/sw/ - Star Wars

Now that there's talk of Disney doing their own cinematographic ripoffs of Kotor, I've been wondering: what would good Kotor movies be like? I'm thinking of at most 3 movies -realistically it's unlikely that more would be made- and only the period from the Mandalorian Wars to the end of Kotor II, as that what I'm most familiar with. I know little of TOR.

The first question is one of focus: which parts of the period are directly shown within the movie/duology/trilogy? There are advantages and disadvantages to picking one segment (Mandalorian Wars, Kotor I, Kotor II) and doing a standalone or two-part series with it or fitting some/all of the period into a trilogy.

The Mandalorian wars have a lot of potential. They present a mighty invading antagonist with a culture of honor, an ailing Republic unsure of wheter to intervene on behalf of the Outer Rim worlds attacked by the Mandalorians, a brutal genocidal war, a Jedi Council lost in hubris and inaction and a dissident Jedi who questions the Council, patriotically leads the fight and slowly flirts with the Dark Side. It even has similarities with the Prequels. And like the Prequels the plot's central conflicts are not the war itself but the struggles within the Republic/Jedi and Revan's attraction to the Dark Side.

I'd divide it in two movies. The first begins with the war at its earlier stages -or, if time needs to be spared, with the Mandalorians on full offensive and the Republic at the brink of defeat- and centers on the Republic's mobilization against the outside threat and the conflict between the Council and the Revanchists. Serroco can be shown as it later plays an important role in Revan's motivation to wage war. It ends with the Revanchists leading a counteroffensive and scoring a victory, perhaps in Taris. The second focuses on Revan's journey to the Dark Side and his discoveries about the Rakata and the looming threat of invasion coming from beyond known space. It features his final duel with Mandalore and the destruction of Malachor V, but doesn't end there: it needs to go on just enough lay the prologue for the Jedi Civil War, showing Revan going to Lehon determined to unite the galaxy. But just stopping at this point would leave the story unfinished.

Kotor I could easily be made into an one-off movie. It's a classic hero's tale and stands solidly on its own. There's one issue with doing it as a sequel to the Mandalorian Wars: properly doing the major plot twist that the protagonist is Revan.

Kotor II begs for an adaptation with its quality characters and dialogue. It has so much it could even fit into two movies. Its setting centers on the impact of years of war on the planets and characters, so filming it as a standalone is possible but there's a case for having Kotor II as the conclusion of a wider series. And yet that brings a problem of protagonist switching: the Exile can appear in a movie about the Mandalorian Wars, but the protagonist of such a movie -and a Kotor I sequel- would be Revan, who disappears at the time of Kotor II. But switching protagonist from the Exile to Revan isn't impossible.

Building a trilogy with the Mandalorian Wars + Kotor I + Kotor II may sound like the easiest choice at first. But I'd propose two alternatives: two movies for the Mandalorian Wars + one for the Jedi Civil War. This wraps up Revan's fall and redemption perfectly and concludes in triumph. The unusual alternative would be two for the Mandalorian Wars + one for Kotor II. This leaves a huge gap that'd have to be very well explained through suggestion and exposition and would certainly feel strange. But there are some advantages to this: the Exile can grow from a minor character in the first part, a medium-importance element who secures victory at Malachor V on the second film and the protagonist at the end.

Focus is also a problem for planets and characters. The central segment of both games features four worlds, and yet a movie adaptation need not dedicate the same time for all of them: ideally one or two would be fleshed out in detail while the others are only shown briefly. For instance, a Kotor II movie could focus on Onderon+Dxun, showing complex local politics and what happened to the Mandalorians, and spend less time on the search for Vrook on Dantooine. (Of course, the later Council meeting on the rebuilt Enclave would still be shown prominently). Likewise, out of Revan's/the Exile's companions some would have to be selected for greater emphasis.