PT Rewriting the Prequels...

His brother Owen lives there, and there's mention of him not wanting Luke's father to go on a 'crusade' with Obi-Wan.

 

Ok I forgot they say that in ANH.

In that case it supports my change to Obi Wan not hiding Luke on Tatooine. Either Anakin shouldn't be from there or Luke shouldn't be hidden there. It makes no sense to hide Luke on Anakin's home world with Anakin's step brother and also keep the name Skywalker!

The problem of course is that in all likelihood when SW 77 came out it was assumed to be a standalone film and Anakin was not Darth so it didn't matter! Lucas created a plot hole for himself!

 

Heath Ledger is cast as Anakin, for all three films. Have him speak with an accent closer to Jones'/Shaw's.

 

I’ve decided to embark upon an interesting challenge. I’m rewriting the films, whilst simultaneously not changing the story. My primary goal is to do what people like Marcia Lucas and Lawrence Kasdan did for the original trilogy, which is taking George Lucas’s bad ideas and making them work and his promising ideas and making them great. For instance, Marcia was responsible for cutting down the multiple trench runs because it was too long, but no one was in a similar position to convince Lucas that the podrace was too long. So here goes nothing.

STAR WARS

Episode I

THE PHANTOM MENACE

The Galactic Republic is on the brink of civil war. Several star systems, led by the charismatic former Jedi Count Dooku, are threatening to secede.

Chancellor Valorum is negotiating with the Secessionists, attempting to keep them within the Republic, but has been unsuccessful so far.

Senator Padmé Amidala, heir apparent to the throne of Naboo, is currently traveling to Coruscant to vote against the Military Creation Act, despite reports of an imminent assassination plot…

END CRAWL

Padmé’s ship lands, only for an explosive to go off at the landing area. She survives, due to her use of a decoy, but several of her advisors and compatriots are killed. After a brief period of mourning, she heads to the Chancellor’s office to discuss the situation.

In the office she hears a loud argument going on between Chancellor Valorum and Senator Palpatine, who is the senior Senator from her home planet of Naboo. Also in the office are the two leading Masters of the Jedi Council, Yoda and Mace Windu. Valorum insists on proceeding with the negotiations. Palpatine, who has long been the leader of the pro-war faction, argues that the attempted assassination of Padmé is an act of war, and that they must retaliate immediately. Valorum points out that the Republic has no standing army. Yoda points out that the number of Jedi dwindles each year, and that, at this point, there aren’t enough Jedi to protect the Republic in the event of full scale war. Valorum asks Yoda if he believes it will come to open war. Yoda cannot answer.

When Padmé enters the office, Valorum and Palpatine briefly stop arguing. They express their gratitude at seeing her alive. Padmé points out that several of her closest bodyguards and advisors were killed, and that had she been on the transport ship, rather than traveling in a Naboo fighter as part of the honor guard, she also would’ve been killed. Palpatine takes the opportunity to chastise Valorum for the lapse in security, and says that Dooku is almost certainly behind the attempt. Padmé believes that one of the slaveholding territories in the Outer Rim is behind the attempt. Valorum privately believes Dooku to be behind the attempt, but does not say it aloud for the purposes of his negotiations, saying that they will conduct a full investigation before assigning blame to any party. Valorum then asks if the Jedi can begin an investigation and protect her. Windu points out that Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker are just returning to Coruscant from a mission. Palpatine mentions that he knows Obi-Wan and Anakin quite well, and that he regards Anakin as a very close friend, assuring Padmé that she will be safe in their hands.

We then meet Obi-Wan and Anakin. Obi-Wan is somewhere in his mid-30s, while Anakin is 19. Obi-Wan has trained Anakin for the last 10 years, and it immediately becomes clear that the two are very good friends. They then meet with Padmé. Anakin immediately tells her that it’s an honor to finally meet her. He says that he’s been a fan of hers ever since she pushed through legislation to boycott, disinvest from and impose sanctions upon systems within the Outer Rim that still allow slavery. Padmé thanks Anakin for the compliment, and mentions that she heard very good things about him from Senator Palpatine. Obi-Wan interrupts so that they can get down to business. They ask if she knows of anyone who might want her dead. She offers up a few leads, but both Obi-Wan and Anakin know that she’s evading the genuine answer. It’s Dooku. Still, they promise to conduct a thorough investigation, and they all agree that the two will keep a close eye on her for the night. It has not escaped Obi-Wan’s attention that Anakin and Padmé have spent much of the meeting not-very-subtly flirting with each other.

Later that night, Obi-Wan and Anakin have a discussion as Padmé is having dinner with what remains of her advisors. Obi-Wan mentions that he noticed Anakin and Padmé’s flirting, and warns his apprentice about that. He mentions that Jedi cannot allow personal feelings to get in the way of their mission. Anakin nods, and they agree to let it go for the moment. Obi-Wan then mentions that Anakin has a bit of cozying up to politicians too much, going on about campaign finance. * Anakin points out that Padmé took a courageous stand that infuriated many of the industries that had valuable economic connections with slave-holding Outer Rim systems with the Slave Embargo, and that it would’ve been more logical from a campaign finance standpoint to sit back and do nothing. He also points out that his good friend, Palpatine, who was initially inclined to vote against it, eventually did the right thing, against the wishes of his donors, and voted for Padmé’s measure. Obi-Wan points out that Palpatine is much cleverer and more devious than he appears to be, and says that Palpatine is likely laying the groundwork of his own bid for Chancellor. Suddenly, they hear a choking sound coming from the dining room. One of Padmé’s counselors has choked to death on a desert item meant for Padmé. Poison. Obi-Wan and Anakin suddenly detect a foreign presence in the kitchens. They rush down, only to see someone suspicious heading out on a speeder. Anakin jumps out the window and grabs onto a security camera hover droid. Obi-Wan orders everyone to have the hover droid follow the suspect, and then goes down to grab a speeder.

Eventually, the assassin shoots the hover droid. It and Anakin go tumbling down, but Obi-Wan catches Anakin in a speeder just in time. Obi-Wan says something like, “It’s lucky the field generators on this planet reduce any falling object to a safe speed.” ** Anakin decides to take over the controls, speeds up, and starts ramming her speeder. Eventually, both the assassin and the Jedi must make a crash landing. They pursue her to a bar. They try looking for her in the bar, but she seemingly gets the drop on Obi-Wan, who then proceeds to literally disarm her. They take her outside and start interrogating her. She informs them that even the Jedi can’t protect them from her employer and takes a suicide pill.

Afterwards, Obi-Wan and Anakin report to the Council. Forensics is unable to identify the poison used in the second assassination attempt or the suicide pill, but can confirm that both used the same poison. Anakin is assigned to take Padmé into hiding as a refugee to protect her, due to his knowledge of faraway systems in the Outer Rim where no one would think to look for a Senator, while Obi-Wan is assigned to find out who’s behind the assassination plot. Padmé is initially reluctant to go into hiding, but agrees at Palpatine’s behest. She and the audience quickly see that Anakin and Palpatine have a very strong bond, almost like that of a grandfather and grandson. When Palpatine leaves, Padmé talks about her life as a public servant. She says that she was raised with a service-minded outlook, and that she finds the idea of abandoning her post when she feels most needed (to oppose the Military Creation Act) most repellent. Anakin says that the Republic needs her to survive so that she can live to fight another day on behalf of the disenfranchised, as she did when she led the charge to disinvest from slaveholding territories in the Outer Rim. Padmé realizes that this issue is very personal to Anakin and asks him if he wants to tell her why. He informs her that before he became a Jedi, he was a slave on Tatooine, and that for all he knows, his mother is still a slave. He then says that he’ll tell her the full story of how Obi-Wan found him and rescued him from slavery later. Padmé expresses her sympathies for his plight, and hugs him.

Obi-Wan then meets with a friend of his who runs a pharmacy. He brings with him a small sample of the poison that Jedi forensics couldn’t identify. “You know more about poisons, drugs, and herbs than anyone else in the galaxy,” he says. The pharmacist quickly does a quick sample of it and reveals that he does indeed know what it is, but that it’s very rare. He says that it comes from the planet Kamino, beyond the Outer Rim. Obi-Wan asks if Kamino is a slaveholding planet. “You’re involved in the mission to protect Senator Amidala, I see,” says the pharmacist. “No, they’re cloners, not slavers. These cloners keep to themselves, mostly, unless you have money. Then they like ya. Don’t see why they’d take an interest in your Senator, though.” Obi-Wan says that he’ll go to Kamino himself to find out. The pharmacist gives Obi-Wan a general idea of where the planet is.

