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Saturday Roundtable – Fixing Star Wars’ Prequels
Posted by Justin
The topic for today’s Saturday Roundtable is this: If you could go back in time and be in charge of running the three Star Wars prequel movies (episodes 1-3), what would you do different? This is assuming that you HAVE to do them as prequels, you have to do three, and you can’t give a dismissive comment like “throw them in the trash”.
Start the discussion!
KYLE: First off, I certainly would NOT have wanted to see any of the cherished Original Trilogy characters as kids or anything ridiculous like that. But that doesn’t mean I would have cast Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru as young action heroes. Each prequel film would have taken place in a different era, ranging from thousands to finally maybe a hundred years prior to Episode IV. I would have been a lot more interested in the very beginning of the Jedi and Sith orders, early on as prophecies are made and tenets to operate by are devised. That way you can still have occasional hints towards what will come later (”No one will EVER make this Kessel Run in less than 18 parsecs!” and “One Sith will walk openly, his master will remain in shadows; no one will suspect their identity until it is TOO LATE!” and so on). I would be a lot more interested in the universe at large versus the origins of the handful of heroes and villains that decided the fate of their galaxy. I’m sure to play to the fans slightly that third prequel film would namedrop a couple lineages, or more likely show the origins of the man who would become Emperor Palpatine. Lots more moral gray areas and suspicious motivations, rather than the bland ineptness of the Jedi Order and far-too-easy manipulations of the Sith. How about you?
MIKE: I won’t knock the machinations of Sidious because if you take a few steps back and look at them from a distance and get the whole picture, they’re really kinda Machiavellian. I will admit the Jedi were rather inept and should have been a bit more aware of what was happeneing around them. Casting Anakin as a eight year old was a misstep, and made the relation between him and Padme kinda creepy. I would’ve liked to have seen him aged a bit, a little more roguish. I think I could’ve accepted an older character, more hard boiled and less prone to naivette’. I think the eventual transformation into Vader would’ve been a lot easier to swallow that way. As far as the current Clone Wars series; aside from it being a total cash-in, are we supposed to be sympathetic toward the clone troopers who we know are going to wipe out the Jedi? Also, how are old time fans supposed to reconcile these crack commandos with the canon fodder of the original movies who could barely hit a target and were prone to hitting their heads when entering a room? Do I even need to say no Jar-Jar?
LISSA: No Jar-Jar and no romantic dialogue, period. Anikan romancing Padme is still up there in “the most embarrassing cinema I’ve ever witnessed in my life.” But I think that’s a given, really. Is there anyone who’s not a thirteen year old girl that LIKED that?
I’m liking a lot of these points (especially not seeing so many of the original trilogy characters). Another thing I would add is LESS CGI. I know George was very proud of his cool toys, but he overdid it and it really became distracting. This is one of those times when less is more, y’know? If he’d done less CGI, he could have afforded some sets that weren’t deserts and the entire adventure wouldn’t have had to have so much time on Tatooine.
JUSTIN: I think the single biggest, and often unmentioned, problem with the prequels is: you know exactly how it turns out. I really dislike movies that are leading up to a conclusion that I’m more than familiar with, because it doesn’t leave a lot of room for suspense and doubt. It’s reverse engineering a plot from a finish point.
So one option is simply to disconnect the prequels from the original trilogy by a factor of time, like Kyle mentioned. The video game Knights of the Old Republic went back 4,000 years to tell their story, but they still had Jedi, Sith and a very Star Warsian feel — and it worked. The 4,000 year barrier also was sufficiently long enough so that even though it is a prequel, you don’t necessarily know what’s going to happen.
If we did have to stick with Lucas’ intention of telling the story of Darth Vader, I would’ve liked to see him become corrupt and evil and all dark side of the Force by sometime in the middle of episode one. Here’s an idea: they should have really turned the concept of good and evil on its ear, by making the Galactic Empire’s rise to power a perverted, noble attempt at wresting power from a very corrupt, despicable Republic. Make Vader the underdog, with a group of friends who are fighting for what they think is the right way to rule the galaxy, and in so doing, make us cheer them on. But then by the last film, they’ve gone too far — betrayals, friendships disintigrating, power corrupting — and the Empire ends up worse than the Republic was, making the Rebels the new noble force.
I would have shortened the fall of the old republic(aka the 3 prequels) into the fist part, and i would let out the part were anakin and padme meet, instead the sith that made that miraklebirth-experiment with anakins mother gets hunted down by the jedi giving a hint that the emperor-to-be will try to get his hands on that experiment. this will also give way to a version of anakin/vader that lived his fist years of live as an guineapig in a jedi-labor and has to work on this issue that makes him misstrust every jedi and their powers that he posses like no other…
The overthrow went far to easy! The second part would be the struggle between the new empire and the opposing forces (jedis, rouge starsystems, remainders of the old republic, etc) this way there would be place for powerstruggles between and inside of the diverent opponents, basicly a politthriller. Its unrealistic to think everyone would just hide or go with the flow in a weaponloaded universe like the one we have seen.
The third part would be the chance of tides were the empire finally gets the upper hand and winns the war.
