Pulp Empire

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9.1
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9.5(65)
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8.9(65)
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9.4(65)
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8.8(65)
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9.1(65)
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(Updated: July 13, 2013)
Overall rating
 
9.0
Audio/Video Quality
 
8.0
Audio Editing
 
10.0
Visual Editing
 
10.0
Narrative
 
8.0
Enjoyment
 
9.0
This is a blast!

Thank God that I finallly made it to watch this edit. I funked around for a long time, because I didn't believe that this could work at first. But now I know it does!

-----ATTENTION----mild spoiling follows-----ATTENTION-----

NEGATIVE:
- I noticed some sound issues. The new soundtrack is always more on the right channel and has some crackles (digital not Vinyl!). Or my headphones are bust...

POSITIVE:
- many slow-motion scenes with that unbearable funky soundtrack. Darth Vader comes out so damn cool!
- Nice sensemaking flashbacks to Ep. IV. They enhance the story, so that PULP EMPIRE can be watched as an individual movie with no further STAR WARS knowledge needed.
- Voice of PEI MEI for YODA
- The David Bowie scene - like a music video for SPACE ODDITY in the middle of a film
- njvc knows how to use the tools: very smooth video editing, great title work (outstanding: BOBA FETT)

This edit can be watched more than one time without loosing its attraction.
Thank you, njvc!

User Review

Do you recommend this edit?
Yes
Format Watched?
DVD
Owner's reply July 13, 2013

Thanks for the review! Re: the right centric sound, did you watch it using windows media player? This is a known glitch with 5.1 mixes. Try with VLC, or on a DVD player and it self correct.

M
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Overall rating
 
9.4
Audio/Video Quality
 
10.0
Audio Editing
 
7.0
Visual Editing
 
10.0
Narrative
 
10.0
Enjoyment
 
10.0
I have to admit, I've seen the poster for Pulp Empire on this site a few times and I immediately dismissed it thinking "Huh? That'll never work." But I ended up stumbling across a few clips on Vimeo tonight including the entire last chapter of the edit and being a fan of both Tarantino and Star Wars, and being intrigued by njvc's choices in the clip I saw, I decided to watch the whole thing.

One of the things I always find most entertaining about Tarantino's films is his oddball choice of music, the bizarre yet genius mix of Motown, surf music, and the occasional Ennio Morricone track that has come to be known as "the Tarantino sound".

Njvc has taken this signature sound and applied it to a cut of The Empire Strikes Back that we've never seen before. It's an arrangement of the narrative that is so unique, even if you were to take away the Tarantino-fied soundtrack, it could be watched on its own merit alone.

What njvc has created here is not quite a Tarantino film and not quite The Empire Strikes Back, but something entirely strange and new, and beautiful. It's very akin to the feeling I get when I watch The Wizard of Oz with Pink Floyd's "The Dark Side of the Moon" playing over it. It feels at once both familiar and alien.

I love radical edits. This kind of fearless fanediting is what I admire the most and it's the type of thing I always endeavored to create when I was editing. It's the concept of "Let's do something completely different with the material..." And njvc has done that successfully.

There's so much I loved about this edit: The non-linear narrative, the character introductions, the split screens, the animation in the cave vision. All inspired work.

But the part that I found to be most improved by this edit (ironically) is widely considered the best and most important in the entire saga. The "I am your father" scene, which is now juxtaposed with Neil Young's "Old Man". The way njvc handled it with the scrolling flashbacks...the father/son parallels. It was just so well done. It even evoked some emotion in me, reminding me of my own relationship with my father and I think that's when art is it's best, when it acts as a mirror for the viewer. So in that way, you've taken THE scene...the most important scene in the entire saga, injected it with an emotional power that elevated what was already there and created a version that surpasses the original (for me), even as iconic a scene as it is.

It's worth the download for that scene alone.

All of that being said, if I had to name a weakness in this edit, it's John Williams. Though he's been relegated to the back burner reasonably well by njvc, it seems the white-bearded maestro keeps trying to creep back in at every opportunity. At times, it sounds like there are two or even three pieces of music playing at once. Not for long, mind you. But it's enough to keep this from getting a perfect audio editing rating.

To be fair, I was wearing head phones while watching, so it may sound better on a TV. It's a tough subject because I know how very, very hard it is to deal with that center channel music in one of Lucas' or Spielberg's films. There's nothing you can really do about it.

