Thanks for sending me a copy
@subjectzero
While your prequel edit was a great little 3-in-1 that tackled the baseline of that trilogy, this was where the meat of your overall saga starts to tenderise...and boy was it worth the heartache and hard work. This was such a great film to watch from start to finish.
I was bowled over by how darn COMPLETE it was, you left breathing space for all of the pay offs, the themes all make sense, Luke's growth over a span of hours feels just as rewarding as spending three films with him going through this, his Jedi training and his youthful naivety is far more logically structured when they're paced back to back rather than months and months later like in the gap between A New Hope and Empire.
It also makes perfect sense for the Death Star to be in a continuous state of construction and not resemble it's trademark 'whole' self, it lends itself well to scenes from A New Hope where they're discussing the Death Star's vulnerabilities.
Han and Leia's blossoming love story is a real highlight, no longer feeling like we missed any information at the beginning of Empire, the romance is founded in the first act, goes through some teething in the second, and blossoms in the third.
I kicked myself recognising beats from Empire, and then seeing so many swerves with the narrative. It was just an epic sort of editing, really taking a creative approach, Han escaping his carbonite fate entirely has rarely been a concept utilised by other editors, with yours being amongst the first, and perhaps even the best at it so far unless I'm missing any.
The bridging of Luke heading to Dagobah and the battle over Hoth was smartly crafted, I like the idea of Luke involved in an X-Wing dogfight that doesn't require the Death Star trench, there's so little of them besides A New Hope.
(I initially deleted this bit but since Subjectzero caught it before my edit, I'll put it back in)
Ending is really good, and definitely functions...but the Yoda voiceover is lost a bit in the echo.
I found no hard cuts, no quick cuts, no extra frames, nothing, the editing was of a very consistent and professional standard.
I hope this review of your current version is helpful, and I would stress to the academy and any other viewers that this is highly recommended in it's present version and a rich and rewarding remix of a very familiar and cherished story. Subject has worked tirelessly on this edit and his progress has been one of my real privileges to experience. Without a doubt he's creating a very different kind of movie and has taken tremendous chances.