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The problem with young Obi-Wan is that he has to have got to the age in EpIV where he can legitimately say 'I'm getting too old for this'. As it stands now, it makes little sense to me as he's only in his early 60's, which is actually younger than Mace was when he dueled Palpetine IIRC. You could get around this by making the films many years apart, but then you risk them feeling disjointed by time rather than a connected trilogy, much as the gap between EpI and II feels now. I agree with making Yoda and Sideous mysterious, seldom seen background figures, but it does cause problems with Anakin's fall. Maybe if Sideous only emerges from the films to rescue Vader from the lake of fire... It's something that needs thought. One of the important things to me with this project is not leaving plot holes with the OT. I don't want to make these plans into a drawn out love letter to the OT, but I do want to make sure they mesh together better than the current PT and OT. On the filming and art style of this, a rule should be minimal to no CG. Blue screening is fine, modeling and advanced animatronics is fine, but if there's ever a scene with more than window views, lightsaber blades and a lava lake filled in with CGI something has gone wrong. Thrawn posted:or maybe just convincing him to come with him on some "idealistic crusade". Doesn't mean Yoda has to be shown at all.
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Jan 4, 2011 23:03
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Bene Elim posted:One of the important things to me with this project is not leaving plot holes with the OT. I don't want to make these plans into a drawn out love letter to the OT, but I do want to make sure they mesh together better than the current PT and OT. Like everyone else here, I've thought a bit about how I would have liked the prequels to have played out. One of the problematic things for me is tying it together with the OT. For instance, how do you explain the fact that Luke is placed on a backwater planet with his aunt and uncle (this raises another set of questions: what is Owen and Beru's relation to Anakin/Luke/Obi-Wan? I think my preferred solution is making Owen into Obi's brother, like it was originally planned) while Leia is raised by royalty on Alderaan? This issue is completely sidestepped in the PT, of course, probably because Lucas just couldn't think of a reasonable explanation. There are plenty of other questions; why does Yoda go into hiding on Dagobah while Obi stays behind on Tatooine to watch over Luke? Again, Lucas just shipped them off at the end of the film without giving any real reason. I guess these are kind of minor details, though. The way I like to imagine the prequels is with Obi-Wan encountering Anakin as a brash, young pilot (or "navigator on a spice freighter"?) and convincing him to join him on some sort of mission connected to a galactic war. This doesn't even have to be the Clone Wars. I don't think a couple of mentions in ANH mean that these wars have to be a focal point; this is primarily because I don't think cloning as a theme is a very good fit for Star Wars. It was horribly botched in the PT, of course, but I just don't care for the idea of clone soldiers or cloned Jedi in general. I also like the idea of dropping the Sith thing altogether. It's never mentioned in the OT, and I think Lucas made a mistake in relying too much on the EU when he wrote the prequels. I don't care about making them fit in with all the poo poo that's been produced after the OT. Palpatine could be a fallen Jedi, dark Jedi, or just some kind of mystical wizard who no one can figure out. By making the Sith an established order that the Jedi are aware of, it just raises the question of how they can possibly miss the fact that Palpatine is a Sith lord.
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Jan 4, 2011 23:39
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I just realised Unce Owen lied to Luke that his dad was some rear end in a top hat drug transporter. Of course the alternative isn't as good but still, no wonder he was a whiny teenager.
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Jan 4, 2011 23:44
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While we're in rewrite/fanfiction mode, I have an interesting idea. What if the Prequel Trilogy doesn't show Anakin's full transformation into Darth Vader? Instead the trilogy only foreshadows it. And not the dumb forshadowing where his shadow suddenly looks like Vader. I mean foreshadowing where the story and characterization show that Anakin treads a precarious edge. The reason I'm leaving out Anakin's transformation into Vader is, well, it wasn't interesting. Every fan knew Anakin would fall to the Dark Side. Every fan knew Obi-wan subsequently fucks him up, necesitating the suit. The problem is that if you make these events the climax of the third movie, then what do you have for an ending, if there's no further progress in the hero's goals until at least 18 years later? Okay so Vader is defeated. Except he isn't. The twins go to their respective homes...uh, yay? Yes, ESB was a very qualified happy ending, but because the entire Third Act was focused on Vader's desire to turn him to the Dark Side while showing the sheer force the Empire could bring to bear in hunting a few individuals, it still feels like the heroes accomplished something when all they did was run away. At the very least, if you are going to include an Anakin vs Obi-wan fight, try to do it in a way that the fans wouldn't expect it. So here's my rewrite. Lots of inspiration from other goons that have been sperging out here. Episode I is the opening salvo of the Clone Wars: a massive Mandolorian invasion fleet arriving in orbit around Naboo, which is located near the Republic/Mando border. We are introduced to the main characters of the series early on. Obi-wan (age 30) is on the planet doing peacetime Jedi activity partly because the invasion was unexpected, and partly to teach his cocky Padawan Anakin (no younger than 16) some humility. When the dropships start to land in Theed, Obi-wan and Anakin switch gears and begin mitigating civilian casualties, not fighting unless they have to (emphasizing that the Mandos are a serious threat). There are glimpses of the main villian of the PT, A Mandolorian general/noble who is almost certainly not related to Boba Fett. As Obi-wan and Anakin debate their next move, a young woman named Padme approaches them and offers a ridiculous sum of money to get her off the planet. They turn to a Gungan smuggler named Tarpels to fly them off the planet, but the group is continously hounded by Mandolorians and Gungan soldiers that the Mandolorians have coopted through race politics. Eventually, our heroes discover that the Mandos are using clones, and that Padme is the last surviving member of the Naboo royal house. Tarpels gets them off Naboo, but they are forced to land on a podunck planet that is NOT Tatooine due to damage to Tarpels' ship. Anticipating that the Mandolorians will send a detachment to follow them, Obi-wan rallies the planets meager defense force. Anakin leads them into battle and drives off the invaders through a combination of quick jury-rigging and deft piloting. The movie ends with the heroes deeper in Republic territory, where Padme is crowned Queen while still in exile, and she vows to personally lead the liberation of Naboo. Episode II takes place 2 years later. The war has gone bad for the Republic. The Mandos have pushed as far as Kashyyk and have incorperated the Wookies into their armies. To make matters worse, some Jedi are beginning to act strangely, either going insane or even siding with the Mandolorians outright. The action starts on Corellia, where the newly-minted Army of the Republic is making it's stand against the Mandolorian Clone Army. The Army is led by the charismatic Naboo Senator-turned-General Palpatine, and it seems his ruthless strategy might actually win the battle. The heroes are leading the assault on the enemy's main camp. Anakin and Obi-wan are there because that's what Jedi are supposed to do, despite the new pall of suspicion. Padme is there because of her vow, and Tarfals is there because the Gungans have put a price on his head for his betrayal. They capture a communications officer and Anakin mind rapes him (to Obi-wan's dismay) in order to get vital intelligence about the Mandolorians. It turns out that they're building a cloning facility on Kashyyk. Palpatine is determined to destroy the facility before it becomes operational. The heroes volunteer to infiltrate Kashyyk's defenses. Eventually, they get separated, with Obi-wan and Tarfals trying to cash in one plot coupon, and Anakin and Padme trying to cash in the other. Anakin and Padme become closer to each other. Meanwhile, Anakin is starting to have strange hallucinations, and he worries that this is the onset of the madness plauging the Jedi. Padme is able to keep him grounded, but the visions come in the middle of a battle where Padme can't help him. In frustration, he calls on the Dark Side, and this somehow drives off the visions. Meanwhile, Obi-wan and Tarfals are confronted by the Big Bad, who turns out to be a Force-User. Tarfals is killed and Obi-wan is injured, but Anakin arrives in time to drive him off. During the fight, it becomes clear that the Big Bad is responsible for Jedi going insane. Having accomplished their goals, the heroes escape from Kashyyk just moments before Palpatine's forces arrive and carpet bomb the place. Episode III's description is shorter because I'm at work and about to get out. And, frankly, I haven't sorted it out fully in my mind. The important part is that Anakin saves the day, but in order to do so, he makes decisions that foreshadow his turn to the Dark Side without blatently telegraphic "I BECOME DARTH VADER!" EDIT: spelling SirPhoebos fucked around with this message at 23:55 on Jan 4, 2011 |
