Star Wars Episode 2: Attack Of The Phantom
 a TRUE FANEDIT by Phantom Editor
The phantom editor strikes again! Don’t miss the brilliant commentary. This is a very interesting and professionally edited take on ATTACK OF THE CLONES. member ratings: |
(42 votes, average: 9.26 out of 10, rated)
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INTENTION & EDITING DETAILS:
“As before, I do not wish this to be viewed as an attack on the motion picture industry, an allegiance with motion picture piracy or even an attack on artist’s right.
My “proactive criticism” is aimed only at one filmmaker – George Lucas.
For years Mr Lucas practiced the re-editing of other director’s works as an act of “proactive criticism” suggesting changes where he felt the director had gone off page from the original storytelling …
…And he did so by re-editing his own version of the director’s film. Hmmmm …
Sound familiar?
So please let the entire contents of the DVD serve as my proactive criticism of where I feel George Lucas has gone off page – not only with the storytelling integrity of this film, but the integrity of a beloved piece of film history.
Note: no profit is generated from the creation of this DVD … And let’s keep it that way!
-the phantom editor”
COMPLETE SCRIPT:
transcribed by TV’s Frink -> DOWNLOAD SCRIPT HERE
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS:
The Phantom Editor Strikes Again
Attack of the Phantom
Written by Joshua Griffin
Published on April 29, 2005
“This is an amazing DVD. Technically sound. Dolby digital. Commentary track and “infinifilm” extras. Even some scene changes and rotoscoping – WAY more advanced than the Episode I cut, which was essentially a cut of the film that lasted maybe an hour. Clearly there was a lot of thought put into this edited version of Lucas’ film. This isn’t just cutting out characters he didn’t like, but really looking at the psychology of the characters and the telling of the core story. The audience seems to be his primary concern. I think it you watched it, you might be surprised at some of the insights the Phantom makes on the film. It is easy to criticize Star Wars films. It is another thing altogether to recut the entire movie.
He starts out by deleting Captain Typho’s “I think we’re safe” line from the beginning of the film. The Phantom calls it an Friday the 13th moment. If you click the phantom logo that pops up, you can hear an expanded commentary with clips from the horror movies as well.
If you remember the Phantom Edit of Episode I, it was most memorable for removing Jar Jar from the film. Well, this isn’t simply cutting a character from the film. Jar Jar is in the film! But several of his scenes are cut down to remove his dialogue, to make the audience feel that he has grown up. “Use him with value” and to help the audience “feel he is intelligent” and that he knows what he is doing.
There were a series of cuts soon after, like Anakin nose dive in chase scene and his weird laughing, the irreverent power couplings scene and other awkward humor lines. In one instance the Phantom even moved ambience sound to rear channels in night club scene. One of the most aggressive cuts was the entire Kamino dart subplot – all of the robot analysis scenes are cut along with Dexter Jettster because a simple “Kamino system” line has been added to the Zam Wessel death scene.
He also chose to cut the Yoda and the Younglings scene out of the film, feeling it hurt the Obi-Wan character.
The Phantom even worked in deleted scenes, particularly some of Mace on the Jedi council hanger and Anakin visiting the home of Padme. In the director’s commentary audio track you hear him explain the changes and defend his actions. He also added in a sad moment of Anakin when Padme says “he’s not my boyfriend.”
Another aggressive cut was the Jango Fett/Obi-Wan fight. Now it is down to a teaser to build up the event later in the film. At one interesting point in the DVD, he laments the Separatists not becoming the start of the Rebellion. When Dooku comes into the shackled Obi-Wan, it would have been great if the Count talked about the eventual Empire and the was essentially the Father of the Rebel
Alliance. He was ahead of his time, perhaps falsely motivated, but in the end was correct.
He talks about the sound design being flawed, like when Anakin and Padme are entering the Genosian the audience can hear the enemies before the Jedi senses it. He changes the sound design so that the Jedi reveals to the audience the problem. He also added in new sound effects and reedited the droid sequence entirely. He didn’t like the R2-D2 jets but in the end couldn’t get away from them. He felt it was a problem for Lucas, so he invented a new tool for R2 to have. Why doesn’t he have them later in the Classic films?
One change I really did like was the fact that the Phantom redid the subtitles in places – the best one being the Death Star cameo. He took away the “duh” moment for the audience, as if you couldn’t see it was the Death Star in the earlier two shots.
