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Info: MagnoliaFan on MF.com — Page 2

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"Just like me, they long to be close to you..."

Well, I love Lucas' work, just frustrated at some missed potential or places it fell short to me. If I was alone I'd come to grips with that, but many people (like on this board) feel this way, especially with the PT. I don't feel like I would ever ignore Star Wars due to some frustration and because precedence was set so high with the OT (which still has some flaws to me - e.g. ewoks) the PT will be loved and hated simulataneously often by the same person. We will watch it. I love the idea of MagFan doing edits and tinkering and I don't understand the hate. I like to see fan art, fan audio, fan fiction and fan films of Star Wars too. I am happy that there are continuous creative efforts like MagFan's and I admire his work and enjoy the entertainment value of it. I think the point is if you find nothing of value from something, nothing redeemable and worse still won't bother to even give it a chance before criticizing it then leave it alone or view it with an open mind and then make a decision.

I guess I started this thread, because MagFan's home is here and so many people here appreciate what he's done. To find people ripping him and his work down there, again, giving him NO CREDIT and his work NO REDEEMABLE VALUE that's frustrating. People here have criticized decisions he's made in his films, but you can never please everyone. I'd do some things different than Magfan did, but I respect him and Lucas. And I'll say thanks you to both if ever given a chance and I'd give them honest criticisms too. That's what having an open, thinking mind is. But there's always room for respect. People that just hate, I don't have time for they thrive off of tearing things and people down and want everyone to be miserable like them.
16 years I wait and this is what I get???
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People that just hate, I don't have time for they thrive off of tearing things and people down and want everyone to be miserable like them.


I'm with you, but on the other hand--you kinda do have time for people that just hate--because you started the thread. You devoted the time to a thread on a messageboard that isn't THIS messageboard. So there's kind of the same sort of "having the cake and eating it" as someone saying "If you don't like it, don't watch it" and then saying "But if I don't like it, I'll re-edit it."

It's not hurting anyone, no. And to tell the truth, posts on some other messageboard that no one here reads isn't really hurting anyone, either. I doubt MagFan cares. He's "Best buds" with the LFL kiddies, what does he care that people are criticizing.

And besides--if you're going to put it out there, you have to be ready for the criticism, just like the people who spent the hundreds of millions to MAKE the movies expect the criticism and possibility of some dude on a messageboard making an edit on his home PC. I think part of what makes people react so strongly is that often, people here act as if this site is some sort of oasis from the insanity, but instead, it's just the same insanity, but refracted through a funhouse mirror. For all intents and purposes, MagFan has REPLACED Lucas on this site.

This is a place where, to use the horribly confining and simple terms used at other boards, "Bashers" can go to be "Gushers." Other people who don't understand that are going to react to the weird and contradictory nature of that, and they won't react positively all the time.

The Best Show You've Never Heard
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THe reason I like this board is because here I can say that I prefer the original effects sequences, and not have someone/s saying, "what the f*ck is wrong with you? CGI is way more cool and real". It's not that I can't handle a differing opinion, that's the point of message boards, but I have noticed that on sites like MF and TF.n, if you don't agree with the majority, no matter how respectfully, you get flamed. I don't see why I should be called a "Lucas Hater" or not a "True Fan" just because I thought the prequels could've been better than they already are, or that I'd rather watch groundbreaking model effects rather than your now typical CGI. Someone would say I'm living in the past for not absolutly loving everything new.

I have no problem with the people like Bizzle quoted. He at least rationalizes why he doesn't like the idea of fan edits.

I take issue with the, "This sucks, the guy who did it sucks and has no life, you're pathetic for liking it, and HAHA, I'm making fun of stupid people" posts. That's not expressing an opinion, that's flaming.


Made for IE Forum's Episode III theme month - May 2005.

