DrVibble

Thanks for clarifying! I’ll make sure to read other edits’ specific permissions if I ever end up needing to -nab- lovingly borrow something.

Also, thanks to your tutorial and a couple of others, I think I’ve finally figured out how to get lossless Blu-Ray video and surround audio into DaVinci Resolve. I don’t know how long it would have taken me to discover that extraction trick with FFmpeg without it. Thanks so much for lending your continued help to an aspiring fan editor!

Hi again, back for a couple more questions…

I noticed that in your edit, when the company is approaching Erebor, the extreme wide shows fourteen distant black figures rather than the nine in the original film. I remember seeing this shot in the Maple Edit; is this that same shot borrowed, or a new VFX shot specifically for this? Either way, what sorta permissions would I need to use the shot in my own edit? (I kinda feel dirty borrowing so much, I just have zero VFX experience… thinking about learning some basics to see if I can make my own stuff)

Second and last question, are the deleted scenes found in the appendices that come with the extended editions? I’ve wanted to re-add Gandalf’s speech in my own edit ever since I learned it was a thing. There’s also one, perhaps two other brief deleted scenes I wanted to try re-adding.

Yeah my placeholder so far is just one in white. I’ll see what free VFX programs and tutorials I can find. Thanks again!

Thanks so much! It’s honestly a blessing to get first-hand help; I would never have put that together about the audio. Funnily enough, I’ve spent nearly all of today fiddling with Handbrake’s encoding settings to get functioning audio, but now I realise I only needed the video xD

Thanks for clarifying about the credits, I’ll check some tutorials to put it all together.

I already have Audacity, and though I haven’t used it much, I’ll be sure to check out that tutorial.

Though I did consider it, nabbing the intermission from your or the Maple Edit wouldn’t quite work for mine, as my intermissions are longer (they’re both a bit over 8 minutes as I use songs from Clamavi de Profundis). As I also intend to make similar CdP musical intermissions for the LOTR Extended Editions, for which the text would need to be blue rather than brown/gold, it’s probably most effective to learn the effect myself. I’m sure there are free VFX programs (I think Blender is free?) that I can find sufficient tutorials for.

Thanks a lot for all the help! I’ll start getting myself some good uncompressed 5.1 audio.

Just one more question, if it’s alright: having just got my hands on some Blu-Rays of The Hobbit and LOTR (don’t ask how, but up till now I’ve only had the 4K Blu-Rays and DVDs), so I intend to rebuild my edit from the ground up in HD. That being said, I’m having trouble figuring out what audio format to encode it with.

To get the video file I rip it from the Blu-Ray with MakeMKV and then encode it using HandBrake, but I’m not sure whether to encode it with Stereo or 5.1 audio. For the DVD it was just Stereo, but now I’m not sure what’s best. Since we’re likely working off similar discs, what settings did you use?

Sorry if the repeated questions are bugging you.

Thanks for the reply! Despite being an amateur editor, I really hope to make my edit as complete as possible, and the technical prowess on display in your and other Hobbit edits has been a great inspiration. If you don’t mind further questions, I’ve a couple more things to add (if this is getting too off-topic for this thread feel free to redirect me):

I edit with DaVinci Resolve, and only the free version (my budget is limited), and I’m still relatively inexperienced with it; I can comfortably use the Cut and Edit pages and I’m now teaching myself how to colour grade, though I’ve never touched its Fairlight and Fusion sections (sound design and VFX). Never used Photoshop, Premiere or After Effects; this edit is the first and only video editing project I’ve ever made (jumping in the deep end, I know, but up till now I’ve been able to do everything I’ve needed to; just this more technically complex stuff that’s beyond me).

Regarding your advice for making the credits, I can understand it all until the last part, as I’m not familiar with using key frames. Though I’ve so far got by fine by just fiddling around and teaching myself Resolve’s functions, I’ll look up some tutorials for these more specialised functions. Also, while that covers the scrolling cast section, what should I do for the rest of the crew credits? Since it seems a hell of a task to go through and write out every individual crew member, is the rest just nabbed from one of the films?

