EPISODE III: THE NEXT STEPS...

Count Dooku is dead and the kidnapped Supreme Chancellor Palpatine has been safely returned to Coruscant by his Jedi rescuers. Now, the time must come for the reassembled senate to work out the next steps in the Republic's ongoing battle against the Separatists, in this group shot moment from Episode III.

'EPISODE III' AT TWENTY: LIGHT VS DARKNESS!

The Duel of the Fates continues..

Now returned to Coruscant in the aftermath of the brutal slaying of their fellow Jedi during Order 66, Obi-Wan goes off to find Anakin Skywalker via his connection to Padme, whilst Yoda confronts the evil and repulsive Darth Sidious, their intense lightsaber duel taking them into the heart of the senate audience chamber. Though Yoda's impressive skills in the Force almost win the day, it's ultimately the Emperor/Sidious who wins through, as a defeated and depressed Yoda realises that he will now have to begin a life of exile on a mysterious alien world later revealed as Dagobah.

A thrilling CGI sequence that once more makes effective use of John Williams supreme score, originally composed for Episode I but reused here: Duel of the Fates.

The Emperor's hideous cackle must not deter Yoda from combat.

"Fighting Frank (Oz) - fighting Yoda - was a joy. And then I got to experience the full beauty of CGI. In other words, actors in battle with invisible people. Although it was a very precise choreographic sequence - it would have to be, you've seen it - which we did do. Then I sensed, in fact George asked for it in a polite way, he wanted a few sort of improvised strokes. So basically I did a rap to thin air at the end of the choreographed sequence and then collapsed with exhaustion and hysterical laughter on the floor. I don't know if any of those movements are in the final cut... That wasn't difficult, that was great fun."

Ian McDiarmid - Episode III DVD press launch interview - 2005

THE CLONE WARS: POLITICAL ANIMALS!

Keeping the galaxy-shattered Clone Wars going through lies, treachery and false promises, whilst fellow corruptible Senators and the near powerless Jedi continue to be fools unaware of their murderous and power-grabbing dark side autonomy, Supreme Chancellor Palpatine and his key assistant Mas Amedda enjoy the manipulation and chaos before their final plans come into effect.

Another great image from The Clone Wars animated series.

CLASSIC IMAGE: PALPATINE POWER!

The enemy operating from within the heart of the Republic has now been revealed to the Jedi, but alas too late to save the venerable order from near extinction. Now Jedi Master Yoda engages Darth Sidious in combat deep in the senate chambers on Coruscant, but such dark force power soon proves hard to fight, in this great moment of savage fury from EPISODE III.

EPISODE III: A SPIDER IN HIS WEB!

From within his all-seeing, all-knowing office during the events of EPISODE III, Supreme Chancellor Palpatine is seemingly surprised and shocked by the appearance of Jedi Master Mace Windu and two of his colleagues, their duty to arrest him and put an end to the Clone Wars. Windu has been informed that Palpatine is the Sith Lord the Jedi have been looking for these past few years, but even he doesn't truly realise, until all too late, just what a dangerous and powerful wolf they have deep within the sheep fold...

THE 'PHANTOM' AT TWENTY: A SHOCKING TURN OF EVENTS...

As Palpatine 'persuades' Queen Amidala to initiate a vote of no confidence against Chancellor Valorum, due to his seeming lack of power, influence and apathy in their continuing crisis, amidst the packed and angry stadium of senators, the visibly stunned leader, flanked by aides Mas Amedda (Jerome Blake) and Sei Taria (Kamay Lau), returns to his senate podium seat, soon realising (in an ultimately deleted moment) that his old friend Palpatine has betrayed him.

A decisive moment for evil as the political events of EPISODE I play out.

"George (Lucas) was looking for something visually interesting and dynamic for the senate chamber scene, so we pulled the unused idea of the flying platforms from Tatooine, put them on Coruscant, and refined the designs to make them look big, bowl-shaped enclosures."

Doug Chiang - The Making of EPISODE I book - 1999

THE 'PHANTOM' AT TWENTY: SENATE WATCHERS!