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Well, I will say at MF, there's not really a "majority." You put some thought into your post and back up your argument, even if you're disagreed with, people (well, MOST people, you get that ranty angsty crowd at EVERY board, no matter HOW nice it is) won't come at you with the pointless retardery. Depending on which forum you're doing it in. There are forums there that, for entertainment purposes, are nothing BUT pointless retardery. but you'd have to take a pretty hard left turn to wind up there on accident

A lot of the people who post there aren't exactly huge fans of the prequels, either, and they're people that practically STARTED the place. But if you're not prepared to back up your opinion thoughtfully without relying on the tired cliches that a lot of the old-schoolers there got worn out on back in like, 98, then you're probably going to get some static. That's what a lot of it boils down to. here, you get some leeway with that. Well, you get a LOT of leeway--you get to wish death on the guy who created the universe and made the movies and not even get so much as a sideways glance. But every site has its foibles.
The Best Show You've Never Heard
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ok guys i just finished balance, it was fantastic good job magnolia, i did not see one editing error in there and usually i am very good at picking those out whne i try. I relaly liked how your put so much into improvign the back story of why the trade federation attacked and so on, also the extra stuff on curocant was great. just one problem with the whole thing, you shouldnt have taken out the mediclorians idea, cause that is key in ep3. i know people say well it messes with the idea of the force being so mystical, i personally dont think it does, we all know that there are some people who just cant use the force, Han for example, something i think most people miss is that just cause mediclorians are there does not mean they are the force, they dont create the force they mearly interact with it, and it was this interaction that gives jedi's the ability to use the force. see what i am saying. anyway overall it was fantastic, i loved jar jar he moved from being most hated to on my top ten list after that movie. also the dubbing was a splended idea, i am interested in seeing what you did with AOTC cause i know that with better editing that movie could have been as good if not better then ANH, and ROTS.
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Originally posted by: Shimraa
ok guys i just finished balance, it was fantastic good job magnolia, i did not see one editing error in there and usually i am very good at picking those out whne i try. I relaly liked how your put so much into improvign the back story of why the trade federation attacked and so on, also the extra stuff on curocant was great. just one problem with the whole thing, you shouldnt have taken out the mediclorians idea, cause that is key in ep3. i know people say well it messes with the idea of the force being so mystical, i personally dont think it does, we all know that there are some people who just cant use the force, Han for example, something i think most people miss is that just cause mediclorians are there does not mean they are the force, they dont create the force they mearly interact with it, and it was this interaction that gives jedi's the ability to use the force. see what i am saying. anyway overall it was fantastic, i loved jar jar he moved from being most hated to on my top ten list after that movie. also the dubbing was a splended idea, i am interested in seeing what you did with AOTC cause i know that with better editing that movie could have been as good if not better then ANH, and ROTS.


Thanks, Shimraa. Glad you enjoyed it.
Although the midichlorians are out, I kept the basic theme the same, just simplified. Plagueis could manipulate the force to create life, stop people from dying, etc.
Consider what you see on EP II a work in progress. Neither Balance or Clone War was initially intended for release, they merely got pirated by someone who had access to a copy, so I allowed Rikter to distribute them freely. My Episode II was much less complete in my eyes than Episode I.
I'm soon going to release a DVD+R DL disc of it that contains a slightly updated version of the film, an extended version, and a few other viewing customization options.
I'm just waiting to get back a few completed shots that I subbed out to other people, so that I can finish it up.

http://twitter.com/TheMagnoliaFan

http://www.youtube.com/user/magnoliafan78

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ic ic, ok well its good to know that they are still a work in progress. cause you can still add things and take away things, its ok if you dont have mediclorians in there however i think that they would add to the story, and make ep3 alot easier to do. I heard somewhere that there is a scene in ep3 where pali tells anakin that he created him, it got cut but i heard about it, its right when pali tells anakin that he is the sith lord. also just curious how would you dubb out the medichlorians when pali says, plaguis was so powerful that he could use the force to manipulate the medichlorians to create life. it was ez to get rid of it in ep1 cause you jsut cut the whole shots with them mentioned, in ep3 you cant cut that scene without cutting a critical part of the story. just my two cents.


hey u know it jsut occured to me what if thats the secret to the sith and how they survied the 1000 generates where they were thought of as being extinct. i have been wondering for a long time how someone as powerful as pali could grow up and not be located by the coucil, same for all the sith dating back, each one would have to be extremely power like equal to a council member and the chances seem too remote for them to find someone so powerful every 30-40 years at random.
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hey u know it jsut occured to me what if thats the secret to the sith and how they survied the 1000 generates where they were thought of as being extinct. i have been wondering for a long time how someone as powerful as pali could grow up and not be located by the coucil, same for all the sith dating back, each one would have to be extremely power like equal to a council member and the chances seem too remote for them to find someone so powerful every 30-40 years at random.

