Star Wars - Episode II: The Republic Divided

WOW, I just fished watching this movie, and it was amazing. If they make another star wars movie they should hire l8wrtr to edit it. I have probably watched episode 2 20 times and this was the first time I felt any connection between anakin and padme. The movie moves at a good pace, and I actually like anakin now. I do wish that the jengo fett scenes weren't cut short. I will never watch the lucas version again, and I cant wait to watch your other edits. Good job!

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.

Before you kill me for not giving this a good score, just let me explain.
I actually don't mind Episode II. It has many problems, but I can enjoy it for the sum of it's parts. Now, if you had asked me what I thought of this cut about a month ago, I would have said it was the best AOTC edit out there and recommended it without question. But then I had a closer look at The Phantom Editor's cut, and found it made many more creative choices than this. Then I watched Seciors, and saw, again, many more creative choices. Then, finally, I watched Trooperman's workprint edit, and really feel sorry for other edits, because his is so damn good and creative, it blows all other edits out of the water automatically, regardless of how good they are. So anyway, one thing I noticed in L8wrtr's edit was lack of originality. Most cuts here don't radically change up the story, or even the individual scenes themselves. I kind of just felt bored, seeing things taken out, with no re-arranging and dialogue changes.
Aside from lack of creativity, I also think some more cuts should have been made. For example, Zam's description of being a changeling was left in, as was Yoda sensing Anakin's pain. The garage scene is a hard edit to take in. I would either leave it in completely, or cut it out completely. The reason I would leave it all in is because the way L8wrtr edited it, it feels anticlimactic. He just says he killed them calmly and that's it. There's no drama. It feels worse than before.
The video quality was good, not great. It was nowhere near as good as the official Blu-Ray's and suffered from nasty pixelation from time to time.
Audio cuts were sometimes good, but sometimes hard to stomach. The transition between Palpatine's office and the bus landing was sudden. You could hear the audio fade out in the transition to the Dooku deleted scene. The transition between "aggresive negotiations" and the other Jedi was also really rough.
At the end of the day, it is a good edit, but feels like another forgettable cut, with no changes to the overall story. It also is a let down from Shadow of the Sith, my favourite Episode I cut.