Meanwhile, Anakin and Padmé, dressed in worn-down, filthy clothing board a refugee ship, using pseudonyms. Anakin claims that they’re visiting relatives on a planet that’s been restricted by the Slave Embargo. On the ship, Anakin and Padmé have dinner, and Anakin begins to tell Padmé about his slave background, beginning a series of flashbacks. He maintained the pods for a powerful Hutt family. His overseer was a blue, bug-like creature named Watto. He maintained the podracers for the Hutts, and his mother served as a house cleaner. Each slave has an implant in their head, which will cause their head to explode if they ever attempt to escape. Anakin recounts a time when he saw one of those devices used on a disobedient slave. His mother shielded his eyes from seeing the actual exploding head. The audience sees the head exploding in silhouette, as a shadow on the wall in a very traumatic scene. He says that after that, the slaves quickly became very obedient.

Obi-Wan is trying to find the exact coordinates of Kamino, but finds out that the planet has been removed from the Archives. He takes this information to Yoda, and Yoda realizes that this runs deeper than they thought. Only a Jedi could’ve erased a planet from the Archives. Obi-Wan speculates that this must mean that Dooku is behind the attempt. Yoda warns Obi-Wan not to make any assumptions, but says that he should visit Kamino and find out what’s going on there.

Anakin and Padmé land on the neutral planet of Selkath. Selkath prohibits any weapons from being on the planet and maintains a strict no-violence rule. Even the slightest bar brawl is punishable by death. As such, Anakin thinks that there’s nowhere safer for Padmé to be. The planet is most notable for two things:

a) Due to its strict neutrality no-violence rule, it’s a popular hideout for people who don’t want to be found.

b) It is the galaxy’s only known source of kolto, a fuel which powers hyperdrive engines.

Anakin then tells Padmé more about his past, resulting in another flashback. When he was 9 years old, Obi-Wan landed on the planet, supposedly because he was interested in buying a racing pod. He was investigating a human trafficking ring, where people would be abducted from the Republic and sold into slavery in the Outer Rim. He successfully managed to fool the Hutts, but Anakin quickly realized that he was a Jedi Knight. He and Obi-Wan quickly became friends, and Obi-Wan asked Watto if he could have Anakin assigned to him for the duration of his stay. Anakin then proceeds to introduce Obi-Wan to his mother. They ask Obi-Wan if the Jedi are here to free the slaves. Obi-Wan says that he’s investigating trafficking from the Republic, but that sadly, there’s nothing he can do about native-born slaves.

Back in the present, Obi-Wan eventually lands on Kamino and meets with the Prime Minister there. To his surprise, he finds out that he’s expected. The PM reveals that 10 years ago, a Jedi Master named Sifo-Dyas put in an order for a Clone Army, and asks Obi-Wan if he may speak with Sifo-Dyas. Obi-Wan regretfully informs the Prime Minister that Sifo-Dyas died many years ago. The PM offers his condolences and asks if Obi-Wan would like to inspect the army. Obi-Wan responds that that’s why he’s there and they head off.

Back on Selkath, Anakin continues his story in flashback. We see that Obi-Wan eventually found out about Anakin’s skills as a podracer. Obi-Wan asks Watto about this and Watto tells him, “The boy is exceptionally gifted with pods, more so than any other human that I’m aware of. That boy will be a great racer one day, and make quite a bit of money for whomever I sell him to. You, perhaps?” Obi-Wan says, “No human has ever successfully raced pods before. Humans don’t have fast enough reflexes or enough limbs.” “Well, Skywalker can,” Watto retorts. Obi-Wan visits Anakin again and reveals that he’s beginning to suspect that Anakin may be strong in the ways of the Force. If he could figure out a way to free Anakin, he must just be able to train the boy as a Jedi. Anakin’s mother reveals that Watto is a huge gambler, and that the only way for him to be able to afford Anakin’s freedom would be to wager him in a race. Anakin then reveals that he’s secretly been building a pod and shows it to Obi-Wan.

In the present, Obi-Wan is given a grand tour of the cloning facility and told that 200,000 units are fully ready for duty. He’s also informed that they’re using a bounty hunter named Jango Fett as the template for the army. Obi-Wan asks to meet with Fett. When he does meet Fett, it’s quite clear that Fett knows more than he’s letting on. However, he does reveal one crucial element. Fett has never heard of Sifo-Dyas. Instead, a man named Tyranus hired him for the job. With that, Obi-Wan bids him farewell, and tells the Kaminoans that he needs to report to the council.

In flashback, we find out that Obi-Wan asked Watto if he could put someone up in the upcoming podrace. He says that he wants to see the boy’s racing skills firsthand, and that he recently won himself a pod in a card game. If Watto supplies the entry fee, he’ll wager Anakin in the race. If the boy wins the race, Watto will turn Anakin and his mother over to Obi-Wan. If Watto wins the race, he’ll get Obi-Wan’s pod. Watto claims that no wager is worth two slaves. Obi-Wan then says, “I’ll take the boy.” Watto says a roll of the dice will determine whether Obi-Wan gets the boy or his mother. Obi-Wan uses the Force to make sure that he gets Anakin. Watto is angry, but says that since Anakin is too inexperienced to win the race, it doesn’t matter anyway. Obi-Wan then tells Anakin, “Win this race, and I’ll not only secure your freedom, but I’ll train you as a Jedi.”

On Kamino, Obi-Wan sends a message to Yoda and Windu informing them of what he’s discovered. Yoda and Windu confirm his suspicions that Sifo-Dyas died before the order was placed. Obi-Wan very strongly asserts that he believes Dooku to be behind all this, but Yoda reminds him that the evidence against Dooku is still circumstantial. Windu points out that, as far as circumstantial evidence goes, it’s compelling. He also adds that if Dooku ordered both the assassination and the army, then war is inevitable. Yoda tells Windu that this sort of matter should be discussed internally within the Council, and that it’s not the Jedi’s job to fight the wars of the Republic. Yoda then asks Obi-Wan to bring Jango Fett in for questioning. Obi-Wan agrees and signs off.

Anakin proceeds to tell Padmé about the race. He won the race and Obi-Wan took him to train as a Jedi. Unfortunately, he had to leave his mother behind. He says that he still thinks about his mother every day. Padmé says that she’ll always be there for him, and expresses the deepest of sympathies for him. We see both the race and the separation in flashback.

Obi-Wan has a fight with Fett in the landing. Fett gets away, but Obi-Wan puts a tracker on his ship before it leaves the atmosphere.

We see a flashback informing us that the Council initially rejected Anakin for training. Yoda sensed a dark cloud hanging over Anakin’s future, and the rest of the Council was worried about his attachment to his mother. They also argued that his traumatic history made him unsuitable for Jedi training. Obi-Wan insisted, but to no avail. That night, he took a sample of Anakin’s blood. A few days later, the Council relented and accepted him for training. To this day, Anakin doesn’t know why they accepted him.

Obi-Wan pursues Jango to a desert planet called Geonosis. They proceed to have a dogfight in the asteroid belt surrounding the planet. Fett thinks that he’s shaken Obi-Wan, but Obi-Wan follows him to the planet surface.

On Selkath, it’s clear that Anakin and Padmé have begun to develop feelings for each other. Anakin tells her that she’s only the second person he’s told his story to. The other is Palpatine. Hearing Anakin’s story convinced Palpatine to change his vote on the Slave Embargo in the Senate. Padmé tells him that on Naboo, the heir apparent is expected to serve in the Senate until the reigning monarch dies and the heir assumes the throne. This teaches them about the inner workings of politics and the value of public service. They talk about their respective duties, hers as a Senator and future Queen and his as a Jedi Knight. The scene ends with them kissing.

On Geonosis, Obi-Wan discovers a droid factory. He sneaks in and sees that they are assembling a massive army. He then comes across a meeting being held by the Secessionist Council. Dooku leads the meeting. Three bodyguards surround him- Jango Fett, a tattooed alien named Maul, and a robot named General Grievous. Dooku tells the Council of their plans for launching an ambush against the Republic. Fett will lead the clone troops to invade Kashyyk, Maul will lead conscripts and volunteers among the Secessionist worlds to invade Naboo, and Grievous will lead the droids to invade Coruscant. By catching the Republic offguard, they can force them to negotiate on the Secessionists’ terms, lift the Slave Embargo, and allow the business interests represented to resume business with slaveholding territories in the Outer Rim. Knowing that, despite leading the antiwar faction, Senator Amidala will never agree to such terms, they needed to assassinate her. Obi-Wan, after gathering this rushes to send a transmission to inform the Council. However, the Secessionists discover him halfway through the transmission and take him into custody.

