Amazing fan edit of ANH

[Kurgan]

Let's start a war!


No obviously, despite the generally positive OP and a few neutral/skeptic posts, the majority of the people in this thread are either indifferent to this edit or hate it already (though it sounds like few, if any have actually seen the DVD5, a few have seen the Xvid, which is an earlier edition). And Poe's a regular, so as I'm going to just be swamped in angry replies, no thanks on that count.

Wayne HAS seen the movie. He doesn't need to watch this amateur drivel to decide it's bullshit.

Of course, we've ALL seen Star Wars countless times. The point is he hasn't seen the FAN EDIT. He admitted it, and he refuses to watch it (at least that's how I read his last comment).

Again, I ask, would it be fair for a person to dismiss the Special Editions as crap without watching them, if all they had done was read an internet list of changes?

If you think that's fair, then more power to ya. It's not canon, so obviously nobody needs to piss their pants over this, I'm just a little surprised that someone would dismiss it as crap (not just that they thought it "sounded like a bad idea") without watching it first. My point was, actually watching it would give you the ability to decide whether it worked or not, even if you thought X or Y sounded stupid. Some things I thought would be stupid about it really didn't matter, in the actual viewing experience.

I'm sorry, but calling Lucas's changes "fan edits" is going too far. Most of his changes were made because they were things he couldn't do when he was first making the movie,

Correction, some of the changes were. Many things that were actual mistakes he left completely alone. Other things he added were completely superfluous. Now you may disagree on the whole Lucas revisionism thing, but let's face it, plenty of the changes he made were fanboyish in the extreme. No of course Lucas has the legal right to change his movies, but last I checked he wasn't the person solely responsible for creating them, and in the process of changing the movies he's pissed all over the work of numerous people from back in the day.

due either to lack of time, money or technology or at least made some sense. Fans deciding to change Star Wars is just fucking bull shit. It would be like nobody painters making changes on classic masterpieces.

From a moral standpoint it's just as wrong for Lucas to change a "classic film" 20-27 years later, as for fans to do so (even without all the BS he put people through with the originals "no longer existing" and the reluctance to ever release them at all pre-Q4 2006). Some fans, dare I say, have a better sense of what works though than Lucas himself. Many of the countless subtle changes adywan did were actual gaffes in the films that Lucas never touched. But because of a few obvious changes that seem hokey (mini-lightsabers, for example), people dismiss the whole thing as crap (sounds familiar). It's no more wrong to make this than any other fan edit of any other well liked property.

As you know, I prefer the originals, period. But of the Special Editions, I'd say this fan edit is superior to either of them (especially the 2004 edition).

[Lord Poe]

Except we're not talking about dildos and your personal property, are we?

Are you being an obtuse fuckwad on purpose?

If someone had refused to watch the special edition based on some lists of changes they read on the internet, would you accept and agree with their logic (maybe you would, I don't recall your opinion of the SE's, to be honest)?

Uh, yes, dumbass. If they didn't want to see a stupid-ass ring around the exploding Death Star, actually SEEING it wouldn't change their mind would it? I don't need to see some fuckhead's masterbatory fantasy of what HE thinks ANH should look like, moving scenes around, changing instances that make sense only to him, to know it's a piece of shit.

Phoned-in dialog (same problem with Boba Fett's redub in ESB), unnecessary prequel pandering alteration of dialog that now makes Vader into an Alzheimers patient or awkwardly playing dumb in front of his boss, diluting the important plot development of the scene from what it was before. Vader saying "howwww is that possible?" is just weak (second only to "Where is Padme, is she safe, is she all right?" and third from "NAaaaaaooooooowww!!!" as awful Vader dialog).

See, this is why I hate fanboys cunts like you. Some asshole writes a review of the SE dialogue, and the rest of you follow him, chapter and verse without thinking for yourselves. Vader didn't forget he was Anakin Skywalker, stupid. He knew who Luke was before the Emperor did. He wanted to get to him before the Emperor, to turn him to the dark side and join him in ruling the galaxy. Once the Emperor found out about Luke, the cat was out of the bag. There's no contradiction. There is also nothing wrong with Vader's lines in ROTS. The only thing wrong is again, fanboy cunts, like yourself.

Plus fact that he's all up in your face clear as day now and weird looking (rather than the shadowy figure with the hood arranged just right to give us a sinister dark boss type character).

Apparently, you haven't seen the original TESB in quite some time. That Emperor wasn't a shadowy figure; it was someone with play-doh around their eyes.

[Kurgan]

Actually it was chimp eyes superimposed on an old woman.

