The Unofficial Complete REVISITED SAGA Ideas and Random Discussion Thread — Page 14

Alarmingly effective though isn't it?

It looks Vaderish but different and that's the key.

OT Vader is powerful and calm, that one looks like the sort of crazy that would massacre children and old librarians.

If only he could replace Grievous.

Bingowings said:

If only he could replace Grievous.

Grievous never should have replaced Christopher Lee to begin with.

muddyknees2000 said:

Bingowings said:

If only he could replace Grievous.

Grievous never should have replaced Christopher Lee to begin with.

I'm still amazed that Christopher wanted to be in the movies after he read the script.

Christopher Lee: "You mean to tell me, Dooku gives away the fact that the Sith infiltrated the senate and the Jedi never investigate? Seems legit! Sign me up!

Square watches and fancy hats don't pay for themselves.

As a sequel to my mockup round up I thought I would rehash my film change ideas in the hope that as with the mock ups it might inspire some debate and hopefully better ideas.

Remember these were general ideas not a must do list for Ady. He has loads of great ideas of his own but if I were as talented and as patient as he this is what I would currently be trying to do.

It will take a while so I will post two at a time.

In these versions all lightsabers bar two are blue (Luke's is the only green one Vader has the only red one). 

The Phantom Menace.

The film now starts with a shot of the Federation Fleet jumping out of hyperspace and surrounding Naboo.

They used to own it and now they want it back.

Back on Coruscant Queen Amidala, Representative Binks and Senator Palpatine (with Threepio in the background) are in holographic conference with the her Government back home who anticipate an attack.

The invasion begins, Theed is bombed, buildings are destroyed while a few ships are launched they are too few to make a major difference.

Communications are cut off.

Palpatine gets the Queen to call a senate meeting which ends in a vote of no confidence in the Chancellor.

A rescue fleet can not be sent without proof as Dooku tells the Jedi Council via hologram that other planets seem to be under attack at the same time. Other forces like the Federation are taking back long disputed territories.

The council argue that as there hasn't been a conflict on this scale for centuries the Republic isn't prepared for an instant response if they responded to every report they would be too thinly stretched.

The Jedi are keepers of the peace not an army.

Dooku argues that the Jedi should investigate this thoroughly as a Sith Lord may be behind it as in the prophesy.

The Jedi are skeptical but by way of a weak compromise the Jedi send two fully trained Knights to protect the Queen and investigate the invasion.

Just before the Queen's ship jumps into hyperspace it is attacked by Darth Maul and the ship is thrown off course to Tatooine.

The film largely plays out the same way only Anakin is repairing Artoo to help his mother and Threepio as stated previously is complete and is the Queen's translator who goes with her handmaiden to translate.

I appreciate this maintains a fan service which stretches credulity to near breaking point but Artoo has always acted a bit differently to the other droids and he sticks by Anakin and Luke through thick and thin. So it's a much better fan service than have Anakin make Threepio, at least Artoo is useful.

Anakin is also a Pod Jockey slave so given more freedom than average slaves (this could be highlighted by him passing a slave of his own age who is clearly more badly treated). He dreams he will become a Jedi and free these people.

After winning the race (now with less cartoonish Pod Jockeys) the Royal ship is sold and replaced with the purple one from the beginning of the theatrical version.

Artoo has been helping repair it and Threepio is about to join them when in response to Maul's tracking, the Federation send ships and droids to Tatooine and capture the planet.

Threepio and Shmi are left stranded and the ship barely escapes.

It arrives at Naboo.

The Jedi request to negotiate and are allowed to dock but launch escape pods with The Queen, her handmaidens, Jar Jar, Artoo and Anakin onboard.

They land and make arrangements with the Gungans.

An assassination attempt is made on the Jedi but they escape and head to the bridge.

Finding the way cut off they try to switch off the droids from a secondary station near the core of the ship but find the way blocked by Maul.

The lightsaber duel takes place on the ship.

The Gungans seem to lose the battle and pleased with his victory the Viceroy lands.

The pilots get to their ships (which are colour coded suggesting several squadrons). Anakin's is red not yellow and they attack the other ships not one lone command ship.

Anakin blows up his Fed ship deliberately.

After Maul is dead Kenobi switches off the droids.

The Viceroy is captured.

There is much rejoicing.

Anakin is to be trained by Obi-wan his current pupil will be trained by someone else.

The new Chancellor declares that to counter the threat of the Separatists he will create a new army of the Republic.

