DestronTC said:
https://youtu.be/7aQe_KVNDMg?t=1115
There is a little bit of clean official audio for the extended Maul Duel.
I heard an unsubstantiated rumor from one person that this footage was in the UK Theatrical cut. I don’t believe it, but these shots clearly existed in 1999, before they were included on the 2001 DVD special features, unlike other scenes which were completed for that DVD.
The film premiered on July 14 in the UK, two months after the May 19 US premiere, so maybe these shots were completed in that gap? Have these shots appeared in any other promotional material?
Has anyone heard any proof of a longer UK Theatrical version?
Great find. No idea about the UK theatrical version, but I’m pretty sure those clips were last minute cuts. Pay attention to this part.
https://youtu.be/xmX9r63-vWw?t=190
It always struck me as a bit odd how the window explodes and the shot just lingers on that while epic fast paced music plays with not much happening. The extended duel clips are way out of order in this edit and there’s some glaring continuity issues introduced as a result (no offense to Bobson), but if you slot them to go right after the window explosion and lead into the big panning shot, they’re a perfect fit. Hence, I’m pretty sure that’s actually where the shots were originally going to be, but at the last minute they decided that it would be better to reintroduce the duel with the panning shot and let the Padme stuff go a bit longer since there’s nothing else to fill that section of the music.