TheoOdo

Some radical ideas:

The Trade Federation is now the Galactic Federation - warlords, not corporations.

The war begins at the end of Episode I and is on-going by the time we reach Episode II. 

Instead of voting for a clone army, the senate is voting on whether or not to construct a secret, planet destroying weapon capable of taking out the planets now constructing overwhelming numbers of battle droids. Amidala, for obvious reasons, opposes its construction. 

By Episode III, the partially constructed Death Star looms over the Coruscant skyline - an awful reminder of things to come. Now, I don't recall if the Death Star itself is considered a secret weapon or if it is only the plans for the Death Star that are specifically mentioned as being secret, but I'm sure somebody here can remind me. 

So, because the war is already on-going, when Obi-Wan and Anakin return from a "border dispute on Antion", it is therefore implied to be one of the conflicts of the war. 

When Obi-Wan goes to Kamino, it is therefore no longer a cloning facility. It is a half-way house run by a group of peaceful aliens who care for weary warriors who pass through - the bounty hunter being one of them. 

A battalion of Republic troopers also arrived on the planet after being near decimated in a battle in the outer rim. They are preparing to leave again when Obi-Wan arrives.

The removal of the clone soldier concept helps tie it in with the Stormtroopers as recruits concept we see in the OT and also goes some way toward making them more sympathetic (in the Clone Wars cartoon this would be especially useful). 

Now, I know what you're thinking - then why is it the "Clone Wars" at all?

Well, I've tried to think of various ways of getting around that. Grievous could be re-cast as a clone of a great warrior of an extinct race (the actual Sith race?), trained by Dooku and Sidious to command the droid armies. His training was so intense and merciless, it left him a Darth Vader like cyborg by the time we reach Episode I. By the time we reach Episode III, he is basically a mechanical husk and has a grudge against Kenobi. 

Following from this idea is the idea of replacing Darth Maul with Grievous. How to do this? I'm not sure. Perhaps simply replace Maul's face with a CGI Grievous-like helmet or maybe even rotoscope Maul out entirely and re-shoot his scenes using an entirely new actor and costume. 

Like I said, radical ideas. 

What do you think?

I love the re-edited opening, Nicholas. Very expertly done.

Interesting stuff, xhonzi. I've been meaning to compile a list of quotations from the OT worth considering for anyone who wants to write an alternate prequel series. I'll get down to it once I have a free minute - I'm very busy these days.

Also, I'm interested to hear how you would answer these questions. I liked some of your ideas from the Star Wars animation topic.

Palpatine in a volcano?

So he's behind all the trouble in Europe...

Wonderful stuff as always, vaderios.

Edit:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7c3tV_Qh6TQ

On another note, am I alone in thinking the giant room in this scene is unbelievable looking?

SomethingStarWarsRelated said:

OK, so I'm still thinking about AOTC and here's my question:

What do the seperatists want?!! Dooku says: "The republic will agree to any demands we make." Are they just gonna sit around and come up with random demands?  "I demand that...um...Palpatine...should...dance a jig on top of the Senate building...holding...a...duck!"

That was my attempt at some humor. I'm sorry.

But seriously, I'm trying to make Dooku a rogue Jedi here and I need to be able to explain his (and the seperatists) motivations. Maybe we could add a line or two by Nute in the meeting Obi-wan overhears...we've already talked about redubbing him anyway.

Thoughts?

I think I brought up some ideas for this earlier in the thread.

It would have to be addressed in Episode 1, though. Basically the retitled "Galactic Federation" (replacing anything to do with trade or taxation) separatist army seeks to dominate the galaxy just as the Empire seeks to do in the original. Why? Well, why does the Empire seek to dominate the galaxy? Exactly - it's not important. They're the badguys and they want to rule the galaxy. If it was good enough for the original trilogy, it's certainly good enough for the prequels.

