The Phantom Edit

UberNeuman · Post by **UberNeuman** » Tue Jun 05, 2001 4:41 pm

It sounds interesting...

From http://www.zap2it.com/movies/movies/spo ... 04,00.html

Review - The Phantom Edit
By Andrew Rodgers
June 4, 2001

An unauthorized, re-edited version of George Lucas' Star Wars: Episode 1 - The Phantom Menace has been making the rounds of comic shops in the Los Angeles-area lately.
Titled The Phantom Edit, the new version doesn't contain any new footage, but just cuts out some scenes and dialogue that the re-editor deemed unnecessary.

According to the Phantom Editor, as the anonymous fan responsible for the new version likes to be called, the re-edited version runs for approximately 113 minutes long with credits (that's about 20 minutes less than the original theatrical version).

In the beginning scroll of the film, the Phantom Editor explained that he created the new version to help relieve fans from "as much story redundancy, pointless Anakin actions and dialogue, and Jar Jar Binks, as possible."

Essentially, what the new version does is turn Jar Jar Binks into an incidental character. Rather than keeping him in the forefront, "The Phantom Edit" deletes most of the obnoxious poop-slipping, tongue-licking humor that the computer-generated character engages in throughout the film.

The Phantom Editor has also removed a few snippets of Anakin's dialogue too - making the young boy appear more like a Jedi than Lucas allowed in his original version. A good example of this can be found toward the end of the film when Qui-Gon Jinn orders Anakin to hide in the cockpit of the Naboo fighter to get out of the way of the battle.

In the original version, Anakin sees that his friends are in trouble and says silly things like "Look R2, they're in trouble. We've got to help them." Then he proceeds to push a bunch of random buttons, which results in destroying a bunch of bad guys. The new version cuts that scene dramatically and just shows Anakin kicking bad guy butt without all the innocent, farm-boy commentary.

Another scene that didn't play very well in the original version - the scene where Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Jar Jar are attacked by a giant fish while riding in a submarine up to the surface of Naboo - was deleted entirely.

What's truly impressing about this re-edit is that it's actually very difficult to see where the cuts were made. The Phantom Editor obviously knows his (or her) way around an Avid editing machine.

Some people have been speculating that Kevin Smith, the director behind Clerks, Chasing Amy and Dogma is responsible for the re-edit. I don't really believe that one though. (For starters, I'm not sure the guy would have had enough time to work on something like this. He's been busy enough working on the DVD release of Dogma and finishing up his newest film Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back.)

People who hated The Phantom Menace won't be completely vindicated by the new re-edited version, however. It is still flawed in ways that couldn't have been corrected by a simple re-edit.

It still only takes one laser shot to kill an enemy droid. Jake Lloyd is still in the film as Anakin. Jar Jar Binks is still in the film, although we see a lot less of him. And Darth Maul still gets cut in half at the end. All the Phantom Editor has done is to re-jigger a few scenes so the whole film moves smoother.

Anyone who is interested in seeing the film for themselves should check out some of the conversation topics on a new web site that was set up by a fan of "The Phantom Edit."

http://members.onecenter.com/hollywood/phantomedit

Post by **sbp** » Tue Jun 05, 2001 6:47 pm

The best edit for that movie would be the killing of that frigging Jar Jar Binks! :|

<img src="http://sbp777777.homestead.com/files/killjarjar.jpg" alt="Die Jar Jar DIE!">

UberNeuman · Post by **UberNeuman** » Tue Jun 05, 2001 7:00 pm

I love that pic - and if you want to kill him then try: http://www.campchaos.com/othershows/exodus/gungan.html

Hipnotic_Tranz · Post by **Hipnotic_Tranz** » Tue Jun 05, 2001 10:24 pm

Where can one obtain this re-edit? I always thought the movie was alright, but not great for a LOT of the reasons descriped above. There are a ton of thinigs i found annoying with the flick. I just take the story for what it is so I know some backround on the "original" 3--cause those ultimatly will most likely be the best...period.

I am, however, looking forward to the second. I'm hoping it'll be darker and more like star wars instead of some kiddie flick...

[edit]
Just now read it all. Doesn't look like I'll be able to see it anytime soon. Damn...

Slugbait · Post by **Slugbait** » Thu Jun 07, 2001 1:02 am

If Jar-Jar isn't sliced in half by Ben just before the tank glides over them, it ain't worth watching...

UberNeuman · Post by **UberNeuman** » Sun Jun 10, 2001 7:13 pm

If this thread needs to be cut, then I totally understand why... But anyone interested should think about checking into alt.binaries.starwars for the first part of TPE....

Hipnotic_Tranz · Post by **Hipnotic_Tranz** » Mon Jun 11, 2001 12:03 am

Hmm, looks like a bunch of gibberish to me How can I "download" it? Seems when I click or double click to try to download it, nothin' is there but gibberish. I don't see any links/zipfiles/or anything.