Review Detail
8.8 15 10
Overall rating
8.6
Audio/Video Quality
8.0
Audio Editing
8.0
Visual Editing
9.0
Narrative
9.0
Enjoyment
9.0
I was finally able to sit down and watch this edit, and I'm happy to say I thoroughly enjoyed it. This is the most creative and perhaps most effective way I've seen a fan edit tackle the prequels and LieutenantDan has succeeded in his ambitious goals! Only Chapter 1 I felt like didn't work for me and I've explained them below.
For Chapter 1: The beginning just throws you into the story with zero context and has no hook to bring audiences to care. Perhaps an opening text (a la Solo A Star Wars Story) could remedy this? That could also help with starting with the senate scene, which I feel is a stronger start with better exposition than the scene in Palpatine’s office. (Although you see more of Palpatine’s manipulation there.)
It isn’t very interesting to hear about a crisis in the senate and not see it at all. To be fair, this is a problem with the original film as well, but by cutting all of it I feel like it is amplified a bit. Maybe you could show some of the Naboo invasion, like the Neomoidians threatening Sio Bibble? A good recommendation to help accomplish this is looking at the Clone Wars episode Supply Lines, which does a similar thing and serves as a prequel to the liberation of Ryloth arc.
For much of these reasons Chapter I didn’t really work for me. However, I absolutely LOVED every other chapter--I honestly wish the first chapter was more like them somehow.
I have been thinking of a way to squeeze in some of the prequels in between Episodes V and VI a la Machete Order for a first timer--I always felt Revenge of the Sith immediately before Return of the Jedi strengthens that film as you fear more for Luke's potential fall to the dark side--but recently I felt like squeezing in 2/3s of a trilogy just for that feels disjointed and does a disservice to the saga. But this edit is the perfect length and the (almost) perfect thing before Return of the Jedi to squeeze in, and you can still get away with showing the rest of the prequels later whenever they'd like as a sort of expanded edition and precursor to The Clone Wars show.
Furthermore, the vignette style of presenting the Prequels actually benefitted the storytelling in a way I hadn't expected--you see, as everyone knows, the Prequels are not very well known for its subtlety. Cutting it down to this length under NORMAL circumstances, I would say you'd be missing in on a lot of the subtleties and the intricacies of the story. However considering that the Prequels do NOT have those, or at least ultimately fails to synthesize them meaningfully, the "broad stroaks" approach actually strengthens Anakin's fall to the dark side, as a lot of things are still left to the imagination (similar to how Tales of the Jedi handles Dooku's betrayal and turn to the dark side.)
The reason I say this is because in the actual Prequels and most Prequel edits, Anakin's arc is still linear and adds a lot of characterization and exposition--Anakin's fear of loss, Obi-Wan's failure to teach what Anakin actually needs, his anger and hate sourced from his troubled past and mistreatment (first from the slave owners, then from the Jedi), and most importantly, his power hungry nature (which ironically is the thing that the Prequels neglected THE MOST). The films try to keep Anakin optimistic and idealistic until the last second so much that, despite all the setup that the films attempt to do, you never believe that Anakin would destroy everything in his path--especially just to save his wife. I understand that his fear of loss led to his wish to be more powerful, to save the ones he loves, but only saying it does not make it believeable. That's just bad writing. We need to see that his initial noble wish turns to greed, and the films largely gloss over that.
The absolute GENIUS of this edit, then, is to reframe everything so that the vignettes make it feel like they're all happening at a similar pace, unlike the original film where the second act of ROTS has everything so rushed. Now, the "broad strokes" approach gives us the same insights that the prequels give--that his fear of loss lead to greed--however it is edited in a far more elegant and natural way. When the distraction of Padme's imminent death is gone, now it seems like he is purely power hungry. We still see him try to hold on to his initial ideals, but we also saw that, leading to his ultimate betrayal, Anakin was itching to get a taste of the dark side, because of the way that LieutenantDan brilliantly created a montage using his few-and-far-between power hungry moments that the films never succeeded in convincing the audience. So when Anakin said (far more confidently this time) that he can overthrow the Emperor and rule the galaxy, for the first time when watching these frickin' movies, I actually believed him. This is the highest praise that a Prequel editor can get-- LieutenantDan actually made the Prequels work.
Now above, I said "almost perfect" because one thing I wish all Prequel edits kept, regardless of how the film itself executes it, is Anakin saying "You underestimate my power" because it ties into Luke saying the very same thing in Return of the Jedi to Jabba, adding to many of the things that makes the audience fear that Luke actually might follow in his father's footsteps.
On a personal note, one line I wish you kept was "So this is how liberty dies. With thunderous applause." Which is my favorite line in all of Star Wars. Furthermore, I missed some things such as Qui-Gon Jinn's importance to Anakin and how different he was to the rest of the Jedi, including Obi-Wan, as he is the only one who understood that attachments and emotion are not dangerous in and of themselves. On the other hand I realize that this is not what the edit is about and that can always be retained in longer edits of the Prequels.
