logo Sign In

Post #1434515

Author
Imhotep
Parent topic
Revenge of the Sith: Refocused - a Clone Wars: Refocused Companion Edit (v3.03 Available now)
Link to post in topic
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/1434515/action/topic#1434515
Date created
6-Jun-2021, 5:40 AM

This is a great edit, really enjoyed this. The difference in style was a little jarring at first, but well worth it for the quality Clone Wars content. Using NFBisms edit for ROTS is an excellent choice, better matching the tone of the Clone Wars. Your interweaving of the two plots is well considered, not simply smashing the two films together but taking care to bring the narrative arcs into one.

I was interested to see whether this approach could help spice up the dull sequence of dialogue scenes on Coruscant, in what I take to be Act II of the film. As much as I enjoy the deleted scenes typically added in edits, their addition makes this part of the film even more dreary; for me your edit succeeded in this way, as the addition of the Siege of Mandalore as a B plot really helped balance out this part of ROTS.

It feels like your edit is feature complete at this point, still I made some more specific notes, so take or leave them as you like:

  • I wonder if some trims could be made to the Clone Wars content, for example in the tunnels under Sundari and with Maul’s carnage on the ship.
  • Would you consider a restructuring of Padme’s ‘Seeds of Rebellion’ deleted scenes, moving the first scene to the last position in the sequence, so that the formation of the rebellion becomes the conclusion of this subplot?
  • It’s more a problem with the CW/ROTS canon, but this edit made the contradiction obvious to me; should the plot point about Anakin being on the council but not granted the rank of master be cut, since in the CW he is master to Ahsoka? Though I’m unsure whether such a cut would disrupt or clarify the overall plot here.
  • I miss the classic style of the planetary landing to open the film, and wonder if the holo-call between Grievous and Sidious could be moved and used for this purpose?
  • The intended significance of the ‘ruminations’ scene at 1:59:40 was lost on me in this edit, though bookending it with Ahsoka’s scene works well. Maybe consider adding some voiceover here as an internal monologue for Anakin, to make explicit that his fear of losing Padme stems from having lost both Shmi and Ahsoka?
  • Are you still looking to add footage from Tartakovsky’s Clone Wars? I would be keen to see your approach to integrating this content as well.
  • Would you consider any footage from the first episode of Bad Batch? Not sure where we’re at with spoliers for this, but there’s only one scene I can think of that could be useful.
  • 3:30 makes for a long movie, a simple intermission title card may help with this. Maybe after Maul is captured at 1:38:40, one intermission should be enough in my view.

I wish the dialogue about Ahsoka from the unfinished Utapau arc could somehow be used in an edit like this. Having Obi-Wan and Anakin discuss Ahsoka’s absence from the A plot would really cinch things for me. Cinematic Captures did an admirable job remastering the scene, but for a ROTS+CW edit maybe the animation style of Forces of Destiny, with the Temple Dojo setting from S1E11 ‘Teach You, I Will’ would fit well. Probably not a feasible addition, and certainly well beyond my abilities, but people wonder about the best use for that unfinished scene, and for me a ROTS+CW edit is the ideal place for it.

All up, this is an excellent edit; a fine and unique addition to the ever expanding canon of ROTS edits.