Star Wars - Episode I: Shadow of the Sith
Hot
Updated
User reviews
60 reviews
Overall rating
9.2
Audio/Video Quality
9.6(34)
Audio Editing
9.3(34)
Visual Editing
9.4(34)
Narrative
9.1(34)
Enjoyment
8.8(60)
Overall rating
9.8
Audio/Video Quality
10.0
Audio Editing
10.0
Visual Editing
10.0
Narrative
10.0
Enjoyment
9.0
Pretty good edit. I enjoyed it. Limiting Jar Jar, the senseless battle scenes and the pod racing are all good ideas. I would have preferred some dubbing for Jar Jar and friends, but it's not too bad.
User Review
Do you recommend this edit?
Yes
Format Watched?
Digital
R
Overall rating
9.4
Audio/Video Quality
9.0
Audio Editing
10.0
Visual Editing
10.0
Narrative
9.0
Enjoyment
9.0
First let me set up the scene for you:
There's three of us taking this ride. Two of us have seen all of the films in their original forms. One of us has never seen a Star Wars film in their life. The original plan was to watch the original trilogy that's it. No fuss. Somewhere in the two weeks between watching episode 4 and 5, I read an article about what order is the best order to watch Star Wars. In that article I read an interesting perspective, you watch episode 4 and 5, and then watch episodes 1-3, before watching episode 6. That way episodes 1-3 acts a flashback for darth vader, there's some time to let the cliffhanger sink in from episode 5, you preserve all the reveals in episode 5 (including I AM YOUR FATHER) and you end on a happy conclusion in episode 6.
Here is the article for reference.
http://www.fanpop.com/clubs/star-war...-wars-marathon
I thought this was a cool idea, I'm already having fun watching these movies with somebody who never watched them before and it's been at least 10 years since I've seen them myself. But there's no freaking way I'm watching the prequels in theatrical format, nope, not happening. So I do some research and lo and behold there's a dozen prequel edits. There were two that catched my interest the most Q2's and L8Wrtr's. Based off of the number of positive things I heard about L8Wrtr's that's the cut I went with (also accessibility was a factor). I was on the roll, after some convincing of the other Star Wars watchers (especially the one who had seen the prequels), we were on our way.
Coming to tonight, our first adventure into the prequel fanedits. And what an adventure it was. While the first time watcher only rated the film at about a 5 and a half to 6, he had no knowledge of how truly awful these films were. I thought it was tremendous how much better the film was. Seriously.
Technical Specs first:
Audio/Video Quality
Most of the audio video quality was superb, only one or two scenes where the video looked slightly grainy (I think it was the deleted scenes, which I didn't realize were deleted scenes). The audio quality was mostly excellent, I had my usual problem with the effects/soundtrack being way higher than the dialogue. 9/10
Video Editing/Audio Editing:
You would almost never have guessed that any changes were made. Some things come off slightly odd, narrative wise, but mostly it's all very well done. Totally digging the old school swipes and it made it feel consistent with the rest of the saga. 10/10
Narrative:
The story was way tighter and more importantly it mostly all made sense. It's very straightforward and I appreciated that very much. The politics are still politicky and need some focused concentration, but the gist of it is clear. The plan talked about by Padme before the climax lays out what should happen in the final act, but it goes by too fast that I had to reiterate it a couple of times to the rest of my crew watching with me. At times the movie seemed too fast paced for it's own good, but I don't know how you could have done it any better without leaving more crap in the movie.
Enjoyment:
WOW. I really enjoyed this movie. First of all, from the beginning, Shadow of the Sith is a badass title. The opening crawl is clear and concise, gets to the point of the movie right away without delving into too much politics.
Act 1:
The opening is a blast to watch with Qui-Gon and Obi Wan fighting their way out of the tough spot. Love that opening scene and it sets the pace masterfully. The scenes with the emperor pulling the strings makes it clear there's more at work here. Jar Jar is beautifully excised all his dumb stupid crap is gone, he looks slightly out of place just following around, but because he plays a role in the third act, it's impossible to excise him completely. The conversations are light and get to the point moving the plot along switfully. Act 1 is a blast and clearly has no problems.
