Pulp Empire

BOLD.

That was the first word that came to mind after watching this Tarantino-style fan edit of The Empire Strikes Back.

Bold to edit the one Star Wars movie in the entire series most fans agree is close to perfect.

Even more BOLD to then restructure it Pulp Fiction style, replacing the entire soundtrack with music from/or inspired by Quintin Tarantino movies.

Does it work?

More Yes than No.

The non-linear structure works surprisingly well. It is impressive.

NJVC attempts to manipulate the film Tarantino style works for the most part, though for me, I think there was a bit too many slo-mo shots and cross fades.

I loved the Hero montages. Darth Vader's intro was FANTASTIC. The new Death Proof engine sound for the Falcon made me smile endlessly. The Battle of Hoth was Brilliant. The Carbonite scene was very powerful. And the final chapter, Battle Royal is a MASTERPIECE!!! I was riveted throughout Chapter Six. A wonderful piece of editing! BRAVO!

I found the voice replacement of Yoda both good and bad. It was a cool idea, though it was distracting that the editor decided to keep some of Frank Oz's voice like the "hhmphs". Also, there is a very noticeable background buzz whenever the voice replacement is used.

Which brings us the main contention of the edit, the new soundtrack. I enjoyed the majority of the selections and they complimented and enhanced many of the scenes. You could definitely feel the Tarantino vibe! There were times where I thought the new music could have been louder; for example the astroid scene and the scoundrel kiss scene.

But the main issue I had was in many of the scenes you can still faintly hear bits and pieces of the original John Williams soundtrack, particularly underneath many dialogue heavy scenes. NJVC has done an incredible job cutting/removing most of the original soundtrack, I hate to even imagine the number of hours and headaches he went through to get the edit to this point -- I do not envy him. But the fact remains the ghost of John Williams haunts the audio of this edit, and on occasion when it appears it would break my suspension of disbelief.

The video quality is excellent. The skills of the editor are masterful. If Tarantino's had directed The Empire Strikes Back, I can easily imagine it looking something very much what NJVC has accomplished. It is only the frustration of the some the original music overspill which prevents me from giving perfect 10s across the board. But I still highly recommend this edit. If you are jonesing for some exciting Star Wars, forget all those Prequel edits, and check this baby out!

Thumbs Up!

WATCH THIS...NEXT!!!!
REVIEW 101...and ANOTHER I thought I had reviewed...but had not...

PULP EMPIRE, more than ANY other edit opened up my eye to what could be done beyond extended editions, fixes and trims!

THIS WAS THE FIRST TRUE GAME CHANGER for me.

It was one of two edits that brought me back...coz I wanted to to dive in again.

The audacity, creativity, taboos and holy grails that this masterpiece just slices through is just astonishing.

WHO...in their right mind would not just tamper with a perfect film, but actually, turn it inside out, rescore it, change the entire feel, grindhouse it while actually making it even better (in its own mystical way), add a foreign language, GIANT CAPTIONS, and Ennio Morricone to boot...?!?!

When anyone asks me which fanedit they should start with, or recommend...PULP EMPIRE is my ONLY answer.

I'm not going to bore anyone with spoilers or the technicals...this is just perfection.

Seek it out...throw away your preconceptions....and go for the ride of your life.

I L O V E T H I S !! ! ! ! ! !
XXXXX

Wow. I am blown away. This was absolutely fun, fun, fun from start to finish! Rating this from a technical perspective it isn't perfect but it takes so many chances, does so many interesting things, and succeeds on so many levels that it hardly even matters. Be warned, you'll need to know your Star Wars movies relatively well because this edit is non-chronological.

Just some of my favorite moments: Pai Mei's voice for Yoda (inspired!), the character names popping up (DARTH VADER), the Hoth splitscreens, "Boba Fett" scrolling across the screen during his amazing intro, "A Silhouette of Doom" over the anime saber battle. And that's all just in the first half!!

Find a copy of this and watch it. It's guaranteed the most fun you'll have with a fan edit this month.

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.

I suppose where I'm coming from will surprise no one, but I am a fan of most things Tarantino, and Empire is one of my top 10 (maybe even top 5) favorite movies. Naturally, I was very excited for this edit when I heard about it and wanted to see this one for myself! I'm happy to say that, despite my high expectations, I was quite impressed!

This edit pretty much is the epitome of "give 'em what they want." I wanted a Tarantino-esque version of Empire Strikes Back, and I got it. I could throw in my own complaints, but they're of the super nit-picky variety. Like maybe that stylistic choice was overused, or I wish njvc used a different song for that moment, or the narration on that part was weird, etc. None of my criticisms hold any merit to the edit as a whole.

Like everyone else has already said, this is a fun watch! Of course, most Tarantino films are fun to begin with, so I consider it as a compliment that this edit manages to capture the feel of a Tarantino film. I find that the emotion of an edit is often one of the more underlooked aspects of fan editing, so I always appreciate it when a fanedit gets the feel just right!

If you saw this ifdb page and it immediately sparked your interest, then by all means, go seek it out! You won't be sorry.