Star Wars Reboot

[Coffee Zombie]

Step One
I re-release the original trilogy without the special edition nonsense. This is the core of the setting, and would be the basis of everything to come.
Step Two
I refuse to make another theatrical production. I point to the original trilogy as the movies people wanted to watch in the first place.
Step Three
I make a kick-ass TV series about the aftermath of the movies. It has nothing to do with Luke, Leia, Han, or the droids. It's set about 30 years later, and focuses on a single protocol droid going from owner to owner each season. Season One has our droid owned by a charming smuggler lady who is trying to keep three steps ahead of her father, who is a senior ranking Republic official who wants her to clean up her act to avoid his disgrace. In the last episode she's almost caught, but sells our droid to get that extra bit she needs to get a new identity.
Move to the next season. Our droid is now assigned to facilitate operations in a Rebel base. Except, of course, these are actually all aging Imperial Officers who are leading a resistance cell that has devolved into being warlords and mobsters in the Outer Rim. We get to see these twits making life crap for everyone, but one of the newer misguided recruits befriends our droid who slowly challenges his perceptions. In the last 1/3 of the season we discover that our droid has been spying for Republic Intelligence, and the misguided recruit also discovers this - and becomes a double agent. In the finale our double agent is about to be discovered, but the droid heroically sacrifices itself to maintain his cover.
Season Three, our droid has been reconstructed from various parts of other droids. It is in the possession of an old Jedi Knight, one who is living in a snowy tundra. There is a small tribe of diminutive people nearby, think the Nelwynns from Willow; they occasionally go to the old Jedi for healing and advice. One of them constantly visits old Jedi, who begins to tell her a story about the Old Republic. We get to see the Jedi Order in it's height, fighting a brutal battle in the Clone War. We tell a better story of the clone war, with the belligerents in the clone war being member states in the Old Republic waging proxy wars over trade and philosophical debates. Our Jedi has a long talk in his reminiscence with Yoda, who reveals that he knows that this war will wipe out the Jedi order, and that darkness will follow. When asked why he let it happen, Yoda points out that if the Jedi shirked from war just to save themselves, how could they call themselves Knights? Yoda asks if the soldiers perishing in droves are any less important? We have a plot running in tandem with the village being threatened by a rival tribe, a much larger union of tribes who is demanding that the small tribe join - or be conquered. At the end of this season, the old Jedi gifts the droid to a passing trader, telling him that he has one last battle to attend to, but knows he won't need a droid after that battle. The Jedi leaves with his little friend to try and intervene in the looming conflict.
Season Four... our droid is now taken to the halls of the Galactic Republic and sold at a market, sold to a republic official, the lower secretary for Lando. We get Billy Dee Williams on screen once as a walk on role, but the focus is on our secretary. They are trying to keep their life in order, but being overworked they rely entirely on droids to even keep things on track. Quite suddenly this secretary becomes seriously ill, and our droid heroically intervenes to keep everything in order, going as far as to impersonate the secretary on a few occasions so that she doesn't lose her job. Our droid is discovered at last in this ruse, and seized as "defective" and brought into a reprogramming facility. We have several episodes where other defective droids talk to our droid, sharing stories of "too much personality". At least two of them are clearly sentient, another three made serious errors that cost loss of life and property. At last it is our droid's turn to be wiped, and they are brought into the chamber that will wipe them out. A strange droid here reviews the reasons for our droids deviation from its programming, then simply hits a button to power off our droid. When it "wakes up", it is back in its restored body, and the strange droid acknowledges that no mind wipe had been done. It simply tells it to be "more discreet", and sends it back to the market for resale.

And so on, and so forth.

 

[Dammit Victor]

Somehow, you acquired the rights to Star Wars. However, one of the stipulations of the deal is that you must reboot the franchise. The original movies, the Legends EU, all the Disney Wars stuff, it's all in the past. It's your Star Wars universe now.