I have zero VFX experience, and Adobe software has a pretty steep price tag; I could try to do what I need to do within their one-week free trial, unless you can recommend any free alternatives?

Thanks for clarifying about the VFX permissions; I’ll have a look at those links, and if I ever take this edit more public, I’ll be sure to give eric1894 credit.

Thanks so much for your help so far! Again, if these technical questions are too off-topic for this edit’s thread, I’ll stop.

Hi again! Watching your edit has provided me with some wonderful inspiration for my own work, and we’ve turned out to have very similar ideas for some areas (especially the wordless prologue and the placement of Bard taking out the Black Arrow). I love that stuff like this can be made and shared.

I’m returning to this thread as I had a few more questions pertaining to editing, which are pretty specific to this edit.

There are two things you made in your edit that I would love to be able to do for my own as well: the new credits and the VFX ‘Intermission’ title.

How do you go about making an all-new credits sequence? Are there templates you can get somewhere, do you replicate it from the original films, or do you just have to do the entire thing by hand?

What programs would you recommend for learning basic VFX to make that ‘Intermission’ text? You don’t have to put a full tutorial for the effect down here, that could get complex (though some starter tips wouldn’t hurt 😃)

On another note, would it be possible to re-use some of the custom VFX shots you have in this edit, and if so whose permission will I need to ask for? (I mainly aim to use this edit for private viewing, but if it turns out well I might end up sharing it.)

Hal 9000 said:

Nah, the LUTs already in use are better, if I remember right.

Here’s two clips. The finished puppet show and conference room (complete with “Captain Hux”).

https://vimeo.com/589175076

https://vimeo.com/589175438

That puppet show looked flawless to me, even in fullscreen. Wouldn’t think twice about it if I’d never seen the film. I love the design of the AT-M6 too, making it look like an animal.

‘Captain Hux’ sounds reeaally close to perfect, but there is a noticeable splice. If ‘Captain’ could be made to inflect more down in pitch at the end it could sound more natural.

sherlockpotter said:

oviniboy said:

Hey, Sherlock, what about the “I’m a Jedi” line? Are you satisfied with the current version or still need some fixes? Anything we could help?

I was reasonably satisfied with the latest version (reposted below), although an extra set of ears would definitely be appreciated! Especially since it’s been a little while, and we’ll be able to listen to it fresh.

sherlockpotter said:

Did a little more smoothing out on “I” and “am a.” Is it any better?

Also, maybe I’ve watched this clip too many times, but what if Palps says, “I am all the Sith. You are nothing. A scavenger girl is no match for the power in me.” Sade, you’re the expert - did we try it that way already? Would it make any significant difference to the scene?

Hell if I know.

https://streamable.com/81qs12

I will also say that I know CaptainFaraday was trying to fiddle with it as well; but I’m not sure if he was able to make any more progress since he and I last spoke.

First time listening to this: I think the only part that needs work is “am a”, it’s said pretty quickly and sounds just a little bit clippy. But the audio of the rest of the scene works great, and the line itself is a fantastic change

I’ve never got around to watching the 2003 Clone Wars in full; this looks like a great way to do it. I’d love a link!

Thanks! Matter of fact, my 5.5 hour edit is actually a single-film cut of The Hobbit trilogy. As I wanted to try something different, it ended up a good sight longer than most other of its type, which usually range from 3-4 hours; including 2 musical intermissions my cut totals 5h 40m

This looks like a formidable edit! Being a fan of Star Wars, long films, and an amateur fan editor whose first edit is likewise about 5.5 hours long, I’d love to check this edit out!

I’d love a PM of your progress so far! It would be great to get a sense of the series’ new general style.

Also I just realised you’re using music by Samuel Kim!! I love his stuff! All the more reason to watch.

This project sounds awesome! I binged through all of TCW for the first time not long after Season 7 came out, and I’ve been tentatively thinking about re-watching it; this sounds like the perfect alternative.

I particularly like the sound of what you’re doing with the villains - making Maul a more constant threat will definitely raise the series as a whole and augment its conclusion, and Grievous could definitely do with being more threatening - and I also like your approach of giving each season a greater episode-to-episode continuity, something the original series, in retrospect, sorely lacks at times. Can’t wait to see how it turns out. Good luck!

