Finally watched this today, and it is brilliant, just brilliant!
I actually like the original ep3, and yet your edit makes it so much better. It's practically perfect, but I did make a few critical notes during my viewing:
- First of all, there's a blue/purple line on the leftmost edge of the screen throughout the film. I suppose you know this. It's no bother, but it's there..
- During the fighting on the ship (around 13min) things are happening really fast. This especially stands out when the jedi are trapped in the ray shield, and suddenly there's a platoon of battle droids behind this. I realize this is because you've (thankfully) cut away some R2-antics here. Did you also cut away some of Grevious' speech here? The pacing just seems a bit off in these scenes.
And that's it. :P
I'm a bit conflicted about the whole idea about Palpatine changing his appearance during the fight. It doesn't quite explain itself during the film, but I suppose it's better than him doing it to himself through Windu's lightsaber.
I also don't see any need for Qui-Gon talking to either Yoda or Obi-Wan. It's just a confusing bit of information at the end of the movie. What does Qui-Gon want Yoda to do at Dagobah anyways? His voice when he speaks to Yoda was also quite loud, I'd suggest tuning it down a bit if you're still keeping it in v3.
Oh, and I almost forgot. What's your motivation for removing the death star in the ending? The scene is a lot less dramatic when these guys are just enjoying their view of Corusant..
Once again, this is just a brilliant piece of editing! Looking forward to your 3rd versions.