Act 2:
It's in act 2 where the choppiness begins to take a toll as the whole movie feels like a chase picture. The Jedi's rush from the ambush to the Gungan City from which they rush to Naboo palace, which they rush away in an escape, which crash, which they rush to get back in the air, rush back to the senate, and rush back to Naboo. It starts to feel a little choppy, but really it's still worth it because the underlying problems are with the actors and the characters (especially Jake Lloyd and Natalie Portman who are both stiff as all hell). I think the dialgue and the chemistry between the two could have been sold better by more capable actors. Even "Are you an Angel" doesn't bother me nearly as much as the batshit crazy things the mother says and will allow her son to do. Nonetheless, she is probably overwhelmed by the situation for his birth and is thinking crazy shit about who he is altogether. Qui Gon and Palpatine shine pretty brightly in this picture, each one playing up their character. Qui Gon especially sets the stage for his kind old jedi act to utmost devotion to his belief in the child. Oh and thank goodness that Pod race is heavily cut, it feels much better playing out like a drag race near the end more than an endurance test. I wish you could have cut the rest of the racers all together really.
Act 3:
This is when the movie came together for me. I finally saw something that I never saw before thanks to this cut. And it's this: I love the dichotomy between Anakin and Luke in this move and Episode 4. The naive boy who leaves home with an elder stranger who he has just met, and more importantly that same boy saves the day, by making a shot when no other pilot could. For Luke, the force was a struggle, here it's Anakin uses it with such cavalier attitude. Nothing that good comes easy. Also reading the notes from L8wrtr makes this edit stronger, with nobody else saving the day, no decoy princess, no other crap. The situation is dire and it's saved by the boy that nobody believed in except for Qui Gon. Same with Kenobi and Luke, how much crap did Hans and Leia talk about before Luke jumped in that X-wing. Tons. 7/10
Some issues:
Now I understand a faneditor can't go back and reshoot scens and get rid of bad acting.. I understand that, but this movie is jumping from a 2 or a 3 to about a 7 and that's a big jump.
Nonetheless, the politicks sometimes gets a little unclear even if it is super streamlined, and the plan for the climax is really unclear with one scene to describe it. I definitely like the urgency of the whole situation especially on the escape from Tatooine but it does at times feel choppy. And as someone else pointed out, Anakin is told by Qui Gon to tell the ship to take off, but Obi Wan says the same thing a few minutes later. Also the reveal that Padme is the real princess and the princess is the double, is cool, but it's never used for any useful purpose. I understand it's necessary to cut to get the ending wanted here, and it's necessary to show for the Gungan alliance negotiation, but it just didn't fit right with no legitimate use for it.
In the end we had a great time watching this. And that's really what matters. Great job, and we're looking forward to the next two parts of your prequel trilogy for the next two weeks.
There's three of us taking this ride. Two of us have seen all of the films in their original forms. One of us has never seen a Star Wars film in their life. The original plan was to watch the original trilogy that's it. No fuss. Somewhere in the two weeks between watching episode 4 and 5, I read an article about what order is the best order to watch Star Wars. In that article I read an interesting perspective, you watch episode 4 and 5, and then watch episodes 1-3, before watching episode 6. That way episodes 1-3 acts a flashback for darth vader, there's some time to let the cliffhanger sink in from episode 5, you preserve all the reveals in episode 5 (including I AM YOUR FATHER) and you end on a happy conclusion in episode 6.
Here is the article for reference.
http://www.fanpop.com/clubs/star-war...-wars-marathon
I thought this was a cool idea, I'm already having fun watching these movies with somebody who never watched them before and it's been at least 10 years since I've seen them myself. But there's no freaking way I'm watching the prequels in theatrical format, nope, not happening. So I do some research and lo and behold there's a dozen prequel edits. There were two that catched my interest the most Q2's and L8Wrtr's. Based off of the number of positive things I heard about L8Wrtr's that's the cut I went with (also accessibility was a factor). I was on the roll, after some convincing of the other Star Wars watchers (especially the one who had seen the prequels), we were on our way.