Largely unseen bar in extreme longshots, many aliens delegates had close-up and reaction shots filmed for the Republic Senate meeting debating the Naboo Crisis. All of these characters, part of one hundred and forty separate creations - both new or classics revisited (such as Rodians and Twi'leks) - were brought to life by Nick Dudman and his team of fifty-five craftsmen, filmed by a second unit at Leavesden, mostly headed up by Roger Christian. Some unseen creatures would ultimately appear in new environments, like the Tatooine Pod racing sequence, playing spectators, or appear in future films, once again in extreme background shots. The Twi'lek Bib Fortuna (played by Alan Ruscoe) was to have been seen here but was ultimately deleted and replaced with Matthew Wood in the role for a scene opposite Jabba the Hutt on Tatooone, a move handled in EPISODE I's post production phase.

Bib Fortuna (Alan Ruscoe) listens to the drama.

The many practical creatures were built with little pre-production time-literally six months from January 1997 onwards, due to Lucas ironing out what creatures were to be handled via CGI, and what would be more cost-effective built as puppets and masks.

Nick Dudman and colleague supervise the care of an actor in the creature suit.

The greedy Twi-lek senator Orn Free Ta (Jerome Blake) and one of his aides (possibly actress Daisy Donovan) - his scene never made the final cut.

In honour of Steven Spielberg, E.T. and his friends made a special one-off cameo.

One of the most important returning species cameos would be from the Wookiees. Actor/puppeteer John Coppinger would play Yarua, and his character would be filmed/ superimposed three times in one scene to make it look like there was a trio of them in their senate pod. One of the surviving original Chewbacca costumes was loaned from the Lucasfilm archive and given restoration and re-working to serve as the new character. Three all-new Wookiee masks were seemingly rejected.

John Coppinger as Yarua the wookiee.

Specially made Wookiee masks by for the three senators were ultimately unused. 

Though not an alien creature, another important character cut from the movie's senate related scenes would be rising star Alderaan delegate Bail Antilles, as played by Adrian Dunbar, originally inhabiting the role as Bail Organa, Princess Leia's adopted father.

More info here:
https://starwarsaficionado.blogspot.com/2013/04/classic-blog-2007-adrian-dunbar.html
https://starwarsaficionado.blogspot.com/2012/09/deleted-scene-speaker-for-alderaan.html

THE 'PHANTOM' AT TWENTY: THE FINER POINTS OF DIPLOMACY! DELETED SCENE

Palaptine activates the senate pod to address the galactic representatives in a deleted moment.

Escorted to her pod in the Galactic Senate audience chamber, Queen Amidala watches as her ambassador for Naboo in the kindly but pushy Senator Palpatine prepares to enter the ongoing conversations concerning the blockade of their world. Naboo is the tinder to Galactic War in much the same way that Poland was to our own real-life events during World War II.

Entering their senate pod in an earlier deleted moment.

"In terms of (remembering) the actual sequences (filmed), there's the scene in the Senate that stands out. It was one of the last sequences completed by the digital guys at ILM. Filming it was extraordinary. We had a vast expanse of blue, and the senators, the representatives of the various planets, were in pods that rose and moved in (when it was their turn to speak). There was one pod that we all shared at different time. It certainly rose, but it didn't move (around, although) it revolved. Natalie and I were at the top of this pod, revolving around. She had on this very huge headdress and we were both doing our best to keep ourselves steady while being accurate over our lines. And somebody said, 'Oh, by the way, we're here.'"

"That was amusing, as it was hard to focus on anyone or anything else. There were two angel cams going in the opposite direction of the turning pod. I was trying not to step on Natalie's dress and she was trying to look composed and regal. We knew that this would all be on screen soon enough and we had to make sure there was not even a flicker in our eyes that betrayed the work involved. It had to look real and in the moment. People may say, 'Surrender to technology,' or 'There's nothing for the actor,' but ultimately the camera was on me and Natalie and we had to act. We had to make it believable. You may have all these sets and people, but it's all just to make it possible to believe that this moment between the characters in this setting is actually happening."

