War of the Stars II: The Future in Motion

if anyone asks what is a fanedit then this edit is the perfect place to start, TMBTM takes one the best known films and completely changes it's story. this at times caused a problem for me as i had to reminded myself a few times during the movie. the many positives have been commented here to which i can only agree with, Darth Vader is once again the star of the edit with every scene he's in

on the negative side i felt the edit ran 15 - 20 mins to long especially the opening 20 mins which for me dragged a little in places with the inclusion of the deleted scenes with the ice monster. also the cgi monster used from star trek looked out of place and would be something Lucas would include in future star wars editions. R2-D2 was a little annoying in Jar Jar Binks way and i can't recall Chewbaca having much to do during the edit. but these a small differences aside this really is one of the best fanedits of all time

When I first saw this edit several months ago, I must confess that I was rather nonplussed by it. The original Star Wars trilogy is so masterful in its plot structure that this mash-up of EMPIRE and JEDI seemed nearly heretical to me. And as enjoyable as it was to see the deleted scenes from the Blu-ray in this film, they did slow down the overall pacing of the edit.

However, as time passes, my respect for WotS II has only increased, even as my opinion of other fan edits remains unchanged. There's so much creativity and imagination brimming from this release, it's impossible not to love.

While many fan edits are attempts to correct errors in the film, as with the many prequel edits, this film plays simply as a "What if?" This is what a Star Wars sequel might have looked like in an alternate universe.

As such, The Man Behind the Mask expertly weaves in footage from the other movies, such as REVENGE OF THE SITH, to create a wholly different viewing experience. He even adds in his own special effects to help tell the story, with astonishingly believable results (that is, it looks like this is the way the movie was supposed to play in the first place).

His alternate version of what happened to Darth Vader after the Death Star; his variation on the Wampa attack; the alternate arrival at Dagobah; his version of the tree vision; the way the scene *actually* plays out in his version; Luke's temptation in the Emperor's throne room; and the corker twist at the end -- every part of those scenes is a work of genius.

If you're a fan of STAR WARS, by all means check out this alternate take. It's a remix that you won't soon forget.

*Nothing in this review is meant as a personal attack on the editor. This is just one viewer’s opinions on this fanedit*

****** WARNING SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW *********

As usual I’ve avoided reading any reviews for this edit. I followed the In-the-Works thread but didnt know much more going in then that there were going to be deleted scenes reincorporated and special effects added by TMBTM.

So I went in with War of the Stars: A New Hope Grindhoused not fresh in my mind at all! (having watched it only once quite a while back). It was nice to have a brief recap at the beginning. And then bam right away, this is not your average Star Wars movie! Awesome effects work and using old anakins face instead of Hayden Christensan!

All the Dagobah scenes were probably my favorite part of the edit. Changing Han and the Millenium Falcon to having light speed (instead of the “no light speed” and cloaking device talk) was very cool.

Effects work: I can only imagine how much time and effort went into all these effects so all I can say is great work. I did feel that some worked better than others. I was most blown away by old anakin on the operating table and Boba Fett in the dining room at Bespin (with the removal of Darth Vader from the scene). Also really liked the effect with Darth Vader eyes and the warped screen effect when Darth Vader was doing force chokes. And nice to see Ian McDiarmid in the hologram in place of the other actor who they used as the Emperor in ESB.

Voice/Dialogue replacement: For me this was hit or miss. There was some great Yoda stuff. i.e. the change in where “that is why you fail” comes in. And there were some that luckily enough matched perfectly (or you did effects work with the lip movements). Other places I understand dialogue replacement was necessary to the story you were setting out to tell, but it did take me out of the experience a bit but I commend you at trying out changing the lip movements with effects.

Music: The 80s style guitar rock stuff was kinda cool, and definitely gave a different feel to the Hoth scene with Luke riding the Taun Taun. But part of me didn’t like the jumping around of the music from Star Wars themes to rock to Gustav Holst (although they all worked well).

Deleted Scenes: I know that the original source/conditions of most of the scenes were not that great and TMBTM did the best he could so I can’t fault him on the quality of the scene. For the most part I liked the inclusion of the deleted scenes.

Some effects and/or deleted scenes that didnt work for me were a few in Jabba’s Palace. Although having Luke and Leia (disguised in bounty hunter geat) did look really great. But mostly the thermal detonator rolling on the ground and Boba Fett appearing to look out of a door way at Leia and Luke, these shots just didn’t look that great to me.

Entertainment wise this edit was a blast to watch. Maybe the most fun I’ve had watching a fanedit just seeing how TMBTM changed the storyline of Star Wars so cleverly and creatively!

So rating this is rather tricky. I rarely give 10s (I’ve only rated two edits 10s). But again as mentioned above in my review, some of the voice replacement didn’t work for me, some of the new effects and added shots didn’t work for me. And while there’s no rule that says the tone has to be consistent in any movie, in my personal opinion the edit would have benefited from being a bit more consistent in tone. It felt sort of all over the place, and maybe that’s what TMBTM was going for.

I give this a 9/10 A very entertaining edit and very very creative from an editing and storytelling standpoint.

Simply amazing! Very coherent story which is full of surprises, none of them too cheesy (though I had to laugh out loud because of the "Roger, Roger!"). Some edits and effects are near to flawless, some are easily spotted, some elements are a bit "off", but nothing really spoiled my enjoyment. I would have preferred a bit less Wampa-shooting, some more scratches to better match the film to the lesser quality of some segments, and an improvement of some audio (in a few audio bits, speech is strangely "pitched", maybe due to an extraction from background music or effects).

To bring back an important character which was killed in the first installment "War of the Stars", the solution TMBTM has chosen was obvious, but some details and ideas in the process were ingenious. I had such a lot of fun - even with the segments of Return of the Jedi (I hated this movie almost as much as the prequels, when it first came out: I just saw it a single time in the theatre then, which speaks volumes – but TMBTM brought back the joy!).

I write this review with mixed emotions. The original War of the Stars remains one of my favorite fanedits ever, and so I was beyond excited for the sequel. However, as much as it pains me to do so, I have to consider this a slight disappointment.

Don't get me wrong, there is plenty to love in this edit. The reworked narrative is amazing, especially the new journey that Luke goes on. I also enjoyed Boba Fett's new fate. There were some great new special effects, and it was a treat to see the new deleted scenes inserted into the movie.

But I couldn't help but feel that some of the fun was missing this time around. It just wasn't as wacky or silly, and while I know that was TMBTM's intent, I still felt let down a little. I also felt the deleted scenes weren't as well integrated visually this time, due to the improved source used for the main movies. Finally, there were a few wonky effects shots that stood out (such as the new Wampa head while Luke was being chased).

This was a really difficult edit to rate for me. I'm sure if I had seen this before the first War of the Stars, I would have rated it higher. As it is, I gave it an 8/10, because it's still a worthy watch and a great achievement.

(Note: I did not rate A/V quality as I only watched this on my phone.)