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Star Wars Episode I: Shadow of the Sith by L8wrtr

Just finished watching this edit. Absolutely, far and away the best version of The Phantom Menace you can possibly watch. It's exciting, it all adds up, and just about everything you could dislike about the movie has been fixed or removed.

The only thing I don't like is the virgin birth stuff, but i can just cut that scene out myself if it ends up bothering me that much.

Technical 4/5 (couple of weird audio fades and level issues, but nothing that will mess it up for you. You probably won't even notice them.)

Edit 5/5 (As i said, the best. I'm not even going to bother with an Episode 1 edit now, all of the things I wanted to do and more that I would never of even thought of are included here.)

Improvement over the original 5/5 (When I have kids, I will show them this version instead of Phantom Menace, and hide the real thing until they are old enough to not be emotionally crushed by reality.)

END SCORE: 5/5. 6/5 even.

This is a must have fanedit.
 
(I posted this on fanedit.org but i figured id post it on this thread as well)
THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS

I was pleasantly surprised with this edit. The only other edit of The Phantom Menace that I had seen before watching Shadow of the Sith was The Phantom Edit. Honestly, I had expected more from The Phantom Edit. I felt that it didn't go far enough with its edits. After watching The Phantom Menace Revew - by RedletterMedia, I was even more turned off to The Phantom Menace. But L8wrtr's edit turns this movie into something fast-paced and enjoyable.

DVD Presentation:
Nice Motion Menu. 20th Century Fox logo into the L8wrtr logo nice touch.

Movie itself:

Podrace: Thank you for making it bearable. Removing the ESPN style announcers was much needed! Removing Anakin being delayed at the starting line was good. It makes the pacing better the way you have him just stall for a second and then take off again. Also making it 3 laps makes it more entertaining and less of a chore to watch.

Removing of the midichlorians - how could anyone have a problem with this change!

Its great that Jar Jar is no longer a goofy outcast, and regarding the Gungans theres no spitting and quivering of the lips.

The ending was awesome. Im glad i didn't read the cutlist ahead of time.. If I had known ahead of time the change to the ending it may not have had the same effect. But ending on the cliffhanger and with suspense was cool and works much better than the multipronged ending of the original movie from a celebration to a funeral etc.

Lastly, a real stroke of brilliance was adding that scene with the probe droid. Its crazy, I never realized it before, but TPM never really explains why Qui Gon is in such a rush to get back to the ship in the outer rim of Tatooine. They just cut to Qui Gon and Anakin running. So the addition of the probe droid scene made sense.

Well this is my definitive version of The Phantom Menace. I don't know if I'll be watching any other people's fanedits (there's only so much TPM i can watch!)

I look forward to future fanedits from L8wrtr!

9/10
 
Despite TPM being loathed by many, some even calling it the worst of the Prequels, I have always enjoyed it far more than Attack and Revenge. To me, Jake Loyd-Anakin is far more bearable than Hayden Christensen-Anakin.

I have tried avoiding PT edits, but the great reviews for L8wrtr's Shadow of the Sith drew me in. And I'm glad they did!

This is now my definitive Episode I. The only issue I take with it is that the color corrected deleted scenes looked horribly out of place with Adywan's color correction. I would love it if L8wrtr would make a version 2 to bring the deleted scenes more in line with the rest of the movie, but that's not stopping me from giving this edit a 10/10! Can't wait until the Episode II edit, perhaps L8wrtr will finally make that piece of crap watchable.
 
Broadcasting from a hidden location deep in majestic Canada, it is time for THE BIONIC MOVIE REVIEW SHOW!!!

With your hosts.....
BIONIC BOB-- a forty something Postie who actually sat in theatres in 1977 and saw the first and best Star Wars movie!

and his partner, and super smart daughter....
BIONIC EM -- a ten year old master at Lego Star Wars Saga DS!!!

Lets start talking about AUDIO QUALITY....

