War of the Stars II: The Future in Motion

*Minor Spoilers*

Brilliant! Fun! Rejuvenating!

Quite simply, the best fan edit I have seen. TMBTM took two of my favorite movies of all time, and completely turned them on their heads into something completely different that is INCREDIBLY enjoyable in its own right. I loved the use of virtually every deleted scene from the blu ray release, and while there is a noticeable change in sound an audio quality, not just in this scene but multiple times throughout the film, the grindhouse label more or less gives TMBTM the luxury to not have all of those perfect.

Bottom line is, stop what you are doing and watch this edit immediately.

I thoroughly enjoyed the first War of the Stars fanedit, a grindhoused version of Star Wars: A New Hope. An imaginative alternative take on the original film.

This one finishes the original trilogy in a 2 in 1 cut of Empire and Return. It's impressive because it's narratively coherent too. There's some interesting alternate takes on the Vader/Luke reveal, Boba Fett's demise, and others. But overall the story is mostly the same.

While keeping some special effects, deleted scenes, and score changes, it’s ultimately a bit of a disappointment jettisoning much of the surprise and the fun of the original, fully jettisoning the Grindhouse idea. It leaves a mixed bag in terms of overall experience.

It starts off strong with a solid 40 minutes before a long slog and basically watching pieces of Empire and Jedi before ending with a “What If '' alternative universe style ending.

It’s still impressive what’s accomplished here mixing new f/x shots, different shots from the newer prequel films, and creating a brand new ending, it’s just not enough of a change and the deleted scenes aren't enough to make me not wish I was watching the original films.

Overview - Fuse the strongest of the original trilogy with the weakest, redraw Luke’s character so he now carries Anakin’s bad seed, alter Vader’s character, juice the mojo for Fett, those are just elements of an exceptional edit.

Video - Quality choices top to bottom. Now, I KNEW when an alteration was made, but my reaction was always Ooh or Whoa. War Of The Stars is an genuine alternative, not a nip n tuck edit, the flow twists in unexpected directions. The editing was seamless, which I appreciated more during repeat viewings.

Audio - Great sound. Loved the musical alterations (Planets repeated perhaps once too often). Aside from that, again there are countless modifications and the audio editing is demonstration time.

Narrative - The first two thirds of War Of The Stars is inspired. Changes in story structure, character behaviour, Luke’s peccadillo, Darth’s red-eyed fury. Fun times. Jedi is what it is, though TMBTM minimized the Ewoks, brutally truncated all threads (in the best way), slammed the action. Jedi roared past and I did not cringe once. That is a feat.

Enjoyment - A terrific version. Truly. Must see for Sith faithful. Have rewatched a couple of times, this will be going to Star Wars buddies who think they have “seen it all.”

Thank you TMBTM! :]X

Original review: May 8, 2012

Brilliant. Bursting with creativity and imagination, not to mention technical wizardry. I loved watching empire and jedi with the deleted scenes reintegrated, that actually would have been enough. But in addition to that, we get a whole new story, achieved by…well I have no idea how to be honest. But it was completely entertaining. Congratulations TMBTM, this is one to be shared and savoured.