Number One: No Little Boy Annie.
That's right; no child actor, no Schmoopy Shmi mama, no droid that suspiciously looks like C-3PO lying around in his room like a discarded Legos set. And no stupid pod-race, either. The prequel story should have started off with Anakin as a young man, perhaps about Luke's age in the first OT movie. And since Obi-Wan mentioned that Luke's father was a great pilot, perhaps he could be a young recruit in the Republic's space navy. A fighter pilot, maybe.
Number Two: No Ripping Off The Bible.
Yes, Star Wars has plenty of Christian fans. I used to be one of them. Ripping it off and creating your own thinly-veiled secular version of the immaculate conception is just not right, George. It's wrong, it's dumb and obvious, and it really sends some serious mixed messages. So Anakin is some sort of prophecized saviour of the universe, but then he goes bad? What is he, the Antichrist? Sure seems like it, George. (Also, since he's more 'special' than his son, Luke, it seems logical that Anakin would be more powerful.)
Instead, I'd have Anakin basically be like Luke: the biological result of normal sexual intercourse.
Number Three: Tattooine Is Not The Center Of The Universe.
Why is it that Anakin is from Tattooine? Why does he need to be from the same planet as his son? Make him from Coruscant, or Corellia. Show us something new instead of the same old sand dunes and Sand People. Corellians are also supposed to be good pilots (and a little bit arrogant, like Han), so it would be logical for Anakin to be from there.
Number Four: Qui-Gon, Be Gone!
I like Liam Neeson as an actor, but Episode One is probably the worst acting job I've seen him do. And since it is hinted at that Obi-Wan is trained by Yoda, well, why not have him BE trained by Yoda?! Cut out the third-party stuff. The impression that is given in the OT is that Anakin was taken under Obi-Wan's wing when Obi was still too young, and too immature himself to give wise counsel. Perhaps Obi-Wan was still in training with Yoda at this time.
Also, shouldn't Obi-Wan become a general at some point? So far in the Prequels, he hasn't.
Number Five: No Jar-Jar, No Gungans.
Why? They're lame. Do I have to say anything more?
Number Six: CGI Only When Necessary.
Since the CGI in Ep. One already looks fake, it seems like George would want to spend the extra dollar and actually build real sets, not computer-generated ones. But he didn't, and the films look all the worse for it.
Number Seven: More Palpatine, More Politics.
Ian McDiarmid is a great actor. He was one of the best things about ROTJ, and he proves that he's one of the best things that Star Wars still has going for it. Unfortunately, he was severely underused in PM. Give Palpatine's machinations center stage. Show him conning people into thinking he's the saviour of the Republic. Show us how the Republic is disintegrating and how Palpatine proposes to stop it. Give us more of Terrence Stamp, and build up his character more. He's a great actor reduced to playing second fiddle to Pod racing and farting CGI animals. This should not be. Also, show us Mon Mothma and Bail Organa. Establish their characters swiftly and deftly.
Number Eight: Why We Fight.
What's the Trade Federation? Who are the Seperatists in AOTC? These things and organizations, and the reason behind the Republic's dissolution, should be delineated quickly and clearly, or they should be dropped. Perhaps the Seperatists are the Rebels in the OT, except under the terrorist management of Count Dooku. Maybe the Trade Federation is like the Weyland-Yutani corporation in Alien.
Perhaps, also, the Republic itself is sliding into tyranny. Perhaps the Seperatists are colonies or important star systems that are trying to break away from the Republic, and instead of letting them go peaceably, the Republic is trying to hold its union together at any cost.
Number Nine: No Fart Jokes.
I love bathroom humor as much as the next person, but fart jokes and stepping in crap jokes do not belong in a Star Wars film. Come on, this prequel trilogy is about facistic genocide and evil taking control and other bad stuff. Treat it with the seriousness that it deserves.
Number Ten: Everybody Does Not Know Everybody Else.
Greedo does not need to be in these film. Boba Fett does not need to be in these films. C-3PO and R2-D2 can be in these films, but preferrably in a more subtle way. Half the cast of minor characters from the OT does not need to be in these films.
Number Eleven: Do Not Mess With Fett.
I've never been the hugest Boba Fett fan, but what George did to him in AOTC was wrong. He took a cool, bad-ass, mysterious character, sucked all the mysteriousness out of him, and made him into a cute kid. WRONG MOVE. Boba was cool BECAUSE he was mysterious. He was a man with no face and probably an assumed name. He was unique. Making him into (literally) a poor copy of his spiffy dad is such a wrong move that words fail to convey how wrong it is.
Number Twelve: Do Not Contradict The EU.
Now, this is probably where I'm going to get in trouble with you guys. Bear with me, OK?
I loved the majority of the EU books when I was a Star Wars fan. I devoured them. Most of them, I loved (except for Darksaber and a few others, but let's not get into that), and I took them as Canon since they were officially licenced LucasCorp. projects. (Now I know that they are considered officially as less canon than the films, but again, let's not get into that.) Seeing as how I still think that most of the EU adventures did a better job with Star Wars then the prequels, I'd like it if they weren't contradicted so blatantly, seeing as how the spin-off books were molded to the first trilogy's story. I know that there are people who don't like the EU, and I can respect that. But I feel that as seeing how they are all liscenced and authorized Lucas products, they should fit in together seamlessly. So seamlessly, that if someone doesn't like the Prequels and prefers the OT and the EU, he/she can do that. If someone prefers the Prequels and the EU, they can likewise do that. If someone only likes the films they can safely ignore the EU, and if they like the EU and prefer reading about Star Wars rather than watching it, they can do that. That's some thing for everyone and the best of both worlds.
Anyway, those are some of my thoughts.
This post has been edited by The Scornful Roman: 27 October 2004 - 09:19 AM