Star Wars - Episode III: Dawn of the Empire by L8wrtr

[bionicbob]

L8wrtr's DAWN OF THE EMPIRE.

WARNING there may be some SPOILERS in this review.


Over three years in the making.

Think about that.

Three YEARS.

wow.

The level of passion, commitment and love one must have for this material to endure and stay on track that length of time is astounding. And it shows in every choice made -- every cut, every resequencing, every audio choice -- it is all deliberate and well thought out. Nothing is done haphazardly or without considering all the consequences. It is clear from scene one that there is specific vision at work.

Each of L8wrtr's Prequel edits has been an improvement over the original is terms of character and story structure. And each Prequel fan edit has been an improvement over the previous edition, as his skills and tools improved and the story became more and more focused. With DAWN OF THE EMPIRE, L8 may have created his ultimate Prequel Masterpiece. It is by far and away my favorite of his three SW edits.

When L8wrtr began this journey, he set himself some very specific goals on how he was going to approach these edits -- improved pacing, better, stronger characterization, removal of anything that did not serve the greater story -- and there were times through the first two edits, I wondered where he was going? SHADOW OF THE SITH and THE REPUBLIC DIVIDED are great edits (you know how hard that is for me to say, being a Star Trek guy LOL!) but through both of them I always had the sense that something was "missing", that the "payoff" was missing. While enjoyable, and vastly improved, the first two edits left me a bit unsatisfied...though I could not put the finger on it as to why?

Well, the PAYOFF is now here! In spades! And I am now completely satisfied.

L8wrtr has smartly recrafted REVENGE OF THE SITH into a logical, dark, tragic character drama. Most of the over the top action you expect in a Star Wars movie has been greatly trimmed or completely removed -- the first 10 minutes of this edit is a perfect and wonderful example -- keeping the story constantly moving forward and the focus on Anakin's descent.

Anakin's fall is portrayed much more organically and realistically in L8's approach. He is a victim as much of his own anger/arrogance as he is of Palpatine's manipulations. In fact, perhaps the most brilliant story change L8 has made is the reordering/editing of the Opera House scene. It is now much earlier in the film, and it creates any entirely new dynamic in all the scenes that follow -- in particular his relationship with the Jedi Council -- making Anakin's eventual betrayal all that more believable and tragic.

L8 has made some interesting creative choices throughout the edit. For example, never showing the audience Anakin's dark future visions, only letting us hear it. The first vision works perfectly for me. It felt spot on. The second one, while still works, feels somewhat forced. But this has far more to do with the source material that L8's edit. As the one thing that never worked for me in the original ROS, and I still have some issue with in this scene in particular, is Anakin's sudden flashes of hostility towards Obiwan. I understand the intent of the scene, and L8 has set up the fracture in the Anakin/Obiwan relationship far better than Lucas did, but it still plays very sudden.... but again, this is more to do with the actor's performance than L8's storytelling. And smartly, L8 moves away from it as quickly as possible. I rectify the scene in my mind by reminding myself Anakin is falling into the grasp of the Dark Side and his emotions are consuming him in a moment of weakness.

In fact, despite this one quip, L8wrtr's editing of Hayden's performance is stunning. Much like his work in THE REPUBLIC DIVIDED, L8 has been able to save and even improve Hayden's portrayal of the future Sith Lord with tons of small trims and cuts, creating a much more confident and stronger performance. Well done!!!

If I had one other completely minor quip, it would be I missed the full on Yoda/Palpatine duel. L8 completely cut Yoda's fight from THE REPUBLIC DIVIDED (which I believe I commented on that review) and his duel with the Sith Master has been significantly trimmed here. Being a non-SW guy, I never realized there was such a dislike of Master Yoda's spinning frog fighting style. LOL! Oh well, L8wrtr's solution to the conclusion of the duel works well considering what he had to work with.

There is so much about this edit that is wonderful work, and much of it is so subtle that I was not even aware of it until I watched the commentary. Of which, I can easily say this is one of the BEST COMMENTARIES I have ever listened to, better than most professional efforts. L8's thoughts are articulate and insightful. His deep affection for the Star Wars Universe really shines through. It was a great joy to listen to.

The new ending sequence -- the suiting up of Vader, birth to the Twins, getting everyone in place for Episode 4 -- is absolutely beautiful. It may be my favorite sequence in the whole edit. It just ends everything on a very emotional note.

