AspiringCreator

So it’s been a few days since I finished watching this and I figured I’d give my thoughts.

Overall? I think this is my favorite version of TROS which is saying a lot given I’ve had to rewatch this movie a LOT thanks to multiple fan-edits. I think in particular this is the first edit to really lean into what I’ve always kind of felt about the film. To me, TROS is not a bad film but a very frustrating one which needed tweaks and changes and this version makes those changes, including ones that I honestly did not think were possible such as cutting the kiss and considering what I heard from the commentary which did help to sort of set a baseline for what to expect? There are major kudos to be given. In particular, the effort that was put in with the use of sentence splicing and so on with VERY limited AI use only when it’s absolutely necessary needs to be commended since no joke, there are so many lines where I absolutely cannot tell that they were altered in any way with only a real handful of exceptions.

Really, my only criticisms are that some of Threepio’s lines can sound a bit off paired with some of his regular film dialogue and in particular there are moments where the Knights of Ren dialogue are… not really obnoxiously loud but kind of sound like the audio levels could be tweaked a tad because the impression I get is that one of them is damn near eating whatever audio set-up is in the helmet but that’s such a small issue and it’s so easily ignored by me.

sherlockpotter said:

Hello, all! Welcome to what, by all accounts should be our last 2/22 update! (That actually makes me a little sad.)

The most exciting news is that I finally sat down and watched the entire edit start to finish - which, yes, was my first time doing so since the project began. And I have to say… I think it’s better than I ever would have predicted when I started all those years ago, let alone when I first saw the film in theatres. I think it really came together well!

However, true to form, I did make a list of some spots where I noticed things were a tad off - adjusting a color tint here, tweaking some EQ there, etc. I know I said last time that it would be around a month, but we’ve come this far; I want it to be as close to perfect as possible!

In addition, I’m building out those special features I promised. There’s so much I wanted to include in the commentary track, it’s been a bit of a bear editing it all down to time…

All that being said, I can’t keep delaying forever. It’s not fair to you, and it’s certainly not psychologically healthy for me. And so, I am going to announce a hard deadline of: May the Fourth. This is the first time I’m committing to an actual release date. Might even be earlier than that; but short of computer failure, I promise it won’t be later. Just a few more weeks!

Thank you as always for your patience and support. I can’t wait to share it with all of you!

The commentary track I’m looking forward to the most in terms of special features. Just getting to have a peek into the thought process behind each change, talk about the original movie and of course the sequels in general. I’ve found it so fascinating listening to Hal 9000’s commentary on his edits so this will be a treat. I also say take as much time as you need to refine it to the best it can be. The people who made the original movie unfortunately didn’t have that luxury so the time is a huge benefit. That being said? May 4th will be a great date for this and I’m excited to see the final product.

Very nicely done. It has the feel of a line that was ADRed in which considering how common the practice is for TONS of movies, it feels very natural and also the word choices, inflections and such feel like something that properly came from Luke.

To be fair, most edits I’ve seen tend to be variants of Ascendant to begin with but that’s interesting to hear and totally understandable.

Also very much agreed on Duel of the Fates as it is. Regardless, still very much looking forward to this, just so many cool ideas are present here.

Dagenspear said:

AspiringCreator said:

Well truthfully, it has nothing to do with that aspect but what JJ was conveying to Mark Hamill is that for the sequel trilogy, the focus isn’t really on the main trio anymore. Mark Hamill has consistently been on this thing of lamenting that he never got a chance to be with Harrison, Carrie and Billy Dee again which is fine but what one comes to understand is that a story is not going to always cater to your personal desires but rather what a storyteller is looking to do.

But I don’t think that has to account for them not having any scenes together. The issue, I’d argue, is that I think there is no strong story or character reasoning for Luke to not be in the movie and to not have any scenes with Leia and Han.

Except there is. He’s on a planet after having mysteriously vanished and all anyone knows is that he’s likely gone to the first Jedi Temple. That’s the whole nature of the story so we can’t really have these guys together.

