Star Wars: Episode III - Labyrinth Of Evil

Alright. This is great! Lots of things I didn't like in the original are fixed. It's still a little cringy in some parts (especially Anakin's turn to the dark side). But I can't blame you, it's a problem of the source material. You obviously did your best to make it better. I really like how Anakin's turn is motivated more by politics and the Jedi order than Padmé. And the final scene with Padmé holding baby Leia? Are you kidding me? That's genious! You managed to fix one of the biggest plot holes in Star Wars. But because of that, Luke's separation doesn't make so much sense anymore. I believe it's to protect Leia as Anakin thinks he had only one child. But it would be great to point it out somehow (maybe cut the conversation between Yoda, Bail and Obi-Wan). But still, this is the best version of the episode III.

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.

As I continue my search for the prefect prequel edits, I was happy to come across this excellent effort by Hal 9000.

Hal cuts down a great deal of the movie, which is very welcome. In my experience, I've never seen an edit that I thought cut too much. His reshuffling of scenes and his use of a deleted scene is quite effective.

Although I wouldn't make this choice myself, I love Hal's gutsy use of a scene from a different Natalie Portman movie to imply that Padme lived and raised Leia. I understand that his goal was to make the lines in RotJ make sense, about Leia remembering her mother but Luke not remembering her. Unfortunately, there's no explanation as to why Padme would raise Leia but abandon Luke. Mind you, no explanation is possible with the available footage. The script would have to be rewritten from scratch to accommodate this, so what could any editor do? So, again, even though I wouldn't do it myself, I'm glad that such an edit exists, both for the uniqueness of it and for those who choose it as the way to fix the PT's inconsistencies with the OT.

The video and sound quality are excellent, and the editing is seamless. I can see why this edit ranks so highly among Star Wars edits. It's definitely one of the best of the bunch!

ROTS is perhaps the only Star Wars prequel that doesn't demand a fan edit, but alas, here we are.
Audio/Video quality gets a 10/10 this time from me. Again, the deleted scenes are noticeable, but if I didn't know any better they MIGHT get past me.
Visual and audio editing are 10s as well. At this point, if it has Hal's name attached to it, expect nearly flawless execution.
The Narrative loses a couple of points for a few reasons. This is obviously subjective but in my opinion, Anakin's fear of Padmé dying isn't emphasized enough and adds unnecessary confusion, Palpatine's deformation is too sudden and doesn't make as much sense to me, and Padmé living creates conflict with current canon. Hal has been a dear and provided a version with an alternate ending in which Padmé dies, but I'm basing this review off of the version most consistent with his original vision. Also, the narrative jumps around A LOT in the second half, but I can't remember if that is Hal's doing or not, so I won't factor it into the score.
Finally, Enjoyment. The insertion of deleted scenes give Padmé something to do and sets up the Rebellion - exciting stuff! The film is much more focused than the original and kept me engaged. If I had the skill, I imagine a few additional tweaks of Labyrinth of Evil would result in my perfect edit. Therefore, 9/10.

Saw this one last summer, a great edit much more enjoyable than what Lucas tried to do! highly recommend for anyone who is a star wars fan!