Star Wars - Episode III: Revenge of the Sith [Special Edition]

Review by The_Moseph — August 30, 2010 @ 7:13 am

*This rating was given before reviews were required*

Review by pizzaguylol — August 14, 2010 @ 6:59 pm

I liked the fact that getting to the ship was trimmed. No more buzz droid silliness. Just a good straight up entrance to Greivous’s command ship. I liked how they got to the observation deck quicker and that the fight with Dooku was more abrupt. I didn’t like how the line about wanting revenge was cut because it makes for an awkward cut “It is only natural” jump cut “Now we must leave… etc.”. A minor gripe, but I am glad the sand people mention was gone, for sure. Really liked how you spliced in the Episode I footage of the destroyer droids coming out. It was pretty seamless and removed R2′s slapstick.

Shortening their conversation seemed a bit unnecessary but I didn’t mind it that much. The other cuts (Jedi conversation and whatnot) are all good. Redundant crap we already know or stuff we don’t need to know.

Loved the Seeds of the Rebellion scene being added. No idea why they cut this scene, it connects to Episode IV very well. Mon Mothma having a bigger part is great. Also liked the other scenes you added in this area. It amazes me they weren’t used but others were. Also removing midi-chlorians… thank you! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!!! If a fanedit has midi-chlorians in them I just can’t keep it. Thank you very much for removing that godawful pseudo-science crap. Keep the force mysterious!

I liked the cuts on Utapau, although it felt weird to have Obi-wan go so long without saying anything during the Greivous fight. Not saying I don’t like it, but it was odd how he didn’t speak during that entire exchange.

Definitely liked tightening up the whole arrest scene. Always thought that seemed overly long and I HATED Palpatine’s overacting and all of the “no’s” he spouted out when he was about to zap Mace. Very impressive editing of the whole fight scene too, I might add. I liked how Palpatine just immediately killed those two Jedi and made short work of Plo Koon much more quickly. He IS the Dark Lord of the SIth, after all! The whole scene is just much quicker, tighter, and flows better. Anakin’s turn is much quicker and more believable. I do, however, wish you could have cut the “UNLIMITED… POWER!!!!” line from Palpatine. Always hated that. Doesn’t take too much away from the scene, though. Wish there was a way to get rid of some of the bad acting on Christensen’s part but hey you can only do so much. ;)

Cutting the younglings scene… Kind of iffy on this one. I always thought it really cemented just how twisted and evil Anakin had really become. I can live without it, though.

Removing the “Welcome, Lord Vader” line caused a bad jump cut… I know the line isn’t the best but the cut is really obvious. Having said that, was there any way to remove the “The war is over! Lord Sidious promised us peace–” line before Vader ices that guy? Just annoyed me how he didn’t just kill him immediately like the other guys.

Getting rid of Yoda’s saber usage is good. Removing the fight with Palpatine is very good. It was a cool visual but it really made no sense and added nothing of substance to the story.

The Mustafar Duel is now much quicker and better paced. I really liked what you did here. It flows very well. I especially liked how there was no “From my point of view the JEDI are evil!” and “I have the high ground!”. It jumps right from the fight into Anakin’s defeat and incineration. Nicely done.

Cutting the “she has lost the will to live” thing made me happy. Always thought that was a dumb cop out. I would have left in more of the Birth of Darth Vader scene. I really enjoyed that scene as it was the final death of Anakin and the true birth of Darth Vader as he breathes his first breath. That’s one thing I’d really like to see back but it doesn’t hurt my enjoyment at all. Very glad the “NOOOOOO” is gone.

Overall this is my favorite edit of Episode III, and while it isn’t perfect in terms of certain jump cuts sticking out and a few other things, its going to be my definitive Episode III for now. Very well done!

9/10

Review by havok1977 - July 15, 2010 @ 12:07 am

*This rating was given before reviews were required*

Review from 29 October 2010

Superb, Stankpac, superb. Watched it last night an *really enjoyed* it! Yes, a prequel film, that I enjoyed! Superb editing decisions throughout. Well done.
Technically, most cuts were seamless. There were a couple of times that I thought “hmm, that was a bit abrupt” (when someone opened their mouth to say something, and then we cut away) – but very few noticeable cuts.
Deleted scenes were brilliant – showed Anakins and Padmes separate lives, pulling them in different directions, which made the ending inevitable.
I would have liked slightly more exposition from Palpatine, working on Anakins fears – but, in the end, not entirely necessary (although for a non-SW audience, perhaps necessary?).
I may have more comments when I watch it again, but now I would say it is a *huge* improvement over the original film.

Technical editing 9/9.5 out of 10
Story editing 10/10
Menu 5/10 Menu is fantastic, brilliantly presented, but utterly ruined by the menu movie of Yoda dancing with the troopers. Totally ruins the mood of the film immediately. :-(
Overall film: I rate Ep3 about a 5 or 6, so this edit would be a 7 or 8 as a standalone movie release.

But this is fanedit.org, not imdb, so I’ll give a final rating on the fanedit, not the movie.

9 out of 10 (docked a point for the menu and a couple of obvious cuts – I’ll list them when I watch it again)
SUPERB!

I recently revisited the prequels to see if I could find versions that would at least make me want to acknowledge more than the OT. While these movies have always been pretty terrible to me, I always believed AotC was the only one beyond saving. After watching a few of the more highly rated versions of Ep3, this is my favorite. There are things I prefer in other versions (most of it has to do with deeper cuts), but overall this one has the best edits IMO. I know some prefer these movies to stay closer to the typical two hour length of most SW movies, but I much prefer the deeper cuts. And, as I said, I think a few more things could be cut. Mostly little trims, but one thing, in particular, occurred to me. Has anyone ever tried to edit the Order 66 scene to remove Yoda's use of the lightsaber? I would prefer a PT that does not have Yoda even owning a lightsaber. My thought would be to edit his reactions to the other Jedi slayings so it is obvious he knows he needs to get out of there. Utilize the footage of the Wookies carrying him off and remove the troopers ever even approaching him. I would NOT, however, acknowledge that one of the wookies is Chewbacca. This is a small quibble though. One other thing I noticed is I would have left in the Emperor on Mustafar. It seems a little abrupt that all of the sudden Anakin is being brought to Coruscant by the Emperor.I'm not sure if you can use the Emperor on the senate platform sensing Anakin is in trouble without running into trouble with the removed Sidious/Yoda duel (which I'm very glad to see gone). Overall this is my favorite. I suspect it isn't getting as much attention as other edits due to it not being available in HD. I would love to see a version 3.3 with just a few more tweaks and in HD. Nice work!