If we owned it... Star Wars Episode III

A randomly published column that talks about popular characters and properties that OTHER PEOPLE OWN and talks about what WE WOULD DO if WE owned it...

Several of us were drinking and chatting the other day, and as often happens, we began chatting about movies, and comics and books... and then we began chatting about what we would do if we owned the properties. We started with a few biggies... and a few small ones... and once in a while, we will put up our thoughts on some of the properties already out there... just to give an idea of what we might have done with it, if we owned it... from a story point of view...

For this first sample, we are taking on Star Wars Episode III...

DSL: I always pictured the movie covering a longer duration of time. This was the transition from Anakin Skywalker to Darth Vader after all!

DB: It was a little quick for me as well - the whole transtion took - what - three or four scenes? Which looked like they happened over a few hours in real time (not including flight travel time I suppose).

DSL: Yeah. I have always wanted the ability to travel vast distances in seconds...

DB: Digressing, so how did you see it happening?

DSL: The movie would be over a three to four year period... and maybe that is what is happening within the Clone Wars television show... but for the movie, I wanted one story to make the transition clear. I saw the Clone Wars taking their toll on Anakin as he got more and more violent - and had to have more and more of his physical body replaced by cybernetics. A foot here, part of an arm there.

DB: His spleen.

DSL: Exactly! And at the same time, Darth Sidious (Palpatine) was showing Anakin more and more tricks. Telling him how to learn battle techniques from Mace Windu (who, as a Purple lightsaber holder had dabled into the Dark Side skills but maintained his Jedi perspective) and from other people - and even set up events (the way he is good at) so that Anakin would learn these dark side skills from people that he would have to kill as a General of the Republic.

DB: So he would see these dark side force users, learn during the battles, and Kenobi would be shocked when he saw Anakin use them later himself!

DSL: Yes... and even moreso... Obi Wan would preach at him NOT to use the dark force tricks and skills, so Anakin would begin to use them when he wasn't around. Doing them in secret - and this would also eat away at him and burn away some of his body as he got better and better at it.

DB: The slightly darker scowl that Anakin had toward the end of Episode III wasn't enough for you?

DSL: That should have been the start! At the end of Episode VI, when we see Luke lift Vader's mast off, it looks like Darth is missing his jaw and the cybernetics are intwined - and I wanted to see little parts of that sooner. He burns through part of his jaw using the dark force to kill an opponent, and then pretends to get hit by a blaster to hide the damage - and that gets turned into the cybernetics.

DB: And what does Kenobi do during this?

DSL: Kenobi and Padme start to see the changes, and they talk with each other. Kenobi starts to keep an eye on Anakin, and once he begins to reveal himself further - as someone who is really on Palpatine's side - that is when they battle.

DB: The chase is on!

DSL: While I really like the effect of Order 66 - when the clones turn on the Jedi - I saw a bit more "Darth versus the Jedi" as part of that as he built and honed his skills.

DB: And then he really becomes Vader?

DSL: And then the battle with Obi Wan does the finishing touch... and the rest of the story goes as it did.

DB: Especially the ending... Vader screaming believing that his children died in child birth...

DSL: And even more so, convinced by Palpatine that their deaths could have been avoided if he had come to the dark side sooner and had defeated the remaining Jedi - who of course were responsible for their - and Padme's - deaths.

DB: That part was there a bit.

DSL: But I wanted that hammered home. To really show how Anakin was manipulated through guilt in combination with his impatience and the desire to achieve. And I really wanted a scene where Kenobi and Anakin - while they are still on the same side, but Vader is almost truly gone, and already more than 50% cybernetics - battle a large amount of separatists, battling through the droids, and then rushing up to kill their living field marshals. All while Kenobi watched. We got to see Palpatine manipulate Vader a bit and convince him to kill Count Dooku - and thus take his place as the apprentice to Palpatine - and that was a huge turning point that needed more following growth. But we didn't get to see scenes where he transitioned. He was working with the council... and then he was killing the separatist leaders.

DB: I always thought that Obi Wan took it too much in stride that Anakin was now his enemy during that last fight scene.

DSL: But, I do like Episode III - and now so do my kids. My eldest likes that episode the best as it is the Origin Story of Darth Vader to some extent.

DB: So what do you want to talk about next?

DSL: Let's save that for another article!

(Note: This article is a satire/review commentary and does not infringe on copyrights. All properties are the (c) their respective owner)