Thanks all for the response to my reviews! Glad to contribute even in a small way to this community; it’s just great to see such talented people working on projects like this.

And @TestingOutTheTest: I have never heard the name Doomcock, and I value academic analysis too highly to base the entirety of my opinion on a matter on the words of a single subjective source, especially one you insinuate is quite biased.

Just finished the edit, and I simply couldn’t wait to share my thoughts.

Good Lord, this edit was amazing. While I had some technical problems with it, those are mostly moot given this is still a WIP. But as for what you did with the story, I was astonished.

I have lots of thoughts, so I’ll go through the film chronologically (sorry in advance, it’s a whole lot of reading…)

The first act has so much more atmosphere and mystique. Recolouring Jakku was a great touch, giving the planet a far more unique feel. Leaving Rey’s introductory sequence to be entirely wordless up until BB-8 was a great idea, further augmenting the atmosphere. The added voiceover in Poe’s interrogation worked very well, though I feel the scene might transition out more cleanly if you kept Poe’s scream, just reduced in volume and maybe with some echo/reverb to blend it with the voices. Moving up Kylo and the Vader helmet completely recontextualises the scene; though I’m a little on the fence about how well it flows from the previous scene - the shift in atmosphere and energy is a bit abrupt - it adds an amazing aura of mystery around Kylo, and his connection to the Supreme Leader and Vader. It also flows brilliantly into the next scene; we think a stormtrooper is coming so Ren can ‘finish what he started’, but nope, it’s actually Finn come to rescue Poe. Great subversion. The general rearranging of the first act was excellent, giving a much better flow to the introduction of the characters and how they all connect to drive the main plot.

Removing BB-8 divulging the location of the Resistance Base definitely works well story-wise, though the scene came across a little clunky; Rey goes from asking where the base is so she can drop them off to saying she’ll drop them off somewhere else for them to make their own way, and I felt the beat of BB-8 doing his ‘thumbs-up’ was a bit too long, which seemed out of place in the energy of the scene. Still, changing the plot point definitely improves the overall flow of the story, and clears up why they need Maz’s help. (I guess you could rationalise Rey’s change of plans as her remembering her priorities, which would give credence to Finn’s surprise and immediate “What about you?”). The rathtar sequence was much improved; the newly darkened lighting was a great addition, and it definitely feels a lot darker and more horrifying than before. Snoke and Kylo’s new conversation was very effective; it builds up the mystery around Kylo very well, showing that these two know things that we don’t. Polishing up the cantina/castle sequence also worked nicely, and I loved the addition of Luke’s TLJ lines to Rey’s visions of Kylo.

The addition of Rey going to the pirates’ ship to join Finn was brilliant, and I felt it was executed seamlessly. The addition of the Sith whispers when she shoots the stormtrooper worked brilliantly; I loved the through-line across the edit that Rey taps into the Dark side whenever she uses the Force. The small changes to the Battle of Takodana were great; the re-edited ending with Han, Finn and Kylo felt a lot more compelling and dramatic. The interrogation of Rey was quite surprising; I really like what you were going for with the reduced lighting, but I felt it was a bit too dark, and there was way too much contrast, leading to it feeling unnatural, and at odds with the rest of the film’s visuals. In some shots Kylo’s face looks incredibly blue/purple, and it doesn’t feel like lighting from the room. Nonetheless, reducing the light of the scene makes it far more sinister, especially Kylo’s face reveal. Snoke taunting Kylo by calling him ‘Solo’ serves as a great confirmation of the suspicions about him built up to this point, and despite not being directly prompted, it actually still fits the scene; after Kylo says he needs Snoke’s guidance, Snoke using his real name works as an admonishment of his failure, shaking his confidence to test him. I did feel it transitioned out of the scene a bit too quickly, not giving this momentous reveal enough time to properly sink in, but otherwise it works very well. Han and Leia’s re-edited conversation was a nice surprise; focussing it more around them than Luke and reducing the overly direct exposition made the exchange much more powerful.

