I've had a thing for fan edits of movies lately, and in my search for good Star Wars fan edits, I found what I believe to be the Prequel Trilogy as it should have been. It's a set of three fan edits called "The Fall of the Jedi" by Q2.
Do you know what clinches it for me as my favorite? A scene with Padme and Leia on Alderaan:
I've had a thing for fan edits of movies lately, and in my search for good Star Wars fan edits, I found what I believe to be the Prequel Trilogy as it should have been. It's a set of three fan edits called "The Fall of the Jedi" by Q2.
Do you know what clinches it for me as my favorite? A scene with Padme and Leia on Alderaan:
If I recall correctly, the same edit also changes Vader's dialogue after he's 'reborn' so that he no longer cares about Padme - "that name no longer has any meaning to me", I think the new line was.
If I recall correctly, the same edit also changes Vader's dialogue after he's 'reborn' so that he no longer cares about Padme - "that name no longer has any meaning to me", I think the new line was.
Not true. I've seen Q2's, L8wrtr's, and Stankpac's Episode III fanedits, and none of those have that. I'm not sure which one does.
There are three major changes to the story with Q2's prequel fanedits:
1) Padme doesn't die by the end of Episode III.
Luke: "Do you remember your mother?"
Leia:"Just a little bit. She died when I was very young."
Luke:"What do you remember?"
Leia:"She was...very beautiful, kind but...sad."
2) The name "Darth Vader" is never mentioned in the prequels, and you never see Anakin being put in the suit. So, if you have never seen Star Wars, and watch Episodes 1-6 in chronological order using these fanedits, Vader revealing himself to be Anakin in Empire Strikes Back remains a surprise. (This answers the question about his dialogue after being "reborn," because he's never shown again after Obi-Wan leaves him for dead on Mustafar.)
3) C-3PO and R2D2 are removed as much as possible from the prequels. This actually does help the story... much more than I thought it might. You do see them once in a very great while, but they have no dialogue and it's not made clear that it's actually them.
Also, Anakin isn't whiny; he and Obi-Wan get along somewhat better; and Anakin and Padme's love story is much more believable.
(Jar-Jar is heavily edited out, as well as mention of "midichlorians", but those are a given)
I'll go over problems I have with other Star Wars prequel fanedits:
The Phantom Edit and Attack of the Phantom (eps. 1&2) by The Phantom Editor: - not enough cuts to Jar Jar or Jake Lloyd (young Anakin)
- overall story doesn't improve
- opening crawl is a note from the fan editor instead of a story prologue (which is a deal breaker).
Shadow of the Sith and Dawn of the Empire (eps. 1&3) by L8wrtr (though his ep. 2 is fantastic) - Often when dialogue is removed (such as "yippee" or "oops" in ep 1) the scene is not tightened to keep it from being obvious that such was done.
- Palpatine suddenly reveals his "sith form" (I mean that he appears normal, we cut to Mace Windu getting his arm sliced off, then back to Palpatine whose face has inexplicably changed). You have to listen to the faneditor's DVD commentary to understand why, which is bad for the story.
- Yoda is approached by stormtroopers after Order 66 is given, we cut away to somewhere else, and then later we come back to Yoda who is safe (and with Chewbacca :rolleyes: ) just before leaving Kashyyk. The reasoning for this is because L8wrtr didn't want Yoda ever have to use his lightsaber, but this creates another WTF moment.
Revenge of the Sith: Special Edition by Stankpac - standalone fanedit. doesn't match up properly in some ways with L8wrtr's or Q2's Episode 2 fanedits.
- v1-v2 has a stupid, anachronistic, breakdancing-Yoda DVD menu.
- v3 has a better DVD menu (albeit quite amateur-looking), and has Palpatine reveal his "sith form" similar to L8wrtr, though with added heartbeat and thunderclap sound effects as well as added shadow visual effects to make it a bit better. These effects are poorly done, however.
