Star Wars Episode 3 – Revenge of the Sith [SPECIAL EDITION]
 a TRUE FANEDIT by Stankpac This is it…The definitive, be all end all, put this movie to rest version of star wars episode 3-revenge of the sith. Special thanks to jasonn for his almost perfect version of this movie. He hit the mark on so many levels, but alas faltered in a few areas. By doing a little bit of “course correction”, i have significantly tightened up his version and proudly present to you the movie that should have been released in theatres the first time! member ratings: |
(9 votes, average: 8.78 out of 10, rated)
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TAGLINE: The movie that should have been released in theatres the first time!
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INTENTION:
The intention for any fan-edit that i am currently working on is quite simply to follow the simple moto of “less is more”. If it does not fit or disrupts the flow of the movie and you can edit it out without ruining story and continuity, then it has got to go. No questions asked!
EDITING DETAILS & CUTLIST:
For this particular edit, I took many ideas & concepts from “the black knight rises” edit and incorporated them with my own ideas to produce what I believe is the ultimate revenge of the sith edit that you can put along side the original trilogy. Just goes to show that by taking the time to truely evaluate a movie on its merits, that underneath the surface a good movie exists!
CUTLIST:
- cut: out of sheer request from a friend, i have removed the beginning fox fanfare/lucasfilm title. It has been replaced by a more traditional old school fox fanfare and neon-
style green lucasfilm limited title. Call me crazy but i quite like it.
- cut: the first redundant line of movie has been removed,”master, general grievous’s command center is dead ahead”. Anakin basically says the exact same line when they are
significantly closer. Now first person you see is obi-wan, not anakin.
- cut: opening space battle has been drastically reduced. No buzz droids or missle attack. Little snippets of dialogue cut for pacing. Get inside grievous command center in a
little under 2 and half minutes from the end of the title credits.
- cut: when inside command center..Removed the line “there they are, get’em!”. Also, any other droid quirkiness or behavior has been removed.
- cut: removed the line “i sense count dooku!”. Really anakin. Grievous basically tells the audience he’s onboard when he’s first introduced on-screen.
- cut: removed the whole elevator sequence. Went nowhere and had silly humor. Now just arrive through elevator door to rescue palpatine.
- cut: no talking during dooku fight.
- cut: removed palpatine’s “yeah” line. What was lucas thinking on that one.
- cut: removed any temptation from palpatine to anakin to finish off dooku. Anakin just grabs both sabers & decapitates him. You can see right after thru his eyes that what he
did was wrong. No need for useless dialogue from palpatine to influence anakin.
** on a side note: i noticed jasonn rotoscoped dooku and yoda’s lightsabers purple. I kept them the way they are. I do applaud him because when i saw that, i was thinking to
myself how seamless that looked. Good job, but i feel entirely unnecessary.**
- cut: removed any mention of sand people from palpatine.
- cut: when ship is being being destroyed and they are trying to escape, various trims & cuts are applied including removal of r2-d2 shenanigans.
- cut: removed silly dialogue like “all batteries fire!”, “magnetize”, “stabilize”, “stabilizing, “were leveling out, sir!”, and “activate ray shields!”
- cut: when aboard the command deck after being captured, various trims & cuts are applied including what i like to call the “yo’ mama” comeback line of the movie. “ah’ anakin
skywalker i thought someone of your reputation would be a little bit older!” humiliates him further by coughing in his face. Anakin’s response “general grievous you’re
shorter than i expected!” (hand slaps forehead in utter disbelief). Really anakin, that’s the best you got? Thanks for not losing any of your wit!
- cut: various trims & cuts applied before & after they crash land on coruscant. Yes, even including the stupid “another happy landing!” line (a look of stunned silence looms
over my face).
- cut: reduced the stupid banter back & forth between obi-wan and anakin, on whether or not who should get the credit.
- cut: removed the whole palpatine talking to mace conversation. Redundant & pointless because of the above mentioned cut. You can clearly see that palpatine has enough time to
carry on that conversation without showing it. Besides, right after that scene the same information is exchanged between anakin and organa. Most importantly, something
just irritates me about lucas’s daughters in the background. They seem out of place and not taking their father’s movie seriously. Bitch slap to the both of them.
- cut: removed some of the dialogue between anakin and padme about being married. Useless and not needed.
- cut: removed a bit of dialogue when grievous talks to sidious. No longer does sidious mention mustafar. The reasoning is because why would sidious tell grievous to send the
separatist leaders to mustafar, when if you notice grievous doesn’t inform them until a couple days after that event happens. I mean they are standing right there when he
gets off his ship. Why not tell them right then and there to get their asses to mustafar. What is the purpose of holding off that piece of information to the separatists?
now when obi-wan arrives on utapau, the seperatist leaders would be long gone and somewhat safe on the mustafar planet. It makes much more logical sense, so it had to be
removed.
** on a side note: some edits i’ve seen or read about cut out the grievous talking to palpatine scene (with a slight alteration as described above). I for one like this scene &
find it to be significant. Basic storytelling tool – “foreshadowing”. By removing the proceeding scene on the balcony & combining it with anakin’s nightmare,
it becomes quite apparent to the audience that when we finally get to the opera house that palpatine, unbeknownst to anakin, has been using the darkside of
the force to peek into anakin’s nightmares. That is crucial to the story and the over-all narrative.**
- cut: as mentioned above removed the god awful balcony scene. Probably ranks as one of the most atrocious scenes in star wars, right below “i don’t like sand!”. When i first
saw this movie, that was the first scene that needed to go. My mind is still perplexed as to why this was in the movie in the first place. You can clearly see that this
was a re-shoot scene that had half the audience, when i saw it in theatres, gasping in astonishment at how sickly and fugly natalie portman looked after losing a
significant amount of weight and shaving her head for v for vendetta. Then after nightmare sequence, she looks great. Shame on you lucas…Put your head down in disgust!
- cut: various trims & cuts to dialogue between anakin and padme after anakin has nightmare.
- cut: removed the yoda & anakin conversation. Like another editor clearly stated, that information is useless and anakin never heeds the advice given anywhere in the movie. Now
just transition into anakin meeting up with obi-wan in the briefing room.
