Where did the Prequals go wrong? How would you improve them?

[Stofsk]

The execution of the prequals is the problem, not the story. Spartan's is even worse.

I must have missed something; who wrote this?

[Stormbringer]

The prequels storyline is good, the problem lies in the directing and frankly, actors.

I have to disagree with you in part. The Phantom Menance was a total flop story wise and most of that rests on the basic story and the writing, not the actors (or the direction).

A run down of the basic flaws:

1) Lack of a gripping conflict

A tax dispute is about well, as exciting as your taxes. That was the big problem since it was a major let down compared to the galaxy spanning civil war. Had there been a good villian (and Maul would not have worked for a larger role, Dooku/Darth Tyrannus would) that wouldn't have been a problem. Instead we get battle droids that would have been better suited to Toys than the Phantom Menace and the middle management of Slug Co.

And of course this meant that the three way duel while cool is seriously lacking in the drama that drove the other duels. It would have been far better if Maul had done something more than glare and snarl before we had the fight.


2) Dumb Cast Decisions

Good child actors are rarer than gold, having a lousy one as the central hero hurt it. BADLY. George Lucas must have been smoking crack if he though seeming Darth fucking Vader as a snot nose brat would help the story at all. He could at least have made Anakin a teen and hence had a better actor pool.

Jar Jar, 'nough said.

3) Shitty Dialogue

This actually applies to all the films, but in the OT it was minimized because the cast had a freerer range to ad lib and it produced some of the better lines. In the PT there was none of that despite having an Oscar winner and some damn fine actors. Even the best actor can't turn shit into gold.

4) FX over story

Before George was concerned with telling a story, now he seems to be focused far more on the fancy FX toys he's created. Half the movie was spent on tangents that had bearing on the overall story designed mostly to show off the FX.

[Howedar]

The execution of the prequals is the problem, not the story. Spartan's is even worse.

I must have missed something; who wrote this?

Me.



I agree somewhat, Stormbringer. TPM was somewhat weak storywise, although I think the basic premise could have been made to work. Having a planet blockaded by the Trade Fed was not inheritly bad. If Naboo had had a real military, and the Trade Fed wasn't incompetent, most of the problem could have been averted right there. It was still somewhat small-scale compared to the rest of the SW stories, but that in and of itself is not reason to dismiss the movie.

[Asst. Asst. Lt. Cmdr. Smi]

In TPM, I would have hit myself for even thinking of putting Jar Jar in, made a less comical Gungan race, make Anakin a teenager instead of the cutsey child actor we got, and have the Speratist Movement start in this movie. Perhaps see more of Coruscant, and put a bigger space battle that doesn't end in Anakin "acciendtaly" destroying the power generator.

In AotC, I would have made improvements to the dialouge, and perhaps a few other small changes.

Episode III should be all about the Clone Wars, and should run as long as it is necessary to go from the start of the Clone Wars to the rise of the Empire in the course of the movie.

[Kurgan]

Episode I: Fall of the Republic

The Old Republic is rotting from political infighting and corruption after thousands of years of peace (having survived numerous wars with the Sith and countless other factions). The guardians of peace and justice in the Old Republic, the Jedi, have become complacent in their roles and do nothing to stop the slow disintegration.

The thousands of Jedi are not celibate and are trained in an Academy by Yoda (who is so enlightened and old, he has moved beyond the need for a lightsaber himself) and there are vast dynasties of Jedi families. Rarely are Jedi recruited from the general populance, but occasionaly a person suspected of having Force ability is "scanned" (by a technological device developed by the Jedi to detect their "aura"). This serves to further alienate the Jedi from the general populance, who regard them almost with superstition or fear.

Meanwhile a mysterious race known as the "Mandalorians" (whom all look like Boba Fett, complete with Jetpacks and Slave I type ships), seeing the weakness of the OR and their moment of opportunity for conquest, declare war on the Republic.

The Mandalorians use a forbidden and lost technology known as Cloning, through the use of Spaarti cylinders.

Unbeknownst to the rest of the government, Palpatine was the one who had secretly sold them the technology, through his contacts which span the galaxy. He is secretly building his OWN clones to be used against the Mandalorians.

The presence of Clones greatly shocks people in the OR and introduces paranoia. Rumors spread that Clones have inflitrated high offices in government. A prominent Jedi Master is revealed to have been dead for years and has been replaced by a clone.


