Info Wanted: New Member/new to fan edits - Direction pleased re "Prequels"

Hi everyone - brand new member here, thanks for allowing me to be part of the community.

I am a long time Star Wars fan, just loved it since i was a kid. Ive got a 4 yo of mine now and quite awesomely he has taken to it too and have been getting him into all the films. Recently put the prequels on for him and re-watched them and just cringed the whole way through it. The actual story line and plot i think is excellent, however poor acting, script just murdered it. This lead me to stumbling across the fan edits and was instantly interested. I have done a fair bit of research on it already and have a bit of an idea of what is out there. In the process of getting the “Phantom Edit” version and have already downloaded 1080p versions of Hal9000 prequels (watched Cloak of Deception last night - was a marked improvement).

Really interested to try and get some of the others and more so, get the opinions out there to what is the overall SW’s public on the best versions of these fan-edits. Heard really great things L8WTRT version also - however have been unable to find a downloadable version - if anyone can point me into a direction to obtain a HD version, that would be amazing.

Is there a general consenses out there to which is the best, would love to get some more direction to look further into it

Overall, I think Hal’s are the best (I’ll also give a shout out to his The Force Awakens: Restructured, which has definitively replaced theatrical TFA for me in a way no other fan edit ever truly has, even prequel edits). There are places here and there where I’d do things differently, but they’re the most polished and professional quality prequel edits I’ve seen, indistinguishable from an official release bar the unavoidable low quality of some of the deleted scenes.

L8wrtr’s edits are also excellent, but not quite at the same technical level as Hal’s (as in, you can see the “seams” here and there).

Seciors’ Episode I is great too, and unique in that it cuts Sidious out of the film altogether, keeping the “Man behind the curtain” a little more mysterious and ambiguous.

NFBisms’ ROTS New Canon Cut is also fantastic, especially for a first time(?) editor. It’s laser-focused on building up Anakin’s character to be a bit more in line with his The Clone Wars TV series portrayal.

I should also note that MalaStrana has made an alternate audio track for Hal’s Episode III that takes some cues from NFBism’s edit as well, though I don’t know how widely available that audio track is yet (I only recently converted it to DTS and sent that encode back to Mala and Hal for distribution).

Thoae are the ones I’m most familiar with. They’re all great in their own ways - it really depends on what kind of changes you’re interested in versus what things you’d prefer to remain as they are.

I will, however, say that I’ve yet to see an Episode II edit that comes anywhere close to Hal’s The Approaching Storm. Nearly flawless work. Episodes I and III have other edits that give Hal’s a run for their money, but not Episode II, for my money.

ChainsawAsh said:

Overall, I think Hal’s are the best (I’ll also give a shout out to his The Force Awakens: Restructured, which has definitively replaced theatrical TFA for me in a way no other fan edit ever truly has, even prequel edits). There are places here and there where I’d do things differently, but they’re the most polished and professional quality prequel edits I’ve seen, indistinguishable from an official release bar the unavoidable low quality of some of the deleted scenes.

L8wrtr’s edits are also excellent, but not quite at the same technical level as Hal’s (as in, you can see the “seams” here and there).

Seciors’ Episode I is great too, and unique in that it cuts Sidious out of the film altogether, keeping the “Man behind the curtain” a little more mysterious and ambiguous.

NFBisms’ ROTS New Canon Cut is also fantastic, especially for a first time(?) editor. It’s laser-focused on building up Anakin’s character to be a bit more in line with his The Clone Wars TV series portrayal.

I should also note that MalaStrana has made an alternate audio track for Hal’s Episode III that takes some cues from NFBism’s edit as well, though I don’t know how widely available that audio track is yet (I only recently converted it to DTS and sent that encode back to Mala and Hal for distribution).

Thoae are the ones I’m most familiar with. They’re all great in their own ways - it really depends on what kind of changes you’re interested in versus what things you’d prefer to remain as they are.

I will, however, say that I’ve yet to see an Episode II edit that comes anywhere close to Hal’s The Approaching Storm. Nearly flawless work. Episodes I and III have other edits that give Hal’s a run for their money, but not Episode II, for my money.