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Jan 4, 2011 23:48
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thrawn527 posted:Showing Obi-Wan doesn't mean you have to show him being trained. In my mind, the prequels should start with Obi-Wan already a Jedi, maybe training Anakin, or maybe just convincing him to come with him on some "idealistic crusade". Doesn't mean Yoda has to be shown at all. I think it works, maybe he can die at the end of one of the movies, the second one, give it an actual dark ending, like it should have had. Maybe some mysterious entity is cloning people, and using the clones to fight the Republic, and Anakin takes Obi-wan's body off to find where the cloning is coming from the force them to close his friend. Once Obi-wan is back, he realizes what Anakin did, since the Jedi's don't believe in cloning or something the counsel black lists Anakin for violating their stance on cloning, and it causes a rift in Anakin's and Obi-wan's friendship, causing Anakin to start turning towards the dark side. The republic realizes that it needs it's own clones to keep up with the battle, so it starts cloning it's own troops. Eventually they start trying to clone Jedi, who don't want it, and end up caught in the middle, and the galaxy turns against them for being pacifists in a difficult time. I don't think it's the work of Shakespeare but it's sure better than stuffing the Karen Traviss mando-crap into the trilogy, or the current abortion we have. Atleast it makes us care what happens. Heck they killed off Gandalf in LOTR, and even though you know he's coming back, its still a suspenseful plot item.
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Jan 5, 2011 00:09
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I always thought that in the prequels Obi-Wan should have started off as a Han Solo equivalent - already in his 30s wise-rear end, street-smart but impulsive, so that the movies could have shown his development into the wiser, more mature figure he was in the OT. I thought that would have held more weight than what we saw (although to be fair, it does seem that Obi-Wan's portrayal is one of the less disagreeable parts of the PT).
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Jan 5, 2011 00:11
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Captain von Trapp posted:Yep. And you'd want to keep some of the mysteries and surprises of the OT intact as well. Offhand, I'd say: I totally agree with that. 100%. Showing Yoda ruins his big reveal in ESB. I think the best way to go about it is to have Obi-Wan often mention a "Master Yoda", but it's still kind of a mystery as to what he was like. Sorta like the PT explains the mystery of the Clone Wars, the OT explains the mystery of who this master yoda guy is. The prequels really kind of killed the sense of wonder you got from the force. Not only the midiclorians, but you had people flipping around, shooting lightening out of their asses, flinging around gimmicky lightsabers with like 10 blades on them, etc. etc. It was like loving Dragon Ball Z. draize_train posted:Continuity Errors Here's a few continuity errors and how to fix em: "Why did Luke wind up on Tattooine?" Uncle Owen is Obi-Wan's brother, and Obi-Wan is from Tatooine. It was so he could watch over him and make sure nothing happened to him. "Why did Leia wind up on Alderaan?" Padme flees to Alderaan with Leia because she is friends with the Alderaan Royal Family. Padme should never die in the "proper" Episode III - she dies offscreen in-between Episodes III and IV. This also explains how Leia could remember her mother in ROTJ, but Luke didn't. It's killing two plot hole birds with one stone! "I don't ever remember owning a droid." Obi-Wan didn't own a droid. R2-D2 and C-3PO either don't appear or simply belong to Padme. I do think for a Star Wars movie, you just gotta have these guys, or it isn't Star Wars. Artoo and Threepio were just Padme's personal droids, and when she fled to Alderaan, she just took them with her. When she died in-between movies, Captain Antilles called dibs. Mahoshonen posted:While we're in rewrite/fanfiction mode, I have an interesting idea. What if the Prequel Trilogy doesn't show Anakin's full transformation into Darth Vader? Instead the trilogy only foreshadows it. And not the dumb forshadowing where his shadow suddenly looks like Vader. I was kind of thinking something similar to that. I though yeah, we should show Anakin going to the Dark Side and killing Jedi and fighting Obi-Wan, but I figured after the end of the battle, he sets on fire... and we don't know what happens from there. The audience assumes he dies. And it's still doable. The problem with it, is that in ANH Obi-Wan explicitly says that Darth Vader was his pupil and turned to the dark side and hunted down the Jedi. So no matter what, it's going to ruin the whole "Vader is Luke's dad?!" thing. Mahoshonen posted:So here's my rewrite. Lots of inspiration from other goons that have been sperging out here. There's a few ideas I'm a little shaky on, but for the most part, you are thinking in the right direction. You know, I find is really interesting that almost everybody taking part in this discussion is pretty much on the same page and having a lot of the same ideas. I know goon project barely ever get done, but wouldn't it be cool to have goon-made scripts for the PT? If we put our heads together and actually finished it, it might be pretty decent. It wouldn't be a super fantastic masterpiece, but it would sure be a hell of a lot better than what we got. Writing better Star Wars scripts than George Lucas isn't hard because the bar is set so low. When writing stories, my favorite method of making them somewhat decent is to get a group of people together and bounce ideas off each other and write a script democratically. That way you get the best ideas, and you filter out the bad ones. Even decent writers get bad ideas. We should at least try to make an outline. Get the majority of goons to agree on what works and what doesn't. We keep the best ideas, and toss the ones that don't fit.
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Jan 5, 2011 00:20
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I was going to write a full-blown post about my ideas, but thought better of it, but here's a couple of things I would do ... The cool thing about the OT was that it dropped us straight into the action. I'd start Ep1 with the battle from Ep3 (without the buzz droids etc) with the Clone Wars well underway. It really should have had something to match the awe of the opening Star Destroyer shot in ANH, not a piddling little space ship floating across the screen. Done correctly, it would say 'this is Star Wars, but not like anything you've seen before'. R2 and 3PO NEED to be in the prequels as a team from the start. I'd even give them the opening lines. Lucas once said that they were based on the peasants from Hidden Fortress, and that the story was told from their point of view as the lowest characters in the scheme of things. Introducing them as they were in the prequels cut a lot of heart and soul out of the films. In my prequels, we don't need to know where they come from, they're Padme's droids, and they're the most important characters. Since it's not a real shock to anyone that Palpatine is Sidious is the Emperor, I'd have a bit of fun with that. Still have him being the same sort of character pulling the strings and stuff, but also have a Dooku character as a main villain across the three films. Lead the audience along having them think Palapatine is in charge, but actually have it revealed at the end that he is Dooku's apprentice, and the reason he's been grooming Anakin is so they can overthrow Dooku. Done by a clever film maker, this could be made into a great twist. God knows the prequels need SOME sort of surprise. Give us something we didn't see coming a mile off (Natalie Portman was the Queen all along? Holy poo poo!)
