How Would You Have Done the Star Wars Prequels?

[Imperioratorex Caprae]

***Snip***

Honestly thats the most well thought out synopsis of redoing the prequels I've ever heard. I'd only keep the end part of Revenge of the Sith (minus the force-choking Padme but still otherwise having Vader think he killed her somehow) and the duel between Obi-Wan and Vader because its canon anyway long prior to the prequels. It makes sense too. Anakin/Kenobi were friends and Kenobi felt horribly betrayed.

EDIT: Note I wouldn't put the scene of Vader becoming cyborg in though, so it doesn't mess with the Empire reveal, and leave any mention of the name out so people who watch in order and never have seen the original don't get ruined and don't have to jumble up the series. Stupid Lucas.

 

[TheRightToArmBears]

I would have made them about different characters. Have them during the same era, but with the events of the actual prequels just as a backdrop to maybe, another Master/Padawan duo being caught up in it all. Anakin's fall didn't really need telling in any great detail, but a better executed version of the same events is an interesting time. Perhaps have this new team investigating something that eventually leads into the main events in EpIII, have the master die and the padawan gravely wounded, but aiding Luke/Leia being spirited away before dying to stop it from being a total downer.

 

[Loonyyy]

I think you're basically rewriting it at this point, which does have a certain charm, but at that point, why not just write something better?

I think the biggest problem is the way they told the story. The story at it's core isn't that bad, some expanded universe authors have done some great things with it "Darth Plaguies" by James Luceno is great, and most of that book is telling the backstory of Palpatine, explaining the convoluted political conspiracy, the Naboo conflict, etc. There's been some good clone wars stuff too "Republic Commando" by Karen Traviss is great (Although the series that followed the first book is very, very patchy). Even the films themselves aren't that dreadful in the story department, the novelisations are much more tolerable.

If I were making minor tweaks: recast Anakin, don't let Lucas direct, obviously, because there are your two biggest culprits there. Then reframe the films. Too much time is taken up by things which don't matter-the Naboo romance subplot in AOTC is horrendous, there's a lot of filler in ROTS, and we skip most of the Clone Wars-we never even really establish Grievous, and Dooku is killed right after appearing if you're watching back to back, having done dick all. Really, a lot of this stuff is just basic editing. It's not for nothing that most people blame Lucas for how the prequels went. If someone fixed his dialogue, worked out a better storyboard, or, best yet, someone else directed, it would have been far better.

 

[Silvanus]

My biggest issue is the pacing of Episode III. It's a fair movie while Grievous is alive, but when he dies, the throttle gets pushed to the extreme. The plot happens in a blur: the end of the Republic/ Separatist conflict, Anakin's fall. They both happen in minutes. The conflict between the Republic and the Separatists has been the backdrop and driver of the plot for the past two damn films, and then we have all the Jedi and Separatists killed off in the span of five minutes.

So, pacing is my main issue in Episode III. Episode II is worse, but harder to diagnose.

 

[SilverUchiha]

Hm... an interesting question. One easily answered in one of two ways. First being "don't" as in don't bother making them in the first place. Nothing kills a story faster than knowing exactly how it ends. And the ending of the prequels was always obvious, making their story less compelling. If being forced to make them, the next obvious answer is slap George's hands away from the writing desk and tell him to bugger off until we're working on special effects.

In all fairness, the prequels do offer some interesting things and while the writing was bad, seeing how Darth Vader came to be was still interesting to an extent. But many changes would need to be made to keep it from becoming what it was. I think Anakin's fear of losing those he loves and cares for is important and that Padme would still need to be a central part of the plot (the kids need a mother after all). But I don't think I'd have her die in child birth. This would be to retcon the continuity error made in the original trilogy where Leia says she remembers her mother, referring likely to her birth mother. Padme would live a little longer after Anakin's fall to the dark side, and maybe even be the first leader of the rebellion that ultimately fails and is killed by Vader. Luke would already be on Tatooine with Kenobi at this point and Leia would have been given to Senator Organa as well.

