Star Wars - Episode I: Shadow of the Sith

Broadcasting from a hidden location deep in majestic Canada, it is time for THE BIONIC MOVIE REVIEW SHOW!!!

With your hosts…..
BIONIC BOB– a forty something Postie who actually sat in theatres in 1977 and saw the first and best Star Wars movie!

and his partner, and super smart daughter….
BIONIC EM — a ten year old master at Lego Star Wars Saga DS!!!

Lets start talking about AUDIO QUALITY….

BB says “Other than a few soft background music moments, it sounded sharp, crisp and clear. I detected no significant drop outs or pops or anything negative. John Williams score still rocks the house!”

Bionic Em says, “uuuhhhhmmmmm…. ( Bionic Em thinks carefully) I didn’t notice anything bad. It was very dramatic sounding, but in a good way!”

SCORE: BB 9/10 BE 9.5/10

Moving onto the next round, VIDEO QUALITY….

Bionic Bob says, ” Excellent. The picture quality was beautiful. Noticed no difference from original DVD version”

Bionic Em says, “Why did the colour change when the robot-thingie attacked the Jedi-guy? The rest looked great. Especially Darth Maul! I love Darth Maul!!!!”

SCORE: BB 10/10 BE 9.5/10

Now moving onto the nitty gritty, VISUAL EDIT…

Bionic Bob says, ” The vast majority of edits are absolutely seemless. The only scene to me where it is clear that something was cut was when Qui-gon and company were departing from parts store (ok, I am not a big TPM fan, can’t remember character names…. Star Trek on the other hand….), the cuts are very fast but don’t quite flow smoothly. However, with that said, I think the biggest compliment you can give a Fan Edit is when you watch it and don’t realize anything is missing. L8wrtr cut I think over 30 minutes of footage, and for the life of me, I didn’t miss a thing. BRAVO!!!”

Bionic Em says, “I miss the guys who shoot at the podracers. But everything else is just like the video game, so it was awesome!”

SCORE BB 9/10 BE 9/10

And now the final round of discussion, OVERALL ENTERTAINMENT…

Bionic Bob says, “I have only watched a few TPM edits (The Phantom Edit, ADM’s Vergence) and this is by and far away the most aggressively edited version I have seen. And it works on all levels. JAR JAR is no longer annoying but a sympathetic character, which is an incredible accomplishment. The new scroll is wonderful, I love that it retained the Phantom Menence reference. The mystical conception of Anakin works completely for me. I completely agree with all the removed scenes. And the final restructure act works extremely well. All in all, a very good viewing experience. I may have found my definitive version of TPM. GREAT WORK! You should be very proud of your edit!!!”

Bionic Em says, “I think it was totally awesomeness because it was exciting and scary and all those awesome things. My favorite part was the big fight with Darth Maul because Darth Maul is awesome (daughter likes the word “awesome”). I also like the Jedi guy with the big head, he looks like a human egg! Really, it was an extraordinary movie, I give it THUMBS UP!”

SCORE BB 9/10 BE 10/10

FINAL SCORE TOTAL: 9/10

So there you have it, the views of a jaded Trekkie and a very happy 10 year old. I think it is safe to say this version of THE PHANTOM MENACE rocks! Thank you L8WRTR for a very enjoyable afternoon of movie fun!

THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS

I was pleasantly surprised with this edit. The only other edit of The Phantom Menace that I had seen before watching Shadow of the Sith was The Phantom Edit. Honestly, I had expected more from The Phantom Edit. I felt that it didn’t go far enough with its edits. After watching The Phantom Menace Revew – by RedletterMedia, I was even more turned off to The Phantom Menace. But L8wrtr’s edit turns this movie into something fast-paced and enjoyable.

DVD Presentation:
Nice Motion Menu. 20th Century Fox logo into the L8wrtr logo nice touch.

Movie itself:

Podrace: Thank you for making it bearable. Removing the ESPN style announcers was much needed! Removing Anakin being delayed at the starting line was good. It makes the pacing better the way you have him just stall for a second and then take off again. Also making it 3 laps makes it more entertaining and less of a chore to watch.

Removing of the midichlorians – how could anyone have a problem with this change!

Its great that Jar Jar is no longer a goofy outcast, and regarding the Gungans theres no spitting and quivering of the lips.

The ending was awesome. Im glad i didn’t read the cutlist ahead of time.. If I had known ahead of time the change to the ending it may not have had the same effect. But ending on the cliffhanger and with suspense was cool and works much better than the multipronged ending of the original movie from a celebration to a funeral etc.

Lastly, a real stroke of brilliance was adding that scene with the probe droid. Its crazy, I never realized it before, but TPM never really explains why Qui Gon is in such a rush to get back to the ship in the outer rim of Tatooine. They just cut to Qui Gon and Anakin running. So the addition of the probe droid scene made sense.

Well this is my definitive version of The Phantom Menace. I don’t know if I’ll be watching any other people’s fanedits (there’s only so much TPM i can watch!)

I look forward to future fanedits from L8wrtr!

Have you thought of combining your edit with the dubbing of Jar Jar and the Neimodians from Magnoliafan's edit? It seems like that would create the near-perfect version of this flawed film. I'm not sure what the etiquette is in the Fan Editing scene for using other people's improvements...

FINALLY! I have been searching for the perfect fanedit of THE PHANTOM MENACE for years. When THE PHANTOM EDIT was first released, it was a breath of fresh air. I had never seen anything like it and I thought it was the perfect edit. Watching it years later, I started to notice lots of things that were still in the film that I hated. Since then, I have downloaded several MENACE edits and none of them have gone far enough … until now. Simply put, L8WRTR’s edit is brilliant. I was smiling from ear to ear as I watched this, as L8WRTR made almost every single cut that I had wanted. Seriously, it was if he somehow got into my brain and made this cut just for me. This is, far and away, the greatest MENACE edit available. That being said, there are still a few small issues. The last line of the opening crawl is clumsy and unnecessary. It ruins what I thought was an otherwise excellent opening crawl. There are still a few too many annoying Jar-Jar and Anakin moments / lines (“Yousa thinking yousa people gonna die?”, “They all brokey”, “Are you an Angel?”, “I’m a person and my name is Anakin!”, Anakin’s woo-hoo as he exits the exploding Droid Control Ship). Also, I don’t like the virgin birth angle but I get that L8WRTR will be utilizing this sub-plot in future prequel edits. Going out on a positive note, L8WRTR’s editing of the end battles is amazing. The best part, by far, is Darth Maul’s death. He no longer dies like a little bitch! That has always bugged me and I’ve never seen it addressed in a fanedit. Bravo, sir! If you’re like me and hate the movie but feel the need to watch it during complete STAR WARS marathons, this is the only edit worth your time. Also, give the commentary a listen. It’s really informative and L8WRTR is very knowledgable and entertaining.

I very much enjoyed this edit of Star Wars: Episode I. Anakin is less annoying, Jar-Jar is a lot less annoying. Unnecessary and repetitive dialog has been greatly cut down. My only minor complaint is C3PO's line "I find that Jar-Jar creature to be a bit odd". This line maybe should've been removed since the majority of Jar-Jar's scenes have been cut. The overall pace of the movie is much improved as it's much faster at getting to the point.