Star Wars - Episode II: Attack of the Ridiculousness

In my review of TV's Frink's Star Wars Episode I: The Ridiculous Menace, I stated that it was the Airplane! of Star Wars fanedits.

I was wrong. So... Very... Wrong.

Episode II: Attack of the Ridiculousness is now the true Airplane! of Star Wars fanedits (Episode I, however, is The Naked Gun of Star Wars fanedits, which is never a bad thing). Not only has the hilarity been ensued, it has been brought to a level I couldn't have possibly imagined. From the Tommy Wiseau clones to the not-so-family-friendly romance between Anakin and Padme, it's hard to pick a moment that is the funniest of all. To quote Jimmy Smits, there are too many of them.

The only outrageous thing about these edits are that there are no more than two of them!

I thought I already had a review for this, but I don't see it now. Anyway...

If you thought that The Ridiculous Menace was hilarious, you should definitely see the sequel. And if you didn't think TRM was hilarious, you should have your head examined.

Frink brings some fresh hilarity to this Star Wars prequel, with a few recurring gags and a slew of great new jokes. As with TRM, there are now some scenes in the actual prequels that I can't watch right now without thinking of Frink's version and giggling uncontrollably.

A note to families: The scene on Naboo where Anakin and Padme get lovey-dovey with each other has been changed into a scene which, while hilarious, is probably not for young eyes. (I believe the footage is from one of the "Naked Gun" movies, although I could be mistaken.) Keep your remote or clicker handy on that scene just in case.

My favorite scenes are the speeder chase on Naboo and the following scene in the bar, and Anakin's reworked nightmare. But as before, all of it is great.

Video/audio quality: As with TRM, there are lots of places where the mouth movements don't sync up with the new dialogue, but I'd much rather have a funny edit than a "realistic" one. I'm noting this to make people aware in case they aren't prepared in advance, but I wouldn't change a frame of it. It feels like a dubbed Godzilla movie, which makes it all the more hilarious.

So if you want a good laugh and haven't seen this one yet, then you catch on pretty slow. Catch on quicker and watch this one soon!

Now, there are two of them! But that really doesn't do this justice. While in keeping with the style of the first, and its many running gags, this one manages to surpass the original. I found myself bursting into hysterical laughter frequently. The manner in which the Fetts are handled is particularly inspired. I really don't want to go in to further detail and spoil anything. If you liked the first one, you'll love the second. If you didn't this one won't win you over. There's some odd audio mixing in certain spots, but never to the point of anything being (unintentionally) inaudible or at an inappropriate volume.

Update: The 14 month anniversary edition has corrected a frame rate issue. The disc is now properly encoded and flagged as 24p, with 3:2 pulldown. Picture detail is nice for all sources, very close to the original DVD releases.

This is a hilarious edit - probably the funniest I've ever seen. Strongly recommended if you enjoyed the first.

All hail Ric Ollie!

In AOTR all your favourite TRM gags are back in force like Ewan refering to himself in the third person, which gets funnier everytime I hear it. There are a mountains of new gags too, like renaming Count Dooku as "Duke Dooku", an idea so simple yet so funny. When Yoda says "DUKE DOOKU" in a super serious tone before the final duel I nearly fell off my couch with laughter.

The highlight for me is seeing Darth Maul's scooter still going round Tatooine. Also, Gob Bluth as Threepio, Krusty as Jar-Jar and the Naboo Picnic Monty Python reference are awesome. One criticism would be that the use of the 'Final Countdown' music wasn't extended to the entire edit! Very clever timing it to the mine explosions! The work that must have gone into replacing the majority of the sound, music and dialogue is impressive.

The penultimate shot of a huge fascistic parade ground filled with thousands of Tommy Wiseau clones may haunt me to my grave.

Even better than TRM. Roll on ROTR.

Great work Frink... may the Wookies be with you!

Audio/Video Quality = 7 (It's DVD quality, which is absolutely fine for a spoof)
Visual Editing = 9 (Clever work extending, remixing and looping footage)
Audio Editing = 9 (Must have been a nightmare replaceing what seemed like 80-90% of the audio)
Narrative = 8 (Its more or less unchanged but alot crazier!)
Enjoyment = 10 (Will have you crying with laughter)

I was looking forward to this edit. Finks Phantom Menace had some terrific parts like Anakin's podrace and Qui-Gon just mind-controlling Wato. This edit delivers several really satisfying moments like that.

For instance, Obi-Wan is asked is he needs help in the Library scene, he just says "No!" cut scene. And of course, Anakin just mind-controls Amidala which actually makes more sense than the theatrical cut's romance even though this is supposed to be ridiculous. But it's mostly the Monty Python-esque over the top ridiculousness you would except. The "sex" scene is hilarious.

The only criticisms I can think of are that although Anakin's rescue of his mother is funny, it means he doesn't kill the Tuskans and we don't have the subsequent scene where he talks to Padme while she wears that giant bullseye on her crotch. Those two scenes were so ridiculous I was sure they'd be comedy gold in an edit like this. Also the Tommy Wiseau stuff we hilarious but I gotta wonder if everyone will get it.

Would definitely recommend.