Matt.F

4 episodes in and I think The Acolyte has supplanted Book of Boba Fett as the weakest Star Wars series for me.

At least Tem Morrison looked like he wanted to be there (giving lessons on how to ride a speeder bike) and there were a few inventive set pieces (the Tusken attack on the train was excellent).

Star Wars has always been rewatchable for me, but 4 episodes in and I think The Acolyte is the first which I’ll never revisit. I hold out hope that it might improve or that a fan edit might redeem it somewhat. There are some nice visuals to work with (even though this last episode had some bad fake jungle, there were some atmospheric and impressive wide shots).

Using the visuals and music (which are the strongest elements) it might even work better as a fanedit ‘mood piece’. Think Blade Runner or the movies of Denis Villeneuve, and try to restyle the clunky dialogue and charisma-free performances into something a bit more abstract and dreamy. Could work?

I’d love a link please, sounds like some great tweaks and improvements on this latest version!

I hope the ‘mystery box’ element of what happened to the witches isn’t The Acolyte’s raison d’etre, as once all becomes clear the show might have little or no rewatchability.

So far, for myself I am really enjoying some of the incidental elements, such as the set designs and new environments (particularly in this 3rd episode which had a rather medieval castle feel to it), and I really like the atmospheric soundtrack.

The performances and script… hmmm, not so great. For all the amazing work the set builders and prop makers have done, if the actors fail to convince that they exist in that world and are part of those environments then it all comes off as a little bit cosplayish and lacks human ‘truth’. A couple of the more experienced actors are just about managing to sell it, but for the most part the cast appear to me as actors performing and reciting lines.

It’s lower tier Star Wars to me right now, but y’know Star Wars is like pizza. Even bad pizza is still pretty yummy, and I’d rather watch the next episode of The Acolyte than 99% of other things on TV.

I think there are a few small bits and pieces of FX changes throughout, the one I noticed most in the Patterson edit was Reva swiftly strikes and kills the Jedi they were hunting in the cantina and then when you see him strung up in the street he’s headless. In all, Kai Patterson’s is a decent edit and easy to find on google.

I’ll definitely check out the Pixeljoker edit when it does get released as like I say, I really want to like Kenobi more, but it just kinda trundles along in third gear. Neither intelligent enough to engage the mind, nor exciting and action-packed enough to provide thrills.

I watched the Kai Patterson edit of Kenobi yesterday, and that also boasts some new FX work like PixelJoker.

With a bit of distance since the release of Kenobi I’d say that even when tightened up by a fan editor and with many of the clunkiest moments removed, what you’re left with is still… somewhat mid. I want to love it, but it just never really sparks into life, and I’m not sure that tweaking a few visual fx can change that.

sidshady12 said:

The update isn’t ready yet, I guess I didn’t specify that so my bad. I had implied I was still finishing it up when asking for any final suggestions (which offer is still open!), but I should have it ready within the next month or two

The only suggestion to improve it now would be to use the 4K source, but I imagine that would be a real long trudge across ground you’ve already covered once.

It’s a brilliant edit, and it can stand proudly alongside the three LOTR movies.

sidshady12, I cant say enough good things about your edit of The Hobbit. In fact I think it’s the most successful fan edit I’ve ever watched.

It’s great to hear that you’ve polished it still further, could I have a link please to update my copy?

The common criticism of ROTJ is that it’s tonally lightweight and ‘kiddie’ in comparison to the previous two films.

Critics say act 1 muppets, act 2 teddy bears, and its not until act 3 that the film takes itself half seriously.

I believe that restoring the Vader / Luke deleted scene would help redress that somewhat, by adding more substance and gravitas to the earlier part of the film.

In this age where we are seeing grainy scratched old photographs turned pristine I’d have some hope the technology exists, and if anyone can upscale and improve the visual quality it would be yourself Adrian. It would be quite a coup were it possible.

timdiggerm said:

Matt.F said:

we see the parked Falcon and XWing

He’d have to fix that awful matte painting though

Ha! Personally I like that… it’s just one more lovely bit of unseen but original, period 1980s artistry to enjoy from this magical movie which we all love.

Plus with the sandstorm sequence cut (and totally unusable) it provides some geographical context to the rescue plan.

Actually they duplicated frames originally to slow everything down so they had enough frames to cover the wipe. Originally there was no wipe and it cut straight to vader walking through the corridor.

I wonder if you’ve tried reinserting the deleted scene back where it originally belonged and watching it through?

I said as much in the facebook thread but I really think that scene is important to set up the main ‘father son’ theme of the movie, and that it’d be a stronger film with it in. I don’t think it undermines the later Luke reveal as we only see him hooded.