Though some set-up items do get ignored -- R2D2 & 3PO memory erasing and Obiwan Force Ghost thing -- though this probably for the best as they felt extremely shoehorned in the original version.

Upon reflection, L8wrtr was woven a wonderful single tapestry played out over 3 very well executed edits. He has made this Star Trekker look at the SW Universe in a new light and appreciate its wonders in new ways I had not considered.

Thank You L8 for a wonderful 3 year ride!

You should be proud.

THUMBS UP!

 

[L8wrtr]

*speechless*
Thank you Bob, I am humbled by that amazing review and gratified that this has all paid off, as you say, in spades. To elicit that type of response from a hard-core Trek fan is quite an achievement for a Star Wars fan

To offer an explanation of that second vision, the original script had the scene where Obi-Wan stops by Padme's apartment, which is referenced in this scene. I believe that Obi-Wan picks up that handheld device which Anakin is seen holding at the beginning of the scene. It is this connection which triggers Anakin's waking vision of Padme's death. Without that scene, the viewer must infer that the vision is caused by Anakin's touching something that Obi-Wan had touched earlier. Personally I always felt that this inference was obvious even without that scene, but it does seem to throw a lot of people off.

Additionally, in the deleted scene where the Petition of the 2000 is presented to Palpatine, after they leave the scene continues long after where I cut, and Palpatine really drives home how Senator is hiding something. Of course she is, but Anakin doesn't know what. I believe that this scene occurs before the above mentioned scenes. In context, it explains how Anakin truly comes to distrust Obi-Wan and then accuses Padme "You're with HIM now!"

In my version I cut that portion of the deleted scene because Palpatine's dialog is heavy-handed and my placement of the scene comes well-after Anakin's 2nd vision.

Unfortunately as you pointed out there is little I could do to avoid the out of left-field nature of the vision except for cutting it entirely. However I really wanted the scene where Anakin is expressing his self-doubt and conflict. It is the only scene of its kind in the film and I felt it was critical to show that Anakin does struggle, that he does have some awareness of his conflict, and to show them as husband and wife, trying to work through issues.

Overall I have to agree, it is unfortunate that this is all I had to work with and I'm glad you could work past it


But again, thank you for the review. It literally has been 3 years in the making.

May the Force live long and prosper with you.

 

[Mike Kerns]

Absolutely loved it, L8. I can't express how wonderful these edits are and I'm thankful that you were able to "save" these films. Again, THANK YOU!

So....what are you working on next?

 

[L8wrtr]

Thanks Mike (feel free to write a review and rate here )

With the Trilogy wrapping up I must admit to feeling a bit of a void. I had messaged BionicBob about this the other day. This project has been my primary focus for 3 years now so it's actually a bit of a shock to the system to not be contemplating a SW edit.

I have 3 or 4 projects which I've been kicking around the past few years but I don't want to officially announce anything until I get deep enough into one that I feel confident it will work. Additionally, I need to focus on some FE projects. Some site improvements took a back seat as I approached the finish-line. My hope is that by end of summer my projects will be done and I'll have found my muse again.

Again, I'm glad you enjoyed!

L8

 

[bionicbob]

With the Trilogy wrapping up I must admit to feeling a bit of a void. I had messaged BionicBob about this the other day. This project has been my primary focus for 3 years now so it's actually a bit of a shock to the system to not be contemplating a SW edit.

Maybe you could go back and edit the EWOKS MOVIES!!! Those need saving!!!:lol:

 

[Kolpitz]

My dual layer disc locked up at Chapter 14. I tried chapter skipping and it just remained frozen. However, if I skipped back to previous chapters (before 13), they still worked. I assume there was a problem in the downloading or burning processes, since no one else on here seems to have experienced this. I'll start over and hope for the best.

 

[njvc]

My dual layer disc locked up at Chapter 14. I tried chapter skipping and it just remained frozen. However, if I skipped back to previous chapters (before 13), they still worked. I assume there was a problem in the downloading or burning processes, since no one else on here seems to have experienced this. I'll start over and hope for the best.

Is that the DVD9 or the AVCHD?

 

[Kolpitz]

is that the dvd9 or the avchd?

dvd9

 

[njvc]

DVD9

Edit: It won't let me type "DVD9" in capital letters, for some reason. I change it and then it posts as "dvd9".