Ah yes, so I couldn't POSSIBLY be thinking for myself if I didn't like the SE much, but liked this fan edit, right? How do I know you aren't leaping on some bandwagon hate for this project? You almost sucked me in there, good try.

IF you ever actually watch it, maybe you'll change your mind, but I won't lose any sleep if you don't. I'll just say you're missing the best fan edit of ANH yet (including the official ones).



So did you enjoy the Special Editions, Poe?

[Lord Poe]

Actually it was chimp eyes superimposed on an old woman.

Actually, it wasn't, as the picture shows.

Ah yes, so I couldn't POSSIBLY be thinking for myself if I didn't like the SE much, but liked this fan edit, right?

Not when you're virtually apeing fanboys bullshit.

http://www.chefelf.com/starwars/ep5se_1.php

"How is that possible?" How is that possible? We are told in the opening scroll and throughout the entire movie that it is a relentless pursuit of Luke Skywalker that is driving Vader. Vader even says: "That is the system. And I'm sure Skywalker is with them." If he doesn't think that Luke is his son then who does he think Luke is? Does Vader remember his original name? Is he just really dumb? Why would he be in pursuit of Luke Skywalker if he thought that the surname they share was just a funny coincidence?

[Wild Karrde]

For anyone who's interested:

Redone Alderaan explosion.

Redone Death Star explosion.

[Havok]

Where the hell is Tarkin?

[Galvatron]

Two thumbs up from Galvatron. I can't wait to see his fan edit of TESB.

[McC]

Kurgan, stop wasting your time. If they want to call it crap, let 'em call it crap. They're missing out and it's their loss. You're not going to sway them; don't bother.

It's a really well-done effort, does improve on ANH, no matter which yardstick you measure it against (original, SE, 2004), and overall makes for a much more exciting movie. I was surprised by just how good it was, and how much the edits added to the experience. Again, I recommend that anyone idly curious and who has the bandwidth to spare allocate it to downloading one of the versions. I don't think you'll be disappointed.

[Galvatron]

I hope he removes the "stem" holding up the quad turret on the Falcon in TESB:R. Is that too nitpicky?

[Kurgan]

Poe: Wow, so because Chef Elf agreed with me, I'm a stupid moron? Great! The criticism is valid, but you're accusing me of holding my opinion just because he said it? You don't know that I didn't form my opinion independently of his website. I actually heard the audio and saw screenshots of the new Emperor scene before I got the DVD, but I told myself I'd reserve judgment until I actually watched it. Upon seeing and hearing it in the context of the movie it just seems off. The portrayal of the Emperor is just not what I remember from ROTJ (probably because the characters are acted very differently). But like the new Boba Fett performance, it just isn't effective, and dialog change was both unnecessary and throws off the flow of the scene. As a purist, I prefer the scene was it was in 1980. But adywan's version of the scene from 2008 is superior to Lucas' from 2004.


So is it more fanboyish to say the change is stupid, or to defend it?

Kurgan, stop wasting your time. If they want to call it crap, let 'em call it crap. They're missing out and it's their loss. You're not going to sway them; don't bother.

It's a really well-done effort, does improve on ANH, no matter which yardstick you measure it against (original, SE, 2004), and overall makes for a much more exciting movie. I was surprised by just how good it was, and how much the edits added to the experience. Again, I recommend that anyone idly curious and who has the bandwidth to spare allocate it to downloading one of the versions. I don't think you'll be disappointed.

Thanks. I was a little surprised that all this misplaced anger was thrown at me. Do I really deserve to be called "fanboy cunt" for liking this edit?


I've been called other things on here... a "purist asshole" for preferring the movies over the EU, a "fuckwit" and "fucktard" now too. But, that's what you get for sticking your neck out with an opinion!


I was going to say that perhaps I was being hypocritical, because I was remembering back to a time when I refused to read the NJO books after reading synopses of them and thought the story developments sounded like utter crap (and I soon lost faith in the EU at large, apart from a few of the video games).

Maybe so, but then film is a visual and auditory medium (unlike a series of novels), and it's one thing to read about it or even see a still. It's quite another to actually see, hear and experience it.

Sure, when it comes to films these days, people can't watch every movie that comes out, so to save their time and money they'll read reviews and watch trailers. Of course unlike with other movies, you're not spending money on this thing (or you shouldn't be), so it's only your time to waste, and we waste a lot of time on Star Wars here, don't we?