We cut to an emergency meeting in Chancellor Valorum’s office. Yoda, Mace Windu, Palpatine, Bail Organa, and a few other Senators are in attendance. Palpatine informs Valorum that his negotiations have failed, and says that they must prepare for war immediately. Organa reluctantly agrees with Palpatine. Yoda seems to think that there’s a deeper threat here than anybody realizes and urges caution. Windu insists that they don’t have time to wait, and that they must take immediate action. Valorum says that he’ll call an emergency session of the Senate, and invites the Jedi to attend.

At the emergency session, the Senate unanimously votes to declare war on the Secessionists. Afterwards, Palpatine takes the floor and berates Valorum for allowing the situation to get this bad. “Under Chancellor Valorum’s weak and feckless leadership, several systems have declared their intent to secede from the Republic, they have made two assassination attempts against my own junior Senator, Padmé Amidala, Dooku’s Secessionists have assembled three armies, and they have now even captured a Jedi Knight! The time for negotiation and appeasement is over! The time for decisive, bold action is now! As such, I hereby call for a motion of no confidence in Chancellor Valorum!” The Senate unanimously agrees to Palpatine’s motion. Valorum, visibly humbled and frightened, says that an election to replace him will be held in 3 days. In his last action as Chancellor, he also uses his war powers to authorize the Jedi to go to Kamino and intercept the Clone Army.

Windu decides to go to Kamino to collect the Army on behalf of the Republic. Yoda is apprehensive about the Army, but Windu insists that there is no choice. Yoda says that he intends to leave Coruscant for a while to meditate, still believing that everybody is missing something.

On Selkath, Anakin and Padmé find out about the declaration of war as he’s buying her a droid named R2-D2. They also find out that the Secessionists have intercepted Obi-Wan. Padmé insists on going to Geonosis, to rescue Obi-Wan and to see if she can negotiate a truce before the fighting begins. Anakin points out that they’ll likely kill her if she goes, and also says that he is under orders to protect her at all costs. Padmé insists on going to Geonosis and says that Anakin will have to come to Geonosis with her to fulfill his mission.

On Geonosis, Count Dooku interrogates Obi-Wan. Obi-Wan calls him a traitor and says that it’s unconscionable that a Jedi would ever lead a movement whose goal is to profit over something as abhorrent as slavery. He points out that Dooku knows full well that Obi-Wan’s own apprentice is a former slave. Dooku says that while it’s unfortunate that he had to ally himself with such a disreputable cause, it was a necessary evil. “10 years ago, you warned the Council that the Sith would soon rise again. You’d seen the signs, Obi-Wan. When I realized that the Council was doing nothing to stop that, I resigned from the Order. I needed supporters. If I could find better ones, I would have. But I needed support and in such fleeting time, this was the best I could do. You see, I’ve found out something that the Council would never believe. The Sith have infiltrated the highest levels of the Republic. Hundreds of Senators are already under the influence of the Dark Lord of the Sith. We need to stop the Dark Lord before he gets too powerful, before he becomes unstoppable. Join me, Obi-Wan. Join me and help me destroy the Sith!” Obi-Wan refuses. Dooku then says, “The punishment for espionage here on Geonosis is death. I’m sorry, my old friend. I wish I could do more to help you.”

Meanwhile, Anakin and Padmé are preparing to land on Geonosis. They try to contact the leadership, saying that they are peaceful ambassadors attempting to negotiate a truce. The Geonosians respond by shooting them down. They eventually land near a chimney. Anakin and Padmé crawl inside the chimney, and R2 follows them in. It eventually leads them to the factory. There, a bunch of Geonosians start attacking them. Anakin and Padmé fall into the inner workings of the factory. R2 manages to sneak away. Anakin and Padmé face many obstacles in the factory. Anakin manages to fight his way out of them, but, short of the timely intervention of R2, Padmé would’ve been cast into molten steel. Eventually, both get captured and sentenced to public execution.

Before they’re carted off to die, Padmé and Anakin declare their love for each other and state that they have no regrets. Obi-Wan is also in the arena with them. However, once the beasts come out, they start fighting them off. After putting up a good fight, though, droids surround them and prepare to fire. At that moment, however, Windu and dozens of other Jedi arrive with the Clone Army. A grand battle breaks out. Anakin and Obi-Wan board a gunship, eventually find Dooku and follow him to a hangar.

There, Anakin, Obi-Wan and Dooku engage in a lightsaber battle. Dooku first dispatches of Anakin, then takes on Obi-Wan. Obi-Wan puts up a good fight, but eventually Dooku defeats him. Just as Dooku prepares to land the killing blow, Anakin steps in to defend his Master. Obi-Wan throws Anakin his lightsaber, and Anakin fights Dooku with two lightsabers. However, Dooku eventually cuts Anakin’s arm off and starts to taunt him. “So much for the Chosen One, then. Obi-Wan was foolish to put so much hope in you.” “What are you talking about?” asks Anakin. “Obi-Wan never told you, did he? He never told you why the Jedi eventually agreed to train you, despite your attachments? He convinced them that you were the Chosen One! Destined to destroy the Sith! Bring balance to the Force. I was the deciding vote to allow for your training. Obviously, both Obi-Wan and I were wrong. It ends here, Skywalker. Goodbye.”

At that point, Windu eventually comes in to fight Dooku. Dooku is clearly no match for the man widely regarded as the best saber fighter in the galaxy. So, he creates a distraction, knocking a pillar down to attempt to kill Anakin and Obi-Wan. Windu saves his friends, but Dooku gets away. Windu then goes to get a doctor. As he’s leaving, Padmé rushes in. She helps Anakin to his feet and gives him a warm embrace. Obi-Wan notices the clear attraction these two have and sighs.

Dooku then meets in an industrial setting with a mysterious hooded figure (obviously the Emperor to anyone who’s seen the original trilogy). He informs his Master that the war has begun. The figure congratulates him on a job well done and says that everything is going as planned.

Back on Coruscant, they find out that Palpatine has been named the new Chancellor. Anakin asks Obi-Wan about the Chosen One. Obi-Wan reveals that after the Jedi Council had rejected Anakin for training, he conducted a midichlorian test. Anakin’s midichlorians were off the scales, higher than those of any Jedi ever recorded, including Master Yoda. He began to suspect that Anakin was the Chosen One of lore, a figure who would destroy the Sith and bring balance to the Force. He already knew that Shmi was unaware of who the father was, but after seeing this test, began to suspect that the midichlorians themselves had conceived Anakin. He presented this evidence to the Council. Eventually, he told them that if they didn’t train Anakin as a Jedi, someone else might train him in the ways of the Force, someone with far more sinister intent. If that happened, Obi-Wan reasoned, Anakin might truly become a threat to the entire galaxy. This convinced the Council to agree to his training, with Dooku as the deciding vote. Windu reveals that Yoda has disappeared and nobody has been able to find him. When Obi-Wan tells Windu about Dooku’s claim of the Sith infiltrating the Republic, Windu dismisses it, believing Dooku himself to be the Sith Lord.

The movie ends with Palpatine supervising the Clone Army being deployed.

Any suggestions for improving this are greatly welcome. I think I did a decent job of removing some of the inherent structural flaws of the story, while still retaining many of the key plot points that Lucas wanted. The big innovation was taking the essentials of Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999), and doing them as a 30-45 minute flashback, whilst also having Palpatine’s rise to power coincide with the start of the Clone Wars. This fixes the biggest problem, which is the final outline of the prequel trilogy. The decision to make Anakin’s backstory the first film messed up the pacing of the rest of the story, placing beats in the wrong places, necessitating repetition of story points, and introducing illogical or dubious plot situations, concepts and contradictions. So, I simply undid that by turning Anakin’s backstory into a flashback, and let the rest of the pieces fall where they may.

I should also add that this is simply an outline. Obviously, if I were to make a script or a novel out of this, I’d flesh it out more, my outline certainly isn’t perfect, but, with tinkering, I think it provides an excellent blueprint for a really great Episode I.

