According to
this video by Geetsly, the Trade Federation was going to be heavily taxed through new legislation introduced by the Naboo Senator Sheev Palpatine. Incensed by the legislation, Nute Gunray's secretive ally Sidious, suggested retaliation by blockading the Senator's home planet of Naboo.
If this was in the movie, it would probably be considered an incredible political move in fiction. Palpatine engineers the entire blockade and defeat of the Trade Federation to show the weakness of the Republic in handling a crisis and promoting Separatist sentiments throughout the galaxy, since Naboo was able to defeat the Trade Federation on its own.
(replying to
@Kiwi Lime Pie in this too)
It would have been great to have had that in the movie. Part of the problem with having politics in a short time frame story though is the tangle of questions it receives. Like if liberating naboo got bogged down in committee, why didn't Palpatine's new taxes--
Wait, answered my own question.
But seriously, why not say... have this as a discussion between Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon at the start? Remember when they're in the waiting room? (can you even recite the dialog?) What if the dialog was...
OWK: I've got a bad feeling about this.
QGJ: This is an awfully lot of trouble for a simple trade dispute.
OWK: All this over senator Palpatine's tax proposal?
QGJ: [thing it would pay for - i would actually brainstorm this with like, all of you here]
OWK: Do you agree with him, master? Should [program] be instituted?
QGJ: Issues come and go, my young padawan. Tomorrow it will be something else. It is not for the Jedi to concern ourselves with such things but focus on the eternal. Concentrate on the Living Force, and calm yourself.
etc
Of course if it was up to me, the phantom menace would be controlling space pirates - because who doesn't love space pirates?? (they would cause problems around the galaxy, leading to the institution of the republic military, etc etc)
And in regards to the SW version of KF, we'd probably be on the Holonet, although I think that was supposed to be more of a TV/communications system. But we'd be banned by the Empire for calling Sly Moore a thot.
Well she totally is. I've see twi'leks less whore-y than her.
Maybe Lucas gave the audience too much credit for connecting the dots at times. In retrospect its kind of clear Palpatine is force killing Padme and perhaps even using it to revitalize Anakin. Instead we're given a sort of perplexing "she's losing the will to live" line and laugh at it.
No.
As I've said before, Lucas shows signs of a bit of autism or some kind of disorder and he does not think as you are assuming there. Want proof?
Episode 1) Amidala is a queen. Why? Because Leia is a space princess - so how can she be a princess if her mom was never a queen? Therefore Padme has to be the queen.
Of course Anakin can't be older than 8-10 to leave his mom and start Jedi training. And it would be REALLY weird to have Amidala be in her 30s-40s when she and Anakin finally hook up. So she's a young queen! She's only like, 14. How did she get to become queen then? Uh... her planet holds elections!
See? Extremely convoluted, silly answer to a question that has a very simple solution: Just make Leia's adoptive parents royalty. A writer that can't "see" that kind of solution staring them in the face is one that isn't going to be subtle about any solution that you think up.
If a corporation started blockading North Dakota (which isn't possible) with actual military force, the US military would be on that shit like nobody's business. It doesn't matter if it's a small state or not.
If you can't blockade North Dakota - then what sense does it make to blockade a planet? (remember - space is vast)
It would probably make more sense if the Trade Federation was like UPS and
literally the only source of distribution in the galaxy. Then it was slightly less of a blockade and more of a "we're not delivering." Except for the ship escape they do later in the movie - that makes it quite literal.
Plus like someone else pointed out, the set up is that the government doesn't have a military - hence the clone army in the next movie.
ne of my criticisms of Filoni's Clone Wars is that the foreshadowing always seems forced (no pun intended) and heavy-handed. I'd offer the Mortis Arc as one such example. Fans that have followed the franchise to that point know Anakin falls to the dark side. Newer fans that hadn't yet seen the OT or PT might not know, but foreshadowing works best when it's more subtle -- such as the scene in Gennedy's Clone Wars where Anakin goes on what I believe was some sort of meditation journey or vision quest and the image of Vader eventually forms and takes over the background, confusing him if I recall the scene correctly.
Just because I love this scene.
