Star Wars: Episode II - The Approaching Storm

The flow and the pacing are much improved, which is the most important fix that can be done in the slog of the original film. A great example of this is the shortening of the Dooku duel; even though the original is a great moment, it does seem to last forever.

The reduction of the bickering between Obi-Wan and Anakin is also a big plus.
I also found it was a great idea to trim the Boba Fett backstory; less is more here, the context in the film seems more than enough.

The 20min reduction in final lenght is a showcase of the editor's skills, impressive.

Star Wars: Episode II - The Approaching Storm is a remarkable achievement.
After watching Hal's edit of Episode I, Cloak of Deception, I found myself liking the changes made and felt the movie benefitted from the cuts in a lot of ways, however I felt that overall the majority of the film remained similar to The Phantom Menace. So when I booted up Episode II, The Approaching Storm, I expected something similar -- Attack of the Clones but with minor changes and better pacing to clear up some oddities. What I did not expect was for my opinion of Episode II to be completely overhauled.
With the addition of deleted scenes, cut fat, and editing magic, this fan edit does the impossible. It makes the romance between Anakin and Padme watchable, it makes Anakin's dark side moment feel impactful, it makes the droid factory and arena exciting, and it makes the showdown with Dooku and Yoda feel like it what it should have been to begin with.
I'm absolutely blown away with this one and I'm very excited to see what's in store for Episode III, a flawed movie, but one that I actually liked a lot originally.

I watched HAL9000's Cloak of Deception back in 2019 (the first fan edit I'd seen) and while I felt it was an improvement, I didn't necessarily find it transformative. The Approaching Storm, however, is transformative. I am truly amazed at how much I enjoyed this. Sure, it is still a flawed movie (thus my 8/10 enjoyment), but a fan edit can only do so much. Since I am less familiar with Attack of the Clones than the Phantom Menace, I was less aware of the changes as I was watching, but they seem to have been executed near perfectly from reading them on here. As mnkykungfu mentions in their review, the exchange with Padme's "It makes me uncomfortable" is probably one of the only things I'd change in this edit. In any event, HAL9000, this is the best fan edit I have watched so far and has convinced me again that fan edits have massive potential.

This is the first fan edit that I can enjoy on this page, I'm really happy to have seen it, I'm surprised, I never imagined seeing episode 2 turned into a good movie, Hal's work is impressive, all the changes made improve the movie on so many levels from the pacing of the movie to anakin and padmé's relationship their relationship couldn't be better it cuts out all the cringe and awkward scenes and leaves the best of them to the point where it makes it a good relationship the part Anakin's mom is also very well shorter and straight to the point, the fight in Geonosis is also excellent, the unnecessary comedy has been completely removed, and the movie gets a better tone in my opinion, the added deleted scenes are very good, the scene of Padmé in the senate raises the political conflict of the film much better, the scene with Padmé's family also quite liked a better addition than "I don't like the arena", and As for the quality of the edit, I have nothing to say, it's just perfect, the deleted scenes are perfectly colored and have incredible quality, the cuts are perfect and imperceptible, a GREAT JOB highly recommended

Weakest movie in the saga (with IX now I think), still not a good movie, the original writing and directing is too bland to be completely saved.
But still, you've made some great changes, as well as additions I had never seen (the deleted scenes especially, and they are a great fit in this).

A small music oddity when transitionning from Anakin and Padme first kiss, to Obi-wan in Kamino, the two themes do not perfectly blend together in my opinion. Except this small complaint, on a technical level it's top tier as usual.

Thanks for making the prequels rewatch less painful (and even enjoyable most of the time). And another thanks for the french subtitles.