*Yes, Obi-Wan going on about campaign finance comes directly from Lucas, not me.
**That’s my explanation for why there are no railings in Star Wars.

 

Whenever I try to imagine how I would've done and look at the backstory as presented in the OT I realize how messy it is due to the retcons and some other decisions.

The main issue is the decision to combine Luke's father and Darth Vader into one person which retroactively made Obi-Wan's tale untrustworthy and Anakin as a bizarrely dualistic character. On the one hand, he's a friend of Obi-Wan, great pilot and cunning warrior, Luke's father and likely close to Obi-Wan in age who went on an "idealistic crusade". On the other hand, he's a traitorous young apprentice who's seduced by the power promised by the dark side (and no idealistic crusades) and kills the Jedi for the Empire before being cut down by Obi-Wan. These contradictions are would not be easy to reconcile even for Shakespeare much less for a cheesy space opera.

The other problem is created by Leia's retcon or, more specifically, her admission to Luke that she remembers her mother and that she died very young (why?). So we have to assume that the twins' mother sent the son to live on a touch backwater planet with the relatives she barely knew while staying in luxury with the daughter? And then she dies young, off screen, and for an unknown reason.

Finally, Shaw, the old Anakin, is just too old to be a young father to twins. I get why he was cast (Lucas needed someone who looked fatherly to a more mature Luke) but it shows that he wasn't perhaps all that clear on who Anakin was at that point (understandably, since he was trying to wrap up the OT and didn't know if he could ever do the PT.

With all of that in mind, Lucas actually did a very good job fleshing out backstory overall albeit not without contradictions (most notably Qui-Gon, Padme's death and even Obi-Wan's not making a stronger effort to turn Aanakin back to the light side on Mustafar). I think the political story works the best because it's very similar to what Lucas actually had in mind originally as being an internal takeover rather than conquest or a revolution (see the intro to the 1977 novellization).

The prequels also added a few fantastic world building ideas such as redefining the Galactic Civil Wars as the final chapter of the ancient clash of the Jedi and Sith Force philosophies (only hinted at in the OT) as well as the pretty crazy Clones vs Droids story of the Clone Wars with the clones also being the Stormtrooper prototypes and the killers of the majority of the Jedi. I doubt many of us would've come up with something like that but it worked well enough to product a lot of non-movie content, including games and a popular TV animated show. In fact, for many years I've been in the camp of those who wanted the Clone Wars to start in Episode I and have Anakin as an adult to go join the Jedi and fight in the Clone Wars as the "idealistic crusade" implied. I've come to terms with TPM since then but I still see a missed opportunity here. I also feel that with AOTC and ROTS specifically there's a lot of worldbuilding and themebuilding that doesn't get enough development or gets lost for a casual viewer (or even many fans, from what I've seen). Combining TPM and AOTC or an extra episode between 2 and 3 would have helped to smooth out things.

My conclusion: the best format for the PT is actually a multiseason miniseries (with HBO budget). Or maybe an animated series (but better animation that TCW, it's kind of ugly). Use the existing story but show the transition from Anakin as an innocent kid who "knows nothing of greed" into an angsty teen who's struggling with his inner demons, between normal human emotions and extreme attachments. Show more Jedi training, adventures with Obi-Wan, pining for Padme, Dooku leaving the Order, the corporations getting more powerful, etc. And then fill out the Clone Wars period, flesh out the minor characters and show Anakin and Obi-Wan as friends and heroes during the Clone Wars, maybe Anakin starting to get PTSD, etc. I also think the a large amount politics and talk scenes would be more acceptable to viewers in the miniseries format. Considering we got 6 seasons of TCW 30-40 hours sounds about right.

 

@-NaTaLie- I think it’s doable over the course of three films, albeit tricky. The main problems are:

a) The outline that Lucas settled on just doesn’t work. Having the entire first film dedicated to prepubescent Anakin basically led to a whole domino effect of bad decisions that threw many essential story beats out of whack, led to quite a bit of repetition (the plot of the first two films can basically be boiled down to “Palpatine manufactures a crisis in order to gain more power”), and resulted in such nonsense as an elected child Queen.

b) It’s fundamentally a character story. This is fine. Lucas is not a character director. He doesn’t work very closely with actors to wring the best possible performance out of them. He leaves actors alone to find the character on their own. This works with seasoned pros like Liam Neeson, Ewan McGregor, Ian McDiarmid, Christopher Lee and Pernilla August. Relative neophytes like Natalie Portman and Hayden Christensen? Not so much. A child actor like Jake Lloyd? Absolutely not. Even someone like Samuel L. Jackson, who had to play a role outside of his typical wheelhouse doesn’t fare so well.

Now, Problem A is easy to solve. Handle the essential kid Anakin stuff in flashback. Here are the kid Anakin beats you have to address.

1) Obi-Wan discovers him as a child slave.

2) He discovers that Anakin is a skilled pilot and is amazed at how strong the Force is with him.

3) Anakin is traumatically separated from his mother leading to severe attachment issues and separation anxiety that eventually results in Darth Vader.

4) The Council initially refuses to train him. Only after Obi-Wan convinces them of the danger of NOT training someone this strong in the Force do they reluctantly agree.

And you simply have Palpatine’s rise to power coincide with the start of the Clone Wars. Everything else in Episode I is pure fluff that can easily be discarded.

Problem B is trickier. You need someone who can do this sort of thing and whom Lucas has absolute faith in. The only person I can name is Spielberg, but he turned it down.

And then of course, you have to figure out a plot for Episode II. Some of the beats are there. The friendship between Anakin and Obi-Wan starts to come apart. Anakin has visions of his mother dying. He eventually returns to Tatooine to rescue her, only to arrive too late, leading to his first taste of the dark side when he slaughters the Tusken Village (since we’ve already taken care of the romance plot in Episode I, Padmé is NOT there when this happens, which means that she actually has reason to be surprised when he flips again in the next movie). The beats work once you’ve fixed that underlying structural problem. You just need a plot to wrap around them. This is actually the hardest one if you have any intention of remaining true to Lucas’s vision.

Episode III you can basically leave as is. Just get rid of the “died of a broken heart” nonsense.

 

Yes I have just seen those fan edit videos on YouTube.

 

I say as divisive as they were, don't change anything. This is coming from a non-prequel person.

 

The trilogy should have started with Anakin and Obi-Wan at the ages they were in Episode II. Do away with child Anakin. That would have allowed the friendship / brotherly dynamic between Anakin and Obi-Wan to develop fully, making Anakin's betrayal all the more devastating.

The Clone Wars should have been the backdrop for the whole of the prequels, not something that had to be depicted in an animated series spin-off. That was a massive missed opportunity.

Anakin needed to be a likeable, more happy-go-lucky type of character for his downfall to work more effectively. The way he was portrayed as a sullen, petulant , stiff and rather unlikeable person didn't really have me make any emotional connection with him.

I would have made Anakin's defection (presumed dead) with Palpatine, the twist / cliffhanger at the end of Episode II. He would have appeared masked / helmeted as a new Sith Apprentice for Episode III, for the final reveal as to his identity in the third act, followed by the fateful duel with Obi-Wan.

There should have been a love triangle between Obi-Wan, Anakin and the female protaganist (like the legend often depicted in the story of King Arthur, Guinevere and Sir Lancelot) This would have provided a better vehicle for Anakin's jealousy and building hatred towards his mentor.

Beru would have been a Skywalker, married to Owen Lars. None of this "chosen one" / born of midichlorians nonsense. Their parents would simply be dead.

Now then, a few things that you probably won't believe when I tell you, but I swear on my childrens' lives this is true.

1. Before The Force Awakens, I had in my headcanon that Anakin lived at the Skywalker farm with his sister Beru, and her husband Owen. Anakin, when we meet him in Episode 1, is something of a scavenger, not unlike Rey, who scours the surface of Tattooine on a swoop bike looking for junk. I always imagined a scene where he rides up to the farm at sunset, noticing that there is a ship nearby. Anakin is wearing head-wraps and goggles (again, a bit like Rey)

2. In my headcanon, in Episode 1 Obi-Wan and the female protaganist come to the Skywalker farm looking for a section of a map, that leads to a hidden cloning facility (much like in The Force Awakens) - the Sith antagonist of the movie and the Mandalorians are looking for it as their numbers are depleted through war.

