The Official Phantom Edit Thread

OK, there is a desire for some users to discuss the home made edits of The Phantom Menace, dubbed the Phantom edits.

After some lengthy discussions it has been decided that this WILL be allowed, with some guidelines in place.

The guidelines are as follows:[list=1]
[*]There will be no discussion on where the Phantom Edits may be obtained.
[*]There will be no posting of URL's from which the Phantom Edit may be downloaded.
[*]The will be no posting of screenshots from the Phantom Edit.
[/list=1] Basically the Phantom Edits are illegal and an infringement of copyright. StarWars.Com have already made a public statement of there stance on this issue which you may read by going to this link on StarWars.Com.

The rules above are not there because we want to be killjopys, they are there to protect KMC Forums from any possibility of llegal action from Lucasfilms.

You co-opperation would be appreciated. Let the discussions begin.

Originally posted by Ratcat
[[*]The will be no posting of screenshots from the Phantom Edit.

😂 That'd be just about the same as TPM screenshots.

Anyway, I'm very happy with this thread and I want to thank RC for granting us this favour. He was never much for it, for the reasons stated above. I hope you all respect this or this'll be a very short ride.

I for one, LOVE the TPE. Keeping in mind that the editor only used the VHS, I think he did an excellent job in removing redundant scenes, pacing the movie a bit better and certainly enhancing Anakin's part.

Now, I do see it's not perfect. I think he did cut the introductions of the Jedi and the Amidala throne room scene in the beginning a bit short and I am still not sure if recutting the podrace improved it. But there are more improvements than downsides to it. IMHO OC.

Originally posted by queeq
😂 That'd be just about the same as TPM screenshots.

And the opening crawl, although I wonder if that falls under the same rule of infringement of copyright.

Good call anyway.

Personally I think the whole idea of the Phantom edit is a disgrace. I only managed to watch a very small part of it before my frustration forced me to turn it off and throw it in the bin.

This has nothing to do with how good or bad TPM was, that is totally irrelevant. My frustration came from the fact that some bozzo felt that he had the right to come along and re-edit this thing into a "better version."

His edit is totally out of context with the flow of the story. How can you edit something without knowing what impact that may, or may not, have on the full 6 part story.

The attempt to irradicate as much of Jar Jar as possible is a key example of this. So, some people found Jar Jar annoying, big frickin' deal. Personally I found him amusing. However you felt about Jar Jar in TPM is irrelevant, he was there and he had a role to forefill.

If current rumours are to believed then Jar Jar will

Spoiler:
have a key role in Palpatines plan to produce the clones

I checked it; the whole Phantom Edit is ILLEGAL AND AGAINST THE COPYRIGHTS OF LUCASFILM!

We know that, yerssot. We;ve already dealt with that bit.

Now, why DID he cut the conversation between Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon at the start?

I just wanted to refresh your minds there 😄

for the question: no action perhaps?

Well, I suspect his motive is to do with moving things along, but quite frankly the start of the film did NOT need that. If anything it needed slowing down.

I'm really not sure if anything he cut could really have much relevance on the later films. Even IF Jar-Jar becomes important later, so what? So will Mace Windu and he had a tiny part in TPM. Now, I wouldn't have bothered cutting Jar-Jar myself but I'd hardly say doing so could mess up the story.

Originally posted by Ushgarak
Now, why DID he cut the conversation between Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon at the start?

Why on earth would we want to be introduced to the characters after all????

Just another example of the arrogance of this foolish person.

I agree with everything RC has said on this and I've seen the whole of The Phantom Edit. It is a joke made by a selfish little fanboy.

Now excuse me because I'm off to re-edit The Wizard Of Oz to cut out that nasty little black and white bit at the start. 😄

I do not agree with what RC said. 😄

I think the editor shows that TPM COULD have been a better film. So here's a disappointed fan who makes TPM in a version how it could have been. Some dedication. He made some radical decisions but I do think they turned out for the most part. I checked some of the cuts with friends and other fans and most people feel about most of the cut scenes, that these were exactly the moments that made the cringe. Coincidence? I think not.

Now, I agree that the introductions at the beginning were a bit short. I didn't like that either. But as far as the OB1/QWJ scene, I think that had to do with the living Force convo. It didn't seem very relevant. And I must say, it didn't much in TPM. It might in Ep2, but I'm sure that if it is relevant it will be introduced again. So I no problems content wise there... yet. I do think it was a bit short.

As for JarJar, he has a very minor role in the TPE. And he will have a very minor role in Ep2, so I do not yet see a problem there.

So is this sacrilege of art? Wasn't it Lucas that loved quoting that good films "are not finished, only abandoned" when he made SE's. I think this is the case. With one difference alone, someone else had a shot at it.
There was someone who wrote in a TPE review something striking. He said something like: if he could do this with just a VHS, imagine what he could have done had he had all the material GL had at his disposal.... Intriguing question.

I'll tell you what he could have done. He would have made a good film into even more of a fanboys dream than he already has.
It's nonsense to think he could edit the film better than Lucas. He doesn't know the characters. By that I mean he doesn't know where they start, what happens to them and where they end up. He also has NO clue why they were included in the first place. Lucas does because he created them.

The Phantom Editor also has no idea what the rest of the story is. Lucas does.

Jar Jar was there for a reason. Taking him out leaves a big hole in the film. In most scenes when the Jedi are being all serious and Jar Jar is there, he is clowning around. Like the scene when Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon meet Valorum on the landing platform. They are being very serious. Jar Jar is making fun of the guards in the background.
If you don't like Jar Jar then watch the main action. Jar Jar was there as light releif. Mainly for kids, who this film was aimed at. Taking him out proves how selfish this editor is.

And Queeq there is another problem with leaving Jar Jar out. SOME PEOPLE LIKE HIM. But don't mind us.

The Phantom Edit is not as popular as everyone is making out. Can you honestly say that if the real version and this fake crap were on screens in the same theatre, the PE would be more popular. No way.

The only thing I liked about the PE was when he cut the scene where Tarpals pokes Jar Jar and hhe says "how rude". That's it. The rest was a pile of sh*t.

I understood general reaction had been hostile. But then I don't know too much about it.

Zeriel is going to love it, though. I have a good sense for that.

I wish this thread had never been started. I'm going all evil and it's not even Halloween yet. 🙄

Well, look at it like this. Different interpretations happen; always have done. These days a person's interpretation of a piece of art is a lot easier to get across to people than it used to be, hence the spread of this one.

I mean, people are told that their own work doesn't always mean what they thought it did. William Golding's appraisal on his own Lord of the Flies was contested by others. It sounds absolutely stupid, I know, but when you look at the theory behind it you can see that sometimes, re-evaluation has a point, or at least a place in things

And when it comes to different interpretations, some people love it and some people hate it. He may have turned out to have fatally miscalculated some long-term impacts, or maybe he will have gotten away with it.

But in the end, it's just a thing. Fanboy-produced nonsense or piece of creative editing genius; it's there regardless. I don't really see it as an assault on GL though (though it IS illegal, of course!). I think he can cheerfully ignore it, as can those who hate it.

Well I can't for some reason. It pisses me off like nothing else.

I just don't understand why. I disagree with you if you say that NO ONE could edit it better than GL. GL changed a lot of stuff after comments by Howard and Spielberg! So he did feel others were right is disagreeing with what he made. Same here. I think it shows devotion.

And you've got to love that he cut the ulltimate cringe line "You were right about one things, Master, the negotiations were short."

You know, that line COULD have worked if it had been given some support...

Like canned laughter? 😄