Star Wars - Episode I: Shadow of the Sith

L8wrtr adds his list of names to those who have undertaken the Herculean task of trying to fix the Star Wars prequels. His cut is a nice quick edit that clocks in at around 90 minutes.

I was surprised to discover that I still wish he had cut *more.* It's not his fault; it's just how badly I react to the original film, I guess. I haven't seen a cut that ever went deep enough for me. Of course, any less running time, and it would no longer even be a feature. I suppose my ideal version of Phantom Menace would be roughly 30 minutes long!

None of this is a complaint at L8's ability to smoothly and effectively cut together the material. In terms of the audio/visual presentation, it's flawless. Hats off to L8 for taking on the challenge and doing an excellent job!

*This rating was given before reviews were given*

SPOILERS

I just got around to watching this recently. L8wrtr has put together one great story. I was unsure this could top The Phantom Edit, but it does. Primarily the video quality is much better & there is a true intro crawl (other than an apology).

But other than that there are a myriad of changes that definitely make this edit my Episode 1 video to watch. The extras in the DVD pretty much explain the reasons why this edit is great. Only one other thing that could be done is to replace that annoying looking yoda-puppet, but perhaps that will come in the next few months? (yay)

There are a few spots I’d like to point out.
1. Removal of the “Negotiations haven’t started?…” scene at about the 8 minute mark.

I understand that the scene, as written, is too long. However, when included it does provide the viewer with some reference to the queen sitting with her advisers. I would agree with the wipe occurring when it does, but instead of wiping from a space shot to another space shot, rather wipe to the palace fly-over, show the static transmission on the Senator, and let the scene end on “communications disruption can mean only one thing… Invasion!” Then wipe straight to the invading ships. This way, the scene is shorter, and it provides the viewer with some reference as to whom she’s walking with down the stairs after her capture. I believe this is how the trailer had it, and it works great!

2. The scene where they get interrupted by a probe droid, from 49:30 to about 49:50, the colors are too ‘white’, not as warm as the scene right before it. Not sure what can be done about that, as I believe it was a cut scene from the original source material

3. At 24 minutes, the “He said I cheated” scene. I struggle with this scene. It shows that Anakin can be a hothead, and seems to fit well into the flow of events. But what was he cheating at? And is the scene a bit too cutesy? I struggle….

4. At 1 hour 14 minutes – “Roger Roger”

(5). (At 16 minutes, When Qui Gon Jinn is being questioned by the robot about his passengers. Robot looks around a bit too much) – I was gonna include this, but after rewatching the scene as is (and comparing it to the original) it actually is not bad. Now he seems to be giving them a quick look-over, then decides they’re up to no good.

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There are other things that, initially, I was surprised were left in, that I find I actually liked, for example letting Jar Jar search for the Gungans. With the rest of the cuts made to his character, other things that he does now allow him to actually do something… his character has purpose near the end. Plus the Jedi/Sith battle is a lot better.

I also love the ending (and the musical choice!!!) where we wipe right after Qui Gon Jinn’s funeral. It literally left me wanting to watch Episode II.

All in all, a 9/10. Great work!

STAR WARS EPISODE I: SHADOW OF THE SITH by L8WRTR

The Phantom Menace. What is there to say about the original 1999 prequel? Well, I would like to say that when I first saw it, I loved it. There were certain annoyances (ahem…Jar-Jar…ahem…Jake Lloyd), but I mean, I was pretty young, so I thought it was awesome. I don’t completely disagree with my less wise self, as there are some genuinely cool parts of the film. However, as I’ve gotten older, these annoyances have intensified. I can still watch the film and enjoy it, I just cringe a lot. One other annoyance has become more evident though, and that is the pointlessness of the story.

Unfortunately for L8wrtr, he’s only managed to intensify this fact. In this process of cutting the film down to the bare necessities, he’s dramatically increased the pacing of the film. While many might think this a good thing, it’s really detrimental. The original’s problems were conceptual. I re-watched it recently, and I noticed something I hadn’t really noticed before: it’s pacing is actually much better than I remember. For awhile I’ve been trying to pin down what makes TPM and Attack of the Clones different in badness. I’ve figured it out. TPM’s story is pointless, however, when shown with a 2+ hour runtime, there is time for the story and the world time to flesh out, which allows me to enjoy the movie as a self-contained little tale. AOTC’s story is kind of what TPM’s story should have been, but the movie still sucks because the pacing’s all screwed up.