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Jan 5, 2011 01:05
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I don't see any point in trying not to 'spoil' stuff like the vader-luke connection or yoda. Star Wars is so ubiquitous in our culture that even people that have never seen the films know who yoda is.
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Jan 5, 2011 02:12
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spacemountain posted:R2 and 3PO NEED to be in the prequels as a team from the start. I'd even give them the opening lines. Lucas once said that they were based on the peasants from Hidden Fortress, and that the story was told from their point of view as the lowest characters in the scheme of things. Introducing them as they were in the prequels cut a lot of heart and soul out of the films. In my prequels, we don't need to know where they come from, they're Padme's droids, and they're the most important characters. I agree. It just isn't Star Wars without them. In fact Threepio was barely in the prequels, and he's sorely missed. Artoo got lots of screen time, and while I like Artoo, they really have to be a duo. I'm pretty sure the audience doesn't care who made them or where they come from or how they met, just that they are there and they are together. spacemountain posted:Since it's not a real shock to anyone that Palpatine is Sidious is the Emperor, I'd have a bit of fun with that. Still have him being the same sort of character pulling the strings and stuff, but also have a Dooku character as a main villain across the three films. Lead the audience along having them think Palapatine is in charge, but actually have it revealed at the end that he is Dooku's apprentice, and the reason he's been grooming Anakin is so they can overthrow Dooku. Done by a clever film maker, this could be made into a great twist. God knows the prequels need SOME sort of surprise. Give us something we didn't see coming a mile off (Natalie Portman was the Queen all along? Holy poo poo!) Ehhh I dunno about that. Palpatine is the overall big bad, but the main antagonist should be somebody like Darth Vader, which is why I bring up Dooku. I don't care for the idea of having the Emperor being somebody's lackey. I prefer the idea of having the main antagonist completely unrelated to Palpatine. Fledgling Gulps posted:I don't see any point in trying not to 'spoil' stuff like the vader-luke connection or yoda. Star Wars is so ubiquitous in our culture that even people that have never seen the films know who yoda is. Yeah, it's true that it's just about as impossible to keep the fact that Vader is Luke's dad as it is the not be spoiled for the ending of the Titanic or the Passion of the Christ. I'm just thinking about making the films from an artistic standpoint as if they were made before the originals. Heck, rather than stick in bad CGI that sticks out like a sore thumb in the OT so it "fits" with the PT, I'd rather that the prequels have primitive effects and 1970's fashion and hairstyles. Obviously, as prequels they aren't made before the originals, but making it believable that they were made before would be pretty cool, I think. Then again I get a boner over retro stuff and it could be a terrible idea.
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Jan 5, 2011 02:35
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SeanBeansShako posted:I just realised Unce Owen lied to Luke that his dad was some rear end in a top hat drug transporter. A navigator on a spice freighter, which was true. From a certain point of view.
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Jan 5, 2011 02:43
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I'm quite mad that R2 and 3P0 showed up in the prequels, I'd be fine if they were in RotS but having them be around just added nothing other than comic relief where it wasn't needed. When I see Star Wars and see R2 acting like a 5 year old I think its because hes newly built, now apparently hes some old-rear end droid. As for 3P0 its stupid like Plinkett said about Anakin's mom needing a protocol droid. Even after all that at RotS they wipe him (but not R2). One thing I don't get is that if Palpatine is a Sith Lord, teaching his students, how does no one notice hes gone? His security detail would have noticed something. If anything it'd be a nice buildup that he does have security, but one of them is Jedi that is actually a Sith and fights fully masked (like Vader). He is killed by Anakin who in turn is tempted by Palpatine and eventually creates his own armor. He then meets and fights Obi-Wan whom slices the poo poo out of him, tears off the mask and shits his pants.
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Jan 5, 2011 03:16
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Ringo Star Get posted:One thing I don't get is that if Palpatine is a Sith Lord, teaching his students, how does no one notice hes gone? His security detail would have noticed something. If anything it'd be a nice buildup that he does have security, but one of them is Jedi that is actually a Sith and fights fully masked (like Vader). He is killed by Anakin who in turn is tempted by Palpatine and eventually creates his own armor. He then meets and fights Obi-Wan whom slices the poo poo out of him, tears off the mask and shits his pants. That'd be awesome. The only problem is that with that idea is I always got the feeling that jedi could recognize each other through their "imprint" on the Force. Edit: NGL posted:A navigator on a spice freighter, which was true. From a certain point of view. Okay, now that's just loving ridiculous. It's bad enough that someone evidently thought that Owen just HAD to be telling the truth about the spice freighter, but the fact that the article also mentions a planet called LEGO is just icing on the cake. NeonTurtle fucked around with this message at 03:38 on Jan 5, 2011 |
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Jan 5, 2011 03:32
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NeonTurtle posted:Okay, now that's just loving ridiculous. It's bad enough that someone evidently thought that Owen just HAD to be telling the truth about the spice freighter, but the fact that the article also mentions a planet called LEGO is just icing on the cake. Not that I like to defend terribly spergy stuff like that from Lucas and Filoni, but to be fair, but it's not Lego, it's Iego (with an I) which is the angel planet mentioned by Anakin in TPM. However, to make up for it, I will point out the planet Neeilgaimon.
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Jan 5, 2011 04:30
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The best idea mentioned so far has been removing the politics and making Anakin's fall personal. More specifically, having his mentor, Old Ben, die. And then, using forbidden blasphemous Sith arts, cloning him as Old Ben 1, or OB-1, getting expelled from the order as a result, etc. Frankly, having Obi-Wan actually DIE on screen in episode 1 or 2 would have ramped up the drama as, in a prequel, the audience knows there's no potential threats to the heroes. Adding a very real and fatal one suddenly changes storyline expectations.
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Jan 5, 2011 04:56
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Mister Roboto posted:More specifically, having his mentor, Old Ben, die. And then, using forbidden blasphemous Sith arts, cloning him as Old Ben 1, or OB-1, getting expelled from the order as a result, etc. Oh God, that is a freaking horrible idea, sorry.
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Jan 5, 2011 05:28
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Gammatron 64 posted:Oh God, that is a freaking horrible idea, sorry. Honestly, most of the ideas tossed around have been pretty terrible.  Fanfic almost always is.Besides, it's not my idea, that's one that's been tossed around since like the 80s, I recall reading my dad's old magazines and OB-1 being a clone designation is a very, very old fan idea. I even suspect Lucas was considering it before seeing the fandom already run with that idea.
