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(9000 Series) Star Wars Episode I: Cloak Of Deception

^^^Renaming the extension to .mp4 worked for me, playing it on my Roku to test it. The iTunes version has two soundtracks: an iTunes-friendly AAC track and normal AC3 track. Both are 5.1.

Phantom Menace fan edits are a dime a dozen, far and away the most commonly edited film. Given its relatively straightforward narrative, there's only so many differences that traditional 'FanFix' edits can really have. I quite honestly felt more like a curator than an editor for this one. The distinctive feature of this edit that a newcomer might find compelling is its combination of ideas from other editors. This edit is not the only one to remove the trip to Otah Gungah, for example, but it very well could be the only one that does that as well as removing the idea that Anakin is too old to be trained as a Jedi. "Unusual" edits that can be found in Cloak of Deception include a scored podrace, no trip to Otah Gungah, an improved take on battle droids, an attempt to reframe Jar Jar rather than pretend he isn't there, consistent removal of 'chosen one' angle and all contributing plot points, an improved (IMHO) L8wrtr approach to blowing up the droid control ship, and because it's fully compatible with my Episode II and III edits which will frankly be more exciting and varied.

For those who aren't first-timers, it's fun to make every prequel viewing a little different and fun by checking out a new edit. Why not bang your head against a different wall this time? :p
 
Hal9000 said:
^^^Renaming the extension to .mp4 worked for me, playing it on my Roku to test it. The iTunes version has two soundtracks: an iTunes-friendly AAC track and normal AC3 track. Both are 5.1.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the clarification.
 
I'm definitely checking this out. I've been looking for a phantom menace edit like this for a while.
 
Thanks for posting a review on the database, EyeShotFirst. I'm glad someone enjoyed it, especially with so many options out there. Mine is no radical re-edit, and one goal was to respect the broad continuity of Star Wars. However, these edits are a huge leap forward from the ones I did in 2006ish as a teenager. I hope you stick around for Eps 2 and 3, as they turn out more different from their source material than Ep1 can due to its straightforward plot.
You very briefly compared my edit with L8wrtr's. It was actually my dissatisfaction with some of the things he left in that prompted me to learn Final Cut and do my own edits. My only edits to date have been done because I wanted them to exist so I can enjoy them. Last time around that meant keeping midichlorians out of a misplaced desire to keep my edits fully compatible with the EU and everything else. I'd be lying if that wasn't still a concern, but a very low-priority one. Actually, depicting Leia being cradled by Padme on Alderaan services some of the EU penned before the prequels were made. A higher priority than that was not to change anything that was remotely possible to mess up continuity with future Episodic films. (Keeping the 'Darth' title, for example.) But as long as they don't reference the chosen one stuff, it's fine. Even if they do, it might be possible to view it as the first mention of it, or interpret it as something people in the story came up with sometime after Vader's death.
All this is to say that I was trying to do these edits with mind paid to continuity, first to the original trilogy, then to future films, then some consideration to the broad strokes of the EU.
 
I recently re-watched the prequels (several times each) trying to find a fanedit that I would feel good about showing my twin boys. I settled on Seciors edit for Episode I. IMO, deep cuts are needed to all of these films. They should each come in at about 90 minutes. The only one that may not be salvageable at all is Ep2. But even as very good fanedits, these movies will never be classics, IMO. However, reading your change list, it seems similar to Seciors edit. Have you seen that one, Hal? How would say it differs?
 
Yes, and I think Seciors' Episode I edit is fantastic! My rough draft of Episode I actually removed Sidious as well, though I backed off from this idea as I realized my goals differed from Seciors'. Among other things, we have a different goal about the "prequel" nature of the films. Seciors set out to make the prequels feel like they are the true first three chapters of the story, and so he tries to set up a revelatory moment later on about the true nature of Palpatine. I, on the other hand, decided to treat them like the prequels that they are and not alter that. So I did not do anything, for example, to hide the fact that Anakin becomes Vader and fathers Luke and Leia. Seciors presumably will do something similar to Q2 by obscuring these things in order to 'preserve' the surprises in the OT for a first time viewer who would watch them in order of 1-6. So that's a key difference between the edits, though it'll come into play more in our edits of Episode III.
Another difference between Seciors' and my goals is running time, and it sounds like you would side more with Seciors on this one. Ideally, my edits would feel like substantial Star Wars films by clocking in at close to 2 hours each. I think TM2YC had this goal in mind, and he achieves it by keeping a lot of material most others cut. (That's actually sort of like what I did with my earlier attempts at this.) At the same time I agree that deep cuts are necessary, so I tried to skirt that line. Episodes II and III clock in (including credits) at about 1 hour 48 minutes each. Episode I is a few minutes shorter, and I kept certain scenes for the purpose of avoiding telegraphing to the audience that this has been cut way down. I want it to serve as a plausible replacement for the original versions, rather than a sparknotes summary reel.
Also, Seciors is the one that proved one can remove the trip to Otah Gungah successfully and effectively. I believe my edits, or at least Episode I, are much better end products thanks to Seciors brilliant precedent. He was also a big help personally by working with me on technical issues. Hence, he receives the first listing under "special thanks" in my end credits. :)
 
I am mostly curious about your E3 edit. I am looking for one that eliminates all on-screen presence of General Grevious.
Have I found the edit that I am looking for? To me he is just a McGuffin and functions purely to lure Obi Wan away so that Anakin can be more vulnerable to Palpatines' plans.
 
