Is It Time For The Prequels To Get A CGI Facelift?

Just shy of twenty-three years ago, Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace saw its theatrical release. Two years prior to that the original trilogy saw the release of a special edition with added visual effects, reworked scenes, and the enhancement of the much degraded original master. A New Hope was released in 1977 thirty years before the special edition came out. We are now closing in on thirty years since The Phantom Menace's release, it might be time for a special edition of the prequel trilogy. Given some of the dated effects, as well as the fact that some of the actors are already working on Disney projects, some key editing could improve them if the company was willing to try and correct some of the errors made in the prequels.

To start off, we would like to revisit the Battle of Naboo from Episode I, which is by far the most visually unappealing sequence in the movie. During the climax of the Battle of Naboo, most of the close-up shots look really good by 1999 standards. However, the shots that pan to a wide view in the distance give us a background that many fans feel looks like the Windows XP default wallpaper. Someone has even done the heavy lifting going so far as to remaster a sample in Unreal Engine. We've included the clip to show you what is on the other side of this argument.

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Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones was released in 2022. If you have seen the movie you probably don't have a high opinion of it. It is far from a perfect Star Wars movie and a huge part of that is the bizarre choices with the film's CGI. The worst offender of these is, of course, the scene where Anakin and Padme share a dinner. That infamous CGI pear that just magically (or by the Force) jumps onto Padme's dinner fork. There is also the odd choice of interlacing CGI in Obi-Wan and Jango's fight on Kamino. We have included a clip that starts with the pear scene in case you forgot how bad it looks

Maybe we would even see a different cut of the entire sequence on Naboo, making some key edits might be enough to change everyone's opinion of the start of Padme and Anakin's romance. Perhaps they could finish the deleted scene of the droid control ship on Geonosis showing that the B-2 Battle Droid used by the CIS was an independent model unlike the ones seen in The Phantom Menace. The only thing the scene lacks is some CGI all the stunts have been filmed. And given Lucasfilm's obsession with CGI'ing actors into roles even twenty-two years after their death in the case of Peter Cushing in Rogue One.

To round out this idea we have Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, the strongest of the three prequel movies. There really isn't a lot in the way of touching up the effects as they have aged fairly well. However, there are some deleted scenes that could add quite a bit to the universe. For example, the deleted scene where Palpatine and Anakin talk about how Anakin isn't appreciated by the Jedi Council. Palpatine also suggests the Jedi would stop the Senate from making changes for the greater good of the Republic, Planting the seeds of a Jedi lead coup to oust the Supreme Chancellor. Another deleted scene of note is the Jedi Council discussing if Palpatine could be the Sith Lord they have been looking for. Yoda however reminds the rest of the council they would need more solid proof before they could arrest him.

We also have a lot of deleted scenes that foreshadow the formation of the Rebel Alliance. There is a scene where Mon Mothma, Padme, as well as several other senators like Bail Organa are deciding on a plan of action if Palpatine doesn't give up his power at the end of his term. Thus, the Alliance was born while Padme was pregnant with their future leader Leia. Later in another deleted scene, the same group of senators meets Palpatine in his office to display their outrage. Anakin is in the room and when Padme shoots him a glance he does nothing. All of this characterization would help flesh out both Palpatine's reveal of the Empire, as well as Anakin's relationship with Padme and his fall to the dark side. We're including all the deleted scenes so you can see what you think would be worth adding.

Between a mix of poor visual effects in the first two movies and a plethora of deleted scenes in the third installment, there is a lot to gain in a special edition version of the prequels. Given that we have The Clone Wars animated series and Rebels to add some depth to the movies it wouldn't hurt to add these deleted scenes back in. It also goes without saying that the CGI effects of the first two prequel movies definitely could use an update. After seeing what Lucasfilm is capable of in shows like The Mandalorian and Book of Boba Fett, we could really see George Lucas' vision for these movies brought even closer to reality. And who knows, maybe they'll edit Jar Jar down in Episode I so we can stand him in the next two movies.

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Written By James E. Cockrum

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