What would you change.

Television, Movies Games and Books Star Wars
#1

Please no hate here. cause its fricken star wars; so yes its de-facto cool. I like them all, even the prequels

but i need to say i heard this; and i’m sorry I cant recall who’s idea it was, but you sir or madame are cool cause your brain is awesome.

it came to my mind after the cast; when they were talking about what you would change; it reminded me of this one simple idea.

end of episode 3

Anakin in the suite uses the force to destroy the lab;
The emperor tells him that Anakin killed Pademe.
Anakin goes quiet and for the very first time, you hear his breathing, and than the last line of the movie Anakin says Good…

and yes Vader the bad ass is born.

#2

that would be pretty awesome.

I would combine the first and second file, and make the second film about how awesome Anakin was in the Clone Wars, and how not at all whinny he could be. Then in the third movie have something more solid than a premenition about Pademe’s death, or a reason why Anakin believes the dark side is the only way to save Padame.

#3

Not bad. Better than “Nooooooooo!”

I would have preferred that Anakin were discovered in the slums of Coruscant, a hot-rodding street racer who is just a little too good. It would have been way better than the “Are you an angel?” kid we saw in TPM.

#4

More Sy Snootles!

Also, I would have enjoyed seeing some of Leia’s Jedi powers begin to develop during Return of the Jedi.

#5

Plinkett writes and directs the prequels. Lucas gets to do youtube critiques of them.

#6

huh? 50 minutes long Lucas critiques on youtube? Perfect for those nights when Ambien just won’t cut it.

#7

In some alternative universe, this actually happened. This has been another exciting episode of Fun with Physics.

#8

I am by no means a prequel hater, but I don’t think any one little change would have greatly improved any of the movies. If I were to make changes it would be to the core story.

As for little changes, off the top of my head I would say have Count Dukoo get some more screen time. Chris Lee is an amazing actor and he doesn’t get nearly enough to do.

#9

Han shoots first…

Oh, wait…

Old Anakin appears at the end of Jedi…

Wait… I’m not good at this am I?

Oh, I know!

No frakking Jar Jar!

I hope that doesn’t count as hate. But, his character was just awful… ):

#10

now now… don’t forget without Jar Jar Binks calling for the vote, Palpatine would not have been emperor… oh wait … yeah… awful…

#11

Once just once I want to see Chewbacca power bomb a Stormtrooper.

#12

You should look into the Clone Wars on Cartoon Network. Anakin is not whinny in there and his awesomeness really shows. I know “The Maker” isn’t the writer of these episodes, but they should give you your Anakin awesomeness fix.

#13

Molding the first two movies into one and putting the heart of the clone wars into the second episode is a great recommendation. That being said, I think we could have done without 90% of Phantom Menace, and Anakin’s turn needs to be longer and more difficult. The Jedi council’s complete inability to sense that Palpatine is in their midst is absolutely staggering, and his influence on Anakin is not questioned or addressed until the end of Sith is odd as well.

Also, less running fully pregnant Padme, Padme shouldn’t be THAT much older than him, and her death should have been more directly related to Anakin. Dying of a broken heart might be possible, but it’s pretty dumb in context.

I think that there’s a major problem where the good Jedi really aren’t amatch for the bad ones, and while I understand that this is due to the waxing power of the dark side, the way the Jedi jsut get ambushed into oblivion, while effective, seems too simple. i would’ve liked to have seen a more political push to have the Jedi removed from their role, a kind of intergalactic McCarthyism casting doubt, skepticism, and fear throughout the series as the Jedi grow less and less trusted and powerful.

#14

Duh! Hello! Obvously I would put the deleted Luke & Leia sex scenes back in…oh, and the deleted R2D2 / C3PO deleted sex scenes too :smiley:

#15

Alright. cracks knuckles

I wouldn’t change anything production-wise. The cast and crew can stay. Lucas and McCallum can stay on as Executive Producers (you know, the money bags). I’d hire not one, but a team of screenwriters.

Now on to the story…

There are a few crumbs we can gather from the Original Trilogy:

  1. The Jedi Knights were guardians of peace and justice.
  2. There was a Clone Wars; Anakin followed Obi-Wan on an idealistic crusade
  3. Anakin was a powerful Jedi, and a good friend seduced by the Dark Side
  4. Both Anakin and the Emperor are disfigured.
  5. There were remnants of the old Republic up to Episode IV
  6. The Force is an energy field surrounding all living things
  7. Anakin is Luke and Leia’s father

If you think about it, this is a daunting task. Star Wars’ appeal was that it was an adventure story. Luke was on a quest, a hero’s journey. The Prequels are about a dark time. There is corruption, seduction, murder of all the Jedi Knights, fall of a Republic, etc. This is not a children’s tale. In Star Wars, you follow the heroes and the bad guys are shadowy figures. The Prequels would need to show you everything going to Hell.

