The Prequel Radical Redux Ideas Thread — Page 252

Woha, that would be a great character developement point!

After watching the prequels and the clone wars series, I wished Jar Jar was either only a minor character or just a goofball for tv ...

But think of the possibilities:

Take or leave the Naboo/Alderaan ideas, combine it with a struggling senator Organa, who is set in position by his people to defend from growing threats (aka "Federation"), to vote or pose Palpatine as the "grand chancellor" and support a "army of the republic" - only to realise, that he made a deal with the devil himself (though not knowing that he is even sinister as that => Sith!) - forming in secret the oppositon, later known as the "rebel alliance" ... end cue: destruction of Alderaan - greek tradegy at full throttle ;-)

I'm not sure if this has been suggested, but what if it could be made to seem the jedi created the clone army behind the back of the senate.  This way they just pull it out the bag when its needed, however, the twist would be that Palpatine knew all along and had the order 66 in place behind the backs of the jedi.

Star Wars has always dealt with classic tropes and themes.

The idea of the feral child raised by animals or the changeling is such a trope.

We see in Tarzan, The Jungle Book all the way back to Romulus and Remus and beyond.

I had a thought which might give Jar Jar a bit more character interest.

What if he was raised by humans, specifically Padme's parents (I know this sounds on the surface sort of like Threepio being built by Vader but bear with me a minute)?

That would explain him being rejected by his own people much better than just be clumsy. It would also explain him being clumsy with their tribal weapons (he has never used them before).

He could start of the film on Coruscant as an aide to the Queen (her father found him in the forest and took care of him).

He could be re-dubbed as being being grateful to the Naboo who raised him but at heart wanting to serve his people in a Senate they want no part of.

The deleted scenes in AOTC which show Padme in her bedroom could be trimmed and adjusted so the holographic photos show Padme growing up with Jar Jar as a sort of adopted brother. In AOTC as it stands we have Anakin calling Zam a Changeling, those lines could be manipulated to refer to Jar Jar.

When the Senate wildly votes to give Palpatine emergency powers he could vote against the Chancellor and face ridicule defending what his adopted sister would do.

He could be in briefing room with Mon Mothma in ROTJ (he should have been Ackbar in the first place but it would be one way of giving the character some arc.)

Give him command of a ship in the final battle rather than the last words in the saga in that ridiculous patois Lucas gave him.

timdiggerm said:

I, for one, support Admiral Jar Jar at the Battle of Endor.

It's a trap.

I can see it now....

"Luke, Meesa your Uncle"

But in all seriousness I like the idea....

Admiral Jar Jar: "Aaargh!"

http://s7.directupload.net/file/d/3175/okxq5thk_jpg.htm

Picture taken from PC game "X-Wing Alliance" Cover ;-)

I see this is going to be a hard sell.

I'm not talking old Jar-Jar with his Stepin Fetchit patois and his OTT tongue antics.

You must unlearn what you have learned.

I'm talking about a re-dubbed, toned down Jar-Jar with a reason for doing the things he does.

In a way Chewie is Han's adopted brother, he seems to be closer to him than Anakin is to Obi-wan in the PT.

@Bingowings

you and others had some interesting ideas concerning redubbing some of the cast (as Anakin, Jar Jar, ...)

I kind of like that, but it needs to blend in with the rest, and must be well written dialog, ok not Shakespear, but on par with the OT stuff ;-)

Although Jar Jar could be "redeemed" he could also be the "wannabe samurai" from Kurosawa's "7 Samurai" - no need for him to be Jedi, but he could start off as pesant or farmer (hehe, it's an agricultural galaxy) and hang around long enough to show his worth, maybe ending up as high ranking officer (whereas his story-arch could even be humorus or tragic, like my interpretation of "first kill" of Endor battle ...)

Personally I think it makes much better sense if he an aide of the Queen as he spends most of his time with her.

I think it all depends how one handles the Naboo/Alderaan situation, in correlation with the other "outer rim systems" or the "Federation" invasion.

