-
Most new users don't bother reading our rules. Here's the one that is ignored almost immediately upon signup: DO NOT ASK FOR FANEDIT LINKS PUBLICLY. First, read the FAQ. Seriously. What you want is there. You can also send a message to the editor. If that doesn't work THEN post in the Trade & Request forum. Anywhere else and it will be deleted and an infraction will be issued.
-
Please read our Rules & Guidelines
Read BEFORE posting Trades & Request
Star Wars: Return of the Jedi - The Spence Final Cut
- Thread starter spence
- Start date
- Messages
- 2,634
- Reaction score
- 2
- Trophy Points
- 46
Congrats spence you deserved it!
Edit:
on a funny sidenote if i am not mistaken i remember the "ewok free edition" of spence winning the fanedit of the month and there was a very angry review on the site for the edit complaining "how did that .... win fanedit of the month" ... kinda nice to see spence return and deliver an edit where nobody can complains when he wins
Edit:
on a funny sidenote if i am not mistaken i remember the "ewok free edition" of spence winning the fanedit of the month and there was a very angry review on the site for the edit complaining "how did that .... win fanedit of the month" ... kinda nice to see spence return and deliver an edit where nobody can complains when he wins
- Messages
- 1,100
- Reaction score
- 2
- Trophy Points
- 48
Howdy Spence,
Just spent an enjoyable 1,5 hours watching your movie, and jotted down some thoughts (some may be repeats of what others have said, but I haven't read through the thread!)
First off the things that could be improved:
After Jabba rescue you have the ships going off in different directions, and then a second later they all hug and kiss like they haven’t seen each other for weeks. Cut out the ships going in different directions and the emotional reunion and itwill be much stronger – he rescues them and they get straight down to business. As it stands it plays weird (and is obvious that you’ve cut the Dagobah sequence there).
End music goes very quiet during celebrations, then REALLY REALLY LOUD (first in on the left side, then both) for the credits.
The credits are also messed up – the “edited by Spence” is over the original credits – not in a gap.
I had quite a lot of stuttering when panning – don’t know if anyone else experienced this (I was watching on VLC on my PC)
I also noticed a fair number of lip sync issues (about 5 or 6 – particularly in long shots. Off the top of my head: Lando at the sarlacc pit, the emperor “welcome young Skywalker”, and a few of the Imperials seemed slightly out of sync
Moving the Emperor off the Death Star was not necessary and lead to some weird placement issues - like they can see the fleet, with the huge star destroyer, then suddenly they’re ON the star destroyer – and none of the Rebels notice this HUGE ship standing a little way off. And why does the ship have a HUGE shaft? As you’ve rearranged the battle, your motivation for the move is no longer there (lack of tension).
Also I would suggest Han & co blowing up the shield be moved before the death of the Emperor. That way we go from shield down (which only means there’s a chance to destroy the Death Star, not that it WILL be destroyed – there’s a massive Imperial fleet there to get through!) to Emperor death, to death star run & the tension of “is Luke going to get off in time”.
What I loved:
Pacing was fantastic. Movie moved along at a modern pace, and had action beats at the right times. HUGE improvement over original.
Great storytelling. The story came through MUCH stronger.
Cartoon humour removed was marvellous. Again, helped the story / redemption theme shine through much stronger. Movie feels more serious and grown-up, more cathartic. Good job.
Jabba sequence now ADDS to the movie, instead of detracts. Same with the Ewoks. You made them WORK – no mean feat!
Superb effort overall. I especially liked the music replacements (over the Vader fight, the celebration sequence, and a few more which I can’t remember)
You put a HUGE amount of effort in, and it shows.
Well done Spence! *applauds*
Just spent an enjoyable 1,5 hours watching your movie, and jotted down some thoughts (some may be repeats of what others have said, but I haven't read through the thread!)
First off the things that could be improved:
After Jabba rescue you have the ships going off in different directions, and then a second later they all hug and kiss like they haven’t seen each other for weeks. Cut out the ships going in different directions and the emotional reunion and itwill be much stronger – he rescues them and they get straight down to business. As it stands it plays weird (and is obvious that you’ve cut the Dagobah sequence there).
