snooker said:

Replacing the poison bugs with lasers:

https://streamable.com/9if8o

Hello! First of all thank you guys for reviving my poor dead thread with some actual discussion.

Botias, I’m especially grateful for your in-depth response/critique! I really appreciate you taking the time to write up your thoughts like that. My apologies for letting it sit so long without a reply. But now let me respond to each exhaustively point-by point! I’ve numbered/summarized them to help organize my thoughts. Also I’ll probably reject a lot of it outright, but hey no offense! I really do appreciate it regardless!

1. Re-dubbing Trade Federation with sinister alien/garbled voices: This is a great idea but unfortunately one I’m not technically skilled enough to do. I tried my hand at a bit of audio replacement early on and quickly found all the vocal tracks weren’t just in the center audio channel, but mixed into the room ambience of every surround channel. That means the whole soundtrack, music, sound effects and all, would need to be remade to remove and replace dialogue.

2. Reinstating Qui-Gon behind the forcefield and Maul’s pacing: I think reinstating this bit would make the flow of the fight too stoppy/starty. Since it’s no longer being intercut there’s no need from a pacing perspective to slow the fight down to give it time to continue existing off screen while other battles happen. Plus I think any character development gained from showing the calm meditating Jedi vs. the snarling, pacing Sith is already achieved visually (monks vs. demon) plus Qui-Gon’s about to die so no need to waste time getting to know him much past that he’s Obi-Wan’s buddy.

3. Ditching 10-years later title; cutting dialogue from elevator scene: I like breaking up the sections with the title cards (I’m a sucker for typography) and it feels like a long time between the Episode II footage starts and when Anakin says it’s been 10 years in the elevator. Long enough that I think it could be distracting for a first-time viewer. The 10-years title especially helps a viewer treat what has come before as a brief prologue and somewhat re-sets the narrative which helps smooth what can be a rough jump from using Episode I to Episode II footage in any 3-in-1 edit. As for the elevator scene I agree some of it is corny and stilted, but there’s so little Anakin and Obi-Wan “friendship” in any of these movies I think I need to keep as much as possible even if it feels lame.

4. Cutting “please be careful” and the concept of droids with feelings: I will stan for droids with feelings. I think it’s a great bit of world-building business that droids are essentially just fully alive and everyone treats them like garbage. As for “please be careful” I think that’s the line that makes it clear Obi-Wan is about to leave for Geonosis right now even though no one else has explicitly mentioned it. So when the viewer hears “please be careful” and the next scene is a ship taking off, it’s just a lot brisker way to communicate what’s going on which I don’t think works as well without that tiny bit of dialogue. And sure it could be something like “I’ll have your ship prepared to depart immediately” or whatever, but again I like friendly droids!

5. Cut “Shmi is my wife”: I agree with you, but they’re shaking hands right as he says it so cutting around it would make that action feel oddly clipped.

6. Watto makes no sense: Yeah, he’s goofy but I can dig it. As a one-scene weird looking loser alien who was Anakin’s former owner I think his character design is well utilized. Anyway, they say he’s got helium in his belly, totally believable.

7. Keeping Doku v Anakin/Obi-Wan on Geonosis: I think pacing wise you can’t have this duel AND the duel where Doku dies since they’re so close together. Dooku and Yoda just doing moves at each other feels like such a hopelessly dumbed down version of what the Force could be that I didn’t want to include any bit of it. I also kinda like having that robot hand show up on Anakin out of nowhere as just another war wound collected along the way like his eye scar and dope hair.

8. R2 jumping out of Anakin’s ship: I half remember cutting this scene together originally and if I remember correctly the continuity of getting Anakin out of the ship in time felt off to me without R2 hopping and I don’t think there was something to cut to that wasn’t worse. Sure I could take another look, but I’m not too bothered by this one instance.

9. Cutting Dooku’s jump completely: Sure you could probably cut around it, but I don’t mind a touch of surprising old man Force agility right out of the gate.

10. Cutting “you won’t get away this time Dooku”: Yeah, it sucks but I feel like it adds the barest bit of context to a kind of passionless fight by connecting it to chasing him down on Geonosis, a sequence i thought was fairly exciting. I mean, it’s not great but ¯_(ツ)_/¯

11. Reinstate “Do it!”: Naw. I think it’s better if Palpatine does less obvious encouraging for Anakin to murder but instead supports his decisions after the fact. It helps reinforce that Anakin was more seduced by his own hubris/inner demons into the Dark Side instead of being tricked or pressured into it.

12. Dooku dropping a huge hunk of bridge on Obi-Wan: Ugh, I know. Unfortunately I don’t think I can cut around this scene without including that damn bridge. I see what you’re saying with your suggestion but I don’t think I could get it to fit neatly together like you describe without it feeling too choppy or without still seeing that Obi-Wan’s pinned under a huge bridge for no reason. That sequence cutting around the elevator hijinx felt like a miracle when I got it working so I’m also not keep to try unpacking it…

13. Cut crash landing set up and move birth of rebellion scene before pregnancy reveal: Like the corny elevator scene, I think the crash landing set up has some fun banter between Obi-Wan and Anakin that I feel is necessary to include to reinforce their friendship. I don’t think moving the birth of the rebellion deleted scene before the spaceport landing works. I like having the costume continuity between that scene and the one with Padme and Anakin arguing on the couch. Plus I think Padme conspiring against Palpatine introduces some tension into her and Anakin’s relationship that I don’t want to introduce before he’s already heading down the dark side in an effort to save her.

14. Remove “something wonderful has happened”: I think the point of this line is that it doesn’t ring true and Padme is just trying to ease the tension of delivering the news. Even she’s not convinced of it as she’s saying it.