- add: **foreshadow alert** added the “seeds of the rebellion” deleted scene after the previous scene. If you excise the line “now that he has control of the jedi council”,
organa’s next line “the chancelor has ordered govenors(jedi) across all star systems” makes significant sense. The reasoning is because when we finally get to the scene
of the jedi council we can clearly see that ki-adi mundi, plo koon are in hologram form and various other jedi later in the movie, are spread across the galaxy at various
star systems. Also, clearly obi-wan’s dialogue to anakin in the briefing room about master voss solidifies that fact.
- add: **foreshadow alert** added the “a plot to destroy the jedi?” deleted scene after the previously added scene. The reasoning is because for one obi-wan expressed concern in
the briefing room about palpatine and is going to have a discussion with yoda and mace. So, when yoda says “looking to take control of the jedi council,” it is most
likely in reaction to the senate giving the chancelor more executiive powers (appointing himself or someone for him to be on the jedi council–anakin). Secondly, they all
clearly have their suspicions about palpatine and need to somehow weave out palpatine’s true intentions. Which of course leads us into the subsequent scenes:
1) anakin asked to be put on the jedi council, so palpatine can know what is going on with the jedi.
2) anakin being put on the jedi council, but not granted the rank of master. Clearly shows that yoda, obi-wan, and mace’s suspicions are clearly coming to fruition and
inform the rest of the jedi council beforehand (off camera).
3) anakin asked to spy on palpatine. This clearly shows that in the added scene, the information they need can only be obtained by someone on the inside. So, they ask
anakin to spy because he has become significantly close to palpatine.
- cut: removed a little bit of the dialogue about anakin being the chosen one and talks of the prophecy when yoda is going to go meet up with the wookies.
- cut: removed the next scene of anakin and padme having a conversation at the apartment. Pointless and very poorly acted.
- add: replaced that excised scene with the vastly superior deleted scene in palpatine’s office. Basically, you are killing 2 birds with 1 stone here, sort of speak, by still
having a scene with anakin & padme together, but marrying that with the other senators concerns about palpatine always changing the constitution with new amendments and
by assigning governors(jedi) across the galaxy. Also, the scene is great because it actually gives anakin something he is suppose to be doing..Spy on palpatine, report
back to the council, and somewhat plant the idea ,by palpatine, in anakin’s mind that padme can’t be trusted & isn’t going to stand by him in the end. That she believes
in democracy like obi-wan and not in the new soon to be galactic empire. Also, it is suppose to go there because the background is exactly the same as the previous scene.
- cut: various trims and cuts in the opera house. Removed various lines of dialogue to tighten the pace. No midi-chlorians!
- cut: shortened up the kashyyyk sequence by removing the droid attack which subsequently removes the wookie yell scene.Yeah!
- cut: removed little bits of dialogue on the loading dock.
- cut: removed the scene of obi-wan talking to commander cody telling him where grievous is located. Not needed.
- cut: removed the second premonition sequence. Now after obi-wan goes into hyperspace it transitions to anakin sitting on the apartment couch looking somewhat frustrated.
- cut: removed the “i feel lost” line. Ohh no, episode 2 dialogue all over again!
- cut: removed some dialogue when obi-wan is talking to utapau reprensentative, like “if you have warriors, i suggest you use them”. Huh? Not once do we see the utapau people
fight or anywhere else in the movie, for that matter.
- cut: this is a edit i’m particulary proud of – obi-wan’s encounter with grievous. I remember one person’s review on someone else’s edit and i hope i did this scene proud. By
re-organizing and trimming certain sequences it becomes a tighter scene:
1) removed the whole squawking boga at the beginning, now when obi-wan looks up and sees his ship go away it transitions into the scene of the tenth level where grievous
is at. This works stupendously better considering that you see them in the background and surmise that is what the utapau people & visitors ride. Now when grievous is
giving his speech to the seperatists, you see obi-wan arrive on the rafters with the boga but the boga is silent. Don’t give away your position or anything?!
2) grievous’s speech has been shortened by removing the line of what kind of planet mustafar is. We are going to know a little bit later that it is a volcanic planet.
3) removed line by grievous after the viceroy tells grievous about keeping them safe. Now the viceroy isn’t a pussy and actually stood up for himself.
4) by doing that, the scene of obi-wan getting off the boga is overlayed with grievous’s line about “your ship is ready,” shows obi-wan looking down above rafters just as
grievous and the seperatists are walking away. Now it gives them a little bit more time to get off the planet, not by much, but i guess every second counts.
5) now it shows obi-wan contemplating next move, stroke his beard, take off robe, and then jump down kamikaze style.
6) removed various lines of dialogue such as “well hello there?”, “you are a bold one”, “i will deal with this jedi slime myself!”, “your move!”, or “attack kenobi!”.
7) now the actual fight itself, if you look at what they are fighting on, it looks like a very narrow support beam in which grievous engulfs with his massive frame plus
all 4 lightsabers going off and making sparks on the ground. The logic of obi-wan jumping over him and then doing a spin move to get back in front of him is quite
strange. He would be cut up pretty badly if you ask me. So, obi-wan does not flip over him and stays grounded in front of him the whole time. Better this way because
now obi-wan cuts through grievous pretty quick and then the clones arrive.
i removed the whole other part of the fight which includes him doing the force push. No need because with the arrival of the clones i cut to grievous dropping down and
getting into his vehicle, sort of suggesting that in grievous mind these lightsabers do nothing so i’m going to run away like a coward.
9) when obi-wan whistles, the audience knows that he is signaling for the boga, don’t need to see the boga come squawking into frame and then obi-wan jumping down onto
the saddle. Removed it.
10) removed a few frames right before grievous jumps off the edge in his vehicle. If you notice the first time when grievous and his vehicle speed off camera, he is pretty
much already near the edge. In the previous situation already described, after obi-wan finally gets on the boga, you can see grievous in his vehicle much further back.
now i moved him up a lot closer to the edge.