One of the things I both love, and hate about Star Wars is that anything can be read into anything. As for this, I always figured it was because, you know, they were hiding.

Regarding the initial point of this thread, if the internet has taught me one thing it's that despite your best intentions there are hundreds of people waiting to pounce on you with insults and poorly worded sentences, all of which seem to rhyme with the word 'truck.'

EDIT - I've never watched the Prequel re-edits, personally I don't see the point - but I admire the intent and respect the amount of time someone pours into these projects. However, to claim that re-editing something makes it 'better' or 'closer to the original vision' is a subjective and flawed.

I am a huge fan of the preservationists though - I'm glad that there's people out there willing to sacrifice their time to bring out the best possible versions of the original trilogy.
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I don't think posting this thread here is "safe" its more like its my HOME. Its the place I like to talk star wars. I visit some other sites sometimes and look at some threads, but I post nowhere else. And yeah Mags is somewhat of a celebrity here, but more improtantly he's part of the OT.com family. I like this site. I choose to not post thoughts on MF.com after reading that thread not because of I am scared of their reaction or can't take criticism. I just don't feel interested to waste my time typing words to close minded people that are tearing someone's work down blindly. I get no personal growth, wisdom nor entertainment value out of that. I like that for the most part people don't tear each other down here. You don't get thread hijackers as much here. Maybe I do like it because its safe here. And that's why it feels like a home for me me to post all my thoughts and questions related to Star Wars. I would have never became friends with Rikter, I would have never seen Mag's Edits, or any of the stuff Rikter has sent me over the last year without this site. I have enjoyed most of my time here. While I find things of interest on other sites, I never feel compelled to contribute to them.

OT.com, I am biased, I like it here.

Edit: Oh and Bizzle...who's kind of going at me a bit in this thread...well, he's actually a cool guy and is hooking me up with some things and sending them off generously, again a cool benefit of being on this site.
16 years I wait and this is what I get???
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Originally posted by: TheCassidy
hey u know it jsut occured to me what if thats the secret to the sith and how they survied the 1000 generates where they were thought of as being extinct. i have been wondering for a long time how someone as powerful as pali could grow up and not be located by the coucil, same for all the sith dating back, each one would have to be extremely power like equal to a council member and the chances seem too remote for them to find someone so powerful every 30-40 years at random.

One of the things I both love, and hate about Star Wars is that anything can be read into anything. As for this, I always figured it was because, you know, they were hiding


of course they were hiding but one guy cant hide for a thousand years, he'd die after while, i was mearly pointing how the sith could have stayed strong in the force with only one or two of them out there looking for people to train. my point is that poeple that are as strong as coucil member dont pop up out of no where they are very rare, and fo the sith to have found some ever so often to carry on there legacy seems very improbable look at palps he was as strong as yoda, and there was only one other yoda inthe past 1000 years. same thing with plagius i guessing he was even stronger the palps.
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So magfan, do you put any stock in the idea of midichlorians post-ROTS? I know the idea of midichlorian and the virgin birth was despised by most and still may be, but the conversation with Palpatine and Anakin is interesting at the opera. It makes you think that possibly she was the vessel to bring for the savior for the light side or the dark side. A christ/anti-christ. If Plagueis could control life and there manipulate midichlorians...could he have created Anakin through the virgin Shmi, and had him be a slave, With Sidious understanding this let his mother be killed and pushed Anakin along a path to have him become a dark and powerful savior, more power than grievous or dooku. It's interesting.
16 years I wait and this is what I get???
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I was lucky enough to download both Magnolia Fan edits and I'm glad I did. The first one blows "The Phantom Menace" out of the water. I wasn't as fond of the 2nd edit though. First off, "The Balance of the Force." is great. Episode I is still an awful film no matter what you do it. (Unless they were to remake the movie using the crew that did Episode III). Nothing can change that. But MF has made the film a lot more tolerable. "Attack of the Clones" is a tough film to change, because the original editing of the storyline is so rigid. The dialogue is very plot driven. Which makes it tough to remove anything substantial and have the narrative still make sense.