Dagenspear said:

AspiringCreator said:

When it comes to the original trio not being together for one moment? It sucks but sometimes that happens in storytelling. JJ was honestly right to tell Mark that. It’s not Luke’s story anymore, this is not about the original characters

What does having the original trio together have to do with it not being Luke’s story?

Well truthfully, it has nothing to do with that aspect but what JJ was conveying to Mark Hamill is that for the sequel trilogy, the focus isn’t really on the main trio anymore. Mark Hamill has consistently been on this thing of lamenting that he never got a chance to be with Harrison, Carrie and Billy Dee again which is fine but what one comes to understand is that a story is not going to always cater to your personal desires but rather what a storyteller is looking to do.

First and foremost, I need every creative, executive and shareholder to understand a secret that George Lucas and many others learned many years ago.

You will NEVER please everybody. That is a fantasy and actively trying to pursue that only results in worse material because you are always limiting yourself and what you’re doing. You are going to make some media that not everybody is going to vibe with and that’s okay because that’s the nature of franchises. What you’re aiming for is to have a steady influx of people coming in to replace the ones who have left and those people coming in will be surrounded by those who choose to stick around. Are some of those people going to be angry with your choices? Of course they are but let them be angry. As for those… less than savory parties? They’re not a part of the fandom, they are not people to be placated and their money is not valuable. Keeping those guys out is a GOOD thing and as for those who just aren’t able to go with the direction being taken? That’s fine. Let them leave, let them find their fun elsewhere, there’s no shame in letting a franchise go and accepting you can’t keep with it anymore and also, you’re not being dealt a heavy blow because they leave.

Also, don’t reboot or ignore the content that upsets people. I personally HATE when people suggest reboots and such as this ultimate fix because it’s such a waste. To paraphrase Yoda’s message, the greatest teacher IS failure because you know what failure does? It gives us the moment to reflect, to see where we’ve gone wrong and how we can pick the pieces up and keep going, stronger than ever. You know why the prequels in part have a strong following? It’s because Lucas didn’t just pack his bags and go away after the reaction. He stuck to his guns, hell to the man’s own credit, he seemed to keep in mind that one bit of when he screened TPM and noted he might’ve gone too far in a few places. The guy would be the first to tell you he’s not the strongest director or writer but he also is someone who will go to bat for his ideas. It genuinely pisses me off to no end when I see people write off the sequels, basically doing what we all did to the prequels back then just because they don’t like the movies and it just comes off as so reductive to me. I don’t want Star Wars to be an endless regurgitation of the same eras over and over again, I want NEW. I want to see new characters, new adventures, new ideas. I want to see the sequel characters get their time in the sun for those who still do love them, especially knowing they have an audience and in part, this leads me to the most extreme take.

Look past the OT and accept that NOTHING is going to compare to those.

The OT is a classic, everyone knows this. The original Star Wars helped to jumpstart what we’d come to know as the modern blockbuster, it started a global phenomenon and its following sequels have been elevated to legend status. The thing is though? They will never be touched because to be blunt, no film or show is ever gonna beat your core childhood memories. Nothing is ever gonna make you suddenly feel like you’re 8-years old again watching Star Wars for the first time with every time you might feel it has happened only ever being a close approximation. I’d say the real secret to a property continuing long after it was once thought to be done is when one accepts that you will never 100% match those originals and instead, you focus on doing the best you can for the material you’re working on currently because if you do that in earnest? Someone’s going to get it and enjoy it. The secret especially when it comes to Star Wars is that EVERY new entry of it has been accused of ruining the franchise at least once and this is despite the fact this thing survived the Holiday Special and many other fumbles. That’s something to keep in mind or when you don’t pay attention to the groaning, there are people who will still cheer for the series or hell, there are plenty of shows that have found an audience. I’m so upset for those who liked The Acolyte because despite its problems, that show was doing some interesting stuff and it could’ve been improved upon in a second season but nope. It was apparently too expensive and Disney’s not really looking to do more with streaming so into the bin it goes and I don’t celebrate that. I mean imagine if that happened with TCW. We get the movie, one season but because of the reaction and other aspects, it gets canned and thus none of the good it did exists.

