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Star Wars Episode III - Dark Force Rising

kerr

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Description: A streamlined, fast-paced, and hopefully more believable version of Anakin Skywalker’s transformation to Darth Vader.

Original Film Name: Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith

New Film Name: Star Wars Episode III: Dark Force Rising

Film Studio Name: 20th Century Fox & Lucasfilm Ltd.

Date Original Film Was Released: May 2005

Date Edit Was Released: November 2010

Original Runtime: approx. 134 minutes

New Runtime: approx. 88 minutes

Amount of Time Cut/Added: approx. 50 minutes cut, 4 minutes added

Intention: I like the Star Wars prequels. I like “Revenge of the Sith”. It does, however, have a few shortcomings, the biggest of which I think is that it doesn’t make the audience sympathize with Anakin. Between Anakin and Obi-Wan, the audience is more aligned with the latter, while it should have been the other way around, at least until Anakin’s turn. One of the goals of this edit is thus to realign the audience’s sympathies. This has been done by presenting Anakin and Palpatine as the only (apparently) truthful and honest characters. I’ve also altered the scene where Anakin “turns” to make the turn less sudden. Instead of having him fully embrace the dark side in this scene, I’ve tried to reedit it so that Anakin only joins Palpatine because he’s left with no other choice. As such, there’s no longer any one point where Anakin turns to the dark side – it’s a more gradual descent into darkness beginning with the killing of Mace Windu and ending with Anakin being locked in the suit. Other changes have been made to improve pacing, while some have been made just for fun.

Cuts removed/added/extended:



