War of the Stars: A New Hope Grindhoused

TMBTM has crafted a genuinely unique and fascinating take on the original Star Wars. Using footage from various sources to reinsert alternate takes, deleted scenes and new music, the story that we all love has been transformed into a grungy, almost B grade, Grindhouse film.

The blood stained walls after a storm trooper is shot in the face, the funny subtitled dialogue from R2D2, the unexpected "fucking shit hole" from Alec Guinness, the red eyed and witty new dialogue from Darth Vader, all work in unison to create this weirdly funny and engaging experience.

I really loved the grain and scratches applied to the film, as well as the sudden changes to black and white for certain scenes, and while it was a bit jarring, the missing reel that burns out in the first act of the film really sells the authenticity of this edit. This doesn't feel like someone just added some grain and scratches to the movie and called it "Grindhouse"... No, no, this feels like a true Grindhouse film that you'd see in a grungy cheap cinema. I loved it!

The only real criticisms I have with this edit are:
- The music when Luke, Han, and Leia are fighting/escaping the Death Star that leads into the death of Obi Wan was a little misplaced. That's just a nitpick though, as the rest of the soundtrack is fantastic, especially when we're introduced to Han... That was amazing.

- and my final gripe with the edit is the end twist/semi twist. While it was cool and unexpected, it didn't really have any build up, it just sort of happened and then everything went back to normal and no-one acted any differently towards Luke. Obviously because there was no footage of characters acting strangely towards Luke but still. Again, this is just another nitpick so it didn't affect the overall experience/enjoyablity of the film.

Definitely recommend, for fans of the franchise, and fans of Grindhouse in general.

Man o man this is fun. I was watching this and thinking what if I was able to watch this while sitting in my 69 Malibu at a drive in. Eating some stale popcorn and drinking flat soda. Memories. This really has the feel of a film made expressly for viewing at a drive in. I stopped it a few times to rewatch a few parts. Laughed gave a few "yeahs", just had a grand time. I was waiting for the previews and intermission countdown. I downloaded the "HD" version even though it's "not"....lol Watch this along with the companion edit. A worthwhile afternoon. Oh wait I forgot to put the speaker back on the pole....damn

Brilliant.

Just watched this today, and WOW! Talk about perfectly blending the old deleted scenes into this movie, awesome job. Blood effects where very welcomed too. I love the look and feel of this edit. Definitely will have friends over to watch this one. Two big thumbs up from me. Great job TMBTM.

Nifty reworking of a classic viewed numerous. Edit incorporates plenty of ugly, deleted footage, making the experience greasier and dirtier. No disrespect intended. This is a snickering subversive retelling that takes its sweet time before slithering into broken territory.

Video - Decent 720p, MPEG 2. Outtakes were all crappy, with poor resolutions and bleached out colours. Editor TMBTM matched the look across the edit, so there was no jarring feature - bonus - feature - bonus recognition. The editor is too professional for his own nature, however, and transitions and edits were smooth and thought out.

Audio - 2 Channel, 448 Kb. Dialogue easy to understand. No subs - and yet - R2D2 is subbed throughout, and it proves to be one smart ass astrodroid. I also wondered about reinserted footage of storm troops on Tatooine. If redubbed, clever dialogue of poorly motivated workforce. The old saw about good help being hard to find applies.

Narrative - An altogether deceptive story that feints like an extended version, but midway begins to weave into a different direction. Having viewed the sequel first - lame, watching out of sequence - I can reassure uncertain readers that the modifications progress logically and bloom in the second installment.

Enjoyment - A lot of this is funny as hell. Storm troopers, who cannot shoot for shit in the original trilogy (Jango must have been rolling in his grave over nth generation clones) in this edit blast resistance left and right. Jawa haters, check this out. As noted, R2D2 is sees all, chatters away, but no one pays attention to him. Probably because he talks too much. A generous assortment of bonus goodies here, and you can’t beat Frances Gall (thank you for not going with the obvious ”Chick Habit”).

I suspect there may be purists who hate anyone tinkering with this installment, scratching at canon. Forget ‘em. This is a gaspipe kick. Go for it.