Revenge of the Sith – The Spence Edit
by Spence
This is the attempt to finally give fans of the famous “Phantom Edits” the missing third episode. This is “Revenge of the Phantom”
member ratings: 
(13 votes, average: 8.69 out of 10, rated)
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original film name: Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith
new film name :Revenge of the Sith – The Spence Edit
film studio name :Lucasfilm
edit crew name : Spence
Date Original Film Was Released : 19 May 2005 (UK)
Date Edit Was Released : 08 May 2009
Original Runtime :140 min
New Runtime :2 hrs
Amount of time Cut/Added :
- Cut little odd bits of dialogue all over the place.
- Cut any lines or scenes that I found redundant.
- Attempted to cut any unnecessary pauses, camera shots, anything that slows down the pace and momentum of the film.
- Cut the buzz droids.
- Cut the missiles sequence to get them to the Invisible Hand faster.
- Removed the first elevator sequence. They get in the elevator and arrive to fight Dooku.
- Removed Palp’s little “Yeah!” thing. Not sure what that was but it’s gone.
- Removed the bit where Dooku drops a piece of scaffold onto Obi-Wan.
- Removed all of R2’s shenanigans.
- Added some music from KOTOR over the Jedi vs. Grievous guards sequence.
- Cut the scene where Yoda gives Anakin advice he never uses or mentions again. Because, well, he never uses it or mentions it again.
- Removed all the awkward “floating head over video game body ” clone trooper sequences.
- Trimmed as much of the squaking from that bird-lizard thing as possible. Drives me nuts!
- Removed Grievous’ line about being trained to use a lightsaber. It’s redundant since two seconds later, he uses a lightsaber.
- Removed the silly Sergio Leone eye close ups from the Obi/Grievous fight.
- Anakin catches onto Palps being a sith lord a little faster. Because, try as Lucas might, Anakin is not retarded.
- Trimmed a little of the Grievous chase scene.
- Palps vs. Jedi sequence has been reworked. Lucas somehow made him seem gymnastic and geriatric at the same time. I lessened both of those factors. Also, the other Jedi don’t go out like bitches. They now seem caught off guard.
- The entire transition to Vader sequence has been trimmed, cut and moved around to the point where I can’t really remember what I actually did. But I can tell you that i feel confident in this version working much better than original version.
- Cut the mission to Mustafar being mentioned 30 bajillion times. Once is enough.
- After Order 66, there’s more or less some sort of cut every 30 seconds. The pacing should’ve been brisk and fast and intense and it wasn’t. So I tried to get that momentum going as much as I could and removed lots of dead weight.
- I cut that weird moment where Anakin’s eyes appear orange. Yeah, I know, it’s a Sith trait, it’s happened before, blah blah blah, but the whole shot just feels like it’s there so they can stick it in the trailer over the Darth Vader theme.
- I cut the entire Obi-Wan/Anakin fight into one giant, tightly paced four minute action sequence. Some of the fight was removed, but it really flows now and is a lot more exciting.
- NO PALPATING YODA FIGHT. Yoda, in my Star Wars world, does not flip around like a monkey with a lightsaber. The only time he uses his saber is to behead the two clone troopers that were going to try and kill him. I like the idea that he uses all his strength to do that, but thats about all he’s capable of at his age.
- I cut all the talking between Anakin and Obi-Wan during the fight. They are Jedi and they are in fighting mode, they aren’t gonna stop and talk about it. I also cut Obi announcing to Anakin he has the high ground. If his mission is to kill Anakin, and he has already said “I will do what I must” why would he announce his advantage? It just makes him appear weak.
- Removed some droid silliness. I’m all for droid silliness, but not at this moment of the film.
- Padme has no longer “lost the will to live” because that always felt like she was saying “F**k you twins, you’re on your own!”
- I redid the whole “Nooooo!” thing. It’s shorter, more clean, and looks better.
- I removed any reference to Qui-Gon and new training and all that stuff. It was half-baked, not very well thought out, and it’s too much new info too late in the film.
- I did not add any deleted scenes into the film, as i didn’t find any of them necessary or particularly helpful.
Conceptual improvements/advancements of edit over original:
I still consider The Phantom Edit and Attack of the Phantom to be the pinnacles of the fanediting idea. Sure, maybe it’s not the best picture/sound quality, but in terms of greatly improving a film, he nailed it on both accounts. Yet, he never did an Episode III edit. There have been some other edits, sure, but none of them really have that feel that his films have. Most prequel edits seem to come to a place of either hatred for the film or over-appreciation of the film, and tend to be unbalanced (this isn’t all of them, and its just my opinion.) Frankly, I haven’t found an ROTS edit that I feel I can put next to those Phantom Editor versions.
