MovieChat Forums > Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999) Discussion > So I'm editing, remastering and re-scori...

So I'm editing, remastering and re-scoring Episode One (feedback wanted)


I posted this over on TFA board, but it is probably more useful here:

As I'm sure many of you will agree...even if you liked the prequels (Episode I in particular), there is much room for improvement. I've seen a few fan-edits out there, and while there are several individually brilliant improvements, I haven't yet come across an edit that really elevates the prequels into what I would consider worthy additions to Star Wars canon (totally my opinion, by the way). The closest would probably be "The Blackened Mantle", but it doesn't really capture the same stylistic filmmaking continuity of the others (for example, the whole thing is in Japanese, and it doesn't have an opening crawl).

So, I've taken it upon myself to redo the whole thing to my liking, beginning with Episode I, which is now tentatively titled "Episode I: Shroud of the Sith" (was "Dawn of the Sith", but I kinda like "Shroud" a bit better, and it fits well with the story).

Anyway, I'm telling you all of this to get your feedback. Suggestions of additions and cuts would be much appreciated.

Here is the current list of changes I'm implementing:

1) Cutting all of Jar-Jars ridiculousness. All poop/fart jokes are gone. His force-jump into the water in the first act is edited to be a simple dive. Most of his clumsiness is gone or changed in a way to progress the narrative. And anything left over of him has been re-dubbed with an alien voice and given subtitles to make him a much better character (he's more of a cocky scrapper now, to the extent I could do it).

2) Viceroy Gunray and others of his race have been re-dubbed with deep sinister alien voices, instead of those godawful French accents. They've also been subtitled with different motives. They are still pawns of Sidious, but they have more spine now.

3) Padme/Amidala has been pitch-altered to sound like a younger girl. I've always disliked how her character was handled, especially next to Anakin as a love interest. The new pitch is more natural (Portman's voice was actually altered in many Phantom Menace scenes, come to find out), and I've taken it a step further by making her sound younger. Her conversations with Anakin feel much more peer-to-peer than mother-to-child. In many of the Viceroy's subtitles, she is referred to as "The Child Queen" and isn't taken very seriously.

4) Midichlorians are gone. Instead, I've re-dubbed Obi-Wan's voice over the communicator in the first midichlorian scene and cut much of the conversation to give the impression that Qui-Gon sent a sample of Anakin's blood to be DNA tested against their database, in hopes of discovering the father. This scene may end up being cut altogether, but I haven't decided yet. EDIT: Yea, I cut it. Easier to just do away with.

5) No more immaculate conception of Anakin. When asked about his father, Shmi just looks down, implying that either he wasn't in the picture, or she isn't sure. Then, she changes the subject by asking Qui-Gon if he can help her son. It works soooo much better.

6) The pod racing is drastically cut down. No more of Greg Proops' announcing (just the alien announcer on occasion) and no two-headed announcer. Everything is cut down to give a much faster-paced scene with higher tension. And Sebulba dies in a fiery explosion. Most of the cartoonish reactions are gone. And I'm outsourcing for an entirely new score for the scene (all my cuts made the music really jumpy, so I had to rescore it anyway).

7) Anakin is no longer the creator of C3PO. Instead, I've redubbed the scene to say "I won him in a bet from a Hutt" and go on to say that he's a protocol droid to help the mother. I didn't want to cut 3PO completely, because I think his addition is still kinda cool (though it makes NO DAMN SENSE for Anakin to build him). Some 3PO scenes have also been trimmed to make him a little less...odd?

8) Battle droids just beep now instead of talk, and there are no droid ranks.

9) Instead of an entire alien race being immune to Jedi mind tricks, it's just Watto. He now simply says "What, you think you're some kind of Jedi? Mind tricks don't work on me. Only money". I wanted to get him to say "those tricks only work on the fools" or something like that, but it's a bit difficult.

10) All the "yippees", "whoahs" and such from Anakin are gone. Because they suck.

11) Anakin's "accidental" victory in space with the Naboo fighter feels more intentional. Because why the hell shouldn't it?

12) Anakin is no longer "meant" to help Qui-Gon. He helps because he wants to.

13) The whole "bigger fish" sequence underwater is gone. It makes no sense that those things would live so close to a city. Or to go through the planet's core, for that matter.

14) Darth Maul dies with a bit more dignity, instead of watching patiently as Obi-Wan jumps over him and kills him. It's much quicker, and makes more sense.

15) The film ends after the funeral scene. The celebration has been cut altogether. The funeral scene completes the narrative and is structured like an ending. The celebration is completely unnecessary, and none of us know what the hell that glowing ball is.