Dooku leaves Qui-Gon's funeral in disgust.

Attack Of The Clones

Obi-Wan with visible distaste is inspecting the first batch of Clone Troops (no mystery).

Amidala lands at Coruscant and her ship is blown up.

She warns the senate that this new army may escalate the war rather than end it.

The Chancellor asks for the Jedi to protect the Senator so they assign Skywalker and Obi-Wan (just back from inspecting the army).

Another attack is made and Zam is disintegrated just before revealing the identity of the bounty hunter she was working with.

Kenobi tracks Boba Fett to a rainy landing platform a fight ensues just before he takes off Kenobi tags him with a tracking device.

He pursues the ship in his fighter.

Anakin is assigned to protect Padme.

She returns home on the Royal ship.

Theed is still being repaired from the Droid bombing in the first film.

While she shows signs that she has feelings for him while visiting her family, he seems more concerned with meditating.

He hasn't seen his mother since Tatooine was occupied. The Senate and Council agree that the planet is too insignificant to bother liberating.

His nightmares worry her so she hatches a plan to go undercover as refugees and enter Federation space to check up on his mother.

He is conflicted about this but agrees.

While on the ship she fishes for signs of mutuality in affection by asking him about the Jedi coda of detachment and takes some hope from his comments about love.

The ship goes through a blockade and lands on a droid controlled Space Port.

Anakin gets directions from Watto and after being reunited with a damaged Threepio he finds out about his mother being captured by sand people and searches for her.

Meanwhile Obi-Wan has followed Fett to Tatooine and sneaks a peek at the droid factories and slave pits there.

Jabba is a Separatist.

Obi-wan gets captured but sends a distress signal which is received by Artoo.

While captured Dooku explains that he genuinely believes the Senate is now under control of the Sith that aided Gunray in the first film and that he is doing what he must to save the Galaxy (he isn't a Sith Lord just a misguided Jedi).

Anakin is reunited with his mother briefly before she dies (we don't see the child massacre yet).

After Anakin returns with his dead mother Padme and Anakin relay Kenobi's message to Coruscant via a transmitter on the Lars family Skyhopper. The droid factory now makes the planet worthy of liberation and one of their own requires rescue.

AT NO POINT DOES ANAKIN REVEAL HIS SLAUGHTER OF CHILDREN TO PADME

Anakin and Padme disobey orders and try to rescue Obi-Wan.

They too are captured and forced into Gladiatorial combat for the entertainment of the Separatists (Jabba finds this boring).

The rescue plan needs rescuing.

So the Clones are called in.

Dooku bests Obi-Wan and Anakin in a duel he goes out of his way to avoid but as it is clear he could never best Yoda he escapes.

Tatooine is now littered with junk for the Jawas to collect and the locals have a very low opinion about droids.

Republic law is now in force so the slaves are freed but the child slave Anakin knew (indicated by some mark or item of costume) has not survived the occupation.

Anakin and Padme get hitched in secret.

I'm not that sold on the power source idea.

Palpatine gets elected, forms the Separatist movement and gets an army out of his initial plan, so throwing in battlestation reactors into the bargain seems a bit too lucky.

I am rather loving your Gungan battle idea (not sure how Jar Jar could get there and if he isn't there what to do about him not being there if you catch my drift).

He could stay on Coruscant and vote for Palpatine I guess.

I want Grievous to be a potential Vader (along with the rejected pupil in TPM) he could have Maul's eyes too to add a further layer of speculation to the guy.

He is probably too much to add fully formed but half built Grevious could appear maybe he looks more Vader like with each appearence.

The main trick is to change all references to Skywalker in the PT to Anakin or remove them altogether.

At no point is he called Anakin Skywalker until ROTJ.

That way we can keep the exciting lava battle without finding out for sure he is Luke and Leia's dad.

Dooku is never a fallen Jedi as such, he is a dissident, a renegade but he believes what he is doing is right and has no personal ambitions for power.

He thinks he is simply assembling a force to oppose the Sith.

In fact he is the patsy.

The Jedi will get blamed for the Separatists because they were led by a Jedi master not by a Sith Lord.

I have no problem with an elected constitutional monarch (they had them in central Europe for hundreds of years). The UK is considered a democracy despite the head of state not even being elected. Princess Leia is a Princess and a senator and a freedom fighter in the name of democracy. 

