Star Wars: Episode I - Cloak Of Deception

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!

All of the prequel edits by HAL9000 are brilliantly done and my favorite of those that I've seen. This honestly beats out every other cut of these movies by far.

That said, this is my least favorite edit by HAL9000, but I don't think that's really his fault. This movie had major issues that needed to be fixed, mostly with Jar Jar and Anakin. Jar Jar is reworked to be an every-man character thrown into situations he never dreamed of and doesn't understand. This does wonders to cut down on his obnoxious character, but he is still overly silly in places. The deleted scenes added in help tie parts of the movie together better, but they are still visually jarring from the finished cut, not HAL9000's fault and I think they are necessary, but it is still unfortunate that these are the best versions of these scenes. In later edits, the added scenes feel a bit more cohesive to me. The Gungan aid at the end feels less natural than in the original, but I think this is worth it to remove some of the worst scenes in the original cut. Overall, I still recommend this edit and will be watching and showing it to others for a long time, but I feel it's the weakest of the bunch.

This edit greatly improved this movie, it went from being a pile of garbage that I hated to a movie that I can enjoy. Sure it is not perfect, Jar Jar is still in here but most of his scenes were he is being annoying are cut. There is only one Jar Jar scene that I think could've have been cut but wasn't which is when he zaps his tongue in the pod. The video quality was great as well, how ever in one or two scenes it did seem to notice a small dip in quality. The narrative was improved as well by cutting out unnecessary dialogue and some scenes in general. However at the end of the film it might confuse new viewers where Padmé gets help from the Gungans, this is my only complaint with the narrative and it is minor. The editing was very well done it did not seem as if I was watching a fan edit. However this edit can only do so much in fixing this movie, for example the acting is still not so great and the cgi was not that well. This along with Jar Jar is why I gave it a 9 not a 10.

This edit actually allows me to enjoy this movie, something that I could only do to make fun of in the past. This is how I will be watching the Phantom Menace from now on.

First of all I wanna say thank you to Hal9000 for making this edit. I watched version 4.1 of this edit. The visual/audio editing is seamless and perfect throughout the movie, I have nothing to criticize on that front for sure! Great job, you work really well :)

I have to say, after watching this edit, I think this movie really is unsalvageable. It's riddled with exposition, plot contrivances, and cheesy scenes no matter what you do with it. This is a brilliant effort though, and renders at least 50% of the movie somewhat decent.

I disagree wholeheartedly with any changes to the podrace. I think the way the podrace is presented in the original cut, bar the annoying "yippees!" being thrown around, is perfect as it is and shouldn't be changed. In this cut, the lack of build-up/anticipation at the beginning of the podrace kinda makes it start too soon (much is riding on this race), and end too soon as well. We are brought to the arena, boom the podrace starts, and then it's over too quickly as well since some of the victory shots have been cut too. Overall, I think the podrace should be brought back to its default state bar the "yippees!"

A lot is cut in favor of making this a better movie, but it creates a movie that's just too fast-paced as a result. We're being thrown around from place to place without any time to breath, at least most of the time. Generally, it works, but it's still too fast.

Qui-Gon's character really feels like he's dumb in this. Not sure if it was the same way in the original movie but he comes out as very selfish in this one, and kind of being the cause of some of their problems because of his stubbornness. Much of his "warm father-figure" dialogue to Anakin has been removed (some for very good reasons :P), but that leaves him a bit cold and short-sighted. Don't know if that was intended.

The deleted scenes were overall inserted well enough, although the one with Padme and the Speeder really stood out like a sore thumb to me. It feels pointless.

Anakin as a character feels MUCH better in this movie than the original, I really felt like his arc and motivations worked. His mother came out as pretty stupid though, since most of her scenes in the house have been cut. She kinda just "goes with it", and it doesn't really work in my opinion.

Anyway, I have to say that hal9000 did a good job, all things considered, his editing skills are top-notch, it's just the movie I think that doesn't really work on a very basic level!

Still, recommended because it's shorter than the original :)

Very well done edit. You forget you are actually watching an edit except when the deleted scenes are added because they're so low res but that's it.
I don't necessarily agree with all the cuts but they work very well. The ending battles / climax are particularly improved. Can't wait to see v4.