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Jan 5, 2011 05:37
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Well if we're sharing fanfiction I'll throw mine in. -If there's going to be a galactic scale war, then there should be evidence that a terrible war is going on and we should understand reasonable goals for both sides in the war So: As RLM said, show general decay in the cities (not as the movies progress, though - things should be kind of falling apart right from the get go if Ep 1 starts in the middle of the war). There should also be drafts, propaganda posters, and so on. Artists could really go wild with graffiti, posters, images of the Chancellor giving speeches, and so on. Maybe lines for rationed items, bombed out buildings in Separatist territory, etc. The propaganda should also establish what both sides want in broad strokes (unity, security, whatever). More importantly, I think it would be nice if we saw a group of military leaders discussing how the war is going and what the Separatists want ala the round table scene in Ep4 or the briefing scenes in 5 & 6. Basically, if there's going to be battle scenes, we should have an idea of what's at stake and who's generally doing what. This is easy, since Obi-Wan is supposed to be a general, which means our primary protagonist should be having these sorts of conversations. Another pet peeve of mine from the prequels was that there were virtually no memorable ancillary characters. Really, it's not hard to give a background character a little personality, even if they're one dimensional. So that's a priority for me. Now, as for characters Anakin - He starts out as a pilot assigned to Obi Wan for a top secret and dangerous mission. Why? Because he's the best, god damnit. He's young and brash, but his skills are unquestionable, to the point where Obi Wan tells him that he is very strong in the force. Anakin responds by ribbing Obi Wan for his crazy old religion, which establishes what a Jedi is - a follower of a set of beliefs that grant the follower incredible supernatural powers (not unlike Zen, for instance). Obi Wan responds by demonstrating the power of the force through some mundane thing, impressing Anakin. Anakin, eager for power, agrees to let Obi Wan train him. Obi Wan is put off by his power lust, but he is excited to train a prodigy and overlooks Anakin's flaws. I like the characterization of Anakin as a darker Kirk, so I'll steal that. We can also cut out all the chosen one BS - Palpatine wants Anakin on his side because Anakin is extremely talented and serves as a very good enforcer of the Emperor's will. As the movies progress, it becomes more and more clear that Anakin loves power, something that Palpatine picks up on. Palpatine eventually turns Anakin to the dark side by telling him that he will rule the galaxy with Anakin. I know some people have complained about the "Darth" title, but having a Sith name is really the only good explanation for why Anakin would end up with a different name, so we'll keep that convention. Ditto for the red lightsaber. It's not that bad. In the second movie, Anakin agrees to learn under Palpatine. In the third movie, Anakin fully embraces becoming Darth Vader and leads the fight to destroy the Jedi. Obi Wan - Republic general who is infamous for his devotion to the ways of the Jedi and for his propensity to get sidetracked righting local wrongs and what not. He gets teased for this by his friends, but he takes it well. He's daring, idealistic, and somewhat headstrong, and he has a penchant for telling half truths (maybe two big ones in the prequels so that this character trait is established). For example, Obi Wan mentions Yoda several times, but he leads Anakin to believe that Yoda is long since dead so that he can continue training Anakin as he sees fit (which explains why Vader and Palps are unconcerned about Yoda. He also isn't there when Leia is born because holy gently caress that's a terrible plot hole too). As the movies progress, Obi Wan becomes jaded by the hugely destructive war, the corrupt Senate, Palpatine's rise to power, and so on. He becomes sentimental and nostalgic for the days when he could wander the galaxy doing the Jedi thing (Jedi being a stand in for Samurai). Anakin's betrayal nearly destroys him, and Obi Wan delays confronting Anakin for weeks, instead organizing some mission for the nascent Rebellion. Finally, after his closest Jedi buddy is found dead, Obi Wan realizes that he has to stop Anakin. They confront each other during the climactic battle at a volcanic world. This world is the Rebellion's first base - Vader comes to smash it up. The rebels escape and Vader is badly burned as the base starts to malfunction and fail, but Obi Wan can't bring himself to kill his old friend, so he leaves him. When he discovers that Vader survived their encounter, he despairs and retires to Tatooine where he watches over Luke. At this point, he has washed his hands of Galactic politics, since they've only caused him heartache and everything he stood for has been torn down by the new Empire. He just can't keep fighting. Padme - Padme is a local tyrant's sheltered daughter. She is constantly dreaming of adventure and excitement, but she knows almost nothing about the real world. She acts as the exposition sponge, the one who asks dumb questions everyone should know (Anakin teases her about how sheltered she is relentlessly). Her father is cold and distant and treats her as a political pawn more than a daughter, so she is happy to escape when Obi Wan and Anakin end up in her father's palace (symbolic of how weak the Republic has become and how it puts up with petty dictators on its fringe). Her father tries to betray them to Dooku (pending a less ridiculous name), but Padme warns Anakin and Obi Wan, then convinces them to take her with them over Obi Wan's objections. She and Anakin fall in love, but Anakin's willingness to give up his ideals for the sake of power drives them apart - she hates tyrants (because of her father), and she ends their relationship when Anakin tries to convince her to be his queen - that's a life she rejected, and she hates what Anakin is becoming. She leaves him, further driving him towards the Dark Side - Anakin doesn't deal with rejection and disappointment well at all. When it turns out she's pregnant with Anakin's children, she panics. She knows that Anakin will come for his children, so she goes to Obi Wan and asks him to hide her. He uses his contacts to send her to Alderaan, where she takes on a new identity. One thing I haven't really figured out is why she would split up her kids under this scenario, so any help here would be welcome. I'm ambivalent about including C-3PO and R2, so I'll skip that. Dooku - He's the leader of the Separatists. Everyone believes he's acting alone, though it's later revealed that he was bankrolled by Palpatine. He initially leads a clone army, which is suspicious because cloning, training and outfitting an army is ridiculously expensive - a subplot could be Obi Wan trying to figure out where the money is coming from (guess who it's coming from). His goal is to press the Republic hard enough that it begins to collapse - he believes that the Republic is corrupt and rotting anyway, and that one good push will knock it over. He merely needs to survive long enough for other opportunists to break away, stretching the Republic to the breaking point. He's also a political idealist who believes that systems should govern themselves (maybe give him a bit of a southern drawl to really hit the audience of the head with a hammer). His plans are dashed in the first movie when Obi Wan, Anakin, and Padme end up destroying his cloning facility. He is defeated in the opening battle of the second movie, but later is freed by the nascent rebellion when Palpatine declares himself Emperor with the support of the military. Dooku ends up being an Alliance leader and sacrifices himself in the third movie to give the Alliance time to escape, sort of mirroring Vader's redemption. Palpatine - Brilliant strategist and General who is pulling all the strings. He leaks information to Dooku about what his rivals plans are, helping Dooku defeat and discredit them. Around the middle of Ep1, he is promoted to Marshall of the Republic and is charged with pushing back Dooku's latest offensive. He succeeds with the help of Anakin and Obi Wan. By Ep2 there is a ton of propaganda floating around featuring Palpatine. He is styled as the savior of the Republic etc etc, and his soldiers clearly have unquestionable loyalty to him. He defeats and captures Dooku early in ep2, then quickly declares himself Emperor (or refuses to yield his Dictatorial powers). Several factions spring up to oppose him, but he moves quickly in destroying his political enemies, sparking a civil war - the military faction vs the rapidly shrinking Republic faction and various criminal elements that don't want the status quo to change. Ep2 climaxes with Obi leading a daring raid to free Dooku during which Anakin gets captured (this being the idealistic crusade - Anakin was ambivalent at first, but agreed to go along with Obi Wan. This leads to Obi Wan blaming himself for what Anakin becomes). Ep2 closes with the rebels scoring an early victory, but with Palpatine interrogating Anakin. In Ep3, it's revealed that Anakin has agreed to join Palpatine, calling himself Darth Vader and talking about the power of the dark side. In the early part of Ep3 we see some training, with the reveal that Palps has been pulling all the strings so that he can gather more and more power (think the climax of 1984). ep3 features the early days of the galactic civil war, with the Vader hunting down the Jedi as Obi Wan and his allies scramble to form the Alliance. The middle of the movie involves the rebels hijacking various networks to broadcast anti-Palpatine propaganda, which prompts Palps to shut down non-Imperial information networks. The movie culminates with an Imperial attack on the temporary Alliance headquarters on the volcano world, where the duel takes place etc etc. Yoda - Yoda is a Zen master, so the explanation for his absence in the prequels is that he doesn't want to get involved in what appears to be petty politics. He can appear in the background of Senate scenes as a wink to the audience, but he really need not appear at all. The Jedi - Within the Republic, Jedi are seen as a crazy old religion that attracts strange people with delusions of grandeur. On the fringes of the Republic, there are many nasty rumors about how the Jedi are like the illuminati of the galaxy. Ep2 can feature a bunch of Palpatine sponsored anti-Jedi propaganda. I don't think more than two or three other Jedi should appear in the films - a couple recurring characters to give you the feeling that there are plenty of Jedi floating around, and to let Obi Wan know that Anakin is going on a rampage. One final thing in this ridiculously long winded and goony post - I think all three movies should end with one major set piece. The first would end with the assault on the cloning facility. The second would end with a rebel attack on a prison ship holding Dooku - maybe they could crash the prison ship into Palpatine's flagship or something? The third would end with Vader leading an attack on the Rebel base, sort of mirroring the ending of the first movie. ok, I'm done. For now.