Coming to tonight, our first adventure into the prequel fanedits. And what an adventure it was. While the first time watcher only rated the film at about a 5 and a half to 6, he had no knowledge of how truly awful these films were. I thought it was tremendous how much better the film was. Seriously.
Technical Specs first:
Audio/Video Quality
Most of the audio video quality was superb, only one or two scenes where the video looked slightly grainy (I think it was the deleted scenes, which I didn't realize were deleted scenes). The audio quality was mostly excellent, I had my usual problem with the effects/soundtrack being way higher than the dialogue. 9/10
Video Editing/Audio Editing:
You would almost never have guessed that any changes were made. Some things come off slightly odd, narrative wise, but mostly it's all very well done. Totally digging the old school swipes and it made it feel consistent with the rest of the saga. 10/10
Narrative:
The story was way tighter and more importantly it mostly all made sense. It's very straightforward and I appreciated that very much. The politics are still politicky and need some focused concentration, but the gist of it is clear. The plan talked about by Padme before the climax lays out what should happen in the final act, but it goes by too fast that I had to reiterate it a couple of times to the rest of my crew watching with me. At times the movie seemed too fast paced for it's own good, but I don't know how you could have done it any better without leaving more crap in the movie.
Enjoyment:
WOW. I really enjoyed this movie. First of all, from the beginning, Shadow of the Sith is a badass title. The opening crawl is clear and concise, gets to the point of the movie right away without delving into too much politics.
Act 1:
The opening is a blast to watch with Qui-Gon and Obi Wan fighting their way out of the tough spot. Love that opening scene and it sets the pace masterfully. The scenes with the emperor pulling the strings makes it clear there's more at work here. Jar Jar is beautifully excised all his dumb stupid crap is gone, he looks slightly out of place just following around, but because he plays a role in the third act, it's impossible to excise him completely. The conversations are light and get to the point moving the plot along switfully. Act 1 is a blast and clearly has no problems.
Act 2:
It's in act 2 where the choppiness begins to take a toll as the whole movie feels like a chase picture. The Jedi's rush from the ambush to the Gungan City from which they rush to Naboo palace, which they rush away in an escape, which crash, which they rush to get back in the air, rush back to the senate, and rush back to Naboo. It starts to feel a little choppy, but really it's still worth it because the underlying problems are with the actors and the characters (especially Jake Lloyd and Natalie Portman who are both stiff as all hell). I think the dialgue and the chemistry between the two could have been sold better by more capable actors. Even "Are you an Angel" doesn't bother me nearly as much as the batshit crazy things the mother says and will allow her son to do. Nonetheless, she is probably overwhelmed by the situation for his birth and is thinking crazy shit about who he is altogether. Qui Gon and Palpatine shine pretty brightly in this picture, each one playing up their character. Qui Gon especially sets the stage for his kind old jedi act to utmost devotion to his belief in the child. Oh and thank goodness that Pod race is heavily cut, it feels much better playing out like a drag race near the end more than an endurance test. I wish you could have cut the rest of the racers all together really.
Act 3:
This is when the movie came together for me. I finally saw something that I never saw before thanks to this cut. And it's this: I love the dichotomy between Anakin and Luke in this move and Episode 4. The naive boy who leaves home with an elder stranger who he has just met, and more importantly that same boy saves the day, by making a shot when no other pilot could. For Luke, the force was a struggle, here it's Anakin uses it with such cavalier attitude. Nothing that good comes easy. Also reading the notes from L8wrtr makes this edit stronger, with nobody else saving the day, no decoy princess, no other crap. The situation is dire and it's saved by the boy that nobody believed in except for Qui Gon. Same with Kenobi and Luke, how much crap did Hans and Leia talk about before Luke jumped in that X-wing. Tons. 7/10
Some issues:
Now I understand a faneditor can't go back and reshoot scens and get rid of bad acting.. I understand that, but this movie is jumping from a 2 or a 3 to about a 7 and that's a big jump.
