I can’t help but wonder if James Earl Jones ever yelled out, “Noooo!” in a more emotional, realistic way in another film at some point in his career…or even uttered other dialogue that would work. This would take some research though. lol
Oh, you mean something like this?
https://youtu.be/Y5YsrYQS2kI
That’ll be perfect! 😉
Yeah, since I’m already seeding as I’m downloading, you’ll probably get decent speeds until you catch up to where I’m at. Then it’ll be the slow trickle 😉
I haven’t watched all of The Blackened Mantle yet, but so far it’s been pretty fascinating to watch. I understand a little bit of Japanese, but in this case fortunately not well enough to break the illusion that what they’re speaking doesn’t match up with what the subtitles say. Some of the transitions to the flashbacks thus far are a bit too jarring in my opinion, but the voice acting is really solid, and it’s definitely worth checking out!
I’m at a little under 5% downloaded right now… and like I said, at this rate it’ll probably take 6-7 days to finish. My internet connection is over 200 Mbps down/20 up, so once I’m finally able to fully seed it things should improve for others.
Downloading your torrent now! If you’ve still got a slow upload speed, it’ll probably take quite a long time to download (showing a week at the moment), but I’ll be sure to help you seed whenever it finishes.
Hey Eldusto84,
Just for the hell of it, I took a stab at re-inserting Galadriel back into your cut. I used the Extended Edition Blu-ray as my source for the Galadriel footage. It was more of a proof of concept than anything else, just to see if it would work. Here’s my edit list:
-Extended Gandalf and Elrond’s walk up to the council area, and into the introduction of Galadriel, but cut away before Saruman is introduced.
-Used music from “The White Council - Extended Version” track to smooth audio transition back to Bilbo walking around Rivendell.
-When Bilbo & the Dwarves leave Rivendell, return back to scene with Gandalf & Galadriel.
-Cut out Galadriel’s line that refers to the Morgul Blade.
-Transition back to Thorin & Co. travelling.
-I did a super-quick color correction to attempt to bring the Blu-ray footage closer to what you have done, but it still needs work to get it to match properly.
This clip encompasses all the above-mentioned tweaks:
https://vimeo.com/148841030
Of course I understand these suggestions are a day late and a dollar short. I’m sorry I missed out on your April edit when you were still accepting suggestions, and I only discovered your work when your final version was released. So I certainly don’t expect you to make any changes to your film before you release the blu-ray iso. Besides, you might not even agree with my suggestion, and that’s totally fine! But once you do release the iso, I might make an attempt at re-inserting these changes and re-author the Blu-ray for my own personal copy.
EDIT: It seems like everyone in your comment section over at Maple Films has their opinion on what they’d like to see tweaked… so I apologize if my voice is simply fuel for that fire. No fanedit is going to be perfect for everyone, and I just want to once again commend you on your outstanding work!
I’ll also cast my vote for Hal9000’s edits for all three movies. Stellar work across the board – seamless transitions, better pacing, and some really nice changes to certain characters (their motivations, their fate, etc). I really enjoy watching these three films now thanks to him.
Some alternate mentions… Seciors has a solid edit of Ep I, which I would recommend to those looking to “get through” Ep I as fast as possible. It’s moves at too much of a break-neck pace for my tastes, but it’s still put together very well. For Ep III, L8wrtr has a really good edit as well. There are a few things there that I’m not a fan of, such as the order of a handful of scenes (Anakin makes sudden jumps back and forth between locations with the way certain scenes are ordered). But if, for example, you’re not a fan of Hal9000’s change to Padme’s fate, then L8wrtr’s version would be a suitable alternative.
Yeah, that would be amazing if you’re willing to share the iso’s you put together. Mega seems like a good of a place as any!
That’s fair enough. I sent a PM a couple of weeks ago, and was hoping to get the set completed this weekend for a marathon screening. So I figure it wouldn’t hurt to at least ask around for 'em. But I can certainly respect that policy.
Wow, I only now just discovered this thread, and I would also love to receive a link to a download of this cut. Amadeus is definitely in my top 5 fav films, and it’d be awesome to watch the Theatrical Cut once more.
Thanks in advance!
I just finished watching this entire new release, and I gotta say, absolutely phenomenal work!!!
Everything flowed extremely nicely, and your cuts were practically seamless the entire way through. Honestly, this is going to be my go-to edition to watch from here on out. (And I am someone who is fonder than most of the original movies.)
I highly encourage anyone else curious about this project to go check it out for yourselves!
If I had any personal differences it would be the following:
-The White Council Scene. I thoroughly enjoy this scene, so I was sad to see it go. Of course, given the direction and focus of your edit, it makes complete sense why you’ve cut it (and it focuses on the Morgul Blade, which wouldn’t work in your edit). However, I feel that there could be a place for the scene just between Gandalf and Galadriel. That exchange where Gandalf explains his reasoning for choosing Bilbo is a nice little gem.
