Star Wars: Episode II - The Approaching Storm

After feeling let down by HAL's Star Wars I Cloak of Deception (too much JarJar), I still wanted to give his Ep II The Approaching Storm a try.

I can't really spend the time to go back to L8wrtr's version and compare the two in depth. While watching it, I did take note of slightly different approaches to this movie from these two editors. One of the things that stood out for me was I felt disappointed by L8wrtr's trimming of the fight between Django and Kenobi. HAL leaves this scene intact, which I am in favor of.

I also like how HAL got Kenobi from inquiring about "Kamino" to the actual planet. Others have pointed this out and I agree. It works! Good job!

The "love scenes" on Naboo work better than the theatrical edit. I know why HAL tried to change the day time interrupted kiss scene to night but it does look off. But kudos for the attempt and thought.

L8wrtr also trimmed Anakin's reunion with his mother more than I was comfortable with. HAL left the scene as it was (as I remember the theatrical anyway) and it's one of the few scenes where we can empathize with him truly. So plus for HAL there.

HAL got rid of the whole battle droid factory sequence (which from the first time I watched it came across to me as "And this will translate really well in the video game adaptation!"). I'm in favor of what HAL did but it does have repercussions character-wise: Anakin seems to now just meekly go along with Padme to resolve the situation diplomatically, enter the Lion's Den and give up without a (physical) fight.

OK so I compared the Geonosis battle side-by-side between these two edits (yay for dual monitors).

HAL sticks mostly with the theatrical edit on Mace vs Django. L8wrtr shortened it and on comparing the two, I have to say, both work very well. L8wrtr loses some moments for Windu but I can appreciate what he did here in moulding the fight slightly differently. But I do prefer the theatrical cut on this scene. HAL keeps too many "local martial arts students in Australia posing as Jedis" (always bugged me the way they moved to my trained eye), whereas L8wrtr cut a lot of them out. HAL also got rid of the silly banter between Anakin and Padme in the battle ("aggressive negotiations", groannnn), which L8wrtr kept.

All in all, L8wrtr's Ep I Shadow of the Sith is my go-to edit. HAL9000's Ep II The Approaching Storm is my go-to edit. Looking forward to watching HAL9000s Ep III Labyrinth of Evil!

This was a weird case for me as I remember despising this film as a kid (a kid who loved Episode I mind you). I think that I've only seen it twice before watching Hals edit and both times it felt like a chore, so i was in no way looking forward to seeing this movie. But ALAS! Hal hath worked his magic on this film and turned it into something actually somewhat enjoyable!

The video quality is fantastic overall! All HD and pretty, but with less pretty deleted scenes added. You honestly don't notice as the scenes themselves add so much to the movie that you just don't care to pay attention.

Audio is also very very top notch!

Assassination story line makes sense and for once I actually understand whats going on with the whole political side of things!

I really can't think of any gripes with this edit. You took out all the stupid comic relief and made a more moody, interesting film that I would've loved to see back in 2002!

This is undeniably my go-to cut of Episode II and if you're curious then don't even think twice about viewing this film!

Improves the biggest weak point of the theatrical cut: Anakin is not more likeable, but less dislikeable and his relationship with Padme feels more natural with the removal of some of their dialogue. Again, an improvement over the theatrical cut.

Overall, this was a very masterful edit of one of my least favorite movies of all time, making it very watchable, and in fact, rather enjoyable. I felt like this was the first time I actually bought the whole relationship with Padme and it didn't feel forced at all. Amazing! The only story bit that seemed weird was Padme and Anakin coming to rescue Obi-wan. I liked the idea of cutting the "adventure scene" here, but without it, it all felt really... rushed... how did Dooku know they were there, how did they know where to go to see Dooku, why were they prisoners AFTER that? etc. Great idea, and probably the best that could be done with what was available, but I think I would have rather kept the other scene.

The editing seems really well done, as nothing seemed out of place or weird, and the sound was good. I did have one quibble with the otherwise masterful editing apparent on this movie: during the fight with Dooku there is like a frame or two of Anakin injured that flashes up on the screen right before it transitions to Padme (1:33:48) which I'm guessing is where that section of film originally lived before it got moved to a little while later. It may have been intentional, but it didn't seem it to me. It also seemed to be the exact same footage, which makes me think it was an error.

Altogether though, this was a fantastic edit that easily replaces the original in my opinion, and so far a great prequel trilogy from Hal9000!

It's been a couple of years since I saw this fanedit. I won't see it again anytime soon but I still remember it quite well. Here's a pros/cons list I made for myself after I saw it:

+ Good image quality
+ Better Obi Wan - Anakin dialogue
+ Yoda more serious
+ Droid Factory scene cut
+ Younglings were cut

+- Padme family scene
+- Obi Wan humor scaled down

- No Yoda lightsaber fight
- Anakin telling Padme that he killed the Tusken Raiders was cut

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I did enjoy the fanedit quite a lot. I always kinda liked the Yoda VS Dooku lightsaber duel but I understand perfectly why it was cut out. Unfortunately HAL 9000 took out one of my favorite moments of the movie too, and that's the one when Anakin tells Padme about killing the Tusken Raiders. I always felt it's a very nice portration of Anakin starting to shift to the Dark Side.