Star Wars: Episode I - Cloak Of Deception

Ok, where to begin. I like many other children of the seventies i grew up on star wars. Then we waited years for a continuation and got prequels. Then we had to watch in horror as all was lost from our childhoods with Lucas intent on drafting terrible scripts, with dreadful direction coupled with actors - Lloyd & Christensen, who couldn't act!!

**Rant over**

Hal9000 has done what i considered impossible - make me like and enjoy ep 1. I read the prior reviews, considered other versions but liked the points made that the pacing was about spot on. The thought of a rushed edit was not for me, so i watched with an open mind and about half way through realised i hadn't made my tea. Oh my god i actually felt connected and sympathetic towards Anakin and thought Hals version nailed it. Jar Jar? Unobtrusive yet he almost ground the film in his 'everyman' role - being swept up in some grand adventure.

I'm blown away and frankly chuffed that i can actually watch TPM without forwarding to certain scenes or watching the clock - amazing work.

Criticisms - none. The pod race was awesome and i loved the new mix of music which i felt fitted and linked it soooo nicely to the original trilogy. The AV was perfect, the cuts were seamless and and i really liked the insertions of alternate scenes - very clever and illuminating.

10/10 for the lot - i owe Hal9000 a pint :)

After watching some of the other Prequel edits around (with L8Wrtr's being among my favorites), I decided to give this edit a chance. I wanted to see what else could be done to make TPM a better film. The pacing for this edit is really well balanced. Like others have said some of these edits are pretty seamless (even to the point where I had to check the checklist to see what had been edited). Solid job.

I'd recommend this edit for sure.

I've long been waiting to find prequel edits that I felt could sit side by side with the Original Trilogy. I'm not knocking other edits...its just, as was mentioned in another review, they move along at BREAKNECK speed and don't feel like a Star Wars movie. Having read the cuts in HAL9000's list as well as seeing his run time, I was intrigued. Plus, having to do a lot of re-scoring on my own edits, I wanted to see how he did the Pod Race scene. I'm very glad that I did.

My wife and I had a date night and curled up to check this movie out. Neither of us have seen Episode 1 in years, and we thoroughly enjoyed this edit. Some high points for me were the mentioned Pod Race scene, the evolution of Jar Jar from a character I hated to an almost relate able character, and most of all, Anakin!

In this edit, Anakin is thoughtful, heroic, and takes action on his own. It falls MUCH more in line with the description Kenobi gave in Episode IV than what we actually got in the prequels. I couldn't stand Jar Jar OR Anakin when I first saw Episode 1 (Yippie!!!!) but, as I told my wife when the movie ended, I honestly liked him in this on and was intrigued to see where his story goes. In this, HAL9000 accomplished an almost impossible feat.

I highly recommend this edit. As many have said, Episode 1 has been edited ad nauseam but for what I was looking for in the Prequels, this will certainly sit on the shelf next to the Original Trilogy....I am very much looking forward to seeing what HAL9000 can do to salvage Episode II.

I have many a big complaints about Phantom Menace, and was quite pleased this edit tries to fix the majority of them.

Bringing so an incredibly mediocre film in my opinion into a pretty enjoyable one. You can't make miracles with just editing, some flaws are rooted in the script and acting itself, but the effort here is commendable, the editing is nice and tidy, probably unnoticeable for a first time viewer.

The silly scenes were heavily cut, the boring and unnecessary ones are gone too and the movie seriously benefits from not being so long.

Well, well, well, HAL9000, how can I tell you this? It's actually quite easy, thank you. Thank you very much.
You got me and my father into the prequels, he thought that they were lame and boring before this edit, he now thinks they are pretty decent movies (same thing for me). This is the way to watch The Phantom Menace, and nobody is going to say anything else.