Right from the start, the prequels were almost doomed to fail. Well maybe fail is too harsh a word, but if you put the box office numbers aside and look at the quality of the films, yes, they did fail. If their goal was just to do extremely well at the box office, well then job well done. But at the same time, they failed to create a prequel trilogy that completed the series well. After the PT was made, it sticks out like a sore thumb, but it's half the series. But given the success of the OT, the prequels just had no chance of living up to the hype.
One of the main reasons the PT was even created was so that we could see how this "Anakin Skywalker" guy became Darth Vader. To be honest, seeing Vader in the original trilogy as this mysterious guy who has choking powers is a lot more frightening and real than knowing underneath his suit is a charred, whiny, older Hayden Christensen. Some have suggested that the prequels should have focused on Obi-Wan and had Anakin as a minor character, but that's not what the people wanted.
We know George Lucas dropped the proverbial ball with the PT. The story, characters, emotions, and realism is all lacking from the PT, where as all of these things can be found in every film in the OT. I know there's no way that the PT could have been perfect or satisfied everyone, but here are the top ten changes that, at the very least, would have satisfied a lot more Star Wars fans:
10. No Jar Jar Binks, Qui-Gon Jinn, or Mace Windu.
I would cut each of these characters from the prequel trilogy, each for a different reason. Jar Jar is obvious. Qui Gon because he was too bland, too boring, and in a way, contradicts what Obi-Wan said in the original trilogy when he said Yoda taught him. Mace Windu because he was only created to appeal to Samuel L Jackson fans. Mace Windu really added very little to the prequel trilogy. He was also miscast, as SLJ is best at playing Bad-A** Motherf***ers and he was forced to play a wise mentor. If you keep the Mace Windu character, cast someone else, such as Louis Gosset Jr.
9. Make Anakin brown-haired, Padme blonde
You might think of that as an odd and almost unnecessary change, but since seeing Anakin/Vader without the helmet in “Return of the Jedi”, he just clearly appears to be dark-haired (or at least formerly). Making Anakin a brunette and Padme a blonde makes it still possible to have a blonde baby (Luke) and makes Padme more believable in being stupid. One of the kids who almost played Anakin was brown haired, and his name is Michael Angarano. He would've made a better Anakin than Jake Lloyd.
8. Introduce Anakin at an older age
You’ll see a lot of my changes have to do with Anakin. I feel he was poorly handled in the prequel trilogy. Instead of listening to some 9 year old who looks to never obtain puberty, we get to see Anakin at the teenager stage, just like Luke, and see him grow up. One of the problems with the prequels is that Anakin was introduced at age 9, then we saw him at 19, and never got to see him grow up.
7. Make Anakin a bit of a rebel, similar, but not the same to Han Solo
When we first met Anakin in the Phantom Menace, he was an innocent boy who tried to help out some strangers. What they should have done is made him a bit of a Han Solo type—make him arrogant and selfish, but not so much we hate him. Anakin should have been the Han Solo of the prequel trilogy—a bad guy that you like. This makes his transition to the dark side much easier.
6. Have love NOT be forbidden by the Jedi
There was nothing that said Jedi weren’t allowed to form attachments in the original trilogy, so I don’t know why Lucas introduced it in the prequels. Maybe he got a "hard on" from the “forbidden love” Anakin and Padme had. This also confused me a bit because I wondered how Jedi were supposed to reproduce. So they just randomly pop up in families with no Jedi history? That makes it so the Jedi could never be extinct. They should have made it so Anakin and Padme’s relationship was not forbidden, and perhaps have given Obi-Wan a love interest. Or not.
5. Focus on relationships and developing characters, not lightsaber duels and special effects
I think this one speaks for itself. A lightsaber was ignited (turned on) about 15 times in the original trilogy. That number was about 100 for the prequel trilogy. Also, use more realistic backgrounds and less green/blue screens. I know they wanted a Star Wars trilogy with more special effects, but if you watch just a little bit of the special features of any of the PT films, you'll see they went way overboard with the effects.
