Pulp Empire

That was just super damn impressive. Initially, I thought we were gonna get Empire Strikes Back with some Tarantino soundtracks instead of Star Wars soundtracks, but this was sooo much more. The soundtrack was indeed great and well thought out. All of the sound editing seemed right on to me and I didn't pick up any mistakes or problems. In certain scenes, some of the voices sounded echoey, but I think that was a deliberate choice by the editor and I liked it.

The editing was first rate and not only seamless but the addition of fades between scenes was very effective. Everything just seemed to fit together so well. The use of slo-mo was effective, although possibly a little overdone in some parts. When the Falcon was flying over Bespin, the slo-mo combined with the special effects didn't look too good at some points. Everywhere else in the edit, the slo-mo looked great.

I only watched this on a computer in DVD format, so the picture wasn't as crisp as possible. (Definitely not the fault of the editor) I just say that because it makes me want to upgrade to Blu-Ray and watch it on the big screen.

The story really flowed well and most of the unnecessary plot points and scenes were removed, such as Chewie's recovery of C3PO from the pig-men (I don't know what they're called)

Couple of nitpicks:

- I thought the pacing kind of got unnecessarily slow when the falcon was in the cave/space slug and found myself wondering if some or all of that could have been effectively cut.

- I found the return to Dagobah a little confusing and wasn't sure whether Chapter 1 was intentionally placed out of chronological order or whether Luke went to Dagobah twice. (Still not sure.)

- I would have liked to see a lot of Ben's appearances minimized for some reason. I just thought it might have helped the story flow better.

I really appreciate editors that don't just try to add or subtract the parts of the story they do or don't like, but instead take a movie and make it their own creation. This editor definitely took ownership of the material.

My new OT: War of the Stars, Pulp Empire, and Ep VI Spence Final Edit. Do they match up? Do they tell a cohesive story? No & no, but damn they're fun.

Great job and thank you.

UPDATE: I changed my scores after viewing V2. Well done.

I just finished watching this and all I have to say is, if Epic and Awesome had a child it would be called Pulp Empire.

I'm not a huge Star Wars guy, to me they're just another set of movies, so it takes a lot to get my attention when it comes to a Star Wars edit. TMBTM did it with A New Hope Grindhoused, and now NJVC's done it with Pulp Empire. The idea of breaking down The Empire Strikes Back into chapters, ala Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill and Inglourious Basterds, and replacing the score with songs from and inspired by Quentin Tarantino's library of films was genius. Not only does it completely change the look and feel of the film, it also changes the tone of it as well.

You might ask yourself, "Isn't the use of songs from Tarantino's movies going to be distracting? I mean, these are songs that you automatically associate with the various movies that they're from. Isn't it going to take you out of the movie.". In short? Fuck no, dude! lol The use of these songs only helps cement the feel of a Tarantino movie. A few of the non-Tarantinoverse songs did seem to be a strange choice, but they worked really well with the scenes they were added to.

I'll be honest, the first chapter in the film was a bit slow, but when Chapter 2 starts you'll be glued to your seat. The opening credits were awesome, and I loved the character introductions and hero moments. The use of "Down In Mexico" for Bobba Fett's scenes was pure genius. And like BionicBob, I too thought that the final chapter was a masterpiece. In fact when the song "Old Man" starts and the film moves into a Luke/Anakin montage I got goosebumps. The animated sequence was a nice touch as well.

I cannot recommend this edit enough. This is the first NJVC edit I've seen and it is clear to me that this man is a master of the craft. Download and watch with confidence my young padawans, for you will not be disappointed. And if you are I only have one thing to ask. What the fuck is wrong with you? lol Seriously though, congratulations on an amazing edit NJVC. I look forward to seeing more of your work.

Second fan-edit I've ever watched, and this has completely sold me on the idea and potential of fan-edits. This is honestly a masterpiece of achievement. I want to show this to every person I know now.

This is the reason a category like "FanMix" exists in fan edits, and lordy do I wish there were more of them. What a truly fun and original idea. I watched this with a few friends and some beers, and I have to say I think that's the ideal situation. Much laughter and amusement was had.