I'll check mine and report back... standing by.



All clear over here. Try burning again. Could be to do with where you put the layer break perhaps?

 

[Kolpitz]

I'll check mine and report back... standing by.



All clear over here. Try burning again. Could be to do with where you put the layer break perhaps?

Maybe. ImgBurn only gave me one option. The dual layer switch happened and everything was fine afterwards, until Chapter 14. We'll see how this new disc goes. Thanks for checking.

 

[DominicCobb]

Saw it, loved it. Full review coming at some point.

 

[Kolpitz]

I re-downloaded and re-burned it, and it's working now. Hopefully, I can finish it some time soon.

 

[DominicCobb]

STAR WARS EPISODE III: DAWN OF THE EMPIRE by L8WRTR

Wow.


I have always had a soft spot for the prequel trilogy (don’t kill me!) and especially for Revenge of the Sith. But that didn’t mean I thought the films were great, far from it; but what I saw were epic films. Films with a massive scope. Films with massive amounts of characters and settings. Film with (believe it or not) complex and intriguing plots. Revenge of the Sith delivered the most on these aspects.


Unfortunately, ROTS also featured a few other common aspects of the PT: bad dialogue, acting, and humor. These things have ALWAYS made me cringe.


Well, guess what? No more! In Dawn of the Empire, they’re gone. These things are excised, and they are excised with great skill. The excision is so successful that, even though I have seen ROTS an innumerable amount of times, I completely forgot where these cringeworthy parts were, and if they ever even existed. There are some transitions that feel a little awkward but they are very easily overlooked.


But to talk as if this is all L8wrtr has done is to ignore his greatest achievement: the re-crafting of Anakin Skywalker’s fall to the dark side. His re-ordering is nothing short of brilliant. I don’t know how I can explain this other than to say: It really works now. His fall is organic, gradual, and, most importantly, believable.


The opening is notable as well. All I could think of while watching it is: quick, and seamless. Quick is exactly what the opening always needed to be, and seamless is what the other fan edits of the opening haven’t exactly been; because when I say seamless, I mean perfect.


I only have a few qualms with this edit, and they all have to deal with the ending:
1. Padme doesn’t name the newborns. I don’t really mind this, but it means that this edit is meant to be watched as part of a 4-5-6-1-2-3 order, which, again, I don’t mind. In any other order, it’s just a little confusing, because it’s never explicably stated in this edit that the second baby is Leia. If you watch in chronological order, you know the whole time Luke has a sibling, but whether or not you know it’s Leia depends on how well you were able to pay attention and deduce from this edit. It doesn’t really work for a Machete order because, like chronological, the viewer may or may not know the other baby is Leia.
2. Removing the final scenes on Tantive IV. This creates two plot holes in the saga - force ghosts and C-3PO’s memory, and it means, because Yoda hasn't said what he'll do, there must be a...
3. Yoda lands on Dagobah scene. I don’t dislike this scene, I just prefer the film to end with the Skywalker family - Vader on the Star Destroyer, Leia on Alderaan, and Luke on Tatooine.
4. The final scenes seem to almost go too fast.


Just to be absolutely clear, though, the ending still works. As does everything in this edit. Everything works so well that I think if I were to give Dawn of the Empire a rating as a movie, I would give it a 9 out of 10. As a fan edit, I have to say it is with out a doubt an improvement over the original. A few months back I said, based on how the edit was shaping up, that this was “already my preferred version of ROTS.” Now that I’ve seen it, I can honestly say that my mind hasn’t changed. Because of that, I give STAR WARS EPISODE III: DAWN OF THE EMPIRE 10/10

 

[nightstalkerpoet]

This edit was absolutely amazing I really enjoyed it and have been trying to show it to as many people as possible. Finally, I truly connect with Anakin and believe his fall as, at the least, a near logical reaction to the events leading up to it. Really wanted to watch Ep 4 right afterwards.

My only complaints are these... sometimes (rarely) scenes seem to be cut short to speed up the pace, but end up slightly jarring the natural flow. The one scene that really comes to mind is "You are on this council... rank of master". Perhaps an external shot of the Jedi Temple between this scene and the one before it? I also found the description of the chancellor's "sweeping" powers in the crawl a bit odd, especially since it is followed up with Grievous having to "sweep" into the capital... and you then use the word sweeping in the first 5 minutes of your commentary.

