Definitive List of Inconsistences between the OT and PT?

Wow! This one has gotten big.

Umm... let me see. I remember reading somewhere (no, I can't find it) that Lucas conceded that the "origin" story he had for the prequels were some notes that he had written while constructing the OT. Now, having written a couple of screenplays (student stuff, no I'm not a pro... yet) and having a brother that is an up and coming novelist, it is important to give any major characters and events a back story. Even if it is never actually "shown" it is important so that you as the writer know where your characters came from, their motivations, and the beginnings of the events that are taking place in the story. If you have a character who dislikes women, you have to know why, ie: his mother was cheating on his father with every guy she could find and he caught her and it ended in a bitter divorce, hence his distrust for women and relationships. So Lucas did this for his characters. I still don't believe that he thought up the Luke and Leia/bro and sis storyline until they were actually filming ROTJ, but that's neither here nor there.

Having said all that, I remember reading that the PT is based on those notes he created so many years ago. However, it was stated that the first two, Phantom Menace and AOTC, made up only 20-30% of that entire draft. That's combined. So, at most, each film was only 15% of whatever sort of treatment he had written all those years ago. The remaining 70-80% of that draft was Revenge of the Sith. Now, what I'm saying is, he took that tiny amount of backstory, that 15% and stretched it out to make Phantom Menace; then took another 15% and made Attack of the Clones. The only "real" story he had written back then was the actual fall of Anakin: that he was a great Jedi in the golden age of the Republic and was seduced to the Dark Side, turned traitor, sold out his fellow Jedi, killed his wife, didn't know about the kid(s), dueled with Obi-Wan and lost, and became Darth Vader. The majority of the story written had to do with that, so Mr. Lucas "created" the rest of the PT from scratch with no "true" knowledge of what had come before, where Anakin was from, who Palps was, Qui-Gon was an invention, the way the Jedi worked, etc... I maintain that that is the reason the first two feel so long and drawn out, they were fillers.

I mean, think about it. The first two prequels could've easily been condensed into 20-30 minutes each. They were first acts, set ups; not self-contained stories.

Inconsistencies run rampant throughout the PT, and now the "Saga", because Lucas didn't take the time to flesh out the story. It seems rushed to me. If it was something he felt so strongly about making, he should've taken the time to work every angle. To baby this project and bring in help if necessary. Sorry if this sounds like ranting, I'm just trying to show why the PT doesn't fit right.

As for him not starting with Phantom Menace, it's because he didn't know there was an Episode I. He didn't know anybody named Darth Maul or Qui-Gon Jinn or Sidious or Anakin's "virgin birth." He started with Star Wars because that was the story. It's like Homer's The Iliad. It starts at the end of a 10 year war! How cool is that? It drops you right in the middle of this huge war between nations! That's drama. Do we need to read about those other ten years? No, they are incidental. The important part of the story is how it ends, not how it starts. Besides, through the course of the story we learn how it all started. Just like the OT. Anakin was a great Jedi, turned on his people and his master, and became the most evil badass the galaxy has ever seen. Isn't it more dramatic and intense to hear it, than be shown it? Isn't he way more intimidating to know that he betrayed everyone he ever loved for power? That he may have killed his own wife? Lucas killed all the mystique and magic of the OT by showing things that didn't need to be shown. Now Vader is nothing but a whiney little bitch in a big black suit that suffers from some pretty bad asthma.

Inconsistencies abound because Lucas took some scribbled notes from 20+ years ago to cash in. If it was a truly creative thing he was attempting, he would've taken the time to nurture the story and the characters so it all worked well within the PT story and then carried over into the OT. If it is really his "baby" he would've injected just a little bit of love into it so it would be sure to become as classic as the OT before it.

Almost done. Sorry.

The EU. Lucas goes out of his way to ignore the EU, until it serves his purpose. He could've easily borrowed from, or at the very least acknowledged the EU within the PT but he didn't. He purposely ignored multiple ideas and stories that had been done in the EU. Boba Fett for example. The Jedi for another. Then, when he realizes that there are so many things he didn't explain he turns to the same EU he ignores to "fix" the problems. Sifo Dyas, Grievous, Dooku, Sidious. Even the CLONE WARS for God's sake!! He never did this with the OT. He didn't rely on anything outside of the films to tell his story. Why now? Why rely so heavily on the EU for the PT?

Think about. Who is Sifo Dyas? He's mentioned in AOTC, but who is he? If you know, then you've read the books and comics. That's cool, I have too. But how sad is that? If you were just a person watching the movies with no knowledge of the EU stuff, wouldn't you be a little bit lost? I can't tell you how many people I've had to tell that the reason Grievous is coughing and breathing hard is because Mace Windu crushed his chest in a fight they had during the Clone Wars. You know what they ask me? Where did that happen in the movies?

Exactly. It's poor storytelling. If this was Lucas' vision, the story he truly wanted to tell all those years ago, why aren't these things answered within the films? The OT doesn't rely on the EU at all because there was no EU. He should've acted as though the EU doesn't exist while working on the PT. He did when it suited him, or when someone had told a better story than him. He should've explained it all within the context of the film, and I swear he would've had a stronger PT and "saga" altogether.

Sorry for the rant.

Had to get it out.

This post has been edited by Jedi_Arco: 01 June 2006 - 01:49 PM

Thank you both for the positive comments. I really do appreciate it. Sometimes I get carried away and don't know when I'm making sense, and when I'm just ranting.

And I try to make it a point not to flame on anyone, anywhere, or to shoot back at someone with the obligatory "You're a stupidhead because I disagree with you, and if I disagree, then you must be wrong. Nah!"

It's not constructive and just dissolves into 3rd grade name-calling and the like. If I don't have anything nice to say, I won't say anything at all.

Ah.. Thumper and his wisdom.

Anyway, thank you again for the encouraging words. I have lurked here for over a year now and coming from you guys it's a big deal to me. Arco out.