Oh, and by the time TPM opens the opening crawl would reveal that the Republic is already in conflict with them - but that things have only gotten worse now that they've invaded Naboo Alderaan. If Dooku is a rogue Jedi, it could simply be that he believes a galaxy under the control of the Galactic Federation would ultimately suffer less than a galaxy under the control of the Sith - which is convenient, because he seems pretty sincere in his appeal for Obi-Wan to join him. Perhaps Dooku made a deal with the devil and simply joined this coalition of warlords, hoping to limit their tyranny whilst also fighting the Sith?

I would be very interested in a Star Wars writing forum.

I have an unhealthily complicated scheme for an alternate prequel series forming in my head. It's based mostly on a rough outline which I wrote some time ago, but then deleted telling myself it was no good dwelling on what could never be.

Once I began to hear some new ideas, though, I couldn't help but start to think of it again and am now in the process of dredging some of the old material up from my memory. An idea I had was to start a website that would feature these alternate scripts, along with some commissioned illustrations - maybe even a complete storyboard.

I'd like to present another idea here for some scrutiny, if that's okay. This is an idea for the basic background of the prequels and for the antagonistic army of the prequels:

Many years have passed since the Mandalorian War brought chaos to the Galactic Republic. Surviving only barely thanks to the efforts of the Jedi Knights, the Galactic Republic has now entered a dark period in its history.

Insisting that the Republic is ill-suited to handle these conflicts, a separatist movement has emerged united under a common philosophy of militarism and authoritarianism. Led by former Republic General, Wilhuff Tarkin (an ingenious tactician and military strategist), the Republic was at first forced to ignore the ever widening scope of the newly formed "Galactic Federation".

The Republic finally entered into conflict with the Galactic Federation when, under the pretense of "offering military protection to unprotected planets", the Federation invaded and occupied several defenceless worlds - including Alderaan - with an army of Clones.

The prequel series concludes with what had been the scheme of the Emperor all along - the merging of the Republic with the occupied Federation worlds, to form the Galactic Empire. The source of the Madalorian conflict is "identified" as having been the work of the Jedi, and they are outlawed. The re-unification of the Republic and the Federation is hailed as the way toward stability in the galaxy, with Palpatine publicly welcoming Tarkin back into the fold and offering many of the former Federation leaders positions in the new order.

Visually, the Federation army would have a lot in common with the Galactic Empire of the original trilogy. In a way, it is the Empire's ideas that are being fought from day one, until gradually the Republic comes to share those ideas and, once the Jedi have been scape-goated, transforms into the Empire.

vaderios has done it again!

Here's an interesting thing about the "Skywalker" name.

Luke never actually uses it to describe himself until he meets Leia and says "I'm Luke Skywalker. I'm here to rescue you."

Now, I know this may be contradicted in some of the novels and other EU shenanigans, but it's possible (if we go off the movies alone) that Luke lived under the name of "Luke Lars" until he learnt about his father from Obi-Wan. After learning that his father was a Jedi and after realising he would have to leave his life on Tatooine behind, he may have decided "Hey, I want to be a Jedi. I want adventure and excitement - I'm going to re-adopt my father's name! I'm going to re-create myself! I'm going to let the universe know I'm the son of Skywalker!"

Obi-Wan might have advised him against this, but at this point he was out of the picture and couldn't stop him. Then Luke becomes a famous hero of the rebellion, and Vader's interest is piqued.

Edit:

On an aside, if any of these ideas were to be actually filmed I would love for it to be done using exclusively the special effects techniques available at the time the original trilogy was made.