Actually it would be rather cool to have Vader's breathing noise at the Separatists meeting and see a Vader like helmet, from behind only to have the wearer telescope upwards on very robotic legs.

One could speculate that by ANH his cyborg body would be sophisticated enough to look totally human.

As his dialogue would be brand new you could add a few gripes at the inconvenience of being a ten foot giant in a seven foot corridor :-D

Good point. I guess in a way it's like my kids. I know how great they are; so when they make mistakes it bothers me because I know it was beneath them to do so. Kind of a "what we're you thinking" moment.

And Michael Caine did somehow wind up in Jaws: The Revenge.

Continuing on from last night....

Revenge Of The Sith

While I love the idea of starting with an apparently calm Coruscant and then hurtling into a major battle as Ady pointed out and I now can see, the way it was done in the theatrical version makes no sense.

In this version the camera pans down to a calm Coruscant night.

Anakin is in bed and dreaming of sandpeople (yep).

A mysterious cowled phantom massacres the camp that murdered his mother.

The sequence is slow and has subtle nightmare tropes playing through it like the cowled figure getting Darth Mauleque eyes briefly. It plays more like the cave sequence in ESB than the Padme dream in the theatrical cut.

He wakes up in a sweat.

Padme tries to calm him, they are on the balcony contemplating the future birth of their child when all hell breaks lose.

Fighters descend from the sky, towers are shattered and the sky fills with thousands of starships.

Palpatine watches this from the senate building. surprised by a noise he turns around to see The General (he has no name) towering over him from a smoke filled corridor.

The design is a bit different he still has a whole head but it's under a helmet which makes a very familiar noise (and it's not a cough!).

The General impales the guard on a lightsaber blade with ease.

Jedi rush to the fighters which launch from the temple complex.

Buzz droids gone, silly droid voices gone.

The General's ship is now largely one enormous hanger. Droids don't need rooms, large corridors and lifts filled with air so a section of the Jedi Fighter activity now takes place inside the belly of the mostly hollow floorless and airless ship (more like the Federation Spacedock or the reactor chamber of the Death Star but full of war machines and fighter craft).

Very little if any droid slapstick should remain.

When they find the Chancellor his back is to the window (he is a prisoner and doesn't have the luxury of a ROTJ evoking view of the battle).

Dooku enters via a lower floor door not by spinning over the upper banister.

He still tries to explain that he want to flush out the Sith Lord but the Jedi will hear nothing of it.

As he dies Dooku sees the true face of Palpatine and tries to tell a disbelieving Anakin.

Palpatine dismisses this with talk of ANAKIN KILLING THE SANDPEOPLE THAT MURDERED HIS MOTHER (dum dum dar).

Anakin doesn't have time to process this information as the ship begins to crash into the lightside of the planet.

Much of the shifting of allegiances stays the same as in the theatrical cut including some of the deleted material if still possible.

One major change is that Anakin doesn't throw a hissy fit about not being a Master.

He isn't happy at the obvious snub but quietly accepts it.

The Separatists don't go to Utapau they go direct to the Volcanic world there the General negotiates a truce via hologram with the Chancellor/Sith Master who offers to make him his new apprentice and ratify the treaty ending the war.

The fight between The General and Kenobi happens here there seems to be some sort of unspoken something here. The General's eyes look like Maul's but could he could also be that previous apprentice from TPM (or maybe it's brute cyborg animal magnetism)?

The General is knocked over a gantry apparently to his death.

Anakin has been having dreams of (the increasingly separatist sounding) Padme dying and Palpatine reveals his power to him while offering him a means to save her.

Shocked Anakin alerts Mace to Palpatine's Sithness and Windu all pleased with Anakin (for a change) and regretting that they hadn't listened to Dooku all along goes to face Palpatine alone (idiot).

Mace's entrance mirrors the Generals only this time Palpatine screws with the lights and his false and real face flash in the strobing battle that commences.

While he is there a mysterious dark figure(TM) leads the stormtroopers into the temple and massacres everyone inside.

Anakin senses Windu in danger and rushes to save him.

The prune face from ROTJ is Palpatine's true face and as he battles Windu the mask falls as it did on the General's ship.

Anakin makes a bad call and Palpatine reveals that Anakin himself is the Dark figure doing all these powerful things. Anakin would never consciously betray the Jedi but subconsciously his dark side has outwitted his own light side.

He has punished the Jedi for starting the war, that he has avenged his mother and he hopes to send him to the volcano world to kill the Separatist leaders who plan to build a terrible weapon.