I think for many people, reinserting that great scene would make Revisited the definitive version of ROTJ (where along with the ‘father son’ drama, we also get to see an extra Death Star corridor set built by the production, we see the parked Falcon and XWing, and we see Luke tooling his new lightsaber - all v.cool).

I don’t much like the ‘green goo’ tsunami that insta-kills the orcs. I do think the Extended Edition improved it slightly as we see more of Aragorn and Gimli on the battlefield killing orcs including Gothmog, so they are still participating in the victory even after the Dead arrived.

I think the only way to accomplish it would be to have the Army of the dead arrive on the boats and join the battle but delete the shot of the green goo swarming over the Oliphaunt (Day Z style) and then flooding the streets of Gondor - really just 3 seconds of footage to cut. Replace it with some slo-mo battle footage of regular men fighting and perhaps a short voiceover by Gandalf “the turn of the tide…” to imply time passing and the battle being won, then segue into the aftermath of the battlefield.

ps. if you’re going to make an edit then also tweak Denethor’s burning man marathon run, that’s far sillier than the Army of the Dead!

Have you seen ‘Durin’s Folk’ edit by Maple Films? Here’s the link: http://www.maple-films.com/jrr-tolkiens-the-hobbit/the-final-version-of-durins-folk-and-the-hill-of-sorcery-is-now-available

It takes the ‘Thorin-centric’ footage that you’re talking about and edits it together into a separate companion piece to the Bilbo-centric material that you see in the Maple Leaf and M4 Book Edit.

I think what you’re suggesting, adding two substantial Thorin-centric prequel sequences into M4 The Book Edit might possibly undermine Bilbo’s story rather than improve it.

Hal, I’d also love a link to V4 and your other Sequel Trilogy edits. Thanks in advance!

Your BoBF edit was nothing short of magic. You elevated that material to legit one of my favorite Star Wars films. I was, frankly speaking, astonished by the potential you brought out in it. But perhaps that potential just isn’t here with Ahsoka.

Hi Smudger, probably not the right thread to ask but would it be possible to get a link to your BOBF edit? Sounds really good…

I’ve just watched this, and congratulations you’ve improved it no end!

I’ve got lots of positive things I could say but I feel at this stage you’re still looking for feedback to hone and improve it. You could leave it as it is and the series would have benefitted greatly from your edit but I did spot some small things that could make it even better (in my humble opinion).

There were two minor technical glitches. One, when the Lucasfilm logo fades out at the start, it left artifacts on the screen. The second was when Sabine points her gun at the rock critter and says “that tricks over” there is a momentary glitch.

There are several more subjective ways I feel the edit could be improved, and please feel free to ignore these if you disagree. Firstly, my suggestion would be to remove the ‘traffic cop’ sequence, when the two spaceships accost Sabine on the highway. It slows things down, its extraneous to the plot, and it mentions “missing the ceremony” - a ceremony which has already been cut from this edit. But most importantly it rings the bulls**t detector, as the ship pulls away from the pursuit for no reason literally within just a mile from Sabines pad. If they genuinely wanted to confront Sabine and escort her to the city they could have flown just one mile further to her destination and done so. It’s a lame moment and could very easily be removed (you can still have Sabine bombing it down the highway listening to her rebellious rawk muzak, just cut to her arriving home before the cops show up).

“Do it!.. for Ezra” my suggestion would be to keep that line in, spoken by Baylan to Sabine. It’s a cool callback to Palpatine and Anakin in Revenge Of The Sith (which foreshadows Anakins reappearance in the flashback). You also hear it whispered again later when Ahsoka investigates the scene so it really needs to be there.

Later when the troopers surround Sabine and Ezra on Peridea, maybe cut Shin ordering “fire!” as again its a lame unrealistic moment with too much time left hanging in the air before the order and any action being taken. Feels too contrived, you can improve this.

My final suggestion would be to keep Sabine’s force push to help Ezra make his big leap. Seeing as you’ve kept in her failed attempts to move the mug, this is important to close and complete her arc. She does have the force but her ability to use it has to mean something to her, to help someone she loves. That’s Sabine’s arc and again imho needs to be there.

I hope these don’t come across as negative criticisms - because they are intended as constructive feedback. You’ve done a fantastic job with making Ahsoka into a movie length format, and a massive well done and thank you are in order!

I loved how much your edit improved Mando Season 3, and am hoping this will do the same for Ahsoka…

Would be great to receive a link please?

Thanks for sharing the link, I really enjoyed this edit!

Very subtly done and respectful to the original, but the little tweaks and fixes to the FX, the gunshot sounds, the colour grading really added up. This is definitely the best version of The Terminator that exists imho, and a great excuse to revisit a great film!

Sounds great, I would love a link please!

Thanks for sending the link Anjohan, I enjoyed the watch and I really appreciate the effort that must have gone into editing such a big (and rather messy!) series.

