Octorox

I don’t care for that, it seems kind of like a worst of both worlds to me. You still get the same (frequently criticized) “superman” pose and flying motion as in the theatrical cut but you also rob Leia of her one moment to tap into the force and save herself in an act of desperation. Luke saving her is (imo) much less powerful.

I’m one of the people who didn’t really have a problem with the “flying Leia” scene to begin with, but if there was a way to cut the scene that keeps the intent the same but tones down the “silly” visuals, I’d be game for it.

Yeah, rest assured, none of the slapstick with R2 and the Super Battle Droids will be in this cut (right now, it cuts from Anakin and Obi cutting down droids in the elevator to them exiting the elevator to find Palps, skipping all of the R2 antics in the process) I’m still cutting down the Droid humor mind you, I’m just not eradicating it like most editors do. I may do more if I get a lot of feedback to that effect though.

I wasn’t happy with the abruptness of the cut in my 2nd clip when Anakin says “I’m not leaving without you” (I cut him referring to Obi-Wan as master). I’ve made an alternative cut of that sequence where I subbed that line for a cockpit shot from elsewhere: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1xLKUYQAuvjYPhnlEhCt3_VnB11XKm-Dc

Let me know which you guys prefer.

Hal 9000 said:

Best of luck to you with this. I’d be more interested in it than the other two, given that it’ll be different enough from mine. While I’m pretty burnt out on these three movies, I’d be happy to help in any way which doesn’t involve watching the whole thing through in one sitting. 😃

Haha, I absolutely know that feel! Feedback on any of the clips I post would be wonderful, particularly from a technical perspective. I’d like this edit to be as close to seamless as possible, and I don’t think my other two prequel edits live up to that as much as I’d like.

My goal for the first twenty minutes or so of the movie is honestly just to show these characters having some honest-to-goodness swashbuckling fun before everything turns sour. If the tone borders on camp, I’m actually kind of okay with that. We need to establish that Obi and Anakin are good friends and equals now for those that didn’t watch The Clone Wars, and this should seem like just another one of their many adventures together. Most of the cuts I’m making are to improve the flow and focus of the movie, as well as downplay antagonism between the two friends.

Here’s a first clip for you all to chew on: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1YCXH3SjxVsjpE6lVYY2M8ZO50CFmk6DU

It’s Obi-Wan and Anakin’s first encounter with Grievous in the film. I heavily based the whole sequence on Hal’s but added some music and restored a little droid humor. Let me know what you all think.

And because I’m feeling generous today: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1Q7YIPh7bvLMVilGPuxJKL1vbUUWsvCTK

The opening space battle and crash landing into the hangar is also heavily based on Hal’s version but once again I’ve restored some droid vocalizations. I’ve also added back a few lines of banter and made some small dialogue changes inspired by NFBisms to emphasize Obi-Wan’s and Anakin’s relationship as peers and good friends rather than as student and teacher. Anakin no longer uses the honorific “Master” with Obi-Wan, instead calling him by name.

So, I’ve started work on my true edit of Episode III, which will be the follow-up to my other prequel edits, Faster More Intense and Sanded Down. So far, I’ve got a close to final cut of the opening sequence, through the crash landing of the Invisible Hand.

A few notes:

This edit will probably be a bit more conservative than my other two prequel edits, and probably one of the more conservative Revenge of the Sith edits in general. While the first two prequels are movies I don’t enjoy because of their flaws, ROTS is a movie that I enjoy despite it’s flaws, I just wish it could be better. Changes to the ordering of scenes and general structure will be less radical than most other ROTS edits. I won’t be making any effort to preserve the OT’s twists.

I might make two versions: one where Padme lives and another where she dies like in the theatrical cut. I’m not 100% set on this but it’s something I’m considering.

Edits I will be inspired by: Hal9000’s Labyrinth of Evil, l8wrtr’s Dawn of the Empire, Kerr’s Dark Force Rising, NFBism’s New Canon Cut and some ideas from The_Cutter’s unfinished edit.