End music goes very quiet during celebrations, then REALLY REALLY LOUD (first in on the left side, then both) for the credits.
The credits are also messed up – the “edited by Spence” is over the original credits – not in a gap.
I had quite a lot of stuttering when panning – don’t know if anyone else experienced this (I was watching on VLC on my PC)
I also noticed a fair number of lip sync issues (about 5 or 6 – particularly in long shots. Off the top of my head: Lando at the sarlacc pit, the emperor “welcome young Skywalker”, and a few of the Imperials seemed slightly out of sync
Moving the Emperor off the Death Star was not necessary and lead to some weird placement issues - like they can see the fleet, with the huge star destroyer, then suddenly they’re ON the star destroyer – and none of the Rebels notice this HUGE ship standing a little way off. And why does the ship have a HUGE shaft? As you’ve rearranged the battle, your motivation for the move is no longer there (lack of tension).
Also I would suggest Han & co blowing up the shield be moved before the death of the Emperor. That way we go from shield down (which only means there’s a chance to destroy the Death Star, not that it WILL be destroyed – there’s a massive Imperial fleet there to get through!) to Emperor death, to death star run & the tension of “is Luke going to get off in time”.
What I loved:
Pacing was fantastic. Movie moved along at a modern pace, and had action beats at the right times. HUGE improvement over original.
Great storytelling. The story came through MUCH stronger.
Cartoon humour removed was marvellous. Again, helped the story / redemption theme shine through much stronger. Movie feels more serious and grown-up, more cathartic. Good job.
Jabba sequence now ADDS to the movie, instead of detracts. Same with the Ewoks. You made them WORK – no mean feat!
Superb effort overall. I especially liked the music replacements (over the Vader fight, the celebration sequence, and a few more which I can’t remember)
You put a HUGE amount of effort in, and it shows.
Well done Spence! *applauds*
steelio2006
Well-known member
- Messages
- 929
- Reaction score
- 0
- Trophy Points
- 21
Hey Spence, any advice when making an .iso for this? Cause I'm using imgburn and it says that there wasn't really spot for a layer break, so I was wondering if there was one or not. So basically any advice on how to burn it on a dl would be awesome. Thanks.
steelio2006
Well-known member
- Messages
- 929
- Reaction score
- 0
- Trophy Points
- 21
Thanks. It actually did help. That's what I figured. This was the first time that I've made a DL. So it was uncharted territory. But this'll be awesome when get to watch this. Finished Stankpac's ROTS SE last night and it was amazing. Which I'm sure this version of Jedi will probably replace my regular Lucas approved version.
steelio2006
Well-known member
- Messages
- 929
- Reaction score
- 0
- Trophy Points
- 21
Just finished watching this. So now, I'll give it the review.
This is the definitive version of Return of the Jedi for me. I enjoyed the way the story unfolded in this version. There were times that I hadn't notice any edits. Mostly cause Jedi was my least favorite before. Mostly cause I hated the Ewoks so much. In this version, now I actually like them a little bit better. It was also nice seeing some of the fluff removed (Jabba's palace band song, Rancor and such I'm looking at u).
It was also a welcome change to not have Obi-Wan appear to Luke at Dagobah. The story flows better and the pacing is great. Great job Spence. I know this is a small review and it's not much. But I'd highly recommend it to anyone. This gets a 10 outta 10 from me.
This is the definitive version of Return of the Jedi for me. I enjoyed the way the story unfolded in this version. There were times that I hadn't notice any edits. Mostly cause Jedi was my least favorite before. Mostly cause I hated the Ewoks so much. In this version, now I actually like them a little bit better. It was also nice seeing some of the fluff removed (Jabba's palace band song, Rancor and such I'm looking at u).
It was also a welcome change to not have Obi-Wan appear to Luke at Dagobah. The story flows better and the pacing is great. Great job Spence. I know this is a small review and it's not much. But I'd highly recommend it to anyone. This gets a 10 outta 10 from me.
steelio2006
Well-known member
- Messages
- 929
- Reaction score
- 0
- Trophy Points
- 21
Hey, Spence. Just finished listening to ur commentary for Jedi. Great job with it.
