I’ve just watched your cuts. Here is my feedback:
Replaced opening Logos and Fox Fanfare with “Force Awakens” style Lucasfilm Logo cold open.
I really miss Newman’s fanfare. Only true SW films have one 😄
New title crawl adapted from Hal9000’s to better define the political plot.
I don’t quite see the difference between yours and Hal’s, but it’s a very good crawl, clear and accurate.
Trimmed Obi-Wan’s forced laugh in the elevator, but kept the friendly exchange.
It works great. I don’t bother the laugh but your take on this one is seamless.
Further trimmed Obi-Wan telling Anakin that he needs to “learn his place”.
That’s a very good call. The scene can hardly be better with this last improvement I guess.
Anakin’s angsty conversation with JarJar is trimmed, and JarJar does not respond.
Ok, not your idea but I don’t think it works: each time JJ is about to say something there is an obvious cut. It’s funny though (like “no JJ, don’t talk!”).
Cut Anakin’s description of being around Padme as “intoxicating”.
Good idea to remove it (I don’t mind the line but it can be removed ‘cause it’s not a great line), however it’s not seamless. The audio cut is quite noticeable.
Cut line “It’s not me m’lady, I’m worried about you”. It sounded to me like Natalie Portman said “I’ll be fine” to begin with, making the response nonsensical.
Well done, seamless.
Anakin no longer says “You’re exactly the way I remember you in my dreams”.
Perfect. I don’t like this line either and no fan editer has done something convincing [IMO] about it (Hal and Q2 have cut the “in my dreams” part but it creates an audio issue).
Added further trims to this scene to remove “romance novel” dialogue but keep the character background information.
As a matter of fact I quite like the “Anakin trying to be a poet” part of the extended scene, as well as Lucas political ideas expressed through Padmé. But again it’s nicely done.
This transitions to the scene in the Throne Room with the new queen, which is significantly trimmed to remove awkward dialogue and all of Anakin and Padme’s antagonism.
Your take on this one is great. Now, is this scene necessary ? I’m not sure, because the political background feels here repetitive (we don’t learn anything new since the Senate scene is reinstalled at the beginning of the movie). On the other hand, it helps to finish the landing on Naboo sequence.
Trimmed this scene to remove some of the hokey dialogue.
I’m afraid it does not feel right: we can spot the father speaking without any word being said.
Removed Anakin’s attempt to woo Padme with fascism.
I understand why you removed it, but the transition does not work here.
Added a brand new “love montage” sequence that shows the two chatting over dinner without dialogue, and transitions into a moonlight kiss. This replaces the “cow-tick riding” scene
I’m puzzled about it: I love the idea of a montage, however I’m afraid there isn’t enough material to achieve it. You should probably consider adding a few shots to complete your idea (from the meadow pic nic and the fireplace scene).
Removed Jango’s mention of Tyrannus. I kept in the title at the end of the film but it seems like a weird thing for him to admit to Obi-Wan at this point.
Ok, it’s good.
Added a new Audio-only dream sequence featuring audio of Anakin’s mom screaming and Tusken sounds.
Very good, really. I just thing you should leave a little extra seconds after Jango’s “pack your thing” for a better transition.
When Anakin wakes up, Padme is lying in bed next to him.
This is a brilliant idea. Perfect.
Heavily cut down fight in the rain to a brief encounter.
Ok, just a few audio issues. I prefer the theatrical version of this fight, which is funnier.
Very subtly trimmed Anakin’s exchange with his dying mother.
I prefer the complete version of this very important scene.
Trimmed Padme’s incredulous reaction to R2
Nice. I don’t like her reaction here either. Seamless.
Trimmed Anakin’s whining about having to follow Mace Windu’s orders. Padme now cuts him off.
Perfect!
Slightly trimmed chat between Dooku and Obi-Wan, including Obi-Wan’s mention of Jango Fett. I don’t think Obi-Wan should want to reveal what he knows to someone he doesn’t trust.
It’s very good. This scene is weird, good call to shorten it.
Trimmed Anakin’s “I’ve learned to stop arguing with you” because it no longer really makes sense in the context of the film. Also cut down droids dialogue before exiting onto the surface of Geonosis.
Ok, well done. I would have personally left the extra 3PO dialogue.
Removed Jango’s weird cowboy pistol twirl thing.
It was fun though.
Further Trimmed the weird close-ups of Anakin and Dooku swinging around their sabers in the dark.
Hum… the close-ups never bothered me… Nevertheless, your cuts are seamless.
Final thoughts: very good edit, vast improvement over the theatrical version. Between the 4 fan edits I know of this movie (Q2, L8, Hal, yours) I would rank yours (more or less) first along with Hal’s. You take (almost) the best of other edits while adding a few very good original ideas of your own.