Nonetheless, the politicks sometimes gets a little unclear even if it is super streamlined, and the plan for the climax is really unclear with one scene to describe it. I definitely like the urgency of the whole situation especially on the escape from Tatooine but it does at times feel choppy. And as someone else pointed out, Anakin is told by Qui Gon to tell the ship to take off, but Obi Wan says the same thing a few minutes later. Also the reveal that Padme is the real princess and the princess is the double, is cool, but it's never used for any useful purpose. I understand it's necessary to cut to get the ending wanted here, and it's necessary to show for the Gungan alliance negotiation, but it just didn't fit right with no legitimate use for it.
In the end we had a great time watching this. And that's really what matters. Great job, and we're looking forward to the next two parts of your prequel trilogy for the next two weeks.
User Review
Do you recommend this edit?
Yes
Format Watched?
AVCHD
E
(Updated: May 13, 2013)
Overall rating
9.4
Audio/Video Quality
10.0
Audio Editing
10.0
Visual Editing
9.0
Narrative
9.0
Enjoyment
9.0
To say that this was a massive improvement over the original would be an understatement! L8wrtr has managed to turn an unwatchable film into an enjoyable one. This is now a good movie.
To start from the beginning - I love the title 'Shadow of the Sith'. It's so much more intriguing and cooler than 'The Phantom Menace' (what was George Lucas thinking!) The new opening scroll is great too. L8's editing technique throughout is excellent and hardly noticeable.
He has of course cut out all the worst aspects of the movie but also majorly improved the story and how you feel about and relate to the characters. I'm frankly amazed at what he's managed to do with the story. When I watched the Phantom edit, although it was an improvement over the original, afterward I felt disappointed as though the movie just couldn't be saved. What a difference with this edit though. He's managed to show that there was a great story hiding under there all the time. This is certainly not a movie solely for under 8 year olds anymore.
As for Jar jar, he was fine, hardly bothered me at all, the Gungans seem like a more noble race, the politics is actually interesting now as is watching Palpatine's manipulating things. Everything's so much clearer now.
Anakin's character is vastly improved. He's still a little annoying occasionally but it doesn't bother me because his character is so much better overall. It's a great move IMO to have him destroy the mothership on purpose, I think it really works. After all he's already shown that he's strong with the force through the pod race, he can clearly fly a pod and exceptionally well. Qui-gon says he has Jedi reflexes and can see things before they happen. So yeah I can take the leap of faith to say he could blow up the mothership. Plus he is meant to be the chosen one. Which brings me to, that I'm not sure that it was necessary to keep in the chosen one idea. In fact I'd be interested to understand L8's thinking on the matter. Perhaps I missed it on the commentary? Anyhow it doesn't spoil the story at all, and thankfully there are no midiclorians!
The commentary tracks on all of L8's prequel trilogy are great, very much worth your time. (For some reason the volume was very low on Episode I's commentary though?) They are up there with the best of even commercially available DVDs. In fact I listened to it first before I watched the movie. And I think it really helped me to "unlearn what I had learned". It made me realise that the story, pacing and creating characters we can empathise with has to come first, even if that means cutting out scenes that some people may like and would prefer left in. That goes for all three of his prequel edits and I have to say that it really works. And believe me, the way he's crafted these films really pays off by the time you've finished watching Episode III - Dawn of the empire. It all leads there..
The blu-ray quality is incredible! Beautiful in fact. It's an excellent transfer. Looks amazing on my projector. It does unfortunately make the 2 deleted scenes (despite the fact that they've been up scaled) stand out like a sore thumb. This is a lot less noticeable on the dvd DL version though. It's a difficult one because it does take you out of the moment, which is not a good thing but on the other hand the scenes really do add a lot. Overall I think it's worth them being there. Shame Lucas hasn't released the scenes in HD, maybe one day...
Despite it being cut by 40 mins it still feels like a complete movie, it doesn't feel rushed to me and yes it feels like Star Wars. As others have commented, the re-edited last 3rd of the movie is a master stroke. Works so well. And there are so many other masterful cuts that bring the movie to life. I'm not saying its perfect, no edit of Phantom could be, but the small things that bothered me just didn't matter over all because the Edit itself is just so good.
