War of the Stars: A New Hope Grindhoused

ORIGINAL REVIEW DATE: JANUARY 21, 2010

Imagine if you will, two talented editors.

The first, Adywan, takes the Star Wars Special Edition and actually makes it special. With the input and support of many others, he fixes color issues, cuts out misplaced humor, re-edits scenes, adds FX, and gives Star Wars fans a new experience to treasure for a lifetime.

The second, The Man Behind The Mask, is approached by film producer I.M. boon with a difficult task – to improve the original Star Wars. On a shoestring budget and with an insane deadline, TMBTM must fix Star Wars so it can be re-released for mass consumption on boon’s extremely profitable website FE.org. boon requests that TMBTM use an old faded and scratched print of the original movie, as he claims he cannot afford to acquire the 2004 DVD. TMBTM is asked to add better music, add blood, fix Vader and R2, and put scenes back into the film that should never have been removed.

Working alone, TMBTM does his best, and boon declares on his website that it is the best version of Star Wars that ever was or will be. He even goes so far as to claim that after seeing his version, no one will ever watch Adywan’s version again.

Imagine boon’s shock and horror when he learns that people love the film, but for all the wrong reasons. They chuckle at the blood. They laugh at Vader and R2. They giggle at the music. They ridicule the film quality. They shake their heads at the usage of a fan film and an interactive VHS game. The film is an unmitigated failure, boon is ruined, and TMBTM goes back to working on horror films.

In truth, TMBTM is a brilliant faneditor. This movie worked for me on so many levels, I can see watching this many times in the future. I especially loved the music choices and the new Vader, as well as the twists at the end. I find myself thinking of this as an Intentional Unintentional Comedy. My only disappointment is that the ending implies we won’t ever get to see The Striking Back of the Empire…but I say it has to be done. I’m sure a solution could be found – death doesn’t mean anything in a soap opera. Let’s see it, TMBTM!

Thanks for this. 10/10

I had way too much fun watching this.

This is now my favorite version of Star Wars–hands-down more enjoyable than the 1977 theatrical cut. If justice and history could give each other oiled back rubs, the War of the Stars would henceforth be included as a bonus feature on every legitimate release of A New Hope.

Unlike most fanedits with the intention of making a film better, War of the Stars provides a unique perspective on an old favorite by providing an alternate take. Leaning heavily on the late 70's aesthetic of exploitation films, War of the Stars changes A New Hope into a whole new film. Lots of surprises awaits, it's a messier, weirder picture, leaning into deleted scenes as alternate takes to the originals, the deleted scenes go al long way to make this film feel different. Yet there's a lot more gags, like James Earl Jones' lines, changing tone via inspired music choices (the chase in the death star is entirely hilarious), and added effects. Not only that, there's narrative choices. Not every scene will feel new, but most will. It suffers when it's mostly a new aesthetic on a scene that's familiar, thankfully they're few and far between before the next gag.

This is ultimately a wonderful embodiment of why people watch fanedits, to experience a familiar film in a whole new way.

Technically hard to rate due to the nature of the film, but still top marks. Enjoyed the translation / interaction between the droids .
The sound effects etc. Makes you fall in love with Grind house, all over again.

This cut made me remember to check the vaporators for the umpteenth time lol. When Vader uses the force something like that should have been in the original. Or shake the crap out of them lol.