- New opening crawl
- Cut Anakin’s lines about Grievous’ ship and Vulture Droids, as well as Obi-Wan’s response
- Cut Anakin’s “This is where the fun begins”
- Cut the missiles and buzz droids
- Moved “Oh, I have a bad feeling about this” so it comes in response to Anakin’s “General Grievous’ ship is dead ahead”
- Cut the lines about the ship’s shields still being up
- Cut Anakin unbuckling his seatbelts
- Cut the battle droid’s “There they are!
- Cut Anakin’s “I sense Count Dooku”
- Cut directly from “Spring the trap” to Grievous’ introduction
- Cut the elevator sequence
- Added music to the duel with Dooku
- Cut Palpatine’s “Get help” etc. and Obi-Wan’s response
- Cut Dooku’s jump from the balcony
- Cut Anakin’s “My powers have doubled…” and Dooku’s response
- Cut the balcony falling on Obi-Wan
- Cut Palpatine urging Anakin to kill Dooku
- Cut from Palpatine’s “You did well, Anakin” to the Star Destroyer attacking Grievous’ ship
- Cut Anakin’s “We’re in a bit of a situation here”
- Cut Anakin’s “Oops!”
- Trimmed the falling elevator scene
- Cut Grievous’ “Activate ray shields!”
- Cut the “We’re smarter than this” dialogue
- Cut bits of the dialogue of the Grievous confrontation
- Trimmed the fight on the bridge
- Replaced Grievous’ “You lose, General Kenobi!” with “Time to abandon ship, jedi scum!”
- Cut Grievous launching the escape pods
- Cut Anakin’s “The ability to pilot this thing is irrelevant”
- Trimmed the destruction and descent of Grievous’ ship
- Cut Obi-Wan’s “We’re still flying half a ship”
- Shortened the shuttle landing sequence
- Trimmed the conversation between Anakin and Obi-Wan
- Cut reference to Grievous being a coward
- Cut Anakin’s “Spare parts” line
- Cut bits of Anakin and Padme’s reuinion
- Replaced venetian blinds transition with a straight cut
- Shortened the landing on Utapau
- Cut Sidious telling Grievous to send the separatists to Mustafar
- Cut balcony scene and Anakin’s nightmare, going directly from Sidious’ closeup to Anakin waking up
- Trimmed the conversation between Anakin and Padme
- Trimmed the conversation between Anakin and Yoda
- Trimmed the conversation between Anakin and Obi-Wan
- Replaced the strange transition used after the scene in Palpatine’s office with a linear wipe
- Reinserted the “A Plot to Destroy the Jedi?” deleted scenes, with a few cuts and alterations
- Cut Anakin’s whining to the Jedi Council when he’s not made a master
- Trimmed Anakin and Obi-Wan’s conversation in the hallway of the temple
- The scene in the gunship ends with Mace Windu’s “So the prophecy says.”
- Trimmed the balcony scene with Anakin and Padme, and ending it after “What is it?” “Nothing…”
- Reinserted a trimmed version of the “Stirring in the Senate” deleted scene
- Shortened the opera scene, removing mention of midichlorians among other things
- Cut Yoda’s “Quickly and decisively we must act”
- Trimmed the Anakin/Obi-Wan talk before Obi-Wan leaves for Utapau
- Reinserted the final “Birth of the Rebellion” deleted scene
- Obi-Wan’s adventure on Utapau has been shortened, recut and altered quite extensively
- Cut the scene in the Jedi war room
- Tightened the scene in Palpatine’s office
- Cut Anakin’s “I wish I knew… I know there are things about the Force that they’re not telling me.”
- Shortened and reordered Palpatine’s revelation, making Anakin catch on a bit quicker and removing the “Jedi are evil” subplot and Anakin wanting to kill Palpatine
- Cut from Grievous’ death to Mace Windu’s “A Sith Lord?”
- Changed the “venetian blinds” wipe to an iris
- Cut C-3PO walking up to Padme
- Cut Palpatine’s “I take it General Grievous has been destroyed, then”
- Palpatine’s attack and killing the three Jedi has been made faster
- Trimmed Palpatine vs. Windu
- Shortened and changed the Anakin/Palpatine/Windu confrontation, removing Palpatine’s first lightning attack among other things
- Cut Palpatine’s first “Good…”
- Cut Palpatine’s “To cheat death…” etc.
- Cut Anakin’s “Thank you, my master”
- Cut Palpatine’s “… along with all the senators” and replaced Anakin’s reply with “I understand, Master”
- Cut Palpatine’s “…including your friend, Obi-Wan Kenobi”
- Cut Palpatine’s “We must move quickly…” etc.
- Reordered some reaction shots of Anakin
- The scene ends with Palpatine’s “… to save Padme”.
- Cut the scene with Padme watching the burning Jedi Temple
- Cut the scene with Bail at the Jedi Temple
- Cut the scene with Obi-Wan swimming
- Cut the scene with AT-STs searching for Wookiees
- Cut the scene with Yoda leaving Kashyyyk
- Replaced the “venetian blinds” transition from Obi-Wan’s ship to Padme’s apartment with a wipe
- Cut Anakin’s “I'm fine. I'm fine. I came to see if you and the baby are safe.”
- Cut Anakin’s “I will not betray the Republic”
- Cut Anakin’s “…and with the Senate, and with you.”
- Cut the dialogue between C-3PO and Padme
- Cut Yoda’s “Hmm. Suggest dismantling the coded signal, do you?” and Obi-Wan’s response
- Cut the scene with the separatists on Mustafar
- Cut the scene with the Tantive IV returning to Coruscant
- Cut Nute Gunray’s “Welcome, Lord Vader. We’ve been expecting you.”
- Cut Obi-Wan’s “Not even the younglings survived.”
- Cut Yoda’s “Killed not by clones…” etc.
- Replaced Yoda’s “For the clones, to discover the recalibration, a long time it will take” with “Until the time is right, disappear we will”
- Cut the dialogue about having to destroy the Sith, and any mention of Yoda going to fight the Emperor
- Cut all dialogue in Padme’s apartment before “I need your help”
- The scene ends with “Padme… I must find him”
- Cut the scene with Padme’s cruiser taking off and Obi-Wan sneaking aboard
- Cut Anakin communicating with the Emperor’s hologram
- Shortened Padme’s cruiser’s landing on Mustafar
- Cut Anakin’s “I saw your ship”
- A lot of dialogue between Anakin and Padme has been cut
- Added sound effects to Anakin choking Padme
- Cut Obi-Wan’s “You have done that yourself” and Anakin’s “You will not take her from me”
- Cut Anakin’s “I see through the lies of the Jedi” etc.
- Cut “freedom” from Anakin’s list of things he has brought to his new empire
- Cut Anakin’s “If you’re not with me”
- Cut the dialogue that follows “Then you’re my enemy”
- Anakin and Obi-Wan now ignite their sabers nearly simultaneously
- The entire Yoda/Emperor duel has been cut
- Cut all dialogue during the duel except “This is the end for you, my master”
- The duel ends a bit differently than the original
- Cut all dialogue after Anakin’s defeat except “You were my brother, Anakin. I loved you.”
- Padme doesn’t wake up on the cruiser
- The Emperor’s arrival on Mustafar has been moved to after the first Polis Massa scene, and has been cut so Anakin appears to truly be dead when the Emperor finds him
- Cut Padme losing her will to live
- Cut the birth and naming of the babies
- Cut the entire “NOOOOO!!!!” scene
- Cut the entire scene on Tantive IV, making Padme’s dying “There’s still good in him” the last words to be spoken in the movie
Added fan edit credits

