The Phantom Menace intro

The Phantom Menace is the beginning of the saga and, despite many people having negative feelings about it, it's actually one of my favorite movies. It has memorable characters, new places and events that gave a whole new perspective of the Star Wars galaxy, great music, and some of the best lightsaber duels in the entire saga.

The main things that the fan base didn't like were the following:

• The goofiness and childishness mostly projected by Jar Jar, Anakin and C3-PO
• Not being able to connect well to the main characters. The ones who showed any emotion were either left behind on Tatooine or died at the end of the film
• The introduction of midicholrians as a more scientific as opposed to mystical nature to the Force
• The pod race was too long and too cartoony
• The politics were a bit too much
• Anakin flying a fighter and destroying the Trade Federation ship, all by accident
• The way Obi-Wan killed Darth Maul

The list is not very long and I think the changes proposed won’t be too difficult to make, but some may prove to be more challenging. Either way, here’s the list.

Jar Jar get shocked

Why: There is a really dumb part that happens as soon as the Jedi and Jar Jar arrive at Otoh Gunga. After Captain Tarpals tells Jar Jar that he's in big do-do, another Gungan casually walks up to him and shocks him with some kind of shocking rod. One question: what was the point of that?

How: Remove the segment of the other Gungan walking up to Jar Jar and shocking him. This will also pick up the pace of the scene a bit.

Boring meeting with Boss Nass

Why: The meeting with Boss Nass in Otoh Gunga was a bit long and boring. The conversation, even though it provides a lot of facts, is not very appealing. It should be made a bit more interesting so that it doesn’t slow down the pace of the film so much.

Underwater creatures

Why: From the first time I saw the movie, I thought that the events that happened underwater were way over the top. There's no way that they would get chased by that many giant fish, so it makes the movie seem overly unrealistic, and this loses the audience. Besides, I doubt the Gungans would design a submarine that would attract so many predators. This could be made to look a little more realistic.

How: I think all of the attacks on the sub are unavoidable as each one explains how they got from point A to point B. However, I do think that the second creature, the one that they find in front of the sub after they get their power back, could have been finished off a bit differently. When I saw the other monster eat that one, I just felt that it had gone way too far. They could just outrun it or something without the other monster appearing in the first palce, and it would work well too because Qui-Gon tells Obi-Wan to head for an alcove, which is a place they could use to hide.

To Coruscant

Why: When Qui-Gon is confronted by the battle droid, he introduces himself and willingly tells it that he's taking the Queen to Coruscant. The obvious question is, why show the other players your cards? The droid could have transmitted that to the others before getting destroyed, and the Trade Federation would have known exactly where they were going. In the movie they obviously didn't because they "couldn't locate the ship", but there was no reason for Qui-Gon to tell them where they were going. This should be removed or replaced with better dialogue.

Better introduction to Tatooine

Why: When Ric Olié informs the crew that they need to refuel and repair the ship, Obi-Wan automatically says Tatooine. I think that for a planet that is so significant in the Star Wars universe, it should have a better introduction. Something more subtle is needed.

How: For example, have Obi-Wan examining some star charts and ruling out one or two planets for any reason, and then deciding on Tatooine. Possibly show a monitor displaying various planets and their descriptions with a hand at the bottom of the screen playing with the controls.

R2-D2's intro

Why: It doesn’t make sense that the decoy ordered the Queen to clean the droid. The Queen’s place should always be by her side, especially in the presence of the Jedi when big decisions are made. This should be slightly modified.

How: First of all, the whole scene looks like a work print; there’s no music, the sound isn’t good quality, and there’s a general feel like there’s something missing. If some music could be added or something done about the sound, I think the scene would work a lot better.

As for the R2 problem, we could have the decoy telling another handmaiden to clean the droid, followed by Padmé offering that she does it, maybe as a way to get to know her new companions or something.

Anakin's "yippee"

Why: This is a very popular pick among TPM critics. When Anakin yells out “Yippee!” after Watto tells him he can go home, it’s really hard not to cringe. There’s also another one after Qui-Gon tells him to go and pack his things. I would just remove them both and make Anakin a less goofy character, as well as make the movie in general a little less childish.

"I'm building a droid!"

Why: When Anakin brings his new friends to his house, very little is shown of their introduction to Shmi. There is one instance where Qui-Gon is telling Shmi something and at the same time Anakin is telling Padmé, “I’m building a droid, wanna see?” All we hear is Anakin’s comment, but I think that whatever Qui-Gon is telling her here has a greater priority. Anakin later says, “Come on, I’ll show you Threepio,” which pretty much makes the first line useless.

How: Tone down Anakin’s line by a lot, so that it’s barely audible, while turning up whatever Qui-Gon is saying, which I think is something along the lines of, “This is Jar Jar, and that’s Padmé.”

"My parts are showing!"

Why: This supposedly humorous line by C3PO/R2D2 is in bad taste. It's neither funny nor does it go with the style of Star Wars as it's more of a pop culture reference. It should be removed or replaced along with the whole discussion about him being naked. It wouldn't be hard to do since there is no lip movement in this scene.