Here’s an open question: how ruthless should I be with excising the Battle Droid’s vocalizations and humor? Most edits have been pretty severe on this front, but I tend to think that without a little bit of the humor, the fact that there are so ineffectual in this movie feels strangely out of place rather than a conscious choice. At least turning them into a joke “lampshades” it a bit.

I have a balance that I’m pretty happy with right now but I will upload a clip soon and let you guys weigh in on it.

EDIT:

It’s been almost a decade since I first dabbled with editing the prequels, and I think I finally have a trilogy I’m fairly happy with. Obviously I could keep making tweaks forever, but frankly I think I’m ready to put these projects behind me. “Another Happy Sanding” is ready for release and uploading as we speak. Please PM for a link, I’ll try to send some out tomorrow.

My overall philosophy with this particular edit was to focus on making a lot of small changes that add up to something greater, rather than radically altering the structure or flow of the film. Like always, Hal9000’s edit was a big influence and a primary source for this edit, but “Another Happy Sanding” diverges from “Labyrinth of Evil” in that it attempts to preserve the original structure of the movie. Like in the original film, Anakin’s fears of Padme’s demise serve as the primary impetus for his fall.

While I’ve made some cuts of my own, I’ve also restored some fan-favorite lines and moments of camp, like most of Yoda & Palpatine’s duel. It’s silly, but it’s fun & inventive and I miss its presence in other edits. I hope this edit strikes a good balance for most people.

Like the theatrical film, Padme dies at the end of this edit. I went with this ending partially in order to preserve canon, and partially because I feel like it’s the natural conclusion the movie is leading up to. I’m honestly pretty divided on this particular question though, so I may at some point upload an “alternate ending” version that concludes like “Labyrinth of Evil”, with Padme living on Alderaan. Chime in if that’s something you’d like to see.

Other edits that influenced this one are Kerr’s “Dark Force Rising”, L8wrtr’s “Dawn of the Empire”, NFBism’s “New Canon Cut”, and SiliconMaster482’s “Rebalanced” edit. I also borrowed a snippet of video from Bobson Dugnutt’s “expanded edition”, which originally borrowed from my “extended edition”. The circle is now complete, as Anakin would say.

Sade1212 provided a visual effects shot that was originally created for Hal’s edit but never used. Keep an eye out for it.

Last but not least, here is the mostly complete, but not exhaustive, cut-list: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1g2NmJYOkNHSzvguMgKMvTYaCcPSQqwOKI6nQNjMoxQM/edit?usp=sharing

I hope you enjoy and may the Force be with you!

Thought I would post this here: https://youtu.be/27UVRDqiqak

This video illustrates why I have some worries about the radical slash-and-burn approach you’ve taken to Canto Bight. I haven’t seen your workprint, but how do you think Finn’s arc plays with the approach you’ve taken?

Hal 9000 said:

It would have been nice to have seen the necklace prior to that point but it is a minor drawback for the strengths of this cut. We tried, and the mockups didn’t work for those reasons.

That’s fair, did you test using it later in the film, as in NFBisms new Canon cut? I thought it worked surprisingly well in his edit.

Since the necklace is now back in, is the reference to it in the balcony scene back in too? I’d personally be for this, since it’s not in Attack of the Clones at all and the audience could probably use a reminder.

MalàStrana said:

If I’m not mistaken, is it really Octorox edit or the once very hard to find The Blackened Mantle before Octorox indeed managed to share on the spleen ?

(very interesting 3-1 edit… only if you don’t speak japanese 😃

It was an older 3-in-1 edit of mine that used that approach for the prologue called “Rise of Lord Vader”. Unfortunately I was never fully satisfied with that edit and don’t even have the files anymore.

I’m very excited about these! Can’t wait.