You’ve done a good job at removing extraneous scenes and clunky moments, and for me - you’ve definitely improved it and made a decent Rings Of Power ‘the movie’ part one. On a quality level it’s never going to be up there competing with Peter Jackson’s LOTR trilogy but with your edit it becomes way more watchable and enjoyable than it was. It’s got great visuals and costumes, clearly a lot of money and attention to detail went into the series, and now with the faster pace of your edit… it does feel more of a companion piece to Jacksons movies.

On the whole, the scenes all flowed really nicely. There were just some small nitpicks that felt a bit ‘off’. When Galadriel and Halbrand get on the boat and ask Elendil where they are heading, we get a big dramatic pause and the answer “home”… I was expecting that to seque into the Numenor establishing shots, but instead the next scene jarringly follows the map to Khazad Dum. As audiences if we get a big dramatic “were going to Numenor…” then we expect the next shot to be of Numenor.

The other small nitpick was cutting that epic shot of the Numenor cavalry charge with Galadriel in the middle. It was arguably the ‘money shot’ of the entire series, and certainly the most grandly cinematic. If the aim is to make the series feel like a movie then could there perhaps be a way to keep that shot in?

But really they are small nitpicks, you’ve done a fine job with this, well done chap!

I’d like a link too please if possible. I’ve just watched Anjohan’s fanedit and it would be fascinating to compare. Also I like the idea of condensing the story threads, rather than constantly cutting between them.

Anjohan, I’d love to receive a link too, interested to revisit the series and see your adaptation of it!

szopman said:

smudger9 said:

Yes, it was a rather meaty episode. For the sake of my edit I was hoping for lots of filler. Not a huge amount that can be cut on first viewing, but that often changes on subsequent viewings. One thing I will say is that this series feels the most cinematic of the D+ shows.

I guess I could cut more by weaving it into episode 5 but it is going to be very difficult to cut this season down to 3h.

Maybe the 7th episode will offer us some more fillers. I feel it in my bones that the next episode will be New Republic-centered.

If you cannot cut it down to 3h, well, c’est la vie 😉 As long as it’s a good, quality content and a coherent, well-paced story, it doesn’t matter if it’s 2.5h or 3.5h 😉

I agree, the Lord Of The Rings EE are 200+ minutes each and they fly by. Don’t self-impose a runtime that means the edit becomes incomprehensible or you lose great scenes that viewers will miss. And it goes without saying, don’t cut any of Ray Stephenson’s scenes!

In Episode 6 I particularly enjoyed the visuals. The approach to the witches planet was commendably stately and unrushed, the statues and the tumbled stones gave it a timeless ancient feel (they’ve been subtly referencing ancient Henges, leylines, etc a fair bit in Ahsoka which is giving it a nice distinction beyond what we’ve previously seen in Star Wars).

A couple of things caused dissonance. Firstly was that the galaxy they arrived at seemed exactly like the one they left - perhaps it should have had a different visual look (for example a bright Milky Way style band across it)… Secondly, the Stormtroopers suspected Sabine - with all her fighting prowess - wouldn’t last long, they set the wasteland up as being Mad Max brutal… but then we arrive at a Hobbiton village of friendly turtles! The turtles wore waistcoats and appeared to have a culture that would be at odds with such a barren environment. (That said, the creature work on them was fantastic!).

Those small niggles aside, I think the series has found its stride and improved immeasurably after the first two rather clunky episodes. Good stuff!

I’d like to see The Prequel Trilogy receive Special Edition versions.

They’ve all got at least one or two decent deleted scenes that could be reinstated and some early-era CGI that could be improved upon.

This episode of Ahsoka is the first time we’ve seen ‘actual’ physical Clone Troopers, rather than the animated CGI ones. Wow do they look better. It was a major disappointment to me that AOTC and ROTS felt like watching an animated movies for large swathes, it didnt look good, it didnt look real, and it was a world away from the grounded, tangible, touchable aesthetic of the Original Trilogy.

So thanks to Ahsoka I’m now imagining Prequel Special Editions, where some of the CGI toon troopers are replaced with good old fashioned blokes in suits! That i’d like to see…

Maybe going from a reworded crawl straight to the Corellia scene as an opener could be a radical approach? The crawl can have the ‘Rebels gang’ of Ahsoka, Sabine and Hera together and unified from the off, and investigating suspicious Imperial activity at the shipyards. The encounter with the Sith and the tracker on the engine part then leads them on into the rest of the plot.

That would do away with all the tedious (and unnecessary) scenes of Ahsoka and Sabine being estranged, and do away with the silly Rubiks cube map.

If you’re looking to cut a big sizable chunk off the run time to make the series movie length then that could work?