What is your reboot like? What's changed? What stays the same? What is similar? What is totally different that makes the reboot yours and yours alone?

I feel like I've already touched upon this recently, with my aborted Star Wars game. I would basically be doing a lot of the same things, except "rebooting the franchise" implies that I would need to go back and tell the original stories again.

There might have been some pain involved in asking those questions, but if the franchise doesn't grit its teeth and work through that at some point then it's just going to degrade into stagnation and cannibalising itself.

You mean like Disney Marvel producing three separate comics right now, all of them taking place between ESB and ROTJ? They're... actually pretty good, so I want to make it clear that they're not bad in themselves, yet, but I feel like we are already well past the "stagnation and cannibalism" stage and well on our way to the inevitable conclusion of that process.

---

So... in terms of the franchise, in terms of the overall universe...

• Lean hard into the cowboys and samurai versus the industrial war machine vibes.
• Heroic technology is used and dirty; only the machinations of villains are sterile and efficient.
• The Force is mystical and spiritual, and also weirder and more expansive than RPG conceptions of it. Jedi and Sith are space wizards.
• As was mentioned upthread-- there is no "light side of the Force", there is the Force and there is the Dark Side. The Force is light and life, and the Dark Side is the cancer that makes it eat itself.
• There is no "the Jedi"; before the Dark Times, every planet had its own Jedi Order (or two). The Jedi do not make war, especially against other Jedi, but they sure do leave behind a lot of dirty laundry. Also, this laundry doesn't all look like Ben Kenobi's frock-of-shame from A New Hope.
• There is no "the Sith", and especially not any kind of Rule of Two. The ancient Sith holocrons exhort any would-be Sith to record their discoveries meticulously... because there are no ancient Sith traditions, and there never will be. Nobody knows where the ancient Sith holocrons keep coming from, or how they always manage to fall into the wrong hands.

In terms of rebooting the movies themselves... I would prefer not to, but the premise of the question is that I must, and there's a bit of an implication that I should try to do it well. Or, at least, that's the most interesting way to answer it.

All spitballing here, but:

• I liked the Disney approach of releasing main installments and gaiden in alternating years. Only change I want to make here, obviously, is that all of the main installments are made by a consistent team. And I would want the gaiden to be related to what's going on in the main installments-- like the Machete viewing order, inserting II and III between V and VI.
• A faithful remake might be the best answer, in real life, but it's a boring answer to this question. Also, I can honestly say there were things I would have chosen to do differently without indulging any delusion whatsoever that I could have done them better. I am also really not interested in attempting to remake the Prequels/Sequels at all.
• I would "stretch"-- really, more like "fill"-- the Original Trilogy to five installments, with three gaiden between them. I'm numbering the main installments I-V because it is too early in the morning to do anything else. Likewise, I'm not naming a goddamned thing, and you can't make me.
• Episode I would start a bit before A New Hope and show Leia working for the Alliance and Luke witnessing Imperial cruelty first-hand (before Owen and Beru), and end with the heroes escaping the Death Star, having seen its full destructive capabilities. Episode II ends with the assault on the first Death Star, after the Empire probably made a couple more omelettes. Episodes III and IV would cover most of The Empire Strikes Back and the opening act of Return of the Jedi. I'm not sure how I'd wrap the whole thing up, except to say it isn't going to be another Death Star, but of course the final duel between Luke and Vader is sacrosanct and I love ewoks. Maybe poach from Dark Horse's Dark Empire.
• The fact that Luke and Leia are both the children of Darth Vader will be addressed.
• Gaiden: 1: basically just remake Rogue One; 2: the story of Jango Fett trying to reunite the Mandalorian clans before being betrayed and murdered by Republic Jedi, featuring Obi-Wan and Anakin as skeptical allies of Fett; 3: the story of Obi-Wan and Anakin, leading to the duel on Mustafar.
• Probably try to finesse all of the rough spots that came from the fact that Lucas didn't plan one trilogy, much less two: Obi-Wan deadass lying to Luke about his father, Luke and Leia's awkward sexual chemistry, Anakin falling and Padme dying because the plot said so. Also, heresy, but I'm going to suggest here that Anakin's surname wasn't Skywalker, but that Obi-Wan gave Luke that name to honor his fallen brother, somehow.