This is probably not the right place for this comment, but one thing I’d love to see someone attempt in an edit of Attack of The Clones is cleaning up and reinserting this scene: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mX5Na9gcDz0. It’s SO rough though, I’m not sure even an effects whiz could do it convincingly.

I love it all in theory but in addition to the First Kill line sounding out of place, the stuff from the video game is also clearly voice actors Mat Lucas and James Arnold Taylor, not Hayden and Ewan. The Mat Lucas line sounds almost like it could pass as Hayden but the James Arnold Taylor bit sticks out to me because I’m so familiar with his Obi-Wan voice.

That’s awesome, I can’t wait to see it in action. Where did you get that dialogue from?

I highly doubt the deleted scenes will be in 4K, but I hope they’ll be sans-timecode this time.

I loved the Yoda scene, but I agree that Yoda looked a little off somehow, like they made him extra muppety to invoke nostalgia. I think some color correction of his skin tone along with some Adywan-style facial movements could go a long way to improving his look. I still think he looked way better than CPY though.

Overall I loved this movie, and I think every plot line is integral to the themes the movie is trying to convey. Even most of the humor, as goofy as it was, worked for me. It’s a bit overly long so I could see some trims, but I wouldn’t be on board for fundamental changes to the storyline or characterizations.

ChainsawAsh said:

Octorox said:

Can we stop talking about TLJ in this thread (with the exception of how it impacts this edit)? There are other threads where you can talk about how much you didn’t like the movie. If Hal or Neverar or Ridley wants to do a TLJ edit they will talk about it in the ideas thread and eventually make a new thread when it’s allowed.

Agreed. I was only talking about it in the context of stuff that could possibly be pulled from it for a TFA:R V3, but I tried to keep it spoiler free. Apologies if I crossed that line for any in my posts. I’ll refrain from here on out.

Don’t worry. My post wasn’t directed at you ^_^

Can we stop talking about TLJ in this thread (with the exception of how it impacts this edit)? There are other threads where you can talk about how much you didn’t like the movie. If Hal or Neverar or Ridley wants to do a TLJ edit they will talk about it in the ideas thread and eventually make a new thread when it’s allowed.

Yeah, just got back from The Last Jedi and nothing in v2 seems to break continuity.

I just want to say I watched V2 in full on my TV and sound system tonight and I was pretty impressed by how it turned out, everything feels pretty seamless.

The only major things I noticed were some of the slowed shots during the rescue sequence after the lightsaber battle, and Snoke’s “fire the weapon” line being kind of drowned out by the music.

Awesome job!

I always assumed you plot a precise course beforehand and then the navicomputer does the work of executing that course, including any turns and changes in direction you had input, but you’re right that it’s not clearly defined in the movies. However, it seems to me like characters rarely exit hyperspace to change direction when traveling from point A to point B. I can’t think of a single example in the movies.

NeverarGreat said:

Even when I first saw the movie, I thought that the journey to Luke should have been longer. After all, the map shows a lot of twists and turns, so I imagine there would be some obstacles and pit stops on the way to that remote island. With that in mind, here’s a very rough idea of how this could be implemented:

https://vimeo.com/247210517
Password: rey

There’s not nearly enough footage for this to be feasible yet, but perhaps by the time this trilogy is over I can revisit the idea 😉

This doesn’t make sense to me. If they have the the complete map, they would be charting a route through Hyperspace to avoid these sorts of obstacles. As romantic as it is on paper, It would make no sense for Rey to exit Hyperspace at any point during the journey.

Mark’s Down On Your Syntax said:

Is the re-edited scene in Obi-Wan’s hut staying as it was?

It would prefer it be reverted but I think he’s going to keep it as it was in ANH:R. The original sequence does have continuity issues but I think it just works better from a flow and character standpoint.

If there’s going to be a V2.1, it would be cool if you guys could get the “any word from the republic?” line during the briefing scene working. It’s a little weird that it’s not acknowledged.