Octorox

Well, I was almost ready to release but I noticed some odd framerate stutter in a couple of scenes. I’m going to try to rectify that before I put this out. Also I decided to keep in an extremely cut down version of the 3PO farewell scene fwiw, it now goes like this:

3PO: Hello Master Anakin.
Anakin: Well 3PO, I’ve been freed.
3PO: Oh Master Anakin, I wish you well.
Anakin: I’m gonna miss working on you 3PO. I’ll make sure Mom doesn’t sell you or anything.
3PO: Sell me!?
Anakin: Bye.
3PO: Oh my…

I can agree about the “more? More did you spake?” line but not the whistling, which felt very Warner Bros. cartoon to me. I also cut out the tank scene in a new way. Lasts thing I’d like to hear your opinion on is the “farewell to 3PO” scene. In my current edit I’ve excised it entirely a la l8wrtr because I think it includes some of the very worst child acting from Lloyd "you’ve been a Ggrreeaat pal!"and falls in weird place between two emotionally charged scenes. I’m open to other opinions though.

Yeah I agree with both of your arguments, but at the same time I can’t help but sympathize with Frink’s viewpoint. The initial reason I found myself unsatisfied with Hal’s edit in the first place was because I couldn’t watch it with friends without everyone complaining that “there’s still too much JarJar”. At the same time I don’t want to make JarJar a silent bystander throughout the film like most edits do because in a way that draws even more attention to him and feels uncharacteristic of the character (as much as I don’t like the character, he is still integral to the plot of the film). I think “Weesa goin’ home!” is one of the relatively inoffensive JarJar moments so I’ll probably leave it in. Same with the Queen moment. Not having it in probably makes the decoy thing even more confusing. I’ve already cut “we are brave, your highness” which is another nod to the decoy thing (I felt it was better to introduce the character of “Padme the handmaiden” when the decoy queen names her later on), so I probably shouldn’t cut this too.

MalàStrana said:

Seems to be interesting (especially your own contributions). Hal9000’s version is around 98% close to be my view of the perfect edit, though you’ve got some ideas that I want to check if someday I find enough time and skill to assemble my “own” cut.

Just something I strongly disagree :

Removed Anakin giving Padmé a necklace. (Hal9000, may revisit depending on what I end up doing with Episode III)

I don’t think the ending of Episode III is so relevant to this scene. The Padmé funeral uses the necklace as a reminder of this sequence, but even if you manage to let her live the scene has its own meaning in Episode I, as well as in the entire Prelogy: making a necklace gift, that is what young boys do when they want to express their love (yeah it’s childish, however not “ridiculous childish”). It’s another step that leads in to the romance of Episode II.

I think you raise some very good points here. However, If I add this scene back, I will likely remove the scene where Anakin goes to say goodbye to Padme, since I think Portman’s performance is particularly weak in that scene. Thoughts?

EDIT: I’m also undecided on whether or not to leave in JarJar’s “Weesa goin’ home” and would appreciate feedback on that moment as well.

EDIT: Updated cutlist and runtime for V2! Available via PM and probably eventually MySpleen

This is a fanedit of Star Wars Episode I that I’ve been working on for a while. In truth it is less of a fanedit than a fanedit hybrid, combining some of the best (in my opinion) of Hal9000’s edit, l8wrtr’s edit, and the original Phantom edit. There are a couple of original cuts, but relatively few.

Frankly, there is not much new that can be done with the Phantom Menace (without some serious visual effects work), but no one fanedit has ever fully satisfied me when it comes to this film. I feel they all have their strengths and weaknesses, and I set out to make a cut that curates edits from these various fanedits to match my vision for the film. While some of the cuts were recreated by myself, I confess that most of Hal’s cuts were cribbed directly from the source material: his V6 of Cloak of Deception. Some audio from the original phantom edit was also used. I have put an emphasis on matching the professionalism of these original edits, and I wanted to make the film a suitable replacement for someone who has never seen the Phantom Menace before. I have also done an edit of Episode II and plan to eventually do a similar one for Episode III.
 

