Fall of the Jedi: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith

I said most of what I wanted to say in my review of Fall of the Jedi episode I. Fantastic work that has renewed my enjoyment of Star Wars; something I've been unable to do since making the mistake of seeing episodes I - III in the theaters. Just seeing those once ruined Star Wars for me for years. After watching these I'm happy to say I'm going to be able to enjoy Star Wars again. I only saw the theatrical releases once each, and I hope that by watching the Fall of the Jedi series several times I can erase the blight of the originals from my mind! Thank you.

This one is rated-down slightly from the other two because I actually liked it less that episodes I or II. Not sure exactly why, maybe it couldn't be saved. I think, ultimately, that Anakin's fall to evil was just so unbelievable and baseless in the theatrical versions, that it isn't fixable. I mean, we've got one of the most evil (even if eventually redeemed) figures in the galaxy, and he became evil because he had perfectly normal teenage/young male angst. How could you ever fix that? Probably can't be done...

Oops, double post.

Simply amazing. This truly takes the movie up to another level. I loved the new creative ending and the removal of many stupid and irritating scenes.

I would have cut the young child jedi dialogue, but otherwise I take my hat of to Q2, this is an ingenious edit.

SPOILER: The scene in the end with Padmé and the baby unfortunately has bad contrast, but thats the only complaint on video quality.

Further more, the ending is somewhat abrupt, but what can you do with the original material? I prefer this before the theatrical release.

And so I came to the third Fall of the Jedi, with hopes high given the vast improvements to the previous two movies. Sadly, I ended up disappointed.

There's lots to be praised, so lets start there.
Getting rid of the buzz droids from the opening speeds things up nicely.
Getting R2 out of the Grievous/bridge rescue so it's all down to Jedi power (what the Jedi should be relying on, not gimmicky rescues) is great.
I really liked the inclusion of the rebellion first meeting (Padme otherwise having gone from action protagonist in films 1 & 2, to moping about at home in this movie).

I prefer this version losing the Chancellors voice-over during Anakin's internal conflict scene (around 52 min - the "silent" conversation with Padme). However, my suggestion would be to drop "real" Padme from this scene altogether, and for Anakin to be brooding as now, have a brief (Chancellor inspired) vision of Padme screaming, then the run to the ship.

As usual the loss of lots of bad dialogue such as "Hold me like you did on Naboo."/"I have the high ground." is great. I'd definitely also like to have had Euan's bizarre shout of "... to democracy" removed from 1h22m49s. In fact that whole sequence should go:
ANAKIN: Don't lecture me, Obi-Wan. I see through the lies of the Jedi. I do not fear the dark side as you do.
OBI-WAN: Anakin, my allegiance is to the Republic.
ANAKIN: Don't make me kill you.
OBI-WAN: I will do what I must. [ignites his lightsaber]

But then we come to the real problems. As other reviewers have said, this has clunkier editing than in the previous two, with some scenes clipped too closely. The out-and-out most painful is the edit around 10 min on the Grievous ship, going from exiting the lift shaft to running down a corridor, getting caught in a shield and an exchange of dialogue, then being surrounded by droids in 20 seconds! It plays like a trailer! If it's needed to have an R2 unit that they left in the hanger (that doesn't fight and never shows up on the bridge!) to sort this, then what's the prob?

Narrative-wise I dislike where the Dooku/Sidious relationship has got to. I think I'm right in saying the only thing to connect them in the Fall of the Jedi trilogy is Dooku's statement in II about taking the death star plans to his master on Coruscant. Without a specific understanding of that single ambiguous line, Dooku becomes a goody in this trilogy! He was a Jedi (good), who became aware that there was a Sith at the heart of the Republic (correct), so struck out on his own to form an alliance against it (brave, commanding), and he couldn't bring himself to kill the defeated Anakin/Obi-Wan at the end of II (merciful)!
Now actually I don't have a problem with that - character complexity! But I'm pretty sure that isn't what was intended by Q2 (given the master-on-Coruscant line).
And III is where dropping the Dooku/Sideous relationship costs us: the Lucas version shows us evil turning on itself when the Chancellor tells Anakin to kill him, and shows us the price in Dooku's expression. The scene should be edited in much the way Q2 has done: lose the cartoony Chancellor laugh and "Good, Anakin, good.", lose the "Kill him now!", lose Anakin's conflict. But (with a bit more reference to Dooku/Sideous included at the end of II - without dialogue if necessary, just show them standing together and imply a close relationship if you really don't want them to talk!) I think the Dooku execution scene should keep the first "Kill him!", Dooku's expression of bewildered betrayal, then Anakin acting. Without that, we lose a great lesson on evil.

