Good afternoon, all. I've been a lurker on here for a while, but this is essentially my introductory post. My name is Jonah, I live near Seattle, and my love of Star Wars runs old and deep. Amongst other things, I am also a film student and avid (some say insane) costumer -- part of which is focussed on Star Wars. And yes, I'm an aspiring member of the 501st. :)
I've read all the comments in this thread so far. I feel I need to mention that, as much of what I'm going to be writing has already been written in here, and much will be diametrically opposed to what's already been written.
I had a scriptwriting professer a few years ago who gave me about the best advice I think I'll ever get. Since a large part of learning the craft is watching many films and television, odds are one is going to see a lot of crap. When something jars us out of the experience, he said "don't just sit there bitching about it -- get a copy of the script and see if you can do any better". By now, I've tackled Star Trek: Nemesis, Return of the Jedi, and all three Star Wars prequels. I don't know if the "fixes" I've come up with can be done wiht a re-edit, or if it'd need to be re-filmed from scratch, but I'll hold forth, and if anything is useful...
NOTES ON ALL PREQUELS:
•No midichlorians
•No Yoda (I love him, and think he should be a presence, but not heard or seen until Empire, to preserve the surprise.)
•As Episodes IV-VI were "From the Adventures of Luke Skywalker", these should be -- as original treatments posited -- "From the Adventures of Obi-Wan Kenobi". Anakin should be important, but supporting -- like Leia or Han to Luke.
•No use of the word "Darth" until Vader takes it (not bestowed). No "Sidious", no "Maul", no "Tyranus". The former two should be unnamed in dialogue, the latter should not take a "Sith" identity. More on that for the relevent films.
•No Rule of Two, no Jedi Council (at least, not as we saw it), no "forbidden love" crap (the OT and EU both made a point of ability in the Force running in families -- if Jedi don't marry and have kids...).
•A little more "fan-service", in the form of OT and EU ships and such -- Victory-class Star Destroyers, Dreadnoughts, Z-95 and clean Y-Wing fighters, etc.
I'm going to break up my takes on the individual movies now to avoid Tildur Syndrome. :)
--Jonah