ben_danger said:omg, david lynch turned down rotj??? i dont blame him, but it could have been SO much better!!
i have been thinking of an ESB style dream sequences. i love how the original clone wars series showed a dream of anakin and qui gon at the tree, and especially thought that anakins prophetic dream was really well delivered.
in regards to the alternative timing for the jedi purge as suggested by guitarfan, i have two ideas (one more radical than the other)
1 (less radical)
we build up mace windus character as a bit of a paranoid ass. he is constantly putting down anakin and palpatine, his suspicions have turned this once great master to a a bit of a loose cannon. during ROTS, he builds up suspicions that palpatine is the dark lord, an idea that is too dreadful or extreme to even be considered by the council.
at the crunch point of the film, mace decides to take matters into his own hands "i sence a plot to destroy the jedi", "if the chancellor does not relinquish his powers then he should be removed from office." mace does this (from a certain point of view) he (possibly alone) confronts the chancellor, declaring his intention to save democracy and the jedi order, palpatine coldly replies "you're too late".
we now cut to a montage of the jedi being slaughtered as windu and palpatine battle. it makes the jedi's battle seem futile and tragic, that even if windu is victorious in slaying palpatine, hehas still failed to stop the massacre. anakin rushes in and saves the chancellor from the obviously delusional jedi.
this idea would fit in well if we try and direct it more from anakins point of view. mace obviously isnt a paranoid ass, but if we force the viewer to only see 60% of the real story, then he may appear to be, so we are betrayed into thinking the obvious bad guy is the good guy.
2 (more radical)
obi wan defeats grevious, ending the clone war. a message is sent to the jedi to return to coruscant to celebrate the event. the streets of the capital are flooded with people chanting palpatines name. anakin looks happy with padme, and it feels like the film is going to end with this wonderful feeling of victory (like the end of TPM, but bigger and less gay).
anakin goes to visit palpatine, who is surrounded by senators, who are waiting for him to go the senate hall for the resigning ceremony. the senators leave. at this point palpatine reveals to anakin that he is the sith lord.
the film continues as usual or alternatively the 'less radical' paranoid mace windu can be intertwined with this.
enstead of the jedi being killed in the field of battle, they are enstead massacred in the temple, hundreds of thousands of troops charge, overwhelming them completley. yoda and obi wan are the only two who escape, who then follow through to their respective battles. anakin believes palpatine's lies etc.
i would like to see this idea, as it would be a complete emotional flip. as we near 2/3 into the film, we think we are about to get to a happy ending, for everything to go horribly wrong in the final act. it would be great for the celebration to be in daylight to contrast the burning jedi temple in the evening.
let me know if you even read all of this.;) idea 2 needs a bit more work.
has anyone ever wanted to see an edit of ROTS where there is a happy ending? my GF hates watching it because it upsets her too much.:P
I don't know if it's possible but I *REALLY* like these ideas. I think the whole Mace Windu thing could be pulled off more easily. When he says things like "the dark side of the force surrounds the chancellor" we could have the jedi blow him off...hmm...now that I think about it...Windu could be like a Snape character (from Harry Potter). That could work great! The audience could be hating Windu in TPM and AOTC...which *I* already do...and then realize in ROTS that he wasn't wrong about Anakin or Palps at all! Maybe then we'll sort of respect his character! On a sort of side note: I think Windu should be redubbed.
As far as the second idea goes...again, I like it alot...not sure how to pull it off...hmmm...I'll have to ponder this...