This cut really impressed me. It's amazing how moving the Dagobah stuff to the beginning can completely change the pacing and feel of the movie. I did miss Sir Alec Guinness, and I wish there were a way to have the "father" discussion and the great "point of view" conversation. It would have fit more when Luke first returns. It's a shame, but I do understand the limitations.
The Jabba's palace stuff works so much better now. The introduction is creepier, and we get a sense of mystery to the place. I hadn't realized just how little sense the plan really made until you pointed it out. While I do miss the rancor, those scenes were always obviously green-screened and distracting. My only complaint is that the laughing muppet is gone, and I love him. Since all of his shots are close-ups, perhaps he could be reinserted. I like how things are now. The revised flow is nearly seamless.
I also missed the droids being taken into Jabba's service. There's now no reason for R2 to be present on the sail barge, so it was slightly jarring. I also thought Han's dialogue was cut a bit too hard. I wish his full line about Jabba being slimy and overweight was here. I did enjoy Luke's badassness. You're absolutely right that it makes no sense for him to be so cool in the official cut, but after more months of training with Yoda, it connects perfectly.
Boba Fett is far too cool to have such a bad death scene, so I'm glad he was cut.
When they're flying away from Tattoine, I found myself wondering where Luke was going, since he flies off in a different direction than Han and the others. I would have cut the external shot and just have them agree to meet up back at the fleet.
I did miss Han and Lando's bantering about the battle of Tanaab. We haven't gotten into the real heavy yet, so some light-heartedness wouldn't have been out of place and is a nice contrast with Mon Mothma's seriousness. I would have kept it in.
Luke walking back in feels a bit weird because he supposedly flew back to the fleet with the others. What's he been doing? How come he's late to the briefing? His response to Leia seems a bit off because they were just together in the previous scene.
Moving the Emperor's throne room to a Star Destroyer was brilliant and inspired. In the commentary, you called out the fellow who helped you in that regard, and he did an amazing job (even if there were a couple of shots where the Death Star seemed like it should have still been visible, but that's a minor quibble). I thought the establishing shot of the SD should have been longer, but again, it's minor. Restructuring the sequence really helps with the pacing, and having things start to turn around only when the Emperor is dead actually reflects a storyline in the Expanded Universe novels. Well done.
Good call on removing all the Ewok traps that just sprang up out of nowhere. I found it incredulous, so having them go at the stormtroopers with stone axes and arrows made me a lot happier. I was pleased to see them cut down to more threatening creatures (yes, they WERE going to eat the heroes!). Leia's scenes only served to make them cute and destroy her character. "Guess I'm stuck here." Luke walked back. I'm sure she could have too, and the brassy "Into the garbage chute, flyboy!" Leia we know and love would have done just that.
I don't think I care for cutting Han and Leia down. Some of their dialogue was noticeably gone, and I wish Leia could have had her moment where she "knows" that Luke is alive. He's their friend, and to not even acknowledge that he could have been on the Death Star (How do Han and Leia know where the Emperor is? Did they read the script?) feels wrong to me. I appreciate cutting Han's insecurity, but this went too far.
The celebration scenes really dragged me out of the movie. The footage obviously didn't belong. I'm not saying I prefer teddy bears dancing, so I don't know what other choices there were. I was also sorry to not see Sebastian Shaw, Sir Alec Guinness, or Yoda. I liked the confirmation that Anakin really did turn back. Ending on the burning of Vader's body armor was great, and a shot over to the ghosts would have rounded it off. Perhaps Luke could have been cropped to not show any Ewoks behind him.
Bottom line is that I enjoyed this edit a great deal. I don't think it's quite perfect, but it's very close. I give this fanedit a 10/10 for an all-around outstanding effort that is far beyond my feeble skills.
The Jabba's palace stuff works so much better now. The introduction is creepier, and we get a sense of mystery to the place. I hadn't realized just how little sense the plan really made until you pointed it out. While I do miss the rancor, those scenes were always obviously green-screened and distracting. My only complaint is that the laughing muppet is gone, and I love him. Since all of his shots are close-ups, perhaps he could be reinserted. I like how things are now. The revised flow is nearly seamless.
