Star Wars - Episode I: Return of the Sith: Revisited Edition

This is a great example of fanediting, and it eliminates just about everything that can be eliminated while still retaining what is important. Some people claim that the cutting down of the dialogue hurts the characterization, especially of Qui Gon, however, I feel like 90% of the problems with this movie is that the character talk to much, especially Qui Gon. He does not feel like a Jedi Master, but a crotchety old man who gets upset and snippy every time someone questions his "great wisdom". This edit manages to jetison most of that, so in my book it improves the character tremendously. I stand by my opinion, how ever, that the Jedi of this era are not to be liked are are to look like fools too wrapped up in their own self-righteousness that they can't even see the obvious degeneration of the galaxy happening all around them.

That said, the editing itself was solid, although a few bits seemed a little out of focus. Not talking about the inserted scenes either. It may have been the sources, or maybe it was on my side as I had ran it through Handbrake to put it in H.265 format for storage. Not 100% certain, but my other movies have not had that issue after the same treatment, so just tossing it out there in case it is something in the files themselves. I did not detract for it, as I was uncertain of the origin.

All in all a great version of this movie, and so far my favorite that I have watched.

A bit of background: I watch all the Star Wars movies once or twice yearly. This time and for the first time I began with The Force Awakens and went from the Rise of Skywalker to the Phantom Menace because I knew from the experience how bad it's to go to the new trilogy after The Return of the Jedi. Just finished watching the Episode I: Return of the Sith and oh boy how good it felt.

Now, I have watched this fanedit once or twice before many years ago and while it was good it never felt quite as good as it did this time. Other than the Podracing sequence it improves the original in every way. The pacing is very good and including some of the deleted scenes adds a nice flavor. The fanedit simply makes Phantom Menace into a very entertaining Star Wars movie.

For me, watching this after the sequel trilogy it's easy to say that Phantom Menace (at least through a good fanedit) is a better movie than any of the sequel trilogy movies. The Force Awakens is still good but it feels pointless to watch it because the trilogy itself is a wreck.

I truly believe this is the best available version of this movie. As many already know and stated, the acting and actual shots are what they are, making the movie itself almost unbearable for me. Thiis edit however makes it the most fun possible. I did not think it was possible for anyone to make this film entertaining for me one more after all those years. I tried not to think of it as an edit and to enjoy it like this is the cut ment to be and I have to say there is little I would have done differently. Big thanks to seciors and big recommendation to watch for every star wars or edit fan.

Pros:

A. The pod race was quite exciting, not sure what edits were made here, but it seemed better than I remembered from the theatrical release.
B. Young Anakin cringe was kept to a minimum and Jar Jar never got the chance to upset me while still having a quirky personality.
C. Cut small problems that then get solved moments later as they aren't suspenseful during repeat viewings thereby making them pointless.
From a technical stand point this was an impressive fanedit, visual quality was astounding and there were no dodgy frames/cuts, no audio blips or glaring sudden musical cues. The deleted scenes that were incorporated back into the movie added to the experience and development of characters.

Cons:

A. The film has been cut down to a mere 78 minutes excluding credits - there are no brakes here, the movie shares the necessary information then moves on. The end result is a nice action piece where you don't really care about the characters/events too much. It feels more like a recap than immersion into a living breathing world.
B. The final battle and Sith duel seemed cut down a fair bit - slightly disappointing as its one of the more interesting parts of the movie.
C. Cut nearly every character exchange not essential to the plot - this severely affects the character development of Qui-gon and Obi-wan, most of the other characters get developed effectively.

Final thoughts:

Ultimately, Phantom Menace is a hard movie to save, but the editor cut a little too much here, leaving bare bones dialogue which made the film feel like an empty shell. A great version if you're marathoning the films and needed to get this one out of the way fast.

Way better than the original by far and the best edit I have seen of Episode 1 until now. I particularly enjoyed the fast pace of the first 15 minutes and the edit of the end battle.

I do find that the music sometimes cut abruptly (but I understand how hard it is to make the music fit sometimes), but the only negative point I have is that even though most of the Gungans/Nemoidians scenes were cut (a must in any respectable Episode 1 edit) the original voice acting was left intact.

Some other editors have just replaced the voices of Jar Jar and company with alien languages and added subtitles: removing the horrible voices and thus allowing the editor to make the aliens more threatening and badass.

But all in all, great work! I can't wait to show that to my brother during our Star Wars Marathon before we watch Episode VII in theater.