- Stankpac's faneditor logo at the beginning of the movie has a half-naked woman on it. My wife doesn't think it appropriate, and neither would my young nephews' parents had they seen it.
v1 of Stankpac's edit used to be my favorite Ep.3 (after being encoded to .m4v by Handbrake to remove the dumb DVD menu) but it doesn't fit well with the Episode 1 and 2 edits I've been looking at.
L8wrtr's edit of Episode 2 (The Republic Divided) is probably still my favorite Ep. 2 edit (though Q2's is still great and not to be overlooked) simply because I like what he does with the love story slightly better.
Hm. While some of that sounds good, I just don't like the idea of Threepio and Artoo being thrown out. They were always meant to be through both trilogies, and you can bet that they'll both be in the new ones too.
It sounds dumb and unnecessary to have them out. In fact, I think the fact that they aren't (overtly) in it was what made me not want to download it at first.
They are there, just not often and they have no speaking parts. Believe me when I say I don't hate the droids, but it really does work for the prequels' benefit for them not to be in it. It just works. It sounds absurd to suggest for it to be done, and it made me skeptical about the edits at first when I was looking for edits to download, but it really does improve the movies because more attention is given to the story.
I love R2 and 3PO in the OT. They're part of the humor that makes it fun. But 3PO in the prequels is really just annoying, and R2 has rocket jets on his legs.
I love R2 and 3PO in the OT. They're part of the humor that makes it fun. But 3PO in the prequels is really just annoying, and R2 has rocket jets on his legs.
I agree with this. The droids didn't hurt the prequels, but the prequels hurt the droids. Their appearances range from "that doesn't make sense" to actively ruining the appeal of the characters. So this edit sounds interesting
Why should C3PO and R2D2 be in the prequels? It was pandering fan service and nothing more. It does nothing to legitimately serve the story or the mythology. It's nonsense.
Why should C3PO and R2D2 be in the prequels? It was pandering fan service and nothing more. It does nothing to legitimately serve the story or the mythology. It's nonsense.
Okay. Let's be perfectly freaking honest here. THE ENTIRE PREQUEL TRILOGY WAS PANDERING FAN SERVICE. Seriously. They were totally unnecessary to the continuation of the Star Wars name. And for that matter, so are the books, video games, comic books, card games, cartoons, ad nauseum. They're completely unnecessary and each addition has the potential to screw things up, no matter how good they are.
Okay. Let's be perfectly freaking honest here. THE ENTIRE PREQUEL TRILOGY WAS PANDERING FAN SERVICE. Seriously. They were totally unnecessary to the continuation of the Star Wars name. And for that matter, so are the books, video games, comic books, card games, cartoons, ad nauseum. They're completely unnecessary and each addition has the potential to screw things up, no matter how good they are.
No, they were cash grabs aimed at the general public. Much worse, in my opinion, as this ultimately ended up appealing to no one.
Well, I was surprised to find that if a fan editor does a good enough job, that the prequels actually have pretty good movies hiding behind all the whining, anachronisms, and poop jokes.
I've decided I actually like the prequels now. They just have to have been edited properly.
And before people point out that it's "not official" or legally-grey or something, I think it may have been Adywan (faneditor of Star Wars:Revisited) who said that a whole bunch of people at the production company have their fingers in the pot regarding how movies get edited before they are released. His saying so reminded me that there are at least two movies that I can think of right away (Paranormal Activity and The Lawnmower Man) whose "director's cut" I believe to be head and shoulders better than their theatrical releases.
The only real difference is that fan editors can't get paid for their work.
They have to at least have R2 in at least Revenge of the Sith or something. Because R2 said he used to belong to Obi-Wan Kenobi. Then again, old Ben never recognized R2 or the fact that he used to own a droid period. Maybe R2 just made it up to get them to find Obi Wan to deliver the message.
They have to at least have R2 in at least Revenge of the Sith or something. Because R2 said he used to belong to Obi-Wan Kenobi. Then again, old Ben never recognized R2 or the fact that he used to own a droid period. Maybe R2 just made it up to get them to find Obi Wan to deliver the message.