The series of wars against the Mandalorian supercommandos becomes thus known as the "Clone Wars" which span the galaxy.

Episode II: Rise of the Empire

Senator Palpatine manipulates Trade bureacrats to support him and then finally stages a surprise coup, using the paranoia to quickly whip up popular support against the blasphemous methods of the Mandalorians and the percieved failure of the OR to deal with the threat, declaring himself Emperor.

Meanwhile he secretly grooms many Dark Force assasins and force adepts, culled from the Jedi's ranks to go on black ops missions for him, essentially to make sure his enemies die and to discredit the Jedi. He builds up the army, including the Stormtroopers, who are recruited from the most loyal families in the "Empire." Of the best and most promising, he creates the Royal Guardsmen as his personal body guards, and trains them in the ways of the Dark Side, to become low level force adepts as well as incredible hand to hand fighters, totally loyal to him.

Using the excuse of the clone infiltration, he tries and executes many Jedi before they finally stage a revolt, which is swiftly crushed (with the help of Anakin Skywalker, a Jedi Knight loyal to Palpatine). So begins the great "Jedi Purge."


Episode III: Last of the Jedi

Boba Fett, a lieutenant in the Mandalorian army, kills his superior officer and disapears, later surfacing as a bounty hunter for hire.

Anakin believes the "clone infiltration" theory and helps to hunt down and destroy his fellow Jedi, believing them to be traitors.

Anakin of course not only hated Obi-Wan because of Kenobi's loyalty to the Jedi over Palpatine but also because the idea (again planted by Palpatine) is that his wife's death (she was actually assasinated by Boba Fett, using a stolen lightsaber) is Kenobi's fault.

General Kenobi, who fought alongside Anakin (a great pilot and Jedi, trained by Yoda, the same master who instructed Obi-Wan) in the Clone Wars is betrayed by him (they fight a final duel, in which Kenobi thinks Anakin dies when he falls into some lava, but Anakin is rescued by Palpatine and repaired into Vader), but escapes. Yoda also escapes, but the last survivors of the Jedi (other than those two) are killed when their fleet is blown up on the way to hyperspace.

Falling to the Darkside and taking a long time to recuperate as a cyborg, Anakin little realizes that before his wife died she was able to give birth to twins (Luke & Leia) who are hidden on Alderaan and Tatooine.

Palpatine uses the war thus as an excuse for many awesome plans... a huge military budget that is cast into secret projects, mostly super weapons like the Galaxy Gun, Sun Crusher, Death Stars, etc. He also secretly experiments with the cloning technology and learns the Sith arts all in a bid to make himself the uncontested dictator for life (and make himself immortal by using clone bodies, since the dark side makes his body rapidly age). Palpatine enslaves various races (the Wookies, the Mon Calamari) in order to provide cheap labor for his projects, though this decision (like others) will eventually come to haunt him.

After a massive genocidal campaign (in which the final bits of the Clone technology is thought to be destroyed, but secretly confiscated and hidden by Palpatine along with the rest of the evidence) both against the Mandalorians and the Jedi, their entire race surrenders.

Kenobi has gone into hiding on Tatooine (to keep an eye on Luke) and Yoda disappears to Dagobah, where he defeats a Dark Side adept, and uses the residual "Dark Force" to cancel out his force signature in order to hide. Tatooine where Kenobi is is such a remote and crappy world that its the perfect place to hide.

Palpatine holds no long-lasting ill will towards Fett because the Mandalorians gave him the perfect opportunity to declare martial law and for his help in turning Anakin to the Dark Side.

Meanwhile Palpatine, a sexist and racist, has sent all the female/alien Admirals and Generals to the worst parts of the fighting to get killed or stationed them on remote outposts.

With Palpatine's power raging out of control, several members of the Imperial Senate begin secretly funding a Rebellion (centered on planets like Alderaan and Dantooine). Princess Leia and her "Father" Bail Organa, Garm Bel Ibis, and Mon Mothma are among them. C3PO and R2D2 are the household droids of the Antilles, a vassal of the royal Organa family.

This "Rebellion" begins with a series of terrorist actions and finally an actual battle, in which the Rebels win a surprise victory.