When it comes to this edit, you have the praise of people on OriginalTrilogy.com (which admittedly is going to have a lot of positive views because the site is now devoted primarily to fan edits of films, though it's also a stronghold of people who prefer the originals to the special editions), and you have the negative stuff here. It hasn't been out long, but I'd be curious to see how its recieved elsewhere. Could go either way... I could see the TFN and SW.com members bashing it just because of Lucas worship, or maybe they would like it because of the few things that fanboys have wanted for a long time (like Imperial march, re-edited Vader/Obi-Wan fight and blinking Cantina aliens)?


There really aren't that many fan edits of the original Star Wars out there. And of the ones that are available this is by far the best (a distant second would be the Darth Editous/ADigitalMan Hybrid Edit which has only a fraction of the changes and doesn't fix the colors).


But you're right, my liking it doesn't require anyone else to. I just find it hilarious that I'm thought of as a bad or crazy person for thinking a fan did a better job tinkering with Star Wars than Lucas!

I'll say it again, when it comes to this edit, don't go by the trailers (most of them are over a year old and no longer reflect how the edit looks), and don't go by the XVID (which has the infamous "club" flipper shot), but by the DVD5 (and when the DVD9 comes out that'll be even better quality, but it has only minor changes like a tweaked soundtrack and the continuity on the death star gun rack is corrected). Watch it and see if you think it's not better than the 2004 edition.

As the sheepish owner of two copies of the 2004 editions, I can say this is a breath of fresh air, second only to the time I first popped the 1977 theatrical edition into my DVD player.

It's worth it if only to see the 2004's restoration job, but with PROPER colors, PROPER brightness and CORRECTLY ALIGNED sound channels (and no Greedo shooting or Jawa slapstick, dang it!).... and to see the marvelous new Emperor hologram in the bonus features ESB preview.

[Kurgan]

Where the hell is Tarkin?

If you're referring to the shot right before the Death Star blows, it's been cut (the shot was just recycled from elsewhere anyway). I miss it too.

[Terralthra]

I'm just curious here...how in the hell is a lightsabre supposed to replace a needle on a syringe? Lightsabres, last time I checked, weren't capable of injecting anything.

[Kurgan]

That's left to the imagination!

In actuality, what we see is a needle for a split second, then a little lightning bolt crackles around it and forms into what LOOKS like a little blue lightsaber, and hence that's what people have been calling it since SWR came out.

[Galvatron]

Watch it and see if you think it's not better than the 2004 edition.

I have dibs on forcing Wayne to watch the entire nBSG series, A Clockwork Orange-style.

[Uraniun235]

Honestly, some of these edits strike me less as "this is what the scene really needed" and more like "hello [future prospective employer], look what I can do!" Adding the twin suns to the escape pod careening towards Tatooine? Showing the escape pod enter the atmosphere? Adding the "lightsaber" (or blue electric crackle or whatever the hell you want to call it) to the torture droid? Darkening the lighting while the briefing is being held? Seeing the Death Star start to fire as it explodes? These are unnecessary.

Adding expressions to the aliens in the cantina also seems wrong. I was under the impression that part of the reason the cantina aliens were so menacing was that you couldn't tell if they wanted to buy you a drink or shoot you in the gut, because they were so alien as to not have recognizable facial features.

Like I said earlier, some of the visual stuff is fun. But I'll probably still watch the Lucas cut the next time around.

[DPDarkPrimus]

Yeah, not every creature in the universe has eyelids, for gods sake. Especially Rodians like Greedo, who have compound eyes.

[Spanky The Dolphin]

Where the hell is Tarkin?

If you're referring to the shot right before the Death Star blows, it's been cut (the shot was just recycled from elsewhere anyway). I miss it too.

The editing in that clip overall is quite lousy, almost schizophrenic. Why remove the shot of the torpedoes flying into the port? That's like one of the best shots in the whole film. Why take out Tarken even if it was a repeat from earlier in the movie only to repeat the shot of the superlaser technicians, calling attention to something that looks even more lazy. And it was totally unnecessary to have the superlaser building up just as the Death Star exploded. The sequence as it originally ran communicated the suspense just fine without turning it into a coincidental cliche.

And did I read correctly some pages back that they switched the order of the scene in Ben's house? That was how the scene was originally written and shot, but there's a reason they flipped it around the other way while editing: the scene deflated its own dramatic tension. I don't care what insignificant continuity error they're correcting, they're totally mental if they think the scene runs great as,

1. LEIA: The fate of the galaxy depends on you!
2. KENOBI: Hey this lightsabre was your father's: Jedi dark times blah blah blah...
3. KENOBI: Anyway, we should probably get back to saving the universe.

