Well, this TFA edit stands apart from any other ‘fan edits’ I’ve watched before.
I always like seeing well done fan edits, if for no other reason than just to see other peoples ideas
…this however goes beyond that.
It takes what was already there and restructures it into what I (and seemingly a LOT of others) would argue is a more effective narrative structure.
BUT…it’s more than that! …the glue you have used to bind your vision together is nigh on industry standard…or at least in how it appears…so you deserve to be very proud.
I’m also a huge fan of the changes you made to TLJ! I could say the same about that edit as well if I’m honest.
I’m an unapologetic fan of Disney era Star Wars. I think with TFA and TLJ at least the basic content is there to play around with, shuffle, edit, cut, rework and so if you have the skills and resources that you clearly do, I think some of the issues a lot of us fans have with them in their original forms, can be worked with or around.
Funny what you said about EP3 though:-
I’ve been through all of your Prequel edits and I’ll say this:
All of them are exponentially better for your work on them, but it’s so easy to see how little there is to really work with to make them better movies.
Whether it’s the awful expositionary/hollow dialogue and/or poor acting, the ageing CGI (which has held up less well in 20 years than the practical effects from the OT have over 40), the sloppy editing and non-existent cinematography and how all of that combines to make the entire trilogy one huge missed opportunity (well thats MY view on the prequels as a whole)
The jump (at least chronologically) between EP3 to EP4 is jarring enough just on account of the 25 odd years between them…forgetting CGI, even in just how they look (one shot on film and the being shot on relative early digital cameras)
One looks and feels like a FILM, the other looks sterile and artificial, cartoony but without any real ‘joy’.
To this day I still think TPM looks and feels the most Star Wars out of the PT…despite it’s many missteps I think it still holds up, and I really do think that’s because it was shot on film.
Don’t get me started on EP2 though, it’s just the worst. In every way.
Your edits of these have at least got rid of some the intolerable guff and sharpened up some of the narratives across all 3 Prequel movies, but I can fully appreciate how that must have been really hard just on account of having so little to really work with in order to make any of them GREAT in their own right?
So to me your Ep3 (LOE, right?) edit isn’t at all controversial. I think it takes a ‘less is more’ approach, keeps things tighter and more in theme with what we thought we knew when we just had the OT.