LordRorek

Sounds awesome! Can I get a link?

Alright, I have finally gotten the chance to watch this and here are my thoughts.

0:01:26 I feel the text crawl is just a little too long towards the end. The sentence “on a daring mission straight into the heart of the fleeing separatist army, in an effort to rescue the captive Chancellor…” could be shortened to a more concise “on a daring mission to rescue the captive Chancellor…”.

0:07:43 BRILLIANT IDEA TO USE THE VIDEO GAME AUDIO!!! I just wanted to say that first. But the part where Obi-Wan says “Never an elevator when you need one” is a little hard to hear over the blaster fire. Perhaps have him say it when the destroyer droids are rolling up and deploying their arms?

1:29:58 - 1:30:02 The audio for Anakin’s line sounds a little off IDK if that is something you can help or not but I felt I should point it out.

1:30:17 - 1:30:28 I love the dialog changes here but I would remove the “If your not with me” and have it be.

Anakins back turned

Obi-Wan “Anakin please face up to what you have done!”

Anakin looks over his shoulder and then turns his back again

shot still on his turned back

Anakin “It’s to late for that”.

I think it’s more powerful this way.

1:46:21 I am a tad sad to see the scene where Vader reacts to Padmes death removed but if you feel it is necessary.

1:49:21 - 1:49:53 I have never liked this Yoda scene but I can see how other people would like it.

That’s Basically it. Overall I feel this is the version we should have gotten in theaters and will be my definitive version of this movie!

P.S. I noticed lines towards the top and bottom of the screen that seem a tad distorted throughout the movie? Perhaps it’s just the version I have.

The nostalgia critic points out a lot of things that would help.

Especially when he critiques the burning people behind the door scene.

https://youtu.be/lLN1FwiqGwc

Would it be possible to move back and restructure the scene with Yoda?

I imagine repurposing the scene as Yoda telling Luke that he needs to train Rey. Kind of like a call back to how Obi-Wan told Yoda that he needed to train Luke.

Like you have the scene where he shows her the books and tells her that the Jedi have to end. Then the next night he is going to burn the books once and has his momment with Yoda.

I think it fits in with the general theme of his conversation with Yoda being that as a teacher we must let our students make thier own mistakes otherwise how will they learn?

I also imagine reworking Lukes character arc in this movie to be more like Phil from the beginning of the movie Hercules. The person who has given up trying to train heroes because his students failed him but now is forced to reluctantly train one last promising student.

I HAVE BEEN WAITING SINCE DAY 1 FOR THIS EDIT!!! I AM SO EXCITED!!! 😆

P.S. I am a little sad that you cut Vader’s reaction to Padme’s death but it is a necessary loss in the grand scheme of things.

Did you keep the birth of Luke and Leia?

P.P.S. Any plans on an episode II canon cut? Because I would love to see that!!!

dahmage said:

TV’s Frink said:

I don’t remember the volume being that loud.

it is loud compared to what you might expect a menu to be. i only noticed it when switching from rogue one to this, and still had the volume from the end of rogue one. The trailer starts with a ‘bang’ so to speak. not exactly a slow fade in. so yes, quite startling when it suddenly starts up. most commercial discs fade in i think.

Yeah, I think if he lowered the volume on the trailers or rescored the trailers some music like Binary sunset then it would work a lot better.

But this is just a minor complaint, for the most part, they are awesome!!!

Does anyone else hate that the main menu has the extremely loud and obnoxious trailer in the background?

Personally, I would have preferred the main menu being just the films logo in space with a signature song from each film playing subtly in the background.

Nothing against njvc, I think he has done a fine job. I’m just voicing my opinion.

SparkySywer said:

All you need AotC for is to learn what the Separatists are. Explain it in the crawl to RotS and you could even just cut out AotC.

But anyway, I look forward to seeing this. What stuff would you cut/change/etc to fit the movies better?

Well, this project is very much in its infancy so I don’t have an exact list of things I want to change but my overall goals are two-fold.

1. To bring the both the characterizations and the plot of these films in line with canon (Similar to NFBisms New Canon Cut).
2. To edit the films to accentuate the positives of the machete order and cover the negatives as much as possible. (Like when the text crawl says episode 2 when it is the third film in the machete order. I find this distracting and it immediately takes me out of the viewing experience.)

Cthulhunicron said:

Obi-Wan tells Luke “your father wanted you to have [the lightsaber] when you were old enough.” He also mentions Owen being afraid Luke would follow Obi-Wan on some “idealistic crusade” like Anakin.

