I’m going to re-watch the episode again soon before I put the final clues of the puzzle together, but here are my short thoughts:

• The scene with Vader and Anakin and Obi-Wan and Leia made me ten years again and made me weep. I’m not going to lie. Thank you to Disney for a beautiful ending, although far from an overall beautiful presentation of Obi-Wan’s story.

• The music delivered some beautiful moments this episode, both original and new score.

• The Reeva stuff can either be removed or I have great ideas for how to re-structure it that I think will flow better (in short, the Reeva stuff only starts to unfold AFTER the Vader fight).

• Scenes that MUST be kept: All Obi-Wan and Leia scenes. All Of the duel with Vader. Luke, Owen and Obi-Wan. Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan.

So, here’s the only rub:

1. We can remove Reeva, let her faith be undecided with her laying on the ground, and sacrifice some of the “depth” to the Owen and ObI-Wan scene. Make it be more about “ObI-Wan sees Owen for what he is and that he, as his more or less father now, should decide the faith of the boy”. Major problem: probably continuity and canon.

2. We can keep Reeva, re-structure it as I suggested above, remove some cringe and let Reeva end her story as she does in the show. Major problem: fans generally dislike and/or were disinterested in her character, and it might put the enjoyment factor a little lower for most people.

However, as we continue to debate this - remember that in the edit and film, Reeva and The Inquisitor cringe and overall screen time is a lot less present and important to the overarching story, so the “Reeva overdose” most people are feeling might not present itself much of an issue when watching the toned-down film version of that character arc.

Those were my quick ramblings on the iPhone having JUST watched the episode. See you soon, lads and gals!

I’ll do some replies and fanediting later on tonight when today’s must-do’s are done and dusted.

I wasn’t going to release this before done since it’s rough, but since we came onto the topic and I promised to show it, well - there you go. Here it is. Definitely not finished and there are a bunch of mixes between self-made visual changes and existing footage + placement holders (the laser hitting the planet etc) but it shows you what I’m going for. Color grading is far from done as well + the planet destruction view from inside the Death Star is ugly.

https://streamable.com/3qbgh9

The laser hitting the planet is a placeholder, as I just added some Alderaan buildings to Rogue One Scarif footage for concept.

None of this might end up in the final edit, so we’ll see.

idir_hh said:

For the love of God can we get rid of that epilepsy inducing Storm trooper battle in the fifth episode.

Some of it are gone, mostly bits in which Stormtroopers blatantly misses the easiest shots in the world and a scene with Obi-Wan saving a woman (who now dies) WITHOUT using his saber and the troopers missing.

Interesting video. I actually did some alterations to the Alderaan scene already. I can show you guys when i get back home tomorrow morning. 😃

Thank you for your ideas and feedback, guys. Greatly appreciated. The edit has been shaped even further these last hours, and I’m now ready for episode 6 to hit us. The pace and overall tone of the film feels very true to Star Wars as of right now.

Also, some of you might be happy to hear I’ve spread some Star Wars fades around the film 😉

croissant_lion said:

leftshoe18 said:

Phase3 said:

Anjohan said:

Would people like to see the Anakin & Obi-Wan sparring sequence as a whole in the beginning of the film, as a memory when Obi-Wan is dreaming, before later showing up again in the way it is presented in EP 5 (apart from cuts and trims)?

The reason I ask is because introducing it as a happy memory, for instance BEFORE the bad memories/flashback nightmare sequence, could start the film with a kind of realization that those happy times are definitively over, and also have Anakin’s death (sort of) kind of looming even harder over the overall film. Not to mention it is impactful to have the seeds of Anakin’s arrogance re-planted before “EP 5 happens”.

The downside and the counter-arguement is of course that the viewer might feel less impacted by the flashback, and perhaps the film starts on one too many of them.

Share your views - I would be very interested to hear them.

I’d love to see the AOTC flashback portrayed as Obi-Wan’s dream in the beginning, instead of the re-used footage from the three prequel films. Flashbacks in the fifth episode (and I’d argue that flashbacks being used at all) are wholly unnecessary, and to me breaks the flow of the story.