EddieDean said:

I chopped the first episode out to use in my episodic edit, and ultimately merged it with some elements from the two episodes released in season three which tied back into the Christophsis plotline. I discarded the rest of the movie though. I know Smudger did something similar for his original movie, I think running from Christophsis into the 501st arc.

He did, basically having the whole focus be on the army rather than the Jabba plot which in terms of edit stuff was a smart move.

I’m more asking in the sense of has anybody ever considered just doing a fanedit where they take the movie and split it back up into the four episodes it was intended as, especially considering it’s clear where these episodes would’ve ended and maybe with a dabble of newly recorded opening crawl narration and newly constructed morals? You’d basically have a version of these episodes where for those looking to do the pure TCW run, they could watch these finally as the TV episodes they were meant to be and not them stapled together to try and force a movie out of it.

That’s a very interesting question and one that I’ve definitely juggled in my head.

I think overall though? I much prefer the Sequel Trilogy over the Prequels and this is gonna take some time to explain. To start with the baseline though? I don’t like TPM, can’t stand to sit through AOTC and only kind of like ROTS. Meanwhile, I love TFA, really enjoy TLJ and TROS I only start disliking when I think about it as being this climax to a nine-film saga though it didn’t start like this. Way back in the day, I loved the prequels, I was happy to get more Star Wars, remember fondly going to see ROTS in theaters when it came out. playing Battlefront I and II and loving playing as the Clones and so much more. Then at some point, I made it a tradition to rewatch all the movies in May and I’d always insist on chronological order and that’s where I started seeing the problems and as I’ve rewatched them time and time again? The problems keep making themselves more known. You know how people will say TCW essentially fixes the prequels? As a lover of that series, I can safely that series makes me even more frustrated with them. Now to be clear, I don’t hate any of these movies, I think these days I can’t bring myself to hate anything Star Wars and I have to say, I do appreciate these in a way as being George Lucas being completely unfiltered and able to just make the movies he wants to make, especially in these current times where one becomes so familiar with hearing how executives and shareholders keep getting in the way of the creatives. Also, as everybody has said about the prequels, the basic ideas and concepts presented here are great. The idea of exploring the Clone Wars and seeing Anakin and Obi-Wan’s friendship before it crumbles is cool. I also do appreciate in retrospect the idea of presenting a bit of a slowburn where we see Palpatine manipulating a war to weasel his way into power since that’s genuinely interesting, the idea of having each villain kind of in a way being an aspect of Darth Vader with Grievous being the culmination is fantastic.

That being said, oh my lord do I not enjoy watching them and I think it’s from watching fanedits like Hal9000’s takes that I really have zeroed in on what it is I don’t like.

The prequels are an exercise in excess and bloat. Star Wars traditionally runs about 2 hours and yet the originals and the new films never feel like they go on for that long. The prequels however you feel EVERY minute that passes. TPM and AOTC hit points for me where I catch myself nearly dozing off during some scenes it can be that hard to sit through. So many scenes feel like they’re just there and in part, it’s because unfortunately for all the guff people give the sequels for not being planned? The prequels kind of went through the same deal. The Droid Factory scene was famously just thrown in because George thought it up on a car ride, Anakin’s fall in Episode III feels very shaky because clearly Lucas didn’t want to commit to really showing Anakin as the dark bad guy and really wanted to show that he could still turn back, the whole Sifo-Dyas thing being because of a typo when the original “Sido-Dyas” idea was genuinely much simpler and much better and you feel it as you watch it. In a lot of ways, the prequels feel kind of scattered in the focus and then you have just so much dialogue that is completely unnecessary while bits that should be present are removed such as for instance, the subplot in ROTS that’s supposed to show basically the beginnings of the Rebel Alliance which was cut and thus left Padmé with ZERO purpose in ROTS other than to give birth to Luke and Leia and die. Moving back to the dialogue, George has always said Star Wars is for 8-year olds and while I won’t deny that it has always been for kids? At times, it feels like the movies assume the kids watching are incredibly dumb and thus they need to restate many points or throw in lines and moments that just serve to pad out the movies or they’re completely baffling decisions like the very off-putting romance in AOTC which has Anakin admit to Padmé that he slaughtered innocent Tuskens but she’s seemingly not perturbed by that because the movies need us to feel bad for Anakin. Then there’s the VERY wooden acting and at points very sterile direction which results in these movies being very difficult to get invested in beyond when the funny meme lines show up and considering I can easily bring them up on YouTube along with the few bits I like? They lose all purpose. I just can’t with the prequels. I have tried many times but I really cannot.