BB says "Other than a few soft background music moments, it sounded sharp, crisp and clear. I detected no significant drop outs or pops or anything negative. John Williams score still rocks the house!"

Bionic Em says, "uuuhhhhmmmmm.... ( Bionic Em thinks carefully) I didn't notice anything bad. It was very dramatic sounding, but in a good way!":laser:

SCORE: BB 9/10 BE 9.5/10

Moving onto the next round, VIDEO QUALITY....

Bionic Bob says, " Excellent. The picture quality was beautiful. Noticed no difference from original DVD version"

Bionic Em says, "Why did the colour change when the robot-thingie attacked the Jedi-guy? The rest looked great. Especially Darth Maul! I love Darth Maul!!!!":love:

SCORE: BB 10/10 BE 9.5/10

Now moving onto the nitty gritty, VISUAL EDIT...

Bionic Bob says, " The vast majority of edits are absolutely seemless. The only scene to me where it is clear that something was cut was when Qui-gon and company were departing from parts store (ok, I am not a big TPM fan, can't remember character names.... Star Trek on the other hand....), the cuts are very fast but don't quite flow smoothly. However, with that said, I think the biggest compliment you can give a Fan Edit is when you watch it and don't realize anything is missing. L8wrtr cut I think over 30 minutes of footage, and for the life of me, I didn't miss a thing. BRAVO!!!"

Bionic Em says, "I miss the guys who shoot at the podracers. But everything else is just like the video game, so it was awesome!":yo:

SCORE BB 9/10 BE 9/10

And now the final round of discussion, OVERALL ENTERTAINMENT...

Bionic Bob says, "I have only watched a few TPM edits (The Phantom Edit, ADM's Vergence) and this is by and far away the most aggressively edited version I have seen. And it works on all levels. JAR JAR is no longer annoying but a sympathetic character, which is an incredible accomplishment. The new scroll is wonderful, I love that it retained the Phantom Menence reference. The mystical conception of Anakin works completely for me. I completely agree with all the removed scenes. And the final restructure act works extremely well. All in all, a very good viewing experience. I may have found my definitive version of TPM. GREAT WORK! You should be very proud of your edit!!!"

Bionic Em says, "I think it was totally awesomeness because it was exciting and scary and all those awesome things. My favorite part was the big fight with Darth Maul because Darth Maul is awesome (daughter likes the word "awesome"). I also like the Jedi guy with the big head, he looks like a human egg! Really, it was an extraordinary movie, I give it THUMBS UP!":thumb:

SCORE BB 9/10 BE 10/10:bounce:

FINAL SCORE TOTAL: 9/10

So there you have it, the views of a jaded Trekkie and a very happy 10 year old. I think it is safe to say this version of THE PHANTOM MENACE rocks! Thank you L8WRTR for a very enjoyable afternoon of movie fun!

:clap2::clap2::clap2::clap2::clap2:
 
A Brief Review of bionicbob's Review of L8wrtr's Fanedit of The Phantom Menace by TV's Frink:

A thoroughly entertaining and informative review, losing one point for use of non-purist smileys.
9/10
 
We had alot of fun doing it. Lots snickers and giggles.:icon_lol:
It is amazing watching a movie with a 10 year old, they still see the magic and wonder and fun.
It can give you an entirely new perspective on a movie you have seen many times and have become jaded with.
We hope to do another review together, as soon as I find something age appropriate.:popcorn:
 
I just wanted to thank everyone who has taken the time to watch Shadow of the Sith and take the time to comment on it. Few things in life can beat reading comments like "This is now my go-to edit", particularly for a franchise that is so very dear to me, and for a movie that was so universally disappointing. I couldn't be more pleased that so many have enjoyed the result.

With Son of Jor-El slowly winding down I am now beginning to ponder Episode II which I consider to be the most difficult of all 6 movies. I have to question the sanity of even undertaking the project :frusty:

Stay thirsty my friends.
 
This is a great edit. I especially love when editors do a full length commentary and explain all of their various cuts/changes. I'll watch the whole movie a second time just to hear the commentary.
 
