Star Wars - Episode III: Dark Force Rising

In his desperation to save Padmé, where he failed to save his mother, Anakin trusts the only friend he thinks he has, Palpatine. Like so many heroes before him, Anakin brings his own worst nightmares upon himself.

The brilliant reinsertion of Padmé as one of founders of the rebellion, adds a greater depth to her character, as well as her relationship with Anakin. It is only natural, given the previous two films, that Padmé would have doubts about the Republic. Anakin now not only fears Padmé’s death, but also her betrayal.

The Finale is no longer Jedi against Sith, but friend against friend. Obi-wan's goal is not to kill Anakin, but to save him. Obi-wan’s love for Anakin is an erie contrast to Anakin’s hate. The battle is personal, paralleling well with their final duel in A New Hope.

Kerr’s Dark Force Rising takes a good movie and makes it great. It is quick and fast paced, effectively removing or altering much of the unneeded dialogue. My only real complaint–it's a great movie that ends too soon.

Review by BladeRunner391 — May 29, 2012 @ 7:56 am

*This rating was given before reviews were required*

Review by darthscourge — October 8, 2011 @ 3:52 pm

Just finished it…and, man this was amazing. Everything worked so much better than the original, the deleted scenes insertions are well-timed and make a better story. The Yoda/Palpatine duel is not missed, yet I thought it would be. The agonizing decision that Anakin makes is tense and far more believable, and extremely emotional. It starts out in an upbeat way and ends on the darkest note possible, with just a glimmer of (A New) hope in those twin suns.

The shortened run time is perfect – now it plays more like an extended episode of The Clone Wars, which works so well. IMHO The Clone Wars series’ far outclass all of the original prequels anyway.

An excellent way to prelude Adywan’s ANH:R! Snaps and much respect to Kerr and all the other editors who directly or indirectly contributed. In the three or so years I’ve been a member here, I haven’t watched any of the others, so I cannot make any comparisons. But, man, this effing rocks! 9.5 lightsabers, just want a Hi-def fully-sick 5.1 version now for that extra .5!

Review by DarthRazorback — August 15, 2011 @ 11:02 pm

I am giving this one higher marks than other ROTS edits because it is almost all seamless. I don’t agree with all the choices but at least the movie doesn’t look like it was beaten up with the cutting stick like another edit (I won’t name names).

Review by InfoDroid — April 9, 2011 @ 1:30 am

Dear Kerr,

Just got done watching this on YouTube. It’s not an easy film to edit, but you made what I thought were some very innovative choices during a few key moments that I haven’t seen tried before. Your solution to the Palpatine transformation problem, the fast-paced, uncut Mustafar duel and pretty much the entire third act of the film were all examples of how we can turn garbage into greatness just by snipping a few shots.

For example, look how much more effective the Vader transformation is without the “Frankenstein” scene. And you don’t even miss it! Padme’s death also felt so much more poignant.

One thing I was hoping for was a change in the voice of the “surfer dude” Neimoidian on Grevious’ ship. Just a pet peeve of mine. And I thought there was a slight misstep in the order of the birth of the Rebellion scene and Padme and Anakin’s talk at her apartment. I think if you flip the order of those two scenes, it would be much more effective because it provides the causation for Padme to start doubting the Republic’s stance on the war.

But those two tiny quibbles aside, it’s still a ten-star review for me. I think it’s the best edit of ROTS to date. I only wish there was a DVD version available. It would be my preferred version of Episode III.

Very, very good work!

–InfoDroid