This one bugs me because you can’t really justify it as Obi-Wan simply lying about Luke’s father. Why even bring it up? All he needed to say is “by the way, I have your father’s lightsaber, if you want it.” Why even mention anything about the “idealistic crusade” or Anakin wanting Luke to have the lightsaber? AotC shows us Owen and Anakin interacting for maybe a day. Prequel Owen clearly wouldn’t have any reason to care that Anakin left to go save Obi-Wan from the termites. Everything in the original scene points to a backstory where Owen and Anakin grew up together, and Owen was upset when Anakin left with Obi-Wan to go fight in the war.

Well if you watch it in machete order you assume that he grew up on the moisture farm with his step sibling’s and his stepfather until Qui-Gon finds him and brings him to the order.

Although you have to skip Watto’s conversation with Anakin to make this work, but hey what do I look like a miracle worker? LOL JK

Hello, I am sure most of you have heard of the machete order but if you haven’t I will let this video do the explaining.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YCENORoqO-o&t=2s

We good? Okay now that that’s out of the way. I would love to do a fan edit of all the star wars films to make them seem as if they were originally created to be viewed in the machete order.

Like removing continuity errors, changing the episode numbering (Star War Episode I: A New Hope), fixing the problems of the prequel trilogy, etc.

But for the foreseeable future, my busy schedule won’t give me the time this project would require.

But I thought it would be fun to start coming up with alternative titles and text crawls for this project.

All alternate titles or text crawls you guys come up with would be great but especially so for episodes 2 and 3. Because as the video above states “Episodes 2 and 3 act as a massive flashback” I feel to facilitate this idea the titles and text crawls should be modified to let the viewer know that this is “Before the dark times… before the Empire”.

OH I just heard a great idea I thought you might like to borrow. I heard from somewhere on these forums about replacing Darth Vaders NOOOO at the end of ROTS with Mufasa’s bone chilling scream when he falls in the Lion King.

Since both characters are voiced by James Earl Jones it might actually work.

I’ll give it a shot.

wombat_94 said:

I had the same thoughts. I found the current Canon Pixma series of printers that will print on discs to be the best solution.

I bought a Pixma MX922 multifunction for about $80 from Amazon along with a set of four full replacement ink cartridges (3rd party) for another ~$20.

For $100 I got a printer that has been excellent for printing both the discs themselves and - when using the right photo paper - the blu-ray case inserts and graphics/pages to cover my home made slipcase boxes.

I just finished last night with the production of 5 full sets of discs… with lots of experimentation over the last couple of months, and several attempts that required me to throw away printed materials I am just barely into the second replacement set of ink, so I would say my total out-of-pocket for the printer and ink is only about $90.

Can I see some pics of your disc sets?

Hey, I want to print up professional looking despecialized blu-ray sets as Christmas gifts for my friends and family.

My only problem is the disc printing.

I want them to look professional so I don’t want to use stickers but I also don’t want to shell out hundreds of dollars for a disc printer I’m only going to use a few times.

So what would be the most cost effective solution to my problem?

Hey, I want to print up professional looking despecialized blu-ray sets as Christmas gifts for my friends and family.

My only problem is the disc printing.

I want them to look professional so I don’t want to use stickers but I also don’t want to shell out hundreds of dollars for a disc printer I’m only going to use a few times.

So what would be the most cost effective solution to my problem?

Hey if anyone has a link to a torrent download of these Blu-Rays could you PM it to me?

I don’t have spleen even though I have been trying to get an invite.

Edit: Someone gave me an invite to myspleen. YAY!!!

Hey. Does anyone have a torrent file for this? http://originaltrilogy.com/topic/Star-Wars-Despecialized-Editions-Custom-Bluray-Set/id/49995/page/1

Edit: Nevermind someone gave me an invite to my spleen. YAY!!!

NFBisms said:

@LordRorek: On your PPS, that’s exactly what I did. The “trap” thing.

Oops, I must have missed it, My bad. LOL

Thank you so much for your reply. After hearing your reasonings I agree with you but I would like to offer a few suggestions.

I guess it’s just me, but I rather like the cutting back and forth; the juxtaposition of R2 having a violent-ish adventure as Obi Wan and Anakin are literally just having an elevator chat, works better to me than if we watch one happen then the other. It’s quick, abrupt, and happens a lot, but I think that’s what adds to the humor. But that is a device used in editing for comedy movies, so I can see how it’s distracting in the context of a movie like this. Idk.

Oh I agree the cutting back and forth does work but I think it happens so quickly that I don’t really have anytime to take in and thus laugh at the comedy. I just feel that you need to either seperate the two or hold on each cut a little longer before mvoing to the next one.