3. In my headcanon Episode III, when Vader first appears, he is wearing a proto-version of his classic suit, but it is something like what Kylo Ren ended up wearing, complete with the roll neck tunic underneath. In fact, Kylo looked exactly like my headcanon Anakin.

Perhaps I should sue JJ Abrams? Think I have a chance? lol

 

The Chosen One / slaveboy combination is something I would've dispensed with.
Either one is just barely acceptable and even then has to be handled in such a way.
But both??? Together in the same character??? It's too much for TPM to handle and
neither came off as very credible. Shmi and Anakin are shown as impoverished -- yes.
But the slavery aspect, outside of a line of dialogue about threat of death if they escape,
was really badly handled. Waddo doesn't even swat the kid with a rolled up newspaper!

I would not have made Anakin so small / young. His little flirts with Padme are disturbing.
I would've kept Shmi involved in the story and, let's say, instead of Qui-Gon's not being able
to buy her, he either refused to save her from the Sandpeople outright, let's say, or he was
slow to engage in any sort of rescue and the delay cost Shmi her life. This could be shown as
sort of ambiguous, but enough angst and doubt would remain so that Anakin's footing would
find its purchase on the path to The Dark Side.

I love The Phantom Menace. It's very charming. It's ahead of its time, in so many ways ...
and, when accepted on its own terms, it's really quite enjoyable. Otherwise, I wouldn't change much.
Just minor details ... shuffle them around a little ... make things more to my liking, here or there.
But I don't have any fan fiction devoted to this line of thought, or anything. It just sucked having
George Lucas make Anakin so young just to appeal to a particular demographic, rather than telling
Skywalker's story in a way that would've made instances like the whole "autopilot" sequence much more
palatable. Having said that ... the following quote will never leave me. It'll be with me, forever & always ...

 

I would’ve had Qui-Gon somehow survive TPM (perhaps minus an arm or leg) and have him be the fallen Jedi in episode two instead of Dooku. I also wouldn’t have aligned him with Sidious, he would’ve just been a rogue Dark Jedi. I would’ve taken the wig off of Liam Neeson and have him look more like himself just dressed in black, kinda how he looked in Batman Begins.

 

If I was simply tweaking the existing prequels:

The Phantom Menace:
Obi-Wan has recently graduated from his apprenticeship with Yoda. This is his first mission without Yoda, and he’s basically back up for Qui Gon.
Drop Midichlorians; Qui Gon can sense Anakin’s potential.
If the Prophecy is going to be so important, we should at least get to hear it in it’s entirety.

Attack of the Clones:
This is a tough one to do without rewriting the whole thing, but the biggest fix would be a couple lines of dialogue at the end in the Tyrannus/Sidious scene explaining the Sifo Dyas thing; I came out of the theater scratching my head at that one, and hoping it would be cleared up in RotS, but alas....
Also, make Boba’s origin a little more mysterious; maybe he’s a clone, maybe he’s not.

Revenge of the Sith:
Honestly, nothing really added, just removing a few things would make it perfect IMO. You can remove the killing younglings scene altogether, as it’s a pretty big jump from a newly turned Anakin. Have him go straight to Mustafar. Obi and Yoda can see a holo of him in Palps’ Office or something. Remove the lines “Only a Sith deals in absolutes”, “From my point of view the Jedi are evil “, “She has lost the will to live”; while watching the first time, I thought that Palps (or Anakin, unintentionally, or even Padme giving it to him) was stealing her life force to keep Anakin alive. That adds a nice element of tragedy. The Med droid can simply stop after saying they can’t explain it.

 

Oh, and I would remove the Anakin created C3P0 thing entirely. Tbh, you don’t even need Threepio in the prequels.

 

STAR WARS EPISODE I - THE PHANTOM MENACE

The GALACTIC REPUBLIC is in turmoil,
a thousand years of peace and prosperity
threatened by a separatist movement led
by the greedy TRADE FEDERATION.

A fleet of deadly battleships has blockaded
the agricultural world of Naboo stopping
the export of vital foodstuffs and war seems
inevitable!

While the congress of the Republic endlessly
debates this alarming chain of events, the
Supreme Chancellor has secretly dispatched
two JEDI KNIGHTS, the guardians of peace and
justice in the galaxy, to prevent conflict erupting...

Changes made to the script/story:
1. Obi Wan is already an established Jedi Master and is accompanied by his Padawan Qui Gon.
2. Only a cloaked Darth Tyranus (Count Dooku) appears to Viceroy Gunray on hologram (Sideous is not revealed in this film).
3. Padme Palpatine is a Princess who becomes Senator Queen when her father Senator King Sheev Palpatine is believed killed in the invasion (he is actually being held captive) forcing the Jedi to take her into hiding.
4. Jar Jar is not a comic relief character. He is a character with principles who desperately wants to reconcile the Gungan and Human populations of Naboo. He does not accompany others off planet.
5. C3PO and R2D2 are part of Padme's entourage (so Anakin does not make C3PO)
6. After the Jedi escape from Naboo with Padme both Darth Tyranus and his apprentice Darth Maul speak to Viceroy Gunray via hologram "this is getting out of hand, now there are two of them"
7. They go to Endor where they encounter a slave boy called Anakin (Not Tatooine - EP. VI would have Endor as a slave world under Empire as Anakin/Darth revenge for his mother) they first see him at the Pod Race and Obi Wan is amazed at a human having such skills and senses the Force in him.
8. Anakin is 19 (like Luke) and already uses the Force but without understanding it!
9. No Midichlorians, Obi Wan just senses Anakin's immense Force powers!
10. The pod racing scene does not have the stupid sport commentators!
11. Padme and Anakin begin forming a bond when she tells him her mother was killed by criminals when she was young and now her father may also now be dead. Anakin tells her he never knew his father as he also died when he was young. He and his mother were sold as slaves when his father died.
12. On Coruscant Padme meets with Chancellor Valorum to ask for help and he agrees.
13. Just before the crucial vote in the Senate Chancellor Valorum is assassinated!
14. On Naboo during the battle Darth Maul doesn't die - he escapes after killing Qui Gon who along with Obi Wan was trying to rescue Palpatine.
15. On returning from the space battle as a hero Anakin is greeted by Padme who kisses him signalling the attraction has started and is as much driven by her as by him!
16. Bail Organa arrives on Naboo after the victory and Palpatine has been rescued. They greet each other and Organa informs Palpatine he has been voted in as Chancellor in Absentia. Padme congratulates her father telling him "mother would have been so proud" and he replies "if only she had been here to see it". Chancellor Palpatine abdicates the rule of Naboo declaring his daughter Padme as Senator Queen.
17. Last scene still the celebration but Anakin and Padme share a brief moment, a knowing look.

 

STAR WARS EPISODE II - ATTACK OF THE CLONES

Chaos engulfs the galaxy as a thousand
solar systems declare their independence
from the GALACTIC REPUBLIC and conflict
erupts across many sectors.

The military power of this SEPARATIST MOVEMENT,
under the leadership of the mysterious Count Dooku,
has made it almost impossible for the limited number
of Jedi Knights to maintain peace and order in the galaxy.

Senator Queen Padme Palpatine of Naboo is
returning to the Galactic Senate to vote on the
critical issue of creating an ARMY OF THE REPUBLIC
to assist the overwhelmed Jedi...

