StankPac's Episode III - Revenge of the Sith Special Edition (Released)

StankPacs edit of Revenge of the Sith Special Edition is more then 10 years old now but is still unmatched due to clever editing, the right amount of removal of silly CGI antics and reinstating of the much needed deleted scene “Seeds of the Rebellion” among others.
 

Changes:

• Cut: Out of sheer request from a friend, I have removed the beginning Fox fanfare/Lucasfilm title. It has been replaced by a more traditional old school Fox fanfare and neon-style green Lucasfilm Limited tile. Call me crazy but I quite like it.

• Cut: The first redundant line of movie has been removed, “Master, General Grievous’s command center is dead ahead”. Anakin basically says the exact same line when they are significantly closer. Now the first person you see is Obi-Wan, not Anakin.

• Cut: Opening space battle has been drastically reduced, no buzz droids or missle attack. Little snippets of dialogue cut for pacing. Get inside Grievous command center in a little under 2 and half minutes from the end of the title credits.

• Cut: When inside command center, removed the line “There they are, get’em!”. Also, any other droid quirkiness or behavior has been removed.

• Cut: Removed the line “I sense Count Dooku!”. Really Anakin?! Grievous basically tells the audience he’s on board when he’s first introduced on-screen.

• Cut: Removed the whole elevator sequence. Went nowhere and had silly humor. Now just arrive through elevator door to rescue Palpatine.

• Cut: No talking during Dooku fight.

• Cut: Removed Palpatine’s “Yeah” line. What was Lucas thinking on that one?!

• Cut: Removed any temptation from Palptine to Anakin to finish off Dooku. Anakin just grabs both sabers and decapitates him. You can see right after thru his eyes that what he did was wrong. No need for useless dialogue from Palpatine to influence Anakin.

** On a side note: I noticed JasonN rotoscoped Dooku and Yoda’s lightsabers purple. I kept them the way they are. I do applaud him because when I saw that, I was thinking to myself how seamless that looked. Good job, but I feel entirely unnecessary. **

• Cut: Removed any mention of sand people from Palpatine.

• Cut: When ship is being destroyed and they are trying to escape, various trims and cuts are applied including removal of R2-D2 shenanigans.

• Cut: Removed silly dialogue like “All batteries fire!”, “Magnetize”, “Reverse stabilizers”, “Reversing stabilizers”, “Stabilize”, “Stabilizing”, “We’re leveling out, sir”, and “Activate ray shields!”

• Cut: When aboard the command deck after being captured, various trims & cuts are applied including what I like to call the “Yo’ Mama” comeback line of the movie. “Ah’ Anakin Skywalker I thought someone of your reputation would be a little bit older!” Humiliates him further by coughing in his face. Anakin’s response “General Grievous you’re shorter than I expected!” (hand slaps forehead in utter disbelief). Really Anakin, that’s the best you got? Thanks for not losing any of your wit!

• Cut: Various trims & cuts applied befores & after they crash land on Coruscant. Yes, even including the stupid “Another happy landing!” line (a look of stunned silence looms over my face).

• Cut: Reduced the stupid banter back & forth between Obi-Wan and Anakin, on whether or not who should get the credit.

• Cut: Removed the whole Palpatine talking to Mace conversation. Redundant and pointless because of the above mentioned cut. You can clearly see that Palpatine has enough time to carry on that conversation without showing it. Besides, right after that scene the same information is exchanged between Anakin and Organa. Most importantly, something just irritates me about Lucas’s daughters in the background. They seem out of place and not taking their father’s movie seriously.

• Cut: Removed some of the dialogue between Anakin and Padme about being married. Useless and not needed.

• Cut: Removed a bit of dialogue when Grievous talks to Sidious. No longer does Sidious mention Mustafar. The reasoning is because why would Sidious tell Grievous to send the separatist leaders to Mustafar, when if you notice Grievous doesn’t inform them until a couple days after that event happens. I mean they are standing right there when he gets off his ship. Why not tell them right then and there to get their asses to Mustafar. What is the purpose of holding off that piece of information to the separatists? Now when Obi-Wan arrives on Utapau, the separatist leaders would be long gone and somewhat safe on the Mustafar planet. It makes much more logical sense, so it had to be removed.

** On a side note: Some edits I’ve seen or read about cut out the Grievous talking to Palpatine scene (with a slight alteration as described above). I for one like this scene and find it to be significant. Basic storytelling tool – “Foreshadowing”. By removing the proceeding scene on the balcony & combining it with Anakin’s nightmare, it becomes quite apparent to the audience that when we finally get to the opera house that Palpatine, unbeknownst to Anakin, has been using the darkside of the force to peek into Anakin’s nightmares. That is crucial to the story and the over-all narrative. **

• Cut: As mentioned above, removed the god awful balcony scene. Probably ranks as one of the most atrocious scenes in Star Wars, right below “I don’t like sand!”. When I first saw this movie, that was the first scene that needed to go. My mind is still perplexed as to why this was in the movie in the first place. You can clearly see that this was a re-shoot scene that had half the audience, when I saw it in theatres, gasping in astonishment at how sickly and fugly Natalie Portman looked after losing a significant amount of weight and shaving her head for V For Vendetta. Then after nightmare sequence, she looks great.

• Cut: Various trims & cuts to dialogue between Anakin and Padme after Anakin has nightmare.

• Cut: Removed the Yoda & Anakin conversation. Like another editor clearly stated, that information is useless and Anakin never heeds the advice given anywhere in the movie. Now just transition into Anakin meeting up with Obi-Wan in the briefing room.

• Add: Added the “Seeds of the Rebellion” deleted scene after the previous scene. By excising Organa’s line, “Now that he has control of the Jedi Council”, the scene becomes a lot clearer because that hasn’t quite happened yet. Now the scene opens up with Organa’s next line, “The Chancellor has ordered Governors across all star systems”, to make the scene flow better.

• Add: Foreshadow alert Added the “Plot to destroy the Jedi?” deleted scene after the previously added scene. The reasoning is because for one Obi-Wan expressed concern in the briefing room about Palpatine and is going to have a discussion with Yoda and Mace. So, when Yoda says “Looking to take control of the Jedi Council,” it is most likely in reaction to the Senate giving the Chancellor more executive powers (appointing himself or someone for him to be on the Jedi Council–Anakin). Secondly, they all clearly have their suspicions about Palpatine and need to somehow weave out Palpatine’s true intentions. Which of course leads us into the subsequent scenes:

1. Anakin asked to be put on the Jedi Council, so Palpatine can know what is going
   on with the Jedi.
2. Anakin being put on the Jedi Counci, but not granted the rank of Master. Clearly
   shows that Yoda, Obi-Wan, and Mace’s suspicions are clearly coming to fruition
   and inform the rest of the Jedi Council beforehand (off camera).
3. Anakin asked to spy on Palpatine. This clearly shows that in the added scene, the
   information they need can only be obtained by someone on the inside. So, they ask
   Anakin to spy because he has become significantly close to Palpatine.

• Cut: Removed a little bit of dialogue about Anakin being the chosen one and talks of the prophecy when Yoda is going to go meet up with the wookies.

• Cut: Removed the next scene of Anakin and Padme having a conversation at the apartment. Pointless and very poorly acted.

• Add: Replaced that excised scene with the vastly superior deleted scene in Palpatine’s office. Basically, you are killing 2 birds with 1 stone here, so to speak, by still having a scene with Anakin & Padme together, but marrying that with the other Senators concerns about Palpatine always changing the constitution with new amendments and by assigning Governors across the galaxy. Also, the scene is great because it actually gives Anakin something he is suppose to be doing…to spy on Palpatine, report back to the Council, and somewhat plant the idea in Anakin’s mind, by Palpatine, that Padme can’t be trusted & isn’t going to stand by him in the end. That she believes in democracy like Obi-Wan and not in the new soon to be Galactic Empire. Also, it is suppose to go there because the background is exactly the same as the previous scene.

• Cut: Various trims & cuts in the opera house. Removed various lines of dialogue to tighten the pace. No George Lucas cameo with his daughter and absolutely NO MIDI-CHLORIANS!

• Cut: Shortened up the Kashyyyk sequence by removing the droid attack which subsequently removes the wookie yell scene. Yeah!

• Cut: Removed little bits of dialogue on the loading dock.

• Cut: Removed the scene of Obi-Wan talking to Commander Cody, telling him where Grievous is located. Not needed.

• Cut: Removed the second premonition sequence. Now after Obi-Wan goes into hyperspace it transitions to Anakin sitting on the apartment couch looking somewhat frustrated.

• Cut: Removed the “I feel lost” line. Ohh no, Episode 2 dialogue all over again!

• Cut: Removed some dialogue when Obi-Wan is talking to Utapau representative, like
  “If you have warriors, I suggest you use them”. Huh? Not once do we see the Utapau people fight or anywhere else in the movie, for that matter.

• Cut: This is an edit I’m particularly proud of – Obi-Wan’s encounter with Grievous. I remember one person’s review on someone else’s edit and I hope I did this scene proud. By re-organizing and trimming certain sequences it becomes a tighter scene:

1. Removed the whole squawking Boga at the beginning, now when Obi-Wan looks up and
   sees his ship go away it transitions into the scene of the tenth level where
   Grievous is at. This works stupendously better considering that you see them in
   the background and surmise that is what the Utapau people & visitors ride. Now
   when Grievous is giving his speech to the separatists, you see Obi-Wan arrive on
   the rafters with the Boga but the Boga is silent. Don’t give away your position
   or anything?!
2. Grievous’s speech has been shortened by removing the line of what kind of planet
   Mustafar is. We are going to know a little bit later that it is a volcanic planet.
3. Removed line by Grievous after the Viceroy tells Grievous about keeping them
   safe. Now the Viceroy isn’t a pointless coward and actually stands up for himself.
4. By doing that, the scene of Obi-Wan getting off the Boga is overlayed with
   Grievous’s line about “Your ship is ready,” shows Obi-Wan looking down above
   rafters just as Grievous and the separatists are walking away. Now it gives them
   a little bit more time to get off the planet, not by much, but I guess every
   second counts.
5. Now it shows Obi-Wan contemplating next move, stroke his beard, take off robe,
   and then jump down kamikaze style.
6. Removed various lines of dialogue such as “Well hello there?”, “You are a bold
   one”, “I will deal with this Jedi slime myself!”, “Your move!” or “Attack Kenobi!”
7. Now the actual fight itself, if you look at what they are fighting on, it looks
   like a very narrow support beam in which Grievous engulfs with his massive frame
   plus all 4 lightsabers going off and making sparks on the ground. The logic of
   Obi-Wan jumping over him and then doing a spin move to get back in front of him
   is quite strange. He would be cut up pretty badly if you ask me. So, Obi-Wan does
   not flip over him and stays grounded in front of him the whole time. Better this
   way because now Obi-Wan cuts through Grievous pretty quick and then the clones
   arrive.
8. I removed the whole other part of the fight which includes Obi-Wan doing the
   force push. Not needed because with the arrival of the clones I cut to Grievous
   dropping down and getting into his vehicle, sort of suggesting that in Grievous
   mind these lightsabers do nothing so I’m going to run away like a coward.
9. When Obi-Wan whistles, the audience knows he is signaling for the Boga, don’t
   need to see the Boga come squawking into frame and then Obi-Wan jumping down onto
   the saddle. It has been removed.
10. Removed a few frames right before Grievous jumps off the edge in his vehicle. If
    you notice the first time when Grievous and his vehicle speed off camera, he is
    pretty much already near the edge. In the previous situation already described,
    after Obi-Wan finally gets on the Boga, you can see Grievous in his vehicle much
    further back.

** On a side note: Now I’m not saying the Boga doesn’t squawk in this version because he does, but at least he does a lot less. The last time I recall, I think the Boga squawks roughly 18 to 20 times in the original theatrical version, not sure. Now I dwindled it down to about 8 times in this fan-edit. **

• Cut: Since I put back in the deleted scene “A plot to destroy the Jedi?”, therefore, removed the following war room scene, which as you know has the same basic information. Now it just transitions into the scene of Anakin learning the truth about Palpatine.

• Cut: Removed a few snippets of dialogue in the previous mentioned scene to make Anakin a little quicker in the brain to make the connection that Palpatine is the Sith Lord!