So thank you, Lieutenant Dan, for this quite marvelous edit you've done. I recommend everyone in the community who have felt wronged by the Prequels to give this a shot. Thumbs way up!
For Chapter 1: The beginning just throws you into the story with zero context and has no hook to bring audiences to care. Perhaps an opening text (a la Solo A Star Wars Story) could remedy this? That could also help with starting with the senate scene, which I feel is a stronger start with better exposition than the scene in Palpatine’s office. (Although you see more of Palpatine’s manipulation there.)
It isn’t very interesting to hear about a crisis in the senate and not see it at all. To be fair, this is a problem with the original film as well, but by cutting all of it I feel like it is amplified a bit. Maybe you could show some of the Naboo invasion, like the Neomoidians threatening Sio Bibble? A good recommendation to help accomplish this is looking at the Clone Wars episode Supply Lines, which does a similar thing and serves as a prequel to the liberation of Ryloth arc.
For much of these reasons Chapter I didn’t really work for me. However, I absolutely LOVED every other chapter--I honestly wish the first chapter was more like them somehow.
I have been thinking of a way to squeeze in some of the prequels in between Episodes V and VI a la Machete Order for a first timer--I always felt Revenge of the Sith immediately before Return of the Jedi strengthens that film as you fear more for Luke's potential fall to the dark side--but recently I felt like squeezing in 2/3s of a trilogy just for that feels disjointed and does a disservice to the saga. But this edit is the perfect length and the (almost) perfect thing before Return of the Jedi to squeeze in, and you can still get away with showing the rest of the prequels later whenever they'd like as a sort of expanded edition and precursor to The Clone Wars show.
Furthermore, the vignette style of presenting the Prequels actually benefitted the storytelling in a way I hadn't expected--you see, as everyone knows, the Prequels are not very well known for its subtlety. Cutting it down to this length under NORMAL circumstances, I would say you'd be missing in on a lot of the subtleties and the intricacies of the story. However considering that the Prequels do NOT have those, or at least ultimately fails to synthesize them meaningfully, the "broad stroaks" approach actually strengthens Anakin's fall to the dark side, as a lot of things are still left to the imagination (similar to how Tales of the Jedi handles Dooku's betrayal and turn to the dark side.)
The reason I say this is because in the actual Prequels and most Prequel edits, Anakin's arc is still linear and adds a lot of characterization and exposition--Anakin's fear of loss, Obi-Wan's failure to teach what Anakin actually needs, his anger and hate sourced from his troubled past and mistreatment (first from the slave owners, then from the Jedi), and most importantly, his power hungry nature (which ironically is the thing that the Prequels neglected THE MOST). The films try to keep Anakin optimistic and idealistic until the last second so much that, despite all the setup that the films attempt to do, you never believe that Anakin would destroy everything in his path--especially just to save his wife. I understand that his fear of loss led to his wish to be more powerful, to save the ones he loves, but only saying it does not make it believeable. That's just bad writing. We need to see that his initial noble wish turns to greed, and the films largely gloss over that.
The absolute GENIUS of this edit, then, is to reframe everything so that the vignettes make it feel like they're all happening at a similar pace, unlike the original film where the second act of ROTS has everything so rushed. Now, the "broad strokes" approach gives us the same insights that the prequels give--that his fear of loss lead to greed--however it is edited in a far more elegant and natural way. When the distraction of Padme's imminent death is gone, now it seems like he is purely power hungry. We still see him try to hold on to his initial ideals, but we also saw that, leading to his ultimate betrayal, Anakin was itching to get a taste of the dark side, because of the way that LieutenantDan brilliantly created a montage using his few-and-far-between power hungry moments that the films never succeeded in convincing the audience. So when Anakin said (far more confidently this time) that he can overthrow the Emperor and rule the galaxy, for the first time when watching these frickin' movies, I actually believed him. This is the highest praise that a Prequel editor can get-- LieutenantDan actually made the Prequels work.
Now above, I said "almost perfect" because one thing I wish all Prequel edits kept, regardless of how the film itself executes it, is Anakin saying "You underestimate my power" because it ties into Luke saying the very same thing in Return of the Jedi to Jabba, adding to many of the things that makes the audience fear that Luke actually might follow in his father's footsteps.
On a personal note, one line I wish you kept was "So this is how liberty dies. With thunderous applause." Which is my favorite line in all of Star Wars. Furthermore, I missed some things such as Qui-Gon Jinn's importance to Anakin and how different he was to the rest of the Jedi, including Obi-Wan, as he is the only one who understood that attachments and emotion are not dangerous in and of themselves. On the other hand I realize that this is not what the edit is about and that can always be retained in longer edits of the Prequels.
So thank you, Lieutenant Dan, for this quite marvelous edit you've done. I recommend everyone in the community who have felt wronged by the Prequels to give this a shot. Thumbs way up!
M