How would you make PT diffrent?
#1
Posted 24 May 2005 - 12:47 PM
-Obi-wan is not a Padawan in TPM, he could be a Knight companion and friend of Qui-Gon, who could still have his own Padawan( maybe an alien chick like Ayla Secura, Anakin would later kill her in ROTS in a very sad scene)
-Much less Jar-Jar, he is not that annoying, and really heroic during the final battle.
-Anakin is in his teens, and he shows much anger towards the slavers. Maybe he kills or almost kills Watto? This is why Council is reluctant to train him!
-Anakin receives some training in piloting amd joins the battle of Naboo, being a hero by choice, not luck.
-Prophecy is in, but no midichlorians and no lack of father stuff! Jedi are stil awed by Anakin`s potential.
-Romance starts in TPM, and it is action driven(maybe Anakin saves Padme`s life), not driven by terrible dialogue!
-Darth Maul could be a far greater villain- Sidious sends him to Gunray much earlier, he has more presence and lines(though still not much, a little bit of taunting and badass arrogance)- he advises spineless Federation to use terror tactics against Naboo resistance, giving a speech about the power of fear.. And he escapes at the end, than kills Gunray so he wouldn`t tell Jedi about Sidious. There would be tension built between him and Anakin. Anakin loses to him in AOTC, but prevails in ROTS, using his Anger.
-There are few Mandalorian mercenaries hired by Federation, Jango is one of them. They hold a grudge against a Jedi, who destroyed their Empire in the past. And Federation Droids are silent and menacing.
-Second greatest Jedi in Council is played by Christopher Lee, not Jackson! He advocates Jedi taking more active role to save Republic, Yoda disagrees. He secretly creates the Clone Army, but doesn`t become a Sith.
-Jedi are reluctant to fight in war, but Senate and Palpatine force them to do it. Yoda is not a General, but wise sage who is unhappy that some Jedi are in military.
-Palpatine has more scenes with Anakin in second part, he advises him to use his emotions in battle, Anakin becomes a great warrior who enjoys fighting more than a Jedi should, we don`t see him as whiny teenager. Later Palpatine gives Anakin orders to strike at civil population, saying that Jedi are too weak and soft to win. He also promises to end slavery in Galaxy. Before Palpatine shows his true intentions, Amidala is his great supporter.
So, what do you think about my ideas?
#2
Posted 24 May 2005 - 01:02 PM
While I agree with most of your things, I strongly disagree on the Darth Maul part. For a start, Nute Gunray shouldn't be there. Secondly, Darth Maul isn't interesting enough to be the main villain in THREE movies. He barely made any impression in The Phantom Menace, so I wouldn't have enjoyed seeing him in AOTC and ROTS. However, he would have been better than General Grievous...
And I don't care for the prophesy either, since even after ROTS, it STILL doesn't make any sense. Why couldn't one of the Jedi explained it in one of the movies? Surely Anakin would have asked somewhere down the line what being the Chosen One meant.
#3
Posted 24 May 2005 - 01:08 PM
Well, Maul was quite impressive to me, and could be much better if characters and audience had time to know him and hate him.
#5
Posted 24 May 2005 - 01:14 PM
end with the capture of the chancellor (although dont ask me how this would fit into the timeline)
#6
Posted 24 May 2005 - 01:18 PM
![wink.gif](http://www.chefelf.com/forums/public/style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)
Okay, less snarky, more creative...I had a list at one point. If I can get the energy up, maybe I'll sit down and draft my version of the new trilogy, if I were the Lucas.
#8
Posted 24 May 2005 - 01:19 PM
I didn't really mind Gunray, he made a sort of enemy character that hadn't been dealt with before in Star Wars. Sadly, I don't think he made a good 'secondary main enemy' in The Phantom Menace. What I would have REALLY loved would be to have Palpatine/Sidious Force-choking Gunray's assistant (Rune Haako) when they failed to capture Amidala's royal starship. It'd harken back to the days of The Empire Strikes Back, bringing on slight nostolgia. It'd be even more ironic when you consider that after the royal starship escaped, it's hyperdrive is damaged, just like the Millennium Falcon.
#9
Posted 24 May 2005 - 01:53 PM
With this concept, you not only have a much needed "real" character that the audience can relate you, you also have a character that actually goes through a change on his way to the dark side. It would have been fun seeing this guy that we initially loved sink deeper and deeper into the abyss, as opposed to the Anakin we got, who started off whiny and obnoxious and just stayed that way.