Changes made to the script/story:
1. After the assassination attempt Mace Windu and Yoda meet Supreme Chancellor Palpatine and offer their support. Palpatine personally requests that Obi Wan and Anakin are assigned to protect his daughter as she knows them.
2. Then Padme arrives and speaks with her father Supreme Chancellor Palpatine. They are in conflict as he is pushing for the increased militarisation of the Republic while she is still trying to resolve the conflict through diplomacy and working with the Jedi. She tells him that he has changed and is becoming too hardline. He says that since the death of her mother (his wife) he longs for stronger law and order in the galaxy.
3. On their way to meet Padme in her quarters it is clear that Anakin and Obi Wan are great friends. There is none of this "Obi Wan is holding me back" business (later we see that they fight well together although Anakin is brash and a risk taker that Obi Wan finds hard to keep under control).
4. It is Anakin who jumps out of the window instead of staying with Padme after 2nd assassination attempt. Obi Wan is driving speeder but then swaps places saying "you drive you are the better pilot". It is still Anakin who later jumps out of the speeder with Obi Wan saying "I really hate it when he does that".
5. At the Jedi Council they tell Anakin he will be assigned to protect Padme and take her back to Naboo while Obi Wan must investigate the bounty hunter. Anakin asks if the Council have reconsidered his request to return to Endor to free his mother but the Jedi Council refuse again telling Anakin that being a Jedi is about not having relationships or family bonds and that his family is now the Jedi and they he should not make the request again. Anakin is not happy.
6. Anakin is sent by the Jedi Council to speak to Chancellor Palpatine and ask him to persuade Padme to return to Naboo. Anakin is drawn to Chancellor Palpatine who is increasingly becoming something of a father figure to him. Anakin says it is an honour to be protecting the Chancellors daughter but that he also longs to return to Endor to free his mother. Palpatine councils him to bide his time.
7. Padme meets her father Chancellor Palpatine where he tells her he wants her to go to Naboo and that Anakin has been assigned to protect her. He can see/sense she is pleased. They discuss the loneliness of leadership and not having anyone they can fully trust or confide in. Chancellor Palpatine then asks Padme if she has anyone special and tells her it makes him sad thinking she might also be alone like him!
8. Anakin and Padme's growing relationship is told through their joint adventures and action scenes dropping much of the smoochy stuff. She is interested in him, it is not one sided. The first kiss on Naboo looking over the lake is returned (though no riding on a "pig" scene). It rekindles as soon as he is assigned to protect her (having not seen each other for three years while he was training as a Jedi).
9. On Kamino after discovering the Clone Army project commissioned by Jedi Master Sifo Dyas, Obi Wan speaks with Yoda and Mace Windu via hologram and discovers that Sifo Dyas disappeared three years before.
10. On Naboo Anakin and Padme talk about his mother and how he longs to go to Endor and rescue her but Anakin is conflicted over his duty to the Jedi Council.
11. Later that night on Naboo Anakin and Chancellor Palpatine talk via hologram and he advises Anakin to go to Endor. Padme has been listening and tells him if he goes that she is going with him!
12. Anakin disobeys the Jedi Council and in secret goes with Padme to Endor to rescue his mother!
13. On Endor Anakin kills the entire group of Slavers holding his dying mother captive but he does not tell Padme his dark secret and instead struggles with it alone.
14. On Geonosis Obi Wan discovers that Count Dooku is the master of both Darth Maul and General Grievous (who is not yet a cyborg).
15. On Endor while Padme sleeps Anakin meets with Chancellor Palpatine via hologram. Anakin confides in Palpatine about what happened on Endor and how he killed them all. Palpatine says they should keep that as their secret and not tell the Jedi Council. Palpatine calms Anakin about his guilt at killing on Endor and losing his mother by telling Anakin about the grief he felt at the death of his wife, Padme's mother and how he worries about Padme being alone. As they disconnect Padme enters woken by voices but Anakin says he was just having a bad dream about his mother dying. As they embrace the signal from Obi Wan arrives and they decide to go to Geonosis to help him once again disobeying the Jedi Council.
16. During the factory scene neither R2D2 or C3PO are there so no C3PO swapping bodies/heads! Anakin and Padme still there.
17. When Mace Windu arrives with the Jedi at the arena and confronts Dooku he recognises him as former Jedi Master Sifo Dyas (who ordered the Clone Army from Kamino)..."Ah Master Windu, it has been a long time my old friend" "Sifo Dyas? You are Count Dooku?" "That is one of my names now yes!"
18. During the battle on Geonosis we see how skillful a warrior General Grievous is as he manages to kill several Jedi (and collect their lightsabers) but he is then seriously wounded by Mace Windu before being rescued by his troops.
19. Obi Wan and Anakin fight Darth Maul and Count Dooku together. They pair off and Obi Wan fights Maul and kills him. Anakin fights Dooku but loses his hand (mirrors Luke and Vader). Count Dooku then looks set to defeat Obi Wan who is trying to protect Anakin before Mace Windu (not Yoda) and the Clones arrive and drive off Count Dooku who flees in his ship.
20. On Coruscant we finally see Darth Sideous who is/was actually master to both Darth Maul and Count Dooku (Darth Tyranus) and learn that he is taking control of the Senate. Count Dooku gives Darth Sideous the plans for the Death Star.
21. The final scene is on Naboo where Anakin and Padme still marry in secret (but it is made clear to C3PO and R2D2 why they need to keep this secret as Anakin will be expelled from the Jedi Order?)

 

STAR WARS EPISODE III - REVENGE OF THE SITH

War! The GALACTIC REPUBLIC is crumbling
under attacks by the forces of the ruthless
Sith Lord, Count Dooku. The losses are
horrendous on both sides. Evil is everywhere.

In a stunning move, the fiendish droid leader,
General Grievous, has swept into the Republic
capital to try and kidnap Supreme Chancellor
Palpatine, leader of the Galactic Senate.

As the Separatist Droid Army besieges the
capital two Jedi Knights lead a desperate
mission to protect the Senate and the
Chancellor...