So, sadly, by making the movie 1 1/2 hours, circulation has been cut off to the plot. The movie now feels like just a set up for the next movie, but it can’t really even function this way because, like I said, the story is pointless. This is the movie that starts the saga, it doesn’t feel right that it would be this short, faced paced adventure. Now I don’t really miss anything L8wrtr cut, but the movie doesn’t really work when its that short. I know many people will disagree with me, but its just how the movie feels when I watch it. The pacing is so quick that I feel like some of the sequences go by so fast that you’re almost questioning what happened. I like getting rid of Jar Jar’s banishment, but the whole scene with Boss Nass and Qui-Gon goes by so quickly that your left trying to figure what just happened after the scene is finished. One scene that really lags in my opinion is the pod race. Without the announcers, the opening is really quite uneventful. Speaking of things that are uneventful without voices, the battle droids. Also at the end of the film, when all hope is supposedly lost in the battle, the editing is so quick that the possibility that our heros might actually lose doesn’t even occur in the mind because, before you know, Anakin has just saved the day.

Something that I know people, including me, don’t like is the ending. Yes, no one really likes the celebration, I know I’ve hated it since I first saw it, but the ending as is in the edit is far too downbeat. Now, I saw in one of the forums someone said that they think the movie should end with the scene of Obi-Wan talking to Yoda. I didn’t like this idea the first time I heard it because I think the funeral scene is a good one. But it got me thinking, what if the funeral scene played first (sans Anakin and Kenobi dialogue) and then the Yoda and Kenobi scene is the final scene of the film? One other random edit suggestion that came to me while watching the movie is during the scene when Padme discusses the battle plan. As she goes over the different parts of the plan, there are cutaway shots to the other people listening. When she mentions the pilots, in the original film the cutaway shot is of Obi-Wan, but I think it would a good edit to make the shot of Ankin instead, showing that he’s taking interest in that particular part of plan, which makes his decision to join the battle later make all the more sense.

One technical problem I noticed was when Watto is first introduced, the subtitle starts and ends too soon.

Okay, rant done. I just felt I needed to explain the main flaw of the edit properly. Now, like I said before, none of the cuts are really missed, or noticeable. There were a few that I definitely noticed, but they were only because of my knowledge of the original film. The only really slightly almost sloppy editing came at the end during the final battle. The music was just all over the place, but I honestly don’t think there was much that could be done when so much was being cut out. Don’t get me wrong though, this is by no means a bad edit. I really enjoyed all the little plot points that have been changed. Making Anakin the hero was particularly ingenious. Also, the editing was superb in the scene where Obi-Wan kills Maul. I have to say one of my favorite parts of the edit was the opening crawl. To me, it was the perfect way to set up the film, and its what the original movie needed. It put emphasis on the real point of the movie (the sith have returned), which, in the original movie, felt like an unimportant sub-plot. It also reduced the complexity of the trade dispute because, honestly, we really didn’t need to know exactly why there was a blockade, especially considering less than 10 minutes into the film Darth Sidious says f*** it, and reveals that the whole thing was part of an invasion.

Anyways, I would give the original TPM a score of 6 out of 10. As a movie I would give Shadow of the Sith a 7 out of 10. Since I know that it wasn’t really L8wrtr’s fault that the movie still isn’t great, and that, for the most part, the editing is supreme, I give STAR WARS EPISODE I: SHADOW OF THE SITH 8/10.

EDIT (2/12/13): I just re-watched this edit, and wanted to give my (second) thoughts. Like I said in my review, when I first watched this edit, I had recently re-watched the original film. I think this negatively affected my opinion of the edit. I was, frankly, kind of tired of the movie, and wasn't paying too much attention to all of what this edit had to offer.

So here are my thoughts. Almost everything I said in my original review still stands, but more over-all feelings are more positive. I stand by the fact that the pacing of this edit, while good, leaves something to be desired. There's no breathing room. Things just keep happening. There's no introduction to the world of Star Wars. But this isn't quite L8wrtr's fault. What this edit gives us is one hell of an enjoyable movie, one that is without the Phantom Menace's cringe-worthy distractions. Everything that's in works, and is fun. Yes, is goes by too fast. Yes, the length isn't Star Warsy. But I blame George Lucas for that - for not giving us a meaty enough story. So no, the edit doesn't work as a standalone film, like the original film does. No, it also doesn't really work as opening to the saga. But it works as a good version of Episode I, that you can watch in order of release, Machete order, or really whenever you want (providing you understand the world). It's a great edit.

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.