#10
Posted 24 May 2005 - 01:59 PM
I think maybe that the slaver who owns Anakin and Shmi should have been his father; who raped Shmi and then disregards Anakin and just has him as a slave. Anakin could then kill HIM at some point. This would have made the slave situation much more intense and would be a very simple way into the darkside, as the need for revenge against his own father would be there from the start.
#12
Posted 24 May 2005 - 03:04 PM
Richard, I like your idea, but rape is a one concept too harsh for Star Wars! You must remember that those are family films, children are supposed to watch them.
And yes, Anakin as teenager could be a rogue type of character, much like Han Solo, though definately not his copy, but with more ambition and frustration, confined to being a slave. Watto forces him to participate in podracing, threating that he will bring harm to his mother.
And imagine this scene: Battle of Naboo is lost, Darth Maul escapes and runs at Nute Gunray:
"We shouldn`t have made this deal, if your Master won`t save us, we will tell everything to Jedi and Sena..... " -his voice breaks as he sees Darth Maul unleashing his sword.
"No, you will stay silent!"- Maul grins at the corpse, and Gunray`s stunned head, cut before he could scream.
This post has been edited by Lord Melkor: 24 May 2005 - 03:11 PM
#13
Posted 24 May 2005 - 03:09 PM
So here's what I've just wasted the last two hours doing: my thoughts for revision of the new trilogy...
General Overview -
- Some of Lucas’s naming conventions work really well: Tattooine, Ord Mantell, Grand Moff Tarkin, etc. Stick with that; lose the “character explanation” names: Greedo, Darth Sidious, General Grievous, Salacious Crumb, Rancor Beast, etc.
The Phantom Menace -
- I’d make specific mention that the reason the Seperatists use a Droid Army because the Jedi can’t affect their minds or sense their presence; it’s also quicker to raise than trying to train a biological (“human”) army (I don’t recall if the movies mentioned the latter, but I know the former was never brought up). Also, make the Battle Droids operate with a hive mind. I would have wanted ILM to make the Battle Droids look scarier, maybe more skeletal and less like a legion of Crow T. Robots.
- Lose the Virgin Birth. Anakin’s biological father was a minion of Jabba the Hutt who Watto was mixed up with (owed him protection money?). Watto, trying to placate him, invites him to take his liberties with his slave, Shmi, for the night as a gesture of goodwill. Anakin never knew him, and has no desire to...until he learns the truth later in the trilogy, and seeks revenge (standing in for the "Killing Sandpeople" scene in Attack of the Clones which really begins his fall).
- Lose Midichlorians, and restore the Force to being a mystical religion rather than a scientifically-quantifiable form of energy. Tone down the leaping about a tad - it’s cool for them to do some high jumps and flips, but if it gets too cartoony then it tends to make Force abilities look sterile and feeble as portrayed in the original trilogy (Episodes IV-VI). The lightsaber fighting is pretty sweet, though… Hmm - I’d need to come up with some happy medium that allows us both to see the Jedi at the height of their power without making the original films’ fight scenes look decrepit.
- While we’re at it, make the Jedi philosophy internally consistent. Remain unattached to physical things like riches and base, selfish motivations like power, because they will pass, but be compassionate and sympathetic toward other beings, because they will live beyond their physical husks (“luminous beings are we, not this crude matter”). Jettison the “only the Sith deal in absolutes/If you think the Jedi are evil, then you‘re lost” hypocritical relativistic nonsense. The Dark Side of the Force isn’t an equal and opposite power existing independently of the Light Side, but a corruption of the Light Side. I think this idea was suggested a bit in the first trilogy, but I’d want it to be more well-grounded.
- The Jedi have become arrogant, a bit pompous and somewhat taken with their position of authority in the Republic. The Prophecy regarding “balance” has the Jedi Council a bit nervous, as they don’t entirely know what that would mean, though many Jedi who actually know of it probably think of it as a good thing, due to the aforementioned decline in orthodoxy. As a result, they watch Anakin closely, and try to keep him from becoming too powerful (which I think they were suggesting in the movies)…which contributes to his resentment of and inevitable betrayal of the Council.
- Darth Sidious (whom I want to give a better name)/Palpatine has been aware of the prophecy for some time, and has been searching for this ‘Chosen One’ to make into his apprentice before the Jedi can. He is annoyed when he learns that the Jedi may have found him, but he begins to make plans to get close to him.
