DominicCobb said:
The reason why L8’s structure works better than Hal’s is mostly because of flow. Hal’s structure is formless. I like what he was trying to do with downplaying Padme, but that element is the one thing that drives Anakin throughout the story and progresses the story logically from scene to scene. I too wish his fall had more to do with disagreeing with the Jedi order, but there’s just not enough to work with to make that happen believably. With L8’s there’s actually a building tension that makes Anakin’s eventual turn more natural.
In Hal’s the saving Padmé plot is used as the final blow to his fall to the dark side. Besides the original scene order does not involve Padmé that much (3 scenes, 4 if you include the Opera which stays in every edit). I think the perfect edit (to my taste) is somewhere in the between. I would keep a trimmed version of the balcony scene, and a trimmed version of the appartement scene (“i’m not the jedi i should be, i want more”, “i have found a way to save you”, etc.) without the night scene (I believe Anakin shouldn’t clearly say to Padmé he has premonitions of her death). The Sigmund Yoda scene should be completely removed, because I don’t buy that Yoda would leave Anakin in such a state and never help him. Both cuts are very good anyway. I think Hal’s v4 is the best, but L8’s v2 could be as good with a slightly different point of view (that being said, the Yoda vs Sidious scene should really be removed: even trimmed the scene is way too funny to fit in a tragic movie).