But I'd let all this go if it wasn't for the ending.
Conceptually I disagree with the idea of preserving who Vader really is until Empire. The purpose of the prequels is to chart the course of the creation of the fiction's greatest icon of evil. Of course the "Nooooo." has to go. But we so rarely get to see the birth of evil, only it's effects and a hero fighting it. Now, instead of showing the birth of evil, the trilogy shows the defeat of evil, with Anakin probably dead at the end!

In the scene where Anakin lies defeated, Q2 wants to cut Obi-Wan's poorly-delivered chosen-one lines which I understand; but I'd have kept Anakin's "I hate you!", plus the about 15 seconds of non-dialogue that seems to have gone as well. This is a scene the trilogy has been building to, we need to dwell on it as much as we can.

And I'm not a fan of The Other Boleyn Girl (for anyone who doesn't get the reference - this is the clip of Portman holding baby from said movie). If Padme is not allowed to die from depression (which tends not to be passively fatal), it should at least be in child-birth! How can one of the three key trilogy protagonists just disappear from the series? I know Q2 is trying to align the film with what Leia says about her mother in RotJ, but to have the disappearance of Padme explained by a throw-away line three movies later seems bizarre treatment of a series principal. Yes Lucas messed up, there's nothing we can do about it - Padme should die.

And the way it's done, the viewer doesn't even know there are twins! There is a conversation about children needing to be split up (whose children? Padme hasn't been shown or described as having given birth, and there is no mention of her pregnant with twins). Next Padme is shown crying, holding a baby; then Obi-Wan gives a baby to Beru. How do we know Padme was not saying goodbye, and it was the same child?

Finally, the loss of the Yoda/Sidious fight. I could live with the loss of Yoda/Dooku for reasons I explained in my review of II. But Q2 went to far this time! I have to say it's not a scene I particularly enjoy, but it represents really important themes: the folly of judging from appearances; the ability to hold power but not use it. As I said in my II review, the Yoda fighting scenes are when we learn he's not just talk, he's been massively powerful all this time and simply chosen not to abuse/misuse it. To resort to violence last; but be able to if justified: that's a lesson I don't want taken away from the world. :-)

There we go. Some great work by Q2, but sorry, you lost me at goodbye.

(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.)

And the hits keep coming with this, the third installment in Q2's Fall of the Jedi prequel edits. This is once again a nearly flawless technical edit and one that greatly improves upon what we were given originally. The emperor comes across as far less cartoony in this version, closer to the menacing force he was in the OT, and we no longer know at the end of the movie that Anakin is Darth Vader; we simply don't know his fate (although it's easy to assume that he's dead). These two changes are great for bringing these films in line with the OT for a 1-6 viewing experience: you know and fear the emperor and Vader's reveal in The Empire Strikes Back is still a surprise.

The pacing is once again greatly improved, although at times it seems like it's moving just a bit too fast with scenes ending almost before they're begun. There was also one moment that I didn't quite understand. There's a scene 52 minutes in where Padme and Anakin each go to their respective window and stare across the city at each other. I think the idea is to show the pain at their increasing isolation from each other, but it comes off as a little awkward. The sound is very low, and and it almost seems like they're having a psychic conversation (conversational cutting and tiny nods).

The ending is great, leaving out Anakin's silly transformation and Padme's ridiculous death from sadness. The added footage from The Other Boleyn Girl integrates well also. I know it was someone else's idea, but it was pulled off very skillfully. It does end on a total bummer note, but that's fine considering the state of the galaxy at the end of this trilogy. Happy endings will come later when the war is won. My hat's off to you Q2; watching this version of the PT was a great experience.