Personally, I don't think it's minor tweaks.
1 - this isn't just a re-cast but a complete re-write on Anakin's role in the film.
2 - again, this would produce a huge re-write, since Qui-Gon has the bulk of the film (I think? He's sorta the main character here).
3 - and a third heavy re-write, since toning this character down would require an edit of his dialogue, yes, but also almost every action and character motivation he has.
The prequels needed to get Anakin's character study and development right and they muffed it. There are two stories running throughout these films: 1) Anakin's fall from grace, 2) the Republic being overthrown from within. Neither was handled with the deft delicacy and careful plotting necessary to give either real depth. Fixing that would require an overhaul, not just of The Phantom Menace, but of the subsequent films. There just isn't the subtlety or power to either story to carry the tale.
On top of this, the film has dozens of flaws which add up. Midichlorians are my biggest gripe of these, but I also scratch my head at the coincidences of C-3PO and R2-D2 being present, the wooden Jedi council, the bumbling battle droids, and so on. Even minor details feel weird. Naboo votes in a queen? "You don't vote for kings!" as Graham Chapman said...
It goes on and on. This isn't a minor tweak fix. It's a total overhaul from the ground up.
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Threadkiller (3008)
4 years ago
It wouldn't have taken much to implement the tweaks during production.
1. I disagree. Not much would need to change regarding Anakin''s role in the film. Aging him up a few years simply would have made his talent for mechanics & pod racing/piloting more plausible & organic, as would the seeds of his romantic chemistry with Padme.
2. I'm talking about tweaks in production process. Shifting Obi Wan to the more prominent role over Qui Gon would not require any significant changes to the main story beats or the overall plot. It would have simply strengthened the film, the chemistry between the actors, along with the overarching narrative of rest of the trilogy.
3. Again strongly disagree. Simply making Jar Jar a bit more toned down in his characterization does not require a major rewrite. His key role as an unofficial envoy for the Gungans would remain unabated.
I thought Lucas did a great, thoughtful job of constructing both Anakin's fall & especially the overarching story of how the Republic was corrupted and overthrown from within by Palapatine's years of Machiavellian scheming & masterful manipulations behind the scenes. Anakin's motivations are clear & how it contributed to his fall makes sense. The rise of Palpatine & the fall of the Republic were well & coherently constructed over the course of the trilogy.
I always understood Midichhlorians as a necessary plot device used to explain/quantify Anakin's uniquely powerful connection to the force. They're only ever mentioned twice. We'll just have to agree to disagree especially on your last set of gripes which I find to be very run of the mill nitpicks about the prequels that I never found to be problematic.
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Ace_Spade (9506)
4 years ago
We do not see eye-to-eye on this at all. I definitely feel like the problems with the writing would require - at minimum - a complete dialogue overhaul, but I think that the politics were broadstrokes and hasty and Anakin's fall was clumsy, direct, obvious, and didn't even really make a lot of sense. There's just no subtlety anywhere here. Star Wars has plenty of "unsubtle" moments, but it actually does have nuance. A lot more was needed here.
Yeah, I just don't see it your way at all here. This is definitely, as you say, a case of "agree to disagree".
Those last were nitpicks for sure. If I enjoyed the rest of the films, they wouldn't be problems. I wouldn't care about the monarch voting system if I bought the rest of the flick.
Midichlorians would still be a groan-inducing stain, though. It's a perfect example of what I referenced above: no subtlety, no nuance. Just video game experience levels. "Oh no! He has more midichlorians! His Force Level is higher! He has +5 to hit and +3 to damage!"
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