Seriously, that's the whole reason Lucas and co. fixed it in the first place. And these guys go back and un-fix it again.

[McC]

Seriously, that's the whole reason Lucas and co. fixed it in the first place. And these guys go back and un-fix it again.

It actually flows much better now. The transcription of the new arrangement follows:

BEN: Now let's see if we can't figure out what you are my little friend. And where you come from.
LUKE: I saw part of the message he was...
BEN: I seem to have found it.
LEIA: General Kenobi. Years ago, you served my father in the Clone Wars. Now he begs you to help him in his struggle against the Empire. I regret that I am unable to present my father's request to you in person, but my ship has fallen under attack and I'm afraid my mission to bring you to Alderaan has failed. I have placed information vital to the survival of the Rebellion into the memory systems of this R2 unit. My father will know how to retrieve it. You must see this droid safely delivered to him on Alderaan. This is our most desperate hour. Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi. You're my only hope.
LUKE: You fought in the Clone Wars?
BEN: Yes. I was once a Jedi Knight, the same as your father.
LUKE: No, my father didn't fight in the Wars; he was a navigator on a spice freighter.
BEN: That's what your uncle told you. He didn't hold with your father's ideals, thought he should have stayed here and not gotten involved.
LUKE: I wish I'd known him.
BEN: He was the best star pilot in the galaxy and a cunning warrior. I understand you've become quite a good pilot yourself. And he was a good friend. Which reminds me, I have something here for you. Your father wanted you to have this when you were old enough, but your uncle wouldn't allow it. He feared you'd follow old Obi-Wan on some damn-fool idealistic crusade like your father did.
C-3PO: Sir, if you'll not be needing me, I'll close down for a while.
LUKE: Sure, go ahead. What is it?
BEN: It's your father's lightsaber. This is the weapon of a Jedi knight. Not as clumsy or random as a blaster. An elegant weapon, for a more civilized age. For over a thousand generations, the Jedi Knights were the guardians of peace and justice in the Old Republic. Before the dark times. Before the Empire.
LUKE: How did my father die?
BEN: A young Jedi named Darth Vader, who was a pupil of mine until he turned to evil, helped the Empire hunt down and destroy the Jedi Knights. He betrayed and murdered your father. Now the Jedi are all but extinct. Vader was seduced by the dark side of the Force.
LUKE: The Force?
BEN: Now, the Force is what gives a Jedi his power. It's an energy field created by all living things. It surrounds us and penetrates us; it binds the galaxy together. You must learn the ways of the Force, if you're to come with me to Alderaan.
LUKE: Alderaan? I'm not going to Alderaan. I've gotta get home. It's late. I'm in for it as it is...

and proceed from there.

The progression is much more sensible.
Leia mentions the Clone Wars
Luke asks Ben about the Clone Wars
Ben mentions Luke's father in the Clone Wars
Luke reacts, telling him that his father didn't fight in the wars
Luke receives the lightsaber, information about the Jedi, and knowledge of Darth Vader
Ben tells Luke he must learn the ways of the Force to go to Alderaan.
Luke reacts, saying he can't go to Alderaan.

The old progression seems silly by comparison.

[Spanky The Dolphin]

Okay, that doesn't sound as bad as I thought, though it still smacks as them mixing it around just for the hell of it, and seems unnecessary. The new cut of the scene might have better conversational flow, but it still lacks in terms of dramatic impact.

[Galvatron]

The old progression seems silly by comparison.

The only thing that bothers me about the fan edit version is Luke's reaction to Leia's hologram. Instead of being jarred out of his stunned silence with Ben's "you must learn the ways of the Force," he seems to simply dismiss the gravity of Leia's message and changes the subject to something relatively trivial by comparison.

I agree with Spanky that it detracts from the dramatic impact of the scene.

[Kurgan]

Why remove the shot of the torpedoes flying into the port? That's like one of the best shots in the whole film.

It's still there (no April foolin').


I recommend you watch it as well Spanky... even if you disagree with a few of the changes.



Someone did a visual comparison guide (not yet complete, but a lot of changes compared):

Part 1

Part 2

[Galvatron]

Would it be asking for trouble for me to suggest that this version should be adopted as the new canon?

[Drooling Iguana]

I'd support shooting this version from a cannon. That's close enough, isn't it?

[McC]

Would it be asking for trouble for me to suggest that this version should be adopted as the new canon?

I second the motion.

[Kurgan]

The 1997 & 2004 editions no longer exist for me anymore... I'm sorry some fans fell in love with unfinished products.