Thanks for this! I’ve been trying to break how I was going to fix this scene, and I can’t believe I didn’t think of reversing the previous shot! I’ve changed it quickly in between studying lol. Thank you! It really helps to have more than my pair of eyes on the edit.

Your most welcome. Don’t worry I plan on giving this fam edit as much feedback as I can. LOL

This is actually from Hal 9000’s edit, and I think it’s fine tbh. It would be kind of confusing to the hypothetical first time viewer, but I don’t know how much. There are alot of things that go unexplained in Star Wars, and this is one of those things that’s easier to assume correctly; that that’s his “true form” or whatever. The “or whatever” part allows for some imagination on the part of the viewer anyway.

Good point but perhaps you could splice together a transformation shot from the footage of Windu reflecting back force lightning.

Something like this.

Anakin cuts off Windu's hand.

Use the shot of Palpatine shooting force lightning at Windu from earilier.

Then use a shot of the lightning changing his face.

Then have palpatine yell the POWER!!! line.

I do think it’s fine as well, I’m just offering some suggestions.

I thought the music surprisingly flowed from one note to the next despite my cutting, but I did think the background lava explosion sfx just kind of abruptly stops; is that what you meant? If that’s the case, I’m definitely still trying to work that out. Maybe by having the sound fade out a little sooner before the next cut? But that might be more jarring.

Yeah I mean’t the lava explosion sfx cuts out. My bad. LOL

I think there isn’t enough to support the idea that in the time Anakin and Obi Wan are separated, he turns fully against his best friend. Before, you have the justification of “oh the dark side corrupted him” or “oh they were never really friends”, but those are both contrary to the idea of my edit. They’re really only enemies by circumstance and what Anakin’s done at this point; I don’t think Anakin should have any real ill will against Obi Wan. By leaving “if you’re not with me…” hanging, and silence from Anakin there onwards, it’s almost like Anakin is giving Obi Wan a quick out. But Obi Wan obviously doesn’t want to back down, so Anakin does he must - which is try to kill him. From there, Anakin is “too quiet” because in my interpretation of the characters, I do believe that any verbal engagement between the two would go differently than it did in the theatrical. Obi Wan could talk sense (or at the very least regret enough to stop) into Anakin, because from Anakin’s POV, he doesn’t believe the Jedi are actually evil.

Very good points and I agree with your reasonings. Here is an alternative solution which I feel fits into your characterization.

Anakin “To my new empire.”

Obi-Wan “Your new empire? Anakin, my allegiance is to the republic!”

Anakin look's over his shoulder and then turns his head back again.

Anakin with his back still turned “Don't make me kill you.”

(This uses Anakins original dialog in between “Your new empire?” and “Anakin, my allegiance is to the Republic, to democracy!” I feel this fits in well with Anakin giving Obi-Wan a quick out and it mirrors the dialog Vader says to luke in ESB “Don’t make me destroy you.”)

Obi-Wan “I will do what I must.”

Anakin “So will I.” 

(This would have to be constructed from earlier dialog but as you said “Anakin does what he
must - which is try to kill him.” and you already have the “WILL I” sound from “you WILL tRY”)

or Anakin “You will.” 

(To me this is basically Anakin acknowledging that “You will do what you must and so will I.”)

I think this could fix the disjointed and clunky feel of this conversation while also fitting into your characterization.

I somewhat agree with you when it comes to the line “This is the end for you.” (Cutting out the “My Master” part) but I also feel that if Anakin’s only reply to “I have failed you Anakin, I have failed you” is “This is the end for you.” it kind of reflects the cold brutality of the man Anakin is becoming (Darth Vader).

But like I said these are just my opinions and suggestions. LOL

I had a slowed down shot of Anakin’s face there in an earlier cut, but it looks even weirder. I took the lesser of two weirds, because I really don’t want “underestimate my power.”

This is how it appears in your edit.

Obi-Wan "It's over Anakin, I have the high ground."

The skiff pulls up.

Obi-Wan "Don't try it."

Shot of Anakins face before he jumps.

Anakin jumps.

I feel it would work better if you focused on Anakins face before Obi-Wan says “Don’t try it”.

Here is my suggestion for how it could be improved.

Obi-Wan "It's over Anakin, I have the high ground."

The skiff pulls up.

Shot of Anakins face before he jumps.

Obi-Wan "Don't try it."

Anakin Jumps

I’ll see what I can do. I remember putting Padme’s death where it was because I felt the shot went by too fast before or after Vader’s initial reaction.

Well, I like how you intercut the two and I love the placement of Padme’s death but what I want to see is Vader’s reaction during the line “I…? I couldn’t have! She was alive… I felt it!”.

So in my mind, it would play out like this.

Vader "Where is Padme? Is she safe? Is she all right?"

Palpatine "It seems in your anger-"

Cut to Padme's death scene.

Palpatine "-you killed her."

Slight pause in the dialog for Padme's head to fall.

Cut back to Vader.

Vader "I...? I couldn't have! She was alive... I felt it!"

Then the scene continues exactly as you edited it.

Like I said earlier these are just little things to me, on the whole, your fan edit is amazing 10/10.

P.S. Aww shucks, I’m glad you like the poster.

P.P.S One thing I forgot to mention in my last post was that I would include the dialog between Anakin and Obi-Wan about sensing a trap but removing the line about sensing Count Doku. Because I know why you cut the line about Count Doku but I think the banter about springing the trap is entertaining and again gives off that brothers vibe you’re going for.

This is a poster I made. IDK if you want to use it or not but I thought you would at least think it was cool.

Here is a link to the full-size image http://i.imgur.com/mgpwBSR.png

Okay I have watched the rough cut and here are my thoughts

Here I am going to list the things I feel need some work although keep in mind that this is just my opinion so I ask that you all take this with a grain of salt.

0:9:26 - 0:9:55
I like what you did here with the elevator and R2 burning the droids although I feel that cutting back and forth between the two happens a little too much thus making it kinda distracting. What I would suggest is that after you have R2 fix the elevator cut to the elevator segment and then after Anakin and Obi-Wan’s little banter about R2 you cut to R2 getting picked up and burning the droids. I feel it would be less distracting and the comedic timing would work better overall.

0:13:03 - 0:13:05
I like what you did here having Anakin in silent contemplation rather than saying “Then his fate will be the same as ours.” but it looks a little weird. I would suggest holding on his face then using the part where he looks up from Obi-wan toward Palpatine ( 0:13:01 - 0:13:02 ) but reverse it so it looks like he is looking down at Obi-wan.

0:25:21 - 0:25:28
Excellent editing here I love the dialog changes but the music gets a little loud towards the end to the point where I can hardly hear Palpatine say “and you saved my life.”.

0:53:07 - 0:53:10
The only thing I don’t like about this scene is that you suddenly cut to Grievous mid-fall without showing him jumping off the platform.

1:03:18 - 1:03:19
I understand why you cut out the whole spin jump Palpatine does but it feels like something has been removed when I watch it so even though its kinda silly I would keep it.

1:04:27 - 1:05:38
I saw what you were going for but I feel the transition of Palpatine’s face from normal to scarred without an explanation is a little jarring and would be kinda confusing to first-time viewers. I also feel that Anakin should say “What have I done?” because without that it makes Palpatine’s next statement sound like half a conversation to me.

1:05:38 - 1:06:40
I like this scene although I would have at least a mention of Padme being the reason why he pledges himself to Darth Sidious and about them needing to work together to discover the secret to life because it feels a little too quick and I think a first time viewer would be left wondering “why is he becoming his apprentice now? isn’t there another options?”. I also feel cutting to Yoda in this scene is a little distracting, it should focus entirely on Anakin and Palpatine.

1:30:45 - 1:30:46
There’s a weird music change at this point that was a little distracting.

1:31:16 - 1:31:38
I like how you cut out a lot of the cheesy dialog here but it feels a little clunky and disjointed. Here is how I feel it could be improved.

Anakin “To my new empire.”.

Obi-Wan “Your new empire? Anakin, my allegiance is to the republic!”

Anakin “If you’re not with me then you’re my enemy.”

Obi-Wan “I will do what I must.”

Anakin “You will try.”

I feel this removes most of the cheesy dialog while still feeling like a complete conversation.

1:35:30 - 1:35:39
I would have included Anakin saying “This is the end for you.” I just feel Anakin is a little too quiet throughout the fight. Obi-Wan at least got “I have failed you Anakin.” so I feel Anakin should have at least a little dialog. Also, I feel Obi-Wan should say the full “I have failed you Anakin, I have failed you.” because I feel it cuts away a little too quickly when you shorten it.

1:36:00 - 1:36:10
I’m a little torn as to whether or not to include Anakin’s “underestimate my power” line but I think that you should have focused on Anakin’s face before Obi-Wan says “Don’t try it” because to me Obi-Wan can just tell what Anakin is thinking by the look on his face but if he just says it without focusing on Anakin’s face first, it looks a little weird.

1:36:15 - 1:37:22
Now I want to say that of all the things you changed removing the majority of Obi-Wan’s speech was my least favorite. I know you’re trying to make this more personal and less about the prophecy but I feel that this entire speech is completely personal because in my mind this speech is two things.

