I'm a big fan of JasonN's prequel trilogy: Attack of the Federation, Twilight of the Republic, and The Dark Knight Rises, [The Black Knight Rises] so I wanted to give this 3 in 1 condensed version of the PT a shot, even though it received poor reviews on fanedit. Well, I'm glad I did, because this version (v2) was thoroughly enjoyable.
Thoughts:
Episode I Chapter: I was very satisfied with JasonN's extreme reduction of Episode I, making it into a 20 minute action prelude. (I was always a big fan of the old James Bond movies, where the pre-title sequence had Bond off on some other mission, unrelated to the movie proper). And, nothing against Liam Neeson, but I like how his character is introduced and then killed off quickly, since he has nothing to do with the remainder of the story. My only criticism of the Ep. I chapter would be that there is no introduction to the Gungans, so the viewer might not be sure who they are and why they're fighting against the invasion army (if watching this movie in a vacuum).
Episode II Chapter: Excellent! Introducing Anakin as an adult apprentice of Obi-Wan is a great choice. On top of that, his introduction at the Jedi Council when he is given the mission to escort Padme to Naboo is simply a perfect context, since his love for and desire to save Padme will spell his eventual seduction to the dark side. Brilliant! I'm beginning to think JasonN is a mad genius of story editing.
On a technical note, there's one part of this chapter that appears to be a mistake or an unfinished edit. When Anakin arrives at the Lars homestead on Tatooine there's some inserted dialogue of Anakin speaking Watto's language and subtitles for Owen and Cleigg Lars that are out of context.
Episode III Chapter: Excellent as well. Also, the birth of Luke & Leia sequence, I think, is even better than JasonN's The Black Knight Rises, because we're told a girl is born, but don't get her name, so it works well in connection to the OT.
Overall, this is an extremely enjoyable edit if you want to watch the entire prequel storyline in 2.5 hours. Some have criticized the pacing and music score as problematic, but it wasn't noticeable enough for me to hinder my enjoyment of this version. If you suspend your disbelief, and enjoy the Episode I chapter solely as an action-packed movie intro, then I think you will be more than pleased with the rest of the film.
Any news on a DVD version release?