Star Wars Episode III - Dark Force Rising

[Ripplin]

Watched, reviewed and rated this one today. My preferred version of Ep. III so far, I'd say. Highly recommended! 8)

 

[TMBTM]

I still have to watch the third........act! (private joke for the ones who know),
but, damn I'm glad I finaly pushed myself to watch an episode 3 edit AGAIN (a thing I did not think I would do that soon).
The pace of the first half is amazing, and it not only looks like an okay SW movie, but, wait for it... like a good movie.
For now all the cuts are the smartest I've seen in a EP3 edits. Can't wait to check the whole thing to give a entire review,
but this is already for me a must see for the SW fans.
The fanedit of the month will be a hell to choose...

 

[TV's Frink]

I still have to watch the third........act!

:lol:

 

[TMBTM]

This fanedit is entering the Greatest SW fanedit page today (I'll make update and news on the new front page this week end or maybe someone will make one before me).

My review (as posted on the main site):

Damn, Kerr really knows what storytelling means…
This is a SW prequel and this is almost a good movie too, incredible!
The pace is just perfect. Maybe some scenes felt a bit short to me, and 86 minutes
is not exactely “Star Wars canon”, but well, in this case less is more and it shows!
Kerr managed to cut every redundancy possible and so certain scenes that were boring in the original
are now interesting because the audience learn something new.
All the cringe inducing lines and scenes have vanished. Some lines reorganized to make the characters
sound like they are actualy talking to each others and not reading George’s corny dialogue.
Oh, and the useless “catch me if you can” boring first 30 minutes of the original movie are now a real ride!
There already were some good edits of this movie, but this cut is the best SW prequel I’ve seen to date.
Only the very short lenght, that do not feel like a SW movie, and some audio cuts
(not bad, but just a bit obvious at times) prevent me to rate it the maximum. But it is a very…VERY solid 9/10.
A must see IMO.

 

[Ripplin]

I s'pose I could put my review here too...

Just finished and I would say that for now, this is my preferred version of Ep. III. It really is streamlined, cutting out so much unnecessariness, and is easy to understand. The audio and video quality is top notch as well. There are some further audio cuts I would make (some fixable, some only partially so but preferrable to the audio as-is) and remove a few lines and such here and there (some one-liners, and…he left in the Tarzan yell?!), but overall, the choices made were very good. As mentioned above, the transformation scene is interesting, too. Overall, I loved how quickly things got going and remained that way, but the scenes that needed length (some solemn, like Anakin and Padme pondering on their balconies) remained as well and helped the story elements.
Overall, I’m giving this a 9/10. Great effort!

 

[kerr]

Thanks for the nice reviews and rating, guys!

 

[Sunarep]

Congrats kerr, the edit is already great!
I still have to.see the finalized version but i'm very much looking forward to this

 

[Sunarep]

Kerr at it again!
And as usual this edit doesn’t disappoint.
With Star Wars edits I’m a bit oversaturated right now so I didn’t see myself watching another take on Episode 3 but Kerr’s cuts had me intrigued and after watching the workprint I knew this edit was gonna be a great ride.
And ride is the correct word since I’ve never seen a Star Wars movie that fast. But despite all the things that have been cut this edit felt richer than the original. This is partially due to the re-inserted scenes of the rebellion’s birth but mostly due to the change of dialog. Kerr manages with some re-arrangements and omissions to give the jedi more purpose and tactic.
It still doesn’t explain why they send away their best warrior when they know the sith lord is in coruscant, but by reinserting the mace/obi/yoda meeting right before anakin is “accepted” to the jedi council it seemed like they were really thinking how to effectively play palpatine.
Also when Obi Wan approaches anakin after that scene and assigns him to spy it really seems like the doings of yoda and mace to discover palpatine’s motivations.
Anakin profits by having less annoying lines and acting more mature (no freak out infront of the council, he just nods and later on rants when he is with obi wan). Babies on the lake of naboo scene is gone for good.
A special highlight to me is the re-arrangement of the fight between obi wan and grievous, when I saw it the first time i had to rewind a few times because the way the fight flows now is 100times better than the original, this scene alone warrants to download this edit.
At the end it was a little too quick for my taste and there were some transitions i was not that much of a fan but at least kerr got rid of lucas’s excessive transition effects thourought revenge of the sith.
All in all, while not perfect, this is the best Revenge of the Sith edits I have yet seen
8/10

 

[spence]

This is definitely my favorite version of Episode III. I particularly like how you've rearranged scenes not just to get rid of the crappy stuff, but to actually vastly improve on the emotional aspects of the film. I really couldn't put my finger on exactly what you did to make this happen, but for the first time ever I actually felt sympathy of Anakin. His story with Padme is handled very well. The edits you made toward the end of the film (pretty much Order 66 onward) are actually rather radical for an edit, really changing perspective on a lot of scenes. A really, really well done fanedit. One of my favorites ever.