The transition from that convo to Hux’s impassioned speech felt a bit jarring (not sure if it was the music or just because I’m not used to that placement of the scene), but in terms of the flow of the scenes it did overall work nicely (the reconnaissance report about Starkiller Base arrives, we transition to the Base readying to be unleashed, then to the plan to destroy it). Leia’s line in the meeting “The Senate is the next target” feels a bit incongruent; since the weapon hasn’t been fired before, there’s no reason to call it the “next” target, though I understand there’s only so much that can be done with the material available. But from here, I found the re-structured third act absolutely AWESOME. I’ve always had problems with TFA’s third act, but this edit makes it so much more tense and dramatic. The rearranging of Rey’s first mind trick was brilliant, and I loved the redone lighting in the first cutaway to Kylo, showing him walking out of the flashing light of the absorbing sun and into the blue of the corridor (though I thought the music over the second cutaway to Kylo was overly loud, and didn’t quite mesh with the rest of the scene). The re-edited infiltration was a vast improvement over the original, particularly concerning Phasma. And about Kylo entering the Falcon: I didn’t even know this deleted scene existed, but its incorporation into the rest of the sequence was seamless, especially the ending.

The addition of Leia and Han’s voices over the final moments with Han and Kylo were very effective; I do feel this scene doesn’t strictly need voiceover, but going from “There was too much Vader in him” to Han’s death was awesome. As for the moved firing of the laser, I’m undecided as to whether I prefer this edit’s version that combines it with Chewie’s detonation or Hal’s original sequence; I’ll have to watch both carefully. Either way, you edited the sequence beautifully, and the impact this restructure has on the film overall is immense. And now we come to my absolute favourite part of this edit: THAT moment with Rey as she taps into the Dark side to overcome Kylo (I won’t spoil the specifics here for those who haven’t seen it, it’s worth being surprised by). I was completely not expecting that, and when it happened I genuinely jumped out of my seat. So damn awesome. My only complaint about the scene was that maybe the music was a bit loud compared to the dialogue, and the rest of the sequence’s music.

I loved this edit. It made me feel like I was watching TFA for the first time; the film felt much less Disney, and much more Star Wars. I particularly loved the first and third acts; the former just felt like pure Star Wars, and the third act felt much less silly, instead becoming a whole lot more powerful, dramatic and epic. Probably my favourite addition to the story was Rey tapping into the Dark side to use the Force. It’s awesome to finally truly see the ‘quick and easy path’ of the Force like Yoda warned of. Even without your plans for TLJ and TROS, this adds a whole new dimension to Rey’s journey throughout those films: TLJ now shows Rey learning not just how to use the Force, but how to properly use the Force, without relying on the Dark side, lending a lot more power to both when she immediately gets attracted to the Dark cave, and her final lifting of the rocks. It also gives far more basis to her struggles across TROS of turning to the Dark side, as well as Ren’s insistence that she belongs alongside him. It even gives more basis to the maligned Rey Palpatine (for the record I don’t hate this counter-twist on a conceptual level, I just think it needed to be planned from the beginning to be actually compelling).

Even though I already love Hal’s edit, this might well have impressed me more. This is the most I’ve enjoyed watching a Star Wars film in a very long time. I can’t wait to see what you have planned for TLJ and TROS!

Hi Hal, here’s another review. Warning; I got a bit carried away…

I loved TROS when I first saw it, and though that impression has soured considerably as I’ve looked at the film more critically, TROS: Ascendant represents for me the best possible improvement for this film without resorting to drastic re-writes/re-structures. I loved this edit to bits, from the major changes to the small touches, and since I honestly don’t know where to start, I guess I’ll just go through the film chronologically.

Right off the bat, the re-arranged opening flows so much better than the original film. Letting the film introduce Palpatine rather than dropping him in the text crawl is way more effective, and the single change of making the cloned Snokes into cloned Palpatines makes his survival significantly clearer, and far more sinister. Transitioning from that to Rey training is a much more effective flow, and Rey’s new vision was awesome (the quick interconnected flash of her and Palpatine’s lightning was super cool). Going only then to Finn and Poe’s mission, with the removed out-of-place chess game, slows the first act down very effectively. Using Palpatine’s speech to replace the maligned “Somehow Palpatine returned.” was also a great touch, though I do feel the speech could be a bit louder.