16) Entire film is re-scored with pieces from both the prequel and original trilogies. Sound is remastered.

17) Color-corrected several scenes for a more natural filter. Tattooine is no longer brown for the sake of brown, and space ship insides are less blue. All colors feel more realistic and coincide better with the original trilogy

18) New opening crawl that doesn't talk about tax law.

19) The scene before Darth Maul and QGJ's first fight, where the probe droid pushes him to chase after the Jedi, has been heavily altered. The droid now repeats a recording over and over, from QGJ and Anakin's mother ("is he to become a Jedi?", "yes. Our meeting was not a coincidence"). The line repeats several times as Maul boards his speeder, and each time, the line is a bit glitchy, with the pitch deepening on the words "Jedi" and "coincidence". The recording gives Maul a reason to chase QGJ, and makes the scene much creepier. It also is intended to mirror the "help me Obi wan kenobi. You're my only hope" line repeated in episode IV. The music in this Maul scene is also now much more ominous, with loud brass "booms" at the droid's arrival, Maul walking to his speeder, and then Maul sitting on it. This scene is my favorite change thus far. My goal is to re-score all of the Maul scenes to make him a much larger presence and give the audience more of a feeling of urgency and dread when he appears.

20) Speaking of Maul, I'm considering removing any mention of the title "Darth". I don't think every other sith should be labeled "Darth". Instead, he'll just be "Lord Maul", which separates him a bit more from other villains like Darth Plagueis, Darth Bane, Darth Tyranus, Darth Vader and Darth Sidious. One of the things I didn't like about the prequels was the use of one-off villains that you don't really care about. I'm hoping to fix that in the best way I can. Lord Maul should be feared and should have a more powerful presence. Also, depending on my capabilities and what footage I can use...he might have a much different end in my version.

Any other suggestions? If all goes well, I'll be doing the same for Episodes 2 and 3. Once complete, I'll be putting it up on YouTube or something. You'll be able to see it if you want to.

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this has already been done. they are called ant-cheese edits

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I've seen the anti-cheese edits. While the idea is good, and I have nothing but respect for the editor...I personally had several issues with the edit, which is why I decided to do my own.

For example, there was weird sound mixing with the new alien voices (most had either an odd echo effect, or weren't always clear), as well as padme's pitch correction (which only brought it down to a normal pitch, as opposed to me raising the pitch further into a younger-sounding voice).

What I'm doing is taking the premise of the anti-cheese edit and expanding on it. All of my new voices are professionally mixed and mastered. I'm re-scoring the whole film with "new" music from several other Star Wars mediums (films, games, tv, etc) to add an extra layer of depth to several scenes that wasn't always there. I'm giving everything a reason for happening, and everyone a reason for doing it (instead of asking the audience to just accept things like Anakin building 3PO).

Instead of de-cheesing Jar-Jar, I'm reworking him from the ground up. Instead of attempting to remove him or cut his presence (as many other edits do), I'm trying to make him likable. For one example, I recut the entirety of the pod race sequence. In one scene, a racer is stalled at the starting line, and his engine blows up. I then cut to a scene where Jar-Jar is cheering, while the others look concerned. Jar-Jar eats it up, and is actually funny in a way that isn't poop-related.

My edit was inspired by the anti-cheese edit. But im expanding on that idea a lot. It will almost be a different movie once I'm finished.

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Why don't you do something better with your time.
Re-edit Ash Vs Evil dead

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This is what I want to do with my time. Besides, ash vs evil dead is awesome enough already.

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ugh no. they need to cut out about 80%
ep 1.2 and 10 were OK

Turn the series into an 80 minute movie. Now that is worth your time.

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I wouldn't say 80%

I agree there are some definite filler moments, but 80% is a bit of a stretch.

Though the idea of trying to compress the best bits into a movie is a bit intriguing.

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you would make a lot of people happy! DO IT!

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Those made the films worse. Removing a "cheesey" scene does not make the film better. Especially, when those scenes are interlinked with the following movies, exposition, or explanations.

Don't like what I'm saying? Then call 1800-Ima-CryBaby and ask for Waaaaaa.

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It's been over a year since the OP posted and that was on IMDB, so most likely the edit wasn't done or sucked like most of these edits, it's basically like fan fiction: a load of midichlorians

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Yeah he kept saying "it's almost done, just a few weeks" until it was six months later, then "a few months" and then he said "I'm finished but I have nowhere to upload it'... Sucked, I actually wanted to see if it was better than the movie we got.

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Wo sounds brilliant the best cut yet, when is it being released?