As for the sequels? I think already we need to start with the rundown of the problems and other points. Yes, these things should’ve been planned out better. TROS should’ve been delayed, they should’ve dropped the May date as soon as possible, yes they should’ve done more to set up the state of the galaxy, there’s a lot of points to make about these films. However, nothing will change just how worried I was going into TFA, expecting I’d likely hate it… and then promptly going back to see it six more times afterward I loved it that much. These movies felt like life was just being injected back into my veins. TFA has ACTUAL emotion running the show with its actors. I got to hear performances with real life and character again, the writing at times wasn’t always the best but it felt more Star Wars but with some modernization with the bits it could be hokey being more in line with what I’d expect out of this franchise. The action was more intense and fun, finally gone was the overchoreographed light shows with flips and spins that at many points felt like they existed to waste time, we had fights where emotion and motivation was at the forefront. The mix of practical and CG was much better, using CG for elements that are absolutely necessary and reflect how far we’ve come since the days of the OT when we were fairly limited on what we could do because of the need to always have practical sets but at the same time, it’s not just abusing it because it can and really, it did its job well as a comfort film, a way of showing people Star Wars was in good hands and that we could get classic-feeling Star Wars again before getting something a bit more gritty in Rogue One and then TLJ.

And I’ll say it, I love TLJ. That love is tempered now after rewatches because I can see where them having to work toward a May date before delaying to December was a problem and where the movie could be tightened up in areas but I LOVE this movie. I’m glad it subverted expectations and went off in a bold direction, mostly because I liked the direction it was going. To me, Star Wars does not exist to be preserved in amber. If I want to relive my memories? I can rewatch the OT or play a video game or whatever. I want Star Wars to do new things. Part of why I could not get into the EU was that a lot of it felt like Star Wars by way of fanfic writers who cling too tightly to the OT. I was not wanting to see Legends Luke Skywalker. Granted, I also wasn’t expecting the Luke we got but I really grew invested in this take. I loved seeing this broken Luke who cut himself off from the Force, especially since really, there was no way to continue from where TFA left off in any other manner beyond something totally ridiculous like I guess he’s on permanent planet arrest but is free to be visited or he’s just a coward which the movie takes great pains to show he isn’t and really dig into why he’s there. The bit between him and Ben that people keep citing is chilling, hearkening back to the OT and how Luke was in some of his darkest moments there and also what we see of just his family line in general. It’s a movie that deconstructs Star Wars… but it also reconstructs it and does so in a manner that I think is thoughtful and at the very least, even if someone doesn’t like the movie? It’s refreshing to get a film that does challenge the audience as much as it does and it leaves the door open for genuinely intelligent spirited discussion which… we tragically didn’t get but still. Really, I stand by that it left us open for a very cool Episode IX if it followed up on the themes and ideas of TLJ and committed to them.

