Revenge of the Sith by DominicCobb

ROVS has always been high on my list of favorite Star Wars movies but the problem of Anakins sudden turn to the dark side has continued to bother me. It just does not convince.
Dominic Cobb has done wonders to rectify this, particularily the decision to move the opera scene forward but lots of other little changes also make for a much more gradual and believable slide into the dark side for Anakin.
The changes to the music are very well executed and the music was well chosen.

The changes to the rescue of Palpatine in the opening sequence and to the Order 66 are daring and while I prefer the original in this aspect it works very well within this edit.

For me this is now the best version of ROVS out there.

Great editing and technically spotless all around.

Now the cutlist intrigued me for some things I always wanted to see but couldn't find in any other edit previously (to be specific, the removal of the buzz droids sequence was what caught my eye, and it works seamlessly). There are also lots of other small trims that tone down the film's overindulgence on CGi worldbuilding, like removing the brief shot of the gas helpers in Utapau. These are the kinds of cuts that I think always benefit the PT immensely without being heavy-handed.

As for the order of events, I have grown accustomed to not seeing most of the scenes with Padmé idling in their Coruscant loft, courtesy of other fanedits, and now to see them again makes it feel much more pace breaking for me. I feel the same way with some brief moments of levity that are kept but, like the other small CGi snippets, could've gone without being missed - like the Battle Droids bullying R2 aboard the Invisible Hand, for example.

I actually found the more radical cuts, like the reduced Order 66, to be less shocking in light of what the edit proposes, which is to be closer to the OT in execution, so that was one reasoning I could follow. However it does lose some impact when viewed as an event pivotal to the film as a single feature, since we are constantly reminded by the film's production design that this is a galaxy-wide classical tragedy involving lots of players. That's also to say that I'm not the greatest fan of the new color grade, even though I also get where it's coming from. Because again, the production design screams lush set pieces and costumes and the OT grade just muffles all that.

I have mixed feelings for the rescored scenes as well. While they are very well implemented, I feel it gives the film a much too "Indiana Jonesy" vibe (for lack of a better definition), as it sounds like the film is always revelling at its own imagery rather than following the different beats to the narrative.

Still a great fanedit and a certainly solid choice that should check all the right boxes for many fans.

I'm glad I could watch it and thank you DominicCobb for sharing it.

I really enjoyed this cut of the film. I always liked Hal9000's takes on the Prequel Trilogy but there was always a small part of me that missed the Anakin/Padme scenes (cringe as they were), as they gave a more nuanced glimpse of Anakin's fall. Not only are they back in trimmed form (plus the earnestness, minus the cringe, IMP), but the restructure of the middle of the film really nails the gradual slope of Anakin's paranoia, desperation, and confusion, which Palpatine manipulates to his advantage.

I definitely agree with Hal9000's reasoning that the more nuanced motivations are at odds with the Original Trilogy's implication of how it went down, not to mention the problems with Padme dying and Leia's supposed memories of her mother (but maybe she meant Bail Organa's wife?). On the other hand, my preference is that the main story/emotional beats of a film play out more-or-less in the way the original director intended, and this is what we get here. The heaviest changes are the excisions of the Yoda/Sidious fight, and the Order 66 montage (both work to keep the film more focused on the main characters).

I particularly appreciated that the re-inserted scene of Obi-Wan and Yoda returning to the temple (taken out of Hal's edit) was re-inserted with edits to make the combat more defensive, rather than offensive (holding to OT sensibilities).

The OT-inspired video filter and music cues are used well and lean into the fact that the PT was made with the assumption that the OT had been seen first (no getting around that, despite Secior's best efforts). The video and audio are both top-notch.

I have nitpicks, but really, that's all they are. This is a focused cut of the film with inspired editing choices that make the film much stronger, easily rivaling Hal9000's. I absolutely love that the fan-editing community is building upon each other's inspiration. Who knows what the inevitable next cut will have in store?

I have watched numerous ROTS edits over the years Stankpac, L8WRTR and Q2's being my go to versions, however, not one of those have fully connected with me - a combination of all those mentioned edits plus the new FX of Hal9000's would be the pièce de résistance....and well we almost had it with Dominic Cobb's ROTS. Of course i am watching the edit subjectively.
This edit really kicks in from the moment Padme announces her pregnancy. There are subtle moments before this scene like the banter between Obi Wan and Anakin and the decapitation of Dooku that are top notch but you still can't get beyond the hammy acting and bad dialogue in some of those early scenes and this is something no faneditor can fix.
What really is the triumph of this edit is the gradual turn of Anakin...its just more believable..the darkness slowly burns inside of him over a longer period of time and you know you are on to a winning formula when you (the viewer) find yourself so engrossed in Anakin's turmoil . My main bugbear of the theatrical is the almost instant turn towards the dark (I personally would have had Anakin gradually toying with the concept of turning back in Episode 2 and have his dreams and paranoia tormenting him over a couple of films but hey lets not go into that here)
The new grade and musical cues are spot on and are not even something that entered my mind in my imaginary perfect ROTS edit. Let's call them an added bonus
Personally i would trim a few instances of dialogue and would also insert the Other Boleyn Girl scene back into the fold as i am an OT kid and Padme doesn't die in my world but other than that this is the gold medal winner of ROTS edits. Now i'm off to scrounge a higher GB file off Dom (If he has one) so i can watch this sucker on my projector.

This is an extremely good edit of ROTS, probably my favorite of the ones available (including my own!).

Firs thing that pops out is the look. The tweaked colors and film grain just make it feel more like Star Wars. The updated music and pacing also make it feel more in line with the classic Trilogy. Anakin's story plays out a bit more believably, though of course still isn't perfect.

This edit is full of smart choices and little improvements. There's no enormous major changes, but all these small things add up to the best version of this movie by quite a bit.

Highly recommended!