I don't know. I would need to spend a lot more time than I'm willing to if I wanted to have a complete plan.

 

[Ralph Dula]

It’s be all about the heroic Empire versus the religious terrorist Jedi and their Green Devils that decimate populations of egg-laying species as a snack.

 

[TJS]

I'd have Greebo be a peaceful working family man and Han would just gun him down mercilessly in cold blood for no apparent reason.

Just so there could be no doubt about who shot first.

 

[Ralph Dula]

I'd have Greebo be a peaceful working family man and Han would just gun him down mercilessly in cold blood for no apparent reason.

Just so there could be no doubt about who shot first.

I think we’ll do fine together in the writers’ room for this reboot.

 

[Toadmaster]

The ship sailed years ago so I'm solidly in the camp of time for something new.

That said I far prefer the early material (basically Episode 4 and a few of the early novels) where the Empire was more of a crumbling end of Rome kind of thing, a bit like Traveller. Where strong Imperial presence is limited to a few core systems and there are lots of backwater systems where the Empire was almost myth, just something used to scare the rubes into compliance. Actually seeing an Imperial cruiser would be a big deal and having Storm Troopers asking about an individual means that is somebody you really want to avoid.

I really prefer the Empire as an almost existential threat, not part of the daily routine. This was very much the case in Episode 4 and with each film the grasp of the Empire grew. In SW the Death Star was sort of a last gasp pooling of resources to retain power, by Return it was hey look they built another Death Star and it is even bigger.

 

[chuckdee]

I'd drop force users and droids into the Firefly universe and start there. (Yes, this is just my excuse to keep going with Firefly with a thin veneer for them to think I'm doing what they want)

 

[Dammit Victor]

I will absolutely join the chorus of voices saying that what we need more than a reboot of the Star Wars franchise is some honest-to-god competition with it.

 

[Nobby-W]

I will absolutely join the chorus of voices saying that what we need more than a reboot of the Star Wars franchise is some honest-to-god competition with it.

Hear, hear.

The Expanse almost did that, I think, but I'm not sure we'll see spinoffs of it.

 

[hawkeyefan]

I would make Episode X: You’re Too Old to Enjoy This.

 

[Dammit Victor]

Hear, hear.

The Expanse almost did that, I think, but I'm not sure we'll see spinoffs of it.

Not enough space wizards. It's a great show, but it's not the same kind of thing at all.

 

[Nobby-W]

I would make Episode X: You’re Too Old to Enjoy This.

Well, I think eps 1-3 and eps 6-9 already did this.

 

[chuckdee]

Not enough space wizards. It's a great show, but it's not the same kind of thing at all.

That's the thing about it - every thing is different. If you make the same thing then it's just derivative. One of the strengths of the Expanse was that it felt epic without feeling derivative.

 

[hawkeyefan]

Well, I think eps 1-3 and eps 6-9 already did this.

I’m just messing around. I think people tend to expect way too much from Star Wars, and hold anything new to much higher standards than the early films.

 

[TJS]

I’m just messing around. I think people tend to expect way too much from Star Wars, and hold anything new to much higher standards than the early films.

I don't know how, but I would think it would need to be ungeekified in some way.

Like fill a reboot with all kinds of weird and wonderful alien extras and declare it to be "Canon" that they have no home-world, they have no backstory, and they have no species name. They're extra's to create a cool atmosphere and the only reason they'll ever appear again is through re-use of costumes for budgetary reasons.

Also all characters in the movie come into existence at the moment they appear on screen. That's also Canon. There can never be a movie where we meet baby Greebo FFS!