The Death Star is the first of the super weapons unveiled, because Palpatine sees that only fear will keep the systems in line, and he makes plans to dissolve the Senate once and for all. Darth Vader is at his side, the last (as far as anyone in Palpatine's government knows) Jedi Knight.

This sets the stage for "A New Hope...."

[Lord Poe]

Despite its flaws, I liked TPM. I like AOTC better than I do ROTJ now.

In TPM, I think the taxation of trade routes, the blockade, etc. were essential as it shows the beginnings of Palpatine's maneuvers behind the scenes.

Jar Jar just doesn't make sense. Why is this aquatic alien wearing clothes? Why does he have a surname like humanoids do? One of the bggest things TPM needed was a smart-ass along like Han Solo. So I'd put Watto in Jar Jar's place, constantly berating the Jedi, and making a pain in the ass of himself. I could see Jar-Jar in the Watto role, but as Jar Jar! I'd have had Anakin mind control him slightly so heand his mother were better treated than other slaves. I'd still have Qui-Gon unable to affect his mind, which would show just how powerful Anakin was at that age.

As for Anakin, I'd make him as old as Boba was in AOTC. And I'd keep the podrace. But with less comical aliens, and get RID of the announcer.

I'd show the suffering on Naboo.

I loved the Senate scene, with Palpatine influencing Amidala. Excellent, and I wouldn't change it a bit.

The Maul-Jedi fight has always bothered me. Qui-Gon should have challenged him alone, then Maul should have asked them BOTH to fight him, so we'd still have those great 2 against 1 scenes.

As for AOTC, yes, I'd shore up the romance scenes. I'd replace the deleted scenes with the ones leading up to the night where they discuss their relationship. I'd keep the one at the waterfall, though. It showed Anakin's political mindset.

[SPOOFE]

Episode I should have been the first twenty minutes of Episode II. Cut the Trade Federation blockade of Naboo - it's unnecessary - and jump right into the Seperatists plot. In the midst of dealing with that crisis, Obi-Wan Kenobi (sorry, guys, Qui-Gon Jinn was unnecessary) happens to be on Tatooine (investigating some of the goings-on) and witnesses a human bitch-whomp the other contenders in a pod-race... of which he only catches the last three minutes.

After that, he talks to a TEENAGE (Christ, the idea of a 9-year-old boning Natalie Portman is disturbing) Anakin, and decides to start training him.

NOW we start Episode II, pretty much from the assassination attempt onward. Anakin meets Amidala while he, as Obi-Wan's padawan, helps secure her quarters. The two become friends without any references to sand. The two become friends without any "Stop looking at me like that, it makes me uncomfortable" bullshit going on. THE TWO BECOME FRIENDS WITHOUT ARTIFICIAL COMPLICATIONS. It's very simple.

We trim down other scenes, to make room for the additional twenty minutes at the beginning. We lose Jar-Jar Binks. We lose the whole fiasco with Chancellor Valorum (unnecessary). But keep the diner scene... I like that scene. I like seeing the casual side of Star Wars.

Now, since Episode II is now Episode I, that leaves TWO episodes to depict the entirety of the Clone Wars, rather than just one. One episode to show how the Republic bitch-whomps everyone, and another episode to show the aftermath, the fall of the Jedi and the rise of the New Order.

[PainRack]

I have to disagree with you in part. The Phantom Menance was a total flop story wise and most of that rests on the basic story and the writing, not the actors (or the direction).

A run down of the basic flaws:

1) Lack of a gripping conflict

A tax dispute is about well, as exciting as your taxes. That was the big problem since it was a major let down compared to the galaxy spanning civil war. Had there been a good villian (and Maul would not have worked for a larger role, Dooku/Darth Tyrannus would) that wouldn't have been a problem. Instead we get battle droids that would have been better suited to Toys than the Phantom Menace and the middle management of Slug Co.

And of course this meant that the three way duel while cool is seriously lacking in the drama that drove the other duels. It would have been far better if Maul had done something more than glare and snarl before we had the fight.

But to show a gripping conflict would have been to destroy the exposition role TPM played. We needed to see how the "engines of commerce" were being playing off against the ideals of the Republic.

The problem lay in the pacing of the movie. It suffered from moving too slowly, non-existent buildup and a deflating climax.

4) FX over story

Before George was concerned with telling a story, now he seems to be focused far more on the fancy FX toys he's created. Half the movie was spent on tangents that had bearing on the overall story designed mostly to show off the FX.

