all the lame comedy with C3PO
Romance scenes to be written and acted better

ROTS
Replace Grevious with Maul
Better death for Padme
Improve dialogue between Anakin and Padme

 

Episode I
-Throw in a Death Star
-Empire vs Rebels but this time the Empire uses Clones and the Clones are...PLOT TWIST...the bad guys!!!
-Anakin is Han Solo and cracks jokes.
-No politics. Palpatine becomes emperor off-screen.
-Lots of Darth Maul.

Episode II
-Throw in another superweapon
-The Empire is still bad. The Rebels are good. Clones are bad.
-This time Boba Fett kills an army of Jedi
-Anakin still cracks jokes and is very nice.
-Anakin becomes evil and kills all Jedi and goes in the suit to kill more Jedi.
-Clone Wars end and The Empire recruits humans.

Episode III
-Empire vs Rebels with REGULAR PEOPLE
-Darth Vader kills a lot of people

*throw in Mandalorians for some optional taste*
*bake for 33 seconds*
*Basic prequel rewrite cooked to perfection*

 

Episode I: real rocks on set

Episode II: Millennium Falcon chase scene where the ship has to squeeze through a tight space

Episode III: the Death Star wears a cool jacket

 

Hahahahahaha, Deliveranze delivers again! the essence of the anti_PT complaining!!!!

@ezekiel22x , this is brilliant!!!

 

Here goes:

TPM
1) Darth Maul is chopped into a million tiny pieces and then put through a blender, so the audience can be in no doubt that he is definitely 100% dead!
2) Remove the force dash if it is never to be used again.
3) Tone down Fode and Beed.

AOTC
1) More Dooku
2) Remove R2's flying rockets
3) Annakin's free-fall, bit OTT, even by Jedi standards.

ROTS
1) "I have the high ground" makes little or no sense.
2) Jedi's put up more of a fight in Palp's office.
3) I love Chewie but was it really necessary to have him in. Simply fan service!

 

@Ghost darn you! "Universally loved" You always place such high bars for things! How in the world can we make the prequels universally loved with just three changes? Okay, I will try anyway.

Episode I changes:
1. More Maul(just three or four more scenes...most of which are actually in the rough drafts GL wrote of even the subsequent drafts)
2. Less Jar Jar slapstick and instead he goes from being an outcast for dishonor to showing bravery at Naboo battle and regains his honor.
3. No midichlorians but just "strong in the Force"

Episode II changes:
1. no cow tick riding by Anakin
2. no 3PO in droid factory slapstick
3. More Dooku

Episode III changes:
1. No Padme pleading with Anakin on Mustafar
2. No terrible banter between Anakin and Padme on balcony about love is blind, etc
3. No Federation droid slapstick

 

My problem is why a Jedi would wear his robes when he's supposed to be incognito, due to the fate of the galaxy being at stake? Plus, I never understood the point of ill-suited, flowing robes when swinging a lightsaber around... just asking for trouble in my opinion. But then again, in my mind Jedi don't jump and flip about like crazed, death-hungry rage monkeys!?

 

TPM...
Anakin should be a teenager, with the usual angst. Loves his mother, but snaps at her from time to time.
Qui-Gon is dumfounded by Anakins abilities. Senses the force like never before... NO MIDICHLORIANS!!!
Darth Maul Kills Qui-Gon. Over powers Obi-Wan. Taunts him while escaping...

AOTC...
Anakin discovers Palpatine can use the force, but is conflicted whether or not to cover for his friend/mentor, or stay true to the Jedi.
Palpatine, with forsite, has created the Clones and 'attacks' the seperatists, beginning the war.
The seperatists retreat, seizing an opportunity they kidnap Padme, forcing a desperate Anakin to align with Palpatine in a bid rescue her.

ROTS...
Anakin rescues Padme and is now indepted to Palpatine, who has already begun to manipulate his view of the Jedi.
Obi-Wan cofronts Darth Maul and is saved by Anakin. He feels ashamed that his apprentice witnessed his need for revenge.
Palpatine and Vader look out in to space, the empire music swells... Vader gives his new master the slightest glare of resentment...

Sorry, but that's just bullet points trying to rewrite the narrative. There were to many to choose from so I just done whatever popped in

 

I think it's brave of Padme to follow Anakin to Mustafar, especially with the knowledge that something within him may have cracked. It's the fact that they love each other enough to go beyond, trying to redeem their relationship.
Completely agree when it comes to a GL script, because that's just an absolute treat. Him trying to emote stuff throughout the prequel trilogy is a strange thing to behold... "I wish I could just wish away my feelings"... terrible.
I never hate on GL like some morons, he definitively had a vision. I love the whole self-fulfilling prophecy aspect... The more Anakin tries to save Padme, the more he condemns her, delving deeper in to Palpatine's hands. I suppose it's vice versa... by rushing to his side, she ultimately brought about their doom, too.
I fully praise GL for going big and using Anakin's demise as the analogy for Padme's death, the birth of their children, along with his ultimate rebirth as the baddest mo'fo in history. Not exactly how I would've done it, but...
I can't see the creator of Princess Leia being deliberately sexist, though, but I have to agree losing the will to live is a terribly executed concept.

 

Why would a Jedi hiding from the Empire change his first name but not his last?

In my mind....who cares?