If you watch this once and don't like it, honestly give it another go. I've watched SOTS four times now and it continues to improve. The Phantom Menace has almost completely been erased from my mind and replaced with this :-D
Coming to the end, I love the Duel of fates track playing in the credits instead of the normal Star Wars theme. It really sets an ominous tone for the next movies. Of course if you'd prefer the movie end with the original theme you can select it in extras.
So finally...
Original movie rating 4//10
SOTS movie rating 8/10
Editing 10/10
SOTS is an amazing edit and IMO the best Episode I edit out there!
To start from the beginning - I love the title 'Shadow of the Sith'. It's so much more intriguing and cooler than 'The Phantom Menace' (what was George Lucas thinking!) The new opening scroll is great too. L8's editing technique throughout is excellent and hardly noticeable.
He has of course cut out all the worst aspects of the movie but also majorly improved the story and how you feel about and relate to the characters. I'm frankly amazed at what he's managed to do with the story. When I watched the Phantom edit, although it was an improvement over the original, afterward I felt disappointed as though the movie just couldn't be saved. What a difference with this edit though. He's managed to show that there was a great story hiding under there all the time. This is certainly not a movie solely for under 8 year olds anymore.
As for Jar jar, he was fine, hardly bothered me at all, the Gungans seem like a more noble race, the politics is actually interesting now as is watching Palpatine's manipulating things. Everything's so much clearer now.
Anakin's character is vastly improved. He's still a little annoying occasionally but it doesn't bother me because his character is so much better overall. It's a great move IMO to have him destroy the mothership on purpose, I think it really works. After all he's already shown that he's strong with the force through the pod race, he can clearly fly a pod and exceptionally well. Qui-gon says he has Jedi reflexes and can see things before they happen. So yeah I can take the leap of faith to say he could blow up the mothership. Plus he is meant to be the chosen one. Which brings me to, that I'm not sure that it was necessary to keep in the chosen one idea. In fact I'd be interested to understand L8's thinking on the matter. Perhaps I missed it on the commentary? Anyhow it doesn't spoil the story at all, and thankfully there are no midiclorians!
The commentary tracks on all of L8's prequel trilogy are great, very much worth your time. (For some reason the volume was very low on Episode I's commentary though?) They are up there with the best of even commercially available DVDs. In fact I listened to it first before I watched the movie. And I think it really helped me to "unlearn what I had learned". It made me realise that the story, pacing and creating characters we can empathise with has to come first, even if that means cutting out scenes that some people may like and would prefer left in. That goes for all three of his prequel edits and I have to say that it really works. And believe me, the way he's crafted these films really pays off by the time you've finished watching Episode III - Dawn of the empire. It all leads there..
The blu-ray quality is incredible! Beautiful in fact. It's an excellent transfer. Looks amazing on my projector. It does unfortunately make the 2 deleted scenes (despite the fact that they've been up scaled) stand out like a sore thumb. This is a lot less noticeable on the dvd DL version though. It's a difficult one because it does take you out of the moment, which is not a good thing but on the other hand the scenes really do add a lot. Overall I think it's worth them being there. Shame Lucas hasn't released the scenes in HD, maybe one day...
Despite it being cut by 40 mins it still feels like a complete movie, it doesn't feel rushed to me and yes it feels like Star Wars. As others have commented, the re-edited last 3rd of the movie is a master stroke. Works so well. And there are so many other masterful cuts that bring the movie to life. I'm not saying its perfect, no edit of Phantom could be, but the small things that bothered me just didn't matter over all because the Edit itself is just so good.
If you watch this once and don't like it, honestly give it another go. I've watched SOTS four times now and it continues to improve. The Phantom Menace has almost completely been erased from my mind and replaced with this :-D
Coming to the end, I love the Duel of fates track playing in the credits instead of the normal Star Wars theme. It really sets an ominous tone for the next movies. Of course if you'd prefer the movie end with the original theme you can select it in extras.