Yoda wouldn't use a lightsaber. I personally have nothing against him using it, but I also just don't care for CGI Yoda. He doesn't look as good and Yoda being a master force user that never really needed to use the lightsaber always felt right to me. And I'd probably also have Windu put up more of a fight against Anakin before dying. This would help show Anakin using his rage to overpower one of the most powerful Jedi (Windu being known for his power-style of combat).

Dooku would be out completely. I have nothing against Christopher Lee, but Dooku ultimately felt like a throw-away villain. I'd cut all the discussion of politics. I'd give Qui Gon Jinn a bigger role in the first film and maybe even have a force ghost appear in subsequent films for small moments. I'd reduce JarJar's role in episode I to him being the escort to the city and then he goes off to do whatever (die?). That or make JarJar a sith lord because I still find that idea hilarious.

Actually, that's probably the biggest change I'd make. No, not Jar Jar. But the tone of the films. If you go back and watch the original films, then watch the prequels, and then watch the latest film you will notice something very obvious. The writing of the original films were wittier. They weren't serious all the time and could easily crack a joke or two from time to time. The prequels felt serious and dire all the time. It didn't help that we had to suffer through lots of political banter, but that only helps prove my point. Everything in the prequels felt like it was either business and serious or the worst romance I've ever seen with a few bits of action to remind us its Star Wars. The newest film turns that snark and jokes up to 11 and while that might be overcompensating a bit, it felt smoother, more fun, and like how the original Star Wars films were. And that's probably the biggest change to make is to lighten up the tone but in ways that aren't also stupid (Jar Jar).

 

[stormtrooper9091]

Easy. Don't make Anakin a bad apple from the start. Ep2 was incredibly bad in that part, rather than showing him losing his sanity due to influence of the Dark Side, he appeared as a dickhead as if he were born that way.

Which is a complete 180 to his child self.

I mean shit Obi-Wan what the hell did you do while you were raising and training this kid?

And that was exactly the 2nd worst thing about the prequels, the apparent infinity of things that happened off screen that we're just supposed to gobble down like bad pizza. We never get to see how the relationship between Obi-Wan and Anakin worked, most of the time Anakin throws a fit and/or does something silly, Obi-Wan rolls his eyes with the obligatory "I hate it when he does that" stereotype straight out of crap buddy cop films. It culminates in that whole U A BROTHA TO ME, I WUVD j00 nonsense. Bull. Fucking. Shit. Almost makes me think Jar Jar is the least evil, because at least he never took himself seriously.

Christ...

 

[Gizmo1990]

EDIT:

- Also make the Jedi actually go down with a fight. I mean the Masters and Knights should at least take out quite a few guys before they go down, rather than taking out almost no one and going out in some of the worst ways possible.

This. So much this. I would have made the whole reason the rebelion was able to exsist be because of the Jedi. Have the clones take out the Jedi but have the Jedi take so many of the clones with them that the new Empire is not able to expand as quickly as they would like as they need to train new conscripts. I like the idea that even in their death the Jedi still helped to bring about the end of the Empire.

But honestly one of my biggest complaints about the prequels was how the Jedi were handled. They never felt all that powerfull to me.

 

[HybridChangeling]

I have given that a lot of thought and I reworked the stories to what might work better, but also a few "Golden Rules" before that. I don't want to explain my version of the story, because that would reveal that I have literally no life and focus on things that don't have any point.

1. No more then 2 Shot/Reverse shot talking scenes in the movies, and even then do it in a unique way.
2. Practical effects trump special effects, only use them if necessary, and when you do, mix them so it seems natural (al Jurassic Park)
3. Jedi have different weapons the lightsabers, and the masters almost never use them, relying on the Force.
4. No droid enemies.
5. The original movie worlds must almost never be shown, make this in a different part of the Galaxy, allowing for some of the novel and EU worlds to be.

 

[Anti Nudist Cupcake]

I would get rid of the bit where Darth Vader builds C3PO for a start...