I have a lot of ideas for an alternate prequel series. I think I've posted them elsewhere before, but I'll try and recap here if anyone's interested in hearing them (they're in no particular order, I'll splash 'em down as they come to mind):

1. The alternate prequel series takes place during the "dark times" mentioned by Obi-Wan in Star Wars. It isn't possible to actually show us the true glory days of the Republic because, and I think I went into this more in another post, that kind of perfect society will only ever be a dream - we can't ever show it on film. (As opposed to the Dark Times taking place between RotS and ANH)

2. There is a single antagonistic Sith figure just as with the original trilogy. In terms of design, I would say something like Darth Maul - he's iconic in the same way that Vader is iconic, he's a very obvious representation of evil. This antagonistic figure would initially be the golden boy of the unknown Sith but, after having been defeated by Anakin Skywalker, falls from grace and desperately hopes to regain the favor of his former master - his fall from power is Vader's rise to power. As Anakin turns to the dark side, this Sith becomes weaker before finally he's completely pitiful yet Anakin murders him just the same. "Battle not with a monster lest ye become a monster", and all that. (As opposed to multiple Sith)

3. Anakin Skywalker is essentially a good person, but the toils of war begin to wear heavily upon him. Obi-Wan wishes for him to be disciplined and patient, even under the awful circumstances of the Clone Wars. Seeing suffering all around him, Anakin gradually begins to reject this view. He wants order and he wants it now, before more suffer. He takes the easy way out, the way that entails less suffering for others but (more importantly) also less suffering for him - he chooses the dark side. (As opposed to saving his love interest)

4. The friendship between Obi-Wan and Anakin could work on the basis of Anakin being worldly wise yet Obi-Wan being spiritually wise. Initially, Obi-Wan would not understand the cut-throat world of Tatooine, but it's Anakin who shows him the ropes. In the same way, Anakin is completely out of his element in the stoic world of the Jedi, but Obi-Wan shows him how to be in that world too. It would be a friendship based on helping each other, with the line between master and teacher very blurred. (As opposed to the clearly struggling relationship from AotC and the lack of a relationship in PM)

5. Anakin would surrender his light-saber to Obi-Wan before his final turn to the dark side. The pain of the war would come to be too much for him and he would resign from the Jedi. Regardless of his resignation, he cannot ignore the continuing blood-shed and would long for "an end to this destructive conflict" and for "order" in the galaxy. (As opposed to Obi-Wan taking his saber from him after he is defeated on Mustafar)

These are just some themes, ideas, characters and situations I think would work in an alternate prequel series. I think there's glimmers of some of these things in the prequel series, but they're mostly unfulfilled and lost in the general confusion of those movies.

I had a much more elaborate plan worked out before I deleted it, swearing to myself that I wouldn't waste any more time thinking about what might have been. But if we're talking about animating an alternate series, I'd be more than happy to submit some ideas and maybe even a draft.

Oh and here's an important thing we should work out, who are our heroes and what are their personalities?

Anakin: Idealistic yet worldy-wise, he's a down to earth kind of guy who just wants to do good in the universe. He's seen the tough side of life and wants to do his part to make things better - one way he sees of doing this is fighting against the [whoever the antagonistic army is in this alternate series], which is why he joins Obi-Wan on his "fool idealistic crusade".

Obi-Wan: Like Anakin, Obi-Wan also wants to do good in the universe. Unlike Anakin, he sees this conflict in spiritual rather than practical terms (something that can become a point of light-hearted and also serious conflict between them). In the first episode, he's a naive true-believer. By the time we near the end of the series, he's a man who truly understands war.

Bail Organa: Something of a stuck-up royal, he is at first skeptical of the Jedi. Obi-Wan's apparently "head in the clouds" attitude frustrates him - especially considering he comes to rely on him for defence in dangerous situations. As the series progresses, however, this skepticism begins to slip and he comes to appreciate both Anakin and Obi-Wan.

Yoda: All we know that he must do in this series is train Obi-Wan and refuse to train Anakin - though he could probably be a major character, perhaps even the alien in the way Chewbacca is the alien in the OT.

C-3PO & R2D2: Obi-Wan didn't seem to remember ever owning a droid, so that's out of the question. Though 3PO does say "no more adventures", why not let us see these "adventures"?

The Love Interest™: I got nothin'.

The Badguy: See #2 for some ideas.

Very interesting project. I like the ideas and mock-ups very much.