Original Runtime:
2h16m

Fanedit Runtime:
1h44m
 

Cut List:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/179rtro9Lq-jwlEWSoYkd97yGME7UIMg1-SPRgJ8SDbs/edit?usp=sharing

Title says it all. It doesn’t need the mkv container, I can remux into an mkv, but really what I need is to be able to export the video and audio in the correct format and size

jedimasterobiwan said:

Octorox said:

I’ll compile one when I put it up. But to sum it up I’d say that the basic flow is Hal’s with a lot of extra dialogue nips and tucks from L8wrtrs. Use of JarJar is kind of at a happy medium between the two edits but I agree with Hal’s general philosophy that if he’s present throughout the majority of the movie he should at least have something to do. I’ve removed the “morning of the race” deleted scene and readded the cut-down version of the “working on the pod” scene from l8wrtr’s edit. In fact, the only deleted scene in this version is the scene of Qui-Gon cutting down the probe droid. I’ve also removed the visual of the podrace announcers Fode and Beed, but you still hear both of their voices, which is another compromise between the two edits. I would say that’s the general philosophy of this hybrid. I think l8wrtr is sometimes a little overzealous with his cuts to the point where it can hurt the pacing of the film and character development, but on the other hand Hal’s is too conservative for my tastes and leaves a lot of cringey dialogue, despite some brilliant ideas like cutting the trip to Otoh Gunga completely. This is just an attempt to find a happy medium between the two that suits my personal tastes.

so what’s your ideal edit of the phantom menace? me it would be maybe be all of what you mention but with midicholreans and the chosen one stuff left in but that’s just me.

Midichlorians will not be in my edit. However, I am leaving in the virgin birth and chosen one stuff as both Hal and L8wrtr did. I personally like the implication that Plageuis or Sidious were Anakin’s “father” and the chosen one stuff ties into some Clone Wars plotlines.

This is the canon hand-wave explanation:
http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Old_Republic
The Galactic Republic in its current form existed for 1000 years but there was an older Republic that existed for many years before that. The Jedi preceded the Galactic Republic and protected the Old Republic as well. The birth of the Galactic Repblic seems to coincide closely with the relative disappearance of the Sith.

EDIT: I think this sounds good

Episode I
THE PHANTOM MENACE

For almost a thousand years the
knights of the Jedi Order have
protected the Galactic Republic
Now, after a millennia of peace,
dark forces conspire in the shadows
of the galaxy.

Attempting the seize the
Abundant resources of the
Planet Naboo, the nefarious
TRADE FEDERATION has
surrounded the planet with a
blockade of deadly warships.

With the newly crowned Queen
desperate for help, the Supreme
Chancellor has secretly
dispatched two Jedi Knights to
settle the conflict.

I would like to add something that mentions that the Chancellor is sort of in a tenuous place and is fearing the crisis blowing up could be the final straw that ends his political career, but there’s only so much space.

EDIT: Thanks for the offer Hal, but I think I’m going to create the crawl myself. I’m going to use the Star Wars TSG program for Mac.

Hal 9000 said:

I can whip up a custom crawl for you if you’d like.

Really? That would be great!

I’ve decided I want to keep the original title of the film, and just make some minor alterations to your crawl accordingly, so it would be:

Episode I
THE PHANTOM MENACE

For a thousand years the
knights of the Jedi Order have
protected the Galactic Republic
Now, after a millennia of peace, sinister
forces conspire in the shadows of
the galaxy.

And then the rest can be identical to yours. I’ve elected to go for years instead of generations because I’d like to preserve the canon separation between the Old Republic and the Galactic Republic, since I’d generally like for this to be compatible with new canon material.

Masking out the object becomes harder then, and might be beyond the scope of these edits.

Hal 9000 said:

Not a problem. I really don’t remember if I said this before, but please be mindful to avoid confusion if you keep the opening crawl of either edit, including its title.

I’d like to model the crawl on yours, but I don’t won’t to keep the title, specifically for that reason. I’m going to try to create a custom crawl. For credits Ill likely splice in the blu-ray credits and not include any fan edit credits, but credit all the fan editors who’s work I cribbed from on the forum threads and in the download location.

It will be up on Myspleen soon. I just need to tweak a few things and assemble a cutlist. I will move the discussion into my own thread when that happens since I don’t want to clog up Hal’s.

I prefer the death star to coruscant in that scene personally. Them staring at coruscant never made much sense to me, and the “small universe” stuff doesn’t bother me as much as some people.

Sure thing. http://www.jwfan.com/?p=3417
The cue is Clone Army Revealed (1:55), and on the soundtrack album it’s Track 9, from 1:28 to the end. If you A/B the two tracks you can tell it’s a new recording with slight differences. I was first clued into this by listening to a podcast called “Star Wars Oxygen”, which is a about the music of Star Wars and one of the hosts is David W. Collins who was a sound designer at LucasArts in the video game division.

The interesting thing about The Trade Federation music during the Scene where Obi-Wan sees the clones on kamino, is that it was a new recording scored by John Williams specifically for the moment. I’ve heard the argument that the use of the theme is actually an intentional way of keying us into the fact that the clones and the droids are essentially two sides of the same coin, both ultimately puppet armies created by palpatine, and I quite like that reasoning.

