6 changes that could’ve made The Phantom Menace Great

Adding A Human Element To Final Battle

The film ended with a battle trifecta. There was the classic duel of the fates lightsaber battle between Obi-Wan Kenobi, Qui Gon Jinn and Darth Maul. There was also the pretty lame space battle as Anakin and the generic Naboo Air Defense Team attempted to take out the Droid Control Ship and their fleet of automated fighters. On the ground was the battle of the Gungans and the Battle Droids which was ultimately a diversion.

The battle between the Gungans and Battle Droids was extremely anti-climatic. It was a CG fest of characters that really no one cared about at this point in the film. I guess the thought was that fans would be rooting for Jar Jar at this juncture, but after an hour and a half of his unfunny shenanigans, most fans would’ve been happy seeing him meet his demise.

It would’ve been much more rewarding to see some human characters take part in this battle. Maybe there could’ve been some sort of Naboo ground force lead by a general that we got to know during the movie. Or being that the Jedi council was aware of the issue in Naboo, they could’ve sent a contingent of Jedi to assist the Gungans in the battle. Fans would’ve gone nuts seeing a bunch of Jedi in battle in the first episode of the Prequel Trilogy. Instead, we got a real snooze fest of a battle with computer-generated participants that no one was rooting for one way or the other.