• Cut: This is another great edit I’m proud of – Obi-Wan chasing Grievous:

1. The first few frames of the chase have been removed. Now transitions into a
   little bit later in the chase. No squawking from the Boga, until the end
   (unavoidable).
2. Removed Obi-Wan taking vibro staff and trying to smash Grievous’s vehicle with
   it. Pointless.
3. Now in a bold cut, Obi-Wan trying to take vibro staff from Grievous, rips it free
   of Grievous grasp, spins it once and in one smooth motion smacks Grievous in the
   face with it. Grievous in frustration grabs the staff and pulls Obi-Wan over onto
   his vehicle. Now we are off to Round 2. No fuss, no muss.
4. Removed the whole sequence of Grievous punching the plane and making a huge dent
   to the frame. If Obi-Wan got hit by that punch, he wold be dead in an instant.
   Now when Obi-Wan kicks Grievous’s leg, you see him scream in pain because he is
   lying on his back and he did that out of desperation not to be squashed by
   Grievous’s foot.
5. Also, removed Obi-Wan opening up Grievous’s chest plate and exposing his heart.
   Basically telling the audience, “Duh? There’s his heart, that’s how I’m going to
   kill him”.

• Cut: Removed a little bit of dialogue between Anakin and Mace in the hangar bay.

• Cut: Removed the Palpatine voice-over while Anakin is contemplating whether or not to intervene in Mace’s attempt to arrest Palpatine.

• Cut: Removed the shot of C-3PO walking up to Padme at the window after Anakin has made up his mind to go help Mace arrest Palpatine. Flows much better now.

• Cut: This is another great edit I’m proud of – Mace vs Palpatine duel:

1. Removed the close-up shot of Palpatine about ready to stab one of the Jedi, after
   leaping from his chair, so that it now looks like one smooth motion. Basically,
   catching them with their guard down and dispatching with them quickly. Now it’s
   mano a mano with Mace!
2. Seamlessly removed the very bad CGI Palpatine rubber face over stunt actor. Now
   it looks like one smooth motion with his lightsaber.
3. Nobody I’ve seen has done it properly, but I have finally removed that stupid
   monkey flip that Palpatine does.
4. Tightened up the fight a little bit in front of the window.
5. Removed the scene of Anakin running into Palpatine’s office. Now it shows him get
   there at the exact time Mace has the lightsaber in front of Palpatine’s face.
6. Removed the line “You are under arrest, my Lord!”. Stupid bit of dialogue.
7. Removed the one to many “No’s” from Palpatine.
8. Removed all the dialogue in front of the window, after Palpatine begs Anakin to
   help him. It makes Anakin’s turn to the Darkside that much cooler. You can
   already see in the one shot of his face that he has already made up his mind.
9. Removed the odd bit of dialogue by Anakin “What have I done!”. Ummm, you just
   turned to the Darkside, embrace it. Not suppose to feel remorse. Jeez, grow a
   pair!

• Cut: Removed some more of Obi-Wan riding on the Boga and some clone action. Now he just arrives from the background to tell Commander Cody they have a battle to win.

• Cut: Removed the line from Palpatine, “Commander Cody”. Now he just says,
  “Commander”. Besides why would Palpatine know his name.

• Cut: Removed a couple things from the Order 66 sequence:

1. No close-up shot of the clone pilots telling Palpatine “It will be done my Lord”
   and then shooting down Plo Koon.
2. Removed the sequence of Yoda jumping on Chewbacca’s back, after Yoda decapitates
   the troopers. Retarded & silly.
3. Removed the sequence of Anakin going to kill the younglings. The reasoning is earlier
   you see him go to the Jedi temple to catch anybody who is in
   there off guard. Now it makes it more dramatic later on when you see Obi-Wan &
   Yoda walking the Jedi temple hall and there in the middle are Jedi and younglings
   laid about all dead. Also, latershown on the hologram video. More effective that
   way.

• Cut: Removed the silly scene of the walkers seeing if all the wookies are dead.

• Cut: Removed the scene of Yoda leaving Kashyyyk.

• Cut: Removed the scene of Obi-Wan hiding from the clone troopers as they discuss Obi-Wan’s fate after the fall with the Boga.

• Cut: Removed a bit of dialogue about “Many Jedi have been killed” when Anakin arrives at the apartment after just slaughtering the remaining Jedi in the temple.