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I haven't set an official release date, but it wil 100% be out this month. Hopefully within the next week or two.

At the request of a few SW fans, I'll be posting a clip on YouTube today with a few scenes of my new edit (first the original version, and then my new cut/edit) just to show everyone what to expect. I'll post a link up here once it's up.

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I would really love to see your edit.

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Any update on that clip, bro?

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_aOgb5y39vA

I thought I posted the link here, but I must have forgotten to. Anyway, this is just a one-scene preview, to give you the idea of what I'm going for, in terms of color-correcting, rescoring and all that.

The scene involves Darth Maul riding off to find the Jedi. I have touched up on the clip a bit since I uploaded it, but you'll get the idea. The video itself goes into a bit more detail about the scene's changes. Hope you like it.

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Looks cool, will be interested to check out the final master. TPM is due another watch sometime soon!

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Aye, quite eager to rewatch this.

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There's a lot of good points in here OP, but I don't like your changing of John Williams score for Phantom Menace. Each film has its own set pieces in regards to music, and John is the only aspect that worked for this film.

But hey, I'll reserve judgment to see what you can do with inserting the original music in this film. I can't wait to see your edit, get it up to YouTube quick eh? 1080p, the works please.

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It'll be 1080p for sure, no worries.

As for the music, I definitely understand your concern. My reasoning for re-scoring the film is in the interest of making the best possible production. When cutting the film, bits of music are cut along with their respective clips, so it sounds a bit jumpy in places, so I'd have to lay new music over it anyway.

That being said, I don't want you to think I'm completely neglecting Williams' work here. There are some great pieces included in TPM's soundtrack that will be there to stay. Anything I replace will be replaced with another of Williams' pieces either from the original trilogy, or something done for a different Star Wars film or medium. I'm not replacing it with the score for Tron or anything like that.

There are just a few scenes I think are underplayed with the original music piece and could work better with a more emotional bit. That's part of my strategy to distract from some less-than-stellar acting in places, too. If the actor can't draw emotion from the audience, then I want to use music that will.

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Glad to hear it, thanks for your hard work! :)

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Good luck! With a film like The Phantom Menace at least you know you can't make it any worse.

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That's an idea! How about a 100% slapstick comedy Phantom Menace with more JarJar, more Yippees and edit in The Three Stooges as Palpatine's other apprentices, Darth Moe, Darth Larry and Darth Curly?

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THIS

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My advice: GEt A LIFE!

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In reality, any one of us who surfs IMDB forums every day need a life, myself included.

No, don't get a life. Finish your remake and upload it! :)

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I'd rather have a life in which I'm doing something I enjoy, instead of criticizing complete strangers for trying to be creative. Maybe instead of being a complete chode, you could use that time to find a hobby?

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👍 ✌ 👍

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sorry for bad spelling and grammars, english isn't my language

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My advice, shut your damn mouth.

Rant over. You can all return to your normal lives.

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Getting rid of Jar Jar's foolishness and his voice is a good move. Also, good to subtitle Trade Federation. Also, good riddance to the two headed announcer. But so much of what you are doing is trivial or destructive to episodes 2 and 3.

Removing the midiclorian reference destroys what leads to the Jedi's downfall. They are arrogant and place their faith in technology, instead of completely the Force. When you understand that the Jedi are not supposed to be wonderful wonderful in the prequels, you will understand why the midiclorians are included.

Re-scoring parts of the movie? Seriously? Your guy can do better than John Williams?

Getting rid of the virgin birth? Heads up! That concept will be returning to episodes 8 and 9. It's widely recognized that Snoke's music from TFA is the same as the Darth Plageus music from ROTS. Do with that as you wish.

Apart from Kathleen Kennedy and Rian Johnson, I think John Williams knows more about the plots of Episodes 8 and 9 than anyone else. Yes, he's been told more than even JJ Abrams. There are MANY musical prequel references in the score for TFA. Often in surprisingly odd places. I believe he knows the next films will be coming back to the prequels thematically and has written his score accordingly.

So, unless you want to do another re-edit in 2019, I suggest you don't mess with anything that effects the themes of the films.

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I think you may be misunderstanding what I'm doing, as far as the music goes. I don't have a guy making an original score to replace John Williams' stuff. I wouldn't dare. No, what I'm doing is taking pieces Williams has done for other Star Wars films (most likely the original trilogy), as well as pieces composed for Star Wars games and tv shows, and using those bits in place for some scenes that I personally feel could use a bit more emotion. And I'm rearranging when some of the pre-existing pieces occur in the film. I'm not doing anything completely unnecessary. But when cutting the film, there are several scenes that HAVE to be re-scored, because the existing music is jumpy from the cut. I'm trying to make it as natural as possible, while also improving the emotional impact of some scenes that just don't do it for me. 99% of the "re-scored" pieces will also come from John Williams. Anything else will be something someone else did for Star Wars.

