The ‘Maple Films’ Hobbit, for sure. Never been so happy not to have to do something myself!
War of the Stars II: Future in Motion was also a lot of fun
I think less would have been more for that scene, and I wish they had not had Luke actually activate his saber.
For anyone interested, MalàStrana has created alternate audio tracks for Cloak of Deception, The Approaching Storm, and Labyrinth of Evil. I have just uploaded them to the Google Drive location where you can get the edits themselves (a link to which can be searched for on Reddit). They are not muxed into the edits themselves, but are available as separate downloads in AC3 and AIFF audio formats.
Here are Malà’s own descriptions of the changes made:
COD -
All opening sounds prior to the Fox Fanfare are removed
Schmi’s line ìI carried him, I gave birth, I raised him" (around 0:34:25) is removed (just because I find these lines stupid and useless)
During the podrace, the brillant and very suitable Joel McNeely’s track from “Shadows of the Empire” is still used, but the added ANH “Battle of Yavin IV” cue (around 0:46:12) is replaced with the theatrical musicless track (so it is a mix between Hal9000 default and alternate tracks)
When the characters enter the Gungan sanctuary (around 1:16:47), a Jar Jar’s line created from a cut scene in this edit (ìWhen danger, gungans go to secret placeî) is added to the sound track as a voice-over (so in the context of this edit it’s made clear that the place is not their usual home and that Jar Jar was needed to lead them there)
The sound level in two spots during the battle of Naboo (when Anakin takes off with a Naboo fighter, around 1:26:43) is altered to fix two sound level drops from the theatrical track
TAS -
All opening sounds prior to the Fox Fanfare are removed
PadmÈ’s childish “Ani!” (around 0:09:39) is replaced with “Anakin” taken from the Naboo family deleted scene, a more suitable way to talk for a Senator meeting Jedi
The original Changeling voice is mixed with the fanedited version (ìKamino systemî, around 0:21:50)
Obi-Wanís dull ìtoxic dartî (around 0:22:06) is replaced with ìkamino systemî (taken from the departure deleted scene)
During the Kamino inspection (around 0:37:05), the eerie/mystery motif from Joel McNeely’s “Shadows of the Empire - Imperial City” is added in order to create a Joel McNeely pattern in the PT and with the Clones in particular in Episode II (see the ending cue change as well)
When Anakin goes to search for his mother (around 1:00:43), all of Anakin/PadmÈ dialogues are removed so as to mimic Luke’s equivalent speechless scene in ANH and to create a more “speechless” Anakin (closer to OT Darth Vader)
The “Clone Wars has begun” scene on Coruscant at the end of the movie has a cue that contains the Imperial March, but since there is no imperial army, no Darth Vader and not even Anakin in that scene, I have replaced the cue with Joel McNeelyís ìShadows of the Empire - Imperial Cityî excerpt (around 1:43:23, the cue begins during the Jedi Council room scene). The beautiful John Williams cue “Accross the star - reprise” during the secret wedding scene stays untouched
LOE -
All opening sounds prior to the Fox Fanfare are removed
Grievous ìAhhhhhh!î (around 0:13:21) is replaced with ìThe negociator!î (from a shot that was cut in this edit). It’s more consistent with “The Clone Wars” tv series where Grievous refers to Obi-Wan as the negociator the first time they meet (and less Grievous weird noises is still better imho)
During Anakin appointment scene (around 0:22:34), a few Palpatine’s deleted dialogue lines are added (“You fought many battles the Jedi Council thought were lost. And… you saved my life”) (thanks to NFBisms for this idea)
During the Jedi Council scene, Anakin’s childish “How can you do this? This is outrageous!” is removed and replaced with Vader’s eerie motif from Joel McNeely’s “Shadows of the Empire - Night Skies”, in order to give a more oriented OT Vader personality to Anakin (ie no talking, just dead silence)
When the Anakin/PadmÈ appartment scene begins (around 0:30:27), Anakin’s chuckling from the cut balcony scene is added, so as to give a bittersweet feeling to Anakin at this point of the movie (thanks to Hal9000 for this idea he abandoned)
During the Anakin (now becoming more and more the OT Darth Vader) march on the Jedi Temple (around 1:05:15), the great recycled cue from Episode II is replaced with Vader’s dramatic “carbonite chamber” theme from TESB (thanks to DominicCobb for the idea implemented on his EpIII edit)
When Anakin arrives on Mustafar (around 1:17:36), the audio transition created by Hal9000 to remove the Jedi Temple fight is replaced with another one (inspired by DominicCobb audio transition on his EpIII edit)
When Anakin and PadmÈ reunite of Mustafar (around 1:26:09), I’ve modified further the way Anakin line “I saw your ship” was removed (there was an echo of the line that still could be heard, I’ve decided to use lava sound for another spot along with the soundtrack cue to fill the void)
if
Yes. Cynicism aside, the use of Anakin’s theme… sort of works there. Better than the twins theme he was seemingly randomly using prior.
