By Baz Greenland /
10. Start With The Clone Wars
The Phantom Menace doesn't bring a whole lot to the Star Wars saga narratively speaking. Anakin Skywalker meets Obi-Wan Kenobi and Padmé Amidala and audiences are introduced to reoccurring villains the Trade Federation. But if viewers skipped the first film entirely and jumped straight into Attack Of The Clones, they would miss nothing. Star Wars is frankly about wars, not trade embargoes. Rather than dumping several film's worth of material into The Clone Wars cartoon, the trilogy could have begun with the start of the Clones Wars and the first steps towards the end of the Republic and the Jedi Order. Anakin and Padmé could still have met and fallen in love - perhaps he could have been a charming pilot that took her back to Naboo - where the age gap would be less pronounced. The general plot could have broadly been the same and this would have still given a greater coherent sense of drama. The second film could have taken many elements from the Clone Wars cartoons and films and ended with Order 66. If they wanted a way to top the cliff-hanger of The Empire Strikes Back, the slaughter of the Jedi could have been it.