On a whim, I decided to finally check out this edit tonight.
Barring some things I wish weren’t cut out (namely the Yoda and Dooku duel, which I am a weird defender of) and some deleted scenes I wish were incorporated alongside the others that you have already put into this edit… My God. It’s honestly amazing what nerd discontent and an editor’s intuition can do for a movie. Because of this edit, my second least favorite Star Wars movie of all time, a movie that I have previously decried as being bad and boring, is now an exciting and fun piece of cinema. I honestly can’t believe it! Quickening the pace and cutting out some of the more egregious, confusing, weird and creepy elements of this film really does wonders for it. It doesn’t make it a misunderstood masterpiece or anything like that, don’t get me wrong. But it’s definitely a marked improvement of a film that I had completely grown out of as an adult and have disregarded for a while now.
Anyways, nicely done Hal!