15. Re-order scenes around Anakin being appointed to the council: I want to keep the introduction of the Jedi conspiracy against Palpatine in between Palpatine telling Anakin about the appointment and the scene where Windu says he won’t get the rank of Master. It helps the tension between the Jedi and Anakin to show their secret meeting before they speak with him as opposed to after. Plus, I want Anakin talking to Obi-Wan to happen immediately as they exit the council chamber and inserting the Jedi conspiracy scene before it would kill the emotional throughline of Anakin’s response to being denied the title of Master.

16. Remove the dropship conversation with Obi-Wan, Yoda, and Windu: I like this scene because it establishes that Obi-Wan is sort of the last one to still trust Anakin and reinforces the Jedi’s conflict both with Anakin and internally. Basically anything that helps the Jedi look like squabbling bureaucrats I’m in favor of keeping. I like the implication that on some level they deserve to be destroyed, at least as an institution if not personally murdered. Also this scene is a nice sunset transition between the previous scene and the night of the opera scene. Plus it shows Yoda meeting with a Wookie and sets up why he’s off-world with the Wookies when Vader storms the temple.

17. Cut “we’ll be able to capture that monster and end this war”: True it’s corny but also a rare line that shows Anakin degrading an enemy and getting excited about destroying them. I think it helps reinforce his character isn’t in line with traditional Jedi/light-side thinking and he’s okay using overwhelming power to achieve what he believes are noble goals. It’s that sort of attitude that eventually leads to his downfall, so I think it’s important to keep.

18. Cut “Hold me, like you did by the lake on Naboo…”: I like this line because of how wrong it is. There was never a time at any point in their relationship when they weren’t surrounded by or directly involved in war and political plots. I think Padme is trying to cling to a romanticized vision of the past (and their relationship) to escape the quickly worsening reality. At this point I think Anakin is beginning to feel completely alienated from her and that idea of the past and is contemplating the path he’s on and what he’s willing to do to achieve his goals. Hence why he stares off dead-eyed as she clings to him in a vain attempt to reach him.

19. Cut the lizard’s ridiculous noise: WHAAAAAARK

20. Excise the other Jedi masters from the Palpy / Windu fight: It’s a good idea and I’m pretty sure I’ve seen at least still-image mockups of it floating around these forums. You’d also need to cut them out of the scene with Anakin talking to Windu as he boards the dropship which from the angle and camera movement looks like it’d be even more difficult. I’m not technically skilled for either, unfortunately. As for the rest of the scene I agree it’s got a lot of problems starting at the script stage, not much to be done! I’ll totally defend the echoing of “too dangerous to be left alive” though as it points to the rot at the core of the Jedi that I think is good thematically.

21. Cut “unnnnnnlimited pppppppppower!”: He just loves to be real evil! It’s cute!

22. Move Darth Vader naming scene elsewhere: Yeah, it could work during the mask lowering scene but I like keeping that one dialogue-free, personally.

23. Cut “have faith my love…” for being creepy: I think at this stage in the story it is totally appropriate to have Anakin be a big creepy creep that Padme is increasingly icked out by.

24. Cut the Captain Typo convo on the landing pad: This was something I did remove at one point, but the extended gesturing between the two without any dialogue got very distracting to me as I rewatched. It could just be me I suppose. 3PO’s got a fair amount of mute gesticulating in the movie as well and that bugs me a ton too but I thought it was worth removing him as a character. You can’t really cut around it either since the shot is an extended pan down and also shows Obi-Wan sneaking on board, not much to cut away too.

25. Cut Obiwan’s hands-on-hips pose: Eh, it’s fine.

26. Anakin force-choking Amidala sucks: Agreed! But I think it would be weird to move her choking later and have Obi-Wan and Anakin yell at each other more before it happens. Then it just feels like…where is she? Why isn’t she interacting with her two friends having this screaming match about the nature of her boyfriend’s evil? Oh there she is, and nooooow choked.

27. Cut Obi-Wan saying “I loved you” plus re-organize theie convo on the lava rafts: Naw, he can say that, that’s fine. Plus I want to keep the “I loved you/I hate you” thing going on. I like keeping Anakin’s evil stare-down reaction shot right after “Well then you are lost” because I think it shows he’s realized he’s catching up with his vision and thinks he’s about to win this fight and burn Obi-Wan to death.

28. Cut Amidala saying Leia’s and Luke’s names: Naw, I don’t think it’s too much extra exposition to sit through if you’re doing a viewing in Machete order and I think if you’re doing Episode order you just gotta accept those spoilers, at least in this edit.

29. Misc thoughts, cutting Zam and speeder chase, adding more Tatooine: I totally admit the “little boy I knew on Tatooine” is a big problem that I don’t have a way around without adding more Tatooine into the edit, but also I think that’s a totally different edit and not the one I wanted to make this time around. But yeah if I were to take a different approach and include more Tatooine or Episode 1 in general, I think cutting Zam and her surrounding action is a good way to get the extra runtime to do that, assuming you want to keep an edit around the 2-ish hour mark.

Anyway, thank you again so so so much for taking the time to do this critique, and I hope you appreciate my responses and get a little more insight into what I was thinking!

It’s back up (for now)!

Invites sent!

Thanks a lot, I’m glad you two enjoyed it!

Don’t hesitate to give any suggestions for tweaks. I may not get around to a new version soon, but I’m keeping track of all the feedback. Eventually I’d like to make an update that corrects some errors and adjusts a few things, and it’s helpful to hear a variety of opinions.

Sure, invite sent!

Check your private messages, I just sent you an invite!

A big part of my inspiration to finally finish up this project was so there would be a version of the prequels I could actually re-watch and enjoy once all the new movies started coming out. So I’m glad you and your girlfriend will be enjoying it that way too!

A higher-quality version of the edit is now available on MySpleen! Check it out!

