*** Official STAR WARS Saga (episodes I to VI) Discussion Thread: Part 4 (1 Viewer)

[Brent M]

One would think that that shouldn't be too terribly difficult, but upon hearing the words, "Kidnapped Jabba the Hutt's son has been..." all hopes of that went right out the window.

Ahhh, nothing like being open-minded. :rolleyes

 

[Brandon_T]

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

 

[Nick Martin]

Probably anyone that does one of these edits with the notion that they're "fixing" a broken film or making something better than the original artist is gonna be way off base. But for people who love the films, enough that they'd like to play around with them a little and have an alternate telling of the same story, why not?

The one I saw (and therefore have) is called "Star Wars Episode IV A New Hope - Revisited", using the 2004 DVD as a basis. The level of detail and enhancements are so stunning, Lucasfilm would do well to hire the Brit who made it full time. It's THAT good. Absolutely everything you thought of as a flaw of the 2004 DVD was completely fixed and then some.
It's the only fan edit of SW I have and ever will watch, in addition to the eventual ESB and ROTJ creations that will be years from now. The guy who made it spent two years on it and it's just shockingly good.
The only reason I brought this whole thing up is because I hope others will take a look at it if for no other reason than to see what the 2004 DVD could have been like if more attention was paid to the technical upgrades. Love it or hate it, the level of effort is admirable.

 

[Sam Davatchi]

The one I saw (and therefore have) is called "Star Wars Episode IV A New Hope - Revisited",

Never heard of that. What has he changed? They shouldn't touch the originals, play with the prequels!
But seriously I will never watch a fan edit of the originals, let alone Episode IV the movie that was nominated for best picture. But the prequels, that's something else!

 

[Chuck Mayer]

Love it or hate it, the level of effort is admirable.

It's absolutely admirable. I hope it helps him get a job. But it's not his work.
Brent, I am open-minded. But Jabba's son? That's terrible. It's the same universe shrinking conceit that plagued the PT. I thought Tatooine was the ass-end of the universe, but apparently, its crime lord is a galactic player. I'm not judging the movie yet, but the premise is awfully shaky, especially now that I have seen the Lego representation of said baby Hutt.

 

[Brent M]

The one I saw (and therefore have) is called "Star Wars Episode IV A New Hope - Revisited", using the 2004 DVD as a basis. The level of detail and enhancements are so stunning, Lucasfilm would do well to hire the Brit who made it full time. It's THAT good. Absolutely everything you thought of as a flaw of the 2004 DVD was completely fixed and then some.
It's the only fan edit of SW I have and ever will watch, in addition to the eventual ESB and ROTJ creations that will be years from now. The guy who made it spent two years on it and it's just shockingly good.
The only reason I brought this whole thing up is because I hope others will take a look at it if for no other reason than to see what the 2004 DVD could have been like if more attention was paid to the technical upgrades. Love it or hate it, the level of effort is admirable.

I agree, Nicholas. Revisited is absolutely AMAZING!!! Even if you don't like fan edits it's still worth checking out as the editor(Adywan) took all the things that Lucas screwed up in the Special Editions and rectified them while making a bunch of major improvements along the way. Anyone who is interested in learning more might want to head on over to originaltrilogy.com for all the details.

 

[Sam Davatchi]

Since I'm too lazy, a direct link is appreciated!

 

[Brent M]

EDIT: Removed link just in case it's not allowed here.

 

[Nick Martin]

I agree, Nicholas. Revisited is absolutely AMAZING!!! Even if you don't like fan edits it's still worth checking out as the editor(Adywan) took all the things that Lucas screwed up in the Special Editions and rectified them while making a bunch of major improvements along the way. Anyone who is interested in learning more might want to head on over to originaltrilogy.com for all the details.

I had considered linking the Original Trilogy thread but didn't know if that would break some rule here.
What was even better was that Adywan made a 'purist' version eliminating alterations such as the structure of the Obi-Wan/Princess Leia's message scene and the music changes.
Based on his progress, we'll likely see Empire completed some time next year.

 

[Brent M]

I had considered linking the Original Trilogy thread but didn't know if that would break some rule here.

Well, I was asked by Sam to link it, but if the mods don't like that I can always take the link down. I don't know if discussing fan edits is against the rules here or not.

 

[Nick Martin]

I don't know if discussing fan edits is against the rules here or not.

