Thanks for your review Dazman!
I would have liked to see more silly droid sounds removed like when Obi & Anakin enter the Invisible Hand and fight the first battle droids, that was great. But maybe that would have broken the seamless flow Siliconmaster was aiming for.
If it’s the scene where they land in the hanger, there is already some alternate audio in there from other editors to remove as many of the droid voices as possible. I’m not a fan of them either.
I have always disliked the Ep 3’s ”hold the viewers hand to Ep 4”-ending as if every piece fell into its place on the same day for Ep 4 and then nothing happens in 20 years in between. Some things can be left to imagination. Unfortunately this edit does not fix those issues for me and even adds one (Dagobah). I would like to see at least the ”Vader looking at Deathstar”- scene go as it just oozes unnecessary fan service out of every crack. But I understand this depends on your personal taste. As I like a more radical edit, I’m not sure why Siliconmaster chose to revert back to ”Padme dying in birth” like in the original cut, didn’t Hal9000’s edit use The Other boylean girl- clip to make her survive? Maybe it was some other edit, not sure.
I understand your feelings about the connections-to-episode-IV montage. Personally I prefer to think of the shot of Vader and the Emperor as years later, a glimpse of the future. I like the idea of replacing it with Coruscant, but then having Tarkin there doesn’t make as much sense. Yoda’s scene is perhaps unnecessary, but the nuance of seeing him land made me happy as a fan. Plus I enjoy the idea of Yoda using his escape pod from Kashyyyk so as to minimize his presence.
As for Padme, it was definitely Hal9000’s edit which used the Other Boleyn Girl footage. I really like that idea, but I couldn’t convince myself it wasn’t an obvious cut. In the end I went with smoothness over fixing the obviously dumb plot point. I do like Padme’s funeral however, and the tragic end cap it represents for the movie. Anakin’s necklace is a nice reminder that there is good in him, tying back to his final demise in Episode VI.
All in all a very good solid edit, although I prefer a more radical cut of the film.
Much appreciated, glad you enjoyed it!
I’ve uploaded the files for version 1.1, pending final approval from the IFDB academy. The OP has been updated with those changes as well.