 

[David Johansen]

Is this the place to suggest "something else" or should we start a new thread?

My own thought is Star Wars is a franchise property and the owners will and should exploit it as they see best. It's already got Star Trek in all its variations for competition.

What I'd like to see?

Traveller the Series
Alexander Lasciles Jamison is a free trader captain plying the Spinward Main. As the series progresses and we get to know him and his crew and the universe they live in we also start to see the cracks in the Imperium in the wake of the fifth frontier war. I think I'd set the series after the war so it'd be about trade and travel and new passengers and new worlds. Traveller's got such a perfect set up for a planet of the week series. We'll be lampshading the big computers hard! I'd hope to have the cast of Digest Group's Grand Tour book passage on the Beowulf. I think Duke Norris and his aide would be recurring friendly nemesis types. Being all gruff and oppositional while helping out behind the scenes.

I'm sure you're all looking forward to the Exit Visa episode.

For a movie we could do The Last Days of Strephon or maybe Arrival Vengeance

 

[Ben Adams]

Personally I would tell the story of "a long time ago in a different galaxy even farther away…"

A thousand years ago the Galactic Emperor & his family were deposed/assassinated by the imperial chancellor Ytahk. The Chancellor became the Galactic High Lord and called himself a god. But in time it was found out that he was someone who could use Starcery; the ancient & mysterious energy force that existed in the galaxy.
However, Starcery users were rare in this galaxy and those few who could use it would be kidnapped as children by the mystic & feared Ruhmetic Order. This hidden and unknown group are some of the most feared mercenaries and assassins of the galaxy who will kill for good just as much as evil. Their monks live in hidden monasteries outside the known galaxy. They do not use plasma pulse weapons like the rest of society. Instead they are known to carry the fear curved mono field blades (retractable metallic blades that exude an energy field on the front of the blade that can redirect plasma pulse shots).
Though High Lord Ytahk ruled with an iron fist and tried to console power, the nobles throughout the galaxy yearned to end his reign. With the help of mercenaries and Ruhmetic monks (with the order’s approval) Ytahk’s forces (both military and heretical Ruhmetics known as the Suthule) were finally destroyed after a 100+ years of tyranny. But not all has fallen on a happy ending…
Today, our galaxy is split among 18 different nobles or corporations, all vying for control of the galaxy and title of Emperor. Many fear not only the proxy wars of fighting galactic sectors, mercenaries or pirates, the remaining Suthule heretics, their Ruhmetic monk counterparts, but also the Starcery User Hunters known as the Wrath (noble led & mercenary warriors that specialize in resisting Starcery) who often abuse their power. Their large hunter walkers are some of the most formidable things on a battlefield.

So you can keep Star Wars for kids merchandising and cartoons but have a fearful galaxy w/a cheap sprinkling of 40k, Battletech, Dune, and Assassin’s Creed for darker stories. And since SW stole from everything else, it would be fitting.

 

[Endless Flight]

I’m just messing around. I think people tend to expect way too much from Star Wars, and hold anything new to much higher standards than the early films.

Absolutely.

 

[Voros]

I’m just messing around. I think people tend to expect way too much from Star Wars, and hold anything new to much higher standards than the early films.

You can see that retroactive softening when parts of the fandom now defend the dreadful prequels because they hate the new films so much. Ironic.

 

[Ben Adams]

You can see that retroactive softening when parts of the fandom now defend the dreadful prequels because they hate the new films so much. Ironic.

The prequels were good for EU inspiration & story fodder but that's about it in my book. They suck as movies, but I've got Clone Wars from it.
And though prequels were tough, most Star Wars fans were still Star Wars fans, including new ones.

The sequels, not so much.

 

[Endless Flight]

Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.

 

[hawkeyefan]

You can see that retroactive softening when parts of the fandom now defend the dreadful prequels because they hate the new films so much. Ironic.

Why can't they just make a movie that's magical the way only 5-year-old me could think it's magical, dammit?!?