Off the top of my head -

The first film, Anakin is a decent enough teenager living on a backwards planet. His settlement gets attacked by a Sith faction, his family is killed and he is taken prisoner aboard the bad guys fleet of starships. It turns out the bad guys are using the prisoners as genetic material to create armies of clones. Amongst the prisoners is a mysterious beardy guy who turns out to be Obi Wan who's been on an undercover mission. Obi Wan and Anakin strike up a friendship and they lead an escape, making their way back to the nearby Republic Fleet which includes a bunch of Jedi. The Sith fleet and the Republic fleet clash, starting the Clone Wars, while back on Coruscant, a shifty senator launches a militarisation campaign in order to combat this new menace. In the aftermath of the fleet battle, the Sith retreat, and the Republic fleet decides to follow them into an unexplored part of space. Obi Wan decides to train Anakin after witnessing him use the force instinctively at some point during the battle.

But then why would Anakin EVER join the sith?

 

[Austin Manning]

Honestly I probably would have just gone with what George Lucas gave us. I'm serious, he didn't do to bad off a job expanding on the universe while telling an interesting and unique story. I'd certainly try to clean up the dialogue and tighten up the pacing though. A lot of the negative perception of the characters and actors in the film comes from the fact that their dialogue is terribly written, when any of them actually just ACT the film quality improves immensely. While the pacing in the films got better as the trilogy went on, Phantom Menace was basically a four act story because of the extended Tatooine and Coruscant segments.

 

[Breakdown]

I would get rid of the bit where Darth Vader builds C3PO for a start...

Off the top of my head -

The first film, Anakin is a decent enough teenager living on a backwards planet. His settlement gets attacked by a Sith faction, his family is killed and he is taken prisoner aboard the bad guys fleet of starships. It turns out the bad guys are using the prisoners as genetic material to create armies of clones. Amongst the prisoners is a mysterious beardy guy who turns out to be Obi Wan who's been on an undercover mission. Obi Wan and Anakin strike up a friendship and they lead an escape, making their way back to the nearby Republic Fleet which includes a bunch of Jedi. The Sith fleet and the Republic fleet clash, starting the Clone Wars, while back on Coruscant, a shifty senator launches a militarisation campaign in order to combat this new menace. In the aftermath of the fleet battle, the Sith retreat, and the Republic fleet decides to follow them into an unexplored part of space. Obi Wan decides to train Anakin after witnessing him use the force instinctively at some point during the battle.

But then why would Anakin EVER join the sith?

Well, to start off he'd be in a similar position to Luke, living on a farm on a backwater planet, but I'd set up Anakin as being completely content with his lot and looking forward to starting a family, not yearning for glory like Luke. Then he would witness his family dying (maybe killed by Darth Maul) and would be taken prisoner and dragged into the main plot. He wouldn't want to be a Jedi either, he would be driven into joining the order by a sense of duty and to enact justice for his dead family. Being too old for normal training and having an inexperienced teacher in Obi Wan Kenobi, he would underestimate the Dark Side of the Force and become traumatised by the events of the Clone War and start to go "a bit far" in the fighting.

There would also be a sub plot where the Republic Forces fighting in the war would be cut off from communications from the rest of the galaxy as Palpatine staged a coup and build his own army. The lack of reinforcements and the feeling of being abandoned would cause Anakin to become resentful of existing authority figures, and want to establish a new fairer world order based on justice, leading to clashes with the other more conservative Jedis around him.

There would have to be another sub plot where Anakin secretly married and started his own family, but then lost them in some way, probably as a result of Jedi interference. He would leave the Jedi order and make his way back to Coruscant to assassinate Palpatine, blaming him for the lack of support for the Republic forces and for not protecting his planet to begin with. At this point he would fall under Palpatine's influence.

 

[laggyteabag]

Darth Maul should have survived Episode 1 and he should have been in all three films. Then having Obi-Wan wanting to take revenge on Maul, being tempted over to the dark side, and fighting his emotions, but ultimately have Obi-Wan fight the dark side off. In the end, he was prepared to forgive him for killing Qui-Gonn, and was going to arrest him, but then have Anakin swoop in to kill Maul, thinking that Obi-Wan was weak for sparing him.