So finally...
Original movie rating 4//10
SOTS movie rating 8/10
Editing 10/10
SOTS is an amazing edit and IMO the best Episode I edit out there!
User Review
Format Watched?
Blu-Ray
M
Overall rating
9.0
Audio/Video Quality
9.0
Audio Editing
9.0
Visual Editing
9.0
Narrative
9.0
Enjoyment
9.0
Technical:
I'm new to the fanedit phenomenon and don't feel like my experience is such that I can comment on L8's technical expertise. All I can in this regard is that, with very rare exception, did any of the edits jump out to me and say "I'm a fan edit!" It could easily be confused with an actual studio release.
Enjoyment:
I prefer this version not only to the theatrical release, but to the famed phantom edit as well. While I would concede there are a few moments captured in the Phantom Edit that are missed, L8's pacing and storytelling is completely consistent.
Until something better comes along, which considering how high the bar was raised here I doubt will happen soon, this will be my go-to version of the movie.
Thank you!
User Review
Do you recommend this edit?
Yes
Format Watched?
DVD
B
Enjoyment
9.0
**OVERVIEW**
I haven’t watched/reviewed L8wrtr’s trilogy, until the final piece of the puzzle was made available.
Now, for the first time ever, despite having wanted to do so earlier, I set back to watch Shadow of the Sith.
So, here it goes:
Right from the start, I never payed much attention to how “I can assure our blockade is effectively legal” was a stupid hint at saying it wasn’t. Glad to see it removed. No underwater sequences either. The Sando Aqua monster was always very impressive, so it’s kind of sad to see him removed though. That thing was impressive!
I’d rather have the droids not speak at all, but the minimum use of it here suits just as well.
The initial meeting with Anakin in Watto’s store was still full of typical mind-numbing Anakin-esque lines.
His fight with “Greedo” could have done without the latter’s name being revealed, while still being a useful hint towards Anakin’s darker, more violent nature.
Not having Anakin mention he’s “building a droid” is great, because everyone should know Anakin never built Anakin. He only found him on a dump and cleaned him up with new parts. Nevertheless, the “he’s not finished” part can still be confusing to that end. I don’t consider it obtrusive to the viewing experience though. Obviously, Jar-Jar’s antics have been removed too, which can only work for the best.
Almost everyone has their own “Captain Obvious moments”. Anakin’s “it’s working, it’s working!” is still there. Not bothersome, but regrettable.
Anakin doesn’t shout when being lifted up into his pod by Qui-Gonn, and a very trimmed announcer. Great stuff.
Were there new sounds there? I could’ve sworn I heard Formula 1 cars revving up :)
I’ve actually grown quite tiresome of Episode I, both in its original, and fanedited form, so forgive me if I can’t remember.
The crowd’s no longer making fun of Anakin. Great work.
Jumping from a side view of Anakin and Shmi, to a close up of both, looks a bit weird (during their celebration).
Again, not obtrusive to the viewing experience.
The inclusion of the probe droid scene is great, since it is, in itself, great material, but the difference in quality was still noticeable. It makes me wonder if there was nothing else that could have been done to further enhance the footage.
No CGI Yoda? LOL
Removing some of Darth Maul’s stupid taunts was good work. It could have been even shorter, but going from Anakin crash landing straight to Obi-Wan gutting Darth Maul would have been too quick. Trimming everything would only work with the scene as a whole, and not intercut with Anakin’s space fight. Good work salvaging all it was worth. Anakin in space still doesn’t work for me. I can’t wait to see how Q2 will remove Anakin from the battle, because that, to me, is the only possible route an Episode I fanedit should take. I hope he can pull it off.
All in all, great work.
————————————-
TECHNICAL ASPECTS
————————————-
VIDEO:
****
09:02- Slightly jarring wipe from the lake to underwater (Because of the audio/footage-not a glitch)
11:40- Wipe on Qui-Gonn nodding was too soon
Overall: 4 out of 5 stars
AUDIO:
*****
Nothing worth noting. All went by smoothly.