I apologize ahead of time for the overly long and rambling nature of this post (I guess George Lucas and I have something in common afterall).

I have to admit something up front: I loved The Phantom Menace when I saw it at the cinema. In fact, I saw it five times. I couldn't understand why people didn't like it. I even went so far as to buy the $100 Japanese LaserDisc. I was so excited. Then I watched it again and something changed. This wasn't the movie that my Star Wars fevered brain had loved. What was this? I heard about The Phantom Edit and I immediately sought it out. I eventually had to buy a copy off of eBay on VideoDisc and, like The Phantom Menace before it, I thought it was the greatest thing since sliced bread. This version was perfect. The VideoDisc eventually stopped working and I was stuck once again watching the official version on DVD. A few years ago, I had a hankering to watch it again and did a search on the film. That search led me to FanEdit.Org and a free DVD version of The Phantom Edit. I was ecstatic. Then I watched it again and it didn't quite live up to my memories of it. What was with this movie? Every time I fell in love with a version of it, I would eventually fall out of love with it. The problem was that, in the subsequent years, I had become more and more annoyed with Menace. The Phantom Edit had seemed great at the time because I had never seen anything like it. Now, the flaws of Menace that were still present stuck out like a sore thumb. Since then, I've tried, in vain, to find a fanedit of this film that removed all of the cringe-worthy moments that I felt had ruined the film for me. Apparently, The Phantom Edit is sacred because so many people still consider it a masterpiece and when I expressed disappointment in it, I was told to edit my own version if I thought I could do better (I can't; I'm not a good editor). I eventually gave up, became busy and I haven't really been back to the site for a long time.

My wife and I decided to re-watch the original Star Wars trilogy but she had no interest in re-visiting the prequels. I was (I always feel compelled to complete a series) but all I had to choose from were the official DVDs and the Phantom Editor's versions (and I had nothing for Revenge of the Sith). This led me back to FanEdit.Org, in search of the elusive "perfect" Phantom Menace edit. The first one I tried out was JasonN's Attack of the Federation. It's a great edit and his editing of the podrace is especially inspired. But, out of no fault on JasonN's part, this edit still wasn't quite what I was looking for; not aggresive enough. That's when I stumbled across Shadow of the Sith. I was intrigued by the running time (in my opinion, when it comes to the prequels, shorter is better) and the fate of Darth Maul. I'm an unabashed Darth Maul fan. I feel like he should've survived Episode I and remained the Sith apprentice throughout the prequel trilogy. I love Christopher Lee and all but Count Dooku is no Darth Maul. But, at the very least, if you're going to kill off my favorite new character, don't have him die like a little bitch. No other fanedit that I've seen (granted, I haven't seen them all) has even addressed this. He still just stands there like a chump and literally lets Obi-Wan slice him in half. With that changed, I knew that I had to see this edit.