Obi never liked Droids so maybe he just forgot which one he owned.
They have to at least have R2 in at least Revenge of the Sith or something. Because R2 said he used to belong to Obi-Wan Kenobi. Then again, old Ben never recognized R2 or the fact that he used to own a droid period. Maybe R2 just made it up to get them to find Obi Wan to deliver the message.
I really wouldn't put it past R2 to do that. I mean, I'm certain that the reason he talks in bleeps and bloops in the first place is because he's constantly spewing profanities and making nasty comments about everyone and they would have had to bleep it out anyways. And I'm pretty sure he only keeps C3PO around to talk to people who don't speak droid. Lying to a human would probably barely register on his radar.
I...always thought the implication that R2 was making shit up was obvious? And by always, I mean since I started watching these movies when I was five. I mean, he says he used to belong to Ben in the same breath(or at least what would be the same breath if droids had respiratory systems) as when he says the restraining bolt was "messing with the recording".
This discussion brings up a point about the prequels that's been nagging at me for a bit.
Why did they wipe C-3PO's memory at the end of RotS if they weren't going to bother to wipe R2's memory? R2 was perfectly aware of the situation involving the Skywalkers just as much as C-3PO. Also, it's established in both trilogies that 3PO can understand R2 clearly. Couldn't R2 have just told him what happened before he got his memory wiped? There's only one logical explanation for all of this: R2-D2 is either trying to cover his metaphorical ass, or he's just never needed to bring it up.
Why did they wipe C-3PO's memory at the end of RotS if they weren't going to bother to wipe R2's memory? R2 was perfectly aware of the situation involving the Skywalkers just as much as C-3PO. Also, it's established in both trilogies that 3PO can understand R2 clearly. Couldn't R2 have just told him what happened before he got his memory wiped? There's only one logical explanation for all of this: R2-D2 is either trying to cover his metaphorical ass, or he's just never needed to bring it up.
.....I think this fits perfectly well? C-3P0 needed a wipe because he's chatty and not very observant. R2 is the secret agent of droids and actually gives a shit about the Republic and has awareness of what he's doing. C-3P0's whole joke is that he talks too much and doesn't really get what's going on. Along with sensitive information, that's dangerous. R2's basically coddling the guy throughout the entire trilogy.
.....I think this fits perfectly well? C-3P0 needed a wipe because he's chatty and not very observant. R2 is the secret agent of droids and actually gives a shit about the Republic and has awareness of what he's doing. C-3P0's whole joke is that he talks too much and doesn't really get what's going on. Along with sensitive information, that's dangerous. R2's basically coddling the guy throughout the entire trilogy.
I read a this article once, that basically said just this. Chewy and R2 are secret agents and Han and C3P0 are their face men.
There are good things, some REALLY good things about the prequels. Sadly the boring political drama, crappy acting from idiot kids, a retarded rabbit-frog, and the overly long podrace hurt The Phantom Menace, Anakin and Padme's retarded romance and Lucas's crappy editing hurt Attack of the Clones, and pretty much the same thing in addition to having an overly-rushed pace hurt Revenge of the Sith. And at least Lucas doesn't overly screw with The Clone Wars which has had some really, REALLY good story arcs lately.
Which is why I've been looking into fan edits. I've looked into several, and Q2's seem to be the best. If I recall correctly, he cut about 40 minutes from ROTS alone, bringing it down to a 90 minute long movie, which in no way felt short when I watched it. [EDIT]I checked, and he did remove about 45 minutes from each prequel movie, and now they're each about an hour and a half long.[/EDIT]
Regarding the droids, Dashing is right in that R2 can keep his mouth shut about things, and 3PO is far too chatty.
In Empire, 3PO keeps quoting odds on that they'll die, and even suggests surrendering to the Empire.