Yeah, I went back and forth on how to treat the scene from #64 and I may not have come up with the right solution in the end. For a long time that scene was much longer in the edit. Trimming it back so much was one of the last changes I made, so I probably didn’t let it simmer long enough in my brain. It’s definitely something I’d revisit in a future version. For the last lines of dialogue I think the segment from this deleted scene could be manipulated to sound like Palpatine is talking about the Jedi trying to seize power instead of Padme and her rebel senator friends.

Here’s the original longer version, if you’re curious:
https://youtu.be/4Z5bMX3ANzY

I ended up cutting it way back because I got some feedback from friends that the Opera scene felt like the pivotal turning point where Anakin expresses clear interest in learning Dark Side powers from Palpatine. So if that’s true then there’s no reason for Anakin to act surprised at the reveal in this scene. He should have already realized and been fine with Palpatine being a Sith Lord, or at least a proficient Dark Side user, when he was wink-wink-nudge-nudging at the Opera about killing Plagueis.

Hi again!

I added links to 100 major and minor changes in the first post to catalogue and explain some of my edits. Take a look and see if anything catches your eye. Dip in, dip out, no pressure!

Hey thanks for the bump!

Some bad news that I’ve updated the first post with: I’ve had to mute the Star Wars theme during the opening crawl and the Imperial March from a war montage between Episodes 2 and 3 because of a copyright claim from Sony Classical Music.

The good news is I was able to sync up the montage with someone else’s youtube video of the Imperial March and made this reasonable approximation: http://youtubedoubler.com/j0pz

Also, I’m working on getting a higher-quality version of the edit up on MySpleen eventually. So look forward to that!

I wholeheartedly agree with Jeebus that this is the new hotness of 3 in 1 prequel edits.

Thanks for watching, I’m glad you liked it!

First let me say that I don’t know when or if I’ll get around to making further tweaks on this. My initial motivation to attempt this project was the assumption that I wouldn’t get another chance after my daughter was born. I did the majority of the work in the summer of 2014 and after she arrived that fall progress slowed way way down. I would like to make additional edits and cleanups to this eventually though, but who knows when that could be.

That being said, let me address your feedback!

1 original 20th century fox logo and Lucasfilm logo

Maybe. I think I would only want to do this if I could somehow make the picture quality and effects feel like they came from the OT era. As it stands now I think it’s okay to use the newer logos since the rest of the film is clearly of its time and not from the 70s/80s.

2 remove/ Matt out r2d2 from padmes room

Yeah, this is a good idea. He wasn’t very useful in that scene in the original cut and since he’s even less prominent in this edit it makes sense for him to just not be mentioned.

3 the Imperial March during the transition is executed very well but the audio on that is noticably different

Unfortunately true. I had the most problems with the audio of the edit but I’m glad it turned out at least as well as it did. I noticed on the YouTube version that this sequence and the Episode I scenes are louder than the rest of it. It’s something I had tweaked back and forth in my editing software and thought I had fixed, but apparently not.

4 Although what is left of Grevious is pulled off awsomely, and astonishingly almost believable,(not the chase scene on the lizard that still bothers me but it’s good too_)You could almost cut Grevious and related stuff out of the Movie Entirely, For all you know Grevious Could be the Trade Federation Guy

I tried numerous ways to trim him out but wasn’t satisfied with my results. He’s named numerous times as a McGuffin to move the plot along and I felt like naming him but not showing him felt awkard and removing reference to him entirely made it hard to motivate certain plot developments. Also I must confess I have a soft spot for the big stupid space lizard Obi-Wan rides.

5 I would Cut that robot talking guy with the Vader Voice too, Real Cheesy

Also a good idea. I initially attempted to redub him in the hallway scene with a line like “Our cyborg warrior Grevious will make an excellent general for your army.” to further motivate Grevious’s appearance later. But, like I said before, audio editing is not my forte so that attempt was abandoned. I reverted the audio in his scenes but should have probably looked at just taking him out entirely because he is admittedly pretty goofy.

6 I coulda used just a little more Palpatine pulling the strings but I have nothing specific in mind other than the Maul Palpy Scene from EPI

Yeah I think one of the casualties of cutting so much of EPI and focusing almost exclusively on Anakin makes Palpatine’s puppet mastery and rise to power a little too out of left field.

7 Palpys face after the Windu Fight, Wish there was a way to fix that face, what were they thinking!

Agreed. I had to just make my peace with that. Short of doing some sort of new effect I’m not sure how to get around it.

8 The Choke/Force Push on Padame… Wish he just threw her or something to make it more beliveable her injuries are life threatening. Or just have him choke her out hard

I did try to make his hand movement a little more forceful by reversing the shot where he opens his hand for the shot of him closing it. Plus her fall is sped up a tad, but yeah, there’s just not the footage available to make that scene more impactful.

9 And Just an Idea I’ve wanted to incorporate into my edit is calling them clone droids in the title crawl and having kenobi call it a clone droid factory.

I did something a little like this so that the Clone Wars could still be called the Clone Wars even if you wanted to imagine there wasn’t a clone army. My one successful redubbing was the analysis droid in the Jedi temple. I included him referring to the Geonosians as a “race of insectoid clones” but it’s definitely easy to miss.

10 A dream perhaps… Recolor and redub Jango as Boba

Unfortunately way beyond my current skills!

11 Noticed some studder on the Deleted Scene of the senetors forming the rebelion

This has got to be a side effect of the deleted scenes being sourced from the DVD and the rest from the Blu-Ray but I’m afraid I’m ignorant of how to fix it.

Thanks again for taking the time to watch and comment. Hopefully more people have a chance too!

UPDATE: NOW ON MYSPLEEN!

Link Removed by moderator - please read the Fan Edit / Preservation Forum Rules and FAQ

====================================

Hello everyone!

I’m a long time lurker who’s been working on an edit of the Star Wars prequels that combines all three into one, more entertaining, 2 hour and 20 minute movie.