Having done 100% audio rebuilds of protracted action scenes, I can tell you, it isn't any fun. It's the same thing that killed my Star Wars: Reborn edits, the frustrating plague of John Williams encroaching into the center channel, ruining something that you know could be so great if only he wasn't there. I always said the greatest gift someone could give to the fanediting community is a clean, music-free audio track with only dialogue and effects for all six Star Wars films...and maybe Indy 4.

But, I know a LOT of work must have been put in by njvc to making Pulp Empire's audio as good as it is at this point.

All in all, you did an amazing job, njvc! I really enjoyed the unique experience you delivered with this edit and I'm hoping you'll do "Inglorious Clones" with Samuel L. Jackson, the ultimate Tarantino/Star Wars connector. There's always the play on "Jango/Django Unchained" you can pilfer too. ;)

--InfoDroid

User Review

Do you recommend this edit?
Yes
Format Watched?
Digital
Report this review Comments (0) | Was this review helpful? 2 0
Overall rating
 
9.4
Audio/Video Quality
 
10.0
Audio Editing
 
9.0
Visual Editing
 
10.0
Narrative
 
9.0
Enjoyment
 
9.0
Yes, I read other reviews before I got this. And no, the slo-mo did not bother or distract me. The multi panel shots were terrific. Battle of Hoth was a standout sequence.
The loose narrative structure applied quite well to grindhouse cinema of the 70s, which is what Tarentino has made built his career aping. The new jumps in plot also kept me on my toes throughout. I did not notice plot holes so much as missing characters. Uhhh ... Wedge? That was acceptable, however, as it kept the focus on lead characters, and a couple supports. Really nice job juicing Boba Fett's role, by the way.
Music was hit n miss. Sorry, but that last song should have been tossed.
Overall, I really enjoyed this and gave nice reviews on several forum boards, including a link for the trailer.
Quality edit.

User Review

Do you recommend this edit?
Yes
Format Watched?
DVD
Report this review Comments (0) | Was this review helpful? 1 0
Overall rating
 
9.0
Audio/Video Quality
 
10.0
Audio Editing
 
9.0
Visual Editing
 
9.0
Narrative
 
8.0
Enjoyment
 
9.0
Warning: Contains spoilers

I watched the 720p mkv. Video quality is largely excellent.

Complaints: Some of the slow-mo stutters. The slow-mo during the snow speeder part made the snow blur on the lower part of the screen and I think it occurred a few other times. Too much slow-mo. Too many fades. Movie is not changed as much as I expected. For being Tarantinoized, the middle section of the movie is arguably too linear. I didn't like the Ennio Morricone butchering at the end but it wasn't terrible either. Yoda's buzzing wind sound when talking is somewhat distracting, but I'm sure I only noticed it because somebody else mentioned it first.

Positive: I didn't notice any Williams sound leaking in and I listened with headphones. Maybe it wasn't up loud enough to notice? I liked all of the other songs besides the aforementioned Ennio one. New Yoda voice is great. Character montages are great.

Very Positive: I really liked the new cyclical structure to the movie. The structure parallels the father/son dark path theme that njvc highlighted. Luke's path towards the dark side is not really the focus until Jedi, but njvc successfully made it strong in Empire. While Jedi makes it very dark, njvc makes the son following in the father's footsteps more sad or even nostalgic. I really loved the video slideshow with the Neil Young song because of that nostalgic feeling it made. The brief shot of the empty jedi council chambers at sunset is what did it for me. It makes me think of Vader longing for a time long in the past that he can never return to, and here is his son possibly going down the same path. As an added bonus, you get to see Anakin's decent brooding acting without any of his terrible dialogue or delivery.

Conclusion: Music is great, entertaining, probably not changed as much as people expected. I liked the ending for the way it made me feel which is hard to articulate, and I think that is a very good thing. Recommended.

User Review

Do you recommend this edit?
Yes
Format Watched?
Digital
Report this review Comments (0) | Was this review helpful? 1 0
Overall rating
 
9.2
Audio/Video Quality
 
10.0
Audio Editing
 
9.0
Visual Editing
 
9.0
Narrative
 
8.0
Enjoyment
 
10.0
Tarantino and Star Wars are probably my two favorite things and this edit brings them together like never before. Through new music, arrangement, and visuals, the viewer is treated to a version of Empire Strikes Back that evokes the tone of Inglourious Basterds or Reservoir Dogs. The sixth chapter especially deftly mimics the mix of glory and brutality with which combat is portrayed in Tarantino's oeuvre.
Noticeable cons include an excess of slow-mo and some slightly hokey moments when music and situations don't match properly, but by and large this is a top-notch edit.

Overall Rating for me is about 9 stars.

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