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Jan 5, 2011 05:38
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To followup on what I was saying earlier, fans have been making up prequel ideas since before I was born. Here is a discussion about Obi-wan being OB-1 from 20 years ago: http://groups.google.com/group/rec....2bd413f2f494028 http://groups.google.com/group/rec....1bbe177da6c8646
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Jan 5, 2011 05:52
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I know I said before that I don't like the idea of prequels in general, but I do like the idea you all are discussing of Palpatine being a Caesar-like figure fighting against some outside antagonist, then betraying and wiping out the Jedi at the end. As an addition to this, as long as we're discussing ideas, I personally think it might be interesting if Palpatine, as Chancellor of the Republic, wasn't absolutely evil from the beginning, but morally gray. In fact, I would get rid of the Sith order altogether (remember, the Sith Order is an invention completely outside of the original trilogy of films, though I guess the word appears in the novelization of ANH), and have Palpatine simple be the chancellor, attempting to keep the galaxy according to his misguided vision of order. A search for power could have led Palpatine to learn about both sides of the force (in secret), but throughout the whole war with the outside antagonist he really is trying to do what is best for the Republic. The Jedi fight for him, as a sort of wandering warrior type, and we get to cheer for them as they struggle against a obviously bad group. However, as the war progresses, Palpatine becomes more and more frustrated with the ways of the Jedi, and more and more frustrated that he cannot keep order. Because of their wandering warrior ways, he eventually decide the Jedi are a threat to the order of the galaxy and has them wiped out after the war is done. He has gone down a slippery slope, and will continue to do so between the trilogies, with him constantly trying to amass more power and make the galaxy more and more to his liking, as well as further pursuing the dark side of force to gain this mastery. Much of this could just be implied to happen between trilogies, but it would result in his warped appearance and mind in the original trilogy. In this version, Anakin goes along with Palpatine because they become friends and Anakin (older here than in the prequel trilogy we got) agrees with Palpatine's vision for order in the republic. Palpatine would be much more honest with Anakin earlier in the story, and it wouldn't be through deception that Anakin eventually does bad, but through initially good but increasingly misguided intentions and his genuine friendship with Palpatine. This leads them both down the slippery slope, with Palpatine slowly going sort of mad and evil and Anakin going along with it. I think that showing Palpatine's transition from a morally-gray but well-intentioned character into a deeply flawed individual obsessed with control would be an interesting addition to the story. Anakin and Obi-wan, as well as others, can still be the center of the story, but Palpatine's journey should be part of it. Palpatine pursues the abilities like seeing into the future and being able to control people (both abilities he seems quite fond of in the original trilogy) in order to keep peace, but this power corrupts him. In fact, I personally would find Palpatine's story more interesting than Anakin's story because Palpatine, as Chancellor, is in a real position of power. Anakin, though he is a skilled Jedi, doesn't have that sort of power. Another thing this would help with is to give Palpatine some real character motivation. As much as I like evil, cackling Palpatine, it's never quite clear what his goals were aside from basic "control the galaxy" and "be evil." Have him try to gain power to keep order in the galaxy, and slowly be driven mad by his desire to control people, is much more interesting to me than an order of Sith that are absolute evil just because. You might argue that Star Wars is a world of black and white, but I think that the conflict present in Vader throughout Return of the Jedi shows that isn't true. In fact, I've always thought that "dark side" and "light side" of the force was always taken too literally, and is better seen simply as shorthand for whether a person pursues good or evil with the great amount of power the force give you. Obviously, much of this is just my opinion, and I'm also assuming that this sort of story would invalidate large chucks of the EU (I've only ever read Heir to the Empire, which was good), but I'm just simply musing about the sort of story I would find interesting, when keeping in mind nothing but the original trilogy.
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Jan 5, 2011 05:53
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Nah I like Palpatine being evil to the core and loving loving it.
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Jan 5, 2011 05:54
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Haha, check this out. THIRTY YEARS AGO, PEOPLE HAD THE IDEA THAT OB-1 IS A CLONE DESIGNATION: http://groups.google.com/group/net.sf-lovers/browse_thread/thread/976ff562bad17196/81ff2e717d1891f5?hl=en&q=OB-1+clone#81ff2e717d1891f5 Christ, that could've been my dad posting that at age 20, kind of like how I am doing now.
