What Are the Ways the Star Wars Prequels Could Be Improved???
- Thread starter VulcanMindBlown
- Start date
You know I think one of the big things missing in the prequels is a Han Solo type of character. Most of the main characters are basically super serious aristocats or other sorts of royalty. There is no fun character or even a character like Luke who is just a farmboy when we first see him and even Leia who is a princess seems to not really be all that stuck up.
If they were doing the films today I think they would put a lot of the focus on people who the audience can better relate to. Nothing a audience loves more than a lovable rogue or some other character type they can either see themselves as or sort of wish they were like them. Who really wants to be like any of the Jedi in the prequels? I mean beyond learning how to use the force the rest of lives looks about as much fun as being a member or the royal family in England.
Jason
If they were doing the films today I think they would put a lot of the focus on people who the audience can better relate to. Nothing a audience loves more than a lovable rogue or some other character type they can either see themselves as or sort of wish they were like them. Who really wants to be like any of the Jedi in the prequels? I mean beyond learning how to use the force the rest of lives looks about as much fun as being a member or the royal family in England.
Jason
I agree with this point. Most of the characters are not relatable and are incredibly serious. A Han Solo,quippy type, character is definitely needed
How to improve the prequels? Force George Lucas to give up the director's chair, and the primary screenwriter's chair... any chair except the executive producer chair. Let him be the idea/money guy willing to turn the keys over to other creative types who could make something of the material.
You're lucky I can't find the comic strip I was thinking of for a witty comeback.
This may be a minor point in the larger scheme of things, but I didn't like the two-against-one light saber fight Dooku had with Obi-wan and Anakin.
Usually in stories, it is the good guy that has to fight against overwhelming, or bad, odds. Visually, it looked awkward for the villain, Dooku, to have to face two foes at once. In addition to that, Dooku was the elderly looking man fighting against two young robust jedis. It didn't look right visually. I didn't think it was an effective scene in getting the audience to sympathize with the heroes.
The same goes with Darth Maul vs Qui-gon and Obi-wan in PM, even though Maul wasn't an elderly looking person (I assume that behind the mask, he wasn't a wrinkly white haired man).
By the way, about that Dooku vs Obi-wan/Anakin fight in ROTS, that was an awesome -- and funny -- backwards kick by Dooku that sent Anakin crashing into the bulkhead. I always get a kick (pun intended) out of seeing that.
Usually in stories, it is the good guy that has to fight against overwhelming, or bad, odds. Visually, it looked awkward for the villain, Dooku, to have to face two foes at once. In addition to that, Dooku was the elderly looking man fighting against two young robust jedis. It didn't look right visually. I didn't think it was an effective scene in getting the audience to sympathize with the heroes.
The same goes with Darth Maul vs Qui-gon and Obi-wan in PM, even though Maul wasn't an elderly looking person (I assume that behind the mask, he wasn't a wrinkly white haired man).
By the way, about that Dooku vs Obi-wan/Anakin fight in ROTS, that was an awesome -- and funny -- backwards kick by Dooku that sent Anakin crashing into the bulkhead. I always get a kick (pun intended) out of seeing that.
Well, they knew from experience that Dooku was probably going to be a handful one on one, and he proved fairly efficient early on in this fight as well. He almost killed the both of them on Geonosis.
It also did little to inspire the type of fear that Dooku really needed to be a villain. Even his defeat of Anakin and Obi-Wan didn't really cement that idea, which is why I think seeing the Clone Wars expanded upon in the films is an intriguing prospect. We get to see what motivates Dooku more, we get to see what he is willing to do to create his own empire, and how his ambition, like Anakin's, plays right in to Palpatine's schemes.
No. I disagree. I don't believe there was a need for a Han Solo type for the Prequel Trilogy. There was no need for George Lucas to repeat himself in such an obvious manner. In fact, I don't see how a Han Solo character was necessary for a story like the Prequel Trilogy.
Got a minute?
There are a lot of legitimate story reasons to have the skeptic character in a film where characters are being extremely serious. It doesn't have to be a repeat of Han Solo, beat for beat, but the sarcastic skeptic character is often utilized in ways that can establish trust and connection with an audience. A lot of Shakespearean plays utilize such a secondary character for that reason.
Han Solo is a skeptic who, in contrast to other similar characters at the time, goes over to the idealistic point of view of Luke. In the PT, with the more darker tone, having the skeptic who is actually proven right, but no one listens to. That's a bare outline, but it's a concept that I like and would provide a different perspective than just the Jedi and the Sith.
This sounds like an argument that Lucas should have repeated himself with characters and a style that he had utilized in the Original Trilogy. THIS IS NOT GOOD WRITING to me. Instead, this sounds like a mere example of repeating oneself and nothing more. You can accept this view that a similar Han Solo type was needed for the Prequel Trilogy all you want. The idea that a character like Han should have been used in the second trilogy is one that I find to be a waste of time and a lack of originality.
Agree to disagree then, since I'm not saying "Han Solo by another name" but a skeptic character who adds another perspective. Literature is fraught with examples, that could work very well in the PT, and not feel like a rehash of Han.
It isn't so much repeating himself, but using a proven literary style to provide information or understanding for the audience. Lucas actually did have a character in this role in The Phantom Menace. But he wrapped that character up with the 3PO role and made him the comic relief....Jar Jar Binks. The poor reaction to this character more or less got him sidelined for the majority of the next two films. Obi-wan and Anakin start off being able to throw sarcasm back at each other in both of the later films, but they spend most of the time apart, so this dynamic isn't fully used. There wasn't a good skeptic for the later films, though Padme could have been used for that role, but her skeptic nature would have been her idealism held against the idea that war was their only option, or that the Chancellor would keep his powers post-war.
It is hard to be a Jedi/Force skeptic in the PT due to the numbers of Jedi that are around most of the movies.
It is hard to be a Jedi/Force skeptic in the PT due to the numbers of Jedi that are around most of the movies.
I'm not saying the character has to be a rogue criminal type like Solo. Only someone who feels more contemporary as human being. Someone without magic powers or who lives the life of a monk or who isn't royalty with a desitiny. You know if you made the Watto character a human being and had him be brought into the adventure you could in theory have that be your regular guy.
Jason
The 'Han Solo' character comments made me chuckle. I remember back before Episode I came out, when people were surfing the net for hints and spoilers, there was a picture of Ric Olie (the pilot of Padme's ship) with contents that he was going to be the prequel trilogy's equivalent of Han Solo. In the end his part was practically smaller than that of Padme's handmaidens.
Sounds like a desire for a rehash to me.
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