Eye candy was certainly a factor, but frankly, I didn't feel that the prequels so far focused too much on FX at the expense of the storyline. FX was shown, but how was Obiwan evading a missile, droid armies rolling over the Gungan armies at the expense of the story?

[dworkin]

I too, liked the movies. Still, if I was the guy with all the moolah...

The Kid:
Anakin would of been 18 in TPM. His lines are those of someone that age and he's a guy who's done the equivalent of building a PC and a Hot-Rod. As for the scene with Padme as they're leaving Tatooine, that was not written with a 10 year old kid as one participant.

Star Wars is Epic SF.
I would of also gone for a more epic scale in the scenes that called for it, like the approach to Corruscant. Rather than fly through some clouds and into generic future city #12 I would of staged a night approach and have the entire hemisphere lit up and have a gradual zoom into the landing pad so that the audience knows that our heroes have landed in Trantor the Movie version. The battles, likewise could of been shown as much bigger, this is an entire planet being fought over, make the audience believe that.

Jar-Jar.
Jar-Jar could also of grown up. Sure he starts off as a goofball, but he doesn't have to stay that way. When the heroes return to Naboo Jar-Jar actually acts heroically in the battle against the villains. When we meet him as 'General Binks' in AOTC he becomes more believable. He is a war hero and is well respected even if he (unfortunatly for the Republic) is not the sharpest knife in the drawer politically.

[Darth Wong]

I think the prequels could have been better, but I also think they've been unfairly lambasted. The plots made sense, and while "taxation of trade routes" is an easy thing to mock, the Americans had no trouble making rhetorical hay out of taxation a couple of hundred years ago.

The real problems could have been solved with a few judicious changes.

TPM Suggestions

• Make Anakin older. He just starts too damned young, as many have noted.
• At the risk of emulating Peter Jackson's slightly quasi-masturbatory style, the FX shots showing Naboo, Coruscant, the Gungan city, and the Tradefed blockading fleet could have been LONGER, not shorter, with an emphasis on their beauty and grandeur.
• Make the battledroids less inept and comical. Show them slaughtering Gungans en masse, using real tactics, easily destroying a pitiful Naboo defense force during their initial landing, brutalizing the Naboo people, etc. Same for the TradeFed; the bad guys came off as bumbling idiots in this film, and it severely damaged any sense of suspense and tension.

AOTC suggestions

• Completely replace the entire Naboo romance subplot with a new version, rewritten from the ground up. In this version, they skip the talky scenes on the transport ship and we see a short cut of the transport landing on Naboo, then Amidala and Anakin at her parents' place. They're there just long enough for a few hints to be dropped when a Sith acolyte appears and tries to kill them. Anakin kills him, and they flee to Tatooine in order to draw attention away from her family (Anakin will later reveal that he suggested Tatooine because he wanted to save his mother). There are several more attempts on her life, including one in space, on her yacht. Each time, Anakin saves her, but he is often left battered and exhausted and she patches him up. Somewhere in the midst of this desperate ordeal, they fall in love.

[zombie84]

The single biggest flaw in TPM, and the biggest in the entire prequels IMO, is the ObiWan-Anakin issue. Qui Gon was a great character but his role with Obi Wan on Tatooine should have been reversed. Qui Gon stays onboard to protect the Queen while he sends his young Padawan out to search for parts--makes more sense from simply a practical point of view.

This way the crucial bond between Anakin and Obi Wan is reinforced. Obi Wan first discovers Anakin, Obi Wan sees his potential as a jedi, Obi Wan believes in him, Obi Wan frees Anakin from slavery and Obi Wan becomes Anakins father figure.

As it is, the prequels do not show a very good bond between the two, and not only that, they contradict the original trilogy in places. Anakin has a strong bond with Qui Gon but his relationship to Obi Wan is fairly non-existant. A simple reverse in roles would have done wonders for the characters--Qui Gon's death would still be dramatic and as he lays dying he says "Obi Wan, you are right, the boy is the chosen one...train him...". Obi Wan and Anakin would have been clearly established as a father-son team--imagine the tragedy and heartbreak when it all in ends in Episode III and they both end up killing each other.