1. Obi-Wan is saying “You were my brother, You were the greatest of us, and you betrayed us all.” this is basically Obi-Wan telling Anakin how disappointed he is that he has fallen so low and how much Obi-Wan failed him.

2. This is the point from Obi-Wan’s point of view where Anakin “died”. So I consider this speech in a way to be Obi-Wan’s eulogy for Anakin Skywalker who was in his words “The best star pilot in the galaxy, a cunning warrior, and he was a good friend.”.

1:43:36 - 1:43:55
I see what you were gong for here but I would put a pause between what the emperor saying “You killed her” and Vader’s reaction and put Padme’s death during said pause so that we can see Vader’s reaction on screen. Seeing his reaction to this news is one of the highlights of ROTS for me, so I would hate to see it cut.

The only other thing I feel should be included in this edit is this deleted scene https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJUVHSBy9JM but remove Grevious and Shok Te so they can meet him on the bridge. Because I feel this scene adds some levity to the film and the banter gives off that brothers vibe you’re going for.

Now to list all the things I loved about your edit…Oh, wait I can’t…Because there are too fucking many. The issues I mentioned above is only nitpicking. Overall even in this rough state it is already my definitive ROTS FanEdit. 10/10 Amazing work. 😃

P.S.
1:24:08 - 1:24:20
I do have to mention that you handled Yoda not fighting the emperor masterfully. The reasons/motivations other editors give Yoda for not fighting the Emperor don’t work for me. But with some subtle dialog, you give the impression that Yoda is basically telling Obi-Wan “Forget about Anakin and The Emperor. We must protect what remains of the Jedi Order.”. Which is exactly the kind of thing Yoda would say in this situation, just like in ESB when he tells Luke to stay, finish his training, and let his friends die for the greater good, well done, maestro, well done.

NFBisms said:

I do agree with that reading of Yoda’s character, especially in the context of TCW, where I obviously don’t mind a lot of things like that and Obi Wan knowing R2 and stuff. I also like the somewhat symbolic imagery of watching the Senate hall literally being broken down and torn apart in this scene - really kind of signifies the end of this era.

My problem with it is that it kind of breaks the flow of things, specifically emotionally - and when it comes down to it, it is just another action scene. We go beat to beat to beat of Obi Wan and Padme finding out about Vader, to them both wanting to personally confront Anakin, and I’d rather have that play out the whole way through. The Yoda/Emperor thing is just so divorced from everything else, because they were never our perspective in the rest of the film: that’s Anakin, Padme, and Obi Wan. Yoda especially doesn’t do much in the movie. The main question I had to ask myself was what would be added to the story of the Empire’s rise from A/P/O’s perspectives by watching Yoda lose to Palpatine? It really is just another fight scene, one that distracts from the main plot and emotions. I’m not saying he wouldn’t have wanted to do something, but I can’t have him do something at the expense of what should be the focus. Yoda was never a focal point of the movie - besides the Order 66 scene - it’s distracting to have him share the climactic spotlight with Anakin and Obi Wan, even if it plays out before Anakin and Obi Wan duel.

Besides, it’s not like Yoda is being a coward. He even says “Until the time is right” later, so he’s being pragmatic about what they can do here and now. I know the idea is that he only learns to be like that because of his loss to Palpatine, but it’s just unnecessary. Idk, I’d have liked to keep in, but it doesn’t do much for my cut.

Very good points. Like I said I don’t agree with most people’s justifications but I do agree with your reasoning.

May the force be with you and your edit.😁

Oh and I forgot to ask.

What did you use as your primary source, The special edition Blu-Ray or Harmy’s despecialized edition?

darthrush said:

Since the edit is already complete I won’t be making more changes but I would still love to respond to your suggestion 😉

I actually think it is a good idea. It would be a strong way to end it and it might be the nostalgia in me but I just couldn’t lose the end celebration because seeing the ghosts look at Luke and all be so proud is just so heartwarming. It is a final scene that has a lot of joy and happiness to me so that is why I chose to keep it. I do see where you are coming from though! 😃

Thanks for your reply I know the edit was finished but I felt like commenting on it. I think your edit is absolutely amazing and is my definitive ROTJ edit. 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

Mithrandir said:

Yes. This approach, the inclusion of more militaristic dialogue and the removal of any references to Anakin as a diminished character makes this edit the most promising ROTS fan-edit since the days of Aalenfae, Cutter and Bob Garcia’s edits.

Yeah, I’m only hoping he does the same for AOTC so that I can have the perfect machete order. 😂