Despite the fact that I had just watched Attack of the Federation on Tuesday, I decided to once again watch a version of The Phantom Menace on Thursday afternoon (I'm masochistic that way). The opening crawl is completely new (a fairly common trait for these edits) and is fabulous, except for the final line. I felt it was clumsy and unnecessary. The first time that I knew that this edit was headed in the right direction was when Qui-Gon was cutting through the blast doors. In the original (and every other edit that I've seen) there is the annoying line where the Neimoidian says "This is impossible!" I always hated that line and I thought I was the only one but I guess not. That pretty much sums up my feelings of this edit. For once, it finally felt like someone had the same problems with the film that I had. I'm not talking about the overall obvious things, like Jar-Jar Binks and Anakin's whining but the little details that every other faneditor seems to overlook. I continually kept saying out loud "He cut that too! I love this edit!" "What do you think you are, some kind of Jedi?" Hahaha, Lucas, that's so funny and it sucks. Gone! Jar-Jar's antics in Watto's shop as Qui-Gon says that they're leaving ... gone! Padme saying "Well, I don't approve" after Qui-Gon tells her "The Queen does not need to know." Gone! Sebulba's stupid bit at the end of the race where he slams his fist and says something that sounds like "Poojoo!" ... gone! Anakin's painful "I don't know. Yes. I guess." when his mother asks him if he believes he will ever see her again ... you guessed it ... gone! The list goes on and on and involves removing several Jar-Jar and Anakin moments / lines that were left in every other edit I saw (such as Anakin stating that he's cold to the Jedi Council ... shut up, we get it). As has been stated before, though, the true brilliance of this edit takes place in the final act. The four-way battle has been completely and uniquely edited. The Gungans have almost no place in the battle and are quickly defeated like the idiots that they are. Padme and her crew are captured and never escape (this removes the painful "This one is decoy" scene). Even the beloved lightsaber battle gets a few trims here and there. And, most importanly, Anakin saves the day ... and not by accident. Plus, c'mon, Darth Maul doesn't die like a chump. Oh, and no stupid parade scene either (seriously, what is that glowing ball!?). The new ending may be too abrupt for some but I dug it. I tried it with both musical choices and I feel that the original Star Wars theme works better. I understand that it doesn't fit the mood but it feels wrong to end a Star Wars movie without it.

Unfortunately, as is usually the case, the good always comes with, in this case, just a teeny-tiny bit of the bad. While this is, without a doubt, the best version of The Phantom Menace currently available, I still found myself wishing that something would be missing only to find it still there. One of my least favorite parts of this film is the "Are you an angel?" dialogue exchange. I understand that removing this completely would ruin Anakin and Padme's first meeting but, surely, something can be done to shorten it. At the very least, the line of "They come from the moons of (insert place that I can never understand here) ... I think." needs to be cut. It's painful. I also hate the line "I'm a person and my name is Anakin!" but that is his introduction of himself to her so I'm not sure what can be done there. For the most part, I love what L8WRTR has done with the podrace in this edit. Two things: 1.) Leave in Sebulba sabotaging Anakin's podracer but can we cut their exchange after? Anakin's "Don't count on it, slime ball!" isn't annoying in, and of, itself but Jake Lloyd's delivery of the line is terrible. 2.) I could do without the Jawa cameo as the podracers fly by them. Boss Nass still has a few annoying tics during the scene where the humans go to them for help. Also, why do they still make Jar-Jar a general? He doesn't do anything during the final battle in this cut. And, lastly, Jar-Jar still has the "They all brokey!" line during the end battle. I bring these three things up because all three were missing from Attack of the Federation so I know they can be edited out. Also, the Virgin Birth is still annoying and I wish it were gone but I won't begrudge L8WRTR his overall vision for the trilogy. The midichlorians are gone and I'm fine with that.

All in all, this is about 98% of the movie that I want it to be. If George Lucas had released a 96 minute Star Wars movie to theaters in 1999, fans would've ripped him apart (more than they already do) but that's only because they would have no idea what was contained in the missing 40 minutes. What L8WRTR has done here is nothing short of brilliant. Not only had he made a version of Episode I that I can sit through, he's made one that I actually thoroughly enjoy. Unlike the original version or The Phantom Edit, this cut is here to stay.

Side note: the commentary is a great idea. L8WRTR is passionate, knowledgable and informatative. I wish more fanedits would do this. My only complaint is I can barely hear him. I just downloaded this on Wednesday so it should have the corrected version but I still found it hard to make out what he was saying several times (and, even when I could make it out, the movie audio was still too high).
 