A few notes, as the star ratings apply a bit differently to this kind of edit:
A/V quality: as some others have noted, it's hard to do slow mo when they didn't film it in slow mo. You don't have as many frames as you need, and it can look cheap. That said, even though there was a LOT of slow mo used, it didn't distract too much.

Visual Editing: wow, so many bold choices here. The split screens, some new wipes, fades... lots of it amazing. A couple of those slow mo fades went TOO slow and were distractingly cheesy for me, but overall it was great.

Audio Editing: I was not holding this film accountable for replacing every scrap of Williams' score, as Tarantino always mixes in many different styles and crossfades seemed fine to me. As such, no "remaining bits" stuck out to me, unlike what some other viewers have mentioned. I actually have to give njvc a perfect 10 since it's so hard to isolate dialogue from score and re-edit without losing parts.

Narrative: ok, look, the original ESB was not made in a vacuum. You had to have watched the first Star Wars, and ESB basically had no ending, either. I would not expect this edit to "fix" that. It's made for those familiar with the Trilogy, and with Tarantino's films. So don't expect the same kind of narrative flow of other movies. And sorry Tarantino superfans, his movies aren't nearly so "tight" as you think. Tarantino always writes stylish SCENES, and his overall narrative is secondary. He's definitely a director that focuses on style over substance, and in fact most of both his style and his substance is taken from other films and other writers and directors. This film is a perfect mash-up then, because it does to Tarantino exactly what he's done to other filmmakers. Well, except this film actually gives credit to the inspiration. So Tarantino could do that if he re-titled some of his films "Reservoir Dogs in the City on Fire", "The Glorious Dirty Dozen Bastards", or "Game of Killing Bill".. But I digress. For what it's trying to do, essentially give you all the feelings without heavy focus on plot, this film accomplishes its throughline.

Enjoyment: this will depend a lot on what kind of style you enjoy, but the 70's and Tarantino influences are obvious in the choice of music and montages. Neil Young doesn't do much for me, and the extensive use of his song at the end of the film consequently fell flat for me. On the other hand, some people commented they didn't like the way The Ecstasy of Gold was used, but all my friends and I were super into that. Generally, if you like Star Wars and Tarantino films (particularly Kill Bill), then you should enjoy this highly.

The only other thing I'd add is that I think the film could've leaned into the "fun factor" a lot more heavily. Most people have pointed out the character montages (especially Vader's) as a highlight, and I would've liked to have seen a fitting one for Leia, as well as ones for Lando, Tarkin, Chewie, and the ever-crapped-on droids R2 and 3PO. I'd agree that about 50-75% of the way into the film, the narrative gets a little straight and boring. In the original ESB, they use the lulls of the Falcon in the cave and the gang at Cloud City in order to then shock you when the cave moves and Vader shows up. However, this is a different kind of viewing experience, and that 'building tension' doesn't work the same. With about 30 minutes cut out of the film, this is more of a lean action movie, so that late mid section needs to move accordingly. I actually didn't miss much of the cut material (do like the Taun Taun stuffing) except that (as some others have noted) the ending fell a bit flat for me. The previous use of split screen would've been great to have Luke and Vader psychically communicating at the end, and I feel there's a cut of that somewhere that would've added to the sense of poignancy and attempting to avoid fate that njvc was going for.

All in all, a super fun film, and one I'll show to anyone who wants to know what a "fan edit" can be. This defines the field. Thanks njvc!

Fantastic effort. My only criticisms are that you can still faintly hear the Williams music in a few moments, but it's forgivable and I really did not like how the Vader/Luke bespin fight was handled. It felt almost too music video-ish. But it's immediately followed up by the Prequel flashbacks set to Neil Young which might be my favorite moment in the whole thing. It's a very fun watch overall. Captures that exploitation style while still retaining all the substance and gravitas of the core Star Wars story. As someone who's favorite director is Tarantino and who's favorite film is The Empire Strikes Back, my fanboy funny bone was satisfied. Wouldn't mind seeing a Return of the Jedi one? Do the Kill Bill Vol. 2 to this movie's Kill Bill Vol. 1? Not losing sleep over that, but it'd be cool to see.