Great job L8, I look forward to displaying your full Bluray trilogy next to my Saga set

 

[wabid]

Spectacular, perfect, unbelievable, definitive. (I expect that on the 10th Anniversary cover!)

From the moment Padme and Anakin meet, through the end credits, L8wrtr has crafted the undisputed best Star Wars prequal ever made. He has saved Hayden Christensen’s performance. Anakin is not creepy and we only ever feel FOR him. Somehow he has managed to make the politics engaging and most importantly interesting. You are no longer sitting around waiting for the action to begin. You will actually care about even the driest of scenes. I never thought the Lizard squawks were a big deal until I saw this edit. Now I will not be able to stand the original scene. Thanks :/

What I loved most about this edit is how conflicted it made me feel. Like Tyler Durden in Fight Club, Emperor Palpatine is just too persuasive. You end up rooting FOR the bad guy. I actually found him to be the sane one, while the Jedi came off as confused and misguided by poor and impulsive judgment. Conversely, the Emperor appeared to know what he was doing. This tone shift was startling yet awesome. By making me believe Palpatine and question the Jedi, it made Anakin’s fall almost forgivable. I felt as if I would have made the same decision standing in his shoes. That thought sent chills down my spine.

I must also praise the technical quality of the deleted scenes. The birth of the rebellion scenes looked perfect. They add so much to the movie. The Yoda one was not as crisp, but completely forgivable. Dagobah is foggy. I disagree with another review and personally believe the Order 66 scene really worked well. I am very fond of L8wrtr’s work and would not change the scene in any way. Losing the ‘high ground’ line was a little disappointing at first, but after a quick reconsideration I completely agree with the choice. The scene works so much better when every action is an impulse. Please never add the naming of the babies. I was conflicted if the twins line should have stayed, but everything worked out for the best. It is clear much though was put into each decision. The audience will know Luke has a sibling, but not who. The idea of a mystery buried in the story intrigues me. Thank you, thank you, thank you for leaving what you did of the Yoda/Palpatine fight. Well done. I hope the hippity hoppity yoda doesn’t bug too many people. It shouldn’t.

But L8wrtr already knows he has a virtually perfect edit. So I tried my hardest to find complaints, because gushing about how amazing this is won’t get anyone anywhere. Plus all the other reviewers have already covered the fact that this THE definitive copy of ‘Revenge of the Sith.’ Consider everything below pedantic and negative for the sake of constructive criticism.

First and foremost, this edit is still missing a Han space pirate cowboy type character. If you could, contact Ryan Gosling and have some extra scenes filmed, that would be great. Some alpha male quips would really add to the charm of the movie. But this actually does segue into one of my biggest criticism. Personally for me there was too much dialogue cut, especially some early crash humor and a line or two of angry emotion during the final hero clash. Star Wars needs a bad one liner or two to make it a Star Wars movie. L8wrtr took them all out. As for too much cutting, there was one quick cut in-between Yoda scenes back to the lava, where the lava fight felt a tad too short (1:32:50-1:33:04). Merging the first Yoda duct crawling scene with the second fixes this ‘issue’ I have.

I may have kept a little more verbal confrontation towards the end of the lava fight, but the movie is fine without it. I would have liked to see a constructed exchange containing “I should have known the Jedi were trying to take over” followed by “You are lost.” Ewan McGregor really steals every single scene he is present for, I hate to see his pain and internal torture cut from the movie. So while Hayden Christensen gains so much by sitting on the cutting room floor, Obi-wan’s pain is slightly reduced. If I had to choose which is more important, I would vote saving Anakin from bad acting every time.

Now for the blasphemy. The L8wrtr edit still does not have the best opening action sequence. It is my opinion that said title is still held by AEmovieguy, from his intro through Anakin and Padme meeting and talking babies. AEmovieguy accomplishes in 13:27 what takes L8wrtr 16:40 (17:10 with the intro card.) AEmovieguy’s pacing feels stronger, gets you to the plot quicker, and makes everything through the crash landing one great action scene. He also manages to keep a little banter the characters so desperately need. His breakneck pace makes it actually seem as if a time constrained rescue mission is under way. AEmovieguy’s addition of radio communication over the first dog fight flight is necessary and should be emulated. After killing Dooku, when Palpatine says “there is no time” the arguing is better left cut. I think cutting the Emperor’s most overtly manipulative lines from the begining helps keep the plot turn more engaging and heartbreaking.