By the way, now I've got your Episode III as my go to version, and L8's Episode I, one of you guys needs to make a kickass Episode II!

 

[L8wrtr]

By the way, now I've got your Episode III as my go to version, and L8's Episode I, one of you guys needs to make a kickass Episode II!

Working on it . I'm looking forward to/nervous about watching this one. I have a workprint for E3 that I made before I came to FE. It's lacking in technical quality (wrong frame rate, 2.0 audio) but has a structure that really works on the issues Spense talks about, but from all the reviews Kerr may have made my edit irrelevant!

In all seriousness though, looking forward to seeing this.

 

[TV's Frink]

I should probably do the cutlist at some point....

 

[spence]

Working on it . I'm looking forward to/nervous about watching this one. I have a workprint for E3 that I made before I came to FE. It's lacking in technical quality (wrong frame rate, 2.0 audio) but has a structure that really works on the issues Spense talks about, but from all the reviews Kerr may have made my edit irrelevant!

In all seriousness though, looking forward to seeing this.

You should absolutely check it out. I think what I liked most is that is was very different. When I did my prequels, I never tried to change the story/perception very much, just tell it better. That's what I think most people do with SW.

Some of the subtle changes Kerr makes actually make scenes and character motivations play out completely differently. Obi-Wan's reason for going to Mustafar is completely different, Padme's feelings toward Obi-Wan and Anakin toward the end also feel completely different, just from some little cuts. Some of this I like better, some of it I don't, but as a self contained package everything works. It really is a fantastic edit. I've watched it twice already.

 

[buddythegoon]

I'm pasting this review from the fe.org because I know more people who care read the forums and I really want to express my enthusiasm over this edit. I know there have been some that didn't like it. As for me, it's my favorite so far.

I feel like a moron. I was thinking when I looked this edit up that I’ll just download the compressed version, since it will take so much longer to download the DVD version, plus if I don’t like it, then I’m not saddled with 4 gb of data for it.
Well, that was stupid.
This is freaking awesome. It epitomizes the philosophy that less is indeed more. As many of Anakin’s (and others) horrid lines are removed as possible. Needless exposition and/or restating of plot points by characters are also removed. We see actions and their consequences, consequences, mind you, that seem more logical than they did in the original cut.
No longer is Anakin whining like a baby over everything that happens to him. He is now brooding and confused (for all his lack of acting skill, the one good thing Hayden Christensen can do is look confused). He keeps most of his concerns to himself, letting them simmer in his mind while Palpatine continues to manipulate him. Instead of corny, lovey dovey talk, we see Anakin distancing himself from his wife and she from him as the secrets they keep from one another multiply. All the while, even though it’s a short while, the viewer actually gets to see why Anakin, with all these great things going for him – Jedi hero, loving wife, baby on the way – eventually decides that he can only trust Palpatine. The trust theme becomes so much bigger, even the the time for build-up is smaller. This is truly masterful work.
I also have to put in a special comment about lightsaber battles. Red Letter Media brought up an overarching issue with the Prequels that I agree with wholeheartedly, i.e. the lightsaber battles essentially lack heart. They look and feel over-choreographed, where as Luke’s fights with Vader in the OT look more raw and emotional. I don’t know if Kerr felt the same way, but his edits to the two major lightsaber battles bring back the emotional aspect as best as can be for the prequels. Windu and Palpatine now have a lightsaber battle, not a wire fight/modern dance/gymnastics exhibition. It’s now quicker and more wicked. The other jedi masters, with the exception of smiley braintail guy (there’s naught one can really do about that guy – I’m really OK with just assuming he sucks at lightsaber battling), also appear more surprised by the attack, which has become an essential element in most Episode III edits.
Similarly, Obi Wan’s fight with Anakin is tighter and angrier. These guys are now in a fight, not a video game. They’re not concerned with how good their force push abilities are, just blocking the next strike. There are a few force jumps in there at appropriate points, but now it’s almost as if the first guy who tries to get fancy in the fight gets 3/4 of his limbs cut off. The edit to Obi Wan’s action after attaining the “high ground” (which thankfully he no longer deems it necessary to explain) is also interesting and effective. By removing dialogue, Kerr has still made it look like Obi Wan knows, or as least suspects, Anakin’s next move. The transition between Obi Wan’s (feigned?) move to walk away and his fast move to chop Anakin to pieces is a little rough, but totally forgivable. I also wish that Kerr would have fit Anakin screaming “I hate you!” in there somewhere, but again, that’s totally cool.
As a final nicety, Kerr has said, “NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!” to leaving in any part of James Earl Jones’s “NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!” We get to see Vader’s birth, and the first trademark breath. That’s it. Simple. Effective. Beautiful. Those three words really sum up the whole of the edit.
I’m giving this a 9.5 out of 10, which rounds up to 10 anyway.

