Review Detail

7.3 8 10
FanMix June 05, 2014 7727
(Updated: July 27, 2014)
Overall rating
 
3.8
Audio/Video Quality
 
7.0
Audio Editing
 
4.0
Visual Editing
 
2.0
Narrative
 
3.0
Enjoyment
 
3.0
!This review contains massive spoilers! So up to you if you want to read on that's your call.

Okay before I start, I made a pledge last year to be totally honest in my reviews, even if it was very negative. Previously I just choose to never write the review, which I thought wasnt being honest. So I'm not going to sugar coat this one. Sorry...

Audio/Video Quality - 7/10

Most of the source material is decent looking HD but some material is jarring sub-SD. I also cannot fathom why this edit is based on the 2011 SE and not something like Harmy's DE? So yes this has a wierd pinkish hue and bizarre CGI additions. There is often the use of slow-motion but it is very jerky and unnatural looking. Some scenes featured a wierd blurring round the edges that appeared then disappeared. There are also a couple of aspect ratio problems where the image bled from scope into the 16:9 frame.

Visual Editing - 2/10

Almost all of the edits here are done by quickly fading in and out of black (Accomapnied with a harsh audio silence). Fades to black (Even well executed ones) are the mark of lazy editing in my book. There is no effort to colour grade the different "planets", add establishing shots or make the disperate elements gel in any way whatsover. The trims to ANH itself are brutal and obvious with nothing done to make the cuts match or smooth over the audio gap. The worst bit though is actually the lack of edits...

e.g. Christopher Lee is still called Rasputin instead of Vader??? (So was Christopher Lee supposed to be Vader or what? It wasn't very clear) when the name could have been removed, we are forced to watch 7 seemingly unedited minutes of Kwai before Guiness even features and 20 minutes of Kwai with little or no tangible connection to Star Wars. Again the Navarone footage goes on and on and on with just Ford's presence to link it to SW at all.

This edit is almost 3 HOURS LONG. You really need to justify this ammount of someone's time. At least try to make it as short as is practicle to spare the audience. But there was no attempt to make any part shorter than it could have been. This aspect of the edit made me a little angry if I'm honest.

A warning: Although this should be a family friendly Star Wars edit, don't show the family as the bizarre decision has been taken to make Greedo swear several times in his subtitles (I added the *) e.g.

"..and put a f*cking bolt in your brain here and now"

This bit ^ made me wonder if this was supposed to be the fanedit equivelant of 'The Room'. A fanedit so misjudged it becomes unintentionally funny. Lastly there is an obvious error in the fanedit credits at the end.

Audio Editing - 3/10

Most of the audio features sudden and very harsh audio fades or no fades at all, the audio just cuts out. At points the audio was badly mis-matched to the video but I'm not sure if this was a "deliberate creative choice". Music qeues start and then stop dead, no gradual fade out or fade in, they are there and then they are not. There is almost no attempt to match the soundtracks of the added footage to the SW universe. Even a little JW music here and there would have helped.

The total failure to make any effort on this front meant the sudden dubbing of blaster sounds over one scene in the middle genuinely just made me laugh. Also many SoundFXs are missing or mis-timed. The deleted ANH footage is the worst with no additional FX added to complete the largely incomplete soundtrack.

Narrative - 3/10

Scenes follow no logic order, or character arc. Characters are bitter enemies and then quite friendly one cut later. There are many pointless minor characters that get loads of screen time for no reason. Either plot elements are introduced with no resolution, or explanations for later events are removed. If you know Star Wars I'd call the narrative incoherent, in the unlikely event you don't know Star Wars, I'd imagine it would be baffling in the extreme.

Enjoyment - 3/10

First off the few highlights: The Emperor redub was a lot of fun. The new Cantina music was groovey. The ending montage was quite well done. The cutaway to the Death Star during the bridge chat was cool. That's it I think.

In conclusion, this is only for Star Wars ADDICTS who have limitless reserves of patience and a high tolerance for poor editing. The ambition is Epic, but the execution is most definitely not. This is the worst fanedit I've so far watched and 3 hours of my life I won't be getting back.

Again, I'm sorry for the harsh review but I'm just being honest.

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July 27, 2014
Damn.
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