The many small changes in the subsequent sections were all great; Kylo’s newly independent vision and consequent reforging of the mask was especially compelling. The polished Pasaana sequence was very nice, especially the toned down line from Lando’s chauffeur, and here we also meet one of my favourite changes from this edit; the Knights of Ren speaking. I was frustrated by how much of a nothing they were in the original film, but these few lines of dialogue go a surprisingly long way to making them feel more present. Kuruk’s “I get his teeth.” (Yes I know all six of them by name I’m a nerd) was a brief but very effective characterisation of the Knights as a whole; contrary to the conflicted Ren, the Knights are hunters who enjoy what they do. Removing the immediate reveal of Chewie’s survival also definitely helps, especially if you missed the second transport shown in the wide when Finn sees him captured.

The same as Pasaana, Kijimi was very effectively polished. A small touch that got a smile out of me was Zorii’s muted response to Poe, it just made the whole scene read much better, and characterises the two of them very well. Kylo’s altered dialogue to “You were right.” definitely helped in terms of continuity and logic, but though it’s close enough to pass for Kylo’s voice on its own, next to his real masked voice it’s pretty clear that it sounds different; the accent doesn’t quite match, and it feels more flat. Are there any plans to retouch this line for future versions? I did also find 3PO’s replaced dialogue as they’re flying to the Destroyer (“And I will be your protocol droid.”) a bit weird, felt incongruent with the scene. I also felt his interaction with the trooper was quite clunky, though that’s moot as I see that’s on the list for V2.

Moving on from Kijimi, the recontextualisation of the crash to be on Endor was cleanly executed, and made the Ewoks’ cameo feel less egregious. The Falcon did appear to be moving quite slowly above the trees, though. Another one of my favourite overall changes comes from this sequence: the overhaul of how the Sith dagger works. Not only is this so much more logical than the impossible compass (only a Force-user/Dark Side-user could use the dagger, which raises a genuine mystery about what Ochi does and doesn’t know, what exactly Palpatine’s orders were), it was seamlessly executed; the specific placements of the whispers made it immediately clear what was going on, such that a first-time viewer would assume that was how it always was. Very nice. I also looooved the brief touch of Duel of the Fates during the duel; I’ve seen videos that add a full score to the scene, but the duel’s lack of music has always been one of my favourite aspects of it, both aesthetically and thematically. This brief, non-intrusive motif hit the perfect middle ground, and was a great addition. Adding that quick shot of Han’s medal was also a great touch; I always wondered where that trailer shot went, and it works well here. The re-ordering of Rey’s healing of Kylo felt more natural, and really highlighted the actors’ great performances in that scene.

Removing the destruction of Kijimi, as well as the planet-destroying nature of the Sith Fleet, definitely helped the film, even if it did hurt the pacing of this sequence a bit (this is unavoidable though). I also really loved Rey and Luke’s trimmed conversation, it feels so much more organic than before, and really highlights the themes at play in the scene. And the change of Leia’s saber to purple was just BEAUTIFUL. I read a while ago about Carrie Fisher’s preference for a purple saber, and I immediately wondered why they didn’t grant it considering how much else they did to honour her throughout the film (probably just because blue is more basic and matches Luke’s saber), so this was an awesome change to see in live-action. I will say I think I can spot some leftover blue colouration whenever Leia’s saber clashes with Luke’s, but maybe it’s just my imagination, and given the complexity of the VFX it’d be totally excusable.

And now to the finale, which might be my favourite part of the edit. I loved everything from here to the end of the film, especially the new colour grade. One of my favourite small touches was again the lines from the Knights; Ushar’s sarcastic greeting of Ben was great, and Cardo calling him “Traitor!” genuinely got a laugh of joy out of me, such a great touch (on a side note I’m not 100% that those are the ones who were speaking, just going off the order they appeared in). The mass of voices when the new fleet arrives made the whole scene so much more powerful, though I do feel the “For Skywalker!” charge slightly lacked emphasis; maybe some more emphatic voice lines could help?

