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The legendary "Starkiller Ranch" Thread — Page 49

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I was watching Sithlord's edit of Ep 3 last night and so far I like what he has done. I'm really glad he cut all the Muppet Show nonsense in the first half.

But one thing that lept out at me was, no matter how much you edit that movie, one of it's biggest problems is Grevious (to me, anyway). His awful, simplistic, 2-dimensional dialog makes him no better than a moustache-twirling bad guy in a black cape. He REALLY hurts the film for me.

But, as has been pointed out here, new dialog can be dubbed for him, which I think would go a LONG way towards improving this movie. Just cutting out his coughing and laughing would make the character so much less offensive.

Perhaps less is more with the General, and instead of replacing ALL his dialog, simply cutting it out and adding speech only where absolutely neccessary would make him more sinister.

I really wish the Phantom Editor would take a stab at Episode 3 - in my humble opinion, "Attack of the Phantom" is the all-time best fan edit ever and I'd love to see what he would do with the last installment.
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Originally posted by: Mojo_LA
I really wish the Phantom Editor would take a stab at Episode 3 - in my humble opinion, "Attack of the Phantom" is the all-time best fan edit ever and I'd love to see what he would do with the last installment.

I agree. If his Episode II had an offical crawl it WOULD be the best fan-edit of them all. I read somewhere he was asked about RotS and his response was, "There's nothing I can do." Whether this means he liked it and didn't see any need for editing or that it was so bad he couldn't fix it I don't know.

Ideally Grevious wouldn't exist, but I really see no way of cutting him out of the movie. And since we're stuck with him, connecting him to Maul seems the best route of salvaging the character.
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I think the Grevious can be dealt with by dubbing in new dialog and limiting his role... in the commentary, Lucas says Grevious is supposed to be sort of an early Darth Vader, serving as an example of how an organic being who has been turned into a machine can go horribly wrong (the cough is supposed to remind us of Vader's breathing).

It's a good idea to have Grevious be a foreshadow of Vader, but wow, talk about poor execution.

I think the Phantom Editor was probably being a bit glib in his comments; obviously he's a big Star Wars fan and I'm sure he's already done an edit of Ep 3 in his head. I think now that his identity is known the appeal of doing another edit has been diminished, but I'd like to think that one day he'll find the time and stop resisting the urge.

Every now and then I email him and poke him about it! I'd still guess he WANTS to do it, the moment just has to be right...

Who knows, maybe he's right and Ep 3 can't be helped... although I think it has some of the best moments in the prequels, it would be nice to think something can be done.

SithLord did a GREAT job with the first 15 minutes, his recut of the opening battle is pretty much perfect. I wonder what can be done with the Palpatine scene, when Ben and Anakin walk in it just doesn't work for me, why would a hostage be kept unguarded in this giant room? I know it's essentially a setup for Anakin to kill Dukoo, but the scene moves so slowly and it's so awkward. And Sithlord didn't really do much with Grevious.

ANyway, I'm just talking out loud. I'd have to really sit down with Ep 3 and have a serious, analytical viewing to see if there is enough good material to be salvaged.
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I agree. If his Episode II had an offical crawl it WOULD be the best fan-edit of them all.


Speaking of...has anyone ever done this? I far prefer both The Phantom Edit and Attack of the Phantom to the theatrical versions, but am a little irritated with the lack of a real crawl. If anyone's done this, I'd like to know.

O.T. or No T., baby!

ANH:R Cover Art

ESB:R Cover Art

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Originally posted by: Trooperman
Originally posted by: guitarfan01

Well, I might be interested in doing some editing here; I plan to create a "me version" eventually anyway. Something that'll fit in with SOTDS and Adywan's ANH (with maybe one audio edit here).


That would be fantastic! Do you think we could count on you for a half an hour of edited video for ROTS?

CC- I'd love to see your rough edit.


