War of the Stars: A New Hope Grindhoused

January 10, 2010 @ 4:32 am

I was very interested in this edit following the excellent JAWS version that TMBTM offered us. More so for the deleted scenes that were in low quality that could be added to this film given the nature of the grindhousing of the film.

I, like many others have probably watched ANH a hundred odd times, so, am well aware of missing dialogue or things that have been added.

The inclusion of the lost/deleted scenes are most welcome. Yea, sure, most of them are badly acted and seem out of place, but not for this edit. They fit well in there. I don’t care that there are missing sound effects and that they turn black and white in places, as that’s what I expect from this kind of film.

It’s a new experience to see all these early scenes with Biggs to finally understand why Luke has a soft spot for the guy. He’s quite instrumental to why Luke’s desire to leave the planet and we get some idea, very early on as to what the rebellion is all about. Ordinary people want to join.

There’s quite a bit of dialogue cut from this version – almost random stuff – I assume that this was to make the feature shorter? TMBTM – can you explain this?

I really wasn’t expecting a scene from Troops to turn up! Really enjoyed the new cantina scene. Seeing Solo chatting up a woman, various new aliens and Neil Young?(Not sure it was him) performing all adds to a new experience of this scene. With the bartender and Greedo using English in, well, English accents made this much grittier and less polished…which again, makes this an interesting experience – but I expect this for this edit.

The added blood and exploding stormtroopers head made me laugh. A few new lines for Vader doesn’t work quite so well, but Obi Wan describing Mos Eisley in Peter Serafinowicz’s description was another LOL moment. Vader’s new eyes were hilarious.

New twist on the trench run. Well edited my friend, didn’t see that coming.

R2′s subtitles – a bit random – perhaps use them a bit more – only some things are subtitled – but I think using the same font as your titles was not a great choice.

My only criticism was choice of music in two scenes:

Escape from the Death Star, it feels a little out of place and runs too long. As mentioned by Adabisi, the Battle of Yavin, again, not so good. It feels a little loud in places, drowns out the dialogue.

However, your choice of score for the end scenes is great. The films final scene – LOL – I wondered if you’d use this somewhere….

So, gushing muchly, really enjoyed this TMBTM – excellent work. Every Star Wars fan should watch this and not try to take it too seriously. This is fun, like the JAWS edit and I enjoyed much more than I thought I would.

9/10.

PS. Just to clarify something. There are scenes on the Death Star that I wasn’t able to place. It shows Vader talking to someone on a communicator and later, two Stormtroopers guarding a lift with one of those sqeaky radio control mini cars on the floor. Where did they come from?

June 21, 2012 @ 9:43 am

*This rating was given before reviews were required*

April 30, 2012 @ 5:33 pm

*This rating was given before reviews were required*

April 18, 2012 @ 6:13 am

In our quest for better sound and video quality, we’ve forgotten how much fun grindhouse can be. I wasn’t sure if I would like it, but I seriously couldn’t wipe the grin off my face the whole time. It brought back memories of drive-in theaters and worn out VHS copies of Star Wars that I watched over and over.

I loved how the lost, deleted footage was re-integrated. It was a lot more fun than watching them individually and brought them to life in a way ‘Deleted Magic’ and ‘Star Wars Begins’ couldn’t quite pull off. (Of course, they were documentaries, not feature films). Also, the red eyes and blood spatters were inspired. My only complaint is a small one … while I enjoyed most of R2′s subtitles, some of Vader’s voiceovers didn’t quite work for me. I appreciated the attempt (and the work that went into choosing the samples), but many of them were either too goofy or didn’t fit the scene.

Overall, it was the most fun I’ve had watching a fanedit … great work!

December 24, 2011 @ 12:42 am

It’s just: WOW!

I have to give you 10/10 for this amazing, stunning edit!

I had so much fun watching this!

What I liked most:
- It’s trashy.
- Cool and/or cheesy music added
- Deleted scenes and spoofy b-roll/making-of scenes are cut-in.
- It remembers me of the first time watching Star Wars as a kid.

The only thing I could whine about, if I would, is that R2-D2′s new subtitles are too silly, sometimes. But I do not whine, I just put my two thumbs up.

Thank you so much!