The defeating of the Emperor was simply awesome. Adding Leia’s trailer line to conclude all the Jedi voices was such a good touch, one I was surprised to remember wasn’t in the original film, and holy goddang it were those four ghosts awesome. It just concludes the film and the saga as a whole so much better to have these five greatest of Jedi work together to defeat Emperor Palpatine, and it also makes it much more visually clear what’s going on. When I saw this for the first time I do not exaggerate when I say I was jumping in my seat.

The denouement of the film was great. Moving the chess scene to Tatooine is not only a far more appropriate place for it, it just makes the ending so much more heartwarming. I watched that scene probably half a dozen times back-to-back just because it made me smile so much. It also concludes the trilogy so much better, with the new trio, Chewie and the Falcon united. The double rainbow over the house was a great touch from the documentary. And for the every end: seeing Ben alongside Luke and Leia was just perfect, fixing as best as possible the glaring problem of TROS that we never get a time to mourn Ben; Rey’s new delivery of the final line was so much more powerful than the old one, even if it was admittedly a bit too visually clear that it wasn’t from the finished film; and the very final shot of the film with the new music was a far, far better close to the Skywalker Saga.

Needless to say, I absolutely loved TROS: Ascendant. It’s what TROS should have been from the start, and will absolutely replace it for me on subsequent watches. (Additional thought written a short while after the bulk of this review: The biggest overall accomplishment of this edit, for me, is giving the film a more compelling beginning and ending. Those are the two most important parts of any film, and though the middle parts of TROS are to an extent unsaveably messy, the improved opening, climax and denouement of TROS: Ascendant leave a much better taste in the mouth overall).

This edit, and the rest of the 9000 Saga, are truly awesome pieces of work! They genuinely made me interested in SW again after the ST’s divisiveness and the drama over Lucasfilm, The Mandalorian and Kathleen Kennedy started driving me away. You’ve all done an awesome job, and I can barely wait to see the future versions!

Hi Hal, onto my next review.

For a long time, TLJ was one of my favourite films of the saga. I just loved its themes, its characters and discussions. Over the years I’ve looked at it more critically, and can no longer ignore its many problems, but I still feel that its themes and ideas are compelling. Thus, I quite enjoyed the conservativeness of this edit.

In terms of the larger changes, I felt the removal of the Fathier sequence was a very welcome cut, and makes the film feel far more efficient, both in its plot and in how it handles its themes. The other structural changes were similarly effective; moving the Luke/Yoda convo to just before Crait, after everything has gone wrong, makes it much more powerful. It always felt a bit too out of place in the original. I will say I found the musical transition from Kylo choking Hux back to the island a tad abrupt, though maybe future watches will help. I also felt that the cut from Luke staring after the Falcon and stepping offscreen to Finn and gang in hyperspace is a prime candidate for a right-to-left screen wipe, just from the direction of movement of both elements, though perhaps the shot of Luke is too brief to make it work.

The way you handled the humour was also very effective; I loved how you re-cut the opening joke with Hux and Poe (I always felt Hux’s delayed “Hello?” was the best part of the joke, brilliantly delivered by Domhnall Gleeson, and combined with his little speech playing on the tinny radio, ending the gag there makes it way funnier). I also appreciated that you didn’t remove the Force-leaf gag, as I never found that one cringey (I actually find it kind of endearing, and a meta-commentary on how counter-intuitive the mystical ‘Reach out with your feelings’ really is). The removal of the Caretakers was also welcome; they aren’t missed from the film at all. Though I do usually chuckle at the gag of the training rock obliterating their little wagon, just because it’s so well visually executed, they definitely detracted from the tone of the film and the scenes they appear in.

Another change I loved was the couple of deleted scenes you added to the first act (Luke in the hut and Finn getting his jacket back). They set off both characters’ developmental arcs on such a better note than before; we see that despite Luke’s grumpiness, his decision weighs heavily on him, and the brief talk with Finn and Poe establishes his hesitance to join the Resistance wholesale on a far more compelling note, making him seem less traitorous. The scene immediately felt to me a lot more like the Finn from TFA, which greatly helps his arc through the rest of the film. The quick deleted scenes later were also effective; the brief scene of the three in the lift was much more effective than the iron spaceship gag, and though I found the exchange in the shuttle a little clunky (hence its excision, I suppose), it was a good character beat, and solid development for Finn. I was admittedly hesitant at first for Phasma to have such an offhanded death after her dramatic return, but this is a much more effective moment, both for pacing and for Finn’s character.