 

[Ben Adams]

Why can't they just make a movie that's magical the way only 5-year-old me could think it's magical, dammit?!?

They did. The Mandalorian Season 1.

 

[Endless Flight]

I don’t put The Mandalorian up with the best of Star Wars because I find that each episode basically has the same plot. The character himself is somewhat likeable but he’s no Luke Skywalker or Han Solo. Grogu is cute but needs a lot more development. It’s no surprise that the scene that melted most fans brains the most was when Luke shows up for five minutes and utters a couple of lines.

 

[Ben Adams]

I don’t put The Mandalorian up with the best of Star Wars because I find that each episode basically has the same plot. The character himself is somewhat likeable but he’s no Luke Skywalker or Han Solo. Grogu is cute but needs a lot more development. It’s no surprise that the scene that melted most fans brains the most was when Luke shows up for five minutes and utters a couple of lines.

It was enough. I hadn't seen that many adult men crying* at Disney since the beginning of Up.

Edit: * joyfully

 

[hawkeyefan]

They did. The Mandalorian Season 1.

I like The Mandalorian quite a bit, for the most part. But as much as I enjoy it, it's ultimately not as magical as the original Star Wars because I'm not a kid.

But rather than me threadjacking anymore, I think if I were to reboot the series, I'd largely go with what already exists. I'd just smooth out the rough spots, maybe eliminate a few bits in favor of some new stuff. But I think any reboot has to have Darth Vader and Han Solo and the Millenium Falcon and Jedi and so on. It'd be kind of crazy to get rid of those elements.

 

[TJS]

You can see that retroactive softening when parts of the fandom now defend the dreadful prequels because they hate the new films so much. Ironic.

Like this one at the Guardian.

Which might have convinced me except that I saw the film.

 

[Rogerdee]

You can see that retroactive softening when parts of the fandom now defend the dreadful prequels because they hate the new films so much. Ironic.

The sequel trilogy is so much better than the prequel trilogy. The first film was basically aimed at kids, and the second two were a bit meh. Plus in the Revenge of the Sith, the buzz droids bit at the beginning should have been easily solvable by Anakin, or Obiwan using the force to move them off the ship. We know this is possible from the Clone Wars cgi series as Plo koon uses the force while on a ship stranded in space I believe.

Plus the dialogue in buzz droids scene, both Jedi would have instantly known how many were on the ship due to lines in Attack of the Clones where both Anakin and Obiwan can see everything going inside Padme's room. So dialogue just does not stack up here.

Whereas, the sequel trilogy has a few issues of its own, hyerspace ramming for one.

Plus the jedi seem a lot more powerful in these films, which makes them a little more badass - but if Palpy was back surely the shroud of the darkside should have clouded their abilities....as per Attack of the Clones, with Yoda's comment where he talks about their ability to use the force has diminished. I don't recall any particular clashes with other aspect of Sw other than these two in the ST - unless I am missing something.

 

[Toadmaster]

The sequel trilogy is so much better than the prequel trilogy. The first film was basically aimed at kids, and the second two were a bit meh. Plus in the Revenge of the Sith, the buzz droids bit at the beginning should have been easily solvable by Anakin, or Obiwan using the force to move them off the ship. We know this is possible from the Clone Wars cgi series as Plo koon uses the force while on a ship stranded in space I believe.

Plus the dialogue in buzz droids scene, both Jedi would have instantly known how many were on the ship due to lines in Attack of the Clones where both Anakin and Obiwan can see everything going inside Padme's room. So dialogue just does not stack up here.

Whereas, the sequel trilogy has a few issues of its own, hyerspace ramming for one.

Plus the jedi seem a lot more powerful in these films, which makes them a little more badass - but if Palpy was back surely the shroud of the darkside should have clouded their abilities....as per Attack of the Clones, with Yoda's comment where he talks about their ability to use the force has diminished. I don't recall any particular clashes with other aspect of Sw other than these two in the ST - unless I am missing something.