Ian McDiarmid - Starlog magazine - 1999

More on the deleted scene likely cut for time (seen in the above two images) - a shame, as Ian McDiarmid is so deliciously evil in such political scenes:

Palpatine: If the Federation moves to defer the motion, Your Majesty, I beg of you to ask for a resolution to end this congressional senate.

Amidala: I wish I had your confidence in this, Senator.

Palpatine: You must force a new election for Supreme Chancellor... I promise you that there are many who will support us... it is our best chance... Your Majesty, our only chance.

Amidala: You truly believe Chancellor Valorum will not bring our motion to a vote?

Palpatine: He is distracted... he is afraid. He will be of no help.

Iain McCaig's striking design for Padme's senate costume, with looming droid camera. 

"The outfits are so beautiful. (Costume Designer) Trisha Biggar did one of the most amazing jobs ever. Concept artist Iain McCaig drew pictures for Trisha and she made them a reality. The costumes are one of the most special parts of the movie. I wasn't the happiest of people having to wear the senate costume with the big hairpiece, however. The outfits were made so that they could be easily taken on and off, because if you have to go to the bathroom at some point during the day, you can't spend five hours for a bathroom break. The hair and make-up usually took about two, two-and-a-half hours, but the costumes took 15 minutes."

Natalie Portman - Starlog magazine - 2000

Posed image used for international magazines promotion.

THE CLONE WARS: POLITICAL INFLUENCES...

Striving hard to bring peace to the galaxy, and to especially sooth the escalating troubles with the Hutt clan and its vitally needed space routes, Senator Padme Amidala confers with Supreme Chancellor Palpatine on Coruscant, in a scene from The Clone Wars animated movie.

The late Ian Abercrombie did a fine job continuing the work of Ian McDiarmid in the role of Palpatine and Darth Sidious, and the same too for Catherine Taber, bringing her own interpretation to Natalie Portman's morally courageous Padme. Attending the film's London multimedia screening back in 2008, AFICIONADO noted that the cinema audience was clearly pleased to see these two politically important characters make their way into the film's later stages.

ILM CLASSIC IMAGE: A TIME FOR RETREAT!

The Sith's revenge on the Jedi and the galaxy is almost complete- as even the powerful Master Yoda is forced to retreat from the omnipotent wrath of Darth Sidious, in this great animatic shot created by ILM for EPISODE III circa 2004.

CLASSIC IMAGE: THE DEVIL HAS HORNS!

The intimidating and opulent-costumed presence of the Supreme Chancellor's shifty second-in-command, Mas Amedda, is enough to put anybody at ill-at-ease - be they senator or Jedi. For EPISODEs II and III, he would be played Australian actor David Bowers, in this posed publicity /costume reference image.

CLASSIC IMAGE: IN LOYALTY TO THE REPUBLIC...

An important member of the soon initiated Delegation of 2000 representatives of the Republic, Senator Bana Breemu would be played by popular Chinese character actress and model Bai Ling. Though her scene with Natalie Portman for EPISODE III was deleted, it did eventually make it to the 2005 DVD release. Enjoying the publicity, Miss Ling went on to do a memorable STAR WARS inspired portfolio for Playboy magazine.

CLASSIC IMAGE: TO SLAY A JEDI...

He's suffered the prattle and weaknesses of the Jedi and its Masters for years within his disguise as Palpatine, now Darth Sidious will take no more from his accursed enemy, especially Yoda, whose life he is now ready and willing to extinguish, in this worthy confrontation scene from EPISODE III.

DELETED SCENE: POLITICAL TIME-WASTING!

In his senate podium on Coruscant, the greedy and quite repulsive Twi'lek senator Orn Free Ta (played by Jerome Blake) and his equally dubious retinue observe political goings-on, in unused second unit footage filmed at Leavesden Studios, for EPISODE I.

CLASSIC IMAGE: TO WIN SUPPORT!

On Coruscant, within an immense senate arena that should be a beacon of hope but actually proves a mist of confusion, squabbling and personal agendas, Queen Amidala pleads her case for the survival of Naboo and its captured people, in an important scene from EPISODE I.

