Remake Episode I

[CalMusquez]

I thought about several different forums to post this in, but ultimately decided this was the best place. Feel free to move it if you think there's a better place. I was sitting watching tv the other day, and I was thinking about how many different fan made star wars material there is out there. People making fan films, fan editors, fan rewriters, etc. And it seems like almost everybody has their opinion as to what Star Wars Episode I SHOULD HAVE been. This got me thinking. What would a completely fan-made episode I be? What if you got a fan re-writer, a fan filmmaker, and a faneditor together to all completely redo Episode I the way they feel it should have been done in the first place? What would it be like? This isn't really something I'm looking to start, just an idea I thought I would share with all of you and see what you think of it.

 

[TomH1138]

I like the idea, but it would be a very difficult one to pull off, since it would need a huge budget, good actors, plenty of people with open schedules, etc., etc.

I've often thought about writing scripts for radio adaptations for the prequels, similar to the NPR dramatizations of the original movies. Even if my scripts never got produced, I think I would be happy knowing that a better version of the stories exists out there somewhere.

 

[Dethryl]

I don't think one needs to have a "huge" budget. The ability to throw money at a project doesn't make it any better. The official prequels had tons of cash, and we got a crapfest. Look at something like Starship Troopers, where they didn't have the budget to show the Marauder power suits. Instead they focused on characters and story and did it quite well. That could be replicated with a cast of unknowns, almost like was done with the original Star Wars. The big names in that were Peter Cushing, Alec Guiness, and James Earl Jones. Nobody knew who Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, or Harrison Ford were.

As for ideas, (working within the special effects framework of the PT as one can) I thought it would be fun if Anakin the hotshot pilot were actually the captain of the ship that Queen Amidala escaped from Naboo on.

 

[baileym43]

i see why they wanted Anakin to start out as a young boy because that's when Jedi training was supposed to start. but it would have mirrored better with Luke if he were discovered to be harboring such talents as a teenager. Luke just turned 18 in Hope, so yeah, having the Jedi stumble up on this "hot shot Naboo pilot" would have made more sense.
(good call Deth)

 

[DominicCobb]

I think Anakin's a boy to emphasize how strong his abilities are.

 

[TomH1138]

I don't think one needs to have a "huge" budget. The ability to throw money at a project doesn't make it any better. The official prequels had tons of cash, and we got a crapfest.

Sure. I'm not saying that money automatically equals quality. But we're not talking about starting a script from scratch. We're talking about a remake of Ep. I, which had a ton of different locations, which is expensive to shoot.

Look at the Pink Five fan film series. When director Trey Stokes made the first one, he had one young woman in a cockpit. That's it. It cost him next to nothing, and it was immensely popular and won a bunch of awards. The next one was a bit more ambitious, and the next one after that even more so. By the time he got to the first part of Return of Pink Five, he had written a second part with so many characters and locations that, seven years later, he still hasn't finished it and likely never will. Why? Because the last part is way more expensive than the first one was.

And that's for a 10-minute video, mind you. If we're talking about shooting a 2-hour film, then the price goes through the roof. That's just the way it works, unfortunately.

Look at something like Starship Troopers, where they didn't have the budget to show the Marauder power suits. Instead they focused on characters and story and did it quite well.

You can't be talking about the 1997 Starship Troopers, with its cardboard characters going through bad soap opera and ridiculous cliches in a ham-handed attempt at satire, can you? Gosh, I hate that thing worse than even Ep. I!

(This is not personal against you. That's just not a good film to use as an example for me.)

As for ideas, (working within the special effects framework of the PT as one can) I thought it would be fun if Anakin the hotshot pilot were actually the captain of the ship that Queen Amidala escaped from Naboo on.

Not a bad idea! I always thought that Anakin should be a teenager or young adult, anyway, or that if he's a kid, that he and Padme should at least be the same age.

 

[Brumous]

My ideal prequel is inspired by Episode IV where Obi-Wan explains the story in a few sentences. The main character is Obi-Wan of course because he is the wizard of the whole series. Anakin is a whole new character, the Jedi ace star pilot and close friend of Obi-Wan. Vader is just a thug who is less powerful than he is later in the OT. He traps and destroys Anakin in the process of destroying the Jedi Order and the Republic. The clone wars is not just an army of clones, there are rogue artificial intelligences which are a third pole in the war fighting for dominance. The Sith Lords have to spend a lot of energy battling the AIs and finally they crush them and eliminate them from the galaxy. The Jedis are beaten but since the Sith Lords are fighting on two fronts they are distracted and that lets some of the Jedis and rebel forces survive to fight again instead of being crushed totally during the Clone Wars.

So the prequel is a fast moving war story with a few leading characters, a lot like the OT. It's not a morality play or a political story, there's no Padme or Naboo.