The prequel trilogy at best had quality material for two films and probably could have been done with one. Ep1 is by far my least favorite of the "first" 6. I've only seen the first of the Disney sequels. I actually liked it except that as it went on it just felt like a retread of past films, Empire lite, wanna be whiney Anakin / Vader clone etc. Just seems like too much effort to rehash the original films with some original cast cameos. The use of the original characters was fine, but should have been left as cameos.

Much better has been where they explore the SW universe and cover some new ground. Clone Wars was enjoyable from what I saw of it, Mandalorian sounds fun but I'm not adding another service, so that will have to wait until the streaming wars settles down. I think this is why the early novels were better. Yes they featured the original characters but it was the 80s when they were more relevant, but they were also just a small story set in the SW universe, not part of a huge story arc that is artificially placed into a trilogy format.

 

[Voros]

The sequel trilogy is so much better than the prequel trilogy. The first film was basically aimed at kids, and the second two were a bit meh. Plus in the Revenge of the Sith, the buzz droids bit at the beginning should have been easily solvable by Anakin, or Obiwan using the force to move them off the ship. We know this is possible from the Clone Wars cgi series as Plo koon uses the force while on a ship stranded in space I believe.

Plus the dialogue in buzz droids scene, both Jedi would have instantly known how many were on the ship due to lines in Attack of the Clones where both Anakin and Obiwan can see everything going inside Padme's room. So dialogue just does not stack up here.

Whereas, the sequel trilogy has a few issues of its own, hyerspace ramming for one.

Plus the jedi seem a lot more powerful in these films, which makes them a little more badass - but if Palpy was back surely the shroud of the darkside should have clouded their abilities....as per Attack of the Clones, with Yoda's comment where he talks about their ability to use the force has diminished. I don't recall any particular clashes with other aspect of Sw other than these two in the ST - unless I am missing something.

I'd agree but all the films are aimed at kids I'd say.

Rogue One gestures at more adult elements with its Dirty Dozen/Seven Samurai-like ending but I'd still say it is pretty adolescent overall. And that's fine by me, some of my favourite SW is probably the last two seasons of Clone Wars, some of Rebels and the latest Bad Batch which like a lot of the best material for kids can also be enjoyed by adults.

 

[Rogerdee]

I'd agree but all the films are aimed at kids I'd say.

Rogue One gestures at more adult elements with its Dirty Dozen/Seven Samurai-like ending but I'd still say it is pretty adolescent overall. And that's fine by me, some of my favourite SW is probably the last two seasons of Clone Wars, some of Rebels and the latest Bad Batch which like a lot of the best material for kids can also be enjoyed by adults.

I'd say that Rise of the Skywalker was more aimed at the older generation by way of having Siddy in it again.
But yeah, Clone Wars, Rebels, BB and Mando are all excellent.
There is also an Easter Egg of sorts in Clone Wars with Chirrut Imwe, in that he has likely met Ashoka Tano at one point with his comments "I am one with the force and the force is with me."

 

[Torque2100]

Given the opportunity to reboot, I don't.

I create a streaming focused Cinematic Universe focused entirely on stories featuring new characters who do not appear in any of the Movies: Original Trilogy, Prequel Trilogy or Sequel Trilogy. Star Wars is a massive Galaxy. There is no reason it has to focus entirely on this one family.

IMHO, the only unironically good thing to come out of Disney Star Wars has been The Mandalorian. It's an entirely self-contained story that can stand on its own and be appreciated even by someone who has never seen the Original Trilogy. Disney should lean into that.

 

[VisionStorm]

You can see that retroactive softening when parts of the fandom now defend the dreadful prequels because they hate the new films so much. Ironic.

Those people are all wrong too. The prequels were always crap, and no amount of "the sequels were worse" is gonna change the fact that the prequels were still crap.

