Recently blasting Hollywood studios by saying "they don’t have any imagination and they don’t have any talent,” George Lucas might be advised to look in his own rearview mirror, particularly at the years spanning 1999 and 2005. That was when he released his "Star Wars" prequels, a digitally cumbersome, narratively dull disappointment that found the filmmaker taking his rich, imaginative universe to the dullest places possible. Fans, including the likes of Topher Grace, have all tried their hands at recuts, and now one more has arrived for your viewing pleasure (probably until the wrath of Disney and Lucasfilm legal departments take it down).
And so, here’s "Turn To The Darkside: Episode 3.1" from Double Digit, which takes all three prequels and tries to whittle it down to the essentials, cutting out the crap about trade embargoes and focusing more on the central relationship between Anakin and Padmé. Here’s the statement of intent from the creators:
A reimagining of the Star Wars prequel trilogy edited into a single compelling movie, based on the structure conceived by actor Topher Grace. As a critique of episodes 1–3, many large plot pieces have been removed or changed to strengthen the core relationships between Anakin Skywalker and Padmé Amidala. More than 300 video and audio edits heighten the main character’s tragic fall from grace.
So, does this revamped cut make the story better? Worse? Let us know below. [Polygon]
The Internet: keeping nutty fans off the street and on their computers with a couple of dvds, some editing software, and the realization that they, too, can be star!
Go figure, taken down from Vimeo already.I was able to watch half of it…and yes…needed help.
Sorry. This video does not exist.
Video does not exist. Great reporting!
WTF!!!! PUT IT BACK UP I DIDN\’T GET TO FINISH WATCHING IT YOU ASSHOLES OUT OF THE 10 MIN I WATCHED IT WAS 100000000 TIMES BETTER IT CUT OUT ALL THE CRAP AND MADE IT SOMETHING WORTH WATCHING WE DIDN\’T HAVE TO SEE THAT STUPID YOUNG ANIKIN CRAP AND WE JUST JUMPED INTO THE GOOD STUFF PLUS THEY CUT OUT ALL THAT SHITTY DIALOG PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE LET ME WATCH THE REST OF THIS
Anyway to watch this still?
JJ Abrams is overrated. Lost was all about cliffhangers and keeping up the hype. His first ST movie was ok but then he lost fuel on "st into darkness" and the whole movie was just about star ships and explosives on steroids. JJ destroyed if there were any remains of the Star Trek legacy. Darkness was a bullshit movie.
WONDERFUL yeah they cut a bunch of stuff, but in reality the omissions weren\’t missed.
i didn\’t skip around i actually watch it from the beginning and it was awesome.
please put it back up cause its awesome. though yes i know there is no watching star wars online. It was wonderful.
This is honestly more cohesive and narratively interesting than the existing prequels. Well done. Should have cut out the fight between Yoda and the Emperor though.
look up "hack" in the dictionary, there is a picture of the person who wrote this article.
I watched the whole thing(something I would suggest before judging the film) and enjoyed it tremendously. I love how 98% of Phantom was removed, a horrible film. The decision to place all the Anakin/Padme narrative in one un cut section works very well too and makes their relationship actually interesting for a change. The ridiculous action set pieces were removed, for example the Threepio losing his head nonsense and the Ani/Padme platform jumping video game silliness. Lucas made four or five interesting films very early in his career and never managed to tell any serious stories since then. I\’ve always thought there was a good story tucked away within the prequels but Lucas was too lost in his own ego to tell it correctly. It\’s nice to see this cut of the films. Excellent job…now just do the same thing with the bloated Hobbit films.
No, no, no. They started the film with the Darth Maul light saber battle and killed Lian Neeson at minute 4:30???! (And Darth Maul at 6:00). What a way to lower the stakes, guys.
a noble effort. But you can\’t polish a turd. (or a trilogy of turds.)
Definitely makes you appreciate the prequels a little more, which I guess is some kind of incidental achievement in and of itself….
Just reminded me how terrible these films were the first time around. It\’s an interesting exercise while at the same time nonsensical because of Lucas\’s writing and poor direction. Hopefully JJ can bring balance back to the force.
Yeah what the f-ck this is nonsense
I just skipped through it, absolutely terrible and makes no narrative sense at all.
Amusing that some no-hopers think they can make films better than George Lucas.