EPISODE I: THE BALANCE OF THE FORCE
First reaction. Love the new opening crawl (the part about slave labor is genius) and the new title. Then comes the movie. I was hoping MF would make even more cuts to the opening scenest on the Fed ship to quicken the pacing of the film. Like when Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan are talking and sitting at the table. Too slow for the opening of an action film I think. I liked the altered Neimodian dialogue. Though it takes a while to get used to. I'm not sure if "What the hell just happened" and "Where are those damned destroyers" would have fit into a kid oriented sci fi film. The Federation leaders are a lot smarter now, and more devious. I liked how MF darkned Sidious's face so you can't tell it's Palpatine. Very cool.

Liked the changes to the battle droids voices. That's the way they should have sounced in the first place. Jar Jar is the most interesting change. He's actually funny now and respectable as a character. There's still too much of him in the film and in the end, it seems as though the whole episode is "Jar Jar's story." But I guess it's hard to get around. Jar Jar's in the original film so much! The plot point about the Gungans hating humans is very clever. I think Boss Nass came across as more serious and made a greater impact as a character. Not silly and easily manipulated, like in TPM.

Love the sound effect added whenever Qui Gon uses the force to do a mind trick. Like the cuts to the underwater sequence and the addition of the fabulous waterfall deleted scene. Again, the Viceroy is very evil now. Killing people at will and with a sinister tone. Definitely a better villian than before. I thought the "running the blockade" space sequence was tightly re-edited. Made it more suspenseful. Most of the cuts in the film are really wise. The dialogue snippets eliminated here and there aren't missed at all.

Very creative interlude where Watto hums the Cantina song from Episode IV. Watto is a pleasant surprise in this edit. He is a harsher towards Anakin and funnier when dealing with Qui-Gon. Smart edits to all of the Anakin scenes. He is more silent and mysterious. And definitely is a more convincing young Darth Vader. Anakin's "very, very dangerous" line has been trimmed to "very dangerous". Another brilliant edit is the redone Sidious/Darth Maul scene on Coruscant. Great use of the Imperial March and the cut line "The Republic will soon be under my control."

The most ambitious editing work has been done on the pod race. This version is drastically changed. The sequence has been totally rearranged and for greater effect. Thankfully, the annoying two headed announcer is pretty much removed from the soundtrack. Which makes the climax of the race more dramatic. I was hoping MF would use more of the pre-pod race build up and extended 2nd lap from the deleted scenes, but the finished version here is quite impressive. The new music is a lot better. Not as in your face as John Williams original music.

The only additions I frowned upon was Jar Jar's use of bad language. "Go you little bastard" and "Oh shit" don't belong in a Star Wars film. Not to be a prude. They are funny within this context and work as satire. But there's no way they would have ended up in an actual Star Wars film for kids. Lucas would die before letting any real profanity, other than "hell" and "damn" in one of these movies. MF doesn't changed much to the last act of the film. Which isn't surprising. Since it's got the most action. All in all, a very cool edit.

EPISODE II: THE CLONE WAR

Again, this is a tougher film to change, because the script is a lot tighter than in Episode I. The new opening crawl here is more confusing than the one in AOTC. Over all, I was hoping MF would tighten the pace of the movie to more reflect the breakneck editing of Episode III. There's too many overylong arrivals and landings on planets for my taste. The stuff that was trimmed out of Ep III. You could easily cut 10 minutes out of AOTC just by eliminating all of the "Wow, look at ILM's scenery work" interludes.

I was hoping MF would eliminate some of the 100 "M'Lady" references to Padme throughout the film. I was hoping he'd include Padme's opening address to the Senate after the first assassination attempt, which contains some of Natalie's better acting in the film. As far as the cuts, I thought the first Zam/Jango meeting was cool. Sort of missed it. The cuts in the nightime chase are all smart. Wish you could have cut the entire "You know Master I couldn't find a speeder I like" exchange. And the godawful "This weapon is your life," Yes Master" scene outside the club. Missed Anakin saying "Who hired you? Tell us. Tell us now." I liked Hayden's delivery there.