So I tried to use his principals and points of view to create a Revenge of the Sith edit I could watch along with Phantom Editor’s prior versions. It won’t feel exactly like a Phantom Editor edit of course, as it’s from my point of view which will always be different, and also he is a much better editor than me. But I feel like I can watch this version and confidently enjoy the film.
Hardware and software information:
Womble,sony vegas, dvd architect
persons involved: Spence
Complete cutlist, transcribed by TV’s Frink (DOWNLOAD HERE)
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Images:
coer art by boon23 (download here):
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This may be my definitive version. I love that you got rid of the buzz droids and the opening scene moves at a much brisker pace, concluding in about 15 minutes. I still would’ve liked more removed from the balcony scene. I like it to cut away as soon as Anakin says “make that kind of motion in the Senate where it belongs.” Also, I really wish you’d have cut the wookie tarzan scream. Though I’m glad to see some of the squaking from that bird-lizard thing cut, I think more could’ve been trimmed. Why not just show Obi Wan peering over at the Separtists? We don’t need to see how he got there. Also at the beginning of the chase I really hate that they both jump into an abyss. Perhaps it is necessary since it shows Obi wan dropping his lightsaber, but I really want that gone. And, while I don’t absolutely HATE it, the Palpatine voice-over about “any chance of saving Padme will be lost” while Anakin is in the Council Chambers seems unnecessary at best. I think the scene works much better without it, actually giving the audience some credit for understanding his internal conflict without it. I’d also love to see someone cut the crazy Yoda flip Palpatine does in the battle with Windu just before they break the window. The edits to the ending of that battle as Windu is killed are perfect, IMO. The whole Anakin becoming Darth Vader works much better now too. This is a minor quibble, but has always gnawed at me: after viewing the security footgae, how does Obi wan know to call Palpatine “Emperor”? He should still be referring to him as Chancellor, no? The whole Anakin/Obi Wan duel works much better now. I don’t miss the Sidious/Yoda duel at all. At first, it was a bit jarring that Sidious is suddenly on Mustafar, but it makes sense if you think about it. The dialogue edits when the medic droids are talking to the Jedis about Padme are perfect. I still would like to see more of the Vader scene cut. I think it could end right after the “yes master” line. As with the Phantom edits that were you inspiration, I feel the edits done are terrific and work very well. My issues are only that I would still like to see more and deeper cuts. 9/10
Review by Moe_Syzlak — June 26, 2009 @ 7:34 pm
Absolutely fantastic edit. Its my definitive Episode III now. The editing near the end makes it quite moving.
10/10
Review by pizzaguylol — June 27, 2009 @ 7:34 am
Before I review this edit, I feel compelled to say that nearly ANY edit of the new three Star Wars movies will always be better than the commercial versions. I was lucky enough to “obtain” an early VHS version of Phantom Editor’s “Phantom Menance” and then later, of course, his revist edit for DVD. I still consider him as the standard/benchmark for fanedits.
I had been looking for a good edit of “Revenge of the Sith” for a long time and was very happy after I downloaded this fanedit. Like the previous reviewers have already written, this IS my definitive version.
All the edits are crisp, professional and well thought-out. The video/audio quality is excellent. Spence has made a much more well-paced, consistent movie without losing any plot, important points etc. I especially appreciate no longer having to deal with Lucas’ cheesy jokes, lines and childish escapadees by a great deal of the characters.
I agree with a great deal of Moe_Syzlak’s points so I won’t regurgitate them in my review. One scene in the movie that I have always found extremely boring and long-winded is the meeting between Anakin and the Senator; where they are watching the water-bubble performance. Although, i undertstand it is needed to further the plot, I just do not like it – in this edit nor the original. The dialogue is starined, boring and predictable – at it’s best. I would like to see someone (much cmore clever than me) somehow edit/fixed this scene.
Overall, a 5-star edit!
Review by flyboy707 — November 27, 2009 @ 6:31 pm
“…the other Jedi don’t go out like bitches.” Possibly the best line I’ve ever seen in a cutlist, and a good cut to boot!!
Review by buddythegoon — December 11, 2009 @ 3:36 pm
Well Spence, let me start with the good news. I am torn between this edit and the Hal9000 edit. They are two very different edits. Both edits share one very important thing in common, which is that neither make any tragic editing mistakes that worsen the situation over the original movie. Yours is much slimmer, which I like, and it does not include the added rebellion scenes or the yoda fight scenes, both of which I am neutral on. It is a tough call on the Yoda fight scenes because for so many people it is their favorite part but realistically the dude is pretty damn old. The added rebellion scenes are kinda nice, but the only one senator other than Padme that matters is Organa and his character gets established just fine at the end. Furthermore the fact that those senators go publicly before Palatine in protest makes it seem far less likely that Organa would survive the night, much less be able to successfully hide Leia and secretly oppose the Emperor in the future.
Yours has, without question, the best opening sequence I have seen. It is probably as close to perfect as you can get it without constructing some elaborate shots from scratch to find a plausible way to get them off the ship after fighting Count Dooku so you can skip entirely their capture and subsequent horrible Grevious fight and crash landing of the ship.
More good news: You cut out the “I have the high ground” line. Thank the lord. Major kudos for recognizing that absurdity. I also dug that you made the shot of Anakin jumping down onto the hover droid thingy over the lava look less retarded.
Then came the final epilogue scenes. These left a sour taste in my mouth because I thought for sure you would trim that way down to the quick montage get-us-in-and-out-quickly sequence that it should have been. In my mind anyway, it always seemed like one of the easiest editing decisions. I imagine sequence going as follows: Padme is unconscious. (Padme remains unconscious until she dies!!!) Establish with audience she has twins and droid informs they need to operate before she dies. Cut to pretty shot of Leia laying UNCONSCIOUS on the table before surgery. Cut to Vader getting operated on. Mask goes on. Vader starts breathing. Cut to meeting where they plan what to do with the kids. Cut to having protocol droid’s mind wiped. Cut to funeral. Cut to Alderan with Leia. Cut to Tatooine with Luke. Credits. In and out in 5 minutes instead of 15 minutes, and the movie ends with me still high from the climax and giddy over the tie-in to the other movies instead of bored and annoyed by George Lucas Antics. Everything else in the epilogue part of this movie is either redundant or too much new information that is best left a mystery, or just plain bad writing, directing, and acting. It is not a mystery why Padme is dying to me. Anakin killed her with the force. I saw it. Furthermore this explanation adds amazing impact to Anakin’s choices and dreams because the death he was trying to prevent that caused him to turn to the dark side was actually caused by his very choices he made in attempt to prevent it. Fear does lead to suffering, hate, and the dark side after all! Did I mention Padme should never regain conciousness? We all know what the kids’ friggin names are. I don’t need her to wake up to name them, and I don’t care how they got their names. I also would be quite content to never again see Darth Vader act like Frankenstein and scream “NOOOO,” especially when it is completely anti-climactic to the shot of the mask going on and the sound of him breathing.
Who writes crap like that anyway? Oh yeah, George Lucas. The man will go down in history as the one of the most visionary producers and one of the worst dialogue writers and directors of all time. The smartest choices the man ever made was to have other people direct Empire and Jedi and Indiana Jones. Furthermore If he was really a great writer, these movies would be totally different. If I were Lucas writing these movies, I would have gotten in my head to the scene where Count Dooku explains to Obi Wan about the sith lord in the senate and presents himself as a good guy and the separatists and rebels, and I would have realized what gold that idea is. Then I would have completely re-written episodes 2 and 3.
While I am ranting, here is something that has been nagging me. Why the freak does Palpatine turn all wrinkled and old looking when he electrocutes Mace? It just doesn’t really make much sense or seem necessary. If Lucas really felt the need to age the Emperor for us (not sure why he would) to make him look older like he does in the later movies, here is a better idea. Have him bust out some sith necromancy action on Anakin when he saves him on the volcano planet, which causes the Emperor age in order to save Anakin. This would establish even more reason for Anakin to be loyal to the Emperor, and ties in nicely to the talk the whole movie about these alleged healing powers the sith can have.
One last tidbit for anybody reading this with more time than me to take another stab at editing this movie (my big editing project if I can make time for it will be Matrix 2 & 3. I have some radical ideas for how to completely change those movies so they don’t suck.). I would love to see somebody get really creative with the Obi-wan vs. Grevious scene. Sure there is all the annoying lizard chase stuff that maybe can be trimmed down, but more importantly to the story is the fact that Obi-wan is frigging retarded and totally out of character by brazenly jumping down into the middle of the entire enemy force. I think there is a way to tweak that so that he jumps down and the clone troops pop up at the same time and Grevious makes a run for it. The other stupid thing about that scene is that it seems improbable that the other separatists would have time to escape out of the building, much less get off the planet and into hyperspace. Maybe there is a way to space out their leaving a bit more before Obi-Wan crashes the party??
I digress. Anyway, Strong work, Spence, but you lost me at the end. Also the DVD menu could stand to have some work done to it. Those criticisms being said, I do think this is the best edit on this site as of today (I am pretty sure I have seen all of the episode 3 edits now). 9/10 for effort and a job well done. Unfortunately it just isn’t quite what I envision the perfect edit looking like, so my Star Wars collection will continue to have the Phantom edits with an empty slot beside them until the Phantom Editor or some other beautiful soul can come along and make my dreams a reality.