Changes made to the script/story:
1. Opening scene is still a space battle over Coruscant but Obi Wan and Anakin get a distress signal to return to the Senate as (the now cyborg) General Grievous' forces have landed and are trying to capture Palpatine. As they join the battle being fought in the Senate buildings it is clear the Clone Troopers are losing until the final confrontation with Count Dooku.
2. Obi Wan captures Count Dooku but refuses to kill him wanting him to stand trial but Count Dooku manages to overpower Obi Wan knocking him out and then strikes for Palpatine realising he wants Dooku to die but Anakin jumps in to protect (his secret father in law and mentor) and then having been victorious executes him at Palpatine's request! This is secretly witnessed by Padme who arrived just in time to see Anakin killing Dooku!
3. Padme is shocked and is so scared of what Anakin is becoming (she does not tell him she is pregnant!) when he joins her she does not know how to act and is really cool towards him.
4. The Jedi Council tell Anakin that they are considering permanently expelling him from the Jedi Order for his actions and that for now he is suspended!
5. In their apartment Anakin is angry and he can barely contain his rage as he argues with Padme who tells him she doesn't know what he is becoming. Anakin says he thought she would understand but it seems that the only person who listens to him is her father Supreme Chancellor Palpatine. She retorts that maybe Anakin should go to the opera with her father tonight alone as she has no desire to be with him or her father and his new wife!
6. At the opera Palpatine is with his new wife when Anakin joins him. Palpatine tells him the Intel about General Grievous. He then senses Anakin wants to tell him something and asks his wife and entourage to leave them. Anakin tells him about his guilt at killing Count Dooku and how the Jedi Council are deciding his fate but worse than that the person he loves cannot accept what he has done. Palpatine talks about the power of grief like he felt at the death of his wife, Padme's mother but how now he is finding happiness again! Then he speaks about Darth Plagueis and how the Sith Master had learned the power of essence transfer (how to transfer his spirit into new hosts to make him effectively immortal and avoid death) and how Darth Plagueis was preparing his apprentice as such a host (implication that Palpatine fell to the dark side due to his grief over his wife's death and how if he and his wife had had that skill she wouldn't have died - basically take the driver for Anakin in the real film and make that the background to Palpatine). Anakin asks what happened to Darth Plagueis and Palpatine tells him "legend has it his apprentice also learned the art of essence transference and fought and overpowered Darth Plagueis and then imprisoned him in the Unknown Regions at the edge of the Galaxy so he could still draw on his power!" Palpatine then let's Anakin know that he knows about him and Padme. Anakin is shocked and worried this will be another reason he will be expelled from the Jedi but Chancellor Palpatine assures him that like the massacre on Endor this will remain their secret because he is proud to have him as his son in law, "the son I never had!" He tells Anakin to tell the Jedi Council the Intel about General Grievous and he is certain they will reinstate him!
7. Anakin goes to the Jedi Council with news of General Grievous' whereabouts on Utapau expecting to be reinstated as a Jedi but they refuse! Obi Wan walks Anakin back out of the Jedi Temple and tells him to be patient, that he is proud of him and that the Council will let him rejoin but they are teaching him a valuable lesson (this is the last time Anakin and Obi Wan are together as "friends").
8. Anakin goes to Padme in an absolute rage that she is unable to calm. He rages about the Jedi and how they do not trust him and she reveals to him that she saw him execute Count Dooku so is it any wonder he is not trusted! In his anger Anakin lets slip that it is not the first time his rage has caused him to massacre unarmed people (on Endor) and as he rages and smashes up their apartment he accidentally hurts Padme before storming out. Padme is terrified.
9. Before Obi Wan departs for Utapau, Padme secretly meets with him and tells him her fears about what Anakin is becoming and then confides in him that she is pregnant! They agree to keep it secret and hatch a plan for her to go into hiding with Bail Organa on Alderaan.
10. Once he discovers Padme has vanished Anakin is convinced she left with Obi Wan ending their friendship and sending him into a rage.
11. As soon as Obi Wan is successful at killing General Grievous on Utapau, Mace Windu etc head to the Senate to arrest Palpatine because he is refusing to give up his executive powers. As things get heated Palpatine reveals he is Darth Sideous! Anakin arrives to find three dead Jedi and Mace Windu seemingly about to execute Palpatine. Anakin defends his father in law and mentor from the Jedi helping Sideous kill Windu. Anakin becomes Darth Vader the new Sith apprentice of Darth Sideous.
12. Darth Vader destroys the Jedi Temple fighting and killing Jedi Knights (not younglings) and then order 66 is enacted.
13. Bail Organa witnesses a Padawan being murdered by clone troopers and goes to collect Padme from her hiding place and flees Coruscant in an attempt to make contact with any Jedi and warn them (similar scene to the film except he is not shot at by Clone Troopers so does not raise any questions regarding loyalty).
14. In the Senate Chancellor Palpatine tells the Senators that the Jedi have attempted to murder him and stage a coup. He then declares the creation of the Galactic Empire and that he will retain executive power over the military so they can destroy the remnants of the Separatist forces and the treacherous Jedi. Bail Organa and Padme watch on hologram and we still get the "thunderous applause line" (Bail Organa is not summoned back).
15. Palpatine then orders Darth Vader to hunt down all the Jedi across the galaxy who have evaded Order 66.
16. Obi Wan and Yoda secretly head back to Coruscant and infiltrate the Jedi Temple to change the signal (as in the film but sneaking in without fighting with Clone Troopers). Yoda then sets off to confront Palpatine. Obi Wan wants to go with him but Yoda disagrees "Face Darth Sideous alone I must. Leave Coruscant and surviving Jedi locate you must!" Yoda is badly defeated by Sideous but despite being broken just manages to escape.
17. In a montage over a period of months we see Darth Vader hunting and killing Jedi while also seeking Padme (throughout these scenes we also intercut with short scenes of Padme as her pregnancy progresses and her grief grows - indicating the passage of time). We also see both Obi Wan and Yoda narrowly evading capture.
18. Darth Vader has captured the Jedi Master who told Anakin he must relinquish his family. He begs Darth Vader not to kill him..."We are Jedi brothers! You must come back to the light and end this madness," to which Darth Vader replies "You once told me to forget any family ties! You are no brother of mine and I am no Jedi!" Darth Vader murders him and then receives orders from Darth Sideous to go to Mustafar and deal with the Separatists who are no longer of any use to him.
19. On Alderaan Bail Organa receives news from Obi Wan that the remaining leaders of the Separatists have gathered at Mustafar and that Anakin/Darth is heading there and that Obi Wan intends to confront him. Padme who has just recently had her babies (off screen so audience doesn't know if one or two) was listening in and tells Bail she needs to go to Mustafar as she has one last chance to bring Anakin back to the light. He pleads with her not to go as "you only recently gave birth and need to rest!" "I have no choice Bail, I must go!"
20. Padme arrives at Mustafar after Obi Wan and Anakin/Darth are already near the end of their big duel/fight (Obi Wan will not reveal the location of Padme). Anakin/Darth has the upper hand and Obi Wan is in trouble but Padme distracts Anakin pleading with him to come back from the dark side and to not kill his former friend. Anakin, convinced Padme is in love with Obi Wan, force chokes her unconscious. Thinking Padme is dead Obi Wan erupts into a rage and taking advantage of Anakin's distraction he cuts his legs off causing him to get burnt by lava. Obi Wan is tempted to save his friend but screams at him "you have become so evil, so corrupt, you not only destroyed the Jedi but killed the woman you loved!" Suddenly Palpatine arrives with troops and Obi Wan snatches up Anakin's lightsaber, pauses to say "sorry I could not save you Padme" before fleeing under fire and narrowly escaping.
21. The Emperor's troops rescue Anakin/Darth from the lavas edge. Palpatine then finds his daughter who is coming back into consciousness. He tells her she has betrayed him one last time and kills her!
22. In the penultimate scene of the film on Bail Organa's ship it is totally ambiguous whether there was one or two children. Obi Wan and Yoda discuss what they must do... "In plain sight a child hidden can be" said Yoda. "Or on a planet far from the galactic core" replied Obi Wan. "Good. Decided then it is. Go where will you Obi Wan?" asked Yoda. "Tatooine, a backwater desert world. I have a cousin there who can help. And you Master Yoda?" asked Obi Wan. "Alderaan go to first must I. Then hide I must on Degobah" Yoda replied.
23. The last scene is Darth Vadar rising in his black armour/life support and being told by Palpatine/Sideous that he killed Padme, his wife and Palpatine's daughter who had betrayed them both "together we will get our revenge against Obi Wan Kenobi and eradicate the last of the Jedi" (we do not see any scenes with Luke/Leia, nor do we see the start of construction of the Death Star).

 

My old idea. I kinda fizzled out on AotC and RotS, but most of RotS and AotC felt fine to me.
The overall biggest change for me is the reason why Anakin fell to the Dark Side: fear to loose Padme was secondary, and his desire to bring peace to Republic by destroying of the Trade Federation was the main anchor.
In my opinion it better feats Darth Vader's dominant mindset and personality. I wanted Anakin to keep the same active, dominant, passionate militaristic mindset.

 

This is NOT, and I repeat, NOT a PT hate thread. I LOVE the PT. I just, every fan I'm sure has things large or small they'd wish were done differently.

For myself:
I wish the story of Anakin's discover, rise, and fall was told over TWO trilogies, with the original trilogy being rebranded to being episodes VII-IX. It would allow for

1) The story to play out in a grander, less compressed way; one trilogy could see Anakin discovered, being a hero, etc; the second would show his fall

2) It would allow for his fall to be given more time

3) It would allow for more of the epic world building George did with the PT and we'd be able to see more of the Republic before its fall, and more of the Galaxy in general. It would allow also for more adventures on the part of Obi Wan and Anakin and we could see their bond evolve more on screen. It would allow for a Pulp/Flash Gordon quality to the prequels, as well, in that the first trilogy could be the Adventures of Obi Wan and Anakin.

George himself admitted that 90% of his original outline was what comprised Episode II and III, and that he had to come up with large parts of I and II to fill in the blanks, so to speak. Two trilogies would allow the more truncated story to play out fully, with perhaps more complexity; it would give George room to breathe, so to speak, without having to tell an epic story in three 2 hour movies.

The only other change I'd make would be to make Anakin more of a dashing rogue like figure, an Errol Flynn type to contrast Han's smuggler/American cowbow type. And perhaps give him a bit of an English lilt to his voice sort of the way Sebastian Shaw gave him, or the way JEJ speaks in the suit, just to create a bit better continuity.

 

The following is just my opinion. Nothing should be taken as fact. I'm not trying to anger anyone.

Alot of the new SW content from the PT onwards has no target audience, with the exception of RO and TM which are aimed at older aundiences (which shows and pays off). SW fans range from all age groups, but trying to please everyone is a mistake. If you want to make a childrens show then make one, it could serve as a great introduction to the franchise for younger audiences. Characters like Jar Jar would shine here and likely be accepted or even loved by older fans including myself because he would be in the right place.

So knowing this I think the PT should have been aimed at older fans, specifically those who grew up with the OT and are returning to see the rather adult storyline of a hero becoming a villian amidst a galactic war that destroyed civilisation. I said in a previous thread the films should be 15 to 18 rated, but 18 is a bit strong, there's no need for GOT level of violence, but 15 is appropriate. They just need to be alot darker and more violent to allow this story to be told effectively.

I'm obviously no screenwriter, just a fan with an opinion, but I'll work through what I think needs changing. One overall thing is use less CGI and make better use of puppets and costumes. The CGI would naturally look better now anyway because technology has improved, but there's alot of CGI that was unnessasary like clone troopers in the foreground and sometimes with lines. Just put an actor in a costume for scenes like that.

