I know what you are thinking–more prequel bashing. Not here! Although we enjoy the prequels, in this post we’ll discuss the 10 things that we’d change if we had the chance. We will do a similar post about the Orginal Trilogy soon too. Not ony that, there are two of us (mazlow01 and davestrrr) and we don’t even agree on what should be changed! Let’s begin:
Things that would be changed by mazlow01:
1) No Qui-Gon Jinn. Merge his character and Obi-Wan in TPM.
davestrrr: I have to disagree about #1 with Qui-Gon! He is essential. He is the guy that had the view about the Living Force before anyone else, and ultimately who discovered retaining awareness after death. Maybe it could work if everything was shifted around. Also, you have the parallels between Obi Wan’s “death” in ANH and Qui-Gon’s death in TPM.
Mazlow01: See I would merge those qualities into Obi-wan, he’d be the outcast Jedi Knight not yet made a master, though with his ability alone should have already. TPM would end with him becoming a Master and being able to choose Anakin as his Padawan. As far as learning to live on after death that could be something he figures out with Anakin. Anakin’s obsession with keeping people alive after losing his mother and Obi-wan working with him tempering his ambition.
2) No Darth Maul! Merge him and Dooku together- Show Dooku on the Council mention him leaving after the duel on Naboo
davestrrr: On #2, it may work as you have it. Depends on how it is done. It does seem a little weird that there are so many bad guys in the prequels and so few in the OT, so maybe merging a couple would be better.
Mazlow01: That was my goal. I’d also add in Grievous to TPM. Make him the general in control of the droid army control ship. He becomes the cyborg we see in ROTS because of his injuries escaping the droid control ship when Anakin blows it up. You could also show Dooku as the one objecting to Anakin becoming a Jedi instead of Mace looking like the bad guy.
3) Have Anakin Build R2 not C3PO- A mechanic would like an astromech more than a protocol droid. A queen would need a protocol droid
davestrrr: I like #3, that does make some sense. Maybe because of all the gadgets that R2 has makes it impractical to be built by a kid, and after all, Anakin built C3P0 for his mom.
Mazlow01: I don’t know why a Protocol droid would be of any help to his mom anyway. I think R2 being built by Anakin would explain his personality and why he has so many cool things.
4) Have Anakin made a Knight at the end of AOTC and given the choice by the council of marrying Padme or staying with the Jedi to one day be a Master. Anakin chooses Padme, Palpatine asks him to be his liaison to the Jedi.
davestrrr: With #4, I don’t have a problem with your idea, but I also don’t consider this a flaw in the prequels. I thought it that sequence of the marriage and joining the council in RotS worked for me.
Mazlow01: The idea here is give Anakin more reason to not trust the Council and to resent them. Also it allows Palpatine to influence him more. I think people have a problem buying into why Anakin turns so quickly. This gives us reasons for distrust of the Jedi and trust in Palpatine
5) Have the Sith lighting show Palpatine’s true age… he is 200 plus that is why Anakin believes he can save Padme.
davestrrr: For #5 that is an interesting idea. One thing that people complain about with RotS is how quickly Anakin turns to the darkside. Maybe if he had confidence that he could save Padme because he sees that Palpatine is really old, then that might have been more believable.
Mazlow01: Thank you! This plus number 4 gives us reasons why Anakin would turn. It would help prove that Plagueis COULD keep people alive through the force and give us a good reason for the emperor’s appearance.
Things that would be changed by davestrrr:
1) Introduce the villains briefly an episode earlier (introduce Dooku in TPM, and Greivous in AotC). This way the trilogy holds together a little better.
Mazlow01: I like this idea… the villains just seem one note the way they were in the PT. Sure Dooku survives AotC but then he turns around and dies in the first 15 min of RotS. It was just a waste of good potential.
davestrrr: I agree on the wasted potential on Dooku. Given that he was probably ordering the clones during TPM, including him in a scene could have gone a long way.
2) Make the clone troopers in AotC, and maybe RotS, practical costumes. The CGI on them got better in RotS, but with AotC, they just don’t look real. I would have done all the clones practical, and then digitally copy them for the big scenes.
Mazlow01: GOOD LORD YES! I tend to fall into the trap of fixing story elements because I want to avoid the idea of blaming the green screen but this is one place where the movie suffered.
davestrrr: Yeah, I think this was a sore thumb in AotC. Scenes like when they were boarding the Republic Star Cruiser at the end of AotC just didn’t seem lifelike enough for me.
3) Have an older Anakin in TPM. I think having a 10 year old and different actor was a bit rocky. It may have flowed better if they used the same actor throughout. It could have paralleled the OT better if it was the same actor.
Mazlow01: Again I agree here. Starting him as say a 14-16 year old vs a 10 year old just gives certain story elements more heft.
davestrrr: Yeah, I think that’s it. However, I can also see that Anakin needed to be a certain height, and the timing makes the growth spurt that the actor may or may not have difficult to predict. I’m guessing that might be part of the decision.
4) I would have titled AotC something like “The Clones Retaliate!” to make the grammar more similar to ESB.
Mazlow01: On this one I disagree completely. I love the title Attack of the Clones. I can’t explain why it just hits me.
davestrrr: Interesting. Yeah, it is kind of an interesting title. My biggest thing is that too many titles are “blank of the blank”, so one less might be good.
5) I think it would have been cool it have a scene with the ordering of the clones in TPM. This would tie the trilogy together I think.
Mazlow01: See I don’t think its needed. Having them be an unexplained doesn’t hurt anything. At best a closing scene with Sidious and lets say Dooku with a “You’ve seen to our friends on Kamino?” “Yes my master the next stage has begun as you have foreseen” it would give us a view but nothing direct.
davestrrr: Maybe you’re right. The mystery might have been lost if a scene preceded AotC. Tough to tell.
In closing…
Mazlow01: As a close out I would like to point out neither of us mentioned Jar-Jar and I want to now. I don’t necessarily like him BUT I know tons of kids that thought he was great. I could see making him a Han Solo type- Gungan smuggler bringing in Naboo stuff that is against the law and that’s why he was banished. But I honestly don’t think he needed to be fixed.
davestrrr: Yeah, I actually don’t have many major problems with Jar Jar. We are probably different in that respect. The thing is, Jar Jar was annoying in a way because his character was supposed to be annoying. The other characters even verbalized it, for example Obi Wan saying “Why do I get the feeling we’ve picked up another pathetic life form”. It was Qui-Gon that saw Jar Jar’s value and brought him along. In the end, it paid off. Part of being a Jedi is seeing the inherent value in someone that goes beyond clumsiness or behavior that could be seen as annoying.