One important thing, I think, would be to try and tone down the villainy of Veidt if he is to be more like the character from the comic. In the comic he's not at all villainous. Often he seems very humble and sincere.

I thought that one way of toning down his villainy would be to gently play muzac in the background of his interview with the press, to make him seem more like a harmless sell-out rather than a dangerous tycoon. So long as it isn't particularly intrusive, of course.

I also heard tell that in the Ultimate edition of Watchmen they'll be working scenes from "Under the Hood" into the film. Even if they aren't, I think a significantly edited down version of Under the Hood could work well in a fanedit. These scenes could appear where each chapter from the novel ends.


Dan: What do you expect? The Comedian is dead...

Announcement theme from Under the Hood plays.

Cut to Under the Hood.

Presenter: Welcome to... etc.

And then, just after Rorschach's Pagliacci speech, the section of Under the Hood concerning Doctor Manhattan could play as everything following this point mostly centers on him, his interview, his personal history, whether or not he'll return to Earth etc.

Just an idea. It may not seem necessary, but it certainly does mirror the shape of the graphic novel more closely.

And one last thing. Ever seen the motion comic? I really like it, and I absolutely love Lennie Moore's score. I know you're probably going with Philip Glass, but I think it's worth considering especially since each character has a theme composed for them in the motion comic.

Dan's theme is especially good. It plays as he walks away from his weekly meeting with Hollis Mason. Listening to it, it reminded me somewhat of heroic themes from "Batman: The Animated Series" but played with a downbeat melancholy, as if the real or perceived glory days of this hero had gone by. At least, that's what I got from it.

Anyway, considering getting your hands on a fully isolated version of the motion comic OST would be a job in itself I think you can pretty much stick with Glass.

Another idea, during Anakin and Palpatine's talk at the bubble-opera, how about the bubbles are replaced with giant, holographic figures?

They could even be used to reflect their conversation somewhat, with a hooded, red hologram Sith in conflict with a blue, Jedi hologram. Somehow, I think a hologram opera would make a little more sense than...whatever it was that was going on originally.

My attempt at a new opening crawl. I'm sort of trying to explain exactly what the Sith and Jedi are in as concise a way as possible, and still have time to set the scene...

STAR WARS:


Thousands of years after the Jedi Knights, ancient guardians

of peace and justice in the galaxy, defeated their dark kin,

the Sith Order, conflict now shrouds the Galactic Republic.

A coalition of greedy warlords, calling itself the GALACTIC FEDERATION,

has mysteriously emerged and conquered defenceless

planets outside the protection of the Republic.


Now, in a daring move, the Federation has

surrounded the peaceful Republic world of Alderaan with a blockade of

deadly warships and presses the idealistic young leader, Padmé Amidala,

to submit to their tyranny.


Hoping to avoid the ever rising threat of

war, the Supreme Chancellor of the Republic

has dispatched two Jedi Knights to negotiate with the Federation.

Though seemingly a conflict of civilisations, ancient rivalries are stirred and some more

insidious evil than greed secretly inspires the enemies of the Galactic Republic ....

It actually makes a lot more sense for Anakin to make his confession to Palpatine.

Bingowings said:

InfoDroid said:

The way I understand it is, the Sith are kind of like a secret society. They officially "don't exist". No one knows the Emperor or Darth Vader are Dark Lords of the Sith by the time we get to ANH. And any suggestion of that is probably passed off as ridculous, politically-motivated rumor. It's not public knowledge, and probably not something they want to advertise given the Sith's long dubious history.

Like David Icke's shape shifting lizards of the Illuminati, I suppose (that would explain the eyes)?

 

Honestly, I think secret society conspiracy theorism, whether it's lizards, illuminati, free masons or satanists is probably the perfect perspective from which to view the Sith...

Bingowings said:

I can't see where you would put a reference to Anakin's piloting skills into a prequel crawl or why you would need to.

You see him pilot a Racing Pod, a Naboo Starfighter, an Airspeeder, a Swoopbike and a Jedi Starfighter in the films, the crawl is just a means of setting up what you need to know at the beginning of each film.