Sorry, but Jar Jar and all the physical comedy has to go. The Gungan race needs to be retconned or replaced with something that can be taken seriously. Preferably replaced and keep the Gugans seperate for childrens shows.

The battle droids need a rework. Lose the silly voices and make them visually more intimidating. The super battledroids are a step in the right direction minus the voices. I actually think they would work better with no voices at all or maybe a deeper version of beeps like R2.

I think Qui-Gon needs to go and just make Ben the knight who discovers Ani and make Ben the protagonist of the the first film as it currently doesn't have one. Having Ben basically inherit Qui-Gons story, we would have had a familiar face from the OT to guide the audience into this new world and story.

The midi-chlorians story needs to be removed as well. It added science to a mystical part of the lore and in my opinion kind of ruins the force. Expanding on this again I think the chosen one prophecy was also a mistake, there's no need for it and there's no indication in the OT that Lukes father was a messiah type figure.

Ben and Ani needed to be older to mainly fit in with the age of the OT depictions of them, but also to make the romance between Ani and Padme more believable. The age gap between them always felt so awkward to me. It just didn't make sense to me that a grown woman senator would fall for a whiny teenage padawan and at the beginning she's acting the way she should then suddenly and inexplicably falls for him. Like I say I'm no screenwriter, but the whole romance needs a rework and Ani being a young man (similar age to Padme) when he's introduced to the story would go a long way to fixing that.

Something that bothers me is why did Ben leave Luke at Vaders mothers grave site in ROTS? There's a whole galaxy to choose from, but he's left somewhere that there's a chance Vader could revisit. My solution to this would be replace Tatooine in TPM with a different planet where slave labour is a way of life. Owen and possibly Beru could be slaves here as well and one of them to be re-written as Shmi's actual sibling. Padme could be utterly appalled by the conditions here and refuses to leave without trying to free the slaves as Ani fixed their ship and there's already a connection between them. Ben senses Ani is strong with the force and decides he can't just be left there so he decides to help. They succeed, but Shmi is killed in the escape attempt leaving Ani with early mixed feelings about Padme as she is now responsible for his freedom and mothers death.

The second film would then be better positioned to have the friendship with Ani and Ben. While Ani would still be a padawan, being older and having the history of being freed from slavery would give them a better vibe I feel and give the OT lines more weight.

I think the clone wars should have been a longer conflict and the twins are already about 3 in ROTS. By this time Ani should already be showing signs of uncharacteristic brutality in the war as it takes it's toll on him. Padme by this time is already quite frightened by him, which is why she keeps the twins a secret. In part to protect them, but also to not put anymore stress on an already war weary and cracking Ani while he's away. All the while Palpatine could be planting seeds in Ani's mind that maybe there's something going on between Ben and Padme.

So by the time order 66 happens Palpatine and Ani are basically best buds from years of manipulation during the clone wars and driving a wedge between Ani and Ben. Ani desperately wanting an end to the war and sick of the republic and the Jedi and jealousy of Ben he gets emotionally crushed into submission by Palpatine and becomes Darth Vader, convinced this is the only way to bring order to the galaxy. His final mission from Palpatine to officially become his right hand man in the coming empire is to hunt down Ben and complete order 66.

Padme pleads with Ben to make sure the twins are safe and kept secret while she escapes from Coruscant with a contingent of bodyguards. Vader goes after her assuming Ben is with her. Meanwhile Ben splits the twins up, Leia with Bail as normal and makes a deal with Owen and Beru to flee with Luke to an outer rim nowhere planet which turns out to be Tatooine and live as simple farmers in order to hide and protect him.

Vader catches up with Padme. She fails to reason with him about everything that's happened and he slaughters her and the bodyguards in a jealous rage before Ben can catch up. Ben arrives too late, sees what has happened and they have their showdown.

 

This thread is so exhausting . . . and not in a good way.

 

Anakin is around 15 in TPM. When he’s brought to Coruscant, he’s inducted into the Order, where we get to see a bit of him in his daily Jedi routine, feeling awkward and isolated being put in classes with younglings. Eventually he steals a ship on Coruscant to take part in saving Padme’s homeworld.

In AOTC we see more of Anakin at the temple, specifically constructing his own lightsaber and taking part in trials (and failing).

No R2 and C3PO in the trilogy. Instead whatever loveable droid characters are introduced in their place are eventually crushed by Vader without a second’s hesitation.

 

Is someone forcing you to be in here?

 

I don't mind PT rewrites if they actually offer anything new to what was given. It can be an interesting reimagining/new interpretation.

Unfortunately, 2 tropes permeate "PT rewrites" and personally ruin them from that start.

1. Most people just want to rewrite TPM, AOTC, and ROTS instead of doing their own story. I don't really care that your TPM rewrite has Alderaan instead of Naboo. That's not intriguing enough to read a full script or story about.

2. Most people never really come to fruition with their ideas, meaning they just have summaries or outlines, but no actual script, fanfic, etc. that fleshes out their ideas, which can be frustrating if someone generally has an original idea.

Which as a bonus, ill add a 3.

3. Most "original" PT rewrites just copy each other. Alderaan, Mandalorians, evil clones, maybe Darth Maul, etc. It feels like you read one rewrite, you've read most of them.

 

I think Lucas has some really great ideas in the PT. Noble Republic that slowly becomes corrupted and turned evil, personified by the chosen one who follows the same path. Having the Jedi become blinded. Having them mistrust Anakin somewhat (although his betrayal may work better if they all liked him. It almost seemed like they expected him to betray them all lol). I think the Midichlorians could work too, they were just expo-dumped rather awkwardly as possible. And I think Palpatine playing both sides is really great.

I think it's just the screenplay of that story that could be improved. And I think TPM seems estranged from the rest of the trilogy because it resolves a different war outside of the Clone Wars. I think there's too much "Palpatine really did it" that seems largely unnecessary, or just too much plotting that doesn't really make sense.

Basic set up:
The galaxy had relative peace for a thousand years thanks to the Jedi Knights who protected the realms. However, for the past 100 years the galaxy has been embroiled in a series of messy battles based around systems wanting to secede from the Republic due to ever-growing corruption and endless bureaucracy. At first soldiers were conscripted, but due to the endless wars being increasingly unpopular on both sides, clones have been created to continue the fighting. Recently a group of systems have formed an alliance, and are led by a shadowy figure - who the Jedi believe might be a Lord of the Sith. The Lords of the Sith were last seen over a millennia ago, when the Jedi extinguished their Dark Order and their grip on their corner of the galaxy. Some believe it's just not possible that they could have hidden themselves all this time. But trying to tear the galaxy in half in their quest for power has always been their goal, and using these wars to their advantage is certainly possible.

And according to a prophecy, popular among some knights, is that a Chosen One, a Jedi of high esteem and of great power with the Force, will be born during dark times, to eradicate the Sith forever. Certain Jedi have begun measuring their connection to the Force, and only allowing individuals with high Midi-counts (ditch the word Midichlorians, it's too clunky) to even be trained. Many Jedi want to find this chosen one, so that the wars might finally come to an end. However, the Jedi Council, the chamber who oversees all Jedi missions and led by Yoda himself, wish that so much energy wasn't wasted on worrying about midi-counts, and power levels, and prophecies, and hopes this pseudo-scientific fad goes away.

The movie opens with Trade Federation threatening to join the Separatists movement, and have begun a blockade of Naboo. Qui-gon Jinn is sent to negotiate with them, and he's brought Obi-wan Kenobi and his student, Anakin Skywalker. Anakin is 19, and is expected to become a Knight soon. He just hasn't faced his trials yet. He's well-liked, strong in the force, a good Jedi. He's also impatient, over-confident, and perhaps, too idealistic. He's been training with Obi-wan since he was found 10 years ago while the Jedi were battling on Tatooine against the Huts. (Theres nothing about him being the Chosen One yet)

I dunno. That's all I got so far. This was fun.

Basically I'd just make the Clone Wars the central war in the PT. I'd make Anakin older (like most would), and maybe even fails his upcoming trials. Or maybe by the end of EP 1 people start thinking he's the Chosen One according to legend. This makes him even more impatient to become a Knight. I think once he falls in love with Padme, though, he gives up being a Jedi altogether. He just wants a family, nothing more, and doesn't even agree with the wars in general. Thinks the Republican should just let them leave. And that's when Obi-wan comes back to get him to fight again, against the Sith, and that's when it all blows up.