Star Wars: Episode IV: A New Hope - Redux

It's hard to feel like you're going to be able to improve on one of the best movies of all time, but I think this edit actually does it.

I already have the "Revisited" fanedit of A New Hope, which improves the visuals, audio, and many subtleties that people may not even notice. But one thing it doesn't manage to change is that what should be an epic reunion, a battle between master and student, feels like two clueless British dudes pointing sticks at each other.

The Obi-Wan/Vader duel has always been the weakest area of this film, if not the entire Original Trilogy. Particularly if you're viewing these films in chronological order, this follow up to Episode III simply will not stand! Thankfully there is the dynamic SC38 footage that reimagines a battle fitting for this occasion. And I fought hard to keep the whole thing in while this was being developed, but lantern51 was very cautious about how much of the battle to include, and how to incorporate it. In the end, I think it was merged very well, a conservative replacement to the fight that is certainly noticeable, but not in a bad way.

The other obvious change of course is to incorporate the Vader footage from the end of Rogue One into the beginning of this. While this does create a slight continuity issue as the attack in that film was clearly on a different ship (one that Leia's ship was docked at), I think it's overall worthwhile for the effect it has here. Namely, the original Darth Vader introduction just doesn't hold up. It may have been impressive and dynamic in 1977, but all these years later it feels like a lame follow-up to Episode III. In THIS cut, Our intro to Vader is downright terrifying, and so when he boards the Tantive IV and starts choking people out, it has an extra air of menace because you know he's actually restraining himself.

The final aspect to bring up is just how much better this edit LOOKS. While lantern51 did not use the Revisited edition as a base (so some weirdness like lightsaber jump cuts are still present), the filters and visual changes to this film really are remarkable. It looks damn impressive, and is a sparkling and dynamic way to rewatch one of the great films, a true shelf-replacer that starts this thing with a bang and feels like it never lets up.

A New Hope Redux was a delightful watch with all the fantastic pacing of the original with the SC38 and Rogue One sequences seamlessly added. I was genuinely impressed by how well these were integrated that you would think it was initially in the film, to begin with. The work gave A New Hope a much-needed facelift, added to Obi-Wan's legacy, and made Vader more menacing to match the rest of the entries in the trilogy. I'm giving this edit a "must-watch" review and think you will enjoy it as much as I did.

A New Hope was never my favorite of the saga mostly due to it being overshadowed by its modern contemporaries, this may have been the movie to start the series but its also George Lucas and company figuring out the kinks and with limited budget. I hope I don't sound to negative through my writing cause I do love Star Wars and what Lucas and co were able to make is deserving of all the praise.
Lantern51 Star Wars Redux is a modernized take on New Hope updating it to be more palatable for todays audiences and just what I was looking for.
Going into it if you detest George's special edition with old cgi you won't like this edit, now not all was special Han still shoots first and no Jabba falcon scene thank goodness. its more of the extended speeder scenes and stormtroopers riding those giant lizards in the desert. The real changes here though are the scene 38 light saber fight and the Darth Vader rogue one fight. They both go in pretty smoothly with some clever editing, thanks for limiting Leias bad cgi face, and editing out some of the more gratuitous scenes from 38. Vader throwing his light saber was always a bit much, the real surprise for me was editing out the flashback voices so it keeps with the original intent and doesn't spoil the infamous scene from empire strikes back.
Now for some criticism much as I love the additions keep in mind there's over 40 years between the added scenes and the original movie so the quality is noticeable and might be jarring for some. I also wish you kept in Obi Wan forcing Vader back than picking up the light saber from 38 its a personal opinion but I think the scene flowed better with it in.
One last thing I had to watch my copy on bluray to notice the addition of more music at the final battle. It was welcomed and gave the battle more energy.
Great Quality and great editing this is a wonderful cut of A New Hope and one that comes highly recommended. Well Done