You have to make a decision: Is this going to be a children’s film or an adult film? A character study into the fall of Anakin Skywalker is not a children’s tale. If you are going to appeal to children, Anakin needs to be on the periphery and Obi-wan has to take center stage as the hero of the prequel. The story has to revolve around him as he watches his world crumble around him.

Anyway, here are some major bullet points:

Episode I:
Opening crawl talks about the Republic and the Jedi struggling to maintain the peace as corruption spreads. The Jedi are spread thin trying to maintain order…

Camera pan. Space cruiser chasing another, two torpedoes are shot and slam into the side on the lead cruiser. As the hole is covered by a protective shield, two Jedi jump out onto the scene, Obi-wan and Qui-gon.

Look. I’m not gonna write the whole thing here. Basically, you follow weathered Qui-gon and idealistic Obi-wan as they police the Republic. You get a sense that the democracy is crumbling by the encounters they experience. You learn more about the Force and fallen Jedi, none of this only two craaap. Anybody can use the Force, it’s a discipline not midi-craaapions.

Anakin is the roguish, Han Solo-type. They meet up with him during a fire-fight or something. He saves their butts and a friendship begins. As far as the Senate and the Palpy stuff, reference the Fall of the Roman Empire. Show more of Palpy’s influence, none of this hiding craaap. He’s gregarious and brash. He’s a hedonistic Roman bossing around the centurions. He should represent the epitome of what the Republic has deteriorated into.

Anyway, it’s a start.

#16

Rather than a redo, since the damage has been done; I would propose something else. A limited Star Wars Anthology series.

LucasFilm teaming up with SyFy and other sponsors to create 5-8 one hour episodes per year. Each story arc would follow a single character and his/her associates on a quest or journey, thereby keeping the yearly expenses down with a smaller cast and fewer props and sets… Plus if they keep the stories within the same general time period they could recycle many of the props, costumes and sets from season to season. It could be shot ‘Sanctuary style’ as in the majority of backgrounds and sets would be digital. Live action photography would not be terribly time consuming but the post production would be a bitch. Which is why you would need to limit the number of episodes per year.

Merchandising would easy make up for much of the expense of the series, toys, books and comics etc.

I think a good quality cable series would help to smooth over the prequel frak-up, and give the fans something else to focus on. The Clone Wars series is just too juvenile for adults to pay too much attention to. They need a gritter and more robust series to sink their teeth into, put it on late at night on cable and you could do just that.

5 to 8 episodes should be just right, they would not be overextending themselves. And would never feel the need to rush an episode out, it would allow greater quality control and would always leave the fans wanting more, and eagerly anticipating the next years release of episodes. If the series is a hit they could even release the occasional special or two around the holidays.

Plus by introducing new characters each year they would be expanding the universe and be giving fans new characters to get excited about. Rather than constantly rehashing the same old tired characters everyone is getting bored with.

#17

Um…

I should also add that over the course of the three films, you will see the fire of the Jedi go out in the universe. As the Jedi lose more and more control, people become disenchanted with their power. In the end, the police force shifts from the Jedi to the Storm Troopers and Grand Moffs (e.g. regional govenors).

It should be like when Merlin leaves and the power of Men takes over. Obi-wan should be nostalgic and Anakin realistic. The machine is taking over. Get with it or get left behind.

#18

I would have Han shoot Greedo just for spite at the beginning of the scene. Then seduce Mrs. Greedo. And give all the Greedolings candy until they are hyper.

#19

This is the right answer.

#20

You know, for all the crap they get, I really do appreciate Episode I-III, but I think I garner that appreciation through my knowledge of the Extended U, and applying what I know is happening, even though it isn’t shown.

I think aside from the poor acting, the sole biggest problem with the prequel trilogy is that it doesn’t explain or show its own depth. I’ll use Palpatine as an example here.

Palpatine is the pinnacle of Sith evolution. He is hands-off, scheming, and grand-scale, a clear departure from the raw, unbridled, primal rage of a Sith like Darth Maul. Through the entire three first episodes, Sidious is displaying a huge, MASSIVE amount of power. Every single time he’s in front of the Galactic Senate, he’s Mind-Manipulating everyone: thousands and thousands of beings from all across the galaxy. The transformation from Republic to Empire is as much attributed to this display of power as it is to any amount of scheming and planning. The ironic, sacrificial puppet that best exemplifies this is, of course, Jar-Jar, who by extensions mirrors the Republic: once innocent, pure, intending only to do good and make people happy becomes warped and twisted into doing the dark side’s bidding.

The problem with the movies is that none of this is shown. We see Jar-Jar as the harbinger of the Empire, sure, but the biggest reason we get for it on film is because he’s an annoying guy who we want to villify. But what do we see of Sidious’ power in any capacity other than as a trainer of (very) adept apprentices?

But if you watch the movies, and you’re a giant Star Wars nerd and you know that this is going on, then it’s awesome to watch. And if you’re not that nerdy? Then you just sit there and wonder how so many people in the Senate can be so, so stupid as to not see this coming.