What if The Phantom Menace was good?

[Dasquian Belargic]

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[Morgan Evanar]

Holy craaaaaaaaaaap. This guy is completely correct.

[Dasquian Belargic]

I know right? It would have been such a great movie :ohno

[Emelie Shadowstar]

Ohgod... WHYYYYY? This guy needs to go back in time and dispose of Lucas and impersonate him and make this movie. ;_;

[Lilaena De'Ville]

That was so spot on and awesome that it made me really sad. :cry

[Crusader]

The problem with this video is that it might fix "Episode 1" but it offers no good advice how to fix the way more stupid Attack of the Clones.

To me Episode One is still the best prequel movie. Episode Two makes no sense and Episode Three always feels forced and constructed.

[Wei Wu Wei]

True. Episode II and III would have to be totally re-written if Episode I went like he suggests. But I do think making the prequel Trilogy about Obi-Wan was the way to do it.

After all, I only really watched the prequels for Obi-Wan because I wanted to know what he was like before he was a wizened old man.

[Dragon]

Yes, II and III would have to be totally rewritten, and I could not conceive of that as anything other than a good thing. This version of Episode I actually sets up plot threads that are worth returning to in later movies, like Obi-Wan's feud with Darth Maul, who is potentially a far more effective villain than Dooku.

At the risk of ending all three movies on a down note, I'd see Episode II ending with Obi-Wan cutting down Maul but losing Anakin to the Dark Side. The Episode III villain is Darth Vader, who wages a terrifyingly effective campaign against the Jedi and helps to propel Palpatine onto the Imperial throne. Now the duel on Mustafar has much more personal and emotional context, as we haven't rushed directly from "What have I done?" to "Sure, I'll kill a bunch of children for you!"

Lose the tripe about Anakin being "the chosen one," or a virgin birth. Tone back Palpatine being an invincible puppet master whose plans work even when they make no sense. Give the relationship between Padme and Anakin a chance to grow during the adventure (a la Han and Leia) rather than halting the plot to give us Lucas's horrible romantic dialogue. Show, don't tell. Give us a reason to care about what's happening on screen.

I'm surprised at how much of the original plot this guy used, but it goes to show that, for all the hate it gets, Episode I is the least broken of the prequels.

[Wei Wu Wei]

Yes, II and III would have to be totally rewritten, and I could not conceive of that as anything other than a good thing. This version of Episode I actually sets up plot threads that are worth returning to in later movies, like Obi-Wan's feud with Darth Maul, who is potentially a far more effective villain than Dooku.

At the risk of ending all three movies on a down note, I'd see Episode II ending with Obi-Wan cutting down Maul but losing Anakin to the Dark Side. The Episode III villain is Darth Vader, who wages a terrifyingly effective campaign against the Jedi and helps to propel Palpatine onto the Imperial throne. Now the duel on Mustafar has much more personal and emotional context, as we haven't rushed directly from "What have I done?" to "Sure, I'll kill a bunch of children for you!"

Lose the tripe about Anakin being "the chosen one," or a virgin birth. Tone back Palpatine being an invincible puppet master whose plans work even when they make no sense. Give the relationship between Padme and Anakin a chance to grow during the adventure (a la Han and Leia) rather than halting the plot to give us Lucas's horrible romantic dialogue. Show, don't tell. Give us a reason to care about what's happening on screen.

I'm surprised at how much of the original plot this guy used, but it goes to show that, for all the hate it gets, Episode I is the least broken of the prequels.


THIS.

I would love to see an Episode II and III like that. Think if we wrote this up and mailed it with a petition to Disney, they'd do this?

[Lilaena De'Ville]

If they (not Disney) can reboot Superman every ten years I don't see why not.

They won't though. :cry

[Droo]

Attempting to pick out the best prequel is like trying to decide upon my favourite STD. I couldn't possibly comment on which is worst nor would I care to rationalise my choice. As such, I'm quite happy not to revisit any of those films, regardless of revisions, and I'm sure Disney has the intelligence to disassociate itself from that trilogy as much as it possibly can. No flogging of dead horses, please!

That said, the proposed amendments to the script do indeed offer a tantalising glimpse at what could've been if, you know, people with talent had been involved in making the prequels. C'est la vie!

[Darth Turbogeek]

TBH, RedLetterMedia did a much better disection of why TPM was so godawful. There's a lot more than just what is said here - fundamentally George Lucas was a terrible filmmaker and there's real getting around that.

[Vince]

TBH, RedLetterMedia did a much better disection of why TPM was so godawful. There's a lot more than just what is said here - fundamentally George Lucas was a terrible filmmaker and there's real getting around that.

I think George was a horrible writer/director. His intellectual property was glorious when he was humble enough to allow someone else to work with his vision and edit it. As a producer he seemed competent enough, but the prequel trilogy seems like he threw his first drafts out on the coffee table and everyone said, "Amazing! Let's do it!" without actually reading it.

[Captain Untouchable]

I'm a week or two late to the party on this... but I think it's worth noting that some of the things the guy hit upon actually wound up happening in the Clone Wars series. While the series has three main characters, each episode/arc focuses on one of them at a time usually; Darth Maul eventually returned as a recurring villain with a major beef against Obi Wan, and their clashes were epic; Obi Wan had a sort-of love interest who [spoiler]was actually killed by Darth Maul in a kind of tragic way in the end[/url]; Sidious is pulling way more strings... there were more, but I can't remember them off the top of my head.

I have a hard time hating the prequels. I don't think they're good... I just can't manage to summon up all that much bile and rage about something that on some level I do sort of enjoy. That level is mostly a visual "Oh shit lasers and space ships!" one, but I got enough fun and enjoyment out of the movies to say that I'm better off having watched them than having not. I don't want the 136 minutes I spent watching Episode I back; the same is true for all the prequels.

That said, the guy has some really solid points. Making the prequels about Obi Wan but the overarching story about Vader is particularly smart, as was the whole echoing the originals thing. I wonder if he'll go on to do follow-ups for the other prequels... it would be interesting to see how he'd retell those events within the framework he's already established.

[Wei Wu Wei]

TBH, RedLetterMedia did a much better disection of why TPM was so godawful. There's a lot more than just what is said here - fundamentally George Lucas was a terrible filmmaker and there's real getting around that.


I agree about RedLetterMedia's review, but the 20 minute break for the fake abduction thing in the basement was totally unnecessary and not at all humorous.

I just like that the guy in the video actually bothers to offer constructive criticism and doesn't do the whole thing in a nasal, deadpan voice.

[Dasquian Belargic]

RedLetterMedia is entertaining (for the most part), but I have to applaud a guy who in 12 minutes can outline a way to turn a poor film into an excellent one.

[Lilaena De'Ville]

RLM illustrated how Lucas was a terrible director, but I think this guy does a better job fixing the storyline.

[Crusader]

This video is so effective because it is constructive criticism unlike 99% of criticism that you find on the internet.

[Droo]

It is not a critique. The role of a critic is to assess something for what it is, not what it should be, and a critic is certainly not supposed to provide alternatives. If film critics did that, for example, they wouldn't be film critics, but screenwriters.