Star Wars - Episode II: The Republic Divided

TMBTM — July 6, 2011

Nothing much to add to the praise: a very good edit of a very weak movie.
To me this edit is at same level of success than Episode 3 by faneditor Kerr
(but also gave me the same feeling that a short edit like this is not “Star Wars canon”, but that’s just me).
I’ll rate this edit a 9/10.

One point was lost because of the following things:
- The end of the crawl have a little transition problem.
- The lenght of the edit. A bit too short for me. But hey, that’s the price to pay.
- I understand the shot of Anakin and Padme “by the fire”, but it felt a bit short.
Maybe just few more seconds would have help to remove the feeling of a “fanedit cut”.
- And last but not least: Padme awaking from her fall at the end and saying “we have to go to that hangar!” (or something like this).
I never liked this scene. Everyone in the theater laughed when she woke up that fast and start running and, well,
how does she know about “that hangar” anyway?

But those really are minor and personnal points. This edit is the ultimate polishing work of Episode 2 to date.

Hello everyone, I watched this awhile back and here’s my mini-review from originaltrilogy.com:

L8wrtr, this certainly was an astounding fan edit! It’s amazing that Anakin and Obi-Wan finally seem completely sympathetic, unlike in the theatrical cut.

This edit is wonderful in its handling of most aspects. The romance is also much more believable and distinctly less cheesy. While watching your edit, I was truly stunned that you were able to cull footage from romance scenes previously thought too cheesy to include in an edit. In stark contrast to “Attack of the Phantom,” you decided to keep in a tad bit unwillingness on both Anakin’s and Padme’s parts, which was really surprising. Unlike other reviewers on fanedit.org, I saw no issue in having that brief fireside scene.

Furthermore, since I did watch the original a lot when younger, I noticed that you’ve trimmed dialogue in various places, most notably Corde’s “I’ve failed you, Senator.” Not only have you cut some of Lucas’s most cringe-worthy dialogue but you’ve heavily tightened up the pacing of the film, taking out the filler. I always did find a sense of irony in the fact that though Lucas’s main directing advice seems to be “faster and more intense,” he always kept some extraneous dialogue within scenes.

This is now my definitive AOTC cut that I can place between your Shadow of the Sith and Kerr’s Dark Force Rising. You’ve turned his movie from an FX showcase to Star Wars. Fantastic work!

Video: 9/10
Audio: 10/10
Editing: 9.5/10

There's little else I can add that hasn't all ready been said, the original movie was really awful but this edit vastly improves matters. Perhaps the only thing I'd like to have seen would've been the inclusion of the Anakin and Padme trial. It's a short scene and would have provided a nice bridge between the Padme, Dooku negotiation and the kiss scene. In saying that though this is definitely my favourite version.

this is the best in L8 edits of the Star Wars prequels greatly improving the original. Anakin is less of a sulking teenager and a lot more likeable. the deleted scenes as with EP III are a welcome inclusion as they improve the romance between Anakin and Padame.

as others have said they are some niggling errors that are frustrating. I felt the subtitle to the dying shape shifter (her name I don't know) was too quick, and as another viewer committed a little more detective work by Obi-Wan would have improved the story.

Anakin and Padame seem to know C3-PO rather well considering this character was somewhat shortened in EP 1

the fire place scene really didn't need to be there, without this scenes the balcony scene would have worked as a kind of have they / haven't they slept with one another. as it is it's forcing the issue that they have just slept with one another but it's done in such a clumsy manner

I wondered if the scene between Anakin and Padame after he's returned could have been removed, one of main problems with the prequels is the fact that Padame knows that Anakin is a killer yet she still falls in love with and even marries him. this narrative would have worked well with the viewers knowing what our main character has done while Padame doesn't

the final 30min are fantastic, once again listening to the commentary track you beginning to realise just how much has been cut without ever realizing. bobba fett picking up his dead dad's head would have been a welcome cut.

overall like with all three edits I feel to much has been cut while the other two edits only slightly improved the originals this maybe the version I’ll continue to watch

my original EP II score 6/10
my fanedit EP II score 8/10

Recently I decided to revisit the Star Wars prequels again, after a good 2 or 3 years of having not watched them. However, I knew that I wouldn’t want to watch the theatrical cuts again, so I thought I’d give L8Wrtr’s prequel trilogy another watch.

Of all the prequels, Attack of the Clones is probably the film I have the most problem watching. The theatrical cut is full of terribly written dialogue which makes the love story between Anakain and Padme a complete failure, plus Lucas’ handling of the teenage Anakin is clumsy at best and he comes across as unlikeable and basically a pain in the ass.

L8wrtr’s fanedited version is a complete revelation , it really is. Not only does he somehow manage to make the romance between Anakin and Padme more natural and almost believable, he also manages to bring out more from Hayden Christensen’s performance. More is indeed less when it came to the dialogue that he had to deliver, so the fanediting here is quite sublime and adds considerable weight to the characters and their plight.

There are so many intricate nips and tucks here that it’s impossible to mention them all, but basically trimming down the action sequences and excising needless plot exposition are two of the key factors here. The story is still convoluted, but is far easier to follow and appreciate than it was in the theatrical cut. Plus, the droid factory sequence is hugely improved and as for the Yoda/Dooku scene – that now works a treat and feels more natural.

The only real downside here is just one edit which involves Padme and Anakin when they are looking longingly into each other’s eyes in front of the fire… it’s so quick that the scene just doesn’t work and in my humble opinion should have been removed altogether. Such as shame, as the rest of the edit is basically perfect.

The Republic Divided is an excellent fanediting achievement though and is the only way I like to watch Episode II now. Great work L8wrtr.