• Cut: Removed the last bit of dialogue by Yoda to Obi-Wan about decoding the coded message.

• Cut: Removed the scene of Sidious telling the Viceroy to await the arrival of his new apprentice.

• Add: Attached one of the exterior shots of Mustafar with the arrival of Anakin.

• Cut: Removed the Viceroy’s line of “Welcome, Lord Vader!” after Anakin’s arrival on Mustafar. Anakin now walks in and uses the force to close the doors.

• Cut: Removed the outdoor attack on the Jedi temple by Yoda and Obi-Wan. No more saber usage by Yoda, damn it!

• Cut: When Obi-Wan & Yoda are walking the halls of the Jedi temple, I removed all the dialogue leading up to Obi-Wan saying “Who could have done this!”. Makes the scene way more dramatic with just the music score playing and now you know why the removal of the younglings scene was taken out. No more pointless dialogue, just the visuals showing the audience that Anakin is one evil bastard wiping out everybody and not even caring about if it’s a child or not. Ta dah!, just like in Episode 2.

• Cut: Removed the evil orange/yellow eye stare to the camera. Totally not needed. I guess the marketing people were thinking they could sell a lot more lunch boxes if they had that in the movie!

• Cut: Removed any mention of Obi-Wan calling Palpatine Emperor. As far as Obi-Wan and Yoda know he is still just a Chancellor.

** On a side note: I know the security hologram scene is unavoidable because why would there be a recording of that? You just go with what’s available and edit it the best you can. I don’t mind a little bit of suspension of disbelief in movies and it definitely doesn’t disrupt the flow of the story. **

• Cut: Removed little bit of dialogue when Obi-Wan goes to ask Padme where Anakin is:
  “You are going to kill him, aren’t you?”. Now she just looks at Obi-Wan and you
  can see in her eyes that she knows what Obi-Wan plans to do without saying a
  word. Now when Obi-Wan says ” He has become a very great threat,” it’s kind of
  his last ditch effort for Padme to voluntarily tell him where Anakin is hiding.

• Cut: Removed the whole Yoda vs. Sidious fight! Not missed one bit. You knew from the outset that these 2 were exact equals in force power and that in the end there was going to be no clear winner. Oh, did I mention my whole beef with Yoda and a lightsaber?! Just checking.

• Cut: The whole sequence on Mustafar with the arrival of Padme to talk to Anakin and most importantly the lightsaber duel is pretty much exactly like JasonN’s version, with just a few snippets of frames here and there excised. Very minor.

• Cut: Here we come to the holy grail of this fan-edit – THE ENDING! The whole ending has changed because of what has happened to Padme at the hands of Anakin. Padme never wakes up, ever! She is seen unconscious throughout her last remaining scenes. A reviewer pointed out a great way the movie should end, so I heeded his plea and I hope I did the ending justice:

1. After Obi-wan has defeated Anakin and walks aboard Padme’s ship where Padme is
   laying unconscious, he puts his hand on her shoulder, then camera pans up and we
   see the look of grief on Obi-Wan’s face. Padme doesn’t wake up and speak. The
   ship leaves the planet and we see Obi-Wan in the cockpit looking depressed and
   sad.
2. Removed the arrival of Sidious on the planet because when he arrives later we see
   him with Anakin in a medical capsule. I think we can give the audience credit to
   figure out that Sidious went to go get him, and for just a few seconds leaves
   Anakin’s fate undetermined.
3. With removal of that scene, it now transitions into the scene of Yoda meditating
   and Obi-Wan meeting up with him and Organa. Then the arrival of Sidious on
   Coruscant with Anakin.
4. Removed all the silly dialogue about the will to live. Who writes this crap. When
   we see that medic droid for the first time, he comes up to the 3 of them and now
   just says, “We’ll have to operate quickly if we are going to save the babies!”,
   Organa’s response “Babies!”, then the droid “She’s carrying twins”, and now
   everybody has a concerned look on their face as Obi-Wan goes to the window to see
   Padme’s unconscious body laying on the medical table!
5. We now transition into the second scene of a semi-unconscious Anakin on his own
   medical table…with the suit already on! Anybody see the connection? The mask
   starts to come down. Removed silly facial expression by Anakin as this is
   happening. Mask locks into place along with the helmet. Vader breaths. This will
   be the very last time you see Anakin as Darth Vader!
6. Removed the birth of the twins, which of course removes the naming of the twins.
   Now when Episode 4 rolls around, we know where Luke has been taken but now we see
   him all grown-up. It also suggests that since Padme died in child birth by
   Anakin, yes died, it is Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru that name him Luke… not Padme!
   Of course, the same can be said for Leia. I mean isn’t it up to the adoptive
   parents of a newly born infant to name the child… not the biological parent who
   has either died or abandoned their child?! Makes sense to me. Leia refers to Bail
   as father in Episode 4 and her name is Leia Organa, not Leia Skywalker! Now it
   will be more of a mystery until the audience finds out the true relation between
   Luke and Leia in Episode 6, that her real last name is Skywalker!

** On a side note: Anybody still concerned that there is no birth of the twins. There is quite a common medical procedure, whether the pregnant patient is awake or unconscious! (Hint: it starts with the letter “C”)**

7. Cut part of the scene of what is commonly called the “Birth of Darth Vader!”.
8. Since the removal of the twins birth, we now transition from Vader’s first breath
   to the scene of Yoda, Organa, and Obi-wan discussing the twins fates.
9. Removed the whole extended talk about extra training.
10. Now transitions into the memory being wiped from C-3PO & R2-D2, then the funeral
    scene.
11. Since I cut the end part of “Birth of Darth Vader”, therefore, I have removed Darth Vader
    on-board the star destroyer with Sidious looking out at the Death Star. Now when
    Episode 4 rolls around and you see the iconic image of Darth Vader walking onto
    the deck of the ship searching for the plans to the Death Star, your reaction
    should be, “Oh shit, that is one bad mamma jamma!”.
12. After funeral scene, it now transitions into the respective fates of the twins.
13. End credits. In & out. No super long ending!

VERSION 3.2

New Fan-edit runtime: 97 Min.

Amount of time Cut/Added : CUT: 47 Min./ ADDED: 4 Min.

Additional cuts removed/added:

Cut: Removed the dialogue of Padme telling Anakin that she is pregnant.

Cut: Removed Grievous landing on Utapau. As in previous cuts, instead of it transitioning to Grievous talking to the Emperor, I have decided to include it later in the film. Now it transitions into Anakin’s nightmare all the while still getting rid of the god awful balcony scene which for reasons I have already stated above in my previous versions.

Add: Added in the Grievous landing on Utapau after the deleted scene in the Chancellor’s office.

Cut: Restructured how Anakin finds out that Palpatine is a Sith Lord.

Cut: Restructured the Mace/Palpatine duel

Add: Added Yoda’s exile to Dagobah as a post credits scene. The reason being is that I thought it was a nice compromise since I don’t have it in the actual edit per se, but to appease a few people that actually wanted to see it in the movie. A little inspiration of course goes out to the Marvel movies for having something at the very end.

Note: StankPacs not been active in the community for awhile so if you haven’t seen the edit PM me 😉

Star Wars - Episode III: Revenge of the Sith [Special Edition] Fanedit Link:
ifdb.fanedit.org/star-wars-episode-3-revenge-of-the-sith-special-edition/

Darth_Zounds said:

Can you please send me a link to this edit?

Sounds interesting!

EDIT:

Hmmm. I’m confused; why exactly did you remove the Birth of Darth Vader scene?

PM sent, also I didn’t make the edit, Stankpack does state hes removed Birth of Darth Vader scene in the change notes but what that means is he just cuts out the Frankenstein table Nooooo part of the scene, you now last see Anakin taking his first breath as Vader on the table.

Can i get a link too ?

Skybatman said:

Can i get a link too ?

PM sent

I’ve been looking for this. May I please get a link? Thank you so much!

ArtisDead said:

I’ve been looking for this. May I please get a link? Thank you so much!

PM Sent

stretch009 said:

Please send me a link. Thanks!

PM Sent

Due to this edit being over 10 years old now its only SD but having said that theres some charm in its lower video quality as it is the editing which makes the story shine through even without HD but it would still be nice to see this edit upscaled though. 😁

PMs sent

PMs sent