REMOVED

• No Jar-Jar dialogue. He is now a non-speaking background alien.
• No C-3PO dialogue. He is now a non-speaking background droid.
• No mention of Midichlorians.
• No Anakin is the chosen one prophecy subplot.
• No young Anakin flying a starfighter.
• No reaction shots of every lost lightsaber, blaster, or hand.
• No gratuitous shots of spaceships landing.
• No named Darths except Darth Plagueis and Darth Vader. Sidious is just Sidious.
• No poison slug assassination plot, Zam’s drone has a blaster now.
• No Kamino or Clone storyline.
• No mention of Jango Fett’s name.
• No young Boba Fett.
• No Jango vs. Windu fight.
• No Yoda commanding armies.
• No Death Star.
• No Dooku vs. Anakin & Obi-Wan fight on Geonossis.
• No action frog Yoda lightsaber fights.
• No buzz droids.
• No slapstick Palpatine in the elevator shaft.
• No crash landing on a mile long runway on Couruscant.
• No Chewbacca (except one long shot of him in the background).
• No Obi-Wan vs. Grievous pinwheel lightsaber fight.
• No duck face grimaces during the Palpatine/Windu fight.
• No order 66.
• No Yoda/Palpatine lightsaber fight.
• No mention of Padme’s losing the will to live.
• No surprise last minute Force Ghost plot hole glue.
• No “Noooooo!.”

GENERAL CHANGES

All three prequels have been condensed into one 2 hour and 20 minute movie. The last 20 minutes of The Phantom Menace makes up the first 10 minutes. Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith are pretty much equally split for the rest of the movie.

Lots of little minor cuts to make things less tone deaf, sometimes just single words or a few frames. If i felt embarrassed to be watching it, I’d cut it and that worked out pretty well I think.

Anakin is the clear protagonist of the movie. He is more confident and less whiney and generally seems more justified in disliking the Jedi, who are sort of dicks to him all the time. The opening scenes of Episode III have been drastically reorganized to maximize the build of tension on him to help better motivate his fall to the Dark Side.

Anakin is crushing on Padme hard but isn’t a creep and doesn’t make his feelings known. Padme is flirtatious with Anakin and doesn’t give him the cold shoulder. She makes the first move. They have some fun together, but things get complicated in the third act.

Faster/more intense actions sequences with more believable physicality. I’ve tried to make the action more visceral by removing anything that looks too video-gamey or like it would kill a normal person.

This edit tries to be Clone agnostic. I don’t love the idea that the entire Army of the Republic is a copy of an evil bounty hunter in league with the big bad guy of Episode II and nobody seems to care. I do like the Clone Wars cartoons and the stories they tell though. So they aren’t ever stated to be clones in this edit but you can still see that they are if you pay attention to the background. Obi-Wan never goes to Kamino or meets Jango, so you could fill in the blanks with your own head canon if you’re into that.

R2-D2 and C-3PO are much less prominent. 3PO isn’t ever named as such and doesn’t speak until the after-credits sequence.

NEW OPENING CRAWL

Episodes I • II • III

A GALAXY BETRAYED

Chaos is engulfing the galaxy.
Sinister agents of Count Dooku’s
SEPARATIST FEDERATION are
invading Republic planets with
merciless battle droids.

Two JEDI KNIGHTS, harboring a
Force-strong slave boy pursued
by an evil SITH CULTIST, are
enlisted by President Padme
Amidala of Naboo to organize
a counter attack and free her
besieged world.

While the Galactic Senate debates
creating an ARMY OF THE
REPUBLIC to oppose Dooku, the
Supreme Chancellor dispatches
two ambassadors to negotiate
peace on Naboo….

100 LINKS TO MAJOR AND MINOR CHANGES

1 - Jedi robes recolored to be blue “Ambassador” robes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LqO03PQvl0&t=2m11s

2 - The Republic ship is immediately destroyed upon landing and the invasion begins!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LqO03PQvl0&t=2m23s

3 - The lightsaber fight from the end of Episode I has been streamlined and doesn’t cut away once it begins.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LqO03PQvl0&t=4m41s

4 - After Obi-Wan promises Anakin he will be a Jedi, Anakin looks at Qui-Gon’s burning face and shivers.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LqO03PQvl0&t=9m19s

5 - After Qui-Gon’s funeral, Anakin gives Padme a japor snippet on their way to Coruscant.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LqO03PQvl0&t=10m00s

6 - “10 years later…” title card text style based on “A long time ago…” text style.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LqO03PQvl0&t=11m25s

7 - Windu’s statement that Dooku was once a Jedi plays more as a threat than a denial he could be involved.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LqO03PQvl0&t=14m34s

8 - The first conversation between Padme, Anakin, and Obi-Wan doesn’t turn into an awkward mess and Padme shows her diplomacy skills by butting in early and dissolving the tension.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LqO03PQvl0&t=16m56s

9 - Zam’s poison centipede plan is gone and instead the drone she sends over has a camera linked to her goggles and a blaster.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LqO03PQvl0&t=19m46s

10 - Obi-Wan’s fall into Anakin’s speeder is tightened up and doesn’t feel as ludicrous.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LqO03PQvl0&t=20m55s

11 - Anakin’s fall onto Zam’s speeder is also much shorter. The struggle that follows doesn’t include Anakin trying to murder her with a lightsaber.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LqO03PQvl0&t=22m13s

12 - The cut scene of Obi-Wan giving the toxic dart to analysis droids in the Jedi Temple is reinserted with new droid dialogue: “The markings are Mandalorian curses. This dart was self-made by a warrior not associated with any known clan. The toxin is secreted by a race of insectoid clones native to the planet Geonosis. There’s been no contact with Geonosis for decades master Kenobi, please be careful!”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LqO03PQvl0&t=28m23s

13 - Padme teases Anakin about love and enjoys flirting with him.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LqO03PQvl0&t=29m40s