If you are new to Star Wars fanedits this is where you need to start. This is the only Ep I edit I have watched all the way through, and I feel no need to continue my search. L8 cuts out the silliness and some bloated scenes but leaves the story intact. From the clips I’ve seen of other edits, it seems the editor’s primary concern was to cut out as much as possible. But, this to me just made the movie feel rushed and not enjoyable to watch. Having watched SotS and seen L8’s work on episodes 2 and 3, I can safely say that his primary concern is story. For example, many are unhappy that he left in the virgin birth and prophecy story line. But, I admire that he left it in, even though it could have easily been cut out, because it was a part of the story that GL gave us. Although it was not really developed, the theme of the virgin birth and prophecy flows through the other two episodes, helping tie the PT together. I say bravo and I am really looking forward to seeing your entire trilogy.
As for video and sound I cannot really comment. I have a laptop and a tiny 10 year old tube TV. All I can say is that SotS sounds and looks as good as any other movie I watch.
I have heard a rumor that L8 may revisit this project after he finishes episode 3 so I’m willing to bet many of the issues people have already brought up will disappear. Here is my primary suggestion. Someone above mentioned that the ending felt strange with the main theme cutting in on such an ominous scene. But, I also feel it is strange to have a Star Wars movie end with anything other than the main theme. First, I have to say I really like the movie ending at the funeral. It sets the tone for the next 2 movies. But, I think what would be best is to have a musical climax as the camera is panning over to Palpatine. Every SW movie has the music ending on a high note before it goes to the main theme. What makes the SotS ending awkward is that the final scene is basically silent so the main theme sounds abrupt. If you find a climactic portion of Duel of the Fates to play while the camera is panning over to Palpatine, I believe this will solve the issue. I hope I described that clearly enough
icon_smile.gif

I give this edit 9/10. I only knock a point off for some of the minor issues that I’m sure will be corrected when L8 revisits SotS. But, I feel certain that when L8 finishes his trilogy, once more there will be peace in my Star Wars galaxy. In my mind no other edits will be necessary. Thanks for all your hard work.
 
Upcoming Ep I on Blu feature list:
Episode I
• Archive Fly-Through
• Naboo
•Interviews
Naboo Overview / Liam Neeson Interview
•Deleted/Extended Scenes
Trash-Talking Droids / The Battle Is Over / Anakin’s Return
•The Collection
360°Turnaronds / Video Commentaries
•Concept Art Gallery
• Tatooine
•Interview
Tatooine Overview / Rick McCallum Interview(Podracers) / Rick McCallum Interview(Filming in Tunisia)
•Deleted/Extended Scenes:
Battle on the Boarding Ramp / Extended Podrace Wager
•The Collection
360°Turnaronds / Video Commentaries
•Concept Art Gallery:
• Coruscant:
•Interviews:
Coruscant Overview / George Lucas on Preparing to Write Episode I – 1994
•Deleted/Extended Scene:
Bail Organa of Alderaan
•The Collection:
360°Turnaronds / Video Commentaries
•Concept Art Gallery:
Click to expand...

I guess no HD version of SotS then? :(
 
*sigh* Most of the original deleted scenes sucked and are of no loss, but man this sucks.

So, 3 options
1) Used the deleted scenes from the DVD release and accept the lower visual quality for two scenes
2) re-edit without them. I can almost live without the probe droid scene, but having to use the Jar Jar/Sebulba method of getting Anakin into the party.. *shiver*
3) Live with SD version :(
Perhaps I'll do a poll.
 
Or... the deleted scenes that are not on the blu ray bonus are re integrated by LFL on the movies...
Would that be possible?

I find hard to believe that some deleted scenes from the DVD are not on the blu ray, somewhere.
 
L8wrtr said:
1) Used the deleted scenes from the DVD release and accept the lower visual quality for two scenes
Click to expand...
This would be my vote.

Perhaps you could discuss with Harmy how he used lower quality sources for his Despecialized OT AVCHDs. I'd be happy to either introduce you to him or act as a go-between as necessary. I think the deleted scenes are too important for your edit to just leave them out.
 
while it doesn't specifically state it, he doesn't differentiate the old ones either, just that the deleted scenes include the old ones as well as some new ones. I'm guardedly hopeful that all deleted material will be HD now.

But redoing 1, 2 and 3 in HD may be my 2012 project.
 
I'm hopeful about the HD because, let's face it, what would be the point of putting them on there in SD? Nothing else has been repeated from the DVDs as far as I know...
 
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