Star Wars Fan Re-Edits The Phantom Menace as a Political 'Thriller'. As fans of Star Wars well know, The Phantom Menace is essentially the first chapter of an origin story for Darth Vader. Star Wars - The Phantom Final Edit. 2 years ago More. Phantom Menace fan edit to end all fan edits. Re-edit NotesMy edit of STAR WARS EPISODE I: THE PHANTOM MENACE, where Jar-Jar is less annoying, C3PO doesn't exist, Anakin is actually good non-whiny pilot, and the main character is Qui-Gon. For The Phantom Meance’s 3D theatrical release—and to protect Disney’s investment following the studio’s purchase of the Star Wars franchise in 2012—the cut negative (with VFX film-outs) was scanned again in 16-bit 4K by Reliance MediaWorks (formerly Lowry Digital). Lucas once again took the opportunity to tweak the VFX and color.

A re-edited version of Star Wars: Episode One - The Phantom Menace is causing a stir among Star Wars fans.

The Phantom Edit is shorter than the original by some 20 minutes, according to website Zap2it.com.

Tapes are circulating around the Hollywood community - but no-one knows who made the film.

Created by an anonymous fan calling himself the Phantom Editor, the edit removes scenes and dialogue that disillusioned fans when the original version, directed by George Lucas, opened in May 1999.

I have re-edited a standard VHS version of The Phantom Menace into what I believe is a much stronger film

And a web site has sprung up dedicated to message board postings from fans about the legitimacy of the re-edit.

Lucas has said he is delighted with the idea, although he has not yet seen the new version.

'The internet is a new medium, it's all about doing things like that,' he told Zap2it.com..

Much of supporting character Jar Jar Binks's footage, including an underwater city scene, is omitted in the re-edit.

A scene where Jedi-to-be Anakin meets the Jedi council has also been altered.

The new version has a different opening signature scroll to the original, in which the Phantom Editor expresses his disappointment.

The scroll reads: 'Being someone of the George Lucas generation, I have re-edited a standard VHS version of The Phantom Menace into what I believe is a much stronger film by relieving the viewer of as much story redundancy, pointless Anakin actions and dialogue, and Jar Jar Binks, as possible.'

George Lucas: 'The internet is all about doing things like that'

Speaking in an interview with Zap2it.com, the Phantom Editor said that the process of editing took four months.

He states that 'the intent was not to simply remove footage that I didn't like for the sake of making it shorter'.

Jeanne Cole, a spokesperson for Lucas' company, Lucasfilm, added: 'At the end of the day, this is about everyone just having fun with Star Wars.'

She said the company did not pursue fans 'as long as nobody crosses that line - either in bad taste or in profiting from the use of our characters'.

Eclectic director Kevin Smith, whose films include Clerks and Dogma, was widely rumoured to be the anonymous editor, due to his deep fascination with Star Wars.

Many of his films feature a Star Wars-related speech and/or in-joke.

But a message on Smith's official website says he 'had nothing to do with the project,' although, unlike George Lucas, 'he has seen a copy.'

The VHS cover

Star Wars Episode I.I: The Phantom Edit is a fan edit of the film Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace, removing many elements of the original film. The purpose of the edit, according to creator Mike J. Nichols, was to make a much stronger version of The Phantom Menace based on the previous execution and philosophies of film storytelling and editing of George Lucas.^[1]The Phantom Edit was the first unauthorized re-edit of The Phantom Menace to receive major publicity and acclaim and is also considered the first fan-edit of a feature film ever to be shared by an online audience.^[2]^[3]

History[edit]

The Phantom Edit was originally circulated in Hollywood studios in 2000 and 2001, and was followed by media attention. Salon.com,^[1]NPR,^[3]PBS,^[2] and the BBC^[4] all covered the edit to various degrees.

Rumor initially attributed The Phantom Edit to Kevin Smith, who admitted to having seen the re-edit but denied that he was the editor. The editor was revealed to be Mike J. Nichols of Santa Clarita, California in the September 7, 2001, edition of the Washington Post.^[5]

Available on VHS, DVD and later via BitTorrent, the DVD contains two deleted scenes and a commentary track by the editor as well as a few Easter eggs. The DVD version has also been relabeled as Episode I.II, has a slightly different podrace from the VHS version, and contains more extensive editing to individual images and sounds that have not been entirely cut.^{[citation needed]}

Lucasfilm, the production company of series creator George Lucas, condoned the edit and did not pursue legal action against its distributors.^[4]

Changes[edit]

Changes made from the original film in The Phantom Edit

Opening crawl replaced with a new one explaining why the edit was made
Re-editing of nearly all scenes featuring Jar Jar Binks and removing some of what Nichols dubs 'Jar Jar Antics'
Removal or re-editing of most of the Battle Droid dialogue
Limiting of exposition throughout the film
Trimming scenes involving politics
Re-arrangement of shots and scenes to match the original Star Wars trilogy's presentation style
Removal of 'Yippee' and 'Oops' from Anakin's dialogue
Removal of dialogue that specifies the nature of midi-chlorians as a biological basis for Force sensitivity
Reinstatement of deleted scenes in order to fill in plot holes in the film narrative

There were a total of 18 minutes cut from the original film, reducing the run time from 136 minutes to 119 minutes.

Reviews[edit]

Critics and filmmakers have commented on the original Phantom Edit, in most cases providing the approval and recognition which furthered the fan edit movement.

'Smart editing to say the least' — Kevin Smith, Film Director^[6]
'...Materialized from out of nowhere was a good film that had been hidden inside the disappointing original one.' — Daniel Kraus, Salon.com (November 5, 2001)^[1]
'[Done by]; someone with a gift (and equipment) for editing' — Michael Wilmington, Chicago Tribune Film Critic^[7]

The 2010 documentary filmThe People vs. George Lucas cites The Phantom Edit as a key e

Star Wars Phantom Edit