14 - Padme laughs at Anakin’s bloodlust and is delighted by his pear floating expertise. Anakin doesn’t take the opportunity to whine about Obi-Wan.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LqO03PQvl0&t=31m07s

15 - Another Episode III style wipe added to Episode II. This also makes it appear that Obi-Wan’s ship is shooting through Anakin’s heart, which is some nice foreshadowing. Obi-Wan then continues through the asteroid field down onto Geonosis without being shot at by anyone.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LqO03PQvl0&t=31m45s

16 - This rickshaw droid doesn’t literally say “Okie-dokie” anymore.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LqO03PQvl0&t=35m08s

17 - C-3PO is deleted from the long shot of the Lars homestead and doesn’t speak in any scenes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LqO03PQvl0&t=38m52s

18 - Clieg’s story about Shmi’s abduction is rearranged to be more impactful and focuses more on Anakin and Padme’s reaction to it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LqO03PQvl0&t=39m40s

19 - Anakin’s search for Shmi continues right into him discovering the Tusken camp, Shmi dying, and Anakin slaughtering the Tuskens. The stretch from Anakin on the cliff at the camp to the iris in on his face as he swings his saber is the longest uncut section from the entire edit.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LqO03PQvl0&t=41m01s

20 - Owen and Beru’s exit from the hut is delayed so Anakin is the only person on screen for longer.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LqO03PQvl0&t=45m27s

21 - The scene between Anakin and Padme in Luke’s future room is heavily cut and restructured. Anakin no longer walks away from Padme to whine about Obi-Wan, plus he doesn’t actually admit slaughtering a tribe of Tuskens to his crush. He does say they’re like animals though, and he hates them. Padme’s response of “To be angry is to be human” sounds a lot more appropriate now that it’s not in response to an admission of genocide.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LqO03PQvl0&t=46m06s

22 - Clieg doesn’t say anything at Shmi’s funeral, because who cares. I don’t want to hear what a great wife she was, “Clieg.” I want to be immersed Anakin’s pathos, thanks.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LqO03PQvl0&t=46m06s

23 - Anakin is much more brief with his graveside comments.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LqO03PQvl0&t=48m05s

24 - Anakin doesn’t whine about being ordered not to save Obi-Wan. Instead Padme takes charge and he smirks and goes along with it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LqO03PQvl0&t=49m07s

25 - Dooku’s interrogation of Obi-Wan is heavily cut and restructured.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LqO03PQvl0&t=50m01s

26 - R2-D2 and C-3PO no longer follow Anakin and Padme out of the ship and into the Geonossian tunnels.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LqO03PQvl0&t=51m47s

27 - The droid factory action scene is cut. Anakin and Padme fight off the Geonossian ambush in the hallway but are captured immediately inside the door they run in to escape.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LqO03PQvl0&t=52m30s

28 - Padme expresses her love for Anakin before they are carted off to die in the arena. This is the first time romance is mentioned between them at all so Anakin is a bit shocked, but leans in for that first kiss as a crowd of bugs cheers for their deaths.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LqO03PQvl0&t=52m53s

29 - The arena battle is largely intact, at least before the Jedi arrive. There some some trims here and there, like this rhinoceros thing not dragging Anakin for quite so long.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LqO03PQvl0&t=56m51s

30 - Padme’s leap from the pillar is trimmed to not look so unbelievable.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LqO03PQvl0&t=57m35s

31 - The reveal of the Jedi in the arena is restructured so they ignite their sabers before Windu does. His interaction with Dooku is much briefer before battle droids swarm him.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LqO03PQvl0&t=58m15s

32 - The Jedi vs. droids arena battle is streamlined with a lot less cutaways to action that doesn’t focus on Anakin and Padme or Obi-Wan. There’s also no C-3PO head swap subplot or Fett vs. Windu fight.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LqO03PQvl0&t=59m18s

33 - After Jango shoots down the Jedi who gets close to Dooku, he jetpacks away never to be seen again. I felt it was appropriate to go for a “Jango is a coward” vibe since every other action scene with him is cut. The only other character building scene of him left is when he pawns off his assignment to another bounty hunter and then kills her from a distance before fleeing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LqO03PQvl0&t=59m49s

34 - I cut Yoda from the arena rescue scene as much as I could, but he still shows up briefly silhouetted on the dropship in the first shot.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LqO03PQvl0&t=1h01m16s

35 - Padme doesn’t fall out of the dropship. They all arrive at Dooku’s landing platform together and the Jedi rush ahead of her inside. Just as the enter, Dooku’s ship blasts off and she fires at it as he flees.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LqO03PQvl0&t=1h02m24s

36 - I created a montage of the Clone Wars to transition between Episode II and Episode III. I cobbled it together from scenes cut elsewhere in the edit like the Geonossian and Kashyyk battles and the Order 66 montage. Unfortunately the audio is muted on the YouTube version, but I’ve recreated it with YouTube Doubler.
http://youtubedoubler.com/j0pz

37 - An explosion fades into Coruscant’s sun from the opening post-crawl-pan-down of Episode III.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LqO03PQvl0&t=1h06m02s

38 - The space action after the initial uncut opening shot is heavily trimmed. No vulture droids, no clone pilots, no missiles, no buzz droids. Anakin’s “This is where the fun begins” line is repurposed for right before he shoots the shields on the hangar doors.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LqO03PQvl0&t=1h07m13s

39 - Obi-Wan doesn’t pop out of his ship and somersault into the battle droids. The fight is cut down to only the closeups of Obi-Wan and Anakin fighting back-to-back with blaster bolts, sparks, and droid limbs flying around them. Also the comedy reaction shot of the last droid keeling over is cut. I think it helps make the Jedi look like more capable warriors if the droids don’t look comically inept.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LqO03PQvl0&t=1h07m36s

40 - This scene ends on the much more punchy “Spring the trap!” instead of setting up the slapstick R2-D2 subplot.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LqO03PQvl0&t=1h08m07s