-Tauriel. I am totally fine with the complete removal of the Fili/Tauriel romance – I didn’t miss it in your edit at all. But I would have liked to have seen just a tiny bit more of her. You have some nicely curated shots of Legolas fighting here and there (such as during the barrel sequence), and it might’ve been nice to swap one or two of them with her killing some orcs – if for no other reason than to show some different elves, and not JUST Legolas kicking ass.
But really, those are SUPER minor things, and only my humble opinion. So once more, congrats on completing your cut of the trilogy. It is fantastic.
P.S. I’m also looking forward to the “Durin’s Folk and the Hill of Sorcery” side film and seeing how that subplot flows when it’s given the main focus!
Man, I love seeing all these covers that have been created – really fantastic work all around!
Does anyone happen to have a link to this set of covers made by Video Collector that they’d be willing to send me?
I tried PM’ing him a while ago, so far no dice.
Oh, and if you happen to have the Despecialized variants he made for the OT, that’d be a bonus!
Sounds good!
I hate to be “that guy” and ask for an ETA, but since you’ve been delving back into Ep II & III for a V4, do you think there’s any chance you’ll be done before The Force Awakens drops? Gonna do a marathon with some friends in a handful of weeks, with your prequel edits, and was wondering if I should just burn the V3’s or wait for V4. Your V3 edits are already ace, so it’s not a big deal, but I figured I’d ask!
Planning on the following with a group of friends:
1.) Star Wars (1977) Despecialized 2.5
2.) The Empire Strikes Back (1980) Despecialized 2.0
3.) Cloak Of Deception (Hal9000 EP 1)
4.) The Approaching Storm (Hal9000 Ep 2)
5.) Labyrinth of Evil (Hal9000 Ep 3)
6.) Return of the Jedi (1983) Despecialized 1.0
Similar to the OP, just with Hal’s edits instead of L8wrtr’s.
Yeah, I do understand that there is a history to some of these editorial changes over the course of years of fan edits to these movies, and that some of those changes have become commonplace enough to almost consider them a sort of ‘standard’. You mentioned as much during your commentary of Ep I, and how some of your edits are simply iterations on another’s idea. Of course, since I’m new to the scene, I don’t know the history of these edits, and credit should certainly go where it’s due. That being said, props to you for your selection and execution of these ideas, in addition to your more original changes!
I’ve only just recently joined this site, but I wanted to commend you for your outstanding work on this film and the other prequel movies. I watched your V4 of Ep I (as well as its commentary), and V3 of Eps II and III – phenomenal work across the board. I’ve been working in Hollywood for over a decade myself, and I found your edits to be very seamless and professional. Overall I agree with your approach to editing and the choices you’ve made. For example, I love how the only time we see Yoda wield his lightsaber is during the quick beat to defend himself from Order 66. Or the removal of dialogue during the moonlight kiss scene back in Ep II. I find that kind of ‘less-is-more’ approach to be very effective.
You can also count me in the camp of agreeing to your change of Padme’s fate. I think it works really well and flows nicely with what Leia says in ROTJ (I, too, was bothered by that lack of continuity in the theatrical Ep III). That tease you showed from Hundsdorfex’s VFX edit to the balcony shot really helps tie the scene together. I think the cut straight from the Tantive to Padme is slightly jarring, and that added balcony shot establishing her room completely sells it. Definitely looking forward to V4 of these last two films (and their commentaries to boot!).
I watched L8wrtr’s Ep III edit as well, and it’s an excellent edit for those who prefer to keep Padme’s original fate intact. One instance where I preferred his edit was during the opening sequence where he removes some of the short awkward cutaways to Palpatine reacting to the duel with Dooku (like when he says ‘Yeah!’ after Obi-Wan cuts down a pair of droids – what is he, a father rooting for his kid at a soccer game?). Of course, this is super minor in the grand scheme of things. However, in L8wrtr’s edit there are a small handful of abrupt transitions throughout the film (particularly in the audio) that stand out to me, and draw attention to itself being a fan edit. Also, there are a few other things in his cut that I find problematic. During the first act, there are a series of scenes that are back-to-back involving Anakin in different places: Anakin & Obi-Wan chat in the briefing room at the Jedi Temple. Cut to Anakin and Palpatine at the water orb performance. Cut to Anakin with Yoda back at the Jedi Temple. Cut to Anakin and Palpatine in the Chancellor’s office. It all felt very abrupt and completely drew me out of the movie.
Anyways, enough talk about someone else’s edit. Kudos to you once more, and I can’t wait to see the next release!