Star Wars: Episode II - The Approaching Storm

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!

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!

The currently best edit of the new trilogy. I hated the original version so much as I love this edit. I've been waiting for this version all these years. Thank you HAL 9000.

Hello everyone. Had the pleasure of following up my review of Hal9000's Cloak of Deception with this one. The Approaching Storm is a solid edit. It improves upon the film's strengths making this a fantastic addition to the go-to trilogy edits (this and L8Wrtr's sharing same spot of being my go to of the Prequels). The editing was pretty seamless. And really dig the Assassination plot making sense now.

Also have to say that the film looks fantastic. The alternate versions of some scenes are also wonderful addition that provides new way of presenting the film. With this, I mean the scene between Obi-Wan and Mace before heading to Kamino is a solid scene. And the introduction of Anakin to Padme's family is also a wonderful addition that helps shed some more light on Padme's character. (Why this was cut in the original, I still have no idea)

In the end, I'd highly recommend this edit.

Ah, Episode II. What a strange creature this film is. Surely it's the worst Star Wars film, but if that's so, how is it that this edit makes for such great viewing? Hats off to Hal9000, and I suppose a weird sort of thanks to Lucas for hiding a good movie in his original garbage bag.

It's an interesting thing that the theatrical version of The Phantom Menace is better than Attack of the Clones, but even the former's best edit is not nearly as good as the best edit of the latter. I guess at its core, Episode II is better than Episode I. Take the bits of trash out of the Episode II bag and you're left with a pretty cool movie. But take the bits of trash out of the Episode I bag and still left with what that film is: a pretty dull movie. But that Episode II bag has so much trash in it. And seeing a good edit like this is very satisfying.

My metaphor is simplifying things too much, though. If it was just a matter of taking out the trash, editing this film would be easy. But it's much harder than that. Possibly my favorite part of this edit is the handling of the Anakin and Padme romance. If an editor were to simply take out the trash in the romance, there would be no romance. To make it work, an editor needs to use what he's given to make that romance believable, which it definitely wasn't in the original. Hal does this perfectly. I've researched it, and it seems like his reordering of the scenes comes mostly from Slumberland's, which I'm more than cool with. No problem borrowing from other editors, Hal maybe made the best there is of Episode I by doing that. But it seems like Slumberland left in the horrendous interrupted kiss, while Hal9000 cut away before the interruption. This change alone, which is critical, means I have no problem proclaiming Hal9000 as the absolute best handler of the romance.

My previous favorite Episode II edit was L8wrtr's, and Hal9000's is very similar, which is a good thing. The substantial differences (the aforementioned romance, Obi-Wan discovering Kamino, Obi-Wan and Jango fisticuffs) are all changed for the better in Hal9000's. This would be enough for me to call it my new preferred Episode II. But Hal also fixes something I wasn't sure was possible to fix: the assassination plot. In the original it makes almost zero sense. But here it makes a whole lot of sense (thanks to some choice deletions and the inclusion of a deleted scene) and ties in nicely with the fact that "Palpatine's behind it all."

Long story short, this is the best edit of Episode II there is (at least in my opinion), and it is undoubtedly and substantially better than the theatrical cut. Great work Hal!