Pulp Empire

NJVC is a BAMF. This is an example of the rare fanedit that breaks boundaries and really shows what this community is capable of. High creativity and technical skill mesh to create something truly remarkable. My only complaint is that the audio mix runs the full gamut of jaw-droppingly incredible to downright awful in spots. It is a minor complaint considering just how much fun this edit is. If you haven't seen it, do it now. Every year there are a small handful of fanedits that stand out from the crowd and really show the audience something incredible - this is one of them.

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!

I enjoyed this immensely! This edit is gangsta creative, something different. Like the next guy, I like mubi fixes, but there's something about remixes that speaks to my heart, and Pulp Empire, I was fuckin' listening.

Inventiveness comes at you every which way: the restructuring of the narrative, funked-out montages during the introduction of key players, some stylish fades (smoove Lando), and above all, the sonic redesign.

Tremendous attention went into the sound, the most obvious change being the new soundtrack. The non-Williams score is used brilliantly in places, with just the right tune adding humor or cool to an event or introduction. There's a perfect soundtrack for Luke in the ice cave, and another at the end of the Hoth chapter. Yoda's intro nails it silly, and the D. Vader and Fett intros are appropriately bad-assed. And one simply does not fuck with flying guillotine techno.

Also, what can I say about Yoda's dazzling Cantonese that hasn't been said? Oh, yes—as Yoda walks deeper into the swamp, his new voice becomes fainter, more distant. Now that's attention to detail.

But wait—njvc gives us more. Listen closely, and you'll hear background noises that aren't in the Lucasian version. The wind in Cloud City's donut hole echoes the winds of Hoth, mournfully reminding us of the fellowship's scattering or the desolation of spaghetti western environs. Frodo Skywalker's electronics now hum in Dagobah's swamp. And the Falcon has a new dilapidated purr.

Everything I love about the sonic creativity rocks the audio score to an eleven. Alas, I must regrettably deduct a point for a few issues. Song-to-song transitions could have been smoother in some places. Sometimes a song's crescendo coincides with some other audio ejaculation—e.g., the song in the wampa cave is deliciously righteous, but I would have wanted to hear the vocals start after the wampa's roar. Some songs, despite being perfect for their scenes, seem somewhat flat as they come out the speakers, missing the robustness of songs with a heavier bass presence, but this likely reflects differences in how these tunes were originally produced. Lastly, there is something off in the audio balance, the audio mix, in several scenes, as if the dialogue, background noise, sound effects, and music hadn't quite made friends yet with each other. But these are small beans compared to Pulp Empire's considerable sonic strengths and the rich enjoyment that comes thereof, and the adjusted audio editing score still comes out to ten, so there, mofo reader, so there.

I have gazed into the face of Quentin and George's love child, and it was good, delightfully good. This edit marvelously transforms a classic, is the kind of edit that I'd want to show fanediting virgins, and in my opinion is amongst the very best fanedits ever made.

[And I like what you did with my handle, Never-ending Jalapeno Volcano.]

Enjoyjoy: 10 enthusiastic pelvic aerothrusts, each one almost ceiling-high.

njvc breathes new life in an all to familiar fanedit with pulp empire as star wars meets tarantino. for a film i'm all too familiar with i was impressed that njvc managed to cut a lot from the film without the overall narrative to the story being effected. the flashback scenes were a nice touch in filling in the gaps what with empire being the middle film to the trilogy. i really liked were njvc placed the animated segment and the newly voiced yoda is a real scene stealer

as others have said the battle of hoth with it's spilt screen and use of music is nicely done, though for me the highlight of the edit was the battle between vader and luke while njvc further cements boba fett as the coolest bad-ass in all the galaxy. others have comment that the original score can be heard while you can hear it faintly in the background at times it's never a distraction. i could only imagine the hours spent in removing the best he could, and in removing john williams score njvc has made this edit his own with the songs selected

however at times i felt the music was over done and would have preferred the music not to be playing but i'm guessing that it used to cover up the original score when ever possible. i also feel the music could have been used more as background music, such as the radio station announcer we hear from reservoir dogs could have played in the background of the millenium falcon. at times the music didn't feel like it was adding anything to the visuals but rather just playing over the footage.

i personally wouldn't have opened with the yoda segment, it seemed a little off seeing luke talking to someone who we haven't meet nor do we see on screen. the engine effect on the millenium falcon seemed some what out of place for me, there are some funny moments (yoda voice being dubbed and having luke understand every word he says) but i wouldn't say this was a comedy fanedit in the vain of TV's frink star wars edits. it just felt like the only part of the edit that was done to raise a laugh. the slow mo effects at times felt a little overdone and became tiresome after a while.

overall an enjoyable fanedit, the question i guess one must ask is will this be vol 1, as the story has only been half told? i wouldn't seeing vol 2 some time in the future.

After returning from the dark and fiery depths of Erich von Stroheim's Greed, njvc's Pulp Empire was a welcome delight! I had high expectations for this one and it didn't disappoint. All the elements of a great Tarantino flick have been masterfully integrated into The Empire Strikes Back, and I don't think anyone could have done it any better than njvc. There is not a single musical selection that is out of place (the music from Taxi Driver was surprising but it worked well with the scene), and I particularly liked the music from Morricone. The Battle of Hoth chapter is a technical marvel, full of split screens, overlapping dialogue, ferocious new sound effects and great music as I said. The final chapter is extremely intense, epic and powerful, and defintely one of the best fanedited sequences I've ever seen! The non-linear structure is well put together and there are no plot holes to speak of, but cutting the sequence where Luke chats with Han and Leia while recuperating wasn't really a good idea. I'm not sure if this was due to technical issues or not, but there's important character development in that scene and it would have strengthend the edit. The rapid fire pacing is well edited and consistent, but the narrative feels rushed and there's less time for it to breath, but that's a really minor criticism because I had a blast watching this. The picture quality was tremendous throughout, as was the audio editing. Sure, some of William's music can be heard in the background during some scenes, but I don't think there was any way that they could have been completely removed. Overall, njvc has done a truly fantastic job!

Also, Boba Fett's new entrance was FREAKING AWESOME!!! I was grinning for about ten minutes afterwards. Certainly my favorite scene from the edit!

Audio/Video Quality: 10/10
Visual Editing: 10/10
Audio Editing: 9/10
Narrative: 9/10
ENjoyment: 10/10