You can't do it for TPM because we haven't met him, the Seperatist movement is the big change in AOTC and the Clone War is the big event of between AOTC and ROTS.

I sort of mean something quick, like "infamous starpilot, Anakin Skywalker, and his Jedi Master, Obi-Wan Kenobi, lead a desperate mission to rescue the captive Chancellor…"

Octorox said:

No offense but I completely despise TheoOdo's idea. The point of the prequels is to show the glory day's of the old republic and how they came to an end. There needs to be a huge but gradual shift in attitude and style from TPM to ANH. To have the Jedi and the Republic already laughable Day 1 does not show that.

For me, the most important thing any fanedit can do is make the films of the PT mesh better with the OT. In ANH, it's clear the Old Republic is long gone. There's a sense that the Empire has been around for a long time, and a sense of loss for the ancient glory days. In order for those glory days to be ancient and worth that nostalgia, they would have to honestly have been gone for some time, in my view. The Republic is still the republic, but as Palpatine says in the original cut of TPM, "it's not what it once was".

I think something that is very clear in the OT is that sense of loss. When we're with Yoda on Dagobah in ESB, there is a sense that he is a purveyor of a lost ancient wisdom but to show that time straight up...it cannot compare to the immense spectacle that builds up in our imaginations. When we watch Yoda training younglings in AOTC, it suddenly seems trivial and mundane.

Certain things should be cloaked, I feel, if they are to retain their power. Is the Republic as we see in the PT worthy of that feeling of loss? I don't think so, so I think it should instead be stated that, once again, the glory days are out of sight and fit back into the comfortable mists of our imagination where they can take on grand, exaggerated forms. The important thing is the idea of a good, just society. That is not the society we see in the PT.

To say it in short, the Old Republic should be an idealised society, in my view. Such a society cannot be successfully presented literally.

Secondly, my meaning with the new dialogue was to show not that the Jedi are a joke, but that they are mythical and mysterious with some, especially the enemies of the Republic, even doubting their existence. This, I think, lends them more mystery and explains better why a mere 18 years after their fall people would be so skeptical about their existence and the existence of the Force as we see, for example, Han Solo and the chocked imperial both are.

That's my explanation of what I meant, and I think I'm rambling a bit now, but, hey, to each his own.

Edit: Another idea. Can we have at least one mention of Anakin Skywalker being a famous starpilot in an opening crawl? For all Obi-Wan's talk in ANH, we certainly don't see a lot of starpiloting on Anakin's part...so if we can't see, at least let us know it.

I've been thinking about how the opening crawl could fix a lot of problems with the PT. It's already been addressed, but the history of the Jedi and Sith could be explained along with the decline of the Republic.

Also, an idea I think I already put forward is to have the separatist group retitled "the Galactic Federation" and for it to be a coalition of warlords seeking to dominate the republic. The reason why it'd be "the federation" instead of the separatists would be that it allows them to be present from TPM onward. They're the threat from day one, not some ridiculously dull trade group.

I've also been thinking about how much could be done with the use of subtitles. Any audience member unfamiliar with Star Wars would be confused as to what the hell the Jedi are, and what they hell the force is.
One way I thought of introducing the Jedi would be to have the subtitled federation aliens discuss them as they board the ship and also make them more threatening characters.

The following is an example of what could be done. What I want to re-assert is the religious nature of the Jedi, and also their legendary status. Make it seem as if people already doubt their existence, even, to make the skeptical tones people talk of them in in ANH seem more reasonable:


(ship approaches blockade)

Qui-Gon: Captain, tell them we wish to board at once.

Captain: With all due respect, the ambassadors for the supreme chancellor wish to board immediately.

Nute Gunray: Of course. The Galactic Federation welcomes all negotiations with the Old Republic*, and we would be glad to welcome the ambassadors.