** on a side note: now i’m not saying the boga doesn’t squawk in this version because he does, but at least he does a lot less. The last time i recall, i think the boga squawks
roughly 18 to 20 times in the original theatrical version, not sure. Now i dwindled it down to about 8 times in this fan-edit.**
- cut: since i put back in the deleted scene “a plot to destroy the jedi?”,therefore, removed the following war room scene, which as you know has the same basic information. Now
it just transitions into the scene of anakin learning the truth about palpatine.
- cut: removed a few snippets of dialogue in the previous mentioned scene to make anakin a little quicker in the brain to make the connection that palpatine is the sith lord!
- cut: this is another great edit i’m proud of – obi-wan chasing grievous:
1) the first few frames of the chase have been removed. Now transitions into a little bit later in the chase. No squawking from the boga, until the end (unavoidable).
2) removed obi-wan taking the vibro staff and trying to smash grievous’s vehicle with it. Pointless.
3) now in a bold cut, obi-wan trying to take vibro staff from grievous, rips it free of grievous grasp, spins it once and in one smooth motion smacks grievous in the face
with it. Grievous in frustration grabs the staff and pulls obi-wan over onto his vehicle. Now we are off to round 2. No fuss, no muss.
4) removed the whole sequence of grievous punching the plane and making a huge dent to the frame. If obi-wan got hit by that punch, he would be dead in an instant. Now
when obi-wan kicks grievous’s leg, you see him scream in pain because he is lying on his back and he did that out of desperation not to be squashed by grievous’s foot.
5) also, removed obi-wan opening up grievous chest plate and exposing his heart. Basically telling audience, “duh? There’s his heart, that’s how i’m going to kill him”.
- cut: removed a little bit of dialogue between anakin and mace in the hangar bay.
- cut: removed the palpatine voice-over while anakin is contemplating whether or not to intervene in mace’s attempt to arrest palpatine.
- cut: this is another great edit i’m proud of – mace vs palpatine duel:
1) removed the close-up shot of palpatine about ready to stab one of the jedi, after leaping from his chair, so that it now looks like one smooth motion. Basically,
catching them with there guard down and dispatching with them quickly. Now it’s mano y mano with mace!
2) seamlessly removed the very bad cgi palpatine rubber face over stunt actor. Now it looks like one smooth motion with his lightsaber.
3) nobody i’ve seen has done it properly, but i have finally removed that stupid monkey flip that palpatine does.
4) tightened up the fight a little bit in front of the window.
5) removed the scene of anakin running into palpatine’s office. Now it shows him get there at the exact time mace has the the lightsaber in front of palpatine’s face.
6) removed the line “you are under arrest, my lord!”. Stupid bit of dialogue.
7) removed the one to many “no’s” from palpatine.
removed all the dialogue in front of the window, after palpatine begs anakin to help him. Makes anakin’s turn to the darkside that much cooler. You can already see in
the one shot of his face that he has already made up his mind.
9) removed the odd bit of dialogue by anakin “what have i done!”. Ummm, you just turned to the darkside, embrace it. Not suppose to feel remorse. Jeez, grow a pair!
- cut: removed some more of obi-wan riding on the boga and some clone action. Now he just arrives from the background to tell commander cody they have a battle to win.
- cut: removed the line from palpatine, “commander cody”. Now he just says, “commander”. Besides why would palpatine know his name.
- cut: removed a couple things from the order 66 sequence.
1) no close-up shot of the clone pilots telling palpatine “it will be done my lord” and then shooting down plo koon.
2) removed the sequence of yoda jumping on chewbacca’s back, after yoda decapitates the troopers. Retarded & silly.
3) removed the sequence of anakin going to kill younglings. Totally unnecessary because earlier you see him go to the jedi temple to catch anybody who is in there off
guard. Now it makes it more dramatic later on when you see obi-wan & yoda walking the jedi temple hall and there in the middle are jedi and younglings laid about all
dead, and later shown in the hologram video. More effective that way.
** on a side note: i really wish yoda never used a lightsaber in the prequel trilogy films. Case in point, i think it would have been cool if either:
1) that yoda used the force like in the scene in palpatine’s office (removed by the way, in case anybody was worried) when he just flicks his wrist and the
emperors guards go down like lumps of coal. Think about it, yoda is standing there about to get shot, bam, out of no where the troopers get lifted in the
or air and tossed like 100 feet onto the beach floor, force unleashed style!
2) the most obvious choice would have been right when yoda is about to get shot, chewbacca and tarfor step in and rain down some wookie vengeance on the
clonetroopers. I mean i thought they were yoda’s homies, but no they just stand there and watch as this small old frog creature hopefully can get the job
done. Doesn’t make any sense if you ask me. Lucas totally missed a wasted opportunity there, but no he has to have yoda bust out a lightsaber all to
appease the geeks out there!**
- cut: removed the silly scene of the walkers seeing if all the wookies are dead.
- cut: removed the scene of yoda leaving kashyyyk.
- cut: removed the scene of obi-wan hiding from the clone troopers as they discuss obi-wan’s fate after the fall with the boga.
- cut: removed a bit of dialogue about “many jedi have been killed” when anakin arrives at the apartment after just slaughtering the remaining jedi in the temple.
- cut: removed the last bit of dialogue by yoda to obi-wan about decoding the coded message.
- cut: removed the scene of sidious telling the viceroy to await the arrival of his new apprentice.
- add: attached one of the exterior shots of mustafar with the arrival of anakin.
- cut: removed the viceroy’s line of “welcome, lord vader!” after anakin’s arrival on mustafar. Anakin now walks in and uses the force to close the doors.
- cut: removed the outdoor attack scene on the jedi temple by yoda and obi-wan. No more saber usage by yoda, damn it!
- cut: when obi-wan & yoda are walking the halls of the jedi temple, i removed all the dialogue leading up to obi-wan saying “who could have done this!”. Makes the scene way
more dramatic with just the music score playing and now you know why the removal of the younglings scene was taken out. No more pointless dialogue, just the visuals
showing the audience that anakin is one evil bastard wiping out everybody and not even caring about if it’s a child or not. Ta dah!, just like in episode 2.
- cut: removed the evil orange/yellow eye stare to the camera. Totally not needed. I guess the marketing people were thinking they could sell a lot more lunch boxes if they had
that in the movie!
