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The Phantom Edit

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The Phantom Edit



 
 
The Phantom Edit is a fan edit
Fan edit

A fan edit is a version of a film Film editing by a viewer, that removes, reorders, or adds material in order to create a new interpretation of the film....
 of the movie Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace
Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace

Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace is a 1999 in film space opera film written and directed by George Lucas. It was the fourth film to be released in the Star Wars saga and the first in terms of Dates in Star Wars....
, removing elements of the original thought to be unsuccessful by some critics and long-time fans. The purpose of the edit, according to creator Mike J. Nichols
Mike J. Nichols

Mike J. Nichols is an United States Film editing who was living in Santa Clarita, California, California, and was originally from Illinois.Nichols has become a cult hero of sorts as "The Phantom Editor" who created a re-cut of George Lucas' Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace known as The Phantom Edit....
, was to make a much stronger version of The Phantom Menace based on the previous execution and philosophies of film storytelling and editing made famous by George Lucas
George Lucas

George Walton Lucas, Jr. is an Academy Award-nominated United States film director, film producer, screenwriter and chairman of Lucasfilm Ltd. He is best known for being the creator of the Epic film Sci-Fi franchise Star Wars and the archaeologist-adventurer character Indiana Jones....
 himself.






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Phantom Edit
The Phantom Edit is a fan edit
Fan edit

A fan edit is a version of a film Film editing by a viewer, that removes, reorders, or adds material in order to create a new interpretation of the film....
 of the movie Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace
Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace

Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace is a 1999 in film space opera film written and directed by George Lucas. It was the fourth film to be released in the Star Wars saga and the first in terms of Dates in Star Wars....
, removing elements of the original thought to be unsuