Revenge of the Sith (The New Canon Cut) [ON HOLD INDEFINITELY] — Page 4

NFBisms said:

Pseudo poll! What poster do you guys like best?

Give me that helmeted Darth every time.

NFBisms said:

Pseudo poll! What poster do you guys like best?

(credit to this last one to ShortRound24 on Fanedit)

I’m a sucker for more minimalist designs, so I’ll have to say this one.

I love every change you’re planning on making except the fact that Yoda and the Emperor won’t be fighting.

I just don’t agree with people’s justifications for removing this like that “Yoda is mystical and doesn’t fight.” or “Yoda is too old.”.

My feeling is that he has this one chance to end the empire and the sith forever. So he feels it is his duty (as one of the few remaining Jedi) to try and defeat the Emperor even if the effort kills him.

Now I agree the fight on Mustafar should be completely focused on Anakin and Obi-Wan without cutting between the two fights. One solution I have seen other fan-editors use is to make them two separate fights with the Mustafar landing pad scene acting as a breather in between them.

This just my opinion and don’t take this as criticism of your edit. It’s shaping up to be my fave edit of ROTS.

Keep up the good work. 👍🏻

NFBisms said:

It’s similar, but my 1 and 3 are different. Padme possibly dying is still the impetus, but how it’s framed in my cut is Anakin decides that he can only keep Padme safe by aligning with Palpatine, either because of Plagueis or because of the political power and freedom that would come with it. And this becomes more clear once we’re out of these first two acts and into when Anakin actually becomes Vader. Hal keeps Anakin turning into Vader as this slow descent into full dark side corruption and power lust. He starts his descent well-intentioned but by the end is high on all of his new power. And that never sat right with me for Vader. The Vader I know from most of ANH, Empire, RoTJ, and the canon comics wasn’t crazy and corrupted. He wasn’t delusional or blinded by his power and emotions. “It’s too late for me, son.” was one of those things as a kid that showed me Vader knew he was a monster. And while the way he talked about the dark side’s power in the OT was always a supportive endorsement of it, it was more like a reverence of it rather than a dependence on having it.

So my Anakin doesn’t think he’s doing what’s best for the galaxy or the Republic or whatever. Sure, he has had political and ideological differences with the jedi council, and that’s what drives him away from them and to Palpatine, but he can’t believe that all of those jedi, in the temple and across the galaxy are bad. But he has to kill them all to embrace the dark side. He knows this, he knows what a sith is - and he can’t be proud of or eager to do it. That’s what I cut out. Every instance of Anakin being eager to do his master’s bidding is removed. He dances around the subject when he talks to Padme. He’s not proud. It’s just a means to an end for his goals for him and Padme. Their last conversation on Mustafar isn’t about the Republic, it’s about taking down Palpatine. For the two of them. For their baby. That’s what he chooses. He chooses what makes him powerful for them. It makes the Vader/Palpatine dynamic more wonderfully sith. It’s also what’ll inevitably turn him back in RoTJ, when he finally realizes the power doesn’t matter to the ones he loves.

Essentially, Anakin’s relationships to Palpatine, the dark side, and its power are the biggest differences in my cut. It doesn’t corrupt him or make him throw tantrums. As Palpatine says in the movie: ‘it gives [him] focus, make [him] stronger’. This is what makes Darth Vader the sith lord, especially when Kylo Ren exists now, whose unhinged emotionality with the dark side of the force is kind of what makes him a lesser Darth Vader. The idea that Anakin has master and control over his anger, fear, and hate to utilize them so effectively - that’s what made Darth Vader menacing when I was a kid. My Vader isn’t vengeful, emotional, or petty. He’s cold, methodical, and brutal. And this is how I’m keeping that image alive while maintaining the thematic through line of the prequels in a consistent way.

Finally someone who understands the mind of Anakin/Vader and how one became the other. 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

LordRorek said:

NFBisms said:

It’s similar, but my 1 and 3 are different. Padme possibly dying is still the impetus, but how it’s framed in my cut is Anakin decides that he can only keep Padme safe by aligning with Palpatine, either because of Plagueis or because of the political power and freedom that would come with it. And this becomes more clear once we’re out of these first two acts and into when Anakin actually becomes Vader. Hal keeps Anakin turning into Vader as this slow descent into full dark side corruption and power lust. He starts his descent well-intentioned but by the end is high on all of his new power. And that never sat right with me for Vader. The Vader I know from most of ANH, Empire, RoTJ, and the canon comics wasn’t crazy and corrupted. He wasn’t delusional or blinded by his power and emotions. “It’s too late for me, son.” was one of those things as a kid that showed me Vader knew he was a monster. And while the way he talked about the dark side’s power in the OT was always a supportive endorsement of it, it was more like a reverence of it rather than a dependence on having it.

So my Anakin doesn’t think he’s doing what’s best for the galaxy or the Republic or whatever. Sure, he has had political and ideological differences with the jedi council, and that’s what drives him away from them and to Palpatine, but he can’t believe that all of those jedi, in the temple and across the galaxy are bad. But he has to kill them all to embrace the dark side. He knows this, he knows what a sith is - and he can’t be proud of or eager to do it. That’s what I cut out. Every instance of Anakin being eager to do his master’s bidding is removed. He dances around the subject when he talks to Padme. He’s not proud. It’s just a means to an end for his goals for him and Padme. Their last conversation on Mustafar isn’t about the Republic, it’s about taking down Palpatine. For the two of them. For their baby. That’s what he chooses. He chooses what makes him powerful for them. It makes the Vader/Palpatine dynamic more wonderfully sith. It’s also what’ll inevitably turn him back in RoTJ, when he finally realizes the power doesn’t matter to the ones he loves.

Essentially, Anakin’s relationships to Palpatine, the dark side, and its power are the biggest differences in my cut. It doesn’t corrupt him or make him throw tantrums. As Palpatine says in the movie: ‘it gives [him] focus, make [him] stronger’. This is what makes Darth Vader the sith lord, especially when Kylo Ren exists now, whose unhinged emotionality with the dark side of the force is kind of what makes him a lesser Darth Vader. The idea that Anakin has master and control over his anger, fear, and hate to utilize them so effectively - that’s what made Darth Vader menacing when I was a kid. My Vader isn’t vengeful, emotional, or petty. He’s cold, methodical, and brutal. And this is how I’m keeping that image alive while maintaining the thematic through line of the prequels in a consistent way.

Finally someone who understands the mind of Anakin/Vader and how one became the other. 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

Yes. This approach, the inclusion of more militaristic dialogue and the removal of any references to Anakin as a diminished character makes this edit the most promising ROTS fan-edit since the days of Aalenfae, Cutter and Bob Garcia’s edits.

Mithrandir said:

Yes. This approach, the inclusion of more militaristic dialogue and the removal of any references to Anakin as a diminished character makes this edit the most promising ROTS fan-edit since the days of Aalenfae, Cutter and Bob Garcia’s edits.

Yeah, I’m only hoping he does the same for AOTC so that I can have the perfect machete order. 😂

SparkySywer said:

LordRorek said:

Mithrandir said:

Yes. This approach, the inclusion of more militaristic dialogue and the removal of any references to Anakin as a diminished character makes this edit the most promising ROTS fan-edit since the days of Aalenfae, Cutter and Bob Garcia’s edits.

Yeah, I’m only hoping he does the same for AOTC so that I can have the perfect machete order. 😂

Cut out AotC. It’s doesn’t really add anything, and it’s irrelevant like TPM. Boom perfect machete order* (once this fanedit is done).

*Technically that’s no longer Machete Order, but eat my shorts.

Agreed.

NFBisms said:

I do agree with that reading of Yoda’s character, especially in the context of TCW, where I obviously don’t mind a lot of things like that and Obi Wan knowing R2 and stuff. I also like the somewhat symbolic imagery of watching the Senate hall literally being broken down and torn apart in this scene - really kind of signifies the end of this era.

My problem with it is that it kind of breaks the flow of things, specifically emotionally - and when it comes down to it, it is just another action scene. We go beat to beat to beat of Obi Wan and Padme finding out about Vader, to them both wanting to personally confront Anakin, and I’d rather have that play out the whole way through. The Yoda/Emperor thing is just so divorced from everything else, because they were never our perspective in the rest of the film: that’s Anakin, Padme, and Obi Wan. Yoda especially doesn’t do much in the movie. The main question I had to ask myself was what would be added to the story of the Empire’s rise from A/P/O’s perspectives by watching Yoda lose to Palpatine? It really is just another fight scene, one that distracts from the main plot and emotions. I’m not saying he wouldn’t have wanted to do something, but I can’t have him do something at the expense of what should be the focus. Yoda was never a focal point of the movie - besides the Order 66 scene - it’s distracting to have him share the climactic spotlight with Anakin and Obi Wan, even if it plays out before Anakin and Obi Wan duel.

Besides, it’s not like Yoda is being a coward. He even says “Until the time is right” later, so he’s being pragmatic about what they can do here and now. I know the idea is that he only learns to be like that because of his loss to Palpatine, but it’s just unnecessary. Idk, I’d have liked to keep in, but it doesn’t do much for my cut.

Very good points. Like I said I don’t agree with most people’s justifications but I do agree with your reasoning.

May the force be with you and your edit.😁

I never thought of the symbolism of good and evil fighting in the senate. If the whole scene is to be removed, I wonder if, given its symbolic power, some shots (those that do not have lightsabers) at least couldn’t be refurbished in some way to be used in a dream/vision/premonitory scene of some kind.

Probably some vision Yoda could have, but don’t know. Just thinking outloud

NFBisms said:

So, I’m going to stop working at this for a bit. Temporarily. I’ve already been working on it less and less, but as the semester at college is coming to a close, and finals week is nearing, I’ve decided to put it on hold for now. So no new updates for a while. Not that there were a lot anyway.

That said, I do have a very unfinished rough cut with the newest (pending) changes and ideas. So if anyone wants to preview this latest mockup version, hmu. i live for feedback btw

Hey good luck on finals! Also I’m very interested in seeing a rough cut. Should I direct message you?

I’m liking it so far. I haven’t seen it all yet but I really like that it’s been long enough since I’ve seen Episode III that I can’t tell there are edits to the intro. Normally I can see the hard cuts but not here. If I had a complaint about the intro it’d be that part where they land and just start slaughtering droids for like a minute straight. I guess my preference is to see that cut out as much as possible.

Okay I have watched the rough cut and here are my thoughts

Here I am going to list the things I feel need some work although keep in mind that this is just my opinion so I ask that you all take this with a grain of salt.

0:9:26 - 0:9:55
I like what you did here with the elevator and R2 burning the droids although I feel that cutting back and forth between the two happens a little too much thus making it kinda distracting. What I would suggest is that after you have R2 fix the elevator cut to the elevator segment and then after Anakin and Obi-Wan’s little banter about R2 you cut to R2 getting picked up and burning the droids. I feel it would be less distracting and the comedic timing would work better overall.

0:13:03 - 0:13:05
I like what you did here having Anakin in silent contemplation rather than saying “Then his fate will be the same as ours.” but it looks a little weird. I would suggest holding on his face then using the part where he looks up from Obi-wan toward Palpatine ( 0:13:01 - 0:13:02 ) but reverse it so it looks like he is looking down at Obi-wan.

0:25:21 - 0:25:28
Excellent editing here I love the dialog changes but the music gets a little loud towards the end to the point where I can hardly hear Palpatine say “and you saved my life.”.

0:53:07 - 0:53:10
The only thing I don’t like about this scene is that you suddenly cut to Grievous mid-fall without showing him jumping off the platform.

1:03:18 - 1:03:19
I understand why you cut out the whole spin jump Palpatine does but it feels like something has been removed when I watch it so even though its kinda silly I would keep it.

1:04:27 - 1:05:38
I saw what you were going for but I feel the transition of Palpatine’s face from normal to scarred without an explanation is a little jarring and would be kinda confusing to first-time viewers. I also feel that Anakin should say “What have I done?” because without that it makes Palpatine’s next statement sound like half a conversation to me.

1:05:38 - 1:06:40
I like this scene although I would have at least a mention of Padme being the reason why he pledges himself to Darth Sidious and about them needing to work together to discover the secret to life because it feels a little too quick and I think a first time viewer would be left wondering “why is he becoming his apprentice now? isn’t there another options?”. I also feel cutting to Yoda in this scene is a little distracting, it should focus entirely on Anakin and Palpatine.

1:30:45 - 1:30:46
There’s a weird music change at this point that was a little distracting.

1:31:16 - 1:31:38
I like how you cut out a lot of the cheesy dialog here but it feels a little clunky and disjointed. Here is how I feel it could be improved.

Anakin “To my new empire.”.

Obi-Wan “Your new empire? Anakin, my allegiance is to the republic!”

Anakin “If you’re not with me then you’re my enemy.”

Obi-Wan “I will do what I must.”

Anakin “You will try.”

I feel this removes most of the cheesy dialog while still feeling like a complete conversation.

1:35:30 - 1:35:39
I would have included Anakin saying “This is the end for you.” I just feel Anakin is a little too quiet throughout the fight. Obi-Wan at least got “I have failed you Anakin.” so I feel Anakin should have at least a little dialog. Also, I feel Obi-Wan should say the full “I have failed you Anakin, I have failed you.” because I feel it cuts away a little too quickly when you shorten it.

1:36:00 - 1:36:10
I’m a little torn as to whether or not to include Anakin’s “underestimate my power” line but I think that you should have focused on Anakin’s face before Obi-Wan says “Don’t try it” because to me Obi-Wan can just tell what Anakin is thinking by the look on his face but if he just says it without focusing on Anakin’s face first, it looks a little weird.

1:36:15 - 1:37:22
Now I want to say that of all the things you changed removing the majority of Obi-Wan’s speech was my least favorite. I know you’re trying to make this more personal and less about the prophecy but I feel that this entire speech is completely personal because in my mind this speech is two things.

1. Obi-Wan is saying “You were my brother, You were the greatest of us, and you betrayed us all.” this is basically Obi-Wan telling Anakin how disappointed he is that he has fallen so low and how much Obi-Wan failed him.

2. This is the point from Obi-Wan’s point of view where Anakin “died”. So I consider this speech in a way to be Obi-Wan’s eulogy for Anakin Skywalker who was in his words “The best star pilot in the galaxy, a cunning warrior, and he was a good friend.”.

1:43:36 - 1:43:55
I see what you were gong for here but I would put a pause between what the emperor saying “You killed her” and Vader’s reaction and put Padme’s death during said pause so that we can see Vader’s reaction on screen. Seeing his reaction to this news is one of the highlights of ROTS for me, so I would hate to see it cut.

The only other thing I feel should be included in this edit is this deleted scene https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJUVHSBy9JM but remove Grevious and Shok Te so they can meet him on the bridge. Because I feel this scene adds some levity to the film and the banter gives off that brothers vibe you’re going for.

Now to list all the things I loved about your edit…Oh, wait I can’t…Because there are too fucking many. The issues I mentioned above is only nitpicking. Overall even in this rough state it is already my definitive ROTS FanEdit. 10/10 Amazing work. 😃

P.S.
1:24:08 - 1:24:20
I do have to mention that you handled Yoda not fighting the emperor masterfully. The reasons/motivations other editors give Yoda for not fighting the Emperor don’t work for me. But with some subtle dialog, you give the impression that Yoda is basically telling Obi-Wan “Forget about Anakin and The Emperor. We must protect what remains of the Jedi Order.”. Which is exactly the kind of thing Yoda would say in this situation, just like in ESB when he tells Luke to stay, finish his training, and let his friends die for the greater good, well done, maestro, well done.

This is a poster I made. IDK if you want to use it or not but I thought you would at least think it was cool.

Here is a link to the full-size image http://i.imgur.com/mgpwBSR.png

I’m a big fan of this edit. A lot of the changes work for me. I took notes of the problems I had while watching, but I understand that this is unfinished so it’s likely the technical problems will be ironed out before release.

[7:45] Added dialogue is WAY too quiet.

[9:41] I would have preferred that you kept the whole “no loose wire jokes” conversation; with part of it cut out, the conversation feels too abrupt. I also thought it was one of the funniest parts of a mostly unfunny movie, so it’s a shame that it’s missing, IMO.

[20:40 and 21:04] Added dialogue is a bit too quiet.

[26:49] I could tell that “forgive me” was cut short, I’m not sure what you could do to remedy that, though.

[27:34 and 44:20] Not really a criticism of the edit, but Hal9000 has some upscaled deleted scenes on MySpleen, if you have an account; if not, feel free to PM me for them.

In the Darth Plagueis scene, I personally would’ve cut it like so;

“He could even keep the ones he cared about from dying.”

“Is it possible to learn this power?”

Anakin asking if Plagueis could actually save people from death seems like a dumb question to me, seeing as that’s what Palpatine just said.

[43:24] Music change is too sudden. Maybe crossfading the two audio tracks would help?