- cut: removed any mention of obi-wan calling palpatine emperor. As far as obi-wan and yoda know he is still just a chancelor.
** on a side note: i know the security hologram scene is unavoidable because why would there be a recording of that? You just go with what’s available and edit it the best you
can. I don’t mind a little bit of suspension of disbelief in movies and it definately doesn’t disrupt the flow of the story. **
- cut: removed 2 little bits of dialogue when obi-wan goes to ask padme where anakin is.
1) “you are going to kill him, aren’t you?”. Now she just looks at obi-wan and you can see in her eyes that she knows what obi-wan plans to do without saying a word. Now
when obi-wan says “he has become a very great threat,” it’s kind of his last ditch effort for padme to voluntarily tell him where anakin is hiding.
2) “anakin is the father, isn’t he?”. Pretty pointless considering that they know anakin has the hots for padme and when he is not hanging around with obi-wan, the rest
of his time anakin is with her. They can’t be that clueless, can they?! I just look at it this way, since the jedi order is dwindling they can kind of overlook certain
traditions, like falling in love, and just sweep it under the rug. Nuff said.
- cut: removed the whole yoda vs. Sidious fight! Not missed one bit. You knew from the outset that these 2 were exact equals in force power and that in the end there was going
to be no clear winner. Oh, did i mention my whole beef with yoda and a lightsaber?! Just checking.
- cut: the whole sequence on mustafar with the arrival of padme to talk to anakin and most importantly the lightsaber duel is pretty much exactly like jasonn’s version, with
just a few snippets of frames here and there excised. Very minor.
- cut: here we come to the holy grail of this fan-edit – the ending! The whole ending has changed because of what has happened to padme at the hands of anakin. Padme never wakes
up, ever! She is seen unconscious throughout her last remaining scenes. A reviewer pointed out a great way the movie should end, so i heeded his plea and i hope i did the
ending justice:
1) after obi-wan has defeated anakin and walks aboard padme’s ship where padme is laying unconscious, he puts his hand on her shoulder, then camera pans up and we see the
look of grief on obi-wan’s face. Padme doesn’t wake up and speak. The ship leaves the planet and we see obi-wan in the cockpit looking depressed and sad.
2) removed the arrival of sidious on the planet because when he arrives later we see him with anakin in a medical capsule. I think we can give the audience credit to
figure out that sidious went to go get him, and for just a few seconds leaves anakin’s fate undetermined.
3) with removal of that scene, it now transitions into the scene of yoda meditating and obi-wan meeting up with him and organa. Then the arrival of sidious on coruscant
with anakin.
4) removed all the silly dialogue about the will to live. Who writes this crap. When we see that medic droid for the first time, he comes up to the 3 of them and now just
says “we’ll have to operate quickly if we are going to save the babies!”, organa’s response “babies!”, then the droid “she’s carrying twins”, and now everybody has a
concerned look on their face as obi-wan goes to the window to see padme’s unconscious body laying on the medical table!
5) we now transition into the second scene of a semi-unconscious anakin on his own medical table..With the suit already on! Anybody see the connection? The mask starts to
come down. Removed silly facial expression by anakin as this is happening. Mask locks into place along with the helmet. Vader breaths. *this will be the very last time
you see anakin as darth vader*
6) removed the birth of the twins, which of course removes the naming of the twins. Now when episode 4 rolls around, we know where luke has been taken but now we see him
all grown-up. It also suggests that since padme died in child birth by anakin, yes died, it is uncle owen and aunt beru that name him luke..Not padme. Of course, the
same can be said for leia. I mean isn’t it up to the adoptive parents of a newly born infant to name the child…Not the biological parent who has either died or
abandoned their child?! Makes sense to me. Leia refers to bail as father in episode 4 and her name is leia organa, not leia skywalker! Now it will be more of a mystery
until we find out the true relation between luke and leia in episode 6, that her real last name is skywalker!
** on a side note: anybody still concerned that there is no birth of the twins. There is quite a common medical procedure, whether the pregnant patient is awake or unconscious!
(hint: it starts with the letter “c”)**
7) removed the scene of what is commonly called the “birth of darth vader!”.
since the removal of the twins birth, we know transition from vader’s first breath to the scene of yoda, organa, and obi-wan discussing what should happen with the
twins.
removed the whole extended talk about extra training.
9) now transitions into the memory being wiped from c-3po & rs-d2 and then the funeral scene.
10) since i removed the “birth of darth vader”, i therefore, have removed darth vader on-board the star destroyer with sidious looking out at the death star. Now when
episode 4 rolls around and you see the iconic image of darth vader walking onto the deck of the ship searching for the plans of the death star, your reaction should be
“oh shit, that is one bad mamma jamma!”.
11) after the funeral scene, it now transitions into the respective fates of the twins.
12) end credits. In & out. No super long ending!
SYNOPSIS:
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Okay, I thought, “Oh great. Another Ep3 fanedit. Yippee.”
After reading through the entire “cut sheet” for this edit, I decided to sit down and watch it. There seemed to be some bold cuts/ideas for improving the movie, so I was intrigued. Mostly, I was curious to see how Stankpac handled the dreaded “birth scene” / “lost the will to live” scenes.
First, the “technical aspects” of the edit:
VIDEO:
The video quality of the this edit is perfect. I assume that some color-correcting has been done, because the film now, as a whole, seems more even. I watched this on a 55″ LED tv and the edit overall looked vibrant, crisp and clear. The edit is a s good (probably better) than the store bought DVD.
Stankpac uses a variety of transition effects to move from scene to scene. A great mixture of wipes etc without over-use – as I have seen in many other Star Wars edits – the scene changes are very reminiscent of the original Star Wars.
AUDIO:
The audio (soundtrack, effects, dialogue) has also been re-work to meet the plethora of the scene /cutting/editing/fading. I could hear no hard cuts/hard fades throughout the edit. The audio itself was very even (i.e. there were no points where the voices were too low or the effects were too overpowering).