Jar Jar was annoying. Anakin was a Mary Sue (at least in episode 1) and started out too young (Obi Wan made it sound like a he was already an adult in the originals), and had close to zero chemistry with Amidala. The Midichlorians SUCKED in every way--even their damn name sounded silly. The Sith Rule of 2 was just stupid. Jedi needing to be basically taken in as babies was just idiotic--are you just gonna reject a 10 y/o Force Sensitive kid and leave him out alone on his own to be tempted by the Dark Side just cuz YOU failed to find him as a toddler?!? What kind of a moronic idea is that?

There was so much inconsistent idiocy in the prequels, it would fill several volumes just hashing them all out! They didn't even get Bail Organa's name right in Episode 1 for crying out loud! A guy calls him Bail ANTILLES in one of the scenes--WEDGE Antilles was a freaking X-Wing pilot from Corellia, not an Alderaanian senator, and he wasn't even born yet! Can't these people get characters' names right?!?

 

[Ben Adams]

Plus the dialogue in buzz droids scene, both Jedi would have instantly known how many were on the ship due to lines in Attack of the Clones where both Anakin and Obiwan can see everything going inside Padme's room. So dialogue just does not stack up here.


Plus the jedi seem a lot more powerful in these films, which makes them a little more badass - but if Palpy was back surely the shroud of the darkside should have clouded their abilities....as per Attack of the Clones, with Yoda's comment where he talks about their ability to use the force has diminished. I don't recall any particular clashes with other aspect of Sw other than these two in the ST - unless I am missing something.

A friend of mine & I argued on these. My thought was that A) Padme's room had living bugs that exude a life force that jedi could see in the force vs a bunch of droids and B) The Emperor was aware of who & where the Jedi were during the clone wars and could focus his power on those jedi vs not knowing about Rey.

There was so much inconsistent idiocy in the prequels, it would fill several volumes just hashing them all out! They didn't even get Bail Organa's name right in Episode 1 for crying out loud! A guy calls him Bail ANTILLES in one of the scenes--WEDGE Antilles was a freaking X-Wing pilot from Corellia, not an Alderaanian senator, and he wasn't even born yet! Can't these people get characters' names right?!?

Bail Antillies

Those people are all wrong too. The prequels were always crap, and no amount of "the sequels were worse" is gonna change the fact that the prequels were still crap.

Jar Jar was annoying. Anakin was a Mary Sue (at least in episode 1) and started out too young (Obi Wan made it sound like a he was already an adult in the originals), and had close to zero chemistry with Amidala. The Midichlorians SUCKED in every way--even their damn name sounded silly. The Sith Rule of 2 was just stupid. Jedi needing to be basically taken in as babies was just idiotic--are you just gonna reject a 10 y/o Force Sensitive kid and leave him out alone on his own to be tempted by the Dark Side just cuz YOU failed to find him as a toddler?!? What kind of a moronic idea is that?

Well, you can't have a Dune steal w/out a chosen one right?
And the Sith Rule of 2 came from Darth Bane.

 

[Rogerdee]

A friend of mine & I argued on these. My thought was that A) Padme's room had living bugs that exude a life force that jedi could see in the force vs a bunch of droids and B) The Emperor was aware of who & where the Jedi were during the clone wars and could focus his power on those jedi vs not knowing about Rey.

Okay the bugs thing doesn't make sense,, if you think the comments from the film

Star Wars: Episode II - att*ck of the Clones (2002) - Transcripts - Forever Dreaming

Star Wars: Episode II - att*ck of the Clones (2002) Senator, we're making our final approach into Coruscant. Very good, Lieutenant. [ Droid Beeping ] [ Grunts ]

transcripts.foreverdreaming.org

You're using her as bait

It was her idea. Don't worry. No harm will come to her. I can sense everything going on in that room. Trust me.

It's too risky. Besides, your senses aren't that attuned, my young apprentice.

And yours are?

Possibly.

As the Emperor thing, we know he was less powerful during Rise, at least initially due to essentially being on life support type apparatus. And as soon as he drains Rey and Kylo he gets a massive power boost, so that would - in theory account for that.

