Star Wars - Episode I: Shadow of the Sith

This was the best Episode I edit I've seen (although I've seen like 3). It's still Episode I so it's still pretty terrible as a movie, but compared to the original it's fantastic.

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!

Awesome!!! It may benefit from further polishing although seeing as the main improvement is the step down from the overly bright, overly clean appearance that separated prequeals from the originals Im not sure. Its got low techification effects to immitate the earlier production standards, and a grittier feeling to the shots, grainier maybe - I guess like the old school film used (no expert here) - a fuzzy filter. Ive got AVCHD streaming file viewed on VLC. Maybe a bluray grade MKV will be all improvement necessary.

Its been ages since I watched these as kind of fell out of love with the Star Wars universe after its loss of homogeneity, lacking a vital sense of continuity between the films. I believe this fan edit has done what needed to be done. Less appeal to the 'family friendly' crowd with lame humour; what I was calling Disneipifcation before I understood what that really meant..... Im new here and am yet to behold a salvation of the sequels. Good start on this one!!!

I was always of the opinion that the prequel trilogy was a complete mess and pretty much beyond redemption (with a few exceptions) but L8wrtr's edits for each of the three prequel films has proven me wrong and I couldn't be happier about it!

It can't have been an easy task to try and salvage "The Phantom Menace" but this edit goes a long way to restructuring the narrative of the film to make it far more cohesive and in large part makes more "sense". The film gets going much faster and has cut out a lot of the gripes fans had with the prequel such as the overlong podracing sequence, the clunky dialogue and of course Jar-Jar in general. Not to mention all the stupid over-the-top CGI scenes and that awful parade scene at the end of the movie. All gone!

Even the title is far superior. "The Phantom Menace" was a really weak title but "Shadow of the Sith" fits better with the overall story that the Sith appear to have made a return. I recommend this edited version to all my Star Wars friends as a way to try and redeem the Prequel Trilogy and I am happy to say that it has changed their opinions of them after watching these edits.

I would definitely recommend this edit!

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...