In A New Hope, R2 only tells 3PO about a "secret mission" but gives no details at all, claims to be the property of Obi-Wan, and straight up lies about his ability to play Leia's whole message ("it's a private message for him") except to dupe Luke into taking off his restraining bolt. He wants to see Obi-Wan and he'll say anything so long as he can accomplish his mission.
Plus, R2 was going to just up and leave the Blockade Runner by himself. It just happened that 3PO was nearby and being nosy about what R2 was doing when R2 opened the escape pod hatch.
Comments
I approve of this. Yoda would not have worked as a main character for 90+ minutes.
But who would make a good young Han?
Also Red Letter Media called this.
Shia LaBeouf
Trolled.
In fact, he could be the younger versions of everybody!
Do you know what clinches it for me as my favorite? A scene with Padme and Leia on Alderaan:
This scene makes me smile every time I watch it.
My god, this is something I MUST see
It's a hell of an interesting change.
There are three major changes to the story with Q2's prequel fanedits:
1) Padme doesn't die by the end of Episode III.
Luke: "Do you remember your mother?"
Leia:"Just a little bit. She died when I was very young."
Luke:"What do you remember?"
Leia:"She was...very beautiful, kind but...sad."
2) The name "Darth Vader" is never mentioned in the prequels, and you never see Anakin being put in the suit.
So, if you have never seen Star Wars, and watch Episodes 1-6 in chronological order using these fanedits, Vader revealing himself to be Anakin in Empire Strikes Back remains a surprise. (This answers the question about his dialogue after being "reborn," because he's never shown again after Obi-Wan leaves him for dead on Mustafar.)
3) C-3PO and R2D2 are removed as much as possible from the prequels.
This actually does help the story... much more than I thought it might. You do see them once in a very great while, but they have no dialogue and it's not made clear that it's actually them.
Also, Anakin isn't whiny; he and Obi-Wan get along somewhat better; and Anakin and Padme's love story is much more believable.
(Jar-Jar is heavily edited out, as well as mention of "midichlorians", but those are a given)
I'll go over problems I have with other Star Wars prequel fanedits:
The Phantom Edit and Attack of the Phantom (eps. 1&2) by The Phantom Editor:
- not enough cuts to Jar Jar or Jake Lloyd (young Anakin)
- overall story doesn't improve
- opening crawl is a note from the fan editor instead of a story prologue (which is a deal breaker).
Shadow of the Sith and Dawn of the Empire (eps. 1&3) by L8wrtr (though his ep. 2 is fantastic)
- Often when dialogue is removed (such as "yippee" or "oops" in ep 1) the scene is not tightened to keep it from being obvious that such was done.
- Palpatine suddenly reveals his "sith form" (I mean that he appears normal, we cut to Mace Windu getting his arm sliced off, then back to Palpatine whose face has inexplicably changed). You have to listen to the faneditor's DVD commentary to understand why, which is bad for the story.
- Yoda is approached by stormtroopers after Order 66 is given, we cut away to somewhere else, and then later we come back to Yoda who is safe (and with Chewbacca :rolleyes: ) just before leaving Kashyyk. The reasoning for this is because L8wrtr didn't want Yoda ever have to use his lightsaber, but this creates another WTF moment.
Revenge of the Sith: Special Edition by Stankpac
- standalone fanedit. doesn't match up properly in some ways with L8wrtr's or Q2's Episode 2 fanedits.
- v1-v2 has a stupid, anachronistic, breakdancing-Yoda DVD menu.
- v3 has a better DVD menu (albeit quite amateur-looking), and has Palpatine reveal his "sith form" similar to L8wrtr, though with added heartbeat and thunderclap sound effects as well as added shadow visual effects to make it a bit better. These effects are poorly done, however.
- Stankpac's faneditor logo at the beginning of the movie has a half-naked woman on it. My wife doesn't think it appropriate, and neither would my young nephews' parents had they seen it.
v1 of Stankpac's edit used to be my favorite Ep.3 (after being encoded to .m4v by Handbrake to remove the dumb DVD menu) but it doesn't fit well with the Episode 1 and 2 edits I've been looking at.