Cover art:
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=4DWIHWUT
 

Dwight Fry

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Yes, another one. But judging from the workprint Kerr let me watch, I think this might be the best Episode III edit out there (Of course, I haven't seen them all). I'm particularly impressed by the way the Obi-Wan/Grievous and Obi-Wan/Anakin duels were handled.
 

herowoac

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I watched the while edit day before yesterday.
And I'm sorry, but to me it's certainly not the best Episode III edit out there.

Technically it was perfect as far as I can tell, both video and audio (although I'm certainly no expert),
but for me it didn't really matter, because:

First and foremost I felt about this edit the same way I felt about JasonNs version of EP2:
It felt rushed, and therefore shallow. Everything was happening so fast I just didn't get emotionally immersed in it.
And EP3 is certainly not suppose to be a shallow or emotionally lightweight movie
getting into it is essential for me to enjoy it.

Secondly there were things early in the movie that stuck out,
mostly droids talking and failed humor that was removed by almost every other edit I've seen,
it made the first part feel very strange. Not only did I not get into the main plot of the movie emotionally,
I was also being pulled out of it by the humor, that really didn't help the story or immersion or lighten things up
because it wasn't very well executed (and also felt rushed)

Third adding Padmes dying words back in really didn't work for me for several reasons,
(the whole scene feels very strange) but most importantly because you don't actually see her die,
so it becomes ambiguous whether or not she survived, and having this unresolved
the scenes after it all up until, and including, the ending feel very strange.

That said I did like the middle part of the movie,
and I liked the way the deleted scenes where integrated.
Anakins turning to the dark side is much smother then the original EP3,
and for instance the way you cut the beginning of the Windy vs Palpatine fight (the arrest)
is far superior to both the original and most fanedits of EP3.

Sadly, because of the beginning, emotionally you had already lost me by then,
and the ending left a very unresolved, uncomfortable feeling to the whole thing.
So all in all this edit of EP3 really didn't work for me.

The Stankpac edit is almost certainly the one I'll be bringing with me to show the family during the holidays
(Together with Attack of The Federation, The Gather Storm REDUX and Episode 2.5)
 

Sunarep

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is this edit already available?
 

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It looks like it is not available on either the front page nor .info.

Admin?
 

kerr

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It won't be up on the front page 'til monday, from what I hear. It's on .info, but just on the "Star Wars" page for now.