Eliminating Jocasta Nu was smart. And replacing the Yoda/Obi-Wan/Mace scene with the Obi-Wan & Mace deleted scene was perfect. As far as the love scenes, I probably would have kept either the "first kiss" or picnic scene. Just to show the initial sparks between Padme and Anakin. I really like the scenes with Padme's family though. Wish there were more. It gives Padme's funeral procession in Episode III a lot more emotional impact. Should have cut the fruit eating scene. The fireplace scene is actually bearable now. Best edit of the whole film.

I like how you divided up the Obi-Wan asteroid chase and arrival on Geonosis. I thought it would have been cool though to show Obi-Wan's ship on the back of the asteroid and then cut to the next scene on Tatooine. Then come back and have Obi-Wan say "R4, we've waited long enough." I liked the changes to Dooku's character. Thought it would have been cool to re-insert some of the deleted scenes with Dooku & Padme. The last 40 minutes of "Clones" is pretty tightly edited in the theatrical film. So it's tough to subtract or change anything.

IMO, "Attack" is just as bad or worse than "The Phantom Menace." Ep II looks too much like a video game. At least "TPM" has some excitement and unpredictablility to it.

Magnolia Fan, are you going to do an edit of Episode III when it comes out in November on DVD? Some suggestions on things to cut: Jar Jar's "excuse me" line. That Obi-Wan/Anakin scene on the "outer rim sieges." 3PO showing up out of the blue during the Padme/Anakin silent exchange sequence. Bail Organa and Lucas's kid confronting the clones at the temple. Things to reinsert; The first meeting between Padme & Obi-Wan in her apartment. And the generator room sequence (if they are included on the DVD as deleted scenes).





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That was George's kid who got killed when Bail got there? I knew that scene didn't sit well with me for some reason. It seemed rather gratuitous, but I just couldn't put my finger on why it just seemed forced.

There is no lingerie in space…

C3PX said: Gaffer is like that hot girl in high school that you think you have a chance with even though she is way out of your league because she is sweet and not a stuck up bitch who pretends you don’t exist… then one day you spot her making out with some skinny twerp, only on second glance you realize it is the goth girl who always sits in the back of class; at that moment it dawns on you why she is never seen hanging off the arm of any of the jocks… and you realize, damn, she really is unobtainable after all. Not that that is going to stop you from dreaming… Only in this case, Gaffer is actually a guy.

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Originally posted by: Gaffer Tape
That was George's kid who got killed when Bail got there? I knew that scene didn't sit well with me for some reason. It seemed rather gratuitous, but I just couldn't put my finger on why it just seemed forced.

Yeah, that was Jett Lucas battling the Clones. He plays a Jedi named "Zett Jukassa," (very clever, eh?). You might remember him as the youngling in the background during that awful Obi-Wan/Jocasta Nu library scene in Episode II.

Lucas could have easily deleted this scene and included more of the opening space battle or maybe even that first Obi-Wan/Padme scene in her apartment. I can see why he wanted to include it (it's his son after all). But why not make it a deleted scene on the DVD instead?

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The thing was I couldn't really decide what I thought about it. It seemed cool actually seeing one of the kids put up a fight and die (rather than cut away and assume the worst), so it was good for establishing the moment. But, at the same time, it just seemed really random and kind of ruined the pacing. Bail gets out, talks to the clones who tell him to leave. Suddenly, this random Jedi kid shows up and gets killed. Then, all of a sudden, they all want to kill Bail, too, who has to jump back in his speeder and fly away. So it was kind of cool, but it just didn't seem to really fit. Now I know why. Thanks a lot. And I can see why he would want to keep it, but, eh... I don't know. I'm kinda torn.

And Zett Jukassa? Yeah, those names keep getting weirder and weirder... Whatever happened to the good old days of Bens and Lukes?

(By the way, I get the joke, and I think there could have been more creative ways to have handled it as well)

There is no lingerie in space…

C3PX said: Gaffer is like that hot girl in high school that you think you have a chance with even though she is way out of your league because she is sweet and not a stuck up bitch who pretends you don’t exist… then one day you spot her making out with some skinny twerp, only on second glance you realize it is the goth girl who always sits in the back of class; at that moment it dawns on you why she is never seen hanging off the arm of any of the jocks… and you realize, damn, she really is unobtainable after all. Not that that is going to stop you from dreaming… Only in this case, Gaffer is actually a guy.