Now onto the edit itself:
I have recently watched edits of ROTS from Spence, JasonN, Lordimperious (his is not yet released to the site) and now Stankpac. This edit seemed more like a refinement of either/or both of Spence’s and JasonN’s. The edit seemed very familiar to me and to be fair, it might be because I have watched too many of ROTS edits recently — but also, there is only so much scene editing can do with this movie. However, if I had to choose between Spence’s (who’s ROTS edit has been my long running favorite), JasonN’s and Stankpac’s —- I would choose Stankpac’s. This ROTS edit is very refined, technically perfect and handles the “letdown” of the end much better.
NOTE: Lordimperious’ edit is not yet released and he is working on a Version 2. It has the potential to take ROTS edits in a new direction — so I am unable to compare his with the others yet.
I was very impressed with how Stankpac handles the “birthing scene”, the rebuilding of Anakin into Darth Vader and the splitting of the twins. Stankpac kept all the scenes flowing and I never had a “HUH? Did I miss something” during this time (i.e. his edits created scenes that made sense). Very well paced end to the movie.
The only “UGH” moment I had was with the DVD menu. Stankpac uses a part of a special feature (involving Yoda and some Stormtroopers) that I have never liked since its appearance. Fortunately, it is only a snippet of the special feature, so it’s not a big deal.
Final thought, this is the best of all the ROTS edits that are out there on the site. It is a great edit and well worth the time.
Review by flyboy707 — June 18, 2010 @ 9:04 pm
Thank you so much for the kind comments. I appreciate that a lot.
Review by STANKPAC — June 20, 2010 @ 7:43 pm
flyboy707 hit it on the head pretty well. I too have watched all or the vast majority of the ROTS edits on this site, to the point where it began to get exhausting. I kept waiting for somebody to get this movie right so I could complete my Star Wars collection. Editors like Spence and JasonN would get certain aspects right but drop the ball in other scenes.
This edit, I believe is as close to perfect as this movie can get. It is a solid, clean edit with no technical problems to speak of (I have watched it twice and watched carefully). The audio and video quality is as good as it gets. But more importantly it takes Lucas’s vision and executes the truest representation of what I believe to be the intended goals of the movie with the footage available to work with.
There are many noteworthy scenes that are much improved from other edits I have seen. The ending is the most fundamental and striking improvement, but there are many more subtle alterations that are brilliant. The Mace-Palpatine fight improved, the Obi-Grevious fight improved, the Anakin-Dooku fight improved. More important though perhaps than any of these major changes is the subtle change in my perception of the characters and story. For the first time ever watching this movie I found myself caring and believing what I was seeing. For the first time ever I was actually able to suspend my disbelief just enough to possibly believe that the Jedi could be perceived as the traitors and that Anakin could turn to the dark side. This change in my perception was unexpected and wonderful.
As it goes in Hollywood, so it goes with Fanedits. There are many people who have mastered the technical aspects of making cinema but so very few who have mastered the art of good storytelling.
Excellent work Stankpac, and thankyou for giving me a version that I can happily put in between the Phantom Edits and Adywan’s Revisited.
Review by geminigod — June 26, 2010 @ 7:09 pm
Excellent work, the best Star Wars edit so far. Keep up the good work! I hope you will do the same improvements to the first and second movie also, will you?
Cheers!
Review by Wireless_Swe — August 6, 2010 @ 3:45 pm
Thanks! I’m glad you enjoyed it as much as I had doing it. As for the first 2 episodes, not really on the list of movies I want to edit. Just a tad bit burnt out on the PT right now. But, as they always say,”Never say never!”
Review by STANKPAC — August 14, 2010 @ 8:47 am
I liked the fact that getting to the ship was trimmed. No more buzz droid silliness. Just a good straight up entrance to Greivous’s command ship. I liked how they got to the observation deck quicker and that the fight with Dooku was more abrupt. I didn’t like how the line about wanting revenge was cut because it makes for an awkward cut “It is only natural” jump cut “Now we must leave… etc.”. A minor gripe, but I am glad the sand people mention was gone, for sure. Really liked how you spliced in the Episode I footage of the destroyer droids coming out. It was pretty seamless and removed R2’s slapstick.
Shortening their conversation seemed a bit unnecessary but I didn’t mind it that much. The other cuts (Jedi conversation and whatnot) are all good. Redundant crap we already know or stuff we don’t need to know.
Loved the Seeds of the Rebellion scene being added. No idea why they cut this scene, it connects to Episode IV very well. Mon Mothma having a bigger part is great. Also liked the other scenes you added in this area. It amazes me they weren’t used but others were. Also removing midi-chlorians… thank you! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!!! If a fanedit has midi-chlorians in them I just can’t keep it. Thank you very much for removing that godawful pseudo-science crap. Keep the force mysterious!
I liked the cuts on Utapau, although it felt weird to have Obi-wan go so long without saying anything during the Greivous fight. Not saying I don’t like it, but it was odd how he didn’t speak during that entire exchange.
Definitely liked tightening up the whole arrest scene. Always thought that seemed overly long and I HATED Palpatine’s overacting and all of the “no’s” he spouted out when he was about to zap Mace. Very impressive editing of the whole fight scene too, I might add. I liked how Palpatine just immediately killed those two Jedi and made short work of Plo Koon much more quickly. He IS the Dark Lord of the SIth, after all! The whole scene is just much quicker, tighter, and flows better. Anakin’s turn is much quicker and more believable. I do, however, wish you could have cut the “UNLIMITED… POWER!!!!” line from Palpatine. Always hated that. Doesn’t take too much away from the scene, though. Wish there was a way to get rid of some of the bad acting on Christensen’s part but hey you can only do so much.
Cutting the younglings scene… Kind of iffy on this one. I always thought it really cemented just how twisted and evil Anakin had really become. I can live without it, though.
Removing the “Welcome, Lord Vader” line caused a bad jump cut… I know the line isn’t the best but the cut is really obvious. Having said that, was there any way to remove the “The war is over! Lord Sidious promised us peace–” line before Vader ices that guy? Just annoyed me how he didn’t just kill him immediately like the other guys.
Getting rid of Yoda’s saber usage is good. Removing the fight with Palpatine is very good. It was a cool visual but it really made no sense and added nothing of substance to the story.