Sole problem ist were to place the part were the seeds of the downfall of the Empire get plantet. thinking about it, during the powerstruggles in part 2 anakin would get in kontakt with the emperor and wither between the jedi and the emperor as both sides try to win him over, he gets sick of both sides, and joins with a third party(the beginnings of the rebels) where he meets an aggressivly idealistic padme(a bit like che). at first they hit it off very well with that idealistic part of padme that makes her openly honest und easy to trust (appealing to anakins misstrusting charakter as a former guineapig) but her idealistic ways make her a borderline person who tends to push people to absolut decisions, where anakin cant keep up, what makes her drop him, to let him feel betrayed by a person he trustet, anakin goes evil, padme and anakin nearly kill each other. he gets rescued by the emperor, she by the jedi, she gives birth, emperor destroys the rest of the jedi with the help of the newborn mecha-vader. jedi hide his children. end
Knights of the Old Republic worked because it was essentially the original trilogy compressed into one story. If Knights of the Old Republic had been a movie, everybody would hate it because it’s a simple repeat – twist or no twist. Besides, races like the Selkath or the Rakata would have been no better received than the Gungans (in fact, I hate the Selkath far more than the Gungans AND the Ewoks).
A lot of these things are easily forgiven in games, mostly because we’re not used to story-based games and any real story is still lauded as a step forward, and also because we are the main character which obviously pulls you in far faster than seeing someone on screen. But when you put the stories of KotOR and the Star Wars movies, Original or Prequel, next to each other, KotOR fails. (KotOR II, on the other hand, while the game was unfinished, it’s storyline was a real eye-opener about what you could do in the Star Wars setting.)
Anyway, I don’t think they need to be fixed. Sure, there are things that I don’t like. But Star Wars is George Lucas to do with what he wants and I’m not filled with the same sense of entitlement as many Star Wars fans are to say that he did something wrong by making the movies he apparently wanted to make.
Funny thing. In today’s Darths & Droids, they provided some alternate romantic dialogue. There’s addtional kinkiness when you consider the fact that Padme is being played by a guy and Anikin by a girl.
http://www.darthsanddroids.net/episodes/0270.html
I don’t know about you guys, but I could definitely have used less “OMG! Anakin = Jesus!!!1!!11″ moments…
I would have made the entire trilogy consist of Yoda and Jar-Jar on Endor talking to Ewoks.
That’s right, three whole movies of Yoda, Jar-jar, and the Ewoks, and NOTHING ELSE!
No fighting either, they just get drunk, tell stories, and dance for all three movies.
That would be awesome!
Now, if I were in charge of those movies, I would have made Anakin about 15 years old during the first movie. Shmee was sold to a different slave owner and Ani would have been still working for Watto. I kinda dig all of that. The first movie would have dealt with his introduction and induction into the Jedi Order, as well as his temper and restlessness. The second movie would have seen Anakin (nearly 25) falling for Padme (about 27) and Padme disliking him and liking a soldier. This would have put him deeper into a depression. It would have been the beginning of the Clone Wars (which even now make little to no sense to me, but I made no effort to follow it all). The third movie would see Anakin seduced by the Dark Side. That would have happened early on, because the third one would be largely to see that Luke is now living with his uncle and aunt and Leia on Alderaan. How did Luke and Leia come to be? you ask. Anakin rapes Padme before the Empire takes over. Then Padme and Leia go to Alderaan and hide with the Organas until Padme dies when Leia is nearly four years old. That’s what I would have done. The one thing that I would keep though, might be the one thing that gets me thrown out of the geek community. I would keep Jar Jar. I would just make him more roguish and less goofy. He would be a thief and a merc. The Gungans would have had to exile him. I’d make Jar Jar the Han Solo of the prequels. What do you think?
PS, there should be one of these to fix the X-Men movies….well…the third one at least.
I think everyone is overlooking the biggest problem with the prequel trilogy, which was also the reason that A New Hope was not as good as Empire or Return: George Lucas directing. I swear, we have seen every actor in the prequel trilogy in other movies where they act very well (or at least significantly better). I am convinced that Lucas intentionally forces them to act woodenly and deliver their dialogue in stilted fashion just so the characters don’t distract from his ridiculously overused CGI. Most of the problems that were mentioned, especially those about the setting and the plot, could have been overcome, or at least lessened, with quality acting, but, alas, Lucas has made so much money that no one can tell him that he shouldn’t be directing, even though the man couldn’t direct his way out of a paper bag.
I would have cast Anakin with a better actor, I would have had the scripts doctored by people who can write dialog, sped up the pacing, and brought in Padame by the second movie, not the first, to get rid of the creepy angle. I also would’ve ramped up the political drama, and made the Jedi Order much more strong and definite, with a distrust of the clones, who would have to earn their trust, therefore making the death of all the Jedi in Episode III much more emotionally wrenching. I also would have beefed up the character development and built Obi Wan and Anakin as brothers, making them Cain and Able-lesque. Anakin and Padame would not be living together, and they’d meet in secret, thus putting more strain on their relationship. In the first Episode, I would have given younger Anakin evil tendencies, and I’d make him a mean-spirited whiny little kid who knew he was special from the very beginning, so by the second movie you’re thrown by his nobility and change of character. Lucas would be able to give advice, but he wouldn’t direct. In fact, like Empire, for the second movie I would have pulled in a director like Kevin Smith, who can pull great dialog delivery from his actors. Thirdly, by the second movie I would’ve made Anakin charming, and overconfident. I think you could follow the basic story of the prequels, just execute it differently.
I would be up for a sequel trilogy that explores the New Republic that Luke built and the fledgling Jedi Order, which includes Han and Leia’s kids. That would be cool.
Am I the only one here who liked the prequels (for being so cheesy)? Seriously, I love their B-movie ridiculousness. They’re hilarious.
But, not as funny as the Ewok movies or the X-mas special.
If anything I’d be trying to make them worse (see my comment above).
The prequels are fine just the way they are>
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