[Mike Mac from NYU]

1. Show the clone wars
2. Show the rise of the Empire
3. Show Anakin's transformation to Darth Vader
4. Have the birth of Luke and Leia and
5. Show the extermination of the Jedi

#1 Really didn't need need to be explained that much. The importance of the clone wars are that it was a War in which Anakin Skywalker met Oibi-Wan Kenobi. That's all. No need to have a detailed explanation of what clones are and how they fit into the Star Wars universe.

There are only 3 things that need to be explained and explored in The PT.

1. The relationship between Anakin and Obi-Wan and how it turned sour.
2. The rise of the Emperor and how his relationship with Anakin.
3. The conflict that changed Anakin from the good side to the darkside.

That's it! Everything else is secondary and can be explained in a few scenes. The problem is that Lucas wasted so much time on unneseccary characters and mediocre plotlines that he left himself no time to fully explore those points. Those three things were things we wanted to know. The OT was essentially about Luke Skywalker and his coming of age. PT is a continuation of Lukes story told from the experiences of thef father {The Sins of the Father sort of thing).

[Chefelf]

1. The Clone Wars ....who cares? This trilogy is not about the goddamn clone wars. Watch the cartoon if you want to see that stuff, they're good enough. Besides, he gave you a taste of the war in the last 40 minutes of AOTC. Is that not enough for you?

I would have liked it if Episode I started in media res with the Clone Wars already in motion. That would have tied together the trilogy much better than having a stupid trade dispute in the first movie then the Clone Wars in the next two.

This trilogy should have been ALL about the Clone Wars. Why he waited until the very end of Episdoe II to start them up is beyond me.

[Vwing]

I also don't like the fact that Episode III is going to end 18 YEARS before Episode IV. Think about the end of Episode III what we most likely will know. Anakin becomes Darth Vader. The Old Republic is now ruled by Palpatine who declares himself Emperor and makes them evil. The Jedi are being hunted (because Lucas has said he is not going to show the full Jedi massacre in Episode III). Luke and Leia are born. Now, we watch this in order, as he wants us to, and at the beginning of Episode IV we see in the opening crawl "The Rebel Alliance has won its first victory against the evil Empire." WHAT?? There is no continuity, somone who does watch them in order (god forbid) will have no idea what happened to the story he left off on in Episode III.

[Despondent]

Anyone who watches eps 1-6 in order will be doing so...







because they don't know better.

[Mike Mac from NYU]

Anyone who watches eps 1-6 in order will be doing so...
because they don't know better.

Can you imagine someone that does watches Star Wars for the first time in sequential order. I imagine they would probably give up at Episode III or go insane trying to connect the plotlines and story together.

Please if you watch Star Wars. watch it in CHRONOLOGICAL order to avoid madness

.

That should be a surgeon general's warning or something on the DVD set.

[barend]

when i grew up watching Starwars, I was under the impression that it all happened like this...

1.Anikan Skywalker was a young pilot (young as in 20-23 not that much younger than Obi-wan but no more than 10 yrs younger) and enlisted in some eqivilant of the rebublics' airforce.
2.Some Megolomaniac had started building clones (of more than one person) as an army to concor worlds.
3.the man who would raise princes Liea (who was obviosly of noble position on his planet) had command of armies fighting this scourge of clone warriors and had enlisted Jedi to help him after learning that Sith/Jedi had been cloned.
4.at some point during the clone wars Obi wan noticed annikan who showed great promise in his skills as a pilot, and more. Obiwan could sense the strength of the force in him and ended up becoming friends.
5.Obiwan told him that he wanted to have him trained as a Jedi and would take him to Yoda when the war was over, but ended up showing Anikan things here and there, until Anikans progress inflated Obiwans ego, about his ability to train him and could see no reason why not to completely train him ("I thought I could train him as well as Yoda").
6.while so many systems were foccusing all thier attention and efforts to the clone war, Palpatine was slowly and sneakily climbing up the politaical ladder, and securing his eventual seat of power.
7.As a majority of clones are killed and a few scattered, the clone wars ended and Palpatine starts establishing the Empire subtley and building his own fleet of ships. during this time Ankiian also met a girl, possibly got married and knocked her up.
8.Anikan was a key player in one of the (many) battles of the clone wars and became a high ranking officer. and slowly found that he could use his powers to influence his superiors... and gained higher ranking and accuired a taste for power as a result.
9.Obiwan eventually noticed this and confronted him about it to which Anikan started showing his weakness for corruption and attempted to correct the behaviour but his activity caught the attention of Palpatine.
who needless to say dug his talons in deep and began to heavily influence Anikans attitude and behaviour and most inportantly his moral interpretations.
10.this eventaully lead to a confrontation with obiwan once Paplaitine dropped his subtlety and began his tyranical reign. by the time this happened Anikan was so inlfuenced, that he took the emporers side when Jedi came to abolish him, leading to the infamous fight between Obiwanm and Anikan.

the rest they say is history...