41 - The dumb and awful elevator hijinks and slapstick R2-D2 scenes has been removed. Instead, the destroyer droids back Obi-Wan and Anakin into the elevator and the doors slam shut and shoot them up to Palpatine’s throne room/prison at the top of the spire. Trap sprung!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LqO03PQvl0&t=1h08m41s

42 - The interaction between Palpatine, Obi-Wan, Anakin, and Dooku is more tense and silent with much less bantering and exposition.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LqO03PQvl0&t=1h09m25s

43 - The lightsaber fight has been trimmed to remove Anakin bragging about his power, Obi-Wan running up the stairs directly at a stream of blaster fire with no consequences, and Palpatine’s goofy cheerleading. Also, Dooku doesn’t have to goad Anakin into using the Dark Side. In the edit I assume Anakin is well acquainted with using anger to tap into the Force ever since the Tusken slaughter.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LqO03PQvl0&t=1h09m42s

44 - Palpatine doesn’t have to suggest then order Anakin to decapitate Dooku, and Anakin shows no hesitation to do so. He does still express doubts after the fact but Palpatine praises the decision and reassures him.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LqO03PQvl0&t=1h10m37s

45 - Palpatine doesn’t push Anakin too hard on his “Leave Obi-Wan to die” idea.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LqO03PQvl0&t=1h11m24s

46 - The “our ship in orbit with artificial gravity is sinking vertically” action sequence is cut. Instead the explosions jostle our heroes, Obi-Wan wakes up and climbs off the floor, and they call R2 for an elevator. A significant upside of this edit is that the Evil Future Emperor Palpatine is no longer the Jedi’s buffoonish sidekick as they swing around in the elevator shaft.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LqO03PQvl0&t=1h11m52s

47 - The Jedi are no longer captured like idiots to be paraded in front of Grievous for another goofy hamfisted dialogue scene. They now sneak attack the bridge and take out the pilot droids before cornering Grievous and forcing him to smash a window to escape. Also there’s no purple staff guards, only Grievous uses that weapon.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LqO03PQvl0&t=1h12m07s

48 - The ship doesn’t break in half, it’s just damaged and crashing. Anakin says he’s got no problem landing it and then the scene wipes to the group at the senate landing pad. No more crash landing half a battleship on a spaceship runway (?!) on Coruscant.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LqO03PQvl0&t=1h12m50s

49 - Anakin doesn’t express any hope or joy when Padme reveals she’s pregnant. She’s not to excited about it either. I wanted to start laying heavy tension on Anakin to help further motivate his fall to the Dark Side.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LqO03PQvl0&t=1h15m22s

50 - From this point on there is an extensive reshuffling of scenes to maximize the pressure built on Anakin. Tensions between he and Obi-Wan plus the rest of the Jedi over their distrust of Palpatine are introduced before his first vision of Padme’s death in childbirth. Also the vision is extended and includes a shot of Obi-Wan yelling “you are lost.” I think these changes add weight to Anakin’s response of “We don’t need his help” when Padme suggests they confide in Obi-Wan. The Jedi are seen to actively conspire against Palpatine and appear more duplicitous in their acceptance of Anakin’s promotion to the council use of him to spy on Palpatine. I’ve moved the Opera scene immediately before the scene where Anaking tells Padme he’s found a way to save her to more directly tie that revelation to Palpatine’s promise of the power to save people from dying. Finally, I end this rearranged sequence with a cut scene of Padme meeting with the rebel senators followed by the scene of her talking to Anakin about Palpatine being evil and Anakin reacting angrily. This is the last scene they have together in the edit until after the Jedi Temple is burned, which I think helps drive an emotional wedge between them.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LqO03PQvl0&t=1h16m00s

The original scene progression in Episode III goes like this:
• Padme reveals she’s pregnant
• Anakin’s has his first vision and tells Padme she will die in childbirth
• (cut in my edit) Anakin talks to Yoda
• Obi-Wan and Anakin talk in the briefing room
• Palpatine appoints Anakin to the Jedi Council
• The Jedi approve Anakin’s appointment, but don’t make him a master
• (Becomes two scenes in my edit.) Anakin and Obi-Wan talk in about how Anakin’s mad at the council and then about his secret “spy on Palpatine” mission.
• Obi-Wan, Yoda, and Windu talk on the dropship
• Anakin and Padme talk at sunset about how maybe Palpatine’s the bad guy.
• Palpatine and Anakin at the opera
• The Jedi council sends Obi-Wan after Grievous
• Anakin says goodbye to Obi-Wan
• Anakin has a second vision and reveals to Padme he’s found a way to save her.

My edit rearranges the scenes like this:
• Padme reveals she’s pregnant
• Palpatine appoints Anakin to the Jedi Council
• (From a deleted scene) Obi-Wan, Yoda, and Windu talk about how Palpatine is moving to take control of the Jedi council and form a conspiracy to arrest him.
• The Jedi approve Anakin’s appointment, but don’t make him a master
• Anakin and Obi-Wan talk in about how Anakin’s mad at the council
• Anakin has his first vision, now with images of the Vader’s march on the temple, Obi-Wan yelling “you are lost,” and Anakin on fire. Anakin tells Padme she will die in childbirth
• Obi-Wan and Anakin talk in the briefing room
• Anakin and Obi-Wan talk about Anakin’s secret “spy on Palpatine” mission.
• Obi-Wan, Yoda, and Windu talk on the dropship
• Palpatine and Anakin at the opera
• Anakin has a second vision and reveals to Padme he’s found a way to save her.
• The Jedi council sends Obi-Wan after Grievous
• Anakin says goodbye to Obi-Wan
• (From a deleted scene) Padme meets with Bail Organa, Mon Mothma, and the other founders of the Rebellion. She promises not to talk to anyone about how maybe Palpatine is the bad guy.
• Anakin and Padme talk at sunset about how maybe Palpatine’s the bad guy.

