Fall of the Jedi: Episode I - The Phantom Menace

I have seen both v1 and v2 of this and have to say the extra work on v2 makes for a smoother and more coherent edit and olays so well in to the aim of Q2's edits not giving away too much for the OT. Great effort. Thanks!

(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.

Keeping it a bit short this time.

Phantom Menace is IMO the worst Star Wars movie. It's still enjoyable but it's very childish with Jar Jar Binks and young Anakin Skywalker. I actually like Anakin but many of his dialogues are quite bad.

This fanedit edits out a lot of Jar Jar and makes Anakin better among other things. The best part in my opinion is the space battle which always was quite bad. Q2 managed to edit Anakin entirely out from the battle and it worked very well. Majority of the cuts in the movie worked better but I missed the part where they are starting the podracer engine for the first time. It's so touching to see innocent Anakin yell "It's working! It's workiiiing!" :)

Overall a nice, compact edit of the Phantom Menace. I enjoyed it a lot.


Edit: Changed Audio/Video Quality from 8 to 9. It's a bit too light at default but otherwise the video quality is very good.

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.

This has to be the best fanedit of SW Ep I I have ever seen. After seeing two wonderful edits by both Seciors and L8WRTR, I was a little unsure about seeing another one, but my hopes were kindled when I heard the focus of Q2′s “Fall of The Jedi” trilogy was continuity with the OT, the most important factor for me.

Now I could go on and on about great stuff cut or added in this added but much is similar to previous edits. What’s new here is the reducing of R2, C3PO, and yes, Anakin. The two bumbling droids have now been cut down to the point we can assume they are not important in “this” trilogy and, now Anakin is really no more than a minor character, he really only helps the plot move a little, especially (spoiler) given the fact he doesn’t even get involved in the final space battle sequence.

I have only one thing to complain of was the handling of Padme’s first encounter with Anakin. Where’s the romance, AKA love at first sight? I believe it needs to be there to at least add some believably to Ep II, since in what the first ten minutes, Anakin is already into Padme, who he apparently hasn’t seen in years.

Now for video and audio quality I’ll definitely give you a perfect score as every cut was seamless.

you have given new light to the first of the prequels, bravo to you, Q2!