He doesn't call him Darth Vader.

Padme does not go to the Volcano world she witnesses the end of the Republic and the shock of it sends her into labour.

Anakin kills the remaining separatists, recovers the plans and encounters Kenobi.

They fight, Anakin now hates Sith and Jedi equally but vents his disappointment in the Jedi for ignoring the weak and suffering and not letting him save his mother (some of his confession to Padme from AOTC may be usefully recycled in his description of how he killed the Jedi in the Temple, now that he remembers doing it).

Anakin loses the fight.

As Kenobi flies away a robotic hand claws it's way up the shore of a lava lake.

But is is Anakin or the General?

Obi-Wan meets with Yoda and Bail ANTILLES on the Tantive.

The Jedi decide to go into hiding to protect Padme's offspring.

The ship lands on Dagobah and Padme gives birth there (we see only one baby and we don't hear it named).

The droid explains that there were complications and she should have died but something is keeping her alive that it can't explain.

Yoda steps out onto the surface of his new world.

Threepio is sceduled for a memory wipe (something neither he or Artoo are happy about).

Artoo DOESN"T LAUGH HIS NUTS OFF.

We see a montage of scenes pass (mirroring the celebrations in ROTJ:SE) showing a primitive form of Vader tracking and killing the remaining Jedi.

The Republic ships give way to Imperial ships.

Padme weakens and dies, we see her funeral.

A little girl of about three takes the neckless Anakin made.

Yoda is visited by Padme's silent ghost and humbled, pledges to learn from her how this was done.

Many years in the future Darth Vader and Emperor Palpatine watch the construction of the Death Star.

A New Hope.

Not much needs changing here from the original ANH:R.

I would replace the man walking in to tell Tarkin about Dantooine with a holograph (it seem weird to have one major one in this film but the three before and the one after so full of them and Tarkin sounds like the sort of person who would want to hear the news from a man on the ground).

I'd also as mentioned in the other post replace the shiny Rebel helmets at take off with helmets that match those of people who die in the battle.

The vibro-needle I'd replace with a scanning laser (like those probes off Prometheus) They were very big in the seventies and it looks like the sort of thing they might have done if they knew a bloke who knew The Who (like Ridley Scott did with Alien)

Unless something new can be done with the subtitles so he says something interesting I'm not sure if correcting Jabba to look like Jabba is worth the effort.

But if it is doing something about the tail is essential.

I'd keep it out personally it adds nothing.

It might be nice to see a bit of Bail Antilles in there (calling him Organa is a bit of a give away in ROTS).

It might be fun to add even more Separatist junk on the planet so that the Jawas can still be cleaning up the mess.

Here it is one of the best prequel trailers ever! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-F5vJFPUJU8

Last part of my TLDR collection now.

The Empire Strikes Back.

I think every suggestion I can possibly have made has already been considered.

I would still have preferred more AT-ST action but it's not my call and the reasons for the removal of what little action is there makes sense, even if it does disappoint me a tad.

I would have also have liked the Space Slug to look more like something that a skilled pilot like Han would mistake for a cave and someone as intelligent as Leia would still be convinced is a cave even when it's 'collapsing'.

But everything looks great and I just can't wait to see the final edit.

Return Of The Jedi.

I would start with the Executor dwarfing an already giant Star Destroyer and itself being engulfed in the shadow of the now large in screen second Death Star.

I would make the officers station look less stagey.

I would prefer a new actor to replace Michael Pennington (a fine actor only doing what he was told).

His Moff Jejerrod acts much too cowardly to hold such a high rank and his delivery is awful.

I would have him careful around Vader but not constantly camp and scared shitless. Vader acts demoted in most of this film and yet the opening scenes make his seem more feared than the Emperor.

I would also have him ask for more men to guard the moon (I'll explain later), not build the station, (don't they have droids for that?).

The next scene would be Dagobah.

Luke returned there after the events of the previous film and has been continuing his training.

He is constructing a new lightsaber using telekinesis. When he finishes he notices Yoda looking unwell (this can be done with a body double and a bit of digital jiggery pokery).

The Yoda death scene plays out largely as in the film but he doesn't die. He tells Luke there is another Skywalker in a clear way and is still alive when Luke leaves.

Yoda dying mid-conversation is cornball and unconvincing.

Jabba's palace, Booush arrives to a calm audience with the Hutt (no Threepio) it's all done with subtitles.