51 - I repurpose Yoda’s line about premonitions to introduce the cut scene with Windu saying he senses a plot to destroy the Jedi. This scene also helps the Jedi look less dumb since they all know Palpatine is evil, they just don’t think they can openly confront him because of space politics.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LqO03PQvl0&t=1h16m57s

52 - Windu interrupts Anakin before he can get too whiny. This is a win-win for avoiding whininess plus making the Jedi look like dicks.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LqO03PQvl0&t=1h17m59s

53 - This walk and talk scene is split in two in my edit (see change #56 for the other half). This first chunk focuses on Anakin’s anger at the Jedi for not making him a Master, as is tradition for those on the council. It also touches briefly on Anakin’s politically charged friendship with Palpatine.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LqO03PQvl0&t=1h18m25s

54 - Anakin’s first vision now includes shots of Vader and his troops marching on the Jedi temple, Obi-Wan screaming “you are lost,” and Anakin screaming and on fire.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LqO03PQvl0&t=1h18m50s

55 - This scene ends on Anakin’s mistrust of Obi-Wan instead of his misguided hope for the future.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LqO03PQvl0&t=1h20m55s

56 - I’ve connected the second half of the walk and talk scene from change #53 onto the end of the briefing scene. The architecture doesn’t make any sense if you’re paying attention, but I’m hoping the conversation is engrossing enough to distract from that. I’ve also added a lighting change and a door noise to try and smooth the transition a bit as well.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LqO03PQvl0&t=1h21m54s

57 - The Opera scene has had some trims and shuffles to make Anakin more open to the Dark Side. Here he doesn’t offer up much resistance to Palpatine’s statements that the Jedi and the Sith are basically the same.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LqO03PQvl0&t=1h26m08s

58 - These portentous lines of dialogue are now linked together at the end of the Opera scene. I think it helps really drive home Anakin’s commitment to learning the Dark Side.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LqO03PQvl0&t=1h27m26s

59 - Anakin only apologizes for disappointing Obi-Wan, not being under appreciative or arrogant.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LqO03PQvl0&t=1h30m14s

60 - I’ve extended Anakin’s glare at the end of this seemingly friendly scene to imply that at this point Obi-Wan is dead to him.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LqO03PQvl0&t=1h30m51s

61 - I’ve reincorporated (with some rearrangement) this deleted scene about the founders of the rebellion.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LqO03PQvl0&t=1h31m15s

62 - The introduction to Utapau has been cut down to the initial invasion and the Grievous wheel bike/Space lizard chase.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LqO03PQvl0&t=1h33m25s

63 - Grievous and Obi-Wan trading jabs with the purple light stick is much more streamlined.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LqO03PQvl0&t=1h34m24s

64 - Anakin confronting Palpatine and Palpatine revealing himself to be a Sith Lord is cut in favor of a quieter edit where Anakin and Palpatine show they both mistrust the Jedi and are dabbling in the Dark Side together already. I’ve repurposed Palpatine and Anakin’s last lines from the original confrontational scene to be a friendly moment of encouragement between the two.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LqO03PQvl0&t=1h35m29s

65 - The middle section of the Grievous/Obi-Wan fist fight where Obi-Wan gets tossed around a bunch and then pries Grievous’s chest armor open is cut. Now Obi-Wan’s first launch into the air and his last fall from the original scene happen one after another.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LqO03PQvl0&t=1h36m23s

66 - Anakin doesn’t tell Windu that Palpatine is a Sith Lord. He just tries to weasel his way into the Jedi coupe group but gets shut down by a suspicious Windu.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LqO03PQvl0&t=1h37m20s

67 - I’ve zoomed in a bit on the POV shots of the Jedi Temple and Padme’s apartment in this scene to make it a little more immediate what we’re looking at.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LqO03PQvl0&t=1h38m50s

68 - C-3PO no longer trundles up to Padme to interrupt this effective and emotional scene. Instead of just turning toward her prissy robot butler after longingly looking out the window to her secret baby daddy, she now symbolically turns away from Anakin as he’s about to make a bad decision.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LqO03PQvl0&t=1h39m38s

69 - Windu is a lot more snarky in this exchange.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LqO03PQvl0&t=1h39m56s

70 - Palpatine’s rush toward the Jedi omits the dumb flying pirouette and shows him hacking up Windu’s compatriots a lot quicker.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LqO03PQvl0&t=1h40m10s

71 - Anakin gets from the landing pad to Palpatine’s office a lot quicker. A lot of the Palpatine/Windu fight is cut including most of Palpatine’s dumb expressions. Right before Palpatine gets kicked in the face and tosses his saber there’s a cutaway to Anakin entering. I was trying to imply he was aware of Anakin’s approach and threw the fight as a manipulation tactic.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LqO03PQvl0&t=1h40m21s

72 - The extensive back and forth between Palpatine and Windu about who’s more traitory has been cut. Gone too are Palpatine’s weak old man routine and his pleading with Anakin to save him. Instead Windu is very quick to state that Palpatine is too dangerous to live, swings at him, and is promptly disarmed. Anakin doesn’t even try to pretend he’s more interested in using laws and bureaucracy to punish Palpatine. He just says “I need him” and attacks Windu.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LqO03PQvl0&t=1h40m52s

73 - Palpatine’s puffy monster face simply appears as he sends out his first blast of lightning. Several Anakin reaction shots are repurposed and inserted into this moment so he looks on first with confusion and disgust, then resignation to the choice he’s made.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LqO03PQvl0&t=1h41m08s

74 - Anakin no longer laments “What have I done?” at the beginning of his Sith knighting ceremony. There’s no mention of Padme and Palpatine doesn’t immediately bait and switch Anakin by revealing he doesn’t actually know how to save people from dying.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LqO03PQvl0&t=1h41m38s