The Mustafar Duel is now much quicker and better paced. I really liked what you did here. It flows very well. I especially liked how there was no “From my point of view the JEDI are evil!” and “I have the high ground!”. It jumps right from the fight into Anakin’s defeat and incineration. Nicely done.
Cutting the “she has lost the will to live” thing made me happy. Always thought that was a dumb cop out. I would have left in more of the Birth of Darth Vader scene. I really enjoyed that scene as it was the final death of Anakin and the true birth of Darth Vader as he breathes his first breath. That’s one thing I’d really like to see back but it doesn’t hurt my enjoyment at all. Very glad the “NOOOOOO” is gone.
Overall this is my favorite edit of Episode III, and while it isn’t perfect in terms of certain jump cuts sticking out and a few other things, its going to be my definitive Episode III for now. Very well done!
9/10
Review by pizzaguylol — August 14, 2010 @ 6:59 pm
Really enjoyed this cut of “ROTS” – very much improved on the original. Very few “hard cuts”, which I suspect were unavoidable anyways.
I liked how Anakin just cuts Dooku’s head off – no taunting from Dooku or Palpatine, just Anakin trying to complete a mission. Though the original scene does mirror the ROTJ Luke/Vader scene, these new cuts don’t hurt the story, and do show Anakin as a more able Jedi. Good decision in cutting “My powers have doubled since the last time we met”, though I did enjoy Dooku’s retort.
The cut of the Mace/Sidious/Anakin sequence is also great – I now fully believe that Anakin was tricked into thinking the Jedi were evil, and not regretting his decision whatsoever(at least not until ROTJ). Cutting out his “Noooooo!” later works great as well, as he feels betrayed by her, and doesn’t give a shit.
Leaving out the Yoda/Sidious fight actually works here – I’m going to admit that I actually liked the scene. If Yoda were ever to bust out the saber, it’s there, as it is the Jedi’s last stand. But with Yoda insisting that the Sith must be destroyed, but only having Obi Wan go after Anakin, it makes Anakin’s turn that much more important to the fate of the Jedi and the galaxy. Of course, Obi Wan only leaves him for dead, but Anakin is forever disabled.
The only things I would have liked left in, would be when Anakin and Obi Wan twirl their sabers, then force push each other in the control room, and when they collide, and we see lava spew behind them. Just two really good money shots that I enjoyed.
I would have also liked a commentary track, but I realize that these can be difficult to make.
Once again, great job. I hope you decide to do the other episodes in the prequels. It’s a shame that more footage/materials don’t exist for fan editors to work with, but that obviously doesn’t stop the cutting.
Review by Jaba4017 — August 16, 2010 @ 2:04 am
Just finished downloading. Looking forward to watching this!
I haven’t checked through all the comments yet so I’m not sure if anyone else touched on this, but the information you provide with the files is inaccurate as far as one small story detail is concerned. The governors the Chancellor appointed were not Jedi. The Jedi were acting as generals in the fight against the Separatists. The governors were military officers promoted to oversee various regions. One must look no further than the original Star Wars (Episode 4) to verify. Tarkin was one such governor. If I’m not mistaken, Jerjerrod from Return of the Jedi was another. Palpatine appointed the governors to help maintain control & order throughout the soon to be Empire which is why Bail Organa has such a problem with the concept. As we saw in Episode 4, Palpatine later dissolved the Senate and gave the governors direct control over the various territories they oversaw.
More info verifying this can be found here: http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Governors
Thanks for the edit! It sounds amazing compared to the theatrical version. Can’t wait to NOT see and hear Vader yell “No”. I mean, really…what was that all about? It was embarrassing to watch. Why could he not have simply dropped to his knees and pondered what he’d done (even though we already got an earful of that after he cut off Mace’s hand). It would have been more effective I think than the ultra-unbelievable garbage we ended up with.
I’ll be sure and let you know how I enjoyed it!
Review by The_Moseph — August 25, 2010 @ 9:26 am
Thank you so much for clarifying that error in my cutlist. It doesn’t really matter though because it plays out all the same in the end anyway. Meaning the way I structured the sequence of events still has no affect on my little snafu in light of this new information. I just always thought at that time the Jedi were referred to as Governors in those 2 conversations (the one with Bail and the other in Palpatine’s office). Anyway don’t let that ruin your enjoyment of watching a much more superior version of this film. Thanks again for the Star Wars knowledge!
Review by STANKPAC — August 25, 2010 @ 6:09 pm
A very good episode 3 edit!
Not sure about the placement of the Palp-Padme-Anakin deleted scene (mostly because the scene after is also a discussion between Palp and Anakin).
I personaly would have kept Palp finding Anakin on Mustafar because it’s such an iconic image and I think it’s what the prequels are lacking (among thousands of other things…)
But those are just minor things and personal taste: the editing here is VERY clever and technicaly good.
Review by TMBTM — August 25, 2010 @ 8:55 pm
Thanks for the comments TMBTM, I appreciate it. Just for clarification, the placement of Palpatine’s office deleted scene is to show Anakin is doing what is asked of him from the Jedi Council……to spy on Palpatine! The original movie has no such scene, so I found it kind of strange that Lucas would delete this scene in question for the utterly lousy scene of Anakin & Padme talking at the apartment. This deleted scene was suppose to go there in the first place because if you notice the background is exactly the same and the one that is in the official movie is just a re-shoot scene. I rectified that and therefore the deleted scene has been re-instated. As for Palp’s finding Anakin on Mustafar, well that is a toss up for me personally because the trouble with fan-editing sometimes for me is that you have some people saying they like a particular scene and then you have others saying they don’t like it. In the end you have to go with your own gut feeling and cut/add what you feel would be the best representation of the movie as possible. Hope that was a little bit better explanation for you. Thanks again!
Review by STANKPAC — August 25, 2010 @ 10:10 pm
Just a quick note…
As I haven’t downloaded this version (YET!!), I can only comment on your cutlist…
The “Birth of Vader” scene sounds like it has been trimmed FOR THE BETTER…I’ve always had trouble with the whole “In your anger, you killed her,” Vader screams in the cheeziest way possible while Palpatine laughs.