In for an inch, in for a mile. I’m just hoping to survive Ep9, and retire from Star Wars after that. (Ideally, Ep9 is brilliant and doesn’t cry out for anything, but I’ll hold the line until I can see it. But that’ll be the end of it. Whatever happens after that is out of my weirdly nerdy, semi-protective, angsty purview.)
Not a knock against those who have or will, but I have no interest in editing any spinoff movies. To me it’d feel like editing an EU novel.
And the eventual Episodes 10-12 trilogy? I… I think I’m okay with letting my reign of terror reside with the Skywalkers.
Don’t worry bout people saying your edit is too serious Hal. You left in the genuinely funny and well fitting moments for an experience that is more tonally balanced. You kept more humor in your edit than I have in mine.
It was just a perception that surprised me, and I wanted to reflect on it in light of my ‘presentation’ of the saga films so far. As long as I’m happy with the end result, which partly depends on it testing well, it’s all good.
Here’s a few thoughts on the role of humor in the ‘Hal9000 fan edit’ version of the Star Wars saga so far, in light of accusations of a perception of my TLJ edit as “No Fun Allowed” which was presented to me.[I don’t plan to mess with the OT beyond merely hybridizing the various official versions of the film, and perhaps a decidedly limited inclusion of a handful of other things, such as Adywan’s ESB Emperor scene (though even then it is merely sprucing up a SE alteration).]
ANH is an earnest story which makes use of ‘fish out of water’ and character-based humor throughout, with R2 and 3PO taking much of this on. The story is told in a ‘straight’ manner, with the humor being derived from the characters. (No fourth wall breaks.)
ESB is a bit darker and more contemplative overall, with its humor continuing to derive from characters, new and old. 3PO is almost completely played for comedic relief, all of which is consistent with his established characteristics. The same sort of dry, character-driven humor present in ANH continues on as well. The dramatic moments of the film are played straight, and each sequence has a consistent tone.
ROTJ is where humor starts to become more campy, for better or worse. Within the bounds of our ‘sacred trilogy,’ ROTJ sets the far end of the humor goalpost with Ewoks, Salacious Crumb, burping Sarlacc, and observational humor Solo. The film is able to achieve dramatic elevation at important moments, and the humor, while not everyone’s cup of tea, does not infringe of these for the most part.
In COD, my edit of TPM, the humor is reigned in, though consciously allowed to remain a characteristic part of the movie. I’d say it does not venture as far as ROTJ, though enough is there to round out the otherwise dry plot. There’s less humor, to be sure, but I think what remains functions in a more palatable way overall.
In TAS, my edit of AOTC, a great deal of the “humor” has been removed, falling into the category of pure cringe IMHO. I’m thinking of anything 3PO does after entering the droid factory, for example. The end result is a more serious tone for the film, with less cringey, laugh in disbelief style humor. However, it leaves the film less distinct, with a ‘sink or swim’ attitude on the part of this editor, and it is either received by a viewer as more or less effective, depending on how it functions without these crutches.