Sure "Jar Jar" (has someone thougt of a better name for him?) could be an aide to the queen (whoever is elected or risen to the throne) but also an interesting touch would be to have him be a refugee, caught in the middle of the war / crisis (different from what we saw in the movies, and his person a more sincere nature then) ...

"Jar Jar" could be a labor worker on the farm of the queens (or Padme's) family, this could intertwine the fates of the common people and the nobility, all sharing the threat of losing home and possession.

Think of it, writing this an idea came to mind:

the whole Anakin slave story, kind of drowned, and only made place for confusion and questions, as to why the Jedi didn't free Shmi and so on - how about, a twist of fate brought "Jar Jar" and his folks (Gungans or other name for his race) the needed push to freedom and equality with humans (or maybe rebellion against the Nemodians, who could have enslaved them) - to rise up as an "alien" Spartacus - that would take surely the focus from the Jedi and such, but seems a nice way to boost this character (in a better direction).

just my two cents ;-)

Good point, but by whom or how often is he adressed in the movie?

hm, maybe shorten his name to just "Binks"

it could be some nickname, his real name too complicated for the human tongue ;-)

I thought about shifting the focus from the Jedi to the common folk, because some, if not all of them acted quite bit of up-in-the-clouds (except Qui-Gon) - so it isn't easy for the audience to feel sorry, when they get all killed off in the last act ...

so maybe have Padme and "Binks" be slaves, both could be citizens of Naboo/Alderaan, got captured by the "Federation" and put in the (off screen) P.O.W. camp - I prefer not to show all steps, better give the mind something to imagine ;-)

well, Episode 1 could start with the blockade/invasion of Naboo (plus capturing of some protagonists) - no Jedi yet - moving to Alderaan or Coruscant for further info about the threat to the outer rim colonies - then maybe we could be introduced to the Jedi and the council to discuss the diplomatic mission (or debunk it), where Qui-Gon could go rogue and Obi-Wan warning his master to not "anger" the council ...

some plot points later, we have the Jedi and a group of freedom fighters plus the "Gungans" against the oppressing forces of the "Federation" standoff.

The whole political theatre could be reworked into a farce of public trial - the Nemodians could be juged, but to the dismay of Naboo/Alderaan(/Jedi) their "punishment" is sort of an poor excuse to leave the system alone, and "never do it again" - showing the toothless bureacratic body - enter Palpatine, who whispers "lies" into peoples ears (ala Grima in "Two Towers") - from there "Episode 2" is in building mode :-)

If he was a senator the dub thing would be easier as bizarrely almost everyone says the word "Senator" in the PT.

If you haven't checked it out, you need to see the fanedit The Silent Menace. The reworked script made jar-jar work. 

I would love to see TPM re dubbed using his reworked dialogue.

@Bingowings

hm, the only problem I got with "senator Binks" from the start is, that I couldn't see any possible (good!) reason why he is coming along all the time, shouldn't he stay on Coruscant?

maybe as an servant or personal aide, ala C3PO, it would make more sense ...

@mrbenja0618

you mean this? http://vimeo.com/44089534

if so, cudos to the editor, he did with small afford what Lucas couldn't: make the Nemodians really threatening - and Sidious more cunning in his longtime planning of things - not bumbling from situation to the next

so with good dialog and some cuts, there is hope for the prequels, though it isn't easy - not if one struggles alone, but with combined ideas, we could get this baby offground ;-)

The Queen may correctly predict that even though Binks is an outcast, as a Gungan he has a better chance of convincing his people to join the fight than she herself has.

That also gives his presence in the film an actual purpose.

I somewhat liked how the original Star Wars was a story of common folk, not all high and noble people ...

Therefore I would also change that Padme/Amidala royality thing - it's strange to think that Luke should be the prince of Naboo :-/

Leia was adopted by the ruler of Alderaan, making her (if not others had the claim to the throne) queen or something - hadn't Alderaan been destroyed.