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Jan 5, 2011 05:56
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I was thinking about it this morning on my way to work and this is what I came up with. Mind you I was driving at the time so this is a little rough. Episode 1 Anyone with talent in the Force can apply to be a Jedi apprentice who is taught by general classes, and when they turn a certain age (15 in this case) they are graduated to padawan (akin to a journeyman) and placed with a master, who mentors them until they become masters themselves. Anakin is a typical 15 year old, brash, disrespectful, and one step away from being stripped of his Force ability and turned out of the Jedi Order. He's been placed with several masters but they've all given up on him. Yoda tells Obi-Wan, who is in his late 40s, that he is Anakin's last hope of staying a Jedi. Obi-Wan and Anakin are introduced, and Anakin rubs Obi-Wan the wrong way from the start, but they are forced to work together when they are sent on a mission to investigate a remote Republic colony. The colony won't answer any more communications and the two Jedi (accompanied by a squad of Republic marines) find the colony completely destroyed. Obi-Wan and Anakin are assigned to stay and find out what happened. This part can be written in like normal action story, following the trail of destroyed outposts and random survivors till they happen to be resupplying at an outpost that is attacked. They both fight off the invaders and Obi-Wan rescues Anakin from being killed while being seriously wounded himself, then thinks up an appropriate Deus Ex Machina to drive off the invading forces. Anakin now has learned to appreciate his mentor and has more or less graduated from the whiny stupid teenage drama that has plagued the original prequels. At the end of the movie, after Obi-Wan and Anakin have left the planet, a squaddie from the local marine garrison notices that all of the enemy fighters seem to look exactly alike... Episode 2 Three years later, the invaders have started attacking the Republic in stronger numbers. The Galactic Senate has realized that several rim worlds have created powerful cloning technology and are attempting to overthrow the Republic to shift the center of power in their favor. This marks the beginning of the Clone Wars. The Jedi are used to being part-time military commanders and offer their services to the Senate as generals to drive back the rim world armies. Obi-Wan becomes one of the supreme commanders of a Republic battle group, overseeing several thousand troops. He and Anakin are back line commanders and Anakin chafes at being confined in a military camp when he wants to be out fighting with his lightsaber in the front lines. Anakin and one of the other Jedi padawans, Padme, become close when during one of the battles, the forward command camp is overrun and Anakin defends Padme when she's shot and can't escape. Obi-Wan lets Anakin know that fraternization between commanders is not acceptable, but Anakin is still a teenager and Padme sees him as her special knight protector, so they fall in love anyway. A year passes and it soon becomes clear that the Republic is quickly losing the war, as they don't have nearly as many troops as the clone armies. The Republic is nearly about to surrender when Grand General Palpatine (who doesn't look like a weird melty frog), the top general of the Republic army, announces to the Senate that some of his spies have stolen the cloning technology and they can prosecute the war further. While the Senate argues pointlessly about the ethics of a clone army, Palpatine secretly creates his own clone army - he actually captured the clone technology near the start of the war and his research teams have discovered how to grow clones at an even more accelerated rate than the rim worlds, delivering new fully grown clones in six months (because of the advanced aging techniques they only live for about 5 years). Once he has his clone units Palpatine stages a coup, overthrowing the chancellor of the republic and taking control himself. He assures the senate that the laws of their individual worlds will stay in place and they still have authority over the population but he is taking direct command of any laws related to the military forces in order to save the republic from being wiped out by the rim worlds. While Palpatine is reviewing his commanders and delivering new clone reinforcements to the front lines, he meets Anakin and starts talking to him. Anakin shares how he thinks that Obi-Wan is like a dear father to him but he can't stand being stuck as a military commander instead of fighting with the troops. Palpatine acknowledges that Anakin is a kindred spirit, cheers him up, and says that as soon as Anakin's duties to his master are done, Palpatine will assign him command of a combat brigade and he can go out into the field. Anakin agrees, knowing that by the time he's 20 (another year) he'll be graduated to master and can lead his own unit. The war goes on. Episode 3 Another year later and the Jedi Council denies Anakin (now 20) his graduation to master - Yoda says that he will review Anakin’s progress next year to see if he's worthy to be made a master. Anakin is furious but Obi-Wan tells him its his own fault for sneaking away to fight with the clones next to Padme, whose Jedi master is one of Obi-Wan's field commanders. Palpatine has been visiting Anakin regularly after his meetings with his top commanders, teaching Anakin strategy and tactics and fighting techniques - even though he's not a Jedi or Jedi trained, Palpatine shows remarkable skill with a lightsaber. Anakin confides to Palpatine that he's pissed off at the Jedi Order, he's been stuck being a military commander for more than two years and has only seen action against the enemy when he's snuck out and joined the battle before someone can go out and fetch him. He's also upset that the Republic throws so many of their own clones against the enemy - for every rim world clone that is killed, an average of 10 republic clones dies. The Jedi generals are getting sloppy, throwing resources at their battles knowing that more clone troops are constantly being prepped. Even though the clones don't exhibit much of a personality they are still human and Anakin hates that they die by the thousands just so the Republic army can gain more ground. Palpatine sympathizes with Anakin and tells him that he thinks Obi-Wan is holding him back because the Jedi are afraid to make him a master - Anakin has shown such intelligence and strength in combat that Palpatine convinces him that should he become a master, he could replace Yoda as Jedi grand master (the grand master acts as sort of a president of the Jedi Order and his advisors are the Jedi Council, mirroring the old chancellor and the galactic senate). A few months later Padme is made a Jedi master, christened a Jedi Knight (a Jedi master who commands troops in combat) and assigned her own squad of republic clone troops. Anakin starts sneaking off more and more and fighting alongside Padme. Finally Obi-Wan has enough (Yoda's riding his case about Anakin not following orders) and sends Padme’s troops, commanded by Anakin, to Mustafar, a volcanic planet where the rim world forces are constructing parts for space cruisers. Padme confides that she's 3 1/2 months pregnant and after this mission she will head back to Coruscant to teach at the Jedi Academy. Anakin says that he will petition Obi-Wan to send him back with her. They fight the rim world clones, taking the factory. The fleet jumps in to the system and Obi-Wan comes down to the planet to review the parts they've confiscated. Anakin tells him he wants to go back to Coruscant with Padme and Obi-Wan flat out denies him. Anakin tells Obi-Wan about the pregnancy and though Obi-Wan sympathizes, he has his orders from Yoda to keep Anakin out in space commanding the troops. Anakin snaps, remembering Palpatine's words about the Jedi fearing his talents and draws his lightsaber. A dozen other Jedi commanders turn on their lightsabers, ready to take Anakin down, but Obi-Wan stops them, saying he'll duel Anakin one-on-one. They fight outside the factory, Obi-Wan struggling to keep up the fight with his younger opponent. The Jedi Code says to use the Force, to shape it with your will and release it, but not to consume it yourself or it will control you - in order to keep Anakin from slaughtering him, Obi-Wan breaks this tenet of the code and allows the Force to flow into him without limit, strengthening his muscles and quickening his responses. He backs Anakin into a corner of the deck over one of the volcanic craters, telling him to give up. Anakin, still enraged, throws the lightsaber at Obi-Wan, trying to impale him, but Obi-Wan still has Force-enhanced reflexes and snaps the lightsaber away with his own blade, sending it into a nearby control panel. The panel controls the facility shields, and immediately lava blows up out of the crater and engulfs Anakin. Still holding on to the Force, Obi-Wan drives as much of it away from Anakin as he can but Anakin is still horribly burned and mutilated. Anakin is taken away to be treated as best as he can but the surgeon droid informs Obi-Wan that Anakin has died of his wounds. In secret, Palpatine (who had jumped into the system with the rest of the fleet) has Anakin taken to a secret facility where he’s given a special suit. Most of Anakin’s