LOE, my edit of ROTS, has a similar treatment applied. Moreso than AOTC, ROTS reached for dark, dramatic sequences and a darker overall tone. This seemed to mix poorly with moments of very cartoony humor, so I attempted to even out the tone by cutting down on both the silliest bits of humor and a couple over-the-top dark moments. The end result is the darkest, least funny film of the bunch. This one will also stand or fall based on its effectiveness, which is very much open to debate, without relying on cartoony humor.
TFA:R doesn’t really change anything related to humor. TFA itself is a decidedly fun romp, with its humor typically being derived from its characters, which lent it a feeling of Star Wars authenticity. It might have gone a little too far in a few places, but seems to be well within the goalpost set by ROTJ, and a return to form by mostly effective and appropriate use of humor.
TLJ’s humor struck me as problematic at several points. As a microcosm, consider the spaceship/iron gag. It’s a genuinely fun and funny moment, though is a hard stylistic break from all prior Star Wars films, and is the sort of thing usually found in a parody. Removing this joke from TLJ:L ought not to be inferred as disliking the joke, but as part of an attempt to lessen the tenacious ‘deconstruction’ the film engages in from beginning to end, and to cohere with the other seven films to date. The same goes for the Caretakers, whose only role in the finished film is to break the fourth wall. Much of the film’s humor comes at the expense of Star Wars and its fan’s expectations. I’m not opposed to this in principle, though very much believe less would have been more.
TFA and TLJ’s humor is more pervasive and blended in than any of the prequels’. If one were to attempt to remove the majority of their humor in the same way I did with the prequels, they would suffer and not be nearly as successful overall. I recognized this and didn’t care to mess with TFA in this regard, for similar reasons as ROTJ. The humor I toned down for TLJ was in the interest of lessening the film’s constant meta commentary in order for what remains (including the deconstruction that remains) to telegraph good faith and be more easily received by its ostensible audience. In other words, to craft an edit I wish I could send back in time to myself at the time of the film’s release. A gift from me, the one who has digested and wrestled with the film’s views and come to appreciate it, to the other me, the first time viewer who couldn’t help but feel confused and insulted.
Oh, fair point. This strikes me as one of those things that feels like a hurdle by virtue of being a function of a fan edit, but would readily have been received and defended were it a feature of the original film.
No way to know for sure, but that’s my suspicion and by that criteria, I like it. 😃
Yeah… this project probably won’t ever be completed, as I would feel better about just leaving ROTJ alone. I do like the gonk droid idea, so I should probably at least do that scene and put it out there.
I don’t recall making a DTS for TFA:R, but if Hal can send me the stems for it I’ll happily make one.
PM sent
And I don’t see an issue about the ring for a hypothetical first time audience. Holdo mentions their symbol, then at the end we have the “Everyman” boy with an old school rebel insignia ring, who just heard enjoying a campfire story about Luke Skywalker.
No worries, Ash. Your feedback has been unilaterally helpful, and I wouldn’t want you to watch the final product until you would do so just to enjoy it.
Impossible thought exercise:
If my version is what was literally projected in theaters… What do you think you would have made of the very brief excursion to Canto Bight, especially the abrupt landing and arrest scene? My hope was that it would blend in well with the other 10,000 times the film tries to subvert expectations at every turn and often multiple times within a sequence.
For my part, I would probably have laughed at how short Finn and Rose’s efforts were cut, inferring the sort of sardonic criticism of their plans that the film directs at Poe for his, and also to Luke, Rey, and other characters. I would likely have suspected that some material had been cut in the interest of time/pacing (since it is still a lengthy Star Wars movie), which would have bridged their escape from jail to being in hyperspace. Then the fathier stuff would be one of those “oh man why did they cut this stuff out” things that I would have relented with “oh I guess that makes sense in service to the movie as a whole.”
