Review Detail

For me, this is the kind of project that fanediting is all about, the kind I can share with people who don't know anything about fanediting. It's also the kind of project that gives me that feeling of seeing something the first time, even though I've seen this movie way too many times to count.

I'm no more than a casual fan of Tarantino, I've enjoyed all his movies to varying degrees but none of them are movies I feel a strong urge to revisit. But here is a movie that he easily could have made that I will come back to several times. It's all style, but in a good way. The visual tricks, the non-linear narrative, the fantastic music, it all adds up. And the fact that no trademark Tarantino over-the-top violence and language was used is a big plus in my book.

Yoda's new dialogue, the split-screens, the constant fades, the Falcon's engines, the hero moments, and the attention to detail were my favorite things about this edit.

I did have a few minor nitpicks. The audio work is well done, but there are moments where things from the original ESB sneak through that were too noticeable, mostly snippets of Williams' score. I can't complain too much, as I (more than most) completely understand how hard it is to work around this stuff in a Star Wars edit, and I know Mr. jvc put a ton of work in to minimize it as much as possible. But it's only fair to mention it.

The other audio thing that jumped out at me was Yoda's new dialogue. There was a hiss (or noise, I'm not sure how to describe it) present during his dialogue that was absent when he wasn't speaking. I know it came from the source and was impossible to remove, but it might have been possible to find some of that hiss from the source that was clean of any dialogue, and repeat it under the Yoda scenes to keep it consistent and less noticeable.

The Clone Wars animated footage was a great surprise to me (in a good way), but I wish Anakin hadn't been named. I was thinking that he was meant to be Luke until that point, and I thought it would have made more sense if he was Luke.

The video quality (watched the mkv) was fantastic. I will say I wish there were some things from the SE that weren't there (the Praxis ring explosions and Vader's pink lightsaber core being the main issues for me), but that's a necessary evil when using the HD source (THANKS GEORGE!). Down the road, once Harmy is done with his HD reconstruction of ESB, I'd love to see those elements replaced, but that's just a wish on my part that need not come true for me to recommend this edit enthusiastically.

One last nitpick - prequel footage? NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!1!!11! Completely unnecessary in my opinion.

I've spent more time on the bad than the good, but believe me when I say this is a wonderful edit, a great testament to the power of creative editing, and a strong contender for various site awards. Hurry up June, so I can vote for this thing!