As far as Midichlorians go...they just have to go. I hate them, and I can't justify leaving them in. They are not integral to the story. The arrogance of the Jedi can exist without the midichlorian idea, and the story is better off without it. There are several references throughout the prequels of "misunderstanding" the ways of the force and being "misguided" in your learning. These work fine without Midichlorians and still convey a similar message to what you're suggesting.

I am getting rid of the direct mention of the virgin birth, but there will be enough substance for you to infer a virgin birth of you choose to do so. Anakin's mother simply says "there was no father" in my version, and QGJ gives a curious look, which is more subtle than just spelling something out. This way, you can read into the scene however you want. There was no father, as in the father wasn't in the picture, or there was literally no father. The prequels were never great with subtlety. And in my opinion, the immaculate conception felt forced. I'd rather leave it up for interpretation.

And I am definitely aware to musical callbacks in TFA. That's factoring into what I'm doing (and sort of inspiring it).

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Okay. When you explain it that way, I get it. Go for it!

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i admire your dedication to try this and i hope i can see the results. everyone complains about the prequels, but few try to make it better.

I'm considering removing any mention of the title "Darth"

Darth is supposed to be a contraction of 'DARk lord of the siTH' according to George Lucas. This was revealed on a trading card from 1977.

"He's dusted, busted and disgusted, but he's ok"

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Huh. Didn't know that.

Even so, I'm not 100% sure how I'll handle the "darth" bits. I have a version currently where they're cut (or replaced with "lord" when acceptable) and a version where they're not. I figured I'd show it to a few people before I complete the project, or I'd ask around to see what the popular opinion was. I don't know if I care about the name as much as I used to.

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Source? Yeah, sorry, I'm a bit late in responding, but this doesn't sound very realistic to me. 1977 was the year the original Star Wars movie came out, and the name "Sith" is not mentioned once in this movie. I could be wrong, but I'm sure it also wasn't mentioned in any other of the OT films.
Of course, in interviews much later, George stated that he had the whole concept finished when making Episode 4. But even if that would be true, the info about the meaning of the word "Darth" wouldn't mean anything to a journalist of that time, because he wouldn't even have heard the word "Sith" ever before. And even if George explained to that journalist what the word meant, I doubt he would have included it in his article as it wouldn't represent any necessary information.
Of course, prove me wrong, if that's the case.

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Source? Yeah, sorry, I'm a bit late in responding, but this doesn't sound very realistic to me. 1977 was the year the original Star Wars movie came out, and the name "Sith" is not mentioned once in this movie.

it's not mentioned in the movie, but it is in the script and in the novel. there's even trading cards from 1977 that feature the 'dark lord of the sith'
http://caimages.collectors.com/psacertimages/51960_941x1597.jpg


There's plenty of Star Wars Fan-Edits on youtube, why would they pick on you?

the big studios are abusing the 'take-down' rules of youtube by asking youtube to take down ANYTHING that's supposed to violate their copyright. I say abuse, because they've been marking anything that trips their algorithm, eg the movie 'pixels' the studio ordered a take-down of a review of a computer game review that was made nine years before their stupid movie was made! Or taking down reviews that don't even feature any of their content at all.

why? because they can.
http://www.theverge.com/2016/2/1/10887120/youtube-complaint-takedown-copyright-community

"He's dusted, busted and disgusted, but he's ok"

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Alright, I'm seriously impressed by this. Wouldn't have thought that. Thanks!

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Six months into the new year and I'm hoping this remaster and redit and rescore of Episode One arrives soon. Updates please, OP?

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I know, I've been way behind schedule. Life came at me pretty fast these last few months, so some things had to take a backseat to others. Unfortunately, this edit was one that had to take the back seat. It is still coming, though. And probably much sooner than I'm making it sound. Thank you (and everyone else) for their patience.

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I love phantom menace and think all your ideas on how to improve it are just right. The biggest problems with the film imo are:

1. Unnessescary action with ocean monster - the sense of adventure this location provides is cool, but the pointless action is unessescary.

2. Podracing is wayyy too long. Way too long. Seriously, its too lomg dammit.

3. Anakin piloting then destroying the control ship by accident. Likewise jarjar succedding on the naboo field by accident. So dumb and corny.

Youve said youre covering these issues though so thats cool.