CLASSIC IMAGE: DISCONCERTING NEWS

Flanked by his faithful aide in political skullduggery, Mas Amedda, the newly crowned Emperor receives disturbing news from his elite Clone Troopers that Master Yoda has indeed disappeared, during the continued turmoil of the last act to EPISODE III.

ROGUE ONE: MOTHER OF THE REBEL ALLIANCE!

The newly released TOPPS character/autograph card.

If Bail Organa of Alderaan was the bold father of what would eventually become known as the Rebel Alliance against the corrupt and merciless Galactic Empire, then Mon Mothma of Chandrilla must surely be its strongly beating, compassionate and vital mother heart, known for her calm, rational thinking and strong moral intellectualism ever since she was a respected leader within the troubled Republic Senate at the time of the Clone Wars, the tumultuous three years of battle and tragedy of which she now knows she and the thousands of senators she worked with for peace were being manipulated and betrayed by the man they thought they knew and trusted: Supreme Chancellor Palpatine, whose new order has wrought such hardships, terror and destructive force against the galaxy, and especially towards non-humanoid species.

A genuine baptism of fire for Mon Mothma and the Rebel Alliance in ROGUE ONE: A STAR WARS STORY.

Mon Mothma (Genevieve O'Reilly) and General Draven (Alistair Petrie) with an important new ally.

As the Empire grows more powerful, and the testing of a deadly new weapon is imminent, the small resistance cells scattered across the galaxy must finally unite and pull their resources like never before, under the leadership of Mon Mothma.

And fight... 

Mon Mothma, as seen in publicity materials for EPISODE III.

With her scenes for EPISODE III sadly removed from the original theatrical release (though available on DVD), Genevieve O'Reilly's presence in the first ROGUE ONE trailer as Mon Mothma, with a visage and clothing that matched Caroline Blakiston's character/look from RETURN OF THE JEDI, was a welcome and truly satisfying sight, fusing the Prequel and Classic Trilogy saga's together even more strongly.

More on ROGUE ONE's General Draven: Rogue One director obliterates popular fan theory about Rebel leader | EW.com

CLASSIC IMAGE: SEEING EVIL!

Darth Sidious's electrical energy powers are captured in Yoda's serious eyes, as their fight within the senate arena on Coruscant continues apace. An excellent and effective CGI image from a powerful and memorable EPISODE III sequence.

CLASSIC IMAGE: "DELLOW FELEGATES!"

Cleverly manipulated by Supreme Chancellor Palpatine, hapless Jar Jar Binks, our worse nightmare when it comes to political affairs, takes to the Senate arena to help push through the Army of the Republic act, in a creative move from George Lucas that makes the Gungan front-of-house responsible for the galactic war ahead!

Beyond Jar Jar, Ahmed Best also got to play another unidentified alien in the senate during EPISODE I, recalling to STARLOG in 2000:   

“It’s hard to see unless you know where to look. But I saw me, so I was excited. I was at ILM shooting some stuff and they were shooting all of the extras who were playing senators. They asked me if I wanted to be a senator. I said, “Yeah, sure!” Of course, I wish they had done a close-up of me, but I guess you can’t have everything.”

6 Star Wars Prequel Trilogy Behind-the-Scenes Facts | StarWars.com

REBEL GENESIS: THE DEATH OF LIBERTY...

As a lead-in to STAR WARS REBELS, AFICIONADO presents a series of images featuring characters, events and history linked to the ultimate creation of the Rebel Alliance against the Empire.

A stunned and now powerless Senator Amidala, alongside Bail Organa and her bodyguard servant Motee, watch incredulously as the newly inaugurated Emperor Palpatine, without any kind of political retaliation or resistance from the rest of the gullible members of the senate, and with her own friends in the Delegation of 2000 now subdued, proudly declaring the Republic's turn to the First Galactic Empire. A new Dark Age of fear and technological terror for the galaxy has begun, of which Padme will soon discover just how used and manipulated she has been these last thirteen years by her former adjutant, and supposed friend, from Naboo...