*Basically the idea here is that the phrase "old republic" had emerged long before the Empire was ever formed, used as a derogatory phrase by Federation members for the Galactic Republic the insinuation being that their time was already over. This explains why the true glory days of the Republic seem like a distant memory even in the evidently short space of time between TPM and ANH, because we actually aren't seeing those glory days at all in TPM. The Republic is already considered old and over, and what was at first an insulting phrase later became one used with nostalgia by galactic republicans in the new Empire as Obi-Wan does in ANH.

(Later, after Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon talk)

Nute Gunray: What? Speak up, droid!

TC-14: The ambassadors for the Galactic Republic appear to be Jedi Knights.

Rune Haako: Jedi Knights? Religious fanatics! We cannot trust their kind!

Nute Gunray: Indeed. I will contact the master, you may deal with the Jedi however you like.

Rune Haako: However I like? That's unusually harsh of you ... (to TC-14) prepare the battle droids.

(Later, to Palpatine)

Rune Haako: The ambassadors are Jedi, lord. But their ancient superstitions will surely be no match for our-

Palpatine: Viceroy, I don't want this slime in my sight again. This turn of events is unfortunate. We must accelerate our plans. Begin landing your troops.

Nute Gunray: And what of the Jedi, lord?

Palpatine: Kill them immediately.

Nute Gunray: With pleasure, my lord.

(Nute Gunray, as a hologram)

Nute: The toxins should flush them out. Prepare for battle.*

*The original line "they must be dead by now, destroy what's left of them" but sending battle droids to eliminate the remains of Jedi is...pointless.

(Later, as Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon fight and Gunray discusses the situation with another Neimodian)

Neimodian: You misunderstand the Jedi, viceroy.

Nute: Why? Because I don't believe the legends? Seal off the bridge!

Neimodian: The legends are true, sir!

Nute: And more droids! For your own sake, do not fail me!

Neimodian: Surrender is still and option...

(As Qui-Gon penetrates the blast door)

Neimodian: You see? The force is with them!

Nute: It can't be! It's a myth!

Neimodian: You've doomed us all...

(Watching from the screen in the control room, after Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan are forced to flee the scene)

Neimodian: Now do you believe the legends, sir?

-Conveniently, Nute nods to what the neimodian is saying at this point, I think.


That's just some ideas off the top of my head. I know some of it seems probably a little forced, but it's at least introductory and not just ramblings about droids and "this is impossible" and "oh no" and such.


On a completely unrelated note, can I suggest that the strange bubble-view screen of theirs be changed into the kind of screen used by Vader in ESB? It'd be a nicer tie between both series and be less gratuitous than the Windows Movie Maker style bubble-vision device.

I always sort of guessed it would be something smaller that would still disregard the EU. Like, say, Leia not being Luke's sister?

I dunno', that's always seemed like the obvious choice to me.

I don't know if I've mentioned this before, but there's a pretty easy way to get rid of that one Ewok's speeder bike adventure.

Just make it so there's only ONE guard at the secret entrance, simply paint the other guards out. Han then comments "Not bad for a little furball, there's only one of 'em". Leia, "It only takes one to sound the alarm", "Then we'll do it real quiet like".

Then, cut straight to Han attracting the single guard to the mini ambush. It also ties in better with the idea that the Emperor was baiting them all along seeing as it was just too easy.

We never did get to hear MTHaslett 's idea, did we? :(

I actually like the idea of an Othello style situation going on between Palpatine and Anakin, with Palpatine encouraging the notion that Padmé (or whatever this alternate spouse would be called, the name Padmé doesn't sit well with me) may be involved with someone else.

Rhikter said:

Originally posted by Erikstormtrooper:

"They should have shown why Obi Wan seemed to recognize it in ANH."

Is the fact that he is a Jedi not explanation enough?

That was probably the original intent, but it would have been good to give fans an "oh, that's why!" experience.

To me, the prequels should have really been nothing but one big "oh, that's why!" with some sympathetic protagonists, a single threatening antagonist and action sequences spacing them out.