Then unfortunately, Carrie Fisher passed away, Iger seemingly was not about to delay IX anymore after Trevorrow really struggled following Fisher’s passing and with Kennedy’s recent comments in mind? We can also assume investors got concerned after the reaction to TLJ so we got TROS, a VERY frustrating movie. Now I did not say bad because truth be told? It’s not that bad. TROS is a thrill ride that I have fun with. It has plenty of elements of the previous sequels that I like and many bits I still enjoy and can quote. The problem is all down to the story decisions and how they basically tried to do the impossible task of pleasing everybody but ended up pleasing no one. I saw someone once put it that it’s like TLJ told the story of what followed TFA only for JJ to go “Okay, but I’d ALSO like to tell that story.” and the result is a mess. It’s the only one of these movies I can say feels like FANFICTION and even though I personally will say the Legends take on this idea was worse? It pains me to say that. But in some respect? I’ve gotta give it to TROS because not only is there plenty that I enjoy from it but also it was the movie that got me thinking about how NONE of the trilogy enders have exactly been fantastic. ROTJ is a damn fine movie… but once you think about how Lucas intended initially for there to be nine movies and this became the finale because of the reaction to ESB and him not wanting to be stuck making Star Wars for so long? The cracks show in how the movie rushes to the finish, clumsily recycles bits of ANH and throws in plotpoints that are unnecessary like Leia being Luke’s sister which unlike the twist in ESB which worked so well off what was in ANH it shocks people when they learn that it wasn’t planned initially, it DOES feel forced and like Lucas just hastily wanted to pay off the “There is another.” line when he could’ve just made Leia strong in the Force. ROTS was the first of the prequels to have some merit to it but honestly? I think it kind of tricks people. The opening scene is fantastic, the ending basically sets all the pieces in place for ANH and reminds you of the Star Wars you like… but everything else is still the nonsense I don’t care for from these movies so to have TROS still not stick the landing that well? Honestly, it makes me kind of chuckle.

I overall will gladly rewatch the sequels so many times over compared to the prequels. This is not me being contrarian or joking. I honestly derive FAR more enjoyment from the sequels. I love two films and like the third meanwhile I can’t say the same for the prequels.

I do hear a little bit of that. Mainly I think it’s that you can hear the little bit of the shield activating and coupled with it going so quickly into the scene with Nute Gunray and Rune Haako (The dude that boasts about the Destroyer Droids) that it’s a little fast. I’d say it’s one of those edits where if you’re in a perfectly normal viewing environment, it won’t be too noticeable but if you’re tuned to edits and analyzing these tiny details, it’s especially noticeable.

When it comes to the original trio not being together for one moment? It sucks but sometimes that happens in storytelling. JJ was honestly right to tell Mark that. It’s not Luke’s story anymore, this is not about the original characters, this is about the new cast and passing the torch to those characters and sometimes when it comes to writing, as much as you may want certain moments and elements? If the story is not designed for it then you shouldn’t force it and really it’s not a sin if you do that because ultimately what matters is the story you’re trying to tell and how you can manage that in the best way possible and bear in mind, Mark has always talked about the various times he has had ideas or thoughts for Star Wars that they didn’t go with. He initially presented the idea of Luke’s darker take in ROTJ as being him with a tattoo and a crazy haircut and George turned that idea down. He initially wanted to do Heir to the Empire and that whole story which of course didn’t happen. Actors will always have ideas for where the story could be taken and if a director goes with it? Great but as even Mark noted, really the actor’s job is to work with the director and writer to bring their vision to life. They can have fundamental disagreements with the ideas, where it’s going but ultimately they have to do it because it’s the job. Also one needs to keep in mind, this is in a casual roundtable setting, I’m sure JJ had a more in-depth conversation with Mark about this and this was a quick response to a fairly quick question.

If you don’t mind me throwing in my two cents? I really like how the scene is edited to remove the Force Speed stuff. It’s a little awkward at first if you know what was cut but with the footage, you can follow the throughline. Obi-Wan calls out to his master about the Destroyer Droids, Qui-Gon pulls away and looks like he’s getting ready to vacate the area, then you see the droids roll up. The implication is definitely that these things are not to be trifled with and also there’s an aspect where perhaps Qui-Gon quickly noted that trying to get to Gunray while leaving Obi-Wan to deal with these things on his own is a bad idea and then later we do see their shields in action, meaning we have further reasoning for why they escaped. I think what sort of leads to it feeling a little weird might be how quickly it goes to the “They are no match for Droidekas.” line which is one of those things that can’t be helped. I did think maybe there would be a way to just have the shields come up before as a quick moment that establishes more of why they escaped but then they start blasting SO soon after the shields come up that basically that’s an impossibility.