75 - I removed Palpatine’s weird exposition about Anakin’s best friend Obi-Wan Kenobi and trusted viewers to understand that “Every single Jedi” also includes his friend, Obi-Wan Kenobi.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LqO03PQvl0&t=1h43m11s

76 - I moved Anakin’s “I agree” line to Palpatine here to make him explicitly agree with destroying all the Jedi. I think it’s better if Anakin is invested in his own evil at this point and isn’t all “Ho hum, I guess I’ll kill all my buddies to save Padme.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LqO03PQvl0&t=1h43m20s

77 - There’s no extended exposition after the line “Do what must be done, Lord Vader. Do not hesitate. Show no mercy.” The scene just wipes to Vader’s march on the temple.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LqO03PQvl0&t=1h43m32s

78 - All that’s left of the Vader killing kids segment is a close-up of his face and the sound of his saber igniting.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LqO03PQvl0&t=1h44m35s

79 - C-3PO is once again removed from a Padme scene to make her sadder and lonelier and more tragic.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LqO03PQvl0&t=1h44m41s

80 - Palpatine’s interaction with Commando Cody from the beginning of the Order 66 scene is repurposed here without the Order 66 dialogue, just “The time has come,” before he tries to kill Obi-Wan.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LqO03PQvl0&t=1h45m52s

81 - No more happy cheery R2-D2 being told to wait in the ship while the murder happens.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LqO03PQvl0&t=1h49m23s

82 - The convenient hologram Obi-Wan finds cuts out the Palpatine/Vader bit.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LqO03PQvl0&t=1h52m37s

83 - Padme’s line “FROM THE SITH!?!” has been cut.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LqO03PQvl0&t=1h53m51s

84 - Obi-Wan no longer refers to Anakin “killing younglings.” He just says “I’ve seen a security hologram of him…” and trails off, unable to finish and turning away in disgust.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LqO03PQvl0&t=1h54m04s

85 - I’ve darkened Palpatine’s office so it looks less like a mauve disaster.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LqO03PQvl0&t=1h57m07s

86 - Padme and Anakin’s chat on Mustafar has been streamlined. Lots is gone including the amazing line “Love won’t save you Padme. Only my new powers can do that.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LqO03PQvl0&t=1h58m27s

87 - I’ve tried to make Padme’s choking a little more brutal with some rearranged screaming from Anakin, a reversed shot of his hand tightening, and a slightly sped up fall to the ground.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LqO03PQvl0&t=2h00m01s

88 - Anakin interrupts Obi-Wan’s lecture to make things a little tenser. Lots of cuts in their exchange here to make both sound less awkward and weird and contradictory and hamfisted.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LqO03PQvl0&t=2h00m22s

89 - A much more streamlined final lightsaber battle begins here with no cut aways to any Yoda/Palpatine shenanigans.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LqO03PQvl0&t=2h00m52s

90 - Anakin and Obi-Wan don’t rave twirl their lightsabers forever before locking. Then when they both force push at the same time they instantly fly apart instead of building up a little exploding force energy ball thing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LqO03PQvl0&t=2h01m12s

91 - Anakin and Obi-Wan’s exchange as they float down the lava river cuts Obi-Wan’s repeated “I have failed you” and Anakin’s “From my point of view.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LqO03PQvl0&t=2h03m30s

92 - Obi-Wan no longer brags about having the high ground.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LqO03PQvl0&t=2h04m04s

93 - Obi-Wan’s last words to Anakin cut all the chosen one/prophecy stuff. Also, Anakin now responds to Obi-Wan saying he loved Anakin as a brother by screaming “I HATE YOU” and immediately catching on fire.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LqO03PQvl0&t=2h04m28s

94 - I’ve cut Palpatine on the ridge with the clone troopers because I think Palpatine looks ludicrous anytime he’s skulking around out in the world and not his office/throne room/lair with his little claw hands out in his evil robes with his monster face.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LqO03PQvl0&t=2h07m05s

95 - I’ve trimmed another shot of Palpatine from this landing platform walk and filled the gap with a slower shot of Anakin’s mangled body.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LqO03PQvl0&t=2h08m26s

96 - The Medical droid doesn’t talk about Padme loosing the will to live. Plus there’s no more “Babies?!” quip crowbarred into this death scene. The droid just says “She’s carrying twins. We need to operate quickly if we are to save the babies,” and everyone looks sad.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LqO03PQvl0&t=2h08m49s

97 - Leia is born first and spends the most time up near Padme’s dying face, thus justifying her “kind but sad” characterization of her mother in Return of the Jedi. TOTALLY MAKES SENSE.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LqO03PQvl0&t=2h09m27s

98 - I’ve adjusted Vader’s masking scene by joining the two shots of the mask lowering from Anakin’s POV into one shot to draw out the tension and then cutting to Anakin’s reaction shot as it lowers onto his face. His eyes at their widest in fear is the last thing shown of Anakin before the mask vacuum seals onto his face. Vader taking his first wheezing breath is the last thing shown of him in the edit. No more chat with Palpatine and Frankenstein stumble, no more “Noooooo!” no more on the bridge of a Star Destroyer looking at the Death Star’s skeleton.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LqO03PQvl0&t=2h10m15s

99 - After Padme dies it cuts right to her funeral (now with no reaction shots of her cut scene family or Jar-Jar and pals). I’ve also cut the scene of the Jedi haggling over the babies and the surprise last minute Qui-Gon/Force ghost plot hole glue. After the funeral it cuts to Leia meeting her new mom on Alderaan and Obi-Wan delivering Luke to Tatooine. THE END!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LqO03PQvl0&t=2h11m12s

100 - This jovial wink to the original Star Wars is repurposed for the after credits scene instead of coming IMMEDIATELY BEFORE A MAIN CHARACTER’S FUNERAL.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LqO03PQvl0&t=2h19m35s

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Enjoy, and let me know what you think!