Star Wars: Episode I - Cloak Of Deception

This is a masterful edit and in my humble opinion the definitive TPM edit. I used to believe seciors Revisited edit was the best, but after showing it to my wife, who hadn't seen the movie in years, she remarked that it seemed too rushed, like a mere summary of events rather than the actual movie. I think seciors TPM suffers from feeling too much like an edit, and in the end, 85 minutes is just too short for a Star Wars movie, which are usually closer to the two hour mark. Either you embrace the PT or you don't, and so I think a philosophy more like HAL9000's is in order. The point isn't to race through the movie in order to get it over with, but to make it as enjoyable of an experience as possible. In this regard I think HAL9000 succeeds. I think the most important task for a faneditor working on TPM is to cut out the excessively annoying and childish elements while also removing much of the tedious political dialogue. Not only do these not fit well together in the same movie, but neither are interesting to your average movie goer. Other than that, tighten up the pacing a little bit without leaving too much on the cutting-room floor, and you've actually got a decent movie (yes, I like this movie now and think it deserves its rightful place in the Star Wars canon). I like that we get a fair amount of Jar Jar, but that he has been toned down a great deal. If this had been the Jar Jar we got in the theater, I don't think anybody would have complained.

My only gripe is the removal of Jabba the Hut from the pod race. I support the removal of most of the cameos, but Jabba's appearance here actually makes enough sense to merit it. After all, the pod races seem to be a pretty big deal on Tattooine.

I gave this all 10's, but keep in mind I am considering what was available to work with, as I do in all of my reviews. Hal9000 did a fantastic job with this. I found this very enjoyable. It is now my go to version of Ep I.

I am just recently getting into fan-edits, and I've heard about the infamous Hal9000 cuts for years. Now I'm a full blown fan edit fiend. The way that the story is recut to improve upon various aspects, but especially the Jar Jar Binks narrative, totally changes the way the movie flows. I don't think I rolled my eyes even once. I couldn't be more impressed with the cut. I personally watch the Star Wars saga every few months, and have been doing so since I was a kid. Blows my mind to see it and feel it so differently. Phenomenal job.

A belated review for an epic edit. This is the best we can hope for with the source material of the woeful theatrical cut. The political elements were cut down so the plot makes sense, Jar Jar is cut down, and the action is emphasized. Fantastic work!