I have previously stated AEmovieguy’s dialogue tricks (interruptions) should become standard practice in all Revenge of the Sith edits. I especially love two bits of dialogue AEmovieguy has modified so that Obi and Anakin cut each other off (“too late…jump”,” and “tenth….ninth time.&#8221 These lines serve to show the two as buddies who can finish each other’s sandwiches. This effect gives off the impression that the two have had these conversations before, and already know how their discussions will end. The reason I like Obi/Anakin dialogue interruptions is because it makes the loss of their friendship all the more painful. Lastly, while I am comparing fanedits, the Kerr influence is strong in L8wrtr’s cut. As it should be. AEmovieguy’s cannot surpass L8wrtr’s without emulating the backbone of such a revolutionary plot restructure. Props to Kerr.

Moving on. Next we have the tecchnical department. (Tecchnical was spelled wrong in the end credits.) The opening crawl has the word sweep after sweeping. I think “swoop into the capital” sounds more correct. The word ‘has’ should be removed from before the word ‘ordered.’ Also, ‘rescue him’ would be better as ‘his recue.’ As you can tell I am forced to get pretty nitpicky to find fault in this edit. I have a very very short cutlist. When Mace shows up to arrest the Emperor, I would have liked to see the Emperor flying spin move go, but I understand such an edit is near impossible to pull off. I personally did not like the second dream and would prefer it cut. It just didn’t work for me. This is completely my personal preference and in no way should it affect your enjoyment of this masterpiece.

And that is it. I am giving this movie a 10/10 both because of technical quality (literal perfection) and its ability to save Anakin’s character. No other edit is as successful. I didn’t dislike him once the entire time watching the movie. Most edits leave in one too many bad lines. L8wrtr erred on the side of caution and didn’t risk it. That decision pays off tremendously. Not once did I miss a scene or line until long after it had passed. I apologize for not yet consuming the commentary or menus, as I reencoded \BDMV\STREAM0011.m2ts into a 7.77GB mp4/h.264/aac file and threw it on the PS3. If I ever get around to playing the blu-ray directly I will update the review to include my thoughts on the menu and bonus features.

This edit inspired me to create a L8wrtr/AEmovieguy hybredit cut akin to the ADigitalMan/Darth Editous Hybrid which inspired Adywan. Between these two edits lies every single change which would make Revenge of the Sith itself a 10/10 movie (not just a 10/10 fanedit.) In fact, having seen AEmovieguy’s work, his fanedit is the only thing in the way of me declaring this fanedit a work which could not possibly be improved upon. Dawn of the Empire could be successfully defended as the best Star Wars movie, period. What more do you need to hear?
​

 

[FoolsFollowing]

I didn’t intend to write a full review as I’m far too busy, but one thing led to another and here we are, a moment-by-moment analysis of Dawn of the Empire:

Opening crawl: excellent, concise, intriguing, love it. While it is not very Star Wars-y that both Republic Divided and Dawn of the Empire specifically state the number of years that has passed (unlike the OT which is deliberately vague) I do think this helps establish the universe and setting.

Space battle: very nicely done.

The only error is at 05:15. Anakin lands, we see him unbuckle, we cut to some droids and hear Anakin’s lightsaber start up, then we cut back to Anakin and suddenly R2 is no longer in the ship but is bang in the centre of the screen about 10 foot away from where we last saw him. It’s quite a glaring continuity error that really jumps out when viewing. I know you don’t want to show R2 being nimble, but I think this could do with fixing.

Elevator scene: This is a personal dislike of the original film and nothing to do with your actual edit, but I really dislike the resolution to the elevator shaft drop. It’s too cartoony and I don’t buy for a second that they could use their grappling hooks like that, let alone swing themselves and the Chancellor through the door. I guess its essential for showing Obi Wan waking up though (and his great ‘did I miss something’ line).

Grevious Scene: On the whole very nicely shortened. I do feel the headless droid gag goes on a bit too long and would be better without it. Very nice use of ‘jedi scum’

The landing: This cut of the landing is the best I’ve seen so far. Exciting and makes Anakin out be be a hero, keeps the best humour while cutting everything that makes the situation seem silly. Excellent stuff.

