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Star Wars: The Lucas Film Edit (aka 'How Star Wars was saved in the edit' video)

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Hey All,

Just finished watching this rather interesting and well done video on how Star Wars (aka ANH šŸ˜‰ ) was basically only successful due to editing and the crack team of editors (Richard Chew, Marcia Lucas and Paul Hirsh) that essentially saved Star Wars from likely being a mediocre film to maybe even a complete flop instead.

https://youtu.be/GFMyMxMYDNk

It also shows again that even for the first film that started it all, George had a massive amount of talented help and support in bringing his vision to life which without it, SW wouldnā€™t have been the success it was. It sickens me even more now knowing this, the attitude that George takes as if he is solely responsible for it all and feels he can just go back years later and keep changing things time and again while actively denying and trying to erase the theatricals that got him to where he is.

Anyway, was mostly just wanting to share the video and see what people had to say about it, not necessarily hate on GL all over again šŸ˜‰

.Val

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I just saw this earlier today, great stuff. Of course while many people here and elsewhere know all about the work of the editors on the project itā€™s great to see this kind of research and video essay style showing new viewers.

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Excellent video. Nice shoutout to the Despecialized Edition.

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Cool find .Val - and thatā€™s a quality informative video too šŸ˜ƒ

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Thatā€™s a great video and I agree completely, without the right editing choices the whole movie wouldā€™ve sucked hard. Thereā€™s also great things present editors should take notice, Iā€™m looking at you TFA and R1.

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Havenā€™t watched the video in full but the ā€œsaved in editingā€ statement is a bit of a misnomer. I would say it came together in editing, in the same way most films do.

Also, ā€œLucas Artsā€??

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Anakin Starkiller said:

I think you mean Lucasfilm, although even they werenā€™t around until after the first film.

???

The first films opens with the Fox logo followed by the text ā€˜A LUCASFILM LIMITED Productionā€™.

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DominicCobb said:
Also, ā€œLucas Artsā€??

There, fixed it for you šŸ˜›

I also agree that ā€œsaved in the editingā€ is not entirely accurate as every film goes through an editing process though in this case it feels that the films success relied entirely on it.

Anakin Starkiller said:

I think you mean Lucasfilm, although even they werenā€™t around until after the first film.

Yeah I know, it was more just for a tongue in cheek thread title šŸ˜‰

.Val

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I took a screenwriting class this summer, and the tutor spent the first class using ANH as an example on how to properly pace a film. I find that kind of funny now, after having seen this video, as the ANH script, if anything, was a great example on how not to pace your film. (Of course that doesnā€™t change the fact that the finished film is great reference for any would-be filmmakers & screenwriters.)

I also get really happy when I see one of these OT videos that actually use footage from the unaltered film.

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Really highlights what the problem with SEs and prequels is, too. George really didnā€™t change at all. I think this also shows that he stubbornly felt he was right all along. See how the trade talk pops back up in TPMā€™s crawl. Honestly surprised he didnā€™t make further changes in the SEs to return the film to its original version.

Still makes me wonder if the prequels couldnā€™t be redeemed if given to actually talented editors.

NOTE: Iā€™m not talking about a mere fan edit, but editors being supplied with all shot material and even a budget to complete or undo special effects. Obviously youā€™re not going to be able to fix bad performances and bad casting, but I could see them being restructured into something approaching a competent film.

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Verboten said:

Really highlights what the problem with SEs and prequels is, too. George really didnā€™t change at all. I think this also shows that he stubbornly felt he was right all along. See how the trade talk pops back up in TPMā€™s crawl. Honestly surprised he didnā€™t make further changes in the SEs to return the film to its original version.

Still makes me wonder if the prequels couldnā€™t be redeemed if given to actually talented editors.

NOTE: Iā€™m not talking about a mere fan edit, but editors being supplied with all shot material and even a budget to complete or undo special effects. Obviously youā€™re not going to be able to fix bad performances and bad casting, but I could see them being restructured into something approaching a competent film.

Unfortunately I believe the main issue all fan editors and probably the editors at the time of production faced is in fact the source material you have to work with and the mentioned performance and casting issues.

If fan edits have proven anything with the PTs, is that no amount of rearranging and editing will ever properly fix something that is inherently shit to begin with.

I think Adywan had the potential to get close to making them good movies when he was still looking to edit them (not any longer) but I believe the only way to ever properly fix the PTs is to actually remake them, which isnā€™t out of the question knowing Hollywood. But then theyā€™d probably want to remake the OT and ST as well, so all in all itā€™s probably just best to either forget the existence of the PT or enjoy them as you can with fan edits šŸ˜‰

.Val

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Verboten said:

Really highlights what the problem with SEs and prequels is, too. George really didnā€™t change at all. I think this also shows that he stubbornly felt he was right all along. See how the trade talk pops back up in TPMā€™s crawl. Honestly surprised he didnā€™t make further changes in the SEs to return the film to its original version.

Quite right. 1977 could have just been The Phantom Menace under another name, and it would have just been known today as a weird over budgeted experiment.