Obi-Wan’s dream sequence seems to be an excuse to use more footage from the prequels (filler footage). It even shows Anakin in situations that Obi-Wan wasn’t even physically present for (namely young Anakin in the Naboo Starfighter).
You wouldn’t even need to use the entire AOTC flashback as a dream sequence, you’d need just enough footage to illustrate Anakin’s anger and need for victory.

I like this because it also presents it as Obi-Wan reflecting on his training of Anakin. Like he’s fixated on finding the flaws in his approach that led to his fall.

Those flashbacks are essential to the Jabiim section of the present day plot, for better and for worse (mostly for better). Delete those flashbacks and what are we left with on Jabiim - a very Made-for-Television Star Wars battle plus the Reva stuff. Those flashbacks add to Obi-Wan and Vader’s rivalry on Jabiim and create a much needed narrative anticipation/build-up to their present day showdown in Part 6.

Very, very true and fully agree. The flashbacks are not and will not be removed. They add depth, character and some sort of emotional resonance as a backdrop to the entire episode.

Today I rewatched Parts 3 & 5 back to back because I was skeptical about deleting Part 4 from the plot, but now I’ve seen it’s actually a significant improvement. Vader now appears relentless about hunting Obi-Wan since he doesn’t inexplicably disappear for almost an entire episode.

True. Although, in the edit he let’s Obi-Wan go as he does not want to defeat a version of Obi-Wan that is utterly broken. It still feels natural to the flow of the film tho, as Obi-Wan is finding himself whilst defending the people of Jabiim.

There’s a lot more desperation and tension in Obi-Wan’s speech about being unable to fight the Empire head-on, because we just saw his ass get kicked 15 minutes earlier. The anguish in Ewan’s performance when Tala dies is more palpable because he hasn’t had any victory since Mapuzo: it’s just been loss after loss for him. The Empire comes off as stronger and unstoppable as well without the fortress hijinks.

Interesting point, and true. Great reflection there.

Update

This showcase does NOT show the scores already settled on (like the ones linked to in the first post of this thread; Vader reveal, Anakin being put together piece by piece etc). Not all score alterations have been shown, as some I just utterly have made my mind up on and are not big or epic or utterly important in scale.

https://vimeo.com/manage/videos/721771812 (pw: fanedit)

Note that some of these scenes need (more) SFX replaced, as to not have scores bleed into one another. Some scenes are finished, and some are not. I do not want to continue work on the scoring before I’ve heard some opinions.

There are two scenes that will probably have their scores omitted - but i had to test them to see if they are liked; one is the scene with Tala dying (the “epic” Across the Stars part) and the other the last musical part of The Force Theme after the Anakin&Obi-Wan duel flashback.

Hello, Hal, my friend. I just wanted to tune in and say that your AOTC and ROTS edits are my go-to now that I started watching the prequels again (with my son). I wanted him to experience the films like they should be (removing cringeworthy, canon-breaking or insulting moments).

However, my one gripe - besides maybe keeping Padme alive because of all the issues it will most likely present in the future (although i personally like this approach) - is that your edits have their own names, omitting the original film titles. Although this isn’t an issue for me, I realized that it took some enjoyment out of my son’s overall impression of the edit - and although i didn’t ask him why (as I later started thinking about it) - I suspect it was because of his knowledge of the film’s titles and that that is how his friends refer to them. Simply put; it doesn’t create an issue, but it can be off-putting for the mind of the young.

So, in that regard, is this something you have ever thought about and if so, would it be an alternative for you to create a new crawl with the original title names so that editors like myself can re-render your edit and present it with the film’s original title?

I’d certainly appreciate it 😃

Sorry for missing your post the first time, Sirius:

Sirius said:

Anjohan, I have an idea about solving the problem of Reva putting the tracker in Lola, in the case of you cutting episode 4. It isn’t a perfect solution, but maybe it can work. You can switch the scenes of Vect Nokru with Leia in Daiyu by the scene of Reva interrogating her in Nur […]

Your idea is not a bad one at all. I actually edited together a beta version with something similiar, in which I took the scene where Reeva is holding Lola in her hands and Leia is sitting at the table opposite her as a scene between them after she is kidnapped in Ep 1. However, I realized two things;

1. The scene isn’t necessary as sometimes less is more
   and 2) someone made the great point that the tracker subplot is often used as a line in Star Wars, and that it needs no explanation

What I did do however, is keep the scene with Reeva finding the secret tunnel passage - so that the viewers can imply that this is how she managed to put a tracker on the ship, in secret.

croissant_lion said:

I’ll argue against the inclusion. If the entire sequence as a whole is shown at the beginning, then the Ep5 flashbacks feel mostly redundant because the viewer already saw that sequence in its totality. If the film already establishes that Obi-Wan and Anakin were friends and that Anakin is aggressive early on, why show it all over again but cut up?
[…] more in post up above […]

You make excellent points in your post. Your idea of showing a small tidbit of it in the opening and nothing less is quite good, and I think this will be the way I approach it.

revel911 said:

I think the best time to show is when Reva first says Anakin’s name in episode 2.

Also, can you make the stormtroopers less dumb from episode 5?

I think I will approach it the way croissant suggested (although the inclusion of the flashback in EP 2 cliffhanger is not a bad idea). Also, I keep the Anakin reveal ambigious in my edit - it is up to the audience to interpret if he knew he was alive or not.

Less dumb? But I just finished rotoscoping clown masks on the lot of them…

I have removed a few seconds of Stormtroopers missing like fifty shots in the hallway, and I kept one character that got shot and that Obi-Wan then later saves (WITHOUT using his saber !?!?!?!) in the bin - meaning I kept her dead and cut Obi-Wan saving her without his saber.

Tizzeres said:

Yes, I was thinking either what you suggested or everything being remade (different cast, new audio, etc). I think I would prefer to see what you had in mind. Hopefully one day there will be a second special edition as well as a theatrical edition, with no changes.

As a “Prequel Kid” who grew up with them (and I literally never watched Star Wars anymore before my son grew an interest) I would love to watch a Remake of the OT some time. But it will guranteed never happen - at least not without the blessing of George Lucas himself. What a way to piss on his work (although, they kinda already did with the Sequels).

Nevertheless, If i can make A New Hope feel like a modernized adventure for all viewers and lovers of the Prequel and OT trilogies, it will certainly fulfill me when I binge Prequels and OT chronologically.

Update:

Also, can we all just admire ArtIsDead (fanedit.org) for making this beautiful cover art for my edit:

vranir said:

I think early on would be good, especially as I expect that there will be no prequel recap at the start of your film.

Happy to hear your opinion. I will upload the Recap as seperate file in the Google Drive folder of the edit. This way people can show it to their friends/families before watching the edit, as a reminder.

Would people like to see the Anakin & Obi-Wan sparring sequence as a whole in the beginning of the film, as a memory when Obi-Wan is dreaming, before later showing up again in the way it is presented in EP 5 (apart from cuts and trims)?

The reason I ask is because introducing it as a happy memory, for instance BEFORE the bad memories/flashback nightmare sequence, could start the film with a kind of realization that those happy times are definitively over, and also have Anakin’s death (sort of) kind of looming even harder over the overall film. Not to mention it is impactful to have the seeds of Anakin’s arrogance re-planted before “EP 5 happens”.

The downside and the counter-arguement is of course that the viewer might feel less impacted by the flashback, and perhaps the film starts on one too many of them.

Share your views - I would be very interested to hear them.

Peonthegrate said:

Anjohan said:

Vader Returns - Piano Theme (the frontrunner for the scene as of right now)

https://streamable.com/vwhsix

Out of Curiosity, where did you find this Piano Theme? I like it very much and have been unable to find it online anywhere.

PM sent. Remember to ask the creator for permission if you wish to use it in your edit. You don’t legally have to as he has not copyrighted his work, but it sure would be good manners.

CMMAP said:

Anjohan said:

https://streamable.com/otm6f2 (something more with soul and first time we see Obi-Wan properly use his saber again; feel-good)

https://streamable.com/vsc492 (emotional AOTC connection -> upbeat feeling -> darkness takes over, shots will be deepfaked before release)

I think you did all the right choices here. The battle with this music feels like star wars 😃

Happy to hear that. I will soon do a showcase of the all the rescores made for the film. The goal is to slowly build the perfect mix of original and past soundtrack, before going more OT score near the end of the film - to give the story a progress of a developing, musical continuity from the Prequels to the OT.

szopman said:

Just out of curiosity, are you going to leave that cool cameo of Temuera Morrison in your movie edit? 😉

Oh yes. It’s in there. It’s a beautiful scene.

https://streamable.com/otm6f2 (something more with soul and first time we see Obi-Wan properly use his saber again; feel-good)

https://streamable.com/vsc492 (emotional AOTC connection -> upbeat feeling -> darkness takes over, shots will be deepfaked before release)

Phase3 said:

Anjohan said:

And of course things can be edited around, but I find Obi-Wan to be a more interesting character with all this baggage (regardless of copy-paste Luke TLJ storyline and some trimmed moments from ep 1 with Organa) than someone who goes straight back to Badass after meeting Vader and two minutes in a bacta tank. In fact, even though he starts out as TLJ Luke, his character arc is way more fitting to the losses he has endured and his growth in the series far more rewarding than TLJ Luke ever came near to. And with that in mind, diminishing the importance of a redemption arc done well because of the failures of another film should NOT make Obi-Wan - as it’s own thing - sacrifice a working series component because of the mirrored arc with a character arc that did absolutely and utterly NOT work. And I’d debate anyone that I’d rather watch episode 4 WITH the cringe ten times unpaid than watching The Last Jedi or The Rise of Skywalker one time with payment.

I 100% agree; maintaining the emotional component of Obi-Wan’s character arc in this series is vital to the show. He is much more of an interesting character that the audience can get emotionally invested in, knowing that he has gone through trauma and is now regaining his composure and focus in life.

Exactly. Removing the depressive nature of his trauma because it makes your favourite character “depressive”, is - imho - totally missing the point, as there can often be no trauma without anxiety and depression. That being said, trimming down what might feel like out-of-character lines or behaviour is understandable.

Vladius said:

jrs81 said:

For me, I hate that Obi Wan was that far gone to begin with. Buried his lightsabers to avoid detection, and a bit rusty, but that shot of him barely able to move that tool on on the ship was too much. My edit doesn’t make him quite as pathetic. Facing full powered Vader when you are rusty would be frightening under any circumstance. In my mind he doesn’t need too much to bring him back.

Agree with Revel, never want to see episode 4 again other than bacta scene and Leia taking his hand.

100% agree. Even if you think episode 4 is necessary for the “arc” of getting back to how he was, it still doesn’t do a good job of that and makes it seem really rushed. Better to just leave the idea out. There are reasons why he wouldn’t be prepared to face Vader anyway because of guilt and fear.

Not an abundance in the series is warranted as doing a “good job”, so we have to work with what we got. I do see your point and It’s totally fair that you disliked Episode 4. Episode 4 is and will not be a part of the timeline of this edit for pacing reasons now having done new edits, unless as a seperate “Extended Cut” upon (or after) release.

IlFanEditore said:

There are already some attempts at de-aging Anakin: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BhPmdlUuwOI

Yes, thank you. There are quite a lot on the web right now. I’ll probably stick with whatever best incarnation we get, unless the GOAT himself (you all know who) does a deepfake before the edit’s release.

headtaker18 said:

Anjohan said:

Axios said:

Anjohan said:

• Reeva attempting to kill Vader will be the thing to interrupt him from grabbing the second ship, so there are no inconsistencies to his actions to leave Vader looking silly or with a drained stamina bar.

That is a great idea! the perfect fix. kinda stunned that I didnt think of that lol. Im really afraid that the end will be sequel bait, and im even more afraid that Reva will be getting her own show…

Cheers.

Oh my, don’t traumatize me.

[…]
If its not i can only hope its nothing lore breaking like her kidnaping Luke or something dumb like that.

Or Leia kidnapping Reeva as the ultimate twist of the century.

Axios said:

Anjohan said:

• Reeva attempting to kill Vader will be the thing to interrupt him from grabbing the second ship, so there are no inconsistencies to his actions to leave Vader looking silly or with a drained stamina bar.

That is a great idea! the perfect fix. kinda stunned that I didnt think of that lol. Im really afraid that the end will be sequel bait, and im even more afraid that Reva will be getting her own show…

Cheers.

Oh my, don’t traumatize me.

Strong opinions.