Grievous is a misfit character, I agree. I think he may have functioned more effectively in the role you identified for him if Dooku lived long enough for Anakin to kill instead of Mace Windu.
That being said, my Ep3 edit doesn't eliminate the General as you hope. I'm not sure how one would go about removing him, anyway, unless you're doing a one-part prequel movie.
I think Labyrinth Of Evil has some nice offerings apart from this, so hopefully you'll check it out.

Unrelated ANNOUNCEMENT: All three versions of Cloak Of Deception are available on the info. Two are listed under the 'digital' option, and one under DVD5.
 
Grievous really is a pointless character, and a prime example of Lucas prioritising the toy line over the best interests of the movie. Dooku was a much more interesting character and could have easily been the one to take the Separatists to Utapau. But I guess he has less of an action figure potential (he only has 2 arms!).

But......if you remove Grievous from the movie, how do you remove Kenobi from the Anakin/Palpatine dynamic? He needs to be removed at a key moment of the story, thereby allowing Palpatine to seduce Anakin with the darkside. Without Grievous, how would you achieve this? I can't think of a good solution.
 
kane1138 said:
Grievous really is a pointless character
Click to expand...

says this guy:

avatar16930_1.gif



;)
 
EDIT: Please disregard; problem solved.
 
Could EpII be on it's way? I'm hoping to watch all 3 edits back-to-back :)
 
I'm working on encoding the DVD version now. It's taking longer because the day-for-night scene had heavy compression artifacts and looked unacceptable with anything but the longest encode setting. With me graphics card, it'll be just a bit for it to finish. And OnlyOneKenobi is working on the cover art. But II will be up this month, with III following in March.
And while I have all the footage and stuff on my hard drive, I'm considering rendering a slightly alternate version to keep hidden. This contingency plan version might keep the chosen one plot element, just in case future films make use of it. Hopefully not.
 
I didn't even notice the Gungan city was cut when watching (seriously, I was about 20 minutes in when I loaded up the change-list and was totally surprised at the fluidity). Podrace scene is a TON better. No prophecy is excellent.
I wonder if you couldn't have edited the audio on Jar Jar to make his voice less annoying. I know its a lot of work and its been done (to varying degrees of success), and your edits made his character actually bearable, so this is only a minor speculation.
As far as this being an edit, excellent work.

As far as this being a movie... I dunno, I just think Episode 1 has too many inherent flaws to ever be re-edited into a GOOD film. But I suppose trimming the fat, so to speak, has definitely improved the movie, so your efforts should still be commended.

Anyway, looking forward to Episodes 2 and 3. I have similar feelings about the inherent failures of those films, but if they are improved as much as Episode 1 was, it'll still be worth the watch!
 
zebramatt said:
Well that was rather good - I'll post up a proper review soon!
Click to expand...

:D Thanks for the positive review. It might be the most resounding formal review an edit of mine has gotten!

As a follow-up to my previous post, I am rendering a slightly alternate version of Episodes I and III that contain brief references to the 'virgin birth' and chosen one prophecy plot points. I'll keep them on ice until such time that future Star Wars films expand on or reference these ideas. Episode I contains Schmi's account of Anakin's conception, without the line "I can't explain what happened." It also reinstates a version of the first Jedi Council scene very similar to The Phantom Edit. No other changes. Episode III reinstates the prophecy stuff during the traffic conversation scene, as well as a ghostly Qui-Gon's voiceover of, "Finding him was the will of the Force. I have no doubt of that" as Yoda meditates.
This is a lot easier to do now while I have all the footage and clips on my drive, rather than slapping my forehead in the theater later on.

EDIT: The DVD5 version of Episode II is rendered and ready to go; I'm just waiting for OnlyOneKenobi's cover art to bundle with it. He hasn't been on the forums in over a week, so I hope everything's okay with him. It'll be worth the wait for his artwork.
 
Fantastic edit Hal. An absolute pleasure to watch and your technical editing skills are fantastic. I've posted a review for you.

On the subject of the prophecy, and adding some Qui-Gon dialogue to ROTS, have you watched the Clone Wars Lost Missions Yoda arc? It was released on netflix yesterday and, although I've not yet watched it myself, I believe it explores the origins of the force and includes some dialogue from Liam Neeson, which may be useable for your edits.
 
Thanks for the feedback, smudger9; glad you liked it! Your review mentioned a few audio dropoffs. Do you have any particular ones in mind you can let me know about? Do you mean to say the audio fizzles out at times, or are you talking about transitions in the audio when I made a cut?
And thanks for the tip off about the Clone Wars material. I've never been interested in the show myself, but it looks like Liam Neeson returned to do a few episodes where he talks to Yoda. There very may well be something in there to use. (Perhaps just in the "contingency version" if all he talks about is prophecy.) We'll see. Perhaps if there's some usable non-prophetic dialogue, I could upload a separate ac3 of an alternate audio track for Episode III for any interested.
 
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