muscle mass has been burned away and his lungs are scorched and he can’t breath without mechanical means (he threw his arms up over his head before the lava hit so his eyes are still intact). The suit has artificial muscles woven through it that respond to his movements and the mechanical systems in the mask help him breathe. Palpatine confides that he’s secretly a Dark Lord of the Sith, hiding his powers from the Jedi or they will do to him what they did to Anakin. He convinces Anakin that the reason the war has gone on for so long is that the Jedi are prolonging it, intentionally making tactical mistakes so they can stay in power as military commanders - throughout the war the Jedi have been requisitioning all sorts of various supplies from each of the Republic worlds they travel through, ostensibly for the war effort, but Palpatine spins this into the Jedi hoarding spoils of war for their own personal benefit. The Jedi must pay for their waste of clone lives and squandering of Anakin’s abilities, Palpatine says, and Anakin is christened Darth Vader and sent out to the front lines to lay waste to the ranks of the Jedi Knights. He knows all of the Republic’s tactics and strategies, what targets they hit, how they move, and what forces they have - he uses all this knowledge to assassinate Jedi, most often while they already in battle with rim world clone forces. As the Republic army loses its commanders more Jedi commanders are sent from the command post to the front lines, and more Republic clone troops are produced than ever. For every battle that was previously won with 1000 republic clones, the same types of battlefields now sported hundreds of thousands of troops. By the time the Jedi realize that they’re being actively hunted (Where there were 15,000 Jedi total, there are less than 1000 Jedi now, including the ones at the Jedi Academy), the war is almost over, with the rim world armies driven out of Republic space. This takes another year. Palpatine leads another coup by suing for peace with the rim world leaders - they meet in a secure location to discuss terms of surrender, but they are slaughtered mercilessly by Darth Vader with Palpatine looking on in approval. The governments of the rim worlds surrender unconditionally. Palpatine addresses the senate - they expect him to give up his military power now that the war is over, but he announces that he is conscripting every able bodied worker into the military. With the Republic under military control, no other worlds will have a chance to secede and create another conflict as destructive as the Clone Wars. To keep the peace, Palpatine says, he will take control and reform the Republic into the Empire - where the senate would have let republic fall, bickering over whether to use clone troops, a single Emperor will be able to make decisions to preserve the people without hesitation. The senators will have direct control over their individual worlds (except where that control conflicts with Imperial rule), but the Imperial military forces always have supreme jurisdiction. Once the Jedi come back from the front lines and the troops are disbanded, Obi-Wan confides in Yoda that he opened himself up to the Force without limit and it’s changed him somehow. He still can feel some of the effects, like he’s stronger and quicker and smarter, even when he’s not actively calling on the Force - it has totally permeated him, suffusing his spirit. Yoda tells him that such an act is dangerous, that the Force can consume a Jedi and totally destroy their body if they don’t have the willpower to keep themselves in physical form - Yoda knows because he had done the same thing while meditating (against the advice of his own master) many years ago and nearly lost his own physical form in the process. Yoda also shares a premonition - he believes that the unseen Jedi assassin is Anakin. Yoda shares the vision he had of Vader killing one of the Jedi Knights - Obi-Wan isn’t sure he agrees with Yoda but there are definite similarities. Padme is a teacher in the Jedi Academy now and has had twins, Luke and Leia. She has had the same premonition Yoda had - she knows Anakin is Vader and that her children are in danger, so she pleads with Yoda to help her hide the babies. One of Yoda's contacts is Bail Organa of Alderran, who agrees to take Leia while Vader is a threat - he is led to believe that he will only be taking care of her for a few months. Yoda can't seem to find anyone to hide Luke yet but reassures Padme that he is working on it. This is just before the war ends - Obi-Wan is never directly told of Leia's existence. Padme is teaching her students one day when she hears screams and fighting in the hallway. She ducks outside and sees a menacing figure in black fighting the Jedi in the Academy. Obi-Wan and Yoda try to organize a defense but Padme tells Obi-Wan to rush to her home and take Luke somewhere he will be safe. Obi-Wan agrees to take Luke to his brother Owen on the remote world of Tattooine, far away from the seat of Imperial power. Obi-Wan rushes off to hide Luke while Padme stays behind with Yoda. Almost all of the Jedi in the Academy try to fight Vader. Only about a hundred Jedi escape after Yoda orders them to run away - the rest are swiftly slaughtered, as Vader can easily hold off several Jedi at once. Soon all that are left are Yoda and Padme. Vader furiously attacks Padme, demanding to know where their child is. Padme tells him about her vision, saying that after seeing him slaughter Jedi in the battlefield the baby died and was stillborn. Vader howls in fury, stabbing Padme in the stomach with his light saber. As Padme dies in his arms, she says “Even after all the evil you have done, I still find love in my heart for you.” He gently lays her body on the floor and responds, “The only thing left in my heart is hate.” He turns on Yoda, who refuses to ignite his light saber. Vader laughs at Yoda. He tells Yoda that he will hunt down every single Jedi in the galaxy, in punishment for Yoda not making him a Jedi master, and that he will let Yoda live so that he will hear every cry, feel every lost life through the Force. Vader walks away, and Yoda hangs his head, tired and sickened by the wholesale slaughter. Wow, wall of text much? I need to concentrate more on the drat road when I drive to work... Edit: read through some of the thread I missed and remembered that Obi-Wan wasn't supposed to know about Leia but Yoda did... "That boy is our last hope" "No, there is another" Albu-quirky Guy fucked around with this message at 07:24 on Jan 5, 2011 |
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Jan 5, 2011 06:50
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Mister Roboto posted:Haha, check this out.
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Jan 5, 2011 08:00
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Albu-quirky Guy posted:I was thinking about it this morning on my way to work and this is what I came up with. Mind you I was driving at the time so this is a little rough. What the gently caress seriously. Stop trying to rewrite the prequels it's always as bad as the movies themselves.
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Jan 5, 2011 08:02
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To keep up with the fanfic rewritery, though, in hindsight having Padme and Amidala being two separate characters could have helped a lot. Padme is Amidala's suffering and humble handmaiden. Amidala is a slightly arrogant member of the royal family. The Padme/Amidala love triangle with Anakin could have given Anakin a real love with 'Padme', who he rejects on the basis that she, like him, is considered low-born. On the other hand, his admiration of 'Amidala' is because he lusts for the kind of acceptance and respect her higher-born status has given her in life that he believes he can have with her, too. As much as Padme and Anakin seem like the right fit, he is so ambitious that he's blinded to it. If we're going to play this as a story of some kid from the lowest rungs of society emerging to becoming one of the greatest figures in the galaxy, we have room to explore his motivations throughout the series. Coming from nothing, getting a taste of the exceptional and the abilities needed to take a hold of it drives him. In his heart, his ambitions are not just power, but respect and an air of nobility that are always out of his reach. Anakin's corruption isn't simply for power for its own sake, but it stems from an unbridled ambition to rise above his station in life and become something more. However, it gets twisted as time goes forward to where there is no plateau high enough to satiate his ego. Consider the infamous 'sand' speech he gives on why he hates sand. Imagine if he'd said those lines with more disgust than nostalgia or annoyance. He's a guy who hates places like Tatooine, they sicken him as he grows older since they remind him of his roots, the place in his life he would rather erase than be reminded of, that hold him back more than elevate. He is eventually consumed by his ambitions and ultimately succeeds in finally erasing his life as Anakin Skywalker in the process. He replaces his history of being a child slave from nowhere with that of the mysterious and powerful Lord Darth Vader with no past but the reputation he builds in that persona. But even here, while he has near-absolute authority over the galaxy, he's still a servant to the Emperor.
