In one of those lucky moments, I came across something many of you may have heard of already, but perhaps for those few who have not this will be a fantastic treat.
Ever seen The Proxy Edits of Star Wars The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones and / or Revenge of the Sith? Whether you're a fan of George Lucas's vision for the Prequels or not, The Proxy Edits deserve a viewing.
Before I jump into spoilers of each film, the first thing to address here is what exactly a Proxy Edit is. For those of you familiar with the video game series The Force Unleashed, you know Proxy is the droid working alongside Starkiller - The main character.
It is this pseudonym the man (or woman) behind the Proxy Edits has taken to present these edits. No, you won't actually see Proxy in the films, nor hear him speaking as an editor. Instead, he is simply used as a guide providing an explanation behind these cuts of the film for the trailer (so to speak). You can find that
HERE.
The underlying beauty of these edits is that with the exception of one
digital change, the films don't appear to rely on any new footage or
alterations. Instead, they show that with slight editing and dialog
changes the Prequel films can be good.
Each film stands on its own from start to finish, beginning with an opening crawl, and ending with end credits. So for those wondering, yes, you do get a full length film for each of the Prequel episodes. I will share links below to the films (after the spoiler section). Skip to that section now if you don't want any of the secrets ruined for you.
[SPOILERS AHEAD!]
The Phantom Menace
Run Time: One Hour Forty Minutes
This film gets the most out of the fresh perspective to the Prequels, and it pays off greatly. It is also my favorite out of all three.
The Trade Federation are no longer a bunch of bumbling fools answering to a mysteriously cloaked Darth Sidius. In fact, the character not once makes an appearance in the film adding merit to the Federation actually being bad guys and not just pawns. Additionally, the dialog has been completely removed from the film and replaced with a new language and subtitles. This new dialog now represents characters who don't fear the Jedi and treat Amidala like the child she is. Most importantly it shows confidence and competence in their decisions and overall actions to straight up invade Naboo.
Though he is still in the film, the silly humor of Jar Jar has been removed through a series of well timed edits. In its place you get a smuggler type character looking more so for a quick cash in of credits when he first meets Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi. Jar Jar is now represented as a serious character who's motives are clear as to why he's helping without the unnecessary eye rolling attempt at humor. I dare say I actually like this character now - Well, this version of him anyway.
The silly, over the top "childish" actions of Anakin, such as shouting, "Yippee," "Now this is pod racing," etc. have all been removed. This helps to present the character as a more mature child, only helping to impress upon the viewer that there is something indeed special about him.
Speaking of pod racing, this scene has been condensed considerably to remove the announcers and most importantly keep the scene flowing. It's now an edge of your seat race which keeps you watching with glee as opposed to falling asleep as the original twenty minute race tended to do.
Admittedly there is a sacrifice from this editing. Darth Maul is kind of out of place. Without Sidius to be found anywhere in the film you really don't get any explanation as to where he came from, what his motives are and as a result he simply seems to randomly appear to fight the Jedi at inopportune times - Then of course dies as he does in the film (unless you're a fan of the animated shows, then well, he isn't dead - Just cut in half).
Attack of the Clones
Run Time:One Hour Fifty-Nine Minutes
There aren't many edits to be found here, but the ones you do get work great. Jar Jar continues his new voice / subtitle dialog which flows better with the beginning of the film. Though this is really the only change - outside of a few cuts here and there - to be found in the film for quite some time.
The film also does away with the unnecessary scene of Obi-Wan having to ask Yoda to help him with finding Kamino - You know, the pointless scene used only to cram children into the film...and show Obi-Wan isn't a thinker.
The awkward love scenes between Anakin and Padme have been condensed
down to the point where they're no longer cringe worthy, but at the same
time still work. In the end when she says she loves him, she cuts to
the chase instead of giving a speech first.
It's also when they reach Geonosis that you'll start to find some great new incorporation of changes to the film. Let's start with the Geonosians themselves. They no longer are simply hosting a game where the creatures are there to eat the Jedi and Padme for everyone's enjoyment. Instead, there is a short but sweet trial where the leader of the Geonosians claims the republic is conducting (war) crimes, and sentences their operatives to death.
Once again because there is no appearance or mention of Darth Sidious, Count Dooku isn't actually represented as a Sith. Instead he simply plays the part of a "political idealist" as called so at the beginning of the film by Ki Adi Mundi. He even has a green lightsaber as opposed to a red one. No Sith to be found here.
Oddly enough, the editor of the film opted to remove the portion where Jango Fett loses his head. However, they kept the part where Boba picks up the helmet. This results in a, "Huh?" moment. Especially since at this point Jango has simply disappeared into thin air. Just show his death if you're going to keep the follow up scene. Gone from this same scene are R2-D2 and C-3PO bumbling around for no other reason than oddly placed humor.
When the war breaks out in the end, the dialog for the Geonosians is once again tweaked in a manner that when the Death Star is revealed it is done so in a way to say the weapon is the conception and future plans of the Republic. Only further driving the idea that the Republic are indeed the enemy, and not the good guys. You can definitely see from this perspective how the Empire is formed in the end.
Revenge of the Sith
Running Time: Two Hours Three Minutes
Definitely the most disappointing of the three edits. This film could have used more cuts. Some which come to mind are at the very beginning. I would have loved to see the goofy Buzz Droids removed which would have alleviated a lot of the silly dialog during this sequence. Additionally, I wish the droids voices were adjusted to not sound so cartoonish. I would have also liked to have seen Grevious's emphysema cough removed. Overall there just doesn't seem to be enough edits to this film.
Much like Attack of the clones, the edits are few and far between until near the end.
I do like how when Obi-Wan and Yoda are talking about Anakin right before going their separate ways to fight their respective baddie that the edit removes Yoda's reference to Darth Vader. This was always a mood killer for me in the movie because Yoda never hears reference to the name Darth Vader anywhere. It was a real continuity killer when he referred to Anakin as such.
The last ten minutes of the film is where a lot of chopping and reorganizing happens. In all honesty, it may go by a little too fast.
It starts with the babies being born, but getting no names. We see Luke handed to Beru and Owen, but we don't see where Leia ends up. Additionally, we don't see the fate of Anakin - I.E. becoming Darth Vader. We still see Padme's funeral procession, which means if you watch this with Return of the Jedi there is still a continuity error. Still don't know how Lucas missed this one when writing Revenge of the Sith.
Overall these fast cuts and major cramming in the last few minutes result in no payoff to the Prequel Trilogy in this format. Truth be told, if this were Lucas's ending I would have been ticked off that I sat through seven hours of movies for no conclusion.
This however wraps up the changes you'll find in the film.
[END OF SPOILERS!]
Either you read the spoilers or were intrigued on your own to read
this far down. Regardless, if you've gotten this far I'm guessing you're looking for the links.
You can watch the films by clicking on the below name of each film. Additionally, you can download the films from each respective page. However, we neither recommend nor encourage you doing so as despite being a fan edit this would still essentially be pirating of copyrighted material. We more so suggest you simply watch the films from the links.
The Phantom Menace
Attack of the Clones
Revenge of the Sith
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