In addition to HAL’s, Q2’s trilogy is also fantastic at giving it a streamlined OT feel. It’s much leaner and has less annoying stuff than HAL’s does, for TPM anyway, but I still rate HAL’s slightly above Q2 for that particular film because HAL’s approach of completely removing Gungan City worked rather well I thought. Much better than just trying to rush through it.
Completely agree with this. Removing Gungan City entirely, as per HAL’s intentions, makes it seem that the abandoned temple area, shown near their end, is the Gungan’s regular home. Consequently, it becomes more plausible that the Trade Federation’s presence could eventually affect Gungan life.
I find it quite implausible in the theatrical cut that the Trade Federation would waste the resources to find and invade a city hidden underwater.