All of these JarJar scenes I left in. The only JarJar I cut was a few lines here and there, particularly the “This sun is doing murder on meesa skin” line which always irritated me. JarJar+Sebulba scene is still in (with a slight trim), droid nose joke is still in exactly as Hal has it, and the scene with Padme early on is still in. I agree with Hal that these scenes are important to the story, even if the character of JarJar never leaves a good impression.

I’ll compile one when I put it up. But to sum it up I’d say that the basic flow is Hal’s with a lot of extra dialogue nips and tucks from L8wrtrs. Use of JarJar is kind of at a happy medium between the two edits but I agree with Hal’s general philosophy that if he’s present throughout the majority of the movie he should at least have something to do. I’ve removed the “morning of the race” deleted scene and readded the cut-down version of the “working on the pod” scene from l8wrtr’s edit. In fact, the only deleted scene in this version is the scene of Qui-Gon cutting down the probe droid. I’ve also removed the visual of the podrace announcers Fode and Beed, but you still hear both of their voices, which is another compromise between the two edits. I would say that’s the general philosophy of this hybrid. I think l8wrtr is sometimes a little overzealous with his cuts to the point where it can hurt the pacing of the film and character development, but on the other hand Hal’s is too conservative for my tastes and leaves a lot of cringey dialogue, despite some brilliant ideas like cutting the trip to Otoh Gunga completely. This is just an attempt to find a happy medium between the two that suits my personal tastes.

Hey Hal, I just completed an edit for my own personal viewing that mixes and matches changes from your and L8wrtr’s edit (with a little bit from the Phantom Editor as well). I used your edit as the primary video source and spliced in bits from L8wrtr’s edit where needed (with a little grain and color correction to match it). Would you be opposed to me uploading this to Myspleen or elsewhere? With proper credit given of course.

If Schorman’s versions aren’t ready, KK650’s are a nice alternative. They are sourced from the Blu-Ray, but with DVD-esque color. It means you get also get the benefit of extra moss in that one shot of the hut on Kashyyyk in Revenge of the Sith (such a big deal I know) and the theatrical wipe in ROTS as well.

Hey, does anyone still have their copy of this from when I had uploaded it to Myspleen? My hard drive crashed and I lost the original file. This edit was never really ready for prime time but there were a few sequences I wanted to go back and look at for reference.

1.) The Empire Strikes Back
2.) Star Wars/A New Hope
3.) The Force Awakens
4.) Return of the Jedi
5.) Revenge of the Sith
6.) The Phantom Menace
7.) Attack of the Clones

The Force Awakens is still pretty new so its placement is shaky. Could end up being swapped with ROTJ.

My main hope for ROTJ:R is to please not include any significant cuts. ROTJ is the weakest of the OT, yes. However, it still holds a place in many of our hearts. I want ROTJ:R to continue to be “What the special editions should have been”.

Yeah, it’s just a rumor. I think it’s pretty unlikely, since writer/director Rian Johnson has been on record disparagingly calling the Special Editions the “90s cartoon versions”. If Hayden did have a role, for all we know it could be the kind of “role” Ewan MacGregor had in the Force Awakens, i.e. a short voiceover clip in a force vision scene that is barely audible. ROTJ:R likely won’t release until Episode VIII anyway, so I don’t think we need to talk about this until then.

EDIT: What I’d rather talk about is the displays on the Falcon. TFA has the classic old-school displays with the arrows indicating enemy targets, so I’m wondering if this is something that will be “Revisited” in ANH:R HD. I also think some of the graphics, including the binocular graphics, look a little too pristine in light of what ESB:R and TFA have presented us with. I’d like to see if Ady could find a happy medium between the original graphics and the spruced up versions in ANH:R.

Hal 9000 said:

The dialogue for the love pledge scene isn’t an a la carte thing for me because of the music. In V1-V3 I left in some terrible dialogue in the name of preserving the production value. For V4, I gave the scene a fresh attempt, and I think this combination of lines works better than the older configuration while having the music work perfectly.
Removing the creep line would really mean cutting the whole exchange, and I’d like to keep Anakin’s hesitancy about what he’s doing. Maybe look up Richard Cheese’s cover of Creep to take your mind off it. The Approaching Storm, if it had been what was released theatrically, would still not have been known for good dialogue.

I’d remove the whole exchange myself but I understand your reasons now. Thanks for the explanation.

Minor request, would you be willing to remove the line “This creep is gonna end up deep fried”. That line has always bothered me. Also can you explain the motivation for the “I’ve been dying each day since you came back into life” line? I don’t even understand what that’s supposed to mean, especially in the context of this edit.