Overall, I very much enjoyed TLJ: Legendary. It gives the film some much-needed fine-tuning, letting the underlying story shine stronger through the many cracks of the film’s clunky writing. I will admit that I think I enjoyed poppasketti’s TLJ: Rekindled a bit more, just because it goes a little further and has some extra teases of Palpatine, but I think I prefer a more conservative approach to this film than a hugely drastic one. Another great edit!

Hi Hal, here for another review.

This was an awesome edit. I’ve always felt that though TFA is a very fun film, it was in need of two things: a bit of careful polish, and more innovation. This edit supplies both in spades.

The biggest change is of course the movement of the New Republic’s destruction. The impact this change has on the weight, emotion and general feel of the film as a whole is immense. It allows the film to echo ANH while also updating it, rather than wallowing in it. It massively increases the emotion of the third act, making the good guys actually lose before they earn their victory. It makes the finale feel considerably more epic and tense. And the actual sequence itself was beautiful; the original laser-firing sequence was always one of my favourite parts of TFA just because it was visually and musically beautiful, but this new sequence was just awesome, flawlessly edited as well. I got serious chills.

Aside from that, all the small changes throughout the film were pretty much universally great. Quick cuts to dialogue for better characterisation, less wasted time and greater focus can go a long way, and it makes the film feel a lot more polished, less like it’s trying too hard to pander to its audience.

Another particular favourite change was the subtle teases of Palpatine. The three notes of his theme when Kylo speaks to the helmet were awesome, and would be great for a first-time viewer. Rey’s expanded vision was also great; using the Rathtar chase to show her separated from Finn makes it feel more personal, more connected to the rest of the film, and it was inserted into the sequence flawlessly.

As a whole, this edit makes TFA feel not only like a more bold film, but like a more confident film, which is something that TFA, and really the entirety of Disney canon, is in desperate need of. Without question, this edit has replaced TFA for me; more emotional, more compelling, and more involving. I loved it!

Hi Hal. I’m actually going to skip over this review for now, and return to it after I do my sequel ones.

It being probably the most drastic of the six edits in terms of the scope of its changes, I want to rewatch it to better formulate my thoughts. I’ll say for now that my first impression of Labyrinth of Evil was admittedly more mixed than COD and TAS; though I enjoyed a lot of the smaller changes, I felt the edit lost some of the original film’s weight and didn’t quite fix its messiness, and I’m on the fence about the deleted scenes. A rewatch (should be within the next few days) should allow me to get a good grip on some overall thoughts and give your work its due credit. Till then, I’ll move onto your ST edits.

Hi Hal, here’s my next review.

I absolutely loved this edit. AOTC is probably my second-least favourite SW film (TPM being my least favourite), as it’s just so painful to watch. But this edit simply transforms the film, and for the first time in my life, I got genuine, even considerable enjoyment out of watching Episode 2.

I’ll start with the biggest part: the romance plot. This was the biggest improvement of The Approaching Storm for me; where this romance was previously fatal levels of cringe, it now comes across as genuinely quite endearing. The largest factor to this is of course the way you re-arranged the scenes, giving the whole romance a far more belivable and compelling development. Even the cringey-but-inescapable scenes like the tick-cow ride and the floating pear dinner come across as much less painful than before because they flow much better, they feel more believable. Moving the kiss to the end of the romance arc, and removing the oh-so-infamous sand monologue, raised the sub-plot as a whole by a considerable amount. I will say that the musical transition out of the kiss scene to Obi leaving Kamino felt quite abrupt, but that’s pretty much my only problem. Although, I can’t help but notice that after the kiss at sunset, the next time we see the two is in their pyjamas the next morning…

My next favourite part was Anakin’s improved characterisation. It’s incredible the impact a few removed lines and some re-arranged scenes can have, but Anakin comes across so much more mature in TAS. I particularly loved his trimmed conversation with Padme (“Master Obi-Wan manages not to see it.” “All mentors have a way of seeing more of our flaws than we would like. It’s the only way we grow.” “I know.” This just flows soooo much better, and it’s such a simple change at that) and the now wordless embrace before Anakin leaves to find his mother. It says so much more about their growing relationship, and is more emotional.