A question I’ve always kind of had is if anyone ever has considered doing a fanedit that splits the movie back up into the four episodes it was planned to be, especially since the movie itself never quite shakes the feeling that it is four episodes stuck together. There was one someone did a LONG while back but apparently that’s been lost and even if it was found, it would be fairly outdated anyway.

This sounds unbelievably cool. In particular, I really like how extensive this sounds and how it’s almost like you’re taking influence from a mix of existing edits as well as the Duel of the Fates draft. Consider me VERY interested and excited.

I’m here again, I’d like to ask if anybody has a_mosmeyer’s “The Siege of Mandalore Theatrical Extended Edition” fanedit.

Quick update, redownloaded it and there’s no issues. The miracles of technology. I initially did it via the torrent considering I figured with the dates it would be the most recent update whereas this I just directly downloaded.

Hal 9000 said:

Just generated a checksum for the file, just the .mkv file itself.

It’s: 7c18fc3f1438897239133849ab4b9fcd70e3127d5d9bf6922b26f03c623b429a

They seem to match. I’m gonna guess something just borked itself in the process. I’m gonna try redownloading and see if that helps.

Hal 9000 said:

Cannot confirm on my end, all appears fine. Which do you have, the large 1080p, small 1080p, or tinyencode?

The large 1080p.

Just wanted to note this and see if maybe somebody else is having this problem or it’s just a borked file but at around 00:02:47 of the most recent version? There’s a bit where the frame just sort of stops and the music hitches before continuing as normal. Anybody else have that as an issue on their copies or is it just me?

Would it be possible to spare a link to this edit? I absolutely love the ideas presented here.

Jar Jar Bricks said:

AspiringCreator said:

Sees talk of a V5 I will never be done rewatching TROS apparently. Real talk though, I’ve experienced V4 and overall? This is a marked improvement over V3, in particular, the AI lines. Some are still wonky here and there and definitely with headphones I can hear the shift but it is significantly more seamless. In particular, the Poe lines I criticized before now straight-up just sound like alternate takes they are that scarily good.

In my opinion the only way you notice them is under both of the following conditions:

1. You know exactly what has been changed.
2. You’re watching with headphones on.

I’d say that’s pretty darn good, all things considered. I’ve seen stuff on Disney+ with significantly worse ADR - namely Secret Invasion.

Exactly and to me, that’s the perfect circumstances. When the change I know is there but it’s so seamless that I know if I played the clip for someone on a TV and they had no idea it was a fan-edit and thus I could fool them into thinking it’s an alternate take? It’s been done right.

Sees talk of a V5 I will never be done rewatching TROS apparently. Real talk though, I’ve experienced V4 and overall? This is a marked improvement over V3, in particular, the AI lines. Some are still wonky here and there and definitely with headphones I can hear the shift but it is significantly more seamless. In particular, the Poe lines I criticized before now straight-up just sound like alternate takes they are that scarily good.

2 and 3 work really nicely. There’s still some of that jank but now it’s way less jarring. Like in this case, now it sounds no different from how some films will have those one or two lines that sound off compared to every other piece of dialogue. Easily ignorable for the sake of enjoying the film and most importantly, it sounds a lot more like Poe in the movie and not jarringly clear lines like they were before.

Hal 9000 said:

The Snoke vat is too silly to keep.

Why is he continuing to make Snokes? Why make more than one to begin with? Did Exegol have makeup artists or surgeons that carve up his scars?

Perhaps there might be a compromise in there? Have the Palpatine clone be front and center but maybe have one of the background clones be Snoke? Of course it doesn’t matter either way, leaving the question ambiguous was honestly the best way to go since if the point was he made Snoke then it would’ve made more sense to have a single Snoke clone in a vat and not the pile of them.

That’s a fair point and to be fair, it works now with the tweaks to how the line sounds. I think it’s more a personal preference thing.