I would love to help out, but I don't know if I will be able to; an opportunity for me to move to Nashville and play bass semi-professionally has just opened up (in the last week) and if I do take it, that will probably take up most of my time. If I don't go through with that, I would be glad to do some editing under the direction of the Ranch. I might need some help with the soundtrack, though, I've never mixed 5.1 before.
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not sure if this is the most appropriate thread, but it has always provided the most open minded discussion in the past.:P

what if anakin had a red lightsaber in the mustafar duel?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4puaVsdKUuk&feature=related

simply awesome what this guy did with the rotoscoping. i think it looks better.

i guess obi wan would have to take his old blue lightsaber at some other point though...
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what this guy did is pretty simple but it still would have taken a while.

In terms of story i prefer blue, But in red it does look better and makes the fight easier to follow. I have no idea why they thought just doing the fighting really fast would make it more interesting.

actually i sppose he should have red since he HAS already been knighted as a sith.
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this would be very contradictory to alot of star wars material, actually it would probably be contradictory to it all...but i could imagine a cool shot of anakins lightsaber turning from blue to red as after his transformation to sith, almost like red tendrils moving from the hilt downwards to form a red saber.

alternatively someone could just make a shot of palpatine handing anakin a new saber when he nights him, ie palpatines hands passing saber to anakins hands. could be done with just gloves and sleeves and the right coloured floor and lighting.

dunno where obi wan would get anakins old sabre from though, maybe a similar "hand" shot from the interior of padme's ship?

maybe ill suggest that to ady if he is still up for episode 3 rediscovered in 2018 ;)
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Hey all,
 
I've been following this thread for a while, though I can't remember if I've posted anything (I've been away from OriginalTrilogy for a long time).  Suffice it to say though, I plan on following it more closely now that I'm back.

-Rhikter

www.facebook.com/rhikter

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wow, way to bump a piece of faneditting history! we should debate more on here more often.

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ben_danger said:

wow, way to bump a piece of faneditting history! we should debate more on here more often.

 

 Ya, this thread has not yet been prenoced dead!

The person your searching for simply does not exist

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I love this thread!!! some of the best OT memories for me are in here.

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I just read this entire thread. Hate I wasn't apart of it. Too bad it's no longer active.....hint, hint.

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I remember when I first read it it seemed so huge.  It was only about twenty pages long, then.

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 (Edited)

Mojo_LA said:


I really wish the Phantom Editor would take a stab at Episode 3 - in my humble opinion, "Attack of the Phantom" is the all-time best fan edit ever and I'd love to see what he would do with the last installment.

Oh yes, his AOTC feels really sinister and menacing. Pity, no colour correction though. But that kiss on Naboo is really great done now as well.

A question for anybody who knows: What happened with Timstuff's TPM doubleedit? Did he make it? Why did he dissapear without a trace?

wise you must be.
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Darth Wagner said:

Mojo_LA said:


I really wish the Phantom Editor would take a stab at Episode 3 - in my humble opinion, "Attack of the Phantom" is the all-time best fan edit ever and I'd love to see what he would do with the last installment.

Oh yes, his AOTC feels really sinister and menacing. Pity, no colour correction though. But that kiss on Naboo is really great done now as well.

A question for anybody who knows: What happened with Timstuff's TPM doubleedit? Did he make it? Why did he dissapear without a trace?

Excellent question. One that doesn't seem to get answers on his thread. I was interested in what he was doing.

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MTHaslett said:

Hey Possessed. I just found this thread and got excited about your edit.

I LOVE the idea of cutting the first Ewok scene with Leia. I've dreamed of what that would achieve-- it would definitely pick up the pace at that point and keep our focus on Luke where it belongs.

 

This is probably too late, but I had some other ideas that might suit this project:

1. What if the first things we see in Jabba's palace wasn't from the droids, but was actually the capture of Chewie and failed rescue of Han?

This would improve the "plan" that Luke et al seem to be enacting. My question has always been-- what if Leia succeeded? How would they get Chewie and the droids? Or was Leia's failure part of the plan? Anyway, starting with Chewie gives the plan a more logical escalation and gives Jabba a stronger sense of menace.