Qui-Gon's comment about Anakin

Why: The line where Qui-Gon tells Shmi, “I didn’t actually come here to free slaves,” should be replaced with something else because it’s almost like an insult for him to be talking about her son as “one of the slaves” after she just asked him for help. It’s a big mood killer for me, and it just seems to ruin a perfectly good scene, especially being at the end of the conversation.

How: It can be replaced with something like “Even a Jedi doesn’t have the right to free a slave. (Pauses and looks over at Anakin) But I wish I could.”

Something to remember Padmé by

Why: I think it would be great if something happened in TPM that would really make Anakin want to remember Padmé all his life. It would make a lot of sense because in AOTC when he’s in the elevator with Obi-Wan, just about to see Padmé, he’s really nervous, but you don’t really know why based on actual events from TPM.

How: There is one deleted scene where Padmé wakes Anakin up on the day of the race, except in the scene she acts really cold with him. If that scene could be touched up by removing the un-necessary things and focusing only on the conversation between Anakin and Padmé, it could really work well as a remembrance scene. Of course for this to work, the dialogue would have to be totally changed. It could include something like Padmé reassuring Anakin and making him feel good, followed by Anakin telling her something like he’s going to marry her one day. When you’re a young boy and a beautiful older girl is that nice to you, it’s very easy to say stuff like that; I was once a little boy and I know.

Farting eopie

Why: The farting eopie scene is a total mood killer. There you have a flag parade with vibrant and ceremonial music, making the race start look like something grand…and then an eopie farts. If this was some kind of directorial joke, it was in poor taste.

How: Just get rid of it! There are a million other things that can be put in its place from the pre-race deleted scene.

The podrace

Why: The podrace was carried out pretty good except for the occasional feeling that the accidents that were happening to the racers were a little too frequent…therefore it made it more cartoony and less believable. The part where I felt this the most was where a pod exploded inside a cave, on the first lap, and as soon as the other racers emerged from it, sand people started shooting at them. It doesn’t feel like a race anymore, it’s more like running a gauntlet.

The other thing I didn't like was the part when Anakin's pod starts spinning out of control. Beside all the crazy stuff going on in the podrace, that part just takes the whole thing overboard.

Also, in the deleted scenes on the TPM DVD, Sebulba uses his flamethrowers twice. It would be nice if one of them could be put in, maybe the one when Sebulba tries to flash Anakin again, but fails this time.

How: First, I would separate the explosion in the cave and the appearance of the sand people by either a few seconds or a whole lap. If not, then the explosion could be removed because it’s a bit extreme. Also, take out some more unbelievable stuff and put in footage of normal racing (if it exists).

Next, remove the spinning out of control part.

Thirdly, show Sebulba using his flamethrower on Anakin, but not on the second lap, which is where I think he used it, but on the third, to show that he’s getting really desperate.

Lastly, the race does go on for quite a while and many people have complained about its length, so removing a few clips out of it wouldn't hurt.

Pod race celebration

Why: At the end of the pod race, the mood quickly gets killed by Kitster and Wald as they keep trying to give each other high-fives but keep missing, making the scene look very rough. The general feel at the end of the pod race could have been a lot better.

How: Either cut the scene with the kids or if there is other footage already shot for the end of the pod race, it could be inserted also. More shots of the reactions from the crowd, as well as Anakin's mom would be great.

"Given hope to those who have none"

Why: This is kind of picky, but it really made me laugh when I actually sat down and really thought about what this line means. When Shmi says this, it sounds a bit like she means that Qui-Gon and the gang are “hopeless cases,” which is kind of an insult. I would change this very easily by dubbing over the word “have” with the word “had.” This way they were hopeless cases but they’re not anymore.

Pathetic life form

Why: Obi-Wan referring to Anakin as a pathetic life form seems rather crude, whether he knew who he was or not. We, the viewers knew who he was, and it didn’t sound right.

Secondly, that whole segment of the film appears to be “flipped” because we see Obi-Wan’s braid on his left rather than on his right.

How: Have him say just “life form” without the word pathetic, or just cut the line completely along with Qui-Gon’s next line, both of which have no real use.

As for the flip shot, it’s obviously made that way so that Qui-Gon looks like he’s going towards the left, the direction of Mos Espa, to not confuse the viewer. If the braid could be played with digitally to move it to the other side of Obi-Wan’s head, that would do the trick.

"What about mom?"

Why: When Anakin learns that he has been freed and that his life is about to totally change, he is understandably excited about it, however his reaction to his mother staying behind did not come across as believable or realistic.

How: Instead of having him ask, "What about mom? Is she free too?" have him say something along the lines of, "Mom is coming with us too, right?" as if throughout the conversation this is what he automatically assumed.

Anakin forgets to say goodbye to his mother

Why: It’s strange that Anakin leaves his house without saying goodbye to his mother, and when he remembers, he looks towards the house, then back at Qui-Gon, and at the end runs to his mother. I found this kind of confusing, but the nice music made me just ignore it. Nevertheless, this has to be dealt with.

Coruscant taxi

Why: The deleted scene that was re-added to the DVD showing the Anakin, Jar Jar, the Queen, and the handmaidens taking a speeder away from the landing pod should be deleted because it doesn't show us anything new at all, and it looks a bit rough, especially when Anakin stands there looking confused about where to go. The audience doesn't need to see this.