[Howedar]

They're there just long enough for a few hints to be dropped when a Sith acolyte appears and tries to kill them. Anakin kills him, and they flee to Tatooine in order to draw attention away from her family (Anakin will later reveal that he suggested Tatooine because he wanted to save his mother). There are several more attempts on her life, including one in space, on her yacht. Each time, Anakin saves her, but he is often left battered and exhausted and she patches him up. Somewhere in the midst of this desperate ordeal, they fall in love.

This is not bad, but to me it strains credibility that they wouldn't eventually just use overwhelming numbers to try to take out Amidala. One attempt on her life is enough, but have Anakin be beaten up from that.

Maybe have some evasion on the way to Tatooine, but not tiny battle after tiny battle.

[Lord Poe]

I think the Anakin/Amidala roles should have been reversed, in terms of the love story. Anakin should have been a staunch Jedi, seeking perfection, Amidala should have been the one tempting him away from the order.

[Vympel]

I think the Anakin/Amidala roles should have been reversed, in terms of the love story. Anakin should have been a staunch Jedi, seeking perfection, Amidala should have been the one tempting him away from the order.

Got a bit of an Adam and Eve thing going ....

[Ender]

TPM

Standard setup, taxation, blockade, bla bla blah. However Naboo is a big trade port in addition to being this artsy fartsy place, like Venice used to be at the start of the exploration age. So blockading there is putting hunderds of other worlds at risk as well. Ship with the Jedi and some diplomats is coming in to aid the negotiations. Darth Maul is on the bridge of teCruiser, senses them, and orders the ship to open fire. The ship is shot down and crashes in the swamps. Nute Gungray gets on the phone to Amidala. He says she called in the Jedi to stop the Federation through force, and that negotiations are over. Important thing here is to play up that the Jedi are seen as this powerful group that is feared by most of the galaxy. On the ground, Jar Jar rescues Obiwan from the wreckage. Out of thanks, the Jedi bring him along. Instead of being this comical being, Jar Jar is a former criminal, exiled for his crimes (play up that the force guides their actions, so that while they are doing the right things and it will eventually work out right, they had to side with what society considers scum to do it). We see the Trade Federation land and utterly stomp the Naboo forces, show the brutality of the Naboo being put in camps and cities over run. Jedi sneak in and free the queen, go like that. TF contacts Sidious, they thank him for the warning of the Jedi and for Maul protecting them, but the Queen escaped. In a very ESB like seen, Sidious sends Maul to hound the Jedi to the ends of the galaxy. Go to Tatooine. Much like in the movie itself, only Anakin is older (say 13 to get some more symbolism in there), and bitter beyond his years. He ensure he and his mother get good treatment by mind controlling Watto, which Qui gon can't (more that he is the chosen one) He wins the podrace, keep the scene with him beating up Watto, then you get the Maul attacks qui gon sequence and they go to Coruscant. Much the same as before, Palpatine is clearly manipulating the situation. The queen accusses Valorum of sending in the Jedi without authporization like he did, and blames him (and the Jedi to a lesser degree) for the invasion, the deaths of the diplomats, and the deaths and brutality visited upon her people. Palpatine step up, and gives a big speech, with very grand, hitler-like arm motions, and rallys the senate. Valorum is done for. Palpatine and a group of senators all vote to send in the Navy, but the Republic has no army (play up how you have a small navy to protect agaisnt pirates, but an army is for taking and holding ground and enforcing your will on others) and orbital bombardment is out of the question. Jar Jar brings up that the Gungans have an army. A plan is hatched. Sidious gives the TF the order to let the the Jedi and Amidala land, but tells Maul to kill them in the battle, they are too close to finding out about the involvement of the sith, and tells them the battle plan, he hopes to prolong the conflict. They meet with the gungans, the gungans agree, and the battle commences. Maul takes on Obi wan and Qui gon in a prolonged and more violent fight, the Gungans attack the droids in Theed in an extremely D-day like assault (Jar jar and amidala in command), and overhead the republic dreadnaughts battle the TF Cruisers. The ground battele is going well, but the Navy is losing, and then the TF will be able to hit them with orbit, and they lack the artillary to respond against the ships. Then Anakin takes out the Main cruiser as it prepares to fire. Loss of their command ship and republic reinforcements convince the Federation to surrender. Qui gon dies, but Obi wan kills Maul (and you keep the "This is the end for you, and the begining of the end for all Jedi" line that was cut after the first draft fo the script). We see Yoda the sole vote that Anakin not be made a Jedi, and then the victory celebration.