And of course things can be edited around, but I find Obi-Wan to be a more interesting character with all this baggage (regardless of copy-paste Luke TLJ storyline and some trimmed moments from ep 1 with Organa) than someone who goes straight back to Badass after meeting Vader and two minutes in a bacta tank. In fact, even though he starts out as TLJ Luke, his character arc is way more fitting to the losses he has endured and his growth in the series far more rewarding than TLJ Luke ever came near to. And with that in mind, diminishing the importance of a redemption arc done well because of the failures of another film should NOT make Obi-Wan - as it’s own thing - sacrifice a working series component because of the mirrored arc with a character arc that did absolutely and utterly NOT work. And I’d debate anyone that I’d rather watch episode 4 WITH the cringe ten times unpaid than watching The Last Jedi or The Rise of Skywalker one time with payment.

Either way, this debate was good to have. The episode has its meaning beyond just filler imo and that was a point that had to be made. I have no idea if the episode will have its place when the edit is said and done as the current main timeline is only up to ep 3 until further editing commences (my flu fkn calms down) and a separate cut was made up to ep 4 with good, fatty trims (which hell, might become a separate cut for ep 4 admirers) so who knows.

The main priorities now is to make the ep 5 content bridge well in tone and pace of the rest of the project, and improve the series’s score. I don’t think I’ve heard a good soundtrack since the ten seconds of the Ep 3 planet introduction, and what I thought would be one of the easiest fanedis I’ve done in years is actually turning out to be another beast entirely because of this and the rollercoaster of good and bad storylines and the execution therein.

revel911 said:

Remember, original Star Wars was only 2 hours, so no ep 4 and 6 would still make plenty of a movie.

Sure, but there are certain problems with omitting Episode 4.

1. Obi-Wan goes from being bad and unfocused with the force, bad with the saber and a shadow of his former self, to (skip ep 4) suddenly doing all very well again - using both the force and his saber with ease in Ep 5. This creates no pay off to his broken character arc that he starts out with, and the pay off is therefore little to none.
2. Tala becomes a rather short appearance of a character, and her death - for a “movie goer” not having watched the series - will probably be very underwhelming and emotionless. Ep 4 is where we really see her shine, and she has great chemistry with both Leia and Obi-Wan.
3. We are losing the arguably coolest location and CGI of the series thus far (with decent competition from ep2) imo.
4. And again, just have to state this, Obi-Wan’s character growth loses a lot of meat.

Episode 4 is actually a pay off to Obi-Wan’s entire character arc, as it is the episode where he overcomes his fear, shock and doubts to save something more important than himself - and therefore, also overcome his fear of what Anakin has become because of his new meaning and purpose.

Brilliant resources, Sirius. Thank you. 😉

If episode 6 is as dull and anti-climactic as I’m starting to fear, episode 5 might be a fitting (although underwhelming) ending.

If episode 6 only contain about ten-twenty minutes of worthy content, there might be room for episode 4 in the edit after all.

As stated earlier, with a trimmed episode 4, the edit runs at a 1 hour and 50 minutes. I expect 20 minutes from episode 5, and 20-25 from episode 6. That would run well with a 2 and a half hour cut.

However! I would have to review it with all the pieces out together, and feel the pace of the whole thing. As of right now, episode 1 and 4 are the two most visually stunning episodes, and episode 3 and 4 the two episodes with the most character growth. Character growth (which is the emotion component) together with the pacing (which is the driving component) and how well those two complement each other will be the deciding factor for how this edit develops after episode 3, and definitely how the ending of the film finds itself resolved.

What if we voice dub Alec Guinness in that scene and make him completely and utterly verbally outclass Vader instead of the “Vader” line and “the duel”?

Something like:

“Hey, Anakin. I see your helmet is keeping your burned face from scaring away the imperial women”.

And then Vader goes straight for the kill, as Obi-Wan gives Luke a comfortable blink with the eye, before accepting his fate like a champ? All while Battle of the Heroes is roaring in the surround channels.

Tizzeres said:

This project looks great. Hypothetical question - would you ever want a modern remake of these films, or instead a second special edition that includes all the new visual effects technologies?

Thank you.

In my book those two kinda go hand-in-hand. You could argue re-doing the special effects would be modernizing the film.