This would mean cutting around 3p0 for that scene.  Use subtitles to replace his lines.  Then I'd cut to an even whackier idea:

2. What if Luke's trip to Degobah came next?  Luke isn't on Tatooine yet, he's busy with another errand first-- Yoda. This would get us right into the main story earlier and remove a big kink from the storyline that occurs when this scene is saved for later.  The idea that Luke would go to Yoda before saving Han would indicate the level of pain Luke is still going through over his fight with Vader. 

Both of these changes would bring a dose of darkness to the opening of ROTJ. In my mind, that brings it closer into alignment with ESB.

After Luke leaves Yoda and Obi Wan, we would get the scene of the droids walking up to Jabba's palace and the stage would be better set for their scene, the death of the first dancer, and then Luke's arrival and the reveal of Leia as Jabba's new bikini girl.

3. A minor note is that I would certainly recommend cutting the chatter between Han and Luke as they ride out to the Sarlaac pit. There is way too much "humor" that both falls flat and deflates the tension in that sequence.

I know you most likely want to finish your edit and I'm not sure why these ideas would make you want to hold off-- but I offer them in case they can be of any use.

I love what I'm seeing here and thanks for all your hard work!

MTHaslett said:

Now I'm just saying this to say it, but if one were to start with the capture of Chewbacca and then Luke seeing Yoda die, then it might work best to cut away to Luke before the failed rescue of Han.

That way things would really look bad-- first Chewie is caught with no apparent hope of rescue (avoiding the silly reveal of Lando); then we find otu Luke isn't even there --and Yoda dies; then Leia gets herself caught... Jeez!(cut the Han/Chewie reunion scene). With the darkest possible music over all this, it would feel as suspenseful as it was supposed to.

Then come the droids walking right up to the mouth of the lion... Their presence indicates that Luke has arrived, but he's already way behind.  But at least his plan now makes a little sense-- gift the droids, go in and try to get everyone else out -- if it all fails, R2 has his light saber hidden away as a second chance. (Provided Jabba makes R2 a drink server and takes them all to the Sarlaac pit and etc... I will never really understand Luke's plan).

BTW: Thanks, Sluggo-- Starkiller Ranch lives!

I'm just importing these ideas from Possessed's thread as I think they warrant more discussion. 

The idea of having Chewie being turned in for the reward would work nicely but as Possessed mentioned, it is a little abrupt.  However, it could work if the opening crawl is re-worked to mention that the heroes are being hunted by the Empire and bounty hunters alike, or something like that.  And maybe the scene could be improved with a small establishing shot of a landing pad behind the palace with a strange ship landing.  The engines shut down and the sound of Jabba's baroque band is heard, transitioning the scene for when Leia and Chewie walk into the throne room.

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If the Rebels were being hunted by bounty hunters for the Empire than surely they would take them to the Empire and not to Jabba.

The current explanation is that Jabba put a price on Han and Chewie's head for the loss of spice and not paying them the money they owe him.

That's been there from ANH onwards so adding it to the crawl doesn't really make sense.

The crawl usually sets the scene for the current episode by telling us details we didn't already know (Leia has the plans, Vader is looking for Luke, the Empire has a brand new pair of rollerskates etc).

We already know that Jabba was miffed with Han and that probably extended to Chewie too.

As I said before on the ROTJ wishlist thread I think the loss of the mysterious entrance of Luke at the palace is a price worth paying for Yoda's death making sense.

With all the talk of a body double being used for the 'found' scene of the saber being built, if a good Hamill look alike could be found a better version of the Vader/Luke telepathic conversation could be re-staged (I'd put it in the cave from ESB). With his hood down you'd still get a mysterious first scene with Luke but on Dagobah instead of Tatooine.

That way you'd get a stronger impression that maybe Luke may turn after all (he has sneaked into a place strong in the dark side to chat with his 'dad') and returned to get confirmation that Vader is who he says he is after completing his training, just before Yoda dies.

It makes more sense to me that Yoda would hang on long enough to finish Luke's training as best as he can than just drop dead in the middle of a welcome back sentence.