[Just your average movie goer]

Thank you, Barend! It's good to know that I wasn't alone in my ideas about what happened before Episode IV. There are a few minor differences between the versions we each had in our mind but most of it's pretty much the same.

I definitely thought the same as you about Anakin being a young pilot in the Republic army. I imagined him looking a lot like the other pilots who fly with Luke in the battle of Yavin at the end of Episode IV. No way would he have been a ten year old kid when Obi Wan met him.

And from all the descriptions of him in the original trilogy, he sounded like a mature young man - not a whiny, creepy jerk played by Hayden Christensen. How does Lucas think a skinny kid like that can become a huge intimidating figure like Darth Vader? I don't know who they should have cast as the young Anakin Skywalker, but Lucas obviously didn't find him.

However, in terms of continuity, it will really make one particular scene in Return of the Jedi even more poignant. It went like this:

Luke: I know you were once Anakin Skywalker, my father.
Darth Vader: That name no longer has any meaning for me!

I can certainly understand the strength of Darth Vader's reaction to that. If I was him, I'd get pretty upset too if somebody reminded me that I used to be a real jerk.

But then again, Obi Wan also said that when Anakin Skywalker became Darth Vader, "the good man who was your father was destroyed."

So unless Obi Wan was telling a lie to Luke to make him feel good about his old man, the prequels failed miserably in portraying Anakin.

Also, incidentally... Barend, or anyone else who also had their own ideas of what WOULD/SHOULD HAVE happened in the prequels... when did you think that big fight between Obi Wan and Anakin would take place? I always expected that it would happen in Episode II. What about you?

[barend]

that's what i was hoping for, thus perpetuating my beleif that ep3, will be like southparks version of great expectations. i can't belive they told the entire story in 20 minutes and added that extra bit about the genisis machine and all the bunnies.

also i was under the impression that any darkness in anikan was subtle and virtually unnoticible until too late. and that it would occure a bit like frodo in mount doom. infact, exactly like that!!! with the lava and all.

but NO. that argument they (ani and obi) have infront of amidala and staff about finding the assasin was bullshit. an argument like that would get you instantly ejected from the pressence of such dignitaries. "you two arn't fit to protect Sy Snootles band!!! get out of here before i have you banned from this planet!!!" when security teams act like that they loose a client instantly!!!

[Mike Mac from NYU]

"Exacto-mundo!! And, it should be stressed that Ben said, "man" not "cute little gee-gosh-wow kid." Chafes my hide when gushers squeak that Anakin is/was good. Ree-ight"

Nice try but no cigar!! Anakin would be 20 something years old when the emperor finally seduces him to the dark side in Ep. III. So he is a "man" technically.

A better argument would be that in ROTJ, Obi-Wan says when i met your father he " was already a great pilot". When Obi-Wan meets Anakin in TPM it would be a real hard stretch to say this kid is a good pilot, especially when he wasn't even there for the Pod racing!!!!. Hell he never even saw him be a pilot or use the force for that matter. It was Qui-Gon.

That being said, I still don't think it was a bad idea to make Anakin a young boy in TPM. In many ways it is a stroke of genius and creates more interesting ideas. if TPM was done right, which it wasn't!!!! :angry:

[Private Zod]

I get so depressed readings these posts because they are ALL TRUE. I like many on this forum thought movies began and ended with the original trilogy growing up. And after 16 years, Lucas was going to continue the storyline and answered questions we all wanted to know:

1. How did Anakin become Vader
2. What happened to their mother
3. What were the clone wars
4. How did only obi-wan and yoda escape the jedi purge
5. how did palpatine rise to power.

And to a man[or woman] , with teh exception of the still remaining Star Wars fans who willingly drink GL's juice, they have been a collossal dissappointment. So much potential for a lights-out trilogy, and it results in this crapfest. GL looks like an absolute hack after seeing what can be done when you combine great special effects, sets, actors, script and a talented director, i.e. the Lord of teh Rings trilogy. And we are made to suffer what could have been.

Go to hell Lucas!

[Mike Mac from NYU]

All of that has either been explained or is GOING to be explained in Episode III.

It is one thing to explain something in three scenes. It is another to explore it and understand in an ongoing conflict within all three movies.