xhonzi said:
1. The main storyline is the rise and fall of Anakin Skywalker. Anakin is the main character. His fall to the Dark Side is told convincingly. His "seduction" by the Dark Side. He must be a character that you can buy as Darth Vader of the OT, though there shouldn't be things that give away the ESB reveal.
Personally, I'm just as interested in Obi-Wan, bold Jedi Knight. I see the NPT as more of his story, or at least a buddy-film.
4. The PT supports and enriches the OT. This for me means preserving the "I am your father", "Leia is your sister" and "Yoda is a midget" surprises. Therefore, Yoda cannot appear or be heard (but the more talking him up the better). Episode 3 ends with a pregnant Notpadme, and a not yet revealed to be Vader Anakin. More on this later.
I disagree. The PT is IMHO supposed to be seen after the OT for the purpose of explaining and enriching things. The OT is not supposed to wrap up the PT's story. Any plotline that allows for that secrecy to be kept will be needlessly convoluted and I think unsatisfying.
3. Jedi vs Sith war! My friends and I all expected "Braveheart" Jedi/Sith battles in the prequels. The closest you can come is the end of AotC, but's that's a bunch of Jedi vs almost no Sith. Actually, the closest you can come to this is BioWare's trailer for the Old Republic MMO.
I don't see the need to add the Sith. There's no reason in the OT to assume there ever was a band of evil Jedi-types. Perhaps Anakin, once bad, can lead a contingent of fellow fallen Jedi against the remaining Jedi, but the whole Organization that Serves the Dark Side has never really worked for me and seems un-OT.
5. Dark Side makes sense, kind of... This is tricky, but I think you can walk the line where the Dark Side is presented to Anakin in such a way that the audience can understand the temptation. The movies can't come off like a PSA for the Dark Side, but something that shows the seduction of it.
I agree, this is the central line of Anakins character and needs to be very very well handeled.
9. The Galaxy cannot feel as small as it did in Lucas's PT. Tatooine cannot be the most visited planet in the movies (what, does it think its Arakis or something?). I am loathe to show any of Coruscant because I think showing the capital sort of immediately shrinks the rest of the Galaxy.
Can't agree more.
My thoughts in bold.