Review Detail

(A caveat before I begin: I hate the source material for this edit, so I did not take into account my bias when giving a score for enjoyment.)

This was a flawless edit, technically speaking, very professional. And Q2 has removed the most egregious mistakes from Phantom Menace (midichlorians, little Annie's accidental adventure, most of Jar-Jar, R2D2 and C3PO). He also manages to make young Anakin tolerable; the biggest impression I got was that he was a cute kid, which is plenty at this stage in the game, if you ask me. The whole thing clips along at a much faster pace, completely to the film's benefit. And, in what ended up being the most beneficial change in Q2's prequel trilogy edit, Darth Sidious is no longer in the movie at all!(You need v.2 for this) I cannot overemphasize what a difference this makes. Once it's no longer obvious from the get-go who the "phantom menace" actually is, top-to-bottom everything gets better. The eventual reveal in the third film is way more satisfying, for instance. Ultimately, however, these prequels are horrible, with this being easily the worst Star Wars film by a long-shot. But if you're on the fence about liking them, and you want to give them another shot, Q2's versions are a marked improvement.

The ONLY thing that stood out as a kind of "huh?" moment was why Jar-Jar is suddenly a part of the Jedis' crew. I understand the explanation had to be cut to keep him out of our faces, though, so fair enough.