.....and that is why I've been intentionally vague about this, not linking the discussion board, and certainly not linking the source of the "Revisited" film. I figured by saying the title and nothing more, google can do the rest, as that's how I found it.

 

[Brent M]

Well, I removed the link just to be safe. If anyone is actually looking for this edit it's not too difficult to find.

 

[Nick Martin]

Irony:
It seems criminal that Adywan cannot be rewarded for his efforts, because to do so would BE criminal.

 

[Cees Alons]

I had considered linking the Original Trilogy thread but didn't know if that would break some rule here.

No, I don't think that one link would break any of our rules.

Cees

 

[Sam Davatchi]

What is criminal for sure is the addition of "The imperial march" to ANH. Just for that one change, Lucas should sue him!

 

[Brent M]

You might not agree with ALL of his changes, but he did a lot more good than bad with this edit IMHO.

 

[Nick Martin]

What is criminal for sure is the addition of "The imperial march" to ANH. Just for that one change, Lucas should sue him!

That's why there's a 'purist' version, so you can enjoy all the enhancements without any musical changes or story/scene edits.
Best of both worlds so everyone can enjoy!

 

[Sam Davatchi]

So I'm "getting" it in 6 hours! I think it's not the pure edition but it's ok!

 

[Nick Martin]

So I'm "getting" it in 6 hours! I think it's not the pure edition but it's ok!

You have a PM.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

The one I saw (and therefore have) is called "Star Wars Episode IV A New Hope - Revisited", using the 2004 DVD as a basis.

I saw that, but I actually wasn't that big of a fan of it. To me, a lot of the things the editor did there were fixes for things that never really bothered me too much one way or the other. For instance, in the opening scene, I believe he's added more moons to Tattooine to match the other films. Honestly, I've seen Star Wars a zillion times, but I never would have even thought that something was missing from the original had he not done that, and to me it stuck out like a sore thumb (much the way many of Lucas' own changes to the original films stick out). I appreciate that this version must have taken a ridiculous amount of time to complete and that it was a labor of love, but I never felt the official DVDs or special edition version was so flawed to the point where someone needed to step in and redo it.
But that's one person's opinion, and I should probably mention that I'm not the most objective source here; I simply have no use for any fan edits of the original trilogy. Those were fine the way they were, and honestly, for those films I'm trying to get back to the original versions, not get into yet another revision. In more recent years, I've found Episode IV to be less interesting anyhow. I'd watch it when watching the rest of the films, of course, but there was something that was getting lost in my viewing, the sheer exhilaration that came with watching the film when I first fell in love with it. And then I happened to pick up the non-anamorphic 2006 re-release of the original, non-special edition version of Star Wars, and I freaking loved it. I hadn't seen it in so long, and everything that I had come to be less than impressed with was resolved. Even though it's only a couple minutes shorter, I found the pacing to be so much better, and I was so much more absorbed into that world without having out of place digital figures constantly reminding me that I was watching a movie. So my feeling is leave well enough alone on the originals, but that's just me. I certainly don't begrudge anyone who feels differently.
For the prequels, I'm a little more open to reinterpretation because, well, I have no logical reason, I just feel better about that. But that doesn't mean they're all good. I ended up seeing one that I thought had a terrific concept but was horribly executed, I think it may have been called "Rise of the Empire". The idea was to make one epic length film out of the prequels that was chiefly focused on Palpatine's rise to power. On paper, that's a pretty nifty idea. But the execution was awful, I thought. At the point where Jar-Jar's dialogue was all overdubbed with alien sounding noises so that the editor could make the character say whatever he wanted him to say, that was definitely going too far. I'm OK with a fan edit making a version to put more focus on certain elements of the film while taking focus off of other elements, but I didn't enjoy watching someone actually attempting to change what was going on.
What I liked about the original Phantom Edit was that the work was all pretty seemless. He seemed to edit in a way that suggested his thought process was more organic. He asked himself questions that an editor should ask: Does this scene serve the narrative? Does it help or hurt in defining a character? He didn't try to take out parts that might not have been Star Wars' finest moment but that were necessary to the story George Lucas was trying to tell. He didn't try to change what Lucas was saying -- he just brought it a little more into focus. If you asked me what was missing from the Phantom Edit specifically, I'd have a hard time telling you exactly what was different, and in my eyes, that's what made it so good. I watched it like I would watch any other film. I wasn't aware of things missing; I just felt that the movie flowed better than I had ever remembered it doing. That's what made it a successful fan edit for me.