Okay, the deleted scenes from the prequels are a mixed bag but there are a few massive dropped balls in terms of the things Lucas cut. Frankly most of the prequel deleted scenes aren't that interesting, just stuff like an extended pod race or an extended sequence of arriving in Theed in the Bongo Water Taxi Thing. Similarly in Attack of the Clones my main memory is of loads of extra shit about Padme and Anakin on Naboo which I remember being cringe-inducing but not quite as awful as the stuff in the actual movie. I DO however remember a wonderful scene where when Anakin and Padme arrive on Geonosis to save Obi Wan from Dooku, instead of getting caught in the ridiculous droid factory sequence, what appears to happen is that they just walk in under Padme's guise of Senator and ask for Obi Wan's release in a formal capacity. Of course Dooku says tough shit and has them arrested. But hey, I'd take it over the Computer Game Sequence we got.
So most of the deleted scenes that have any POINT are in Episode III. There are three scenes that set up that Padme is working with Bail Organa and some other senators to form the proto-rebellion since Palpatine is gutting the constitution. She can't tell anyone about her involvement and her requests to consult a Jedi she trusts (i.e. Anakin) are rebuffed. Meanwhile, Anakin in another of these scenes, is there when Padme and the other senators meet with Palpatine to ask him to stop gutting the constitution and Palpatine points out to Anakin that Padme is hiding something, can't he sense it? (Which of course, he can).
Apparently Lucas cut these scenes to give a closer focus on Anakin's story but...I just do not get why because it actually undercuts it considerably. Not only do these scenes actually give Padme some kind of plot and something to do other than wait around to die, but they're also really important to Anakin's characterisation as suddenly his belief that Padme might be hiding things from him is TRUE rather than insane psychotic stalker jealousy.
Similarly there's a scene between Yoda, Mace Windu and Obi Wan where they're discussing how they flat out suspect the Chancellor of some hinky shit but they really can't do anything without proof because the Jedi would end up having to take over transitionally to ensure peace and that would look super dodgy politically, and this basically sets up why they accept Anakin onto the Council as Palpatine asked - i.e. as Obi Wan later explains in the actual movie, to get him to spy on the Chancellor. We lose the nuance of the Jedi's motivations, which again makes Anakin's feelings of being maneuvered and used by them a little more real.
So yeah, I think there were some decent deleted scenes in, at least, Episode III. But not really enough to save the movie.
Clone Wars cartoon! I have, indeed, seen most of it. The movie isn't very good, but the series is much better, and, in fact, I kind of enjoy it. I won't lie and say it redeems the prequels because it doesn't. And frankly they give Anakin a padawan and while I like that character well enough, I have some issues with how they'll resolve that in wider canon. But yeah, one of the reasons I like the cartoon is that they've finally, more or less, allowed Anakin to be a hero. There is friendship between Obi Wan and Anakin, but I can't stand the guy who voice acts Obi Wan (he seems to have one inflection and one inflection only...) so I kind of...miss out on that a bit. Also the droids are kind of comedically stupid and General Grievous is a bit of a Saturday Morning Cartoon one step away from twirling his mustachios, but honestly it's the best depiction of Anakin Skywalker I've seen so far.
MARVEL COMICS! Ah, man, those things are awesome. Did you know they brought Lumiya back recently as one of the villains in a recent series?
and think my twelve year old self could have written better prequels/sequels.
no subject
PREQUELS!Okay, the deleted scenes from the prequels are a mixed bag but there are a few massive dropped balls in terms of the things Lucas cut. Frankly most of the prequel deleted scenes aren't that interesting, just stuff like an extended pod race or an extended sequence of arriving in Theed in the Bongo Water Taxi Thing. Similarly in Attack of the Clones my main memory is of loads of extra shit about Padme and Anakin on Naboo which I remember being cringe-inducing but not quite as awful as the stuff in the actual movie. I DO however remember a wonderful scene where when Anakin and Padme arrive on Geonosis to save Obi Wan from Dooku, instead of getting caught in the ridiculous droid factory sequence, what appears to happen is that they just walk in under Padme's guise of Senator and ask for Obi Wan's release in a formal capacity. Of course Dooku says tough shit and has them arrested. But hey, I'd take it over the Computer Game Sequence we got.
So most of the deleted scenes that have any POINT are in Episode III. There are three scenes that set up that Padme is working with Bail Organa and some other senators to form the proto-rebellion since Palpatine is gutting the constitution. She can't tell anyone about her involvement and her requests to consult a Jedi she trusts (i.e. Anakin) are rebuffed. Meanwhile, Anakin in another of these scenes, is there when Padme and the other senators meet with Palpatine to ask him to stop gutting the constitution and Palpatine points out to Anakin that Padme is hiding something, can't he sense it? (Which of course, he can).
Apparently Lucas cut these scenes to give a closer focus on Anakin's story but...I just do not get why because it actually undercuts it considerably. Not only do these scenes actually give Padme some kind of plot and something to do other than wait around to die, but they're also really important to Anakin's characterisation as suddenly his belief that Padme might be hiding things from him is TRUE rather than insane psychotic stalker jealousy.
Similarly there's a scene between Yoda, Mace Windu and Obi Wan where they're discussing how they flat out suspect the Chancellor of some hinky shit but they really can't do anything without proof because the Jedi would end up having to take over transitionally to ensure peace and that would look super dodgy politically, and this basically sets up why they accept Anakin onto the Council as Palpatine asked - i.e. as Obi Wan later explains in the actual movie, to get him to spy on the Chancellor. We lose the nuance of the Jedi's motivations, which again makes Anakin's feelings of being maneuvered and used by them a little more real.
So yeah, I think there were some decent deleted scenes in, at least, Episode III. But not really enough to save the movie.
Clone Wars cartoon! I have, indeed, seen most of it. The movie isn't very good, but the series is much better, and, in fact, I kind of enjoy it. I won't lie and say it redeems the prequels because it doesn't. And frankly they give Anakin a padawan and while I like that character well enough, I have some issues with how they'll resolve that in wider canon. But yeah, one of the reasons I like the cartoon is that they've finally, more or less, allowed Anakin to be a hero. There is friendship between Obi Wan and Anakin, but I can't stand the guy who voice acts Obi Wan (he seems to have one inflection and one inflection only...) so I kind of...miss out on that a bit. Also the droids are kind of comedically stupid and General Grievous is a bit of a Saturday Morning Cartoon one step away from twirling his mustachios, but honestly it's the best depiction of Anakin Skywalker I've seen so far.
MARVEL COMICS! Ah, man, those things are awesome. Did you know they brought Lumiya back recently as one of the villains in a recent series?
and think my twelve year old self could have written better prequels/sequels.
Word.
It was almost my religion.
Word.