 

[bartholen_v1legacy]

Prequels? We don't need prequels. We need a prequel. A single movie. Ask yourself: what actual purpose do the Phantom Miscarriage and Ass-tack of the Clones even serve that we can't deduce from Revenge of the Sith? In Sith we know Anakin's Obi-Wan's pupil, we know he's in love and about to have a child, we know he's somewhat in cahoots with and being roped in by Palpatine, we know how he doesn't feel approved by the Jedi Council. Redlettermedia were the first to point this out, and I think it's a perfectly valid point.

I think I'd have done this hypothetical single movie something like Horus from Warhammer 40k. Perhaps because he doesn't feel approved by the council he tries to find greater power to prove himself. Palpatine offers this by teaching him things he doesn't mention go to the Dark Side of things. This leads to him learning abilities whose power far outstrips his judgement. Maybe he's expelled from the Jedi Council altogether, and then commits some form of atrocity with his newfound powers that ultimately leads to his downfall. Well that sounds kinda crappy. But my point is that we didn't need three movies where one would have sufficed perfectly.

 

[xaszatm]

...Honestly, I'd of just made the CGI Clone Wars series and called it good. I know people prefer the animated Clone Wars show better and I can see why but I would have thrown Episodes II and III to the director of the Clone Wars CGI, have those be the beginning and ending story arcs, and called it good. The Clone Wars needed to be a TV show over a Triology of movies. You cannot effectively show the slow corruption of Annakin over three movies (and definitely not the way the prequels did it). Having the Clone Wars CGI allows Annakin to become darker and darker much slowly as well as show the complex politics of the Clone Wars more effectively by showing them than just telling us in dialogue.

 

[jklinders]

I couldn't make myself watch episodes 2 and 3. I got 5 minutes into Episode 2 and looked and listened to that wooden acting and horrid dialogue and said "nay nay."

So I'll just discuss some of the technical side instead. Part of the problem is that the whole damn set was a green screen room. There was very little on location shooting and with that in mind you are giving your actors nothing to react to but a frigging tennis ball on a stick. This is amplified when you have a child actor who read his lines like he couldn't act his way out of a paper bag. But even adult actors struggle in a green screen chamber, it gets worse when you get a kid doing it. Did Lucas have a budget for more than two cameras. But much of the talkier scenes seemed to be with a cheap 80s sitcom set up with a camera each focused on one actors head and it switching back and forth. Once you set it, you cannot unsee it. It's fucking terrible. The script needed an edit. Too bad Lucas did not realize that you cannot effectively be your own editor.


So if I was making the movies, I would have done more on location shooting, more practical effects to give my actors something to react to (CGI has it's place but he really did overuse it) and allowed an editor to actually tell me how I was screwing up.

 

[hentropy]

Personally I don't think the basic layout of the prequels was horrible, only that the execution was horrendous.

If left entirely up to me, though, I would have made the rise of the Empire and the making of Anakin into a Sith would have been more analogous to the rise of the actual Nazis. Anakin and Obi-Wan would be master-padawan but more like partners almost equal in strength in the run-up to the clone wars. Obi-Wan would be be a kind of brash and prone to trying to find easy fixes to problems, where Anakin is a model Jedi, being generous and always going out of the way to help others. At the beginning of the first movie they go on an important mission for the council to investigate some new buildup of forces, which ends up being a Cloning facility. In the process, they meet a female Republic spy who we'll call Luya, who while initially reluctant helps them escape, her and Anakin have chemistry based on opposites attract trope. They get back to the Council, and they lead an assault to destroy the Cloning facility, only to find out that the Big Bad has these facilities in more than one place.

The second movie would, once again, be all about the Clone Wars. The Republic is heavily engaged against the Big Bad, but the Jedi and only offering tepid support. Luya would be sent to sabotage some kind of war facility and got caught. The Republic wants her bad because she has important information. Anakin is a rising star in the Jedi Order, even earning a top military spot in the order, while Obi-Wan continues to be his partner and tries to advise him, but Anakin is finding himself more compatible with Palpatine, a member of the Jedi council and his immediate superior. Upon hearing about Luya, the two team up once again to save her, and Anakin takes his first step down into the dark side by killing innocents on the way to get her, only to find out that Luya freed herself. They continue their romance, largely in secret, Obi-Wan turning a blind eye to it, thinking Anakin a stronger Jedi than even him. When they get back, the Republic isn't doing so well against the Big Bad, and Palpatine maneuvers to take more direct military control, and employs more Jedi to the fight. Palpatine then asks Anakin to take control of the biggest battle, Anakin doing whatever it took to win it, including disregarding the lives of Republic soldiers. This causes a split between him and Luya, who is all-Republic. The final battle, which Anakin takes part in, injures him badly, forcing him to have a number of machine implants, vowing forever revenge on the current Big Bad for taking away his ability to have children. The final twist being that Luya finds out she's pregnant after splitting up with Anakin, not telling him.