 

[Ripplin]

I know there have been some that didn't like it.

I think it's the issue of length for some people. Why, I don't know. If it makes the movie better, who cares if it's shorter, even by quite a bit? (did they miss all the ships landing and taking off?) People said the same thing with Jorge's edit of "Hulk" because it was only an hour long. That was the point; it was like a TV pilot. But still, people complained. :???:

 

[TMBTM]

In my review I talked about the lenght of this edit, but it was not a real complain. It's just that it is too short to be considered as a real Star Wars movie lenght-wise, but it IS the best prequel fanedit around IMO.

 

[buddythegoon]

I mentioned the length briefly, but I really wasn't counting the minutes or watching VLC's time bar while watching the edit. One of the things Kerr has pointed up in this and previous edits is that you don't need an epic span of time to make a movie feel epic. I'm itching to see his take on Kingdom of Heaven.

 

[kerr]

Thanks for the great reviews, everyone! I'm glad you enjoyed the edit.

The edit to Obi Wan's action after attaining the "high ground" (which thankfully he no longer deems it necessary to explain) is also interesting and effective. By removing dialogue, Kerr has still made it look like Obi Wan knows, or as least suspects, Anakin's next move.

I'm glad you picked up on this one, since it's a cut that I personally really like, but that I think some people have a problem with. My intention with it was that Obi-Wan is willing to give Anakin one last chance to end the fight before one of them gets killed, but at the same time he knows that Anakin will most likely try to stab him in the back, and is ready to counter-attack.

I also wish that Kerr would have fit Anakin screaming "I hate you!" in there somewhere, but again, that's totally cool.

I think that particular line works well in the original, but doesn't really fit in this version. In the original, Anakin does hate Obi-Wan, which I think isn't the case in this edit, in which they're simply friends who end up on opposing sides in a conflict. In the immolation scene, I wanted to convey that Anakin, instead of hating Obi-Wan, hates himself - he knows he's f*cked up, and that he deserves what he's getting.

As for the length isssue, I think it's a very valid concern - the edit does move really quickly. Ideally, it would have been about ten minutes longer, but that just wasn't possible - the story I wanted to tell had to be told in 88 minutes, and reinserting stuff just to make it longer would compromise that. My edit of Ep II will probably be a more decent length, though - I think it's currently at about 100 minutes. But first, Kingdom of Heaven. And maybe some other stuff. We'll see.

 

[TV's Frink]

Personally I love the short edits - they save me work

This one is next on my list, btw.

 

[L8wrtr]

Here is my review copied from the main page:

Because I have a workprint of my own for Episode III, I have shied away from watching other editors takes on it. I actually enjoyed Episode III in the theaters, at least when compared to Episode I & II. By its very nature, because of where it must point to (episodes 4, 5 & 6) and because Lucas wasted a lot of time in Episodes I & II, content alone made III the best of the Prequel. But while it was great in the theater, it didn’t hold up well under repeated viewing. The beginning, while closer in feeling to Star Wars action was a bloated mess, Anakin was still a whiner, Padme was weak and uninteresting, and worst of all, Anakin’s turn to the Dark Side felt uneven, there was something there at the base, but it has always just felt off.

As with all of my reviews, they are intended as constructive evaluations of the edit and no offense is intended to the editor.