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Jan 5, 2011 12:21
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The prequels are just plain a story that doesn't need to be told. That said, I am entirely for the idea of more Star Wars stories. They just need to not have to do with any established character. The Universe is fun, the absurdly overused characters are not. A suppose a wink and a nod to established characters is okay, if they're absurdly minor cameos in the background or something.
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Jan 5, 2011 13:05
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Incredibly stupid question I'm sure, but I don't quite want to dig through eighty pages and it doesn't seem to be on the front page. Where can I get unedited DvDs of episodes 4, 5, and 6? Without all that added stuff in them?
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Jan 5, 2011 13:11
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Doctor Reynolds posted:That said, I am entirely for the idea of more Star Wars stories. They just need to not have to do with any established character. The Universe is fun, the absurdly overused characters are not. This is probably the reason why the Rogue Squadron books are considered good. I recently read the Death Star book and it's fun too, because those characters don't have plot armor.
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Jan 5, 2011 13:20
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Kemper Boyd posted:This is probably the reason why the Rogue Squadron books are considered good. I recently read the Death Star book and it's fun too, because those characters don't have plot armor. Yeah, stuff like that! I don't mind fleshing out quasi-important characters like Wedge Antilles any. That's a good time. Oh, and another rule: No "one-upsmanship". The Death Star was the ultimate power in the Universe. The Emperor was the best evil guy. They're both dead. Forever. Stop thinking about them.
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Jan 5, 2011 13:27
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Ok. I've been addicted to the EU novels for the better part of two decades now - and I need to inflict that pain upon my wife so she understands my predicament. She wasn't horribly shocked or disgusted by the prequel trilogy, so I take that as a good sign - but I've not been able to get her to sit through more than ANH in the original trilogy, even though we've been together for over ten years. She's as an avid reader as I am, and constantly finishing one book and looking for the next. She for whatever reason was a fan of the Anne McAffrey 'Freedom' series - but refuses to read any other books by the author (much to my dismay). She also loves the Harry Potter books, and I got her hooked on the Terry Goodkind / Sword of Truth series before they started to suck (and I'll just not mention the whole Robert Jordan / Wheel of Time as it'll make me want to stab myself). So all that being said, tldr version is she's not adverse to fantasy or sci-fi - but it's always been accidental or an act of desperation on her part for something to read that gets her hooked into a series. I now have ... well, every EU novel in existence taking up the near entirety of a bookshelf in the basement - and try as I might, I can't convince her to grab one to read when she's looking for something new. So where should I get her to start - if I do finally get the chance? The original Zahn trilogy? Something prequel related so it's relateable to what she's watched of the movies? Something more recent - NJO perhaps? Ideally I'd say it's something that can hook her within a single book, doesn't have the absurd 'combat fetish' that the X-Wing (or any Aalston / Stackpole books have for that matter), and both explains the characters/backgrounds without assuming you already know - and doesn't waste time doing so. ps - yes, I'm also trying to derail the whole fanfic thing. You guys are making this iteration of the thread the spergiest yet! Lukano fucked around with this message at 13:36 on Jan 5, 2011 |
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Jan 5, 2011 13:27
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Well I guess the best start would be to finish the OT films...if she won't sit down and watch Empire and Return all of this EU stuff will make even less sense.
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Jan 5, 2011 13:44
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Quantumfate posted:Incredibly stupid question I'm sure, but I don't quite want to dig through eighty pages and it doesn't seem to be on the front page. Where can I get unedited DvDs of episodes 4, 5, and 6? Without all that added stuff in them? Crappy quality versions of the original OT can be found as extras on the Special Edition DVDs. Lucas claims there aren't any higher quality copies of them so you'll have to take what you can get.
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Jan 5, 2011 13:48
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The closest you'd get to high quality originals would likely be the very first special editions. Yeah, there's seven hells of additional CGI, but I don't think any of it (bar the loving Jabba's palace scene) is too offensive. Hell, some of the stuff done with Bespin is absolutely beautiful. Only problem is they came out before DVDs. You might find a rip somewhere, but otherwise you're looking for the VHS. Everyone posted:Prequal ideas. As spergy, nerdy and fanboyish as it would be I might start working on a treatment and plot outline based on what's been put forward here. I'm not even going to attempt a full script (my writing past description and exposition sucks), but if I get something I'm happy to call an outline done, I'll pass it on to someone else to script. There's a few things I need a consensus on to start with. I'll post some questions later this evening. Edit: Or now, why not. The most important thing to be decided: What do we assume as non-canon? Obviously, redoing the prequels means that the current EpI, II and III are out as well as the larger clone wars projects, but where does it stop? I have four options here; 1) Ignore everything apart from the OT and media based directly off it. 2) Keep the 'Old Republic' era up to the rise of Darth Bane. 3) Keep everything possible 4) <Insert opinion here> Bene Elim fucked around with this message at 14:23 on Jan 5, 2011 |
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Jan 5, 2011 14:03
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RagnarokAngel posted:What the gently caress seriously. Stop trying to rewrite the prequels it's always as bad as the movies themselves. Yeah sure, I'll get right on that, since I'm sure your opinion is worth so much more than everyone else coming up with ideas better than Lucas can slap down on paper a week before shooting his movies. Bene Elim posted:The most important thing to be decided: What do we assume as non-canon? I'd go with 1 - it sounds like the EU needs a reboot almost as badly as the prequels do.
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Jan 5, 2011 15:28
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Albu-quirky Guy posted:
The EU needs to go, there is so little good writing in it and so much oneupmanship that it reads like a loving Dragon Ball Z fanfic most of the time, though with that being said reboot the whole goddamed thing with Alliston, Zahn, and Stackpole as the only writers allowed to handle ANY characters that had a talking role in the films. Also, get rid of Mandalorian as a race and turn it into a galactic PMC full of crazed reprobates, racists and rednecks, that way the Clone Commandos books become a hilarious read the second they open their mouths.
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Jan 5, 2011 15:59
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I've something like five times tried to read up on Mandalorians on Wookiepedia to get what's the big deal with them and why anyone cares and my eyes just kinda glaze over. Still haven't found out why people like them so much.
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Jan 5, 2011 17:07
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Kemper Boyd posted:I've something like five times tried to read up on Mandalorians on Wookiepedia to get what's the big deal with them and why anyone cares and my eyes just kinda glaze over. Because they're a race of Boba Fetts. Still haven't found out why people like him so much.
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Jan 5, 2011 17:18
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Captain von Trapp posted:Because they're a race of Boba Fetts. His backpack has jets and shoots rockets. Plus, he's super mysterious and doesn't take poo poo from no one.
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Jan 5, 2011 18:00
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NGL posted:His backpack has jets and shoots rockets. Plus, he's super mysterious and doesn't take poo poo from no one. Yet he gets eaten by a giant sand vagina.
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Jan 5, 2011 18:14
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