If to choose, a second special edition followed by my regrade and touch-up would be my preferable version. Reason is that re-doing the VFX would make them beautiful and modern, but next to the old audio compression and shifting color schemes and picture detail it would feel very off.

jrs81 said:

If Reeva isn’t in episode 6, her “waking up” to the communicator and Bail message may work as an after credits scene to preserve her character for those who wish to enjoy the 2nd season or Reeva show.

Interesting idea. Could definitely see doing that.

revel911 said:

headtaker18 said:

Anjohan said:

Great points made by everyone. Been thinking about the changes I will need to make. Sitting her with a fever and the flu I suspect is corona again, I can’t bother to sit down and edit right now, but:

Things I will change:

• Reeva attempting to kill Vader will be the thing to interrupt him from grabbing the second ship, so there are no inconsistencies to his actions to leave Vader looking silly or with a drained stamina bar.

• Episode 4 might have to be included (as I struggle to find a believable way to have the ship be tracked) without episode 4. Episode 4 also builds heavily upon Tala’s character (which they killed too early you ask me).

• Reeva won’t get back up and crawl to the holo-communicator-thingy, we’ll leave her wounded, with the camera panning down to it. The rest can happen off-screen (for what I suspect to be the season 2 change rumored that Disney has done).

• Leia “The Engineer” reaching the wires and then fixing it will happen without a five minute gap. It looks like she’s struggling to move away wires for way too long.

• Removing some of the prolonged shots in which Stormtroopers have way too much time on their hands to actually kill civilians but just… don’t.

And probably more.

Love everything about this, I’ve felt the show to be average at best, although I have enjoyed it for the most part, but I know there are a lot shots and pieces of dialog that if taken out could really elevate the show

I am praying it lands well, because easily a C show that can turn into an A movie.

Agreed. I think when the worst is out, and excusing some bad CGI, it will go well side-by-side with the prequels and rogue one.

Well-made points. I’m going to edit accordingly to them as I commence further editing.

Any music suggestions are also welcome. The scene with Vader , the ship and then Reeva needs music. Tala’s death as well.

Battle of the heroes, duel of the fates are off the table mesa thinks.

revel911 said:

Anjohan said:

• Episode 4 might have to be included (as I struggle to find a believable way to have the ship be tracked) without episode 4. Episode 4 also builds heavily upon Tala’s character (which they killed too early you ask me).

Why? A tracking device actually makes Vader letting Obiwan go even more likely.

I wonder if it’s easy to have it have Obi escape from Vader and remove the fire scene to only be tracked?

I am so excited to see better music in the movie version. The music is just so generic and that has surprised me (in a bad way.)

It does, but Lola being the tracker makes no sense in that case. And although we could remove Lola from EP 5, there is no way for the audience to understand how they tracked them, because:

A) No one talks about the tracker in ep5 (at least not without Reeva)
B) How did Reeva get the tracker on the ship? It could be implied that she did it when she follows Leia and Tala in the cave system in ep 3, but that also makes little to no sense
C) The hangar roof doors not opening plot line would have to be cut, which would reduce a lot of time, pace and plot
D) Tala’s screen time would be reduced to a mere 10 minutes, and her death would feel empty at best

• and yes, the series is being rescored way more than I thought and would like, but there you go.

Great points made by everyone. Been thinking about the changes I will need to make. Sitting her with a fever and the flu I suspect is corona again, I can’t bother to sit down and edit right now, but:

Things I will change:

• Reeva attempting to kill Vader will be the thing to interrupt him from grabbing the second ship, so there are no inconsistencies to his actions to leave Vader looking silly or with a drained stamina bar.

• Episode 4 might have to be included (as I struggle to find a believable way to have the ship be tracked) without episode 4. Episode 4 also builds heavily upon Tala’s character (which they killed too early you ask me).

• Reeva won’t get back up and crawl to the holo-communicator-thingy, we’ll leave her wounded, with the camera panning down to it. The rest can happen off-screen (for what I suspect to be the season 2 change rumored that Disney has done).

• Leia “The Engineer” reaching the wires and then fixing it will happen without a five minute gap. It looks like she’s struggling to move away wires for way too long.

• Removing some of the prolonged shots in which Stormtroopers have way too much time on their hands to actually kill civilians but just… don’t.

And probably more.