What might be put into the crawl is that Leia is meant to wait for Luke to join them.

She has like her brother in the previous film jumped the gun because of her lack of patience  (when love is on the line) and like Luke gets herself into a situation where she needs to get rescued as well.

The whole idea of Luke putting everyone in danger to save Han at the Sarlacc pit doesn't ring true to me.

Sure there would be less people at the barge party than in the whole palace but it just feels more realistic and in character if Luke and the droids are a separate rescue party to Lando, Chewie and Leia (who have bungled their own premature attempt).

It shows that Luke has truly grown from his experience in ESB where the reverse happened.

It also shows the previously level headed princess has the same trait of impatience when a personal bond is at stake as the other Skywalkers.

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 (Edited)

To add to what Bingo already posted, I like the idea of having Luke faceless in his robe with the hood down, telepathically conversing with Vader underneath the tree (though I would never show Vader, but only play his voice).  I would also add that we never see Luke's face until he reveals it in Jabba's palace.

Of course, there is nothing saying that you couldn't start the movie with R2 and 3P0 going to the palace and Leia and Chewie are already captured (it would mean adding slave girl Leia to the Jabba scenes when 3P0 is first speaking)...

         

 “You people must realize that the public owns you for life, and when you’re dead, you’ll all be in commercials dancing with vacuum cleaners.”

– Homer Simpson

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It would be a bit difficult and rather pointless hiding Luke's face during Yoda's death scene as it currently plays, unless you were thinking of doing something totally different with it.

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Good discussion. I would really LOVE to see this thread resurrected!

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Bingowings makes good points. 

To me, the idea that Luke put everyone in jeopardy so they would ride a barge to the Sarlaac and escape there is too ridiculous. Especially as staged-- it would require that Luke know in advance about impossible to know details such as what job R2 would be reassigned to and that he would be the first one pushed into the pit-- hell, how the hell did he know they would be going to a Sarlaac in the first place? It is, bar none, the worst "plan" I've ever seen in a movie. It's like Ed Wood was Luke's strategist.

But rearranging it so that Leia jumped the gun with her own risky plan and got herself and Chewie caught has a kind of desperation to it. Not unbefitting for the sequel to ESB.

The idea of Luke's entrance being "mysterious" and therefor worth preserving makes me scratch my head. What was "mysterious"? Did we not know it was Luke? The only mysterious thing about it is WTF is he thinking? And the answer is apparently that he has a finely laid plan involving getting everyone to the Sarlaac pit where a blind Han will kill Boba Fett, etc. etc. 

I like Possessed's ideas about Luke's glove. He's going to give some of this a try. Yay!

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I would like a scene (somehow) that mirrors Luke's seeing 'his friends in pain' like he did the first time in Empire.  Luke is on Dagobah to be with Yoda until he learns that his friends had been captured in the rescue attempt, so it is off to Tatooine for the rescue.

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I had an idea on the ESB/ROTJ Wishlist thread of taking the Ben section of the Dagobah scene and putting it in Ben's Hut.

Placed after Chewie has been led in but before Han is defrosted.

The heroes have been using Ben's old home as a planning area and the Falcon is already there.

He expects to see Leia (and Chewie but it would give too much away to say it out loud) but only Threepio is left behind.

Threepio starts to explain but he already senses what's gone wrong and he goes inside and Luke despondently says he can't go on alone and Ben's ghost finishes the story of Anakin he began in the hut in ANH (the start of his journey) and eventually the truth about Leia comes out.

That way the audience can make the link between Luke running off to save his friends in ESB with Leia running off to save Han here, the chain is finally forged when Leia removes her mask (the one that sounds like her Father's) and she falls into a trap like her brother did in the previous episode. (right click to enlarge rough mockup).

Haunted House

Then we see the droids on route to the palace.

Sure it would take a lot of work but if it could be done it would make a lot more sense than the current version in my view and have a story resonance.

Luke is no longer a novice and has to take charge and save his newly found family.