AUDIO
Audio quality was spectacular. Kerr’s touch was amazing. He added music in the perfect places, never overpowering, but perfect for the scene. Many times his additions were so subtle that I think only people who know the movie with the intimacy of having edited it would notice them. His blending of scenes was fantastic, and his very subtle additions were perfect. 10/10

VIDEO
Overall quality was very good. The new crawl seemed to stutter and surge and at times the quality seemed not quite as good as the original, but overall held up well on my 52″ Plasma. The editing itself was seamless. The transitions, wipes, minor tweaks (and this edit is FULL of tweaks) were transparent and again, really only someone who knows this thing back and forth will notice where he has done his work. 9/10

STORY
How does this compare to the original? AMAZING. BRILLIANT. This is for the time being, my absolute go-to version of E3. It doesn’t hurt that I would guestimate that my work print shares numerous concepts and even identical edits as Kerr’s, but his editor’s knife was absolutely brilliant. Anakin is no longer whining. No longer brooding (in the wrong way) but definitely alone, increasingly isolated and trapped. To some degree his character felt a little hallow, I wanted more depth, but that is not the fault of Kerr, he pulled the most out of what was available, and I’ll take an Anakin that is a little flat, over one that is whining, brooding and intolerably annoying. Padme’s character is slightly improved and benefits from the use of deleted scenes. A particularly impressive improvement is the turning point of Anakin’s life in Palpatine’s office; this was simply JAW DROPPING. When I caught on to how Kerr was handling this I literally applauded from my sofa. Every clip, nip and tuck that Kerr made up to this point had narrowed Anakin’s choices, boxed him into a corner, and made him *gasp*… sympathetic, and so when the moment finally came, it was in fact believable. This achievement alone makes this edit worth it. It is the entire point of the movie, and Kerr’s approach succeeds wonderfully.

*spoiler*

There were only a few choices that I didn’t care for. The jump from Padme’s balcony to her arriving on Mustafar was just too much for me. It was the only time where I actually felt rushed. While this edit moves very briskly, I never felt like things were missing, or that corners were being cut. TMBTM has commented that the length of this edit doesn’t ‘feel’ Star Wars-like, and I have to agree, the pace is very fast, but that is really the only choice to make because the thing that draws this movie out is tons of useless screen time. For most of the edit while the pace is brisk, nothing is ever missing, everything lines-up. Every scene leads logically to the next and no important piece of information, or emotion is left out, until the balcony scene. It was the only point in the movie where as a viewer I felt “oh, we’re missing a piece of the story” Not that it was critical, and it in fact leaves it ambiguous, did Padme bring Obi-Wan with her on purpose, or did he sneak on? I think Kerr’s intention is to have her bring Obi-Wan there, but it just doesn’t feel correct and without the transition scene of her leaving and Obi-Wan sneaking aboard, I just felt like that subconscious beat that a good movie has, was off. But really, that’s about it.

His choice to cut out Yoda vs Palpatine is a struggle for me. While watching the movie, it’s not really missed. The pacing of Anakin and Obi-Wan’s battle benefits from the removal. This is the battle that we’ve waited 20 years for. Now it happens in brilliant, fast-paced, every-man for himself fashion, right up to a brilliant finale. But as the movie begins to wrap, you’re left with questions, where was Yoda? Why was he hanging out an a rock with Bail instead of joining Obi-Wan? Surely if they’re going up against the most powerful Jedi ever, they would want their combined abilities. (this is of course a problem that Kerr inherited from the original, the choice to split up and attach each Sith individually was idiotic and forced) so Kerr isn’t entirely at fault here, but his choice to cut out Yoda/Palpatine highlights this problem.
Story Improvement: 10/10

But overall I can EASILY forgive both of these ‘issues’ because the sum of this edit is so amazing.

OVERALL
This is simply the best Star Wars fanedit that I have seen to date because it makes Revenge of the Sith a truly great movie. Not just acceptable. Not just watchable, but worthy of the title Star Wars. It tells the story that we have been waiting to see, but without whining, without insipid dialogue, over-explained context, brow-beating political diatribes. It’s fast, fun, dark and ultimately, satisfying.

10/10

Thank you Kerr. Now I just need a worth Episode II and the Circle shall be complete.

 

[Neglify]

Thanks to Menbailee, this edit is now available again on Mediafire.