Originally posted by: darkhelmet Yeah, YIYF, I'm with you on this! I don't think Lucas really cared about the art of filmmaking while doing the prequels.

Seemed more like a bid for more acclaim from pioneering film technology and an extended demo reel to show the industry what ILM could do for other Hollywood filmmakers.

Exactly. That’s where George went wrong with the PT and where he has gone wrong with the SE. He has added elements to showcase ILM CG prowess with little regard for necessity or plausibility. Why was Jabba added to the SE version of Star Wars when the data he related was repetitive? Was there any essential element conveyed by Vader’s shuttle scene in the SE version of ESB? Is Jar Jar really essential to the story of the PT in general and TPM in particular? What is the purpose of the “buzz droids” in ROTS? The sad truth is that all of these issues could have been avoided all together, but George needed to show the film industry that ILM was still #1 in CG. Weta Digital and Sony Pictures Imageworks maintained pressure on George throughout the PT so excessive CG was a given for those films.

I think it is better to ask should the PT have been written with an eye towards the OT.

I always thought Ben was going to be a rebel in the PT. You know a real bad ass, borderline anti-hero, someone that was reckless (as he claimed to be in ESB) and rebellious. I did get such a character in TPM, but his name was Qui-Gon.

I also though Ben “took it upon himself” to train Anakin. As far as I can see he considered Anakin a “pathetic life form” and a “dangerous” distraction. I left TPM thinking that Obi-Wan had been guilted into training Anakin by Qui-Gon’s dying wish.

These are just two minor issues that the PT raised. There are much deeper elements (midi’s, the turn, Anakin/Padme) that could be discussed.

In the end I think the OOT is fine just the way it is.