Not saying your wrong, just positing a counterpoint.

And the Sith Rule of 2 came from Darth Bane.

Technically no longer canon due to being Legends.
But there was a lot of stupid crap in Legends that had to go. Like said 200 gigaton turbolasers being one of many issues.

 

[Endless Flight]

Yoda says there’s only two Sith at one time, “no more, no less” during the funeral for Qui-Gon Jinn in The Phantom Menace. It’s always going to be canon. Also, Darth Bane is canon because his avatar or spirit or illusion appeared in season six of The Clone Wars when Yoda traveled to Moriband.

 

[Dammit Victor]

It’s always going to be canon.

I recognize that the Council has made a decision...

 

[VisionStorm]

Bail Antillies

Freaking SW's Legends going along with a miss-named character mentioned only ONCE then making up a whole new character around him. What a convoluted mess!

Well, you can't have a Dune steal w/out a chosen one right?
And the Sith Rule of 2 came from Darth Bane.

OMG! The whole immaculate birth Anakin thing was so cringy as well. Trying to shoehorn religious underpinnings that didn't fit and were never implied in the originals. Now Anakin was suddenly the Messiah...but evil (to be) and with a laser sword, and also a moody kid.

Dune did it a hundred times better. Paul 'Muad'dib' Atreides was a real messianic hero, build to be a messianic hero from the get go. Not clumsily shoehorned after the fact.

 

[Nobby-W]

Yoda says there’s only two Sith at one time, “no more, no less” during the funeral for Qui-Gon Jinn in The Phantom Menace. It’s always going to be canon. Also, Darth Bane is canon because his avatar or spirit or illusion appeared in season six of The Clone Wars when Yoda traveled to Moriband.

Oh noes! Inconsistency in the Star Wars canon. Whatever shall we do?
Hopefully that other franchise Disney bought will do better. Oh wait ...

 

[TJS]

Those people are all wrong too. The prequels were always crap, and no amount of "the sequels were worse" is gonna change the fact that the prequels were still crap.

Jar Jar was annoying. Anakin was a Mary Sue (at least in episode 1) and started out too young (Obi Wan made it sound like a he was already an adult in the originals), and had close to zero chemistry with Amidala. The Midichlorians SUCKED in every way--even their damn name sounded silly. The Sith Rule of 2 was just stupid. Jedi needing to be basically taken in as babies was just idiotic--are you just gonna reject a 10 y/o Force Sensitive kid and leave him out alone on his own to be tempted by the Dark Side just cuz YOU failed to find him as a toddler?!? What kind of a moronic idea is that?

There was so much inconsistent idiocy in the prequels, it would fill several volumes just hashing them all out! They didn't even get Bail Organa's name right in Episode 1 for crying out loud! A guy calls him Bail ANTILLES in one of the scenes--WEDGE Antilles was a freaking X-Wing pilot from Corellia, not an Alderaanian senator, and he wasn't even born yet! Can't these people get characters' names right?!?

The thing that struck me as the weirdest thing about the Phantom Menace was this whole thing of trying place Anakin as this kid hero figure. It was just tonally WTF?

It's like they completely ignored the fact that he grows up to be Darth Vader. (At the level of plot it was touched on sure, but the film just completely seemed unable to deal with the fact that we were watching a film about a kid who the audience knows is doomed.)

It's not that the kid needs to be clearly evil from birth, they could have gone with innocence that's later corrupted or something, but clearly Lucas had no idea how to do what he was trying to do with the prequels. You need some kind of genuine tonal presentiment that the whole thing is actually some kind of tragedy.

It was just bizarre, and made it clear right from the start that there was really no point to the prequels even existing.

Was there no one to read the script and say "George, this thing you're trying to do here. It's beyond you. Stick to fun Saturday matinee space opera adventure. This story, whether it includes podracing or not, this ain't it."