As for suggestions:

1) i like the tax description in the beginning. The entire political / taxing angle i found really intriguing and mature for what i heard was a kids film. Plus that IS what kicks off the filmnand entire crisis so its pretty important. What are you changing it too? Dont makemit something too bland and without character

2. Think aboutnadding some deleted scenes. Theres a nice panning shot ofnthe naboo buildings when qui and obi and jarjar enter naboon tyhat could be used to good effect (NOT the dumb waterfall sequence that occurs beforehand). Also the dawn before the podrace is a nice quirt moment before the race thatcould be useed. There maybe be other scenes but i cant remember them right now.

3. The final battles sequences could be better paced with some editing. I dislike the way it constantly cuts away from the obi/qui and maul duel to the other battles, it kills the pacing a bit imo. Some of that may be served better shown in longer sequences with fewer cuts.

Thats about all i can think of riht now. Youve defintely nailed the smaller (i guess) issues like subtitling jarjar, the midichorlians, the jesus birth, and pqdmes voice to be more peered with anni (though not sure if her queen voice should be touched - thats pretty bad ass) and i look forward to seeing your work in full

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Oh, I've definitely covered your initial three problems. There's a scene with one of the large fish that I simply can't cut (well, I don't want to), but it's a scene within the bonco, and you see the giant fish swimming about in the distance. It works fine the way it is, but I'm trying to paint out the big fish, if possible.

But Jar-Jar is 100% more of a hero in battle, and the podracing is considerably shorter and more tense.

And for your suggestions:

1) My current opening crawl is as follows (a few minor things may change, but this is pretty much the final version):

"Episode One
SHROUD OF THE SITH

For a thousand generations, the Galactic Republic has been the great pillar of order and harmony in the galaxy, aided by the mystic warriors of peace and justice known as the Jedi Knights.

But now, the shadow of war rises. The peaceful planet of Naboo has been seized by a blockade of deadly warships, sent by Viceroy Nute Gunray of the corrupt Trade Federation, for reasons unknown.

While the Senate's endless debating drowns Naboo's cries for justice, the Supreme Chancellor of the Republic has secretly dispatched two of the Jedi Order to settle the conflict...."

2) I would LOVE to add some deleted scenes (QGJ destroying one of Maul's probes, in particular), but as I'm doing a 1080p blu-ray version, I haven't been able to find any deleted scenes above 720p. I tried adding one in to see how different it looked...and it's pretty noticeable. I've tried everything to make it appear higher quality, but everything I've found would probably hurt the film more than help. If you or anyone else knows where I could find high-quality resolution versions of the deleted scenes, there are two or three which I would most definitely add in (including the pre-podrace scene you mentioned).

3) I'm currently working on cutting/coloring the final fight sequence, and I agree. I think some cuts are useful, but there are far too many to keep you engaged in perhaps the best moment of the entire film. I've done my best to keep most of the fight intact, but I have reworked a few bits here and there (after QGJ dies, I've done my best to make Obi Wan's fighting style change a bit. Instead of the perfectly choreographed style from before, Obi Wan now strikes with more intensity and anger.), and I'm trying to improve on Maul's death (I was originally going to try and have him survive, which I can do, but then there's no way to convincingly kill him in Episode 2, so I'll probably just leave his death). There's not much else I can say about this until I actually do it haha.

Thanks for the input!

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It would be damn cool if you could keep Maul alive. Always thought he should have been around still, if not to replace Dooku, then to assist him. If you kept him alive, and then later did an edit of Episode 2, you could alter the fight scene towards the end of it.

Instead of having Dooku vs Anakin/Obi-wan followed by Dooku vs Yoda, you could have Maul fighting Anakin/Obi-wan whilst Dooku battles Yoda. Have Maul beat Anakin and Obi-wan like Dooku did in the original version, but then have Dooku sacrifice Maul to Yoda in order to aid his escape.

Not having any artistic flair what-so-ever, I would have no idea in hell how you'd get Maul into that scene, and without it looking like crap lol...one can dream I guess

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If there was any way to do something like that without it looking terrible, I'd be all over it.

I'll play around with it, but I just don't know if I can keep Maul alive...

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Maul doesn't die in Ep. 1

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3. Anakin piloting then destroying the control ship by accident

i can't see a way to have anakin in the battle without the silliness. you'd have to cut him all together, i guess. QGJ should have left him on Corusant instead of taking a child into a battlezone.😕

and I'm trying to improve on Maul's death (I was originally going to try and have him survive, which I can do

we find out in Clone Wars (series) that he did in fact survive. Perhaps better to not add him to Ep2?

"He's dusted, busted and disgusted, but he's ok"

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