Padme: Pregnancy - excellent stuff. The balcony scene – I was very unsure about your using this scene but I think you pulled it off. Definitely establishes their relationship which is very important. The only downside is the ‘It’s because I’m so in love’ is horrible cheesy. But it does nicely juxtapose with the next scene. The nightmare scene – setting it to a black screen is also an excellent idea, this really works!!

Opera: Excellent, the placing is perfect. Your gamble on rearranging the scenes pays off perfectly here. Following this with Yoda also works perfectly. Basically everything from Anakin returning up to him talking to Yoda is the best cutting of Revenge of the Sith that I have seen.

However, after the Yoda scene, the first major problem with the edit occurs. We jump from Palpatine, to Yoda, back to Palpatine, back to Yoda. The scenes are really short and it just feels too quick, too much like a fanedit. I’m not sure what you can do here, and I do appreciate that your setting up the scenes to follow a particular order, but the rhythm of the film is thrown completely off by it.

Deleted rebellion scenes: While I’m not entirely convinced by their placing in the edit, I do really like every one of these scenes and I think they’re tremendously important for the film.

Grevious and Sidious: This is another peeve with the film itself and nothing to do with your edit, but I always think that Sidious’s speech to Grevious about replacing Dooku is such a horrible give away when he says ‘far *younger* and more powerful’. It’s just immediately obvious that it’s Anakin. If he simply said ‘far more powerful’ it would keep an interesting ambiguity.

Kashyyk, Rebellion, and Obi Wan parting scenes are all good.

Second dream sequence: I don’t think this works. It’s random and the fact that it cuts to Anakin awake sat on a sofa makes it quite confusing: is he remembering, when he did have the dream? Is he having a waking-vision? The fade to the scene just doesn’t seem like it belong in a Star Wars movie. This was another part of the film where it stopped feeling like Star Wars and felt like a fanedit.

Grevious confrontation: I did prefer Kerr and/or Stancpak’s editing of this confrontation, although without rewatching those edits I could not say why. The highlight is definitely the ending, the way you’ve reduced Grevious’s death is far more brutal and less cartoony, I very much approve.

Palpatine and Anakin: Of two minds about this one. On the whole it’s very good but a few lines seem very out of place:

Firstly Palpatine’s ‘You have been searching for… a life of conscience’ – I don’t get these references to the dark side being ‘good’ in a traditional sense. Anakin is searching for a life of significance yes, but to throw in this reference just seems silly. To suggest that the Sith think their way of life is simply ‘good’ seems painfully naïve: aren’t they more likely to think of themselves in more of a ‘beyond good and evil’ kind of sense. The same is true at the end when Anakin says he’s brought ‘freedom’ to his new Empire. Safety and security yes, but I don’t think he would be deluded enough to think a totalitarian state = ‘freedom’.

Secondly: ‘Are you going to kill me?’ ‘I will certainly like to’. While I do like Palpatine’s orgasming at Anakin’s anger, this just seems way too over the top. Nothing about this scene suggests that Anakin actually wants to kill him, and the way you’ve arranged your edit to emphasise Anakin’s manipulation and friendship, I just don’t think this works at all. Anakin reporting him to the council is a far more rational and in-character action, him threatening him with a lightsaber just feels like over-the-top melodrama to me. Anakin is coming to question the ways of the Jedi and he has no reason to personally hate the Sith like Obi Wan does. Even if Anakin/Vader does have a complex relationship with the Emperor, I don’t think this one line does that complexity justice and it simply contrasts with the rest of the edit.

Anakin and Padme looking at each other across the city: Very nicely done, and the Palpatine dialogue you use is perfect. While it’s not always good to spell out a character’s motivations, I think here it’s a very good idea, and it makes Anakin a far more relatable character when we’re reassured that he is trying to do the right thing.

Palpatine vs Jedi: Kerr’s take on this scene is, in my opinion, one of the greatest pieces of Star Wars editing I have ever seen. You have followed his style, but I don’t think you have taken it far enough and the scene doesn’t work as well as it does in his edit:

1) You’ve kept Palpatine’s swirly jump which Kerr’s wonderfully took out. Palpatine’s sudden dash at the jedi is far more unexpected and scary than an old man doing a silly CGI twirl.
2) The slaying of the jedi still feels too slow, I think this needs to be cut faster or sped up.
3) The face melting. Kerr created one of the most iconic scenes in the whole Star Wars saga. The way Sidious’s real face is suddenly revealed to the audience as he screams ‘POWER’ is genuinely terrifying and awesome. In your edit, you see his new face before this and so his face being lit up is just us seeing it a bit better. I strongly recommend more closely following Kerr’s edit: I don’t see the point in following it a little, but losing the most powerful scene that he has created.