Wow, excellent write up here, pretty much exactly what i am looking for, good to know my layman research of Hals being right at the top is pretty accurate. In regards to what i am looking for, I am more than happy to have it not 100% tailored to my needs, my biggest gripes in the whole series was when the story plots took on swashbuckling adventures over the actual Jedi story line, bad Anakin acting, Jar Jar, Anakin acting rapey & awful romantic dialogue and just the generally cartoony & (ironically) Disney feel to certain enviroments and characters. I hate all the clumsy stuff like Anakin just accidently flying a space ship and blowing up a space station - all the same gripes everyone had. I actually think the plot is very good in these films - its just awful side adventures and dialogue & inappropriate childish tones that undermine it.

I guess for me is what you have already said - I don’t want to see the seams. I thought the job Hal did was incredible - he is a very talented guy. Will definitely check out TFA’s cut as well. Did he do one for TLJ? I do think that TLJ is a film that if it shaved about 15- minutes off the total running time (mainly with Finn’s storyline) - it would have been an exceptional film - as it is, still a great film!

Hal did a TLJ one. I’ve not seen the final version, but the early version I watched was good. Hal just seemed to come at TLJ from a different direction than what I was looking for, and I haven’t dived too deeply into other ones yet. But it sounds like Hal’s TLJ might be up your alley (unless you really hate the Space Leia bit).

You can always mix and match, too, and you should look into others’ thoughts on various edits for each film to decide which ones to try. Q2’s edits are very highly regarded, though I haven’t seen them, as are Octoroxx’s. MagnoliaFan’s episode I and II are fun for a look at earlier attempts that influenced future edits and take some risks that some really liked. I’ve also heard Stankpac’s name thrown around for III.

Some mix and matches won’t work due to choices one editor makes that contradict things in a different editor’s work, but Seciors’ I, Hal’s II, and L8wrtr’s III is a popular combo trilogy.

Good luck, hope you find some edits you enjoy!

Some mix and matches won’t work due to choices one editor makes that contradict things in a different editor’s work, but Seciors’ I, Hal’s II, and L8wrtr’s III is a popular combo trilogy.

Can I get fries with that?

I’ll also give a shout out to his The Force Awakens: Restructured, which has definitively replaced theatrical TFA for me in a way no other fan edit ever truly has, even prequel edits

Probably because it strays so little from the source material.

Perhaps, and the few changes it makes are so obvious and improve the film so much I can’t believe they weren’t implemented by the filmmakers themselves during production.

I think the New Cannon Cuts are fantastic.

ChainsawAsh said:
I should also note that MalaStrana has made an alternate audio track for Hal’s Episode III that takes some cues from NFBism’s edit as well, though I don’t know how widely available that audio track is yet (I only recently converted it to DTS and sent that encode back to Mala and Hal for distribution).

Thanks for mentioning them ! I think if anyone is interested, just ask Hal9000 for a link to his “Master google drive folder” containing all his edits (PT, OT, PT) (or you can ask me directly for a mega link ?)

These tracks have already been made available a few months ago, but I took the opportunity offered by Ash to render them in dts to make a 2.0 version, so if you got the previous versions I would advise to get these new ones that are way improved over the previous iterations (more altered stuff and more polished changes).

EddieDean said:

Hal’s TLJ is for people like me who thought it was an impeccable film with just a handful of niggles. It makes some very smart little cuts just to shorten some of the more immersion-breaking humour (while keeping the film funny), and its main cut is the Fathier chase and other elements on the casino planet (the Finn story, as you mentioned). Well worth your time.

Yeah, it seems like TLJ edits are either a light touch like Hal’s, or go way overboard (like killing Leia midway through, for instance). I’m waiting for a middle ground type edit, assuming I don’t do my own - poppasketti’s Rekindled seems most in line with what I want (especially his “major” changes), and darthrush’s looks promising for me, too.

Also check out TV Frink’s edits.