Star Wars - Episode II: The Republic Divided

Wow. Who knew Episode II had such a good movie hiding underneath? My hat goes off to you L8.

Couldn't stand the diarrheal theatrical version. But L8wrtr hoses away the cringe and the stool to reveal a very watchable cut, a feat which I considered impossible, even by an extremely talented faneditor. In doing so, L8wrtr recaptures some of that Star Wars magic, which is what we really want when we watch these movies.

George Lucas, take this DVD, get into a fucking time machine, and redo your second prequel based on this. Just don't forget to pay L8wrtr mucho handsomely when you catch up to the present.

This is a close 2nd for my go to Episode II edit, although I may have to watch Hal9000's again to be sure.

Quality was good, but not quite as good as I'd expect for a blu ray, though still better than dvd. Some other edits just seem crisper.

Editing was top notch bar a couple of things. At the start of the film there were a few odd issues that I noted:

- Strange green lines flash just after disclaimer
- 20th Century Fox logo flashes just after L8wrtr logo
- Backdrop for open Star wars logo is very pixelated
- A ghost of the starting crawl flashes up at around 2:27 (blink and you'll miss it)

Other than that there was just one jarring transition - the very short scene with Anakin and Padme in the fire lit lounge.

On a personal level I missed the action sequence between Jango and Obi-Wan, Padme shouldn't say "... Truly, deeply..." and the droid factory is a visual abomination.

Narrative seemed more cohesive than in most edits, though due to the source material it can never be perfect.

Overall, highly enjoyable. Something L8wrtr nails with this and Phantom Menace is pacing. Both are mercifully short without there being anything particularly noticeable missing. The films just plod along in a very entertaining manner despite the absence of an interesting plot and before you know it they're over - and you feel relatively satisfied.

Good stuff. Now, onto Episode III...

Full disclosure: I'm in the middle of downloading L8's Episode I and III, but haven't had a chance to watch them before viewing Episode II. This review is only regarding L8's Episode II against the theatrical version and another fan edit, Attack of the Phantom.

Given the limitations that L8 had with Attack of the Clones and uncompleted deleted scenes, he really has done something quite grand with his edit. The only other fan edit I've seen of this film was Attack of the Phantom. It's difficult to completely say which one narratively is better because both have their pros and cons. Technically speaking, L8's version is leaps and bounds beyond what The Phantom Editor had at his disposal. There's a few audio bits that pop up, but for most viewers, they will not notice.

What's great?

L8 has a better eye than Lucas for what needed to be in the film. The deletion of Anakin/Padme with Padme's parents in Naboo not only worked from their relationship, but it also humanized Padme in a way that the entire theatrical trilogy failed to do. By not having this scene in the film, there's a huge hole in her character and she begins the trilogy as a strong-willed Queen of the people to a battered housewife. Quite unfortunate. Also necessary was the inclusion of Obi-wan and Mace on the landing platform. This scene works better than what was in the original film, and it also shows a bit more of the technology of the time with the warp ring on Obi-wan's fighter.

Even in The Phantom Editor's cut, I never cared for Anakin. L8 did the seemingly impossible and made him an interesting character (on par with the presentation of Skywalker in later seasons of The Clone Wars). He's very quiet and has issues interacting with other people, but genuinely cares for people. He's much more of a follower who finally becomes proactive when he murders the Tuskin Raiders. Also, the confession that he makes to Padme later in the film is brilliant. It's short and sweet and he's asking for help from Padme. Rather than blowing up in emotion ("I slaughtered them like animals!"), he is trying to keep it all in. It's more of a nuanced performance that exists inside of a very one-note original characterization. Quite surprising.

Also surprising what how much of Padme and Anakin on Naboo existed in this cut and how effective it all is. There's a definite give-and-take between these two people who are subtly trying to decide whether to follow their heart or their duty. If only Lucas would have given L8 more to work with, this would have been even more effective. More on that later.

Removing the mystery of Kamino works well. It's no longer a missing system, but a planet that is well-known like any other. It makes sense that Sidious wants the Jedi to discover the Clone Army because it is crucial to the final plan. Removing the system of the Jedi Archive never made sense. This flows much better and I never had any confusion as to what Obi-Wan was doing. The assassin (via subtitles) mentioned Kamino and Obi-Wan goes to figure what the heck is going on over there. It's simple and grows more complicated as the cloning facility is discovered, without any spoiling of it from Dexter.

Thankfully, L8 kept the asteroid chase in the film, which was removed by the Phantom Editor. L8 small cuts work wonders here.

Once everything comes to a head on Geonosis, it's hard to see anything really sticking out as missing. Like Attack of the Phantom, L8 removes 3P0 and R2 from the droid factory (thank you!), so the focus of the action is solely on Anakin and Padme, with Anakin saving Padme instead of R2. Seamless, in my opinion, and truer to character. Sure, we didn't see every monster get killed in the battle arena, but honestly, I didn't miss it. Once the droids come out, it would make sense that the creatures were either moved away or stayed out of the battle. It never crossed my mind. The edit is tight, everything moves quickly, and there isn't much time to think about anything that is missing.

Some may dispute the shorted action sequences across the board on this cut, but in my opinion, L8's cuts help Episode II fit within the world of Star Wars in a way that it hasn't before. The Jedi rarely feel like over-powered gods, Yoda doesn't pick up a lightsaber and he stays on his walking stick, and there's much less flipping around from non-Jedi characters. Jango Fett fells more like an actual human being here in that he's not at the fighting level of the Jedi. He ran from Obi-Wan and fought from a distance. In his shorter fight with Mace, he never stood a chance.

What's not so good?

Thankfully there isn't much here that is weak, but what is there will stick out. Quite frankly, the fireplace scene is very odd. It lasts about 10 seconds and Anakin and Padme look at each other (in reverse motion to make the choreography work). That's it. It's meant to imply that the two slept with each other, but it isn't necessary. This is one place where the Phantom Editor's version is more successful. In his edit, Anakin and Padme go to Naboo and kiss by the lake (Padme never pulls away) and the following morning Anakin is at the same balcony when Padme comes up and tells him that she heard him have a nightmare. That really worked for me. In L8's version, Padme and Anakin are insinuated to have been intimate but never kiss until the final act, instead he just touches her back while they're at the lake, they talk, and then sleep together. It's a little odd.

I would have preferred the sequencing to be a bit closer to the Attack of the Phantom version, while still adding the talk on dictatorship but removing the dinner scene where Anakin uses the Force to help Padme cut her dinner. That dinner scene is ultimately unnecessary and only sets up the "aggressive negotiations" line near the end, which works just fine without it. Plus, we've seen three dinner scenes with Anakin and Padme almost back to back to back. It makes the timing of the story just a bit muddy.

Other than that, this is a great way to watch the film and definitely worth the wait to download! Great job and I look forward to seeing the other episodes of L8's trilogy.

A review of the SL DVD release.

This is my go to Episode 2! Thankyou L8wrtr. I'm listening to the audio commentary right now!

A couple little nitpicks a other than that it's perfect, well for me anyway.

- A faded upside-down "crawl" appears flash frame
- I felt "He hired me on Kamino" subtitle could of been on screen a little longer
- Little audio hiccups, such as sounds from cut scenes and music being noticeably faded or cut.

I can't wait to download the Blu Ray and you're other Star Wars releases.