The third movie would concern cleaning up the remaining pockets of resistance from the Big Bad. Palpatine and Anakin become a ruling duo of sorts, becoming more and more influential in the Republic over even the larger Jedi council. Palpatine urges the Republic to expand, taking over more and more planets, using increasingly ruthless tactics. Luya opposes all of this, and starts to organize an opposition resistance of Republic officers and spies like herself. She becomes the de facto first leader of the Resistance, pushing back against the fledgling Empire. The resistance splits the Senate and the Republic, with Jedi starting to join the resistance and the Council becoming less influential than ever. Luya has the twins but hides them fearing they will be killed by the Empire, intentionally or unintentionally. A huge battle is staged on a planet, Republic vs. Empire, Jedi vs. Jedi, and Anakin once again participates, eventually finding Luya on the battlefield. Luya tries to urge him to stop, knowing she can't win in a fight against him, while Anakin tries to get her to join him again. Obi-Wan, who has joined the Resistance, then meets Anakin on the Battlefield where they have an all-out fight, before Anakin is injured again by Luya, who shoots him before Anakin can kill Obi-Wan. Anakin then cuts Luya down in rage, retreating from the planet and ordering the fleet to bombard the planet to destroy the Resistance, killing most of the Jedi soldiers on his side as well. Obi-wan chases after Anakin after he retreats, but ends up having to run himself as the Resistance fleet is destroyed. Palpatine has already quietly assassinated the rest of Council still on the fence, and most of the Resistance is destroyed, save for a few scattered Jedi. The Empire takes full control and eliminates any trace of the previous Republic, continuing its war of expansion.

 

[cathou]

i think i would scrap pretty much all episode one. first the age gap between padme and anakin feel akward, and in ep 2 and 3 it looked like they are the same age...

so you start episode 1 much later in the story, and have anakin become darth vader at the end of ep2 or at the beginning of ep3, haveing at least one movie focus on the start of the rebellion and the end of the council. in a new hope, it's imply that darth vador himself chased the jedi, but in the prequel, he just killed a bunch of kids.

have Padme death caused by Palaptine, but in a way it look like it's the jedi counsil that is responsible, then Anakin turn dark side, and helped with the empire forces, he chase and kill all jedi until he's stoped by Obi Wan that try to bring him back. keep the fight between the two, and the Vader outfit for the end of ep3.

 

[IOwnTheSpire]

I couldn't make myself watch episodes 2 and 3. I got 5 minutes into Episode 2 and looked and listened to that wooden acting and horrid dialogue and said "nay nay."

So I'll just discuss some of the technical side instead. Part of the problem is that the whole damn set was a green screen room. There was very little on location shooting and with that in mind you are giving your actors nothing to react to but a frigging tennis ball on a stick. This is amplified when you have a child actor who read his lines like he couldn't act his way out of a paper bag. But even adult actors struggle in a green screen chamber, it gets worse when you get a kid doing it. Did Lucas have a budget for more than two cameras. But much of the talkier scenes seemed to be with a cheap 80s sitcom set up with a camera each focused on one actors head and it switching back and forth. Once you set it, you cannot unsee it. It's fucking terrible. The script needed an edit. Too bad Lucas did not realize that you cannot effectively be your own editor.


So if I was making the movies, I would have done more on location shooting, more practical effects to give my actors something to react to (CGI has it's place but he really did overuse it) and allowed an editor to actually tell me how I was screwing up.

There were actually plenty of practical sets, as these images show: [link]http://boards.theforce.net/threads/practical-effects-in-the-prequels-sets-pictures-models-etc.50017310/[/link]