In the end, the Phantom Editor makes some great points and defends them well in the commentary. Some people just whine about not liking the films, and this guy takes a step at trying his best to “correct” them. Regardless of your opinion of the second prequel, you owe it to yourself to track down this DVD and see for yourself all of the changes and weigh in if indeed it does improve the movie.
Interesting idea, and very well executed.”
ENJOY!
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The quintessential fan edit in all aspects. If you only get one, make it this.
Review by GyRo567 — February 5, 2008 @ 5:59 am
It’s amazing that Lucas had all the right pieces but it took the Phantom Editor to put it all together in such a way that it really compliments Lucas’ old editing style thus making this edit even more enjoyable than the original.
Review by Laserdisc — July 29, 2008 @ 2:10 am
An amazing edit with most nagging scenes completely removed as well as a great DVD menu (love Yoda’s expression!). The only scene remaining that still bugs me a tad is the whole “He’s holding me back – n’yah!!” scene on Tatoine – oh well. Can’t wait for Episode III
Review by miketava — August 27, 2008 @ 9:52 pm
The love story in this version is way more believable than in the original version. Whatever chemistry Hayden Christensen and Natalie Portman may have had, George Lucas managed to kill with his cumbersome ways. This edit really helped sell the idea that Anakin and Padme fell for each other, not that they were thrown at each other. My one complaint though, is that the picture quality doesn’t seem up to snuff with the original DVD. It seems a lot grainer and more compressed somehow, and I noticed some framerate problems, as if it wasn’t quite running at 24p. Due to the vastly improved narrative this is still the preferable way to view the movie, but if the picture quality was on par with the official DVD, it would be the ultimate way to view the movie.
Review by Timstuff — September 11, 2008 @ 3:40 am
very close to perfect. excellent version of the film. currently the best out there. get this one, very worth watching.
could be a little tighter in places. could make some different choices with the Anakin and Padme subplot. i really miss the cut obi-wan action sequences, but i can see why he did it.
still, the best version currently available.
Review by count_carne — November 15, 2008 @ 5:49 am
At last. A version of AotC that I can stomach. You read through everyones edits and you still fear they’ll leave something in that you’ll cringe at. For me, this edit pretty much reached all my expectations. Removal of overlong chases and fight scenes, Dex the restaurant owner, ‘Younglings’ and finally making the ‘love scene’ between Anakin and Padme actually work- makes this film a much more positive experience. Jar Jar was totally tolerable, the love developing between Padme and Anakin was dealt with so much better – it wasn’t awkward at all in this version.
I always felt that AotC plodded along, better than TPM, but still plodded and was dogged with horrible dialogue and kiddie scenes. ALL gone in this version.
Only one tiny annoyance. Anakin whinges on Tattooine. Obi Wan and the whole ‘He’s holding me back – n’yah’ – that could go. Oh and perhaps the ‘death sticks’ scene in the bar on Coruscant.
I’ve not seen other versions – but this was damn near perfect – I’d well recommend it. Also, the Phantom Editor gives commentary on the DVD – well worth listening too.
Review by white43 — February 7, 2009 @ 9:59 pm
I had to add this. I’m not sure if something is up with the sound on this – I’m watching in 2.0, but alot of the dialogue seemed quieter than it should have been, compared with the rest of the sounds.
Review by white43 — February 8, 2009 @ 11:48 pm
The phantom editor does it again…if only he’d do EP3! Not quite enough chopped for my taste but still a MUCH more tolerable EP2.
Review by vpwmma — March 26, 2009 @ 9:06 am
I freaking love this edit.
It seems to have made all the right cuts. Even watching the Yoda/Dooku duel is now tolerable because so much other rubbish has been removed, and removed SEAMLESSLY, imo. Some who are more technically inclined than me may find flaws, but this is a GREAT film now from the lay SW fan perspective.
I may use my original copy of Ep. II as a frisbee now.
Review by buddythegoon — April 13, 2009 @ 9:36 pm
This edit plus his “Phantom Menace” edit ARE the DEFINITIVE version of this movie. If you are reading this and have not watched either of Phantom Editor’s version, then download them NOW! I have all the Star Wars movies on store-bought DVD. I have not watched my purchased versions “Phantom Menace” or “Attack of the Clones” since I downloaded Phantom Editor’s version – THEY ARE JUST THAT GOOD!!!
As everyone I have ever come across who know these edits, asks the same question: why no “Revenge of the Sith”? (although I highly reccomend Spence’s edit – also found on this site).
I will join buddythegoon in using my store-bought DVDs in frisbee fun!
Review by flyboy707 — November 27, 2009 @ 6:38 pm
I watched every single Star Wars movie when they came out in the theatres. I was 4 when the original came out, and I was first in line to see TPM in theatres – I only had to wait 12 hours, as the theatre I went to didn’t tell anyone they were selling advanced tickets, and I managed to get a hold of some…so I wasn’t one of those poor bastards who had to camp out for a month to be the first in lol -
…anyways, AOTC was the only one of the saga I never saw in the theatre, and I don’t regret it at all. After renting it, I hated it with a stinking passion like nothing I can quite describe. A worse movie could not have been made.
I watched this edit, and it seems as though everything that was horrible about this movie was cut out…my God, it is actually watchable!
Video Quality: 10
Audio Quality: 10
Editing: 10
Improvement over the original: This is where I have to complain, which is truly too bad. I will explain:
The opening crawl…
The opening crawl explains why he did the edits he did, completely blowing away ANY sort of continuity with the rest of the saga.
It honestly set the tone as some sort of a satire…I couldn’t take it seriously after reading it, and it completely ruined the movie for me, which is honestly and truly too bad, as the editing, sound and video were 100% top notch. I cannot possibly complain about any of the editing decisions. Great direction. Great choices.
I understand the urge to explain WHY you did the edit, but couldn’t the explanation be done in a disclaimer or something BEFORE the movie started? I’m very sorry to say that I had to delete this edit. I will try to find something that comes close I guess.
I am having a hard time rating this movie overall, as you did such a wonderful job technically. In the end, sadly, I have to give it a 5 out of 10 as the movie was ruined before it started…the mood is half of the movie. The technical side is the other half, and that half gets top marks.
I cannot recommend this edit if you want a true Star Wars movie. If you don’t pay attention to the opening crawl in the first place, then this edit is for you.
Review by amatar — June 29, 2010 @ 1:38 pm
-During the first half of the film, Anakin is still too arrogant. Too much of Christensen’s horrid “performance” still shines through.
-After Zam Wessel takes a hard left turn in her ship, and Obi-Wan and Anakin keep flying straight ahead, they suddenly both end up at the bar in the next shot.
-Obi-Wan still sounds as if he has a cold and a blocked nose when replying to Anakin when the latter says Zam went into the bar. That could have gone too. Obi-Wan isn’t supposed to catch a cold until on Kamino [sic].
-The Death stick sequence should have been dropped altogether.
-The “Jedi-business” line still sounds amazingly arrogant.
-Anakin still looks like a creep when looking at Padmé ‘like that’, although that can’t be fixed.
-It’s still remarkably funny, and a little bit stupid, to hear the bartender shout “Hey, no droids in here” at R2, while he is in fact one himself.
-While it doesn’t exactly improve the film’s pacing, the scenes at Padmé’s house with her family are great additions to the love story.
-Along with the raid on the Raider’s encampment (pun intended), the Speeder bike scene is probably Christensen’s finest moment.
It could have something to do with him not having any dialogue there, but I’m not sure.
- Although it’s imperative to the plot, Anakin’s crazed rant when returning from the Tusken camp has terrible dialogue AND acting, which I think cannot be fixed without cutting up half the scene, or the entire scene, if necessary.
- NO Star Wars film should contain Lucas family cameos. Apparently, this cut no longer does, which is a VERY good thing.
- Another point of grief, although few will know her by name, is the presence of Sarrissa Jeng left intact in the film.
- Natalie Portman still looks hot in her outfit.
- Windu’s fight with Jango should have been flipped. Windu starts out on the left, and engages Jango from the right side to center screen in the next shot.
The final fight could have been trimmed down to not include the light show display by Dooku and Skywalker, as well as Yoda’s interference, which should have been reduced to a Force power display only.
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TECHNICAL ASPECTS
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VIDEO:
noticed no hard cuts, hiccups or jumps of any kind.
Overall: 5 out of 5 stars
AUDIO:
same as above, nothing wrong here.
Overall: 5out of 5 stars
PRESENTATION:
as with TPE, another great menu in the style of the original, with a funny little intro by Yoda. Excellent.
Overall: 5 out of 5 stars
IMPROVEMENT OVER THE ORIGINAL:
Although better than TPM, and only ever so little, it’s still a horrid film. This edit couldn’t change all that much.
Overall: 3 out of 5 stars
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FINAL SCORE: 4,5 out of 5 stars
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Adds up to a fanedit score of:
8 out of 10 stars
(If you’re wondering why 4,5 times two doesn’t make 9 here, check ‘improvement over the original)
Review by Radi0n — August 21, 2010 @ 12:50 pm