What if 'The Phantom Menace' Was Good?

Since it first hit theaters thirteen years ago, many a Star Wars fan has griped over the endless plot holes, narrative deficiencies, and boring characters of The Phantom Menace. But instead of merely complaining, here’s a fan who channeled his frustration into figuring out how to make the movie work.

Belated Media took a long, hard look at The Phantom Menace and decided that there really is a good movie in there buried beneath all the crap. (And that includes the literal crap that Jar-Jar stepped in.) The twelve minute video above quickly and smartly explains how to make Episode I a good movie, with suggestions like:

• The movie lacks a main character; Obi-Wan Kenobi is the perfect choice, because he has the most potential for growth and change due to the events in this story.
• Make Anakin a teenager, and reduce his introduction to a subplot — a much more important and dramatic point of contention between Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon.
• Streamline the final battle by ditching the asinine dogfight around (and in) the Federation cruiser.
• His best recommendation is one I’ve voiced more than once myself: don’t kill off Darth Maul! His survival after killing Qui-Gon Jinn would give our hero (Obi-Wan) some much-needed pathos, building toward far more interesting and complicated battles in the two subsequent movies.

These are just a few of his very smart ideas (though I’d add excising the Gungans to his list), which are presented with rapid-fire remarks and loads of clever editing. Note that the video is a little NSFW.