L8wrtr's edit of Episode 2 (The Republic Divided) is probably still my favorite Ep. 2 edit (though Q2's is still great and not to be overlooked) simply because I like what he does with the love story slightly better.
They are there, just not often and they have no speaking parts. Believe me when I say I don't hate the droids, but it really does work for the prequels' benefit for them not to be in it. It just works. It sounds absurd to suggest for it to be done, and it made me skeptical about the edits at first when I was looking for edits to download, but it really does improve the movies because more attention is given to the story.
I love R2 and 3PO in the OT. They're part of the humor that makes it fun. But 3PO in the prequels is really just annoying, and R2 has rocket jets on his legs.
Guys.
Guys.
GUYS.
OBSIDIAN IS PITCHING A NEW STAR WARS GAME.
!!!
!!!
!!!
!!!
!!!
!!!
!!!
NOTHING ELSE GOING ON WITH THE STAR WARS LICENSE IS ANYWHERE NEAR THIS IMPORTANT.
(Don't really do that, Disney)
(I do totally want this, I just want my South Park RPG first!)
I agree with this. The droids didn't hurt the prequels, but the prequels hurt the droids. Their appearances range from "that doesn't make sense" to actively ruining the appeal of the characters. So this edit sounds interesting
Okay. Let's be perfectly freaking honest here. THE ENTIRE PREQUEL TRILOGY WAS PANDERING FAN SERVICE. Seriously. They were totally unnecessary to the continuation of the Star Wars name. And for that matter, so are the books, video games, comic books, card games, cartoons, ad nauseum. They're completely unnecessary and each addition has the potential to screw things up, no matter how good they are.
No, they were cash grabs aimed at the general public. Much worse, in my opinion, as this ultimately ended up appealing to no one.
I've decided I actually like the prequels now. They just have to have been edited properly.
And before people point out that it's "not official" or legally-grey or something, I think it may have been Adywan (faneditor of Star Wars:Revisited) who said that a whole bunch of people at the production company have their fingers in the pot regarding how movies get edited before they are released. His saying so reminded me that there are at least two movies that I can think of right away (Paranormal Activity and The Lawnmower Man) whose "director's cut" I believe to be head and shoulders better than their theatrical releases.
The only real difference is that fan editors can't get paid for their work.
Obi never liked Droids so maybe he just forgot which one he owned.
I really wouldn't put it past R2 to do that. I mean, I'm certain that the reason he talks in bleeps and bloops in the first place is because he's constantly spewing profanities and making nasty comments about everyone and they would have had to bleep it out anyways. And I'm pretty sure he only keeps C3PO around to talk to people who don't speak droid. Lying to a human would probably barely register on his radar.
Why did they wipe C-3PO's memory at the end of RotS if they weren't going to bother to wipe R2's memory? R2 was perfectly aware of the situation involving the Skywalkers just as much as C-3PO. Also, it's established in both trilogies that 3PO can understand R2 clearly. Couldn't R2 have just told him what happened before he got his memory wiped? There's only one logical explanation for all of this: R2-D2 is either trying to cover his metaphorical ass, or he's just never needed to bring it up.
I read a this article once, that basically said just this. Chewy and R2 are secret agents and Han and C3P0 are their face men.
Regarding the droids, Dashing is right in that R2 can keep his mouth shut about things, and 3PO is far too chatty.
In Empire, 3PO keeps quoting odds on that they'll die, and even suggests surrendering to the Empire.
In A New Hope, R2 only tells 3PO about a "secret mission" but gives no details at all, claims to be the property of Obi-Wan, and straight up lies about his ability to play Leia's whole message ("it's a private message for him") except to dupe Luke into taking off his restraining bolt. He wants to see Obi-Wan and he'll say anything so long as he can accomplish his mission.
Plus, R2 was going to just up and leave the Blockade Runner by himself. It just happened that 3PO was nearby and being nosy about what R2 was doing when R2 opened the escape pod hatch.