- The Council won’t do anything to liberate Shmi, because they claim they don’t want to get involved in local politics, claiming some stricture against interference in the Outer Rim, worrying about disrupting the local balance of power, etc. This frustrates Anakin to no end, and he begins to see the hypocrisy behind the Jedi veneer. The Council discuss it behind his back, additionally concluding that Anakin needs to be kept in a fairly controlled environment, and his attachment to his mother could prove a distraction to his already-delayed training (after all, Jedi training begins as early as possible).
- Senator Palpatine shares a moment with young Anakin at the end of the movie, as the boy mourns the death of Qui-Gon. He takes him aside, telling him that he understands what it means to lose someone close to him. Anakin confesses to him that everything keeps changing around him, and he feels like no one ever asks him what he wants. Palpatine sympathizes with his feelings of powerlessness and his desire that things should never change. The Senator/Sith Lord assures Anakin that, should he ever need a sympathetic ear, he is always available.
Attack of the Clones -
- I don’t mind the idea of Obi-Wan using the Force to mind-control someone into doing something he thinks is beneficial (telling the “deathsticks” guy on Coruscant to stop selling and reconsider his life), but I’d like Anakin to witness it and begin debating Obi-Wan about free will. Obviously, lose the “deathsticks” nonsense, but a suitably *alien* equivalent would be fine (spice, for an already-existing example). This allows us to see both the Jedi’s decline in adherence to orthodoxy and Obi-Wan’s inadequacy to be Anakin’s Master. It also gives Anakin additional reason to side with Palpatine in Episode III and consider the Jedi enemies of freedom and democracy.
- Speaking of which, this movie should begin Obi-Wan's train of thought that perhaps the Jedi have lost sight of orthodoxy, and while the Sith represent freedom without responsibility or compassion, the Jedi have become rigid legalists who are afraid to allow for personal attachment or emotional expression...?
- There needs to be more shown of Senator Palpatine’s involvement with Anakin, becoming more of a father figure to him than Obi-Wan is capable of being. Obi-Wan is still young, and was never really prepared to raise a son, much less train a Padawan. His behavior is that of a friend and a partner, not a father: he utterly fails when it comes to disciplining Anakin - he doesn’t really want to - and when forced to by the Council, he does so clumsily and in ways that makes Anakin think he’s becoming a jealous rival.
- Develop the friendship between Obi-Wan and Padme. This would come to a head in the next movie.
Revenge of the Sith -
- The friendship between Padme and Obi-Wan has grown deeper over the past few years, and Obi-Wan struggles with his attraction to the Senator. Anakin witnesses them together, and begins to suspect that the child Padme is carrying is not his, but Obi-Wan’s. His resentment of Obi-Wan grows into full-fledged hatred when Obi-Wan is named a Jedi Master, but Anakin is deemed unfit by the Council (who see the flaws in his character, though it cannot be denied that he has been mistreated by them over the years). Anakin, as a result, increasingly turns to Palpatine for advice, telling him that he considers him his true father.
- I wanted to see the Seperatists evolve into the Rebellion; I liked the irony and the poetic justice of the puppet military opposition manufactured by the Emperor becoming the force that would eventually defeat him. Good prevails while evil sows the seeds of its own destruction.
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Well, there's my thoughts for now. I could go on, especially if I had copies of the new trilogy to watch right now, but it occurs to me that I'm spending my summer vacation posting on forums instead of going outside and enjoying the beautiful day!
![biggrin.gif](http://www.chefelf.com/forums/public/style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)
#14
Posted 24 May 2005 - 03:14 PM
yes, this would work.
#15
Posted 24 May 2005 - 03:15 PM
This is a good point - the theater was packed with young kids when I went to see Episode III, and I was perturbed that the theater I went to showed some rather risque and violent previews ("Mr. and Mrs. Smith") before the movie.
Still, there's a lot of killing in Star Wars, and killing of children in Anakin's story, at least as it stands now. Granted, sex has been generally avoided as a topic (though Leia still got put into a slave outfit and collar...ahem), and sexual violence has been verboten, as far as I can see.
Perhaps Anakin's father was a good guy, killed early on? Maybe a fellow slave? Maybe Shmi's husband before the Sand People raided their village and sold them to slavers, killing him as he tried to defend them?