I also missed the droids being taken into Jabba's service. There's now no reason for R2 to be present on the sail barge, so it was slightly jarring. I also thought Han's dialogue was cut a bit too hard. I wish his full line about Jabba being slimy and overweight was here. I did enjoy Luke's badassness. You're absolutely right that it makes no sense for him to be so cool in the official cut, but after more months of training with Yoda, it connects perfectly.
Boba Fett is far too cool to have such a bad death scene, so I'm glad he was cut.
When they're flying away from Tattoine, I found myself wondering where Luke was going, since he flies off in a different direction than Han and the others. I would have cut the external shot and just have them agree to meet up back at the fleet.
I did miss Han and Lando's bantering about the battle of Tanaab. We haven't gotten into the real heavy yet, so some light-heartedness wouldn't have been out of place and is a nice contrast with Mon Mothma's seriousness. I would have kept it in.
Luke walking back in feels a bit weird because he supposedly flew back to the fleet with the others. What's he been doing? How come he's late to the briefing? His response to Leia seems a bit off because they were just together in the previous scene.
Moving the Emperor's throne room to a Star Destroyer was brilliant and inspired. In the commentary, you called out the fellow who helped you in that regard, and he did an amazing job (even if there were a couple of shots where the Death Star seemed like it should have still been visible, but that's a minor quibble). I thought the establishing shot of the SD should have been longer, but again, it's minor. Restructuring the sequence really helps with the pacing, and having things start to turn around only when the Emperor is dead actually reflects a storyline in the Expanded Universe novels. Well done.
Good call on removing all the Ewok traps that just sprang up out of nowhere. I found it incredulous, so having them go at the stormtroopers with stone axes and arrows made me a lot happier. I was pleased to see them cut down to more threatening creatures (yes, they WERE going to eat the heroes!). Leia's scenes only served to make them cute and destroy her character. "Guess I'm stuck here." Luke walked back. I'm sure she could have too, and the brassy "Into the garbage chute, flyboy!" Leia we know and love would have done just that.
I don't think I care for cutting Han and Leia down. Some of their dialogue was noticeably gone, and I wish Leia could have had her moment where she "knows" that Luke is alive. He's their friend, and to not even acknowledge that he could have been on the Death Star (How do Han and Leia know where the Emperor is? Did they read the script?) feels wrong to me. I appreciate cutting Han's insecurity, but this went too far.
The celebration scenes really dragged me out of the movie. The footage obviously didn't belong. I'm not saying I prefer teddy bears dancing, so I don't know what other choices there were. I was also sorry to not see Sebastian Shaw, Sir Alec Guinness, or Yoda. I liked the confirmation that Anakin really did turn back. Ending on the burning of Vader's body armor was great, and a shot over to the ghosts would have rounded it off. Perhaps Luke could have been cropped to not show any Ewoks behind him.
Bottom line is that I enjoyed this edit a great deal. I don't think it's quite perfect, but it's very close. I give this fanedit a 10/10 for an all-around outstanding effort that is far beyond my feeble skills.
- Messages
- 23,679
- Reaction score
- 410
- Trophy Points
- 193
Thanks QC, I thought I had it but can't seem to find it.
- Messages
- 6,890
- Reaction score
- 7
- Trophy Points
- 81
This is next on my list of uploads, I wont get to it for maybe two days though.
yoshif8tures
Well-known member
- Messages
- 256
- Reaction score
- 18
- Trophy Points
- 23
I'd also like to watch this if someone could upload it, thanks!
yoshif8tures
Well-known member
- Messages
- 256
- Reaction score
- 18
- Trophy Points
- 23
Neglify said:
Thanks alot
I noticed that the file size is at 5.13GB, is this dual layer?
Neglify
Well-known member
- Messages
- 13,968
- Reaction score
- 32
- Trophy Points
- 133
yoshif8tures said:Thanks alot
I noticed that the file size is at 5.13GB, is this dual layer?
Yes, but when I burned it I compressed it to a SL (since it's less than 1GB over the SL limit) and it looked and sounded fine.