AOTC.

Largely the same, but Padme is playing the role of a cocktese and leading Anakin away from the Jedi, incorporate more of the Jungian myth and have it be that Anakin must be a knight before he can wed, so now darkness leads to quick power to achieve knighthood so he can marry the girl who is toying with him. Stress the fact that they are in lust, not love, and contrast that with Han and Leia in the OT.

Episode 3

Obi-wan has a new apprentice in addition to Anakin and they are both headed to darkenss, in the final fight both fall in the pit so that this way the "I am your father" still has the impact becuse you were led to believe that Vader was the other apprentice, not Anakin.

[Ender]

Oh, and at the end of AOTC we learn that the CIS is growing clones now as well to supplement its driods-- it will truely be a clone war.

[Lord Poe]

Got a bit of an Adam and Eve thing going ....

A bit! I thought Anakin, as a future Vader, would be more headstrong in his Jedi beliefs. But we all know how pussy can lead one astray!

[PainRack]

AOTC suggestions

• Completely replace the entire Naboo romance subplot with a new version, rewritten from the ground up. In this version, they skip the talky scenes on the transport ship and we see a short cut of the transport landing on Naboo, then Amidala and Anakin at her parents' place. They're there just long enough for a few hints to be dropped when a Sith acolyte appears and tries to kill them. Anakin kills him, and they flee to Tatooine in order to draw attention away from her family (Anakin will later reveal that he suggested Tatooine because he wanted to save his mother). There are several more attempts on her life, including one in space, on her yacht. Each time, Anakin saves her, but he is often left battered and exhausted and she patches him up. Somewhere in the midst of this desperate ordeal, they fall in love.

I don't know about this.
IMO, Anakin and Padme love story could be great, if in Eps III, Padme realise that the Anakin she loves is not the real Anakin, but a fictional illusion created by Anakin and her need for a lover to share her physical and emotional needs with. But then again, if GL take this approach, it would have to be much better executed.

Same as how Jar Jar being set up to be the fall guy for Palpy in Eps I and II will need to be better executed.

[Stormbringer]

But to show a gripping conflict would have been to destroy the exposition role TPM played. We needed to see how the "engines of commerce" were being playing off against the ideals of the Republic.

You assume that exposition and an attention grabbing conflict are mutually exclusive. They are most certainly not and it's just lazy thinking to suggest they are.

Some of the best scenes were seeing Palpatine manipulate people and do it so well. We should have seen some thing like that, something that presents a real threat we can take seriously. We know a nasty coniving Sith Lord was pulling the strings, why couldn't that have been shown to better effect?

The problem lay in the pacing of the movie. It suffered from moving too slowly, non-existent buildup and a deflating climax.

Yup.

Eye candy was certainly a factor, but frankly, I didn't feel that the prequels so far focused too much on FX at the expense of the storyline. FX was shown, but how was Obiwan evading a missile, droid armies rolling over the Gungan armies at the expense of the story?

That wasn't. But what was the point of the obnoxius "core" sequence? Things like that intterupted the story for little benefit.

[LMSx]

I would have liked to have seen a darker, >almost< Terminator-esqe "plague" of droids deployed by.....well, hell, I guess the Trade Federation would have to do, in Ep 1.

The second movie would set up the need for expendable clones to throw at the droids, (kill ratios are HORRENDOUS) and the third begins with the droids falling to the wayside and the clones, going rogue, beginning to engage in the sort of hideous warfare that lets generals like Obi-Wan and etc. etc. emerge. The Spaarti tanks at Wayland in the Zahn trilogy are explained as Palpatine justifying his wartime powers by creating the bogeyman threat from smaller groups of clones emerging from time to time on the Outer Rim.

The synopsis is pretty vague, though, because there's probably an engaging Obi-Wan/Anakin plot I'm totally missing.

[PainRack]

You assume that exposition and an attention grabbing conflict are mutually exclusive. They are most certainly not and it's just lazy thinking to suggest they are.

Some of the best scenes were seeing Palpatine manipulate people and do it so well. We should have seen some thing like that, something that presents a real threat we can take seriously. We know a nasty coniving Sith Lord was pulling the strings, why couldn't that have been shown to better effect?

