George Lucas has stated many times that he feels the Prequels are more than just the story of Anakin Skywalker and his fall, but also a true love story, albeit a tainted one. The love between Anakin and Padmé is a rocky one, built upon deceit and hiding from different angles. It’s clear they love each other but there is so much happening so quickly that things were bound to fall apart at the seams. Let’s explore this tainted love story a little more closely through some deleted material.
Category: Cut Scenes
The Politics of Rebellion
One of the subplots that was just about entirely removed from the final film has to do with the beginnings of what would later be known as The Rebellion (AKA The Rebel Alliance). The seeds of that organization started by Mon Mothma, Bail Organa, Padmé Amidala, and a secret group of other senators were originally supposed to be planted in this film. Three of these scenes can be found on the Episode III DVD. To see them all, all you have to do is pop it in and check them out.
Rescuing Palpatine
You have to hand it to Palpatine. Organizing his own capture and rescue to reinforce his cover as a phantom menace to the galaxy was a stroke of pure evil genius. Poor Dooku probably thought so too until he had two lightsabers criss-crossing his neckline. I’m not sure that even Palpatine foresaw what a troublesome rescue it would be, however. What we saw in the finished film was a trimmed down version. Let’s take a look at some of the deleted/altered bits from the opening space battle to the big crash landing.
Return To Tatooine
Throughout the saga, the Star Wars films frequently bring us back to the first major planet we encountered a long, long time ago: Tatooine. In Episode II, Anakin travels to Tatooine after being haunted by disturbing nightmares of his mother. While he’s there, Anakin will not only find his mother but learn some more about his family, leaving him a changed man. The anger, fear, and aggression that leads to his eventual downfall will take root here, setting the scene for the tragic events of Episode III.
Anakin and Padmé to the Rescue
After a distressing message from Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin and Padmé decide to depart Tatooine and aid their friend. Unfortunately, this results in the two of them getting captured, put on trial, found guilty, and tied to execution posts right along with Obi-Wan. Ultimately, it’s Jedi Master Yoda that does the real rescuing here. The scenes on this page deal with Anakin and Padmé’s failed rescue attempt along with some of the surrounding events involving C-3PO and R2-D2.
Aggressive Negotiations
In Episode II, Anakin mentions “aggressive negotiations” while telling a story to Padmé. When she inquires what that means, he replies, “Negotiations…with a lightsaber.”Many such negotiations took place in the film and many shots ended up trimmed or deleted from the final cut. Let’s take a look at some of them.
The Battle of Geonosis
The Battle of Geonosis was quite a historic event when you think about it. It was technically the first big battle of what would be known as The Clone Wars. This was the first big test of the clone army, created specifically to fight wars and serve as the Grand Army of the Republic. If the clones failed their first big military test, the war might have ended right there. There were many changes from script to screen, so let’s just take a look at some of the major things that were deleted or altered during the Battle of Geonosis.
Jedi Detective Work – Geonosis
All of Obi-Wan’s detective work points him to one last planet: the rocky, bug-infested Geonosis. After this day is done, Obi-Wan will have wished he stayed home. He was having a bad enough day as it was, but add in all these deleted and altered shots and his day just gets worse and worse.
Jedi Detective Work – Kamino
Obi-Wan’s detective work on Coruscant leads him to believe that something is amiss on a planet called Kamino which seems to be missing from the galaxy maps and Jedi Archives. Sounds like a challenge worthy of a Jedi. Let’s look at some of the differences from the finished film.
Jedi Detective Work – Coruscant
One of the finer aspects of Episode II was that it (in part) resembled a good, old fashioned mystery story. Obi-Wan is like an old 1940’s gumshoe detective in a black and white film noir piece. Obi-Wan is like the Bogart cop, hitting the streets hard and piecing the clues together. Mace Windu and Yoda are holding down the fort and trying to process the information passed on to them. Obi-Wan’s detective work began on Coruscant, so let’s begin there as well.
Representative Binks
Senator Amidala seems like a very smart woman. Therefore, I can only attribute her appointing a buffoon like Jar Jar Binks as her representative in the Senate to the stress of dual assassination attempts. That, and the fact that George Lucas is a twisted individual who when faced with the knowledge that people above the age of 13 really despise Jar Jar Binks, gives him a more important role. Whenever we’re talking deleted scenes, anything to do with Jar Jar Binks is something we’re glad to talk about. Let’s have a look at some of his deleted goodness from Episode II while we solemnly wish all of his scenes were deleted.
To Kill a Senator – Part 2
Five minutes into Attack of the Clones, one thing is perfectly clear. Someone is trying to kill Senator Amidala. Two major attempts to assassinate her are made early in the film. The second takes place in her Coruscant bedroom. The ensuing chase leads the Senator’s Jedi protectors through various areas of Coruscant, eventually ending up in an alley outside of a nightclub . Let’s take a look at some of the deleted/altered scenes involving this second attack and the events that follow.
To Kill a Senator – Part 1
Five minutes into Attack of the Clones, one thing is perfectly clear. Someone is trying to kill Senator Amidala. Two major attempts to assassinate her are made early in the film. The first takes place on a Coruscant landing platform. Let’s take a look at some of the deleted/altered scenes involving this first attack in the film.
IMAX Cuts & The Original Ending Sequence
In November of 2002, Episode II made its way to the large screen format known as IMAX. At the time, IMAX film differed from regular film in a number of ways. The film itself was quite larger (70mm with no compression) and the film ran horizontally as opposed to vertically. These are just two of the differences. Read More
The Naboo Lake Country
When her life is threatened, Senator Amidala feels it’s wrong to turn around and hide but reluctantly agrees to at the urging of the Queen of Naboo, amongst others. Anakin Skywalker, her Jedi bodyguard accompanies her to the Lake Country Retreat, a place of the Senator’s choosing. It is there that a dangerous and forbidden love will take root and blossom. Let’s take a look at some of the things that happened in the Lake Country that didn’t make it into the film.