 

[Brumous]

So if Anakin and Vader are different people, what's all this Luke I am your father business? When Vader destroyed Anakin he absorbed Anakin's force powers. So Luke's father is in that Vader suit somewhere but not in control. When Vader is killed Anakin's Force ghost is freed from inside Vader. So Obi-Wan was telling the truth all along.

 

[addiesin]

Holy shit Brumous I love you. Now that you've said it, that's how it would HAVE to be done.

 

[Dethryl]

You can't be talking about the 1997 Starship Troopers, with its cardboard characters going through bad soap opera and ridiculous cliches in a ham-handed attempt at satire, can you? Gosh, I hate that thing worse than even Ep. I!

(This is not personal against you. That's just not a good film to use as an example for me.)

I most certainly am. I think it's great because it succeeded at doing exactly what it set out to do, which is tell a propagandist tale where the good guys are simple and likable, where the bad guys are impossible to identify with in any way. The main hero has a tremendous character arc, something Ep1 never achieved. The supporting characters are interesting. Does it have some soap opera moments? Absolutely, but sometimes real life can feel like a soap opera.

So if Anakin and Vader are different people, what's all this Luke I am your father business? When Vader destroyed Anakin he absorbed Anakin's force powers. So Luke's father is in that Vader suit somewhere but not in control. When Vader is killed Anakin's Force ghost is freed from inside Vader. So Obi-Wan was telling the truth all along.

That would completely ruin Ben's speech in Ep6 about "from a certain point of view" which I think is a great bit of philosophy.

I believe, as Mr. Plinkett pointed out to us, that Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon should have been combined into one character called Obi-Wan Kenobi. At the very least, Qui-Gon should have stayed on the ship while Obi-Wan went out and had the adventure. It would have been a good thing to have Obi-Wan and Anakin (the hotshot pilot) get into some situations while they tried to get the ship repaired. That builds their friendship and lets us believe Ben's reminiscence to Luke in Ep4.

Dominic: Anakin doesn't have to be a kid to demonstrate how strong he is with the Force. Just having him able to do a few things without any training, like precognition, realizing that things are about to turn ugly, or piloting a speeder bike (or a swoop) through Beggar's Canyon at insane speeds would be more than sufficient.

ETA: The plot about Republic credits not being "real money" was dumb, but suppose they just didn't have enough. Maybe Anakin gets into a sabacc game and uses his untrained Force skills to win enough to buy to replacement parts. Or maybe his "luck" fails him on that last crucial hand, and they lose everything.

 

[Brumous]

That would completely ruin Ben's speech in Ep6 about "from a certain point of view" which I think is a great bit of philosophy.

Yeah if I had my druthers I'd change some scenes in episode 6 instead of putting up with the avalanche of contradictions and continuity errors that the prequels set up.

 

[Gwalchmai]

I believe, as Mr. Plinkett pointed out to us, that Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon should have been combined into one character called Obi-Wan Kenobi. At the very least, Qui-Gon should have stayed on the ship while Obi-Wan went out and had the adventure. It would have been a good thing to have Obi-Wan and Anakin (the hotshot pilot) get into some situations while they tried to get the ship repaired. That builds their friendship and lets us believe Ben's reminiscence to Luke in Ep4.

According to http://secrethistoryofstarwars.com/thebeginning.html, in an earlier version of episode 1 script, Obi-Wan alone was sent to Naboo (called Utapau in this version) in the beginning of the movie. He did most of the things that Qui-Gon ended up doing in the movie (saving Jar Jar, finding Anakin, dueling Maul on Tatooine...). Qui-Gon only joined him after reaching Coruscant, and then went with him back to Naboo/Utapau.

 

[TomH1138]

I honestly can't stand that "certain point of view" crap. What Obi-Wan should have said was, "I'm sorry for lying to you, Luke, but I didn't think you were emotionally ready to handle the truth yet." Anyone could accept that.

Also, I need to finish reading that Secret History of Star Wars.

 

[TomH1138]

P.S. Brumous, I just watched the video and laughed so hard. The awkward pauses between Luke and Ben were priceless.

Also, at 4:00, it pointed out another flaw that I've never caught before. Yoda didn't train his padawan any better than Obi-Wan did! There's another line that's been rendered completely meaningless.

Here's another one of my favorite videos on the same subject:

 

[CalMusquez]

Hey, just caught up on the replies to this thread as I've been sick for a few days. Some really great stuff here =P. I really just have one thing to add and it's regarding budget. Nowadays, you can do a lot with very little. There was a very impressive and quite funny fan film made a couple years ago called The Emperor's New Clones, which was made, if I remember correctly, for about $3000, or whatever the equivalent of that is in pounds. It was about an hour I think and really quite technically impressive for the budget and time put into it. So, I agree that you don't need a lot of money to make a movie that feels big.