Oh, and thanks for the review, herowoac - though I'm sorry the edit wasn't to your liking. I'm just wondering about your criticism regarding Padme's final words, because I kept that scene precisely to show Padme actually dying, which she does at the end of the scene. Especially since I cut directly from that scene to her funeral, I just don't see how her death can be viewed as ambigious in any way.
 

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I looked on the .info Star Wars page and didn't see it...

EDIT: NVM. I just searched for "kerr" and it's there but not listed with your name.
 

Dwight Fry

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herowoac said:
First and foremost I felt about this edit the same way I felt about JasonNs version of EP2:
It felt rushed, and therefore shallow. Everything was happening so fast I just didn't get emotionally immersed in it.
And EP3 is certainly not suppose to be a shallow or emotionally lightweight movie
getting into it is essential for me to enjoy it.
It should have been a deep and emotionally involving movie... if Lucas had done things right. As it is, it tries and fails miserably because of bad writing, non-existent directing, and some of the worst acting to ever come out of someone not called Keanu. Thus, I don't miss those removed parts because they just plain didn't work. And if it's "too fast" it's for the better. Just as I have no desire to see any other Episode I after L8's Shadow of the Sith, which is frequently accused of the same thing. These films have no depth at all, so let's just concentrate in the adventure.

Stankpac's edit is indeed excellent, and in fact there are several things I prefer from his version over Kerr's, but overall I think I'm partial to Kerr's.
 

herowoac

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Just goes to show how much emotion influences my viewpoint.
I actually managed to forget the funeral scene two days after watching the movie,
because I was that far emotionally out of the movie by the time I got to it.

And I agree with DwightFry too, of course the problems of this edit is mainly due to the original movie not being that great (alltough it really was the best one of of the PT movies in my opinion).
But I didn't feel rushed by the Stankpac edit (even though it's not that different and also keeps a very fast pace),
just like I'm not rushed by my combination cut of EP2 (combining Slumberlands cut with Spences)
even though it's not very different from JasonNs cut of EP2.

It think it just comes down to subtle differences in editing,
mainly, I think, how long each individual scene feels (as opposed to how long they actually are),
you sorts of need time to emotionally get what's happening before the next thing happens.
Kubrick was a true master of that in my opinion,
I think it's wonderful for instance how after watching the first half hour of eyes wide shut,
I feel like I've watched a whole movie, because although not that much has actually happened I really emotionally got it.
Alltough I do think he over did it at times too. (some scenes in 2001 for instance) It's a delicate balance really.

Sorry if I'm being too far of topic here. I find it interesting is all,
makes me wish I knew more about editing. :)
 

Rogue-theX

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Kerr, the cover you made for this is FABULOUS!!! I really like the front!
 

Sunarep

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agreed, the cover is pretty epic,

man 8 gig without MU-premium account... that will take a while
 

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File 1 is missing from the DVD .dlc.
 

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Sorry to report the dlc is still not fixed. Part 1 is missing for the DVD as before. Also, should note that the DVD dlc also includes dlc's for the avi and for your Book III LOTR edit. :-?
 

kerr

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I just checked, and all the parts are definitely there.
 

Dwight Fry

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Just checked this, and while it's true that the .rar for the DVD also contains the .dlc for the .avi version and for LOTR Book III, no files seem to be missing from the DVD or, for that matter, from any of the above containers.
 

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I'll try again. Maybe I have to reset jdownloader somehow?
 

Omaru1982

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I haven't watched it all (theres been a lot of ep III edits recently) but I did watch some of the end, I like what you did on mustafar, visually it seems as natural as Stankpac's version, both have Anakin trying to get the drop on an unsuspecting Obi-wan and both work flawlessly.

I like that you include a little of the Vader helmet going on, that's all we need to see, a nice brief moment.
 

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Alright, I give up. Part 1 won't show up in jdownloader for me no mater what I try. kerr, would you mind just sending me a PM with the link for Part 1?
 
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