Order 66/Jedi Temple: Excellent. I particularly like what you did with Yoda - I didn’t think I would like it, but it actually works really well. Keeping the younglings but having them not speak is a very good idea. The shortening of the Jedi executions makes them seem more brutal and unexpected.

However – why why why WHY keeps Chewbacca?? Such a horrible horrible cameo that only serves to make the SW universe tiny. If you’re going to keep Yoda leaving ET style then couldn’t you leave Chewbacca unnamed and the audience can decide if it’s a cameo or not. I really disliked the inclusion of this scene!

Anakin reuniting with Padme, Obi Wan and Yoda on Tantive is all fine

The first shot of Mustafar: This is a really odd choice. You cut to the planet without an establishing shot. Suddenly we’re somewhere that we’ve never been before, we don’t know where it is or anything. I don’t know what this is like in the original, but it seemed very jarring and very non-Star Wars! Does any other scene in the saga do this?

‘Empire’ scene, Anakin arriving, all fine. Removal of Obi Wan and Yoda arriving on Corruscant – very good choice.

The Final fight:
And so we reach the finale. Firstly, Yoda vs Emperor. I’ve never been a fan of this fight but I recall you felt it was important, so I went along with it and decided to see how it turns out with no expectations.

I don’t think it works.

The good: The dialogue between Sidious and Yoda at the start of the fight is good: the Emperor’s genuine surprise and fear at Yoda surviving, his comments about Yoda’s arrogance, and (potentially) the comments Darth Vader becoming more powerful. [I’m not sure if I like this, but it does fit with the prophecy subplot that you kept]

The bad:

Firstly, having cut out all three previous scenes of Yoda using a lightsaber (Dooku, Order 66, arriving on Corruscant) I don’t think it works to suddenly cut to him fighting Sidious with a lightsaber. If you’re going to go down that route then I think you need to prepare the audience, not just drop it in there.

Secondly, the scenes that you use of Yoda duelling Sidious is simply horrible. It’s even worse than when he fights Dooku, so I don’t see how you can cut out the former but keep the latter. Maybe they’re all bad and I just haven’t seen it in a while, but its so cartoony and silly. Ugh.

But thirdly and most importantly, this scene really hurts the character! Yoda is built up to be the equal to the Emperor, he is supposed to be the strongest and certainly wisest Jedi: this fight is the two most powerful characters is the universe fighting. But you have shortened their fight so much that it starts *after* Anakin and Obi Wan are already fighting and it finishes *before* Anakin and Obi Wan are even close to finished fighting. Basically Yoda and Sidious go at each other for like a single round, after which Yoda *gives up*. We then spend the rest of the scene, while Anakin and Obi Wan continue to fight, watching Yoda *run away*. I do not doubt for a second that Obi Wan – even though he absolutely is not willing to kill Anakin, would still *fight to the death* to try and beat him. With such high stakes, only a coward would run away from the fight. And the fact that you have reduced the amount of time that the Yoda fight takes up to barely a few minutes, and then juxtaposed it with Anakin and Obi Wan’s epic duel, it really emphasises Yoda’s weak character. Now I must ask, is this your intention? If it is, I don’t really understand it. It goes beyond making Yoda a flawed character, it in fact makes him one of the weakest characters in the series. His decision to run away shows no strength of conviction, and his exile shows that he doesn’t even ‘run away to fight another day’. I recall you saying that your intention was to include this scene in order to give Yoda’s character closure, but I really feel that his character shows much more closure *and* wisdom by not engaging in the fight in the first place. In, for example, Kerr’s edit, I really get the feeling that Yoda realises and accepts that the time of the Jedi is over. Trying to get revenge, trying to start a fight, that is not the Jedi way. Instead he accepts what has happened, what cannot be changed, and he leaves in exile to contemplate all that has happened. It is a stoic Jedi kind of action. He decides to leave because he is wise enough to know what can and cannot be changed. Going at the emperor and getting his ass kicked in 5 minutes and then running away, I don’t see how this shows wisdom or strength of character, in fact any bravery points incurred by engaging the emperor are instantly nullified by him crawling away through the vents organising his own rescue over the radio.