Because to have shown the Sith Lord manipulating the strings, would have been to drop the bomb too early. Remember, they cut out the scene of Count Dooku sentencing Padme for that exact same reason.

How can a conflict be attention grabbing? We cannot make it a grand conflict, because its not. The movie is designed to show the symptoms of Republic rule failing, not to show the Republic falling. We also cannot make any conflict on a heroic scale, because the TF needs to exist in Eps II.

Let me ask you a single question, would ANH have been as interesting, if the Death star was not destroyed? Yet, in orginal drafts of the script, there was a battle to retain the existence of the Death Star for later movies, however, the lack of funding forced Lucas to compress his story arc into a single standalone movie.

That wasn't. But what was the point of the obnoxius "core" sequence? Things like that intterupted the story for little benefit.

Other than to showcase the relationship between Qui Gon, Obiwan and Jar Jar? There was already precious few screentime to indicate the closeness between Qui Gon and Obiwan. Consider that the fatherly figure of a Jedi has been a key symbol throughout the OT. Obiwan, Yoda, and ultimately Anakin Skywalker, all of them were father figures.

[Stormbringer]

Because to have shown the Sith Lord manipulating the strings, would have been to drop the bomb too early. Remember, they cut out the scene of Count Dooku sentencing Padme for that exact same reason.

Well if the intention was to hide it, then he did a crappy job. We saw the both the Sith Lords early on and we all know Palpatine is behind it so trying to make it a suprise when it wasn't just left the movie floundering with out a decent villian.

How can a conflict be attention grabbing? We cannot make it a grand conflict, because its not. The movie is designed to show the symptoms of Republic rule failing, not to show the Republic falling. We also cannot make any conflict on a heroic scale, because the TF needs to exist in Eps II.

It doesn't have to show the fall of the Republic. What happened in TPM could have been made to work had it been done right.

You can make even a small conflict dramatic if you give the audience a reason to care about the conflict. That requires setting up villians that the audience really believes are a threat to the heroes. It should have something more for a villian than a bunch of idiots and their toy-soldier armies.

Let me ask you a single question, would ANH have been as interesting, if the Death star was not destroyed? Yet, in orginal drafts of the script, there was a battle to retain the existence of the Death Star for later movies, however, the lack of funding forced Lucas to compress his story arc into a single standalone movie.

That's a rather moronic analogy. Did the defeat at Yavin make the Empire disappear? Nope, they didn't and in fact they were back and out for blood.

Other than to showcase the relationship between Qui Gon, Obiwan and Jar Jar?

And that waste of time did it how? Okay, it did establish that everyone hates Jar Jar but that happened as soon as he opened his mouth.

There was already precious few screentime to indicate the closeness between Qui Gon and Obiwan. Consider that the fatherly figure of a Jedi has been a key symbol throughout the OT. Obiwan, Yoda, and ultimately Anakin Skywalker, all of them were father figures.

That doesn't mean he has to waste time on stuff like the core scene. He established that same sort of relationship between Ben Kenobi and Luke easily and with out the need to for wasted scenes.

Face it, The Phantom Menace was simply badly done. The conflict was pretty dull most of the time, the main villians laughable bumblers, and the plot over stuffed with rather needless side tracks.

[Lord Pounder]

What the prequals needed is something that can never happen. 5 words Natalie Portman Full Frontal Nudity. From there you have no need for much else it'd be a hit.

[SPOOFE]

This way the crucial bond between Anakin and Obi Wan is reinforced. Obi Wan first discovers Anakin, Obi Wan sees his potential as a jedi, Obi Wan believes in him, Obi Wan frees Anakin from slavery and Obi Wan becomes Anakins father figure.

... Which would make Obi-Wan seem all the more idiotic when his prodigy turns to the Dark Side.

Kenobi is intelligent. He sees the dangerous aspects of training Anakin, and acts cautiously as a result, giving him training and discipline, rather than the coddling that Qui-Gon would have done.

[zombie84]

yes--thats the tragedy of Obiwan. That he failed, and his failure cost the galaxy billions of lives and he has to bear the burden of his arrogance, his failure, while the galaxy is plunged into darkness and everyone he knows is killed. Thats the way it was written, and it was brilliant writting, but for some reason Lucas changed it at the last moment.