Star Wars: Episode III - Labyrinth Of Evil

My previous favorite edit of Revenge of the Sith was L8wrtr's Dawn of the Empire. I did have some problems with it, like Chewbacca was still there, Padme dies unlike her daughter's memories, C-3PO doesn't have his memory wiped and it isn't explained why only Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan and Yoda are able to use the force ghost technique. Despite the universe shrinking and the continuity errors though, overall it was the best edit of ROTS.

But now, Labyrinth of Evil has taken over the title of best edit of Episode III. Why?

The Audio/Video quality is great, so is the editing. The narrative was similar to Dawn of the Empire (that's what I like about this) but better. And of course, MUCH better than the original. The only problems I had were,

1) The removal of the Yoda/Palpatine fight. The fight has a point. When he warns Luke “Do not underestimate the power of the Emperor”, he is speaking from experience. When he goes to Dagobah to hide without the fight people would say "Why doesn't he stop the Emperor?" When he does and fails, he goes into exile. Many people complain that Yoda having a lightsaber contradicts and destroys his character, and they argue that Yoda represented a character that someone didn't need to be physically strong but strong in the heart to be powerful as shown in the Empire Strikes Back, which is correct. And according to them Yoda having a lightsaber destroys his character because of this. But think about it this way; the lightsaber is no laser sword used with physical strength, the lightsaber is a force weapon used by force wielders. The stronger you are in the force the better you use the lightsaber as well.

Did you play the Knights of the Old Republic games? Well in the second one your Master, Kreia, talks to one of your other companions, Atton, and says "Take the greatest Jedi Knight, strip away the Force, and what remains? They rely on it, depend on it more than they know. Watch as one tries to wield a blaster or a lightsaber, and you will see nothing more than a woman, or a man. A child."

We can easily ignore the blaster part because Jedi don't use blasters anyway, except only on dire situations like at the end of Obi-Wan vs Greavous, which also ends with Obi-Wan saying "So uncivilized." But the important part is the lightsaber part. This time it's the opposite. Other than Jedi and Sith, people are never able to use lightsabers properly, why not? Because you need the Force in order to use the lightsaber, which proves that a lightsaber is more than just a laser sword. That is why in my opinion there is nothing wrong with Yoda having a lightsaber.

2) "NOOOOOOOOOOO"

Ugh. It's still there! I couldn't believe it. The most laughable moment in the prequels that isn't meant to be laughable.

That being said, I prefer the removal of the fight and "NOOOOO" over the continuity issues (Padmé's death, C-3PO, force ghosts) and universe shrinking (CHEWBACCA!!!).

Thanks, HAL9000 for giving us all a go-to Episode III.

This is very well done, and I enjoyed watching it, but this is the only film in HAL9000's prequel trilogy that I did not prefer compared to the original. For example, I did not like the decision to keep Padme alive because I did not understand how that fit with the original trilogy. I had to look it at the changes to see that the purpose of that was to match a line from Return of the Jedi. Still, that was simply the editor's choice, and it was executed well, so for those looking for that kind of change, it will be appreciated. Overall, Episode 3 is the best of the prequel trilogy, so I think it does not need as much editing as the other two, but I commend HAL9000 for his work on this trilogy altogether.

All right. This is very different from Hal's TPM and AotC edits, because instead of just trimming the fat, he also changes the plot quite heavily. And that's why I'm not much of a fan of this one.

The fundamental change to the plot is that in Hal's version, Anakin's main motivation to turn to the dark side is political, while love for his wife is secondary. If you think this would improve the movie, then you'll love this version, as V5 is an impressive technical accomplishment in fanediting. If you're like me, however, and think that this fundamental change weakens the plot, then this is probably not the version you're looking for.

Interesting to notice that the way this edit's structured is how Lucas first structured the movie, but feedback from people he previewed the picture to made him change his mind and make Anakin's love for Padmé the primary thing to turn him to the dark side.

Regarding the new ending: it fixes a gigantic plot hole - that Leia remembers her mother - by having Padmé survive! Technically seamless, it strengthens the six movie saga, but weakens the prequel trilogy as a trilogy in a way: it takes away the tragic irony of Vader doing everything he can to save his wife only for him to be the one to kill her, in the awesomely edited ending of the original film.

Besides the fundamental creative difference I have with the editor in regards to the plot, this is another very good edit by Hal taking away most of the stupidity and cheesiness and crafting a much more enjoyable experience in that regard from the original film. Palpatine's incredibly cheesy moments during his fight with Windu/when Anakin turns are highlights. Still, I think he takes away a tad too much from this one.

I'd first like to preface this review by saying that I am a fan of Hal 9000, particularly his Purist LOTR edits and his excellent Star Wars TROS Ascendant edit. I don't like leaving negative reviews, as I am appreciative of the efforts that a faneditor does for free for the enjoyment of others.

With that in mind, I'll try to keep my review as complimentary as possible while expressing my opinion on the narrative choices of the edit.

On the technical side, this edit was really well done and seamless, but on the narrative side it reeks of a fanboy who thinks he knows more about Star Wars than the actual creator of Star Wars itself. A good effort, but I'll definitely be sticking to George Lucas's vision of "Revenge of the Sith."