not sure what is missing but remember the Chinese theater *ahem*nerds*ahem* got to see a 10 minute longer cut than anyone else did

Probably because he only had enough material to make one 3-4 hour film. In hindsight, I would have liked to have seen Lucas go that route. Just go all out for one film. Make it 3 1/2 hours. Give it a budget of 200+ million. Hire thousands of extras. Shoot everything on-location. Do it the way old epics like Ben-Hur used to be made, except do it even bigger. Build 100+ massive sets, indoors, outdoors, and on-location. Hire a great screenwriter. Hire someone to help you plan out the battles with thousands of real extras in costumes and hundred of stuntmen. I'm talking in the range of 5000 extras.

I think Episode III is pretty damn amazing as it. But could you imagine a 3+ hour film like Episode III, shot that way?

Well, I would place my bets on most of this stuff being cut for time, not content, which are totally different, which is why I think a lot of what is mentioned should be back in.

I believe the decision to cut scenes (with Bai Ling in them) were made early 2004 (GL decision)...of course well before her Playboy pictorial.

I'm afraid I'm going senile, but I could swear the scene where Vader is introduced in the movie was different from the trailer. In the trailer I remember seeing his arms raised in an awkward manner, but I don't remember seeing his arms like this in the actual movie. Can anyone confirm this?

It was definately changed(for the better).

Confirmed.

Actually, someone mentioned this to Rick McCallum during Celebration III (when they were showing the footage). He confirmed that they altered the scene a bit, and put Vader's arms at his sides.

Crap! Does this mean Lucas has raped my childhood memory of the trailer? ;)

So does anyone know if there are additional scenes in either of the other prequals (for an anticipated boxed set)?

Well the Dooku vs. Obi-Wan/Anakin and Dooku vs. Yoda scenes were trimed down considerably in Epsiode II. And there were bits of Darth Maul vs. Obi-Wan/Qui-Gon that were excised from Episode I. Honestly, I'd like to see most of the Episode II stuff re-instated but for some reason I was bugged by the use of the word "boyfriend" in an otherwise fine scene that was sadly deleted from Episode II.

But, in short, the only film that really demands an extensive expansion is Episode III. I'm sure the cuts were made to make the film feel tighter but instead it created a sense of "something's missing" throughout. Don't get me wrong. It's a fine film and I feel it stands well with the OT but it could have easily been longer and no one would have complained. Or, who knows? Maybe Lucas knew we'd be hungry for more and is just saving the extra footage for the mega boxset to make even the most stubborn of holdouts give in and by the new set.

Brilliant. My exact sentiment - cheers! :)

It isn't out of the blue at all. They show Anakin's dream sequence again just prior to this question and Obi-Wan is there at the birth this time. Since this is new, he knows that Obi-Wan was aware of the baby at this point so he must have been there.