Star Wars - Silent Edition: Episode VII

This was an absolute joy to watch. At less than hour long, TMBTM manages to still maintain a consistent and clear narrative, capturing all the key plot points.

I dare say I enjoyed this more than the original. A delayed reveal of Kylo Ren as Han and Leia's son, very little Star Killer Base/Death Star fan service...all the bits I didn't like were gone, and a simple, but satisfying story remained, as did character charm.

It was wonderful hearing the soundtrack as a feature. It truly allowed me to appreciate elements of the music that I wouldn't normally notice.
Visually, this was gorgeous as well. The contrast in colour, black & white and sepia was superbly used and created an excellent visual dynamic. Music and colour told more about the emotion of the story and characters than you would necessarily expect (A key example being the death of Han Solo).

Now for the qualms, (the part of the review I hate). These are pure nitpicks compared to the beauty of the overall product:

I noticed a few music transitions, most of which would easily go unnoticed. There was, however, one jarring music cut at around 50:24. There was also one visual cut at around 46:54ish (possibly just before) that I found took me out of the experience slightly.

Overall, though? Wonderful. A genuine pleasure from beginning to end. I'd echo Q2 in saying that this makes me want to go and watch the other silent edits. It also makes an excellent recap of The Force Awakens - just in time for Episode VIII!

A really cool concept executed quite well.

The narrative comes through well enough, though I would agree that if you're not already familiar with the film this would be challenging to follow. Some of the intertitles could have been phrased better (I also could have used more intertitles myself), but it works fine as is.

Most importantly, given it's a "silent" movie, the music in this is excellent. I wish there was less downtime between tracks in certain places, but the selection of tracks is perfect as are the levels.

I'd recommend this to anyone interested in silent movies or Star Wars.