Movies - The Phantom Edit

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	Movies - The Phantom Edit

Star Wars Episode I.I - The Phantom Edit is a fan edit of the movie Star Wars Episode I - The Phantom Menace, removing elements of the original widely thought to be unsuccessful by critics and adult fans. The purpose of this edit, according to the editor, was to make a much stronger film than what was released by George Lucas. It is widely believed that it was the first unauthorized re-edit of The Phantom Menace to receive any publicity, although there is some debate as to whether this is true.

Changes

The changes included:

removing most of Jar-Jar Binks' scenes
limiting exposition such as the discussion of midi-chlorians
trimming reiteration of the politics
re-arranging shots and scenes
removing "Yippee" and "Oops" from young Anakin's dialog

It was originally circulated studio to studio in Hollywood late 2000 early 2001 followed by worldwide media attention in magazines, television, and the Internet. It was acclaimed as providing a more focused and better paced version of the film. It is now available on VHS and DVD as well. The DVD contains two deleted scenes and a commentary track by the editor as well as a few easter eggs.

Rumor attributed The Phantom Edit to Kevin Smith, probably because his films frequently refer to the Star Wars mythos and he edits his own films. Smith admitted to having seen it 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 and the June 1 2002 edition of the Los Angeles Times .

Despite rumors, no lawsuits were filed against Nichols, nor did he sell or make any money from the edit. He claims, "I am not a bootlegger!"

Other fan edits

The Phantom Re-Edit

Another fan edit of Episode I circulating on the Internet is called The Phantom Re-Edit, in which Jar-Jar Binks' dialogue is changed to make him a wise Jedi. Good quality copies of this version have been very hard to find.

Episode I: Balance of the Force

In addition to the basic "Phantom Edit", there have been other versions of Episode I, and even an edit of Episode II. This specific version of The Phantom Menance has been re-edited by someone who goes by the name of "MagnoliaFan" (the movie "Jay and Silent Bob" recognizes him as a hater of the "Bluntman and Cronic" movie on the Internet) and has recreated the first episode of the series into a film called "Balance of the Force", which is a much darker version of the film. It follows many of the previous versions of edits to the film, but re-dubs the aliens, and almost all the droid speaking roles, so they are not speaking Star Wars "basic" and instead are speaking their "native" language (or some variation of it). A short list of the changes to the film are listed here:

Alternate title and crawl, giving more history on the Jedi, Republic and Trade Federation.
The plot has been altered from revolving around taxation to slave labor.
Jar Jar is dubbed and subtitled. He is now a pompous, Han Solo-like character, who believes he saved Qui-Gon's life by dragging him down and thinks Qui-Gon owes him the life debt.
The Gungans now hate the Naboo people because humans stole a Gungan relic, the Kyber crystal (previously mentioned in the novel Splinter of the Mind's Eye) from them, explaining the big glowing globe at the end of the film.
When Qui-Gon tries the mind trick on Watto, he becomes much angrier and throws Qui-Gon out shouting, "Get lost! Come back when you gotta some money!"
As Qui-Gon embarassedly exits the shop, Jar Jar knocks over a bunch of stuff and Watto shouts, "Hey! You break it, you buy it! Eh?!"
Many scenes have been resequenced with music from other films (Cantina music from the original Star Wars, and the Empire theme from Empire Strikes Back).

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