So, after watching the
70 minute review of TPM, I'm pretty sure I can't go back to watching the entire Prequel Trilogy, let alone TPM.
A buddy refered me to something known as "The Phantom Edit". It's basically Episode 1 minus Jar Jar, Midichlorians and redundancy in general. After viewing this version of the movie (DON'T ASK ME FOR A LINK), I think it's safe to say that I will be burning my Phantom Menace DVD very soon.
After doing a bit more research, it turns out that there's a
whole movie editing community dedicated not only to making the Star Wars prequels watchable, but other movies watchable (READ: Transformers 2 and Spider Man 3. Holy fucking shit)
But let's stick to Star Wars for now:
Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Edit
Original Runtime : 133 min
New Runtime : 115 min
Amount of time Cut/Added : 18 min cut
Cuts removed/added/extended :
* removing or re-editing most scenes featuring Jar-Jar Binks
* limiting redundant exposition throughout film
* trimming reiteration of the politics
* re-arranged shots and scenes matching original trilogy presentation style
* removing Yippee and Oops from young Anakins dialog in order to make him a stronger character
Conceptual improvements/advancements of edit over original:
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Star Wars Episode I.I The Phantom Edit is a fan edit of the movie Star Wars Episode I The Phantom Menace, removing elements of the original thought by some to be unsuccessful by critics and adult fans. The purpose of the edit, according to creator Mike J. Nichols, was to make a much stronger version of The Phantom Menace based on the previous execution and philosophies of film storytelling and editing made famous by George Lucas himself. The Phantom Edit was the first unauthorized re-edit of The Phantom Menace to receive major publicity and acclaim for making the film appreciably better, and although many other re-editing attempts followed, the original Phantom Edit is still highly regarded as a successful exercise of professional and artistic narrative film editing.
Source.
Star Wars Episode 2: Attack Of The Phantom
This is the attempt to finally give fans of the famous Phantom Edits the missing third episode. This is Revenge of the Phantom
Original Runtime : 142 min
New Runtime : 104 min
Amount of time Cut/Added : 38 min cut
Cuts removed/added/extended :
lots and lots of cuts and tweaks.
Conceptual improvements/advancements of edit over original:
As before, I do not wish this to be viewed as an attack on the motion picture
industry, an allegiance with motion picture piracy or even an attack on artists
right.
My proactive criticism is aimed only at one filmmaker George Lucas.
For years Mr Lucas practiced the re-editing of other directors works as an act
of proactive criticism suggesting changes where he felt the director had gone
off page from the original storytelling
And he did so by re-editing his own version of the directors film. Hmmmm
Sound familiar?
So please let the entire contents of the DVD serve as my proactive criticism of
where I feel George Lucas has gone off page not only with the storytelling
integrity of this film, but the integrity of a beloved piece of film history.
Note: no profit is generated from the creation of this DVD
And lets keep it
that way!
-the phantom editor
Source
Revenge of the Sith The Spence Edit
The Phantom Editor, responsible for the first 2 edits, has not done an episode III edit. Regardless, this one is fantastic.
Original Runtime :140 min
New Runtime :120 min
Amount of time Cut/Added :
*there's lots, click the source link below*
Conceptual improvements/advancements of edit over original:
I still consider The Phantom Edit and Attack of the Phantom to be the pinnacles of the fanediting idea. Sure, maybe its not the best picture/sound quality, but in terms of greatly improving a film, he nailed it on both accounts. Yet, he never did an Episode III edit. There have been some other edits, sure, but none of them really have that feel that his films have. Most prequel edits seem to come to a place of either hatred for the film or over-appreciation of the film, and tend to be unbalanced (this isnt all of them, and its just my opinion.) Frankly, I havent found an ROTS edit that I feel I can put next to those Phantom Editor versions.
So I tried to use his principals and points of view to create a Revenge of the Sith edit I could watch along with Phantom Editors prior versions. It wont feel exactly like a Phantom Editor edit of course, as its from my point of view which will always be different, and also he is a much better editor than me. But I feel like I can watch this version and confidently enjoy the film.
Source
BONUS:
There is a fantastic edit of A New Hope out there.
"BUT ANH WAS FLAWLESS! IT NEEDS NO EDIT!"
True. But what this fan has done to the film is truly spectacular. It's everything the Special Edition should have been. Less extra CG bullshit on Tatooine and Han not shooting first, and more fixing continuity errors. Check it out:
STAR WARS: EP IV 2004 Special Edition REVISITED
VISUAL CHANGES PART 1
VISUAL CHANGES PART2
Faneditors comment:
I have to admit that i have always liked the special editions of the original trilogy, with a few minor niggles of course, so i was so excited when the 2004 DVD release was announced. I waited in line at midnight, got my box set and raced home to watch them. switched on my cinema system (luckily the neighbours were away) , loaded the DVD and prepared to be blown away. Then the film started and my face dropped. What the hell have they done to the surround mix? OMG Lukes saber is green & Darths is pink. I thought these editions would have been better than my old VHS ones. Yes the picture quality is far superior but the new faults just plain ruined them for me. So I decided that the original trilogy DVDs need fixing but just never got round to doing it until i was amazed by the ADigitalMan/ Darth Editous Hybrid DVD . I loved it so much i wanted to make my own.
Additional comment:
Star Wars for the 21st Century. Two years in the making, this fan edit was created by a fan for the fans.
Star Wars: Revisited represents perhaps the boldest and most sophisticated of any of the fan edits of Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. Inspired by the Star Wars Trilogy Special Edition, fan editor Adywan has created a breathtaking and powerful version of the film. Star Wars: Revisited not only fixes errors and technical limitations to the film that should have been made in the first Special Edition, but gives us a whole new vision for the movie, tying it to the rest of the Star Wars saga while correcting many of the excesses of the original Special Edition. Shots are re-mastered and restored, special effect shots are re-composited and whole new sequences are created, giving the viewer a taste of what the Special Edition could have been. Accompanied by a new Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack, Star Wars: Revisited provides an exciting new visit to a galaxy far, far away. synopsis by Sluggo Originaltrilogy.com
Source
They are all awesome. George, take some fucking notes.