That was my intent, and it isn’t a slam dunk at all. But I felt if I were to do a fan edit at all, it had to eliminate the fathier chase completely.
I should be able to run over as many children as I want!
Don’t pretend that all of us haven’t individually and collectively played into this. It’s nobody’s and everybody’s fault. He was bound to internalize the criticism regardless of whether it was pointed at him personally or just the character.
Glad to hear it! The Blu-ray does have some ugly compression. A cynical part of me wonders if it was intentionally done poorly in order to make the 4K HDR version compare better.
Well, they are, but I understand what you’re saying. 😉
Those compression things you mention are, to my eye, already present in the source material. DrDre’s LUT appeared to exacerbate these issues, which is why I tweaked the colors myself. I did not adjust anything other than the colors, no contrast or anything else.
Could you look over the scenes you mention on the same TV using the theatrical BluRay? Just to confirm you see it already present there.
I tweaked the colors a little, for lack of being able to use DrDre’s LUT without it causing video problems. It ought to be close to his version, though not as strong of an effect in order to avoid inadvertently going too far.
Just a little less green/yellow, basically.
Thanks for the kind feedback, and I’m glad to have published my thoughts via the commentary.
It’s funny… I felt as though I was emotionally expressive during his death scene, but in listening to myself afterward I sound totally deadpan!
The zip files have been replaced, save for the 1080 version, which is on its way up now.
Who’d have thought the built-in Mac OS zip utility would cause such problems! Recompressing all versions now, and I’ll swap them out on the Google Drive once they are ready, using the same utility I used before.
Hi everyone. Haven’t been on the site in a while, so I wasn’t aware about the progress of the project. I’m excited to hopefully watch this soon! If you still would like me to make a cover, I can do it in a couple of weeks when I get back from holiday.
P.S. Hal, if you do need me to make any posters or Blu-ray covers for an edit, don’t hesitate to PM me.
Sherman! You’re not dead! Where’s my droid?
Natedug put together some terrific cover artwork, modeled after your TFA:R covers. So in a way, you already have.
Well, needless to say, the movie file shouldn’t be corrupt. Are you saying you have a .mkv file but it’s having problems? Can anyone confirm downloading the zip file for the 1080p version and playing it successfully? I can recompress and reupload if needed, but would prefer not to if it won’t help.
The Internet has changed since the days of 2005ish. It seems that the initial reaction to this particular fan edit of TLJ has been to conflate it with the no-women cut, the petition to remake the movie, and other unhelpful garbage.
Even though I think anyone who listens to my commentary track would easily see that those are far from my intentions, I probably could have made the edit’s documentation a little more forthcoming about what the edit is NOT trying to do. Honestly, it didn’t even occur to me that such a thing would be necessary, given what fan edits have been up to this point. With this film’s reader-response dialogue, I should have anticipated the need for doing so.
I have added an addendum to the “intention” portion of the documentation, in the hopes that this project not be so easily assumed the worst of due to an intertextual sense of hatred toward the film for morally questionable reasons.
People are right to point out that most of the changes I’ve made are nitpicky and unnecessary. Of course they are; I wouldn’t have produced this edit if there wasn’t some sort of ‘critical mass’ of changes to get it started. But, while I am at it, I’ll take care of things here and there. I am not going to alter the changelist, as I could type at length for each change. The reality is that people who are predisposed to view any fan edit as anathema will reject it out of hand, and the only way for those interested to assess it is to invest the time into viewing it themselves. It’s merely an alternative; fan edits are not destructive of the original version.
As my commentary track makes clear, I like this film a great deal, which is why I want to produce an edit like this, as opposed to doing nothing. I’m preaching to the choir, but wanted to reflect on the initial reception this edit has gotten on the Internet at large.
Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it. Have you seen “The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret”? There’s a scene in which a British person snaps when the main character refuses to pronounce the word correctly.