Star Wars: The Phantom Menace Review
by RedLetterMediaThe truly epic review/critique/analysis/film making educational video of the 1999 film “Star Wars: The Phantom Menace” There was so much to discuss with this film it had to be long so please don’t complain.
member ratings:
(14 votes, average: 8.71 out of 10, rated)
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tagline: Finally it’s here!
original film name:Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace
new film name :Star Wars: The Phantom Menace Review
film studio name :Twentieth Century-Fox
edit crew name :RedLetterMedia
Date Original Film Was Released :1999
Date Edit Was Released on FE:December 2009
Original Runtime :133 minutes
New Runtime :70 minutes
Amount of time Cut/Added :you can’t put it that way
Cuts removed/added/extended :removed: check, added: check, extended:hell, no
Fanedit details :
- NTSC SL DVD
- anamorphic widescreen
- ac-3 2.0 audio
- created from 7 youtube videos, until a better quality version is available
- can be either watched as complete or as the 7 single parts
- menus with sound
Purpose of this fanedit:
from Scott Macauley: “this isn’t your usual fanboy rant, this is an epic, well-edited well-constructed piece of geek film criticism. In fact, the way I learned about the video was from Lost co-creator and Star Trek producer Damon Lindelof, who said “Your life is about to change. This is astounding film making.
This is the type of deconstruction of that shit film and Lucas I’ve been waiting for. It’s like the culmination of every hate-spewed conversation you’ve ever had about the prequels and George himself–but hilarious. Also, douches, he’s mispronouncing things on purpose to be funny.”
read the full article here
How purpose was achieved: by carefully addressing what had to be addressed. Sorted, constructed, thought through, with lots and and lots of examples. ATTENTION: This is not really suitable for kids (unlike the original movie that is hardly suitable for non-kids).
Hardware and software information : not known
boon23: for the DVD creation I used avisynth and virtualdub filters to get rid of some noise, corrected the black levels (as the youtube videos are very milky), cropped to what was possible for a widescreen format (sorry for the sidebars, but it was either that or full-screen), converted carefully to mpg, created cover art and DVD menus for a neat presentation.
overall I think the quality is really ok considering the youtube source. This one will nto be watched for its awesome sound or video quality, but for its awesome content.
Additional Comment: boon23: this is the most hilarious thing I have watched in a long time. Great texts, very clever, never boring. This was a hell lot of work and it totally rocks. This is why I had to put it on DVD, so you guys can share it with your loved ones or buddies. It is what so many people think when it comes to the first of the Star Wars prequels.
The original creator has been contacted by me for higher quality source files or for his very own DVD version (if such a thing exists).
Time needed for the edition: must have been VERY long
persons involved: RedLetterMedia
Additional information links: you can find all the youtube videos here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FxKtZmQgxrI or here: http://www.youtube.com/user/RedLetterMedia
Awards:
True fanedit of the month December 2009:
BUY THE ORIGINAL DVD (and support fanedit.org):
IMAGES:
cover art by boon23 (download here)
You must own the original movie before acquiring any FanEdited movie. We here at FanEdit.org respect the company’s copyrights, and don’t want to infringe on any company’s rights. Thank you, FE!
Maybe downloadable from Fanedit.info (enter and download at your own risk and responsibility)
This was incredibly enjoyable. I could comment all night on how this guy truly hit home here. I think the video editing could have been tweeked slightly, but overall, every little nuance added to the brilliance of this video. fantastic!!!
What I lenvisioned at the end is that RedLetterMedia IS GL, and that he had a mega-facepalm, got drunk and made this video
This made my night. Thank you RedLetterMedia, and boon23!!!
Review by ThrowgnCpr — December 22, 2009 @ 3:33 am
Yeah, great stuff. Has the author been contacted about this DVD being put together?
His other reviews are a hoot as well, so don’t miss out on his youtube page.
Review by spelledaren — December 22, 2009 @ 2:13 pm
An awesome fanedit, both unbelievably entertaining and educational. RedLetterMedia absolutely dissects the piece of crap that is TPM and, at last, and as TMBTM wrote in the forum, puts the finger firmly on everything that alwats felt wrong about the movie. In one swipe, we get to realise what made TPM such crap and made the original movies so great – hard to understand how they were made by the same guy…
Most of all, it’s brilliantly written, very funny, and, at the same time, brutally honest.
Everyone who ever watched TPM and came away confused as to how and why it didn’t work will finally realise it’s not just Jar-Jar’s fault, and that the roots of the problem lie deeper. The atention to all the details George Lucas missed is extraordinary, and makes us wonder what happened to the supposed genius who created the franchise. Unmissable, this is one to share wildly with friends, as they too, surely, will be amazed.
From a technical standpoint, i really like the editing and overall goofy feel to the edit – soundtrack included. And, taking into account the fact this DVD was built using YouTube sources, Boon23 did a great job in tweaking them, ’cause they hold up even on my 46″ TV.
All and all, a truly great and unmissable fanedit. Thanks to RLM for his “clairvoyance”, and to Boon for taking the time to build a DVD and share it.
Review by jjrdias — December 22, 2009 @ 2:30 pm
Very enjoyable and at times laugh-out-loud funny. I think the Star Trek reviews are fun too.
Review by Rock Savage — December 22, 2009 @ 3:46 pm
What a blast!
If it took PHANTOM MENACE to produce this litle bit of hilarious heaven, so be it.
Review by uncleblue — December 23, 2009 @ 7:31 am
hahaha, bitching can be so great. This is the one to watch when you really need something to vent. A very nice DVD and a definite keeper.
Review by walls83 — December 24, 2009 @ 3:18 am
I was laughing so much I was crying. Everything is so spot on, even the ‘amateur’ bad editing and abrupt sound cuts add to the atmosphere, which most mockumentary efforts such as the Blair Witch, Paranormal Activity, Fourth Kind, etc. forget or fail to include to make it seem more ‘authentic.’ Lastly, seasoned throughout the review are little bits of footage the author ‘forgot’ to tape over… much more elaborate then past reviews for the Next Generation Star Trek Films where we get some insight into the reviewers ‘other’ past times.. The best part is ‘Harry S. Plinkett’ will be working on a review for Episode II… if they let him out of jail for all them murders he done. Hopefully he will get off on a technicality soon! If you are a fan of the original trilogy this is a MUST SEE.
Review by lairilwa — January 8, 2010 @ 1:14 pm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXLba7JIiDU
Review by zackepple — January 10, 2010 @ 2:02 pm