4. Have Padme be killed by a Sith to help turn Anakin to the Dark Side
This is something I feel George Lucas really dropped the ball on. We know Anakin was attached to Padme starting in Episode II. So, in Episode III, they should have killed her off, causing Anakin to go into a depression. At that point, Palpatine could have consoled him and said things like “The Jedi couldn’t protect her, but if you join me, there won’t be anything we can’t do.” Anakin wouldn’t even have to know who killed her. There’s a possibility even the Sith could have framed the Jedi into it.
3. Have Anakin turn to the dark side, not to save Padme, but because he is just downright pissed
What should have happened is Palpatine (or his apprentice—Maul or Dooku) doing things to piss off Anakin and then frame the Jedi Council—such as killing Padme. When he has Anakin angry enough, he could tell Anakin “I could help you. I am trained in the ways of the force. I will help you seek revenge.” It makes much more sense than simply turning to the dark side just to save one person. I mean, the way the current PT is, Anakin murdered children, Jedi, betrayed all his friends, just to save one person, who he later caused the death of. Makes Vader look like the stupidest idiot to ever live.
2. Have Yoda be a mentor, not a fighter
In the prequels, Yoda was both. But he should have been just a mentor, like he was in the original trilogy. He should have said things like “Long gone, my fighting days are” and stuff like that. He could still have taken on apprentices and relied on his apprentices (such as Obi-Wan) for lightsaber combat while using his force powers for anything else. Perhaps they could have even been a few Jedi, like Yoda, who did not have lightsabers, because they either can’t hold one or they are too small to hold one, like Yoda.
1. Have Obi Wan go into a depression, change his name
I really think that Episode III should have been about Anakin already turned somewhat evil and Obi-Wan going into a depression. Episode II would have focused on their friendship, how Obi-Wan always did the right thing while Anakin focused on his personal needs. In Episode III, Obi-Wan would have quit the Jedi order and gone to Tatooine and adorned his nickname “Ben” Kenobi. Yoda then summons Obi-Wan for help, saying Anakin (Now at this point Darth Vader) needs to be killed. Obi-Wan comes out of “retirement” to take on Anakin and cause his disfigurement.
BONUS: Have Luke and Leia’s conception be unknown to Anakin
Now that the prequels are finished, whenever I watch Empire Strikes Back, it doesn’t make too much sense that Vader is surprised that his son is alive and is Luke. In ROTS, Vader/Anakin knew that someone would have stumbled upon Padme and tried to save the babies. So, my idea is that Anakin gets her pregnant, but Padme never tells him, because Anakin would be away all the time with his Jedi business, or perhaps they would have broken up or been in a huge fight. Furthermore, the Jedi could have forbidden her to tell Anakin because they could see Anakin was falling to the dark side. That way, when Darth Vader finds out he has a son in ESB, it comes as a real shock.
Star Wars is Star Wars. The way I look at it, the PT was great for it's special effects (which actually were pretty good--and the score by John Williams was amazing as usual), and the OT was great for it's story and characters. They each have their strengths and weaknesses.
But in what order should we watch them? If you had to choose between real life order (IV, V, VI, I, II, III) and Star Wars chronological order (I, II, III, IV, V, VI), I'd go with real life order, because that's how they were actually made. But, here's my #1 suggested order: IV, I, V, II, III, VI. It would be like watching a series with flashbacks. You'd start with A New Hope and end with Return of the Jedi. You'd be left in anticipation for a long time about Han Solo after watching Empire Strikes Back, because you'd have to watch II and III after that. But III is the darkest of the six, and the darkest points of a movie are usually right before the happy ending, which would then be Return of the Jedi (VI). Make sense? I'm not surprised if it didn't.
So there you have it. It will be interesting to see what happens with Star Wars in the future. Will there be remakes? More prequels/sequels? Episode 3.5? (Dear God no). Will there ever be a NEW Star Wars film to hit theaters? Only time will tell. My suggestion: Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic: The Movie. If 20th Century Fox and LucasArts are desperate for money, there's your script (yes, I know it's a video game). But it would not interfere at all with the Original Six and would still be Star Wars themed.
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