Any efforts to tone down the cartoonish nature of some of the court would be most welcome.

Luke lands near Ben's house.

The Falcon and a Y-Wing are also visible.

Luke calls out to Leia and Chewie, Threepio rushes up to meet him in a fuss, "I tried to stop her" etc.

Luke enters the house and Ben's ghost tells him that Leia is his sister he resolves to rescue her.

Boba Fett leaves the palace and we see his ship take off near the palace.

Back at the palace Leia releases Han and gets captured.

Threepio and Artoo head to the palace, they are scanned by the robot eye thing, it seems to know something is up with Artoo but lets them in anyway.

The Palace is in party mood.

No song (no Lapti Nek or Jedi Rocks) but lots of exotic dance.

Leia is chained up.

Luke's message is played.

Artoo and Threepio are lead away.

Threepio is put on translator duty.

Artoo attempts to interfere with 9D9 but she reassures him that it will not be necessary (someone is protecting them).

THERE IS NO COMEDY TORTURE SCENE.

Luke arrives,

HE DOESN'T CHOKE THE GUARDS.

He uses the Force to push the skull into position to activate the switch and kill the Rancor.

No crying Rancor Keeper.

Swoop bikes and mid sized barges added to the pit party.

The Sarlacc beak is removed but the mouth is bigger and the creature heaves itself from the sand (yes a bit like the sand worms in Dune but we all know where Lucas got the idea so let's not kid ourselves).

It's more active at grabbing people with it's tendrils than in any other version.

Fett isn't there so no air swim, Force Kick goes too.

Artoo uses his PT era jets to push Threepio to safety (no comedy magnets).

The barge snaps in half like that boat film with Leonardo DeCaprio.

We see Slave One approach the rebel fleet it lands and Fett gives something to a Rebel official.

He is paid and takes off.

He contacts Vader and informs him that the rebels have the information he supplied.

Vader tells him he will be paid.

Fett doesn't die, gets paid twice and isn't seen or heard of again (he is a bounty hunter a mercenary and doesn't care who wins or loses as long as he is paid).

The Emperor arrives in a shuttle that looks more fancy than Vader's.

The briefing happens. No medical droids need attend but it would be cool if Dodonna and Rieekan could be there.

I would also like more Wookiees.

Anything that can be done to make the room look less like a cheap set would be welcome.

No Bothan's died to give us the information which is worth the price they paid.

Tydirium is an Imperial Transporter ship not a shuttle.

The Executor set is returned to it's ESB glory and the uniforms and insignia are fixed.

When the Rebels land they walk by neglected/damaged wooden sculptures and/or totems.

They find the decapitated head of a stormtrooper which triggers the trap (Wookiees can eat human meat and not be cannibals).

All the pebble eyes of the Ewoks are gone as and less sweet looking teeth would be welcome.

At the village there are signs of dead imperials troops turned into art everywhere (now you can see why Jerjerrod needs more men).

A totem showing a god that looks like Threepio would be welcome.

Artoo uses his holoprojector to plaster scary faces (Maul etc) onto Threepio.

A floating chair alone would not be enough to spook them after all they have seen since the Empire landed (they have a new moon for crying out loud).

The Ewoks have already been planning an attack on the base (those traps don't appear from nowhere).

When Luke asks about his mother Leia gives him the neckless Anakin made for Padme.

When he tells her she is his sister she knows somehow but she never ALWAYS KNEW (that snogging was an accident).

The generator base now draws power from a large waterfall.

It is visable and the sound is audible when Vader confronts his son (this will evoke memories of Naboo and add to Vader's inner turmoil).

He says, "Your Mother once thought as you do".

The 'backdoor" to the base is now a funicular service elevator to the projector dish.

It takes the Rebels up, not down and leads to a structure under the dish which they plan to sever (there are too many reactor explosions in the saga as it is, we don't need three in one film).

When Lando calls for the ships to pull back to avoid the shield, some miss and collide with it.

More featured pilots, more A-wing/B-Wing action maybe a really hot-rodded battered old Naboo fighter or two.

There really is an entire legion of troops on top of those you would expect to be guarding an important base.

The Rebels have brought guns with them and there are more of them thanks to the bigger ship (including Wookiees).

The AT-AT enters the ground battle and Tie Bombers set fires.

Troopers get killed with a bit of tasteful gore.

Ewoks are killed.

Leia getting shot is moved up to when Luke is trying not to think about her.

