Review Detail
9.3 35 10
Enjoyment
9.0
Q2 set out to preserve the secrets of Star Wars and bring the prequal trilogy into parity with the original trilogy. His edit is nothing less than a smashing success and a striking technical feat. Much like L8wrtr’s Dawn of the Empire, once you see something so perfect, it his hard to say anything other than “this is the way the movie was meant to be seen. I would have no qualms showing a child this as his first Star Wars experience. I thought the loss of R2D2 would bug me a little, but he was not missed in the slightest. In fact it almost works better. The podrace in particular was extremely well done, and probably my favorite part of the movie. Much like my other reviews, I would like to focus on the negative because I really do not have any major complaints.
Before I continue, I must admit I actually like The Phantom Menace. It is a more solid movie than Attack of the Clones and I would even say I prefer a fanedited version of it to Return of the Jedi at times. Unlike Attack of the Clones, this movie is quite salvageable and Q2 has done just that. Yet, coming in at 87 minutes, this movie feels a little too short for a Star Wars movie. In the process of trimming The Phantom Menace down, Q2 cut two scenes I would much prefer stay more intact. The first is the journey through the planet core. If we are going to take the trip underwater water and see Boss Nass, we should at least get the payoff and get to watch a great chase scene. This is minor and more of a personal compliant which I would never hold against this edit. The other scene that did not work for me was the reworked Padme and Anakin introduction. In other edits (Seciors) this scene is handled beautifully, and shows the two falling in love at first sight. In Q2′s edit, the loss of chemistry harms their relationship. I was also very surprised to hear Shmi’s line “I can’t explain it” explaining the virgin birth. I was really expecting it to be gone and I still think it should be cut from this edit.
Now moving on to my slightly bigger criticisms. The biggest one for me was Anakin not being the hero. I really did not like him staying on Naboo. This movie is supposed to be about his birth as a hero and instead becomes just a setup for the Empire’s rise. I much prefer edits where Anakin deliberately takes the ship into space and saves the day. Taking this out completely changes the pacing for the worse. It negatively impacts the Gungan/droid war and the Maul fight. I much prefer a universe where everyone was defeated until a little boy saves the day. My other more than minor criticism only exists because I have seen the Seciors edit. He greatly reduced the Lord Sideous role. In that edit, Sideous no longer controls the Neimodians, nor is he so overtly manipulating Queen Amidala. His relationship with Maul is also left much more ambiguously. The reduction of politics keeps the movie focused on the birth of characters. My suggestion for the Q2 edit would be to preserve the Lord Sideous reveal until the 1 hour 4 minute mark (of this edit.) Never show his face. Suddenly an hour into the movie you would finally realize the Neimodians are pawns. Finally all the pieces fall into place and one would understand a Sith master is controlling the Trade Federation and a red faced padawan. In line with your “preserving the secret” I really really really really think this edit would benefit from concealing the Palpatine/Sidious reveal until Episode III. He was almost completely cut from this edit, but pops in once in a while and shows his lower face.
I watched a 1.4gb xvid which had slight compression breakup towards the end. I can only assume the AVCHD and Blu-ray are flawless, and I highly suggest them. Coming from the blu-ray this movie looks spectacular as does CGI Yoda.
I am giving this edit a 9/10 because it accomplishes its goals to the fullest and is of the highest editing quality. I would never have known this was not produced by a professional studio. I am docking one point because between the Anakin/Padme meeting and the final space battle, Anakin’s humanity and heroic moment is sacrificed. He is reduced to a secondary character no one cares about. To me this is more than a personal preference and actually harms the film. I know others like these changes, but they prevent this edit from becoming my definitive copy. The editing itself is of the best I have seen. Included in that one point deduction, is my distaste for Lord Sideous before the 1 hour mark, (if he has already been heavily trimmed.) The rest of my criticism did not affect the score.
Everyone should download this edit and put it on their shelf. Keep it around in case you ever encounter someone unprivileged enough to have not seen Star Wars. It is so close to being my definitive copy and might be someday.
Before I continue, I must admit I actually like The Phantom Menace. It is a more solid movie than Attack of the Clones and I would even say I prefer a fanedited version of it to Return of the Jedi at times. Unlike Attack of the Clones, this movie is quite salvageable and Q2 has done just that. Yet, coming in at 87 minutes, this movie feels a little too short for a Star Wars movie. In the process of trimming The Phantom Menace down, Q2 cut two scenes I would much prefer stay more intact. The first is the journey through the planet core. If we are going to take the trip underwater water and see Boss Nass, we should at least get the payoff and get to watch a great chase scene. This is minor and more of a personal compliant which I would never hold against this edit. The other scene that did not work for me was the reworked Padme and Anakin introduction. In other edits (Seciors) this scene is handled beautifully, and shows the two falling in love at first sight. In Q2′s edit, the loss of chemistry harms their relationship. I was also very surprised to hear Shmi’s line “I can’t explain it” explaining the virgin birth. I was really expecting it to be gone and I still think it should be cut from this edit.
Now moving on to my slightly bigger criticisms. The biggest one for me was Anakin not being the hero. I really did not like him staying on Naboo. This movie is supposed to be about his birth as a hero and instead becomes just a setup for the Empire’s rise. I much prefer edits where Anakin deliberately takes the ship into space and saves the day. Taking this out completely changes the pacing for the worse. It negatively impacts the Gungan/droid war and the Maul fight. I much prefer a universe where everyone was defeated until a little boy saves the day. My other more than minor criticism only exists because I have seen the Seciors edit. He greatly reduced the Lord Sideous role. In that edit, Sideous no longer controls the Neimodians, nor is he so overtly manipulating Queen Amidala. His relationship with Maul is also left much more ambiguously. The reduction of politics keeps the movie focused on the birth of characters. My suggestion for the Q2 edit would be to preserve the Lord Sideous reveal until the 1 hour 4 minute mark (of this edit.) Never show his face. Suddenly an hour into the movie you would finally realize the Neimodians are pawns. Finally all the pieces fall into place and one would understand a Sith master is controlling the Trade Federation and a red faced padawan. In line with your “preserving the secret” I really really really really think this edit would benefit from concealing the Palpatine/Sidious reveal until Episode III. He was almost completely cut from this edit, but pops in once in a while and shows his lower face.
I watched a 1.4gb xvid which had slight compression breakup towards the end. I can only assume the AVCHD and Blu-ray are flawless, and I highly suggest them. Coming from the blu-ray this movie looks spectacular as does CGI Yoda.
I am giving this edit a 9/10 because it accomplishes its goals to the fullest and is of the highest editing quality. I would never have known this was not produced by a professional studio. I am docking one point because between the Anakin/Padme meeting and the final space battle, Anakin’s humanity and heroic moment is sacrificed. He is reduced to a secondary character no one cares about. To me this is more than a personal preference and actually harms the film. I know others like these changes, but they prevent this edit from becoming my definitive copy. The editing itself is of the best I have seen. Included in that one point deduction, is my distaste for Lord Sideous before the 1 hour mark, (if he has already been heavily trimmed.) The rest of my criticism did not affect the score.
Everyone should download this edit and put it on their shelf. Keep it around in case you ever encounter someone unprivileged enough to have not seen Star Wars. It is so close to being my definitive copy and might be someday.
W