PS: If any kind soul reads this and knows of the magical edit I seek, please post the name or link to it under the comments for this Spence Edit. Thanks!
Review by geminigod — January 8, 2010 @ 11:36 am
This is great! this is exactly what I was after, and I can now watch revenge of the sith without wincing.
Only gripes are:
We don’t need the “Nooooo” bit at all. I’ve edited that out myself from this so you see Vaders mask being lowered then the next time you see him he’s standing on the bridge with Tarkin and the Emperor. Not a dig at this edit but I really can’t see Vader even using the word “OK” or “Alright”.
The dialogue with the medical droid is perfect, but we now have a shot of it and then a closer shot of it. It seems a bit clunky but I suppose it was difficult to get right.
Other than that… top notch! I’ve downloaded the Spence edit for attack of the clones in the hope that it is as good as this!
Review by drjack69 — May 17, 2010 @ 1:03 pm
Very good attempt at bringing this movie to a more satisfying viewing experience, but alas the cuts are still not bold enough. The video and are audio cuts were good, but feel more needs to be excised like JasonN’s version. Just my personal opinion and am in no way knocking your talents.
**On a personal note: this message is for reviewer Geminigod, i believe i have the magical edit you seek. i have totally re-worked the Grievous/Obi-wan fight & the all new ending reflects exactly what you have posted in your comments section. I am finishing it up as i type this and hope to upload it very soon. Just having a little difficulty with the subtitle track. If i can’t hammer that out, then i will just upload the fan-edit without it. Be patient!**
Review by STANKPAC — May 22, 2010 @ 3:01 am
Sounds good Stankpac. I can’t wait! Please post a note with a link if you can when you are done and I will check it out.
Review by geminigod — May 25, 2010 @ 10:50 pm
Revenge of the sith is probably my favorite episodes, mostly because I have a morbid love tragedies. I loved it despite its flaws but that doesn’t stop me from wincing every time they came up. I haven’t watched any other edits besides yours but I picked your by comparing the your cutlists with the others. This edit gets my full approval and for the most part I feel its as good as an edit can get given the source material. Your edit and the Phantom ones are going to cause my prequel DVDs to gather a lot of dust
THINGS I ESPECAILLY LIKED
-no “You’re beautiful because I love you”
-cut out a lot of corny lines
-no buzz droids
-no screwing around with elevators in the beginning
-no more R2 trying to be Inspector Gadget
-no losing the will to live
-a lot of cuts I pry didn’t even notice that just helped to streamline the movie (Lucas has a tendency to go on irrelevant tangents/redundancies)
-cut out the Yoda/Palpatine fight
-I wasn’t sold on this at first but the fight scene is so over the top plus I think the emperor would be so well guarded that not even Yoda would be able to get to him
-Obi Wan is no longer a self incriminating Sith
THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE SO MUCH (nitpicks)
-Biggest Pet Peeve: Cut out talk about Obi Wan communicating with Qui Gon
-this explains how Obi Wan was able to appear after death even though there were no Force ghosts in the prequels. I also liked the idea of Obi Wan having something
to do all those years he watched Luke grow up. It isn’t necessarily an integral part of Star Wars but I thought it was an amazing concept and it didn’t hinder anything else in the movie
-a few scenes/lines were cut that I felt developed character (though I can understand some of them given that the dialogue wasn’t the best)
-Yoda’s counsel to Anakin about learning to let things go (shows that Anakin was seeking help and Yoda was willing to give it even if it isn’t what he wanted to hear)
-We’re smarter than this —APPARENTLY NOT—-
-Anakin wishing Grievous was taller and Grievous thinking he was older (kinda corny dialogue but shows that Anakin has some attitude)
-You have done that yourself (partly because I quote this daily in my Obi Wan voice)
-You will try!
-The part of the epic duel where Anakin is physically choking Obi-Wan (it shows that Anakin means business and how dark he has become)
Overall great edit! The few problems I had with this edit pale in comparison to the embarassing/annoying blunders in the source film (but Kudos to Georgie for providing the still awesome “unfinished product”)
Review by jallison71 — November 10, 2010 @ 2:35 am
Thank you for all the reviews everyone! I’m glad you enjoyed the edit.
Review by spence101287 — January 10, 2011 @ 6:22 pm
I think that I’m getting fan of Spence editions.
V:9/10
A:10/10
E: 9/10
Review by ctorbaoglu — December 12, 2011 @ 1:21 am