When Palpatine is trying to kill Luke the neckless rolls out of his tunic and Vader sees it.

This is the straw that snaps him back to the light side.

We see Palpatine fall face up and with a better matte.

The Executor gets a better send off.

The dish snaps and slides into the valley (it doesn't blow up half the forest).

The, "Cop-Pee-Gold-Lee-Dar" guy is gone.

Leia and Han watch the station explode sitting in the remains of the giant dish.

Luke burns the body of Vader.

We see the ghosts of Ben and the Yoda (we now know he has died).

We then see the ghosts of Padme and Anakin (Anakin's subconscious good has restored him and preserved the people he loves not a too busy to show up Liam Neeson),

Our heroes celebrate.

"Weesa Free!" is not the last line of the first six films.

The Corsucant 'celebrations' are a riotous uprising. X-wings swoop from the sky and shoot down TIEs.

That list of Return of the Jedi almost ended with Boba Fett going to Endor killing all the Ewoks and making out with a slave Leia.

As I said I put that out to provoke discussion.

I'm sensing you have other ideas?

I doubt none of them could be anywhere near as out there as this ACTUAL MOVIE SCENE.

So come on join in...

I have been in discussion with daneditor.  I had some ideas to expand upon Boba Fett using fan film footage.  When I told him about them, he took the ideas and has been running with it, and I've been providing input on his work.  While obviously there are some shortcomings in the quality of the fan films themselves, I'm convinced that Boba Fett could have a more prominent and climactic role in ROTJ, and I think that daneditor's work could serve as a blueprint for someone like Adywan with the resources and patience to add newly filmed footage and special effects.  Our idea doesn't involve any selling the plans to the Rebels, I'm afraid (though I've always thought of it as an interesting idea), but it does in fact have a showdown between Fett and a hero or two.  Don't want to spoil too much, but I look forward to when daneditor unveils his work to everyone.

I would love to see some experiments in replacing near screen characters rather than adding or replacing far distant character elements like the troops in ESB:R.

It would be the key to injecting new story elements rather than augmenting design elements.

With the PT and ROTJ it's the story that needs enriching most (while keeping the basic consequences the same so the ST does necessitate a major overhaul).

I'm not even going to mention this in the ESB:R thread because I am pretty confident it won't happen.  However, I'd love to see Hobbie take out Veers' AT-AT.  It would require colorizing some b&w footage and re-editing, as well as perhaps creating some new footage, but I think it would be nice to spite the Empire a bit as the Rebels lose the battle.

Pretty good layout for ROTJ you got there Bingo. Almost the same as mine.

One question, if you have Anakin and Padme as ghosts, surely that wouldn't mean that you would keep Sebastian Shaw?

It's a special edition.

Thankfully nice George Lucas (Harmy) in his kindness has preserved Seb Shaw in his original context.

He could start out being the old guy Luke (and we) just met but spiritually regenerate so to speak into the young man Padme knew.

Either way a full body replace would be much more respectful to Seb Shaw's memory than decapitating the poor guy and glueing Hayden's head on complete with creepy sex looks.

The real problem with the current Hayden in the SE is it makes no sense.

How does Vader learn to do this, why does he look young when the others look old?

It makes no narrative sense so it becomes a sticking plaster vainly attempting to stitch the two trilogies together.

I just wanted an explanation for Force ghosts that made some sense without being in your face.

Lucas was right not to make every Jedi vanish and appear as a ghost because Vader is clearly confused while playing footsy with Ben's bath robe.

I don't buy the Qui-Gon thing.

It comes out of nowhere very fast.

So it makes sense that Anakin is subconsciously doing that which he declared he hoped to do one day back in the PT.

He loves Padme and he loves his son (he doesn't know about Leia).

He keeps her alive after death and keeps Yoda and Ben alive to train and protect his child.

Consciously his Vader persona is so deep in the Dark side he can't see what his subconscious good self is doing.

It makes more sense to me that Anakin is mentally ill rather than out and out evil.

You can imagine a redemption for a man who murders children due to mental health issues rather than one who does it to further his career or political ambitions.

I like the BIG sarlac idea bingo.

If the battle was not in a sandy region of tatooine, but more of a rocky chasm, the sarlac could be in some sort of deep cave, and climb out for a big reveal.

There could be a massive distance between the barge and beast, so we get a huge sense of vertigo the whole time.

Isn't that SSWR's old avatar?