So I do not feel the Yoda duel works at all.

Now, the Anakin vs Obi Wan duel.
On the whole, this is a decent cut of the fight. I’m glad somebody *finally* removed the swinging around on ropes, I really hate that scene. I also like the resolution.

Some of the fighting inside the control room seemed a bit odd. You kept that scene of them bothing swinging sabers not hitting each other. I feel this unneccssary flourish takes away from the raw energy and emotions which drive this fight. It’s fine when Qui Gon and Obi Wan fight Maul because they have no personal investment, but this scene is the equivalent of Luke vs Vader in Jedi and I don’t think any fancy saber moves work here. But it’s not *so* bad I suppose.

I like the climactic de-limbing, its quick and makes sense. I like the ‘brother’ dialogue etc. which you kept. And everything from the climax to the end of the film is simply perfect and wonderfully sets up the OT. I really like how you handled the birthing and cut it with the birth of Vader. I think these end scenes work as well as your early scenes on Corruscant did.



And there we have it, a far more thorough review than I intended to make. I think in terms of ROTS edits, this is on the whole the best there is, however there are a few moments that really took me out of the movie. Some of the ordering on Corruscant doesn’t work; I’m not sure about the second dream scene; and I do not think the Yoda duel works at all. The Emperor’s face melting is ok but not nearly as good as Kerr’s editing. However, practically everything else is excellent: the reordering of scenes is brilliant, the focus on characterisation is perfect, and you really reveal how ROTS is in places on a par with the OT.

Despite these criticisms, I think your take on the prequels is the best available so far and I am completely happy with Episodes 1 and 2. Ep 3 I think is almost there, although if you’re happy with the end result and everyone else is then what more can one ask.

Thankyou for providing us with these wonderful edits, they’re sure to go down in fanediting history.

 

[wabid]

Great review FoolsFollowing!

However, after the Yoda scene, the first major problem with the edit occurs. We jump from Palpatine, to Yoda, back to Palpatine, back to Yoda. The scenes are really short and it just feels too quick, too much like a fanedit. I’m not sure what you can do here, and I do appreciate that your setting up the scenes to follow a particular order, but the rhythm of the film is thrown completely off by it.

This was what I noticed too. Something needs to go between them, there is too much back and forth with the same characters.

Second dream sequence: I don’t think this works.

Agreed, it did not work. This and the point above are what keep this edit from feeling like a Hollywood movie.

You’ve kept Palpatine’s swirly jump which Kerr’s wonderfully took out. Palpatine’s sudden dash at the jedi is far more unexpected and scary than an old man doing a silly CGI twirl.

The dash is so much scarier. It would be worth rereleasing this edit for that change alone.

then couldn’t you leave Chewbacca unnamed and the audience can decide if it’s a cameo or not. I really disliked the inclusion of this scene!

This scene could easily go, not a person would mind.

As for Yoda.

I will still disagree with cutting the Yoda scene. Yoda is smart, and he realizes he is stuck in an eternal game of Tic Tac Toe with the Emperor. The thing is, until this scene, Yoda has no way of knowing he is evenly matched. To quote the greatest movie ever made, "The only winning move is not to play." After he falls, Yoda knows there is no way he can climb up without getting hit by a senate seat. He leaves because he understands the Emperors stregnth equals his. He goes into exhile because all the other Jedi are dead. Luke is the wild card which swings the balance back in Yoda's favor. I also have no problem with Yoda only using a lightsaber once in the entire series. He only pulls it in the most dire of circumstances.

 

[Mike Kerns]

I'll try to get a review up soon, L8. Least I can do. I watched with the commentary today & really enjoyed it. By the way, special thanks for the mention in the special thanks.

 

[TV's Frink]

By the way, special thanks for the mention in the special thanks.

It's a thanks within a thanks....

Thankception.

 

[TMBTM]

Elevator scene: This is a personal dislike of the original film and nothing to do with your actual edit, but I really dislike the resolution to the elevator shaft drop. It’s too cartoony and I don’t buy for a second that they could use their grappling hooks like that, let alone swing themselves and the Chancellor through the door. I guess its essential for showing Obi Wan waking up though (and his great ‘did I miss something’ line).

I so agree.
Even if you can tell yourself that they did a "force push" int the end it still LOOKS ridiculous.