The deleted scenes sprinkled throughout were all great, particularly Padme’s Senate address, which combined with the brilliant new opening crawl (despite how many times I’ve seen AOTC I still can’t remember a single part of the crawl, but this one jumped off the screen) was a very efficient and effective opening. Padme’s family was a far superior scene to the convo with the Queen (that scene always bugged me because you can see a very clearly contemporary building right outside the Queen’s window). The brief conversation with Anakin, Padme and Dooku raised one very interesting line: “The Republic cannot be fixed.” I felt that one line adds a whole new element to the political plot of the PT; though the Separatist movement is a smokescreen for the Sith, that line is actually still completely true. Food for thought. The scene between Obi-Wan and Windu on the landing platform did come across as quite wooden, hence why it was probably excised, but it’s much better story- and character-wise than the Jedi Temple convo with Obi, Windu and Yoda.

There are too many other things I loved about this edit to list here (the more focussed third act, the clever way you cut the factory set piece to have Anakin free Padme, less grating presence of Boba, generally improved action throughout), and I can only really think of a handful of small problems: the intercut nature of the romance plot with Obi’s investigation could feel like a bit too much of a juxtaposition (though this’ll likely fade with future watches), the aforementioned abrupt musical transition out of the kiss, and I felt that the cuts to get around Yoda v Dooku were a bit (unavoidably) clunky. In short, I think this is a miracle of an edit, a permanent replacement of AOTC. Awesome work!

I hope I’m not laying it on too thick here, I just really loved this edit.

Hi Hal, stopping by here to leave some of my thoughts on this edit (I’ll do the same for the other 5 of the 9000 Saga too).

I really enjoyed this edit. Considering the amount of unnecessary, distracting, or overly goofy stuff that pervades TPM, I was really impressed by how seamless the edit felt as a whole; it almost never felt like there was something missing, and the whole film came across as much less grating. Impressive stuff!

In terms of specific aspects, one of my particular favourite parts was the rearranged finale; removing the goofiness and giving Anakin more agency makes it feel a lot more compelling and genuinely tense, and for the first time ever I found myself rooting for Jake Lloyd’s Anakin. I also loved the new opening crawl; so much clearer than before.

The smaller changes throughout were also great to see; I particularly like the midi-chlorian-less conversation between Anakin and Qui-Gon on the landing platform, which now felt more genuine and endearing. The cut from Jar-Jar going “More? More did you spake?” to the entire droid army advancing on Naboo was a great transition. The couple of deleted scenes on Tatooine were also an effective addition.

Though this edit will probably serve as a replacer of TPM for me, I do feel that it suffers from the core problem of TPM itself; that the film is just very insubstantial. It struck me when watching that if you remove the goofiness, simplify the political nonsense and cut distracting scenes/sequences, it leaves the film with very little meat. It’s also incredibly fast-paced, giving TROS a run for its money. That isn’t really a fault of your edit so much as with the film itself. I’d say the only jarring element is that removing the Otoh Gunga sequence makes it feel weird for Jar-Jar to be tagging along with Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan, as his introduction gets so heavily truncated. Nonetheless, the sequence as a whole is not missed from the film, making the first act feel far more efficient.

As a whole, I enjoyed Cloak of Deception, and will probably return to it whenever I do my next marathon!

This looks incredible! I’ve always felt that TFA could have done with being a bit more innovative, and as much as I already love Hal’s restructure, this looks really special! I’d love a PM, and good luck working on the next two.

Though I’ve always been somewhat a fan of this film, this edit sounds brilliant! A link would be great

You’re right, “I am a Jedi” definitely works better to round off Rey’s arc through both this film and the trilogy as a whole. I also realise it shows that she’s earned her place among the four legendary Jedi standing behind her, in a more subtextual way than “We are all the Jedi”. Looking forward to seeing the final result!