In all reality, the whole series would have pretty-much ended there…if any normal jedi would have turned to the Dark Side and then found out he killed the only REASON he went to the Dark Side, wouldn’t that Jedi think: “Hmmm…maybe this Dark Side thing wasn’t such a good idea after all,” try to kill the Emperor for doing such a horrible thing to him and have the Emperor lash him with lightning bolts, ultimately killing him?
IT was a REALLY bad script decision on GL’s part…he should have gotten Lawrence Kasdan and Leigh Brackett to writ it instead.
I’m really looking forward to watching this!!!
Review by amatar — August 26, 2010 @ 4:05 am
amatar wrote:
IT was a REALLY bad script decision on GL’s part…he should have gotten Lawrence Kasdan and Leigh Brackett to write it instead.
My sentiments exactly! Hope you enjoy it.
Review by STANKPAC — August 26, 2010 @ 5:36 am
Hey, Stankpak! Too true, it really doesn’t amount to a hill of beans which way it is (Jedi as governors/imperial officers as governors) in the end. It’s trivial and doesn’t affect this vastly superior version of the film. You’ll have to forgive me, I’m a stickler for accuracy. I drive my friends crazy sometimes with that.
To be honest, I haven’t seen the whole film yet, but I gotta tell ya…what I’ve seen so far is AMAZING. I had planned on putting it on for a second and see what it looked like and just watch it later. I almost couldn’t stop watching. I was pleasantly surprised at how smooth this flowed. The editing here was almost flawless. I saw one cut somewhere on board Grievous’ ship that seemed maybe a frame off. It probably wouldn’t be noticeable to most, but being an editor it kinda jumped out at me. But that’s minor. I was glued. I had to force myself to turn it off so I could get a few things done! I’d watched around 30-35 minutes, but it seemed more like 45-50…AWESOME pacing!! I had planned on waiting till I watched the whole thing before I commented further, but I simply had to chime in. This is a phenomenal achievement considering the original material. The opening scenes (battle over Coruscant, Grievous’ ship, crash landing) were great. The addition of Organa, Amidala and the other members of the Senate discussing starting the Rebellion fit perfectly and was a welcome one! I recall Rick McCallum stating at the time that the scene ultimately didn’t fit in and it ended up ‘on the cutting room floor’, so to speak. After seeing it reinserted here, I’m not sure what he’s talking about. To me, it added a depth that was sorely missing from the theatrical version and offered yet another tie in to Ep. 4. I’ve seen a couple different attempts at improving this film, but this one so far is the best. The only real complaint I had was maybe with the overall quality. It seemed slightly grainy and the contrast appeared off slightly. The blacks weren’t quite black. Again, minor and it didn’t affect my overall enjoyment. This looks like it’s going to end up my preferred version of the film. Between The Phantom Editor’s Episodes 1 & 2 and your Episode 3, FINALLY I can enjoy the prequels!
I can’t wait to see this in its entirety. Stupendous job!
Oh, and about Lawrence Kasdan? I’ll third that!
Review by The_Moseph — August 27, 2010 @ 11:48 pm
Oops. Sorry, man…I goofed while typing your name! My apologies!!
Review by The_Moseph — August 27, 2010 @ 11:49 pm
Hey Moseph! Thanks for commenting on the stuff you did happen to watch. Much obliged and glad to hear you like it so far. Since I’m kind of a stickler when it comes to video quality, was just curious when you talk about it being grainy, contrast is a little off, etc; what kind of software you playing it with? I’ve noticed personally that VLC player really isn’t that good, if that’s what you are using mind you. It always made my edits and other people’s edits I’ve watched very grainy and sometimes hard to watch (e.g. the coloring on the highlighted buttons of my menu screen come out the wrong color). I prefer WMP because it plays, for me anyway, without a hitch. I suggest putting it on a DL disc and watching it on a nice HD set, you’ll definitely see a difference. Anyway, thanks again for the kind comments.
Review by STANKPAC — August 28, 2010 @ 12:33 am
Well, I just finished watching this movie, so I will write myself a li’l review for you.
I am basing this review on the DL DVD version.
I am a huge fan of JasonN’s version of this movie, but I thought I’d DL this just to see if the movie could be improved even more (Episode III is, as everyone seems to think, the best of the PT).
TECHNICAL
WONDERFUL quality! The picture was as crisp as any DVD I’ve seen (I watched it on a 19″ CRT, which I believe have far superior pictures to LCDs). The sound was great (admittedly on my 2.0 PC speakers) with nary a strange cut to be found. Incredibly smooth with and balanced, with no effects or dialogue getting drowning out or intruding on each other at any point.
I noticed but one semi-hard cut in the movie when Obi and Anakin were going to meet with the Chancellor after they “landed” the crippled cruiser, and there was one transition effect I wasn’t terribly fond of (what would make me laugh is if it were an original Lucas transition and I just THOUGHT it was Stankpac’s lol), but these are minor niggles and in no way took me out of the movie.
Overall, the Picture Quality and the sound quality were top notch! – 10/10 Great job!!!
EDITING
Amazing choices overall
I will go into the detail of the ones that really stood out to me at the time…I wish I had a pen to write them down, because I can’t remember them all lol
THE GOOD
– The buzz droids are gone!!
– The entire first battle was greatly reduced in time…this made it feel MUCH more like Episode IV. Episode IV was a very hurried movie at it’’s start.
– Anakin just lops off Dooku’s head without any prompting…I kind of liked a bit of the prompting, but it makes no real difference to the movie and
doesn’t detract from the movie at all (kind of makes Anakin seem like a bastard too lol)
– No dumb-assed R2 slapstick (which I hated with a burning passion)…very smoothly taken out.
– Adding in Droidekas coming in through the door instead of R2 flying through.
– The Boga scenes were trimmed. I really did not mind at all that there were some of his calls in there. It made it seem like a real creature to me.
– No “duh” moment when Obi separates Grevious’s chest armour!
– Adding in the “Birth of the Rebellion” scene really adds to the movie.
– No balcony scene!
