Review Detail

This is a pretty solid edit, probably the best I've seen so far for this entry. Not sure I like it more than the Ep 2 edit by HAL though.

This one is still mired in politics in the 1st half. There are still some dumb things kept in as well like the lizard riding scenes. The acting and dialogue are still terrible in parts (which probably can't be edited out).

I still don't like the scene where Anakin turns dark and pledges his allegiance to Sidious. I feel like Anakin's reply should be mostly silence rather than his "ok, cool dude, yeah let's be evil." I feel like much of this scene would work better if things went unsaid. Have him order him to be his apprentice and have Anakin bow his head in pseudo-shame and then have Palpatine order him to leave or whatever. I think too much is told in this scene rather than just shown.

I wish there was an edit to the Obi / Anakin faceoff too. It's so bloated and overdone. If someone could tone it down and keep it more sensible rather than the grandiose fight on top of the lava, that would help.

I REALLY liked the side-by-side intercutting between Padme's fate and the creation of Vader though. That was a brilliant editing choice. Chillingly effective.

Those couple of complaints aside, it's still a superior film to the theatrical version and fixes far more than what remains broken. It's a very good edit, technically, and the narrative is well done. It's more streamlined and better structured with this edit. I think a handful of further small edits could make this one the go-to version of the film.