War of the Stars II: The Future in Motion

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.

Boy, did TMBTM give Empire a wedgie. . . in a good way. This edit has so much fresh on it, it deserves a bootyload of notoriety.

One of the things I really like about this funkily creative film is that the future truly is in motion, that Luke's prescience is approximate. Another: Yoda the OG simply owns his entrance.

And every scene that's delightfully altered created anticipation for more, to the point that when I came across scenes that were largely unchanged, I felt twinges of disappointment. Laissez le bon temps rouler. But don't cry for me, Argentina—I still had a grand ol' time watching this.

In the second half, a few parts were a bit slow. Some of R2's lines were amusing, but as with the first WotS, there were unutilized opportunities for subtitled humor, as R2 often uttered "straight" dialogue (e.g., commenting on obvious points) or was not subtitled at all. But again, mere nitpicks.

Imagine you go on a camping trip in some place with pterodactyls and weeks later come back barely alive to find everything a little bit different—your favorite breakfast cereal, your teacher's haircut and gender, and that light saber movie that's better than a girl because when you love it, it loves you back (this is waayyy before you lose your virginity, duh). That alternate universe contains this version of The Empire Strikes Back. And certainly a Lucas-TMBTM hybrid being, maybe with two heads.

*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.

TMBTM is a crazy genius. Lightning really has struck twice with his The War Of The Stars treatments of the Star Wars OT. The apparent ease he’s breathed new life into 3 films (now edited down to 2) that I’ve seen hundreds of times, and loved since I was a kid, is nothing short of breathtaking. They’re Star Wars… but not as you know it.
The War of the Stars II – The Future in Motion picks up exactly where the first film finished and takes things to a whole new level. You can’t say what’s undeniably great about it without spoilers and this is one film you really don’t want to spoil for people. I watched this with a smile planted firmly on my face from beginning to end… and then did it all again straight after. For me, this was as special as the first time I saw the original Star Wars back in 1977.

The mixed sources mean the video and audio quality varies throughout but it’s never distracting and, aesthetically, it feels perfect for this presentation. I love that it’s based on the original theatrical releases of The Empire Strikes Back and Return Of The Jedi, complete with the model shots and matte lines George Lucas has sought to erase from history. It’s gloriously retro and exactly the kind of thing I’d have been renting on video every weekend when I was 12. The new fx shots are really well done, some are pretty much perfect and others are deliberately hokey looking, either way it works.
And even though I nearly cried laughing… I’ll never look at a force choke the same way again

Normally the top score would be 10 out of 10. This one goes to 11

Excellence.

TMBTM has achieved something truly special here. Every second of this edit is endlessly interesting and wholly original. Never before have I seen anything like this, and it’s hard to believe I will ever see anything like this again. TMBTM has managed to take the films that we all by heart and make them feel new again. I was constantly asking myself “what next?” In a good way of course. Partly because I really had no idea at any given moment what would be changed, added, reworked, etc.; and because I kept wondering how TMBTM was able to make refreshingly new cuts in every scene.

Sure some of the audio/visual differences are jarring, but they are very easily overlooked. Honestly, my attention was on the story and the characters the whole time. Which are very different. Special note must go to the new music which greatly changes the tone of some scenes, and, well, it’s brilliant.

The new plot is insanely intriguing. And awesome. My favorite parts must be the opening, the cave sequence, the Vader/Emperor hologram conversation (the funniest part, I think), the hilarious fact that even though Boba Fett is extra bad-ass in this he still goes out like a punk, the sandstorm scene (perfect use of the War Horse soundtrack), and the killer ending (did NOT see that coming).

I was originally disappointed that this wouldn’t be a grindhouse edit, but my reservations were cast away fairly early. It might not be as fun as the first, but that doesn’t mean it’s not fun, because it’s definitely fun. And really funny too. In the end, even though it’s not grindhouse, it still feels like a sequel to the War of the Stars.

In closing, I want to say it’s been a true pleasure to watch this edit (and I’m sure I’ll see it many more times to come). Thank you The Man Behind the Mask. You have given us the greatest fan edit of all time. Because of that, I give THE WAR OF THE STARS PART II 10/10.