Star Wars: Episode I - Cloak Of Deception

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.

Always a plus when more of Jar Jar is cut, both his childish dialogue and his clown antics.
Removing the mumbo-jumbo about Midi-chlorians is also an improvement.

In general, I’ve found most of the cuts and changes to be sensible ones. The film improved a lot in terms of pacing as well.

Also, I had never before realized the number of children yelling “Yipee” throughout the film, was this a private joke from George Lucas, one that only he could understand?

This is my first edit of TPM I've seen, so I hesitate to say anything too definite, especially as I've seen the original so many times. I greatly enjoyed having less of Jar Jar, and thought removing the whole sequence with him worked surprisingly well once I got over my surprise at it not being there. I actually missed Anakin's annoying moments, but that is my own preference. Sometimes pacing of the cuts felt a little weird, but frankly no weirder than the original in some places, and obviously vastly improved in the majority on pacing. Greatly enjoyed the experience.

The pacing at the start was a bit weird. but I didn't miss any of the underwater scenes or Jar Jar's antics. Definitely an improvement over the theatrical cut.

I'll just recycle my review of Hal9000's Episode II edit since I watched them back-to-back and found them to be equally impressive and enjoyable.

At last, I can finally enjoy the prequels! Years after giving up hope of finding prequel edits that I could really enjoy, Hal9000's Episode I edit has done it!

I watched so many fanedits of Episodes I & II that left me wishing I could get my time refunded (nothing against the faneditors, just the material). I recently realized I had been taking the wrong approach by looking for an edit that removed all of the elements that I disliked, as edits that took that approach never seemed to have enough material left to craft what felt like a full film. Hal9000's edit is more reserved cut-wise and seems to try to include as much as possible to give the film enough content and weight to flow smoothly and feel like a complete film. Somehow Hal9000 was able to include much more of the film than I would have though possible while still (mostly) avoiding the frequent criticisms of the film like bad writing, acting, attempts at humor, etc. and the quality of the edit is top-notch.

There were at most a couple of instances where I felt like a transition wasn't quite flawless, either visually or audibly, but it may just have been a result of knowing the original too well or watching too many fanedits. Regardless, they were the most minor of issues, and I can't even recall which scenes were involved because I was just so surprised by how much I was enjoying myself watching this film!

Hal9000 has elevated this film to a place I never though possible: a worthy companion to the original trilogy!