Synopsis:

After 15+ years of noodling, I've finally landed on a version of the prequels that I prefer. The main concept is to fix AOTC, the weakest link that brings down the other two, and make TPM lead into it, and ROTS build from it. The biggest problem I have with these movies isn’t necessarily the content. There’s some stuff I’m not crazy about, such as midichlorians and some of Anakin’s whiney, creepy behavior, sure. However, the biggest problem to me is in the minute to minute pacing. They just feel… weird? Off? Something’s not quite right in every single scene. The most egregious example is AOTC, where seemingly nobody talks like a human being, characters stand around clearly waiting for their cue, and much of the action mostly falls flat. Even worse, the love story doesn’t work, partly because I think they focused on it way too much. The dialogue between Anakin and Padme is shockingly strange, but the chemistry between the two actors is definitely there. Just letting them spend time together would have sold it enough. So I’m taking another crack at the Prequels, but I’m starting with AOTC, the biggest problem with the trilogy. Once I get that working, I can build up to it with TPM, and off of it with ROTS. The idea here is to go into every scene and remove that disjointed, stagey, unnatural feeling that permeates the film. Action will be pumped up and pacey, conversations will have that zing that they’re lacking, and the movie will move along at a steady pace. There’s a lot of PT edits out there, and I’m not the most technically accomplished editor to tackle them. However, I think my particular knack for action and pace (I’m aware of my strengths as well as my faults) will make these stand out.

Intentions:

Improve the pacing of all three films to feel more in-line with the originals. Flesh out the story and characters with deleted scenes and content from other Star Wars projects.

Change List:

- Replaced 20th Century Fox and Lucasfilm logos with the old 70’s versions (I do this on all my Star Wars edits) - Removed Nute’s "As you know, our blockade is perfectly legal" - Removed Nute’s first “WHAT?!” before “what did you say?!” to the protocol droid. - Removed some of Qui-Gon being brought tea for pacing. - Cut straight from Palpatine’s “Kill them immediately.” to the ship being attacked. - Removed some battle droid dialogue. - Removed some of Nute’s dialogue before the destroyer droids show up. - Removed some stilted dialogue from the Amidala video chat. - Cut straight to the army arriving after “a communications disruption can mean only one thing: Invasion” - Trimmed Jar-Jar’s introduction to make Qui-Gon purposefully tackle and knock Jar-Jar to the ground instead of Jar-Jar jumping on him and being ridiculous. - Removed “exsqueeeeze me” - Removed some of the business of getting to Gunga city. - Tidied up dialogue throughout Gunga City. No Boss Nass ticks save one irritated jowl shake, and no mention of the planet core. - Removed planet core sequence. - Move Jar-Jar’s explanation of being banished because of his clumsiness to just before they arrive at the city. - Generally removed all of the “now there are two of them!” “we shouldn’t have made this deal!” “A Sith, here?!” nonsense at the end of the Trade Federation scenes. - Removed Jar-Jar stepping in poop-eh and his ruckus in Watto’s shop. - Removed Anakin’s “all my life” response to being a pilot. Just always sounded silly to me. He’s 9. - All of the Anakin’s yippees, whoooahs, and oopses have been removed. - 3PO has been completely removed from this film, as with AOTC. - Toned down Jar-Jar’s reaction to Qui-Gon grabbing his tongue at the dinner table. - Removed the sequence where Anakin’s crappy friends come by to be crappy to him. - Cut straight from Watto and Qui-Gon’s chance cube scene to the racecourse. - Trimmed up the intros and pageantry at the podrace to get to the action faster. - Ben Quadrineros’ pod no longer stalls out in addition to Anakin’s. - Lots of little nips and tucks to the podrace for pacing, including adding a portion of one of the deleted scenes. - Inserted the scene where Anakin beats up Greedo, but removed the explicit mention that he is Greedo. - Created a new transition shot of Shmi’s door to get out of that scene. - Inserted the deleted probe droid sequence. - Removed "Master Qui-Gon, I’m tired." - Lots of small cuts to the Coruscant section of the film for pacing. It’s an important section of the plot, but it grinds the movie to a halt. Need to get in and out of there as quickly as possible. - Midichlorians are gone, obviously. - They no longer test Anakin by asking him what’s on their etch-a-sketch, which to me is a supremely stupid way to determine if someone should be a jedi. - Maul is not shown again until Duel of the Fates, so the audience can forget about him for a little while till that reveal. - Made everything Anakin and Jar Jar do a bit more deliberate throughout the ending so they’re not “accidentally heroes” - Used Hal’s structure of moving the Queen capturing the Viceroy to after the control ship is destroyed. This is a high level list, there are small trims, lines removed, shots rearranged, etc. through every scene. Again, I’m not doing anything revolutionary with this one, as to me this is still the best and most functional of the prequels. Just trying to smooth it over and remove some annoyances. while linking it up with AOTC.

Additional Notes:

TPM is definitely the prequel that's in the best shape as far as acting, effects, and story. It's also aimed at a younger audience, and I didn't want to lose that in the process of editing. Huge attention is paid to the pacing of every individual scene, often just removing little gaps and pauses in dialogue to move things along. Action is re-edited to be more exciting, and character arcs are clearer. Deleted scenes were used to flesh out areas that were lacking. This edit retains more of Jar-Jar and the Gungans than most TPM edits, though they receive considerable trims. I am of the mind that they exist for specific story reasons, and should remain as much as possible.

Other Sources:

Star Wars soundtracks

Special Thanks:

Artisdead