So, when you first saw this movie what did you think happened before it?
What did you think the Clone wars were?
What did you think happened during the clone wars?
What did you think the relationship between Vader and Obi Wan was like?
What did you think the Old Republic was like?
Anything else that anyone made up in their mind, please feel free to share.
Nothing like what was depicted in the prequels, that's for sure.
I thought the clone wars would be like the rebellion-empire battles in the original trilogy. Not the videogame demo reels from the prequels.
I pictured Anakin and Obi Wan as warm friends, played by English Shakespearean actors (and not the cheesy whiny american Dawson's Creek kid in the prequels)
I thought the Old Republic would look like old Imperial Japan.
I also pictured Luke's mother as being more like Carrie Fisher and not Natalie Portman. When Leia described her mother in Return of the Jedi, I never pictured the flamboyant queen/stern senator like Padme from the prequels - she didn't look or sound like Leia's mother at all.
The prequels were completely rewritten from Lucas original treatments to accommodate the changes made into the movies as they made. (i.e. Luke & Leia being brother and sister)
shareThat makes no sense. Lucas wrote them, he didn't rewrite them!
shareLucas wrote a series of treatments, complete outlines for the full nine film series. The first one he sold was Part 4 which became the original Star Wars. During filming the trilogy, changes were made to the story, some because of technology limits at the time, correct errors, others to revise the story.
For instance, Luke & Leia were never intended to be brother and sister. His sister (and protege) was intended to be another character introduced in Return of the Jedi. Fans kept screaming for Luke & Leia to be together but Lucas wanted her with Han for the story. So he made them siblings to stop the demands.
When he finally decided to film Episodes 1-3, the treatments had to be rewritten because of the various changes.
Fans kept screaming for Luke & Leia to be together but Lucas wanted her with Han for the story. So he made them siblings to stop the demands.
Yeah, and it was weird and creepy. Incest is weird and creepy, but apparently George thinks it's normal....
shareWhy would Luke & Leia being siblings require the events of decades before they were born to be rewritten?
shareIt felt like Kenobi was talking about something that happened further in the past then the number of years between the events in Revenge of the Sith and the original film. Maybe that was because I was only 11 at the time. Now 20 years doesn’t seem that long.
shareI got the same feeling. It felt like he was talking about 40-50 (or even more) years- not just 20.
shareAnakin and Owen Lars serving together in the Clone Wars.
General Kenobi comes to be involved in the same battle they are caught up in and is amazed at Anakin's incredible piloting skills and ways with the force.
During leave, they land up on Tatooine were they come across the opportunity to purchase a farm and settle down - something they've always talked about.
It looks like the brothers (actual brothers or maybe even in-laws via Beru) are going to do this but Obi-Wan appears, appealing to Anakin to join him on one last crusade. Owen Lars is weary and wants nothing more to do with it and so stays, angry at Obi-Wan for convincing Anakin to leave.
Maybe Owen Lars has seen some of Anakin's unstableness and begs Obi-Wan to leave without him and thinks a quiet life on Tatooine would be better for all of them.
There's no rule of two. There's no Jedi Temple on Coruscant. The Jedi are a much more mysterious group and of a much smaller number.
There is no Qui-Gon as Obi-Wan takes it upon himself to train Anakin, once he'd decided to leave Tatooine behind.
Bail Organa would have played a significantly stronger role throughout the films.
I could have done without Qui-Gon too. He was flat and boring.
I like the idea that the Jedi are more mysterious and that they are fewer in number.
In the original trilogy being a jedi felt special, in the prequels it didn't. Of course, they hadn't been exterminated yet...
Yeah, I think he was playing it that way to be fair but the Liam Neeson of Taken, furiously hunting down Darth Maul, could have been much better and a fun side story for an Episode 1. Just keep it aside from the Anakin / Obi-Wan / Owen main thread...
And Tarken and Han Solo's lines from the first film definitely suggest the Jedi not being as ubiquitous as we got. Plus, it kind of ruins the mythology around the OT of Luke being the "last hope" if it turns out that just a generation early you couldn't walk around the corner to the local shop without bumping into a Jedi or two on the way.
Thinking back...
1. Clone wars. I guess I assumed that some nation or faction started a war of conquest using large armies of clones and the jedi led the Republic in fighting against them.
2. As there was no mention of clones being around during the first prequel, I guess I assumed that the side using the clones lost and was eliminated, the clones all killed or scattered and the clone banks bombed.
3. Vader? Some former student that seemed promising, went off, and turned back while out of sight, and then became part of the new order. Never imagined how close Obi Wan was to the whole process.
4. Old Republic, I guess I assume similar to America, but with teh Jedi operating as sort of an established church, with some involvement in military and governing matters, but still with a large Republic like government structure. I recall being surprised and disappointed when we saw the Republic later and the non-jedi seemed to mostly be blocks of wood with no agency of their own.