Since discovering this forum a couple weeks ago, all kinds of ideas have been bouncing around in my head. Easy enough to criticize the PT but much more difficult to offer a credible alternative vision. I'm going to post some of my broader thoughts here in the hopes that criticisms and suggestions will help me refine them...

1. I would absolutely preserve the suspense, secrets, and character of the OT (eg not disclosing Yoda's & Vader's identities nor the twins' birth, no Hutts, lightsaber duels on par with the OT, no video game adaptations of the Force).

2. Connected with the first point, I would want the PT to work as a standalone trilogy (that means (p)repeating some OT expositions) that can be watched chronologically before the OT (thought provoking article on this front: http://secrethistoryofstarwars.com/structuringtheprequels.html ).

3. I would want the PT to enhance the OT in subtle and profound ways (eg showing Alderaan, addressing conflicts brought up in OT with greater care - Owen vs Anakin).

4. The PT would show the downfall of the Jedi (a humble religious order with little public recognition) and the Republic over the course of the 3 movies - not in intensifying spurts. This development would be important but never overshadow the perils of the main characters (just as the OT concerned the fall of an Empire and the rebirth of the Jedi - but those grand events didn't really feel like the main point of the movies).

Some initial ideas:

1. C-3PO and R2-D2 maintain their ["The Hidden Fortress" inspired] positions. This is a nice idea, since droids can be objective and long-lived observers of a story. Also, it provides some great continuity with the OT when we see them in the hall of the Tantive IV (we care about their fate automatically upon seeing them). The challenge of course, is making them necessary to the story, though not ridiculous like if Vader had been the maker of 3PO -_-. Easiest solution I can think of is to let Senator Organa own them.

2. Main characters: Obi Wan, Anakin, Owen, Bail Organa, Palpatine, Luke/Leia's mother (servant for Organa family), others TBD.

3. Main locations (3 per film, like the OT): Coruscant, Alderaan, others TBD.

4. The opening scene would not be a space battle nor a docking request. We are at the beginning of the story (otherwise euphemistically known as "Episode I"). It would be treated with due care. We might start on a planet's surface. The first word of the movie might be a character calling out "Anakin" as the camera pans to the kind and proud face of a young man). We would get to care about this character.

5. I am most confused about how to handle the Clone Wars. Clones are creepy. They lack a certain humanity and verge on the grotesque (especially as in the PT where they are raised like cattle and used as cannon fodder). In order to deal with this challenge, I have two borrowed ideas: The clones could be copies of a multitude of beings or perhaps as the main means of reproduction of an alien species that attacks the Republic. In any event, this is Star Wars and I want it to be fun and full of humanity!

6. Protecting the secret of Anakin as Vader shall be most tricky. I've read some praise-worthy ideas - having an unnamed former apprentice of Obi Wan that the audience can be led to believe to be Vader; letting Darth Vader be the name of all Sith apprentices. I think the best way might be to let it remain unresolved. As someone suggested (wish I remember who), Anakin might go to his doom at the end of Episode II. He could then reappear as Vader in Episode III for his epic duel with Obi Wan in which Vader is accused of betraying and murdering Anakin (let Obi Wan shamelessly do his double speak ). The audience will hate this Vader character...until they get to Empire and feel double the emotional impact.

I'd appreciate any feedback! Thank you!