Lucas wiggled out a bit there, declaring that rulership of Naboo is elected by its people, but I find it better to have Luke/Leia's mother not be a highborn of some kind - sure let her be a senator, just leave out the nobility ...

if we get back to the Han/Chewie connection - they both are common folk - scoundrels, warriors, no titels attached - even Lando before he took into business was more or less "lower class" - I think that is a point not to be overseen, as the audience can connect to these characters more easly - and in-verse: if Binks is more grounded, his motivations and connection to his planet/people is reasonable.

The OT wasn't a toff free zone.

A Lord, a Princess, a Knight, a Governor, a Viceroy, an Emperor, a Baron, three throne rooms... 

That is all correct, but the MAIN character, if whatsoever, was Luke, a farmboy (at least what we knew then ...)

on the other hand, the "toffs" where mainly the antagonists in the OT ?

if I had written the prequels, my main focus would have been Obi-Wan, it's his time and story, Anakin may be "the chosen one" but we didn't really get out the things we wanted from this "point of view" - "Ben's" background is more exciting, from what "old rumors" told, he was also of common standing (back then Owen was his brother ...)

ok, just how I would do things, not saying they are "law" or that every editor should do it the same way, it is (for me) more appealing, than to follow some "royals on their field trip", messing up the galaxy ;-)

I think you brought it into play: really like the idea ( to have a straight journey from one planet to the next, not "system jumping" - makes more sense storytellingwise.

By the way: sorry for my spelling (I hope most of it is correct) - it's my second language ^.^

Your spelling/grammar etc is impeccable.

Better indeed than most postees with English as a first language.

thanks alot, maybe sunday morning cartoons were the best teachers ;-)

and working in the IT, you have to read much stuff, and grab ahold some "slang"...

but back on topic: seeing the short clip of the "slient menace" (I would really like to get that edit as a whole) my idea to bring the Jedi later on in the film, making Sidious/Nemodian/Federation-Conspiracy more effective, with given dialog - just needs some good headstart, meaing from the blockade/invasion to some plotpoints (maybe bringing Tatooine earlier into play) leading later to Coruscant with debate as to if or how intervene and then the Jedi could pose a diplomatic mission?

my plans for the prequels, when I get the chance to re-edit them, would be to cut them up into 3 about 90min movies - depending on how much stuff from bonus is available or appealing - I started to make a list on what was good and what should be thrown out last fall - after reading long, long, very long into this and other threads on the froum here ;-)

A small political problem.

One thing bugged me in "Revenge of the Sith"- during the conversation between Obi-Wan and Anakin, Obi says "My allegiance is to the Republic, to democracy".

Wait a minute... to Republic and democracy? No, his allegiance is to the JEDI ORDER, Anakin says just before that "he brought peace and justice to the Republic (Empire)".

I don't know why Obi said this about democracy. Democracy doesn't mean liberty, it only means that everybody can vote. And thanks to democracy Palpatine (like Hitler) become the Supreme Chancellor. And our "Ben" is supporting this stupid system?

So my point is that Obi-Wan says something inconsistent. It is Anakin who represents the Republic/Empire and democratically chosen leader and Kenobi is the one for Jedi Order. In my opinion Jedi Knights are the guys who care about peace and justice, not democratic procedures. When Lucas whas writing Ep.III he didn't remember that there're good dictatorships and bad.

"small" indeed - if it was just that ;-)

Ok, what Obi-Wan, in his idealistic way, ment was that the current system, as bad as it is/was, turned into an oppression, and with Palpatine having supreme powers, no one could stop his will, so it would be a dictatorship!

Though the Jedi swear alliegance to their Order, they are the guardians (not soldiers, more like a policeforce) of the galaxy (wanted or not!)

And in contrast to conflicts against the Sith in the past, now a Sith was sitting in the middle of the Republic, not on the head of an outside Empire, to threaten peace ... yes, voted there, but not all choices are good, are they?

Anakin already took his choice, telling Padme in Episode2, that he would rather have a "strong leader" (aka dictator), than the squabbling senate (of a thousand worlds) - so he kind of said "good bye" to democracy then.

Maybe if Lucas wrote "My allegiance is to the Republic, the Order, to Freedom!", it would sound more convincing?