– Windu’s fight with Sidious is improved in EVERY way…and the jedi masters don’t go out like a bunch of pussies lol
– The fight between Yoda and Sidious is gone. I didn’t miss it one bit.
– There is no hesitation with Anakin lopping off Windu’s hand.
– No “What have I done?” from Anakin (I liked his lack of remorse. Much more convincing)
– No Wookie battle or cheezy Tarzan scream…all the cuts involving Kashyyk here were for the better.
– Anakin does not turn to the camera with the stupid tear in his eye.
– I absolutely LOVED when Obi looks at the dead Younglings, says “Who could have done this?” and then the movie cuts immediately to Anakin
killing the Separatist leaders…well done!!!
– The lightsaber battle was great!! It is pretty much the same as JasonN’s, which I loved (and I’m glad for the loss of the lightsaber twirling and force
push things…these were stupid, unrealistic – even for Star Wars – and meant as nothing but very lousy-tasting eye candy).
– No Emperor on Mustafar scene. This scene was comprised of entirely weak camera angles and I never liked it.
– Amildala dies as a result of Anakin choking her. No more is heard after she is choked.
* Did you lower the emphasis of Anakin’s voice when he says “MY empire”???? It didn’t seem as annoying as it did before somehow.
– No horrible “Birth of Vader” Scene (I hate it for reasons I previously posted)
– No Vader and Emperor watching the Death Star under construction. I liked the scene in the first place, but it is not missed AT ALL.
– The ending is crisp and concise. Great choices.
– There are more, but I have a family I have to pay attention to and I don’t have the days it would require to write them all down lol
THE “MEH”
– I liked the Grevious/Anakin banter…cheezy, yes, but I like it lol and now it’s gone — Personal Opinion –
– Took out “Another happy landing.” I liked that too –Personal Opinion –
– Obi’s battle with Grevious was oddly silent.
– I would have ended Vader’s Birth at “Yes, my Master.” — Personal Opinion –
– Nothing else that I can remember.
As you can see, the good far, far outweighs the bad in this edit. I really wish Ian MacDermot’s acting would have been better after his battle with Windu, and that Obi actually HAD watched the Younglings get killed on the security vid (which he says he did, but was never shown for some weird reason…Lucas dropped the ball on that one)
Overall editing – 9.5/10 (just due to my personal choices)
I have now watched JasonN’s and Stankpac’s versions of the film, and, overall I think Stankpac’s version is a tiny bit better. I watched the Phantom Editor’s version of Episode II and the movie was completely ruined before it started (because of the opening crawl) and I was forced to delete it from my hard drive. I will keep yous and JasonN’s versions of this movie just for different viewing experiences in the future because they are both great edits.
Your edits to the STORY were perfect! I actually felt bad for Anakin by the end of it, which is a far cry to wishing he had fallen off the edge of a building at the BEGINNING of the movie lol. I hope you come out of your Prequel Trilogy burnout soon, because would kill to see your edits of Episode s I and II!!!
Overall, I give your edit a hugely enthusiastic 10/10. I have my minor niggles, but they are inconsequential in the overall picture. Keep up the wonderful work!!!
Review by amatar — August 29, 2010 @ 11:21 pm
Hey, Stankpac! You said it when it comes to VLC Player! Actually, I did indeed put it on a disc and watched it on my 52″ HDTV (my computer’s having a video card issue at the moment). Ya know what? I think I know what the problem was…I forgot, I’ve been downloading and watching a number of fan edits recently and was trying to conserve DL discs. I know I put at least one on a regular single layer disc. Now that I think about it, this may have been it. Please accept my apologies. It would appear the quality issue may have been my shrinking it down to fit a single layer. I’ll have to rectify that seeing as how this is one fan edit I plan to keep.
I’m afraid I’ve been unable to finish watching it yet, but I did recall one other thing I noticed do far…Anakin actually seems to be falling to the dark side more naturally as opposed to the GL version where he seems to (almost) abruptly switch for trivial reasons. From the beginning in this one, he’s visibly different. The anger and frustration show more in this version as he turns. It makes it more believable when he does take that final step and assists Palpatine.
You know, I’ve started thinking recently that perhaps one of the problems with the prequels is Ben Burtt. I love Burtt’s sound engineering for the Star Wars & Indiana Jones films (Raiders is one of my favorites when it comes to sound design), but as an editor he leaves much to be desired. If it hadn’t been for the editors on the original film in 1977 it’s possible that one could have suffered a similar fate. They did a fabulous job with what they had to work with (filming stopping just as the shots end, etc). I’m not sure what other film editing Burtt has done or why he ended up with the job on these and I know he confronted GL on the problems of putting together the final battle scenes on Phantom Menace, but I’ve begun to wonder if it has something to do with it. Between your RotS edit and Phantom Editor’s Phantom Menace & Clones, it sure seems that if the right editor had been there at the beginning, we might have ended up with solid films, though still slightly disappointing from a story/script point of view.
Review by The_Moseph — August 30, 2010 @ 7:40 am
The_Moseph wrote:
——————————-
You know, I’ve started thinking recently that perhaps one of the problems with the prequels is Ben Burtt. I love Burtt’s sound engineering for the Star Wars & Indiana Jones films (Raiders is one of my favorites when it comes to sound design), but as an editor he leaves much to be desired. If it hadn’t been for the editors on the original film in 1977 it’s possible that one could have suffered a similar fate. They did a fabulous job with what they had to work with (filming stopping just as the shots end, etc). I’m not sure what other film editing Burtt has done or why he ended up with the job on these and I know he confronted GL on the problems of putting together the final battle scenes on Phantom Menace, but I’ve begun to wonder if it has something to do with it. Between your RotS edit and Phantom Editor’s Phantom Menace & Clones, it sure seems that if the right editor had been there at the beginning, we might have ended up with solid films, though still slightly disappointing from a story/script point of view.
——————————————————————————————————————
Couldn’t have said it better myself…..Ben Burtt should have declined the job in the first place, nothing against the guy, but a sound editor doing video editing? Really Lucas, jeez what were you thinking?!
Review by STANKPAC — August 30, 2010 @ 8:50 am