Overall:
5 out of 5 stars
PRESENTATION:
*****
Trademark Star Wars menu with special features. Great work.
Overall:
5 out of 5 stars
IMPROVEMENT OVER THE ORIGINAL:
****
While it is definitely an improvement, there’s a little bit left to desire. I’m still waiting for a fanedit that will either combine every best bit all the others have to offer, or take everything in a bold new direction, that leaves the original to bite the dust.
Overall:
4 out of 5 stars
————————————————–
FINAL SCORE: 4.5 out of 5 stars
————————————————–
Adds up to a fanedit score of:
9 out of 10 stars
I haven’t watched/reviewed L8wrtr’s trilogy, until the final piece of the puzzle was made available.
Now, for the first time ever, despite having wanted to do so earlier, I set back to watch Shadow of the Sith.
So, here it goes:
Right from the start, I never payed much attention to how “I can assure our blockade is effectively legal” was a stupid hint at saying it wasn’t. Glad to see it removed. No underwater sequences either. The Sando Aqua monster was always very impressive, so it’s kind of sad to see him removed though. That thing was impressive!
I’d rather have the droids not speak at all, but the minimum use of it here suits just as well.
The initial meeting with Anakin in Watto’s store was still full of typical mind-numbing Anakin-esque lines.
His fight with “Greedo” could have done without the latter’s name being revealed, while still being a useful hint towards Anakin’s darker, more violent nature.
Not having Anakin mention he’s “building a droid” is great, because everyone should know Anakin never built Anakin. He only found him on a dump and cleaned him up with new parts. Nevertheless, the “he’s not finished” part can still be confusing to that end. I don’t consider it obtrusive to the viewing experience though. Obviously, Jar-Jar’s antics have been removed too, which can only work for the best.
Almost everyone has their own “Captain Obvious moments”. Anakin’s “it’s working, it’s working!” is still there. Not bothersome, but regrettable.
Anakin doesn’t shout when being lifted up into his pod by Qui-Gonn, and a very trimmed announcer. Great stuff.
Were there new sounds there? I could’ve sworn I heard Formula 1 cars revving up :)
I’ve actually grown quite tiresome of Episode I, both in its original, and fanedited form, so forgive me if I can’t remember.
The crowd’s no longer making fun of Anakin. Great work.
Jumping from a side view of Anakin and Shmi, to a close up of both, looks a bit weird (during their celebration).
Again, not obtrusive to the viewing experience.
The inclusion of the probe droid scene is great, since it is, in itself, great material, but the difference in quality was still noticeable. It makes me wonder if there was nothing else that could have been done to further enhance the footage.
No CGI Yoda? LOL
Removing some of Darth Maul’s stupid taunts was good work. It could have been even shorter, but going from Anakin crash landing straight to Obi-Wan gutting Darth Maul would have been too quick. Trimming everything would only work with the scene as a whole, and not intercut with Anakin’s space fight. Good work salvaging all it was worth. Anakin in space still doesn’t work for me. I can’t wait to see how Q2 will remove Anakin from the battle, because that, to me, is the only possible route an Episode I fanedit should take. I hope he can pull it off.
All in all, great work.
————————————-
TECHNICAL ASPECTS
————————————-
VIDEO:
****
09:02- Slightly jarring wipe from the lake to underwater (Because of the audio/footage-not a glitch)
11:40- Wipe on Qui-Gonn nodding was too soon
Overall: 4 out of 5 stars
AUDIO:
*****
Nothing worth noting. All went by smoothly.
Overall:
5 out of 5 stars
PRESENTATION:
*****
Trademark Star Wars menu with special features. Great work.
Overall:
5 out of 5 stars
IMPROVEMENT OVER THE ORIGINAL:
****
While it is definitely an improvement, there’s a little bit left to desire. I’m still waiting for a fanedit that will either combine every best bit all the others have to offer, or take everything in a bold new direction, that leaves the original to bite the dust.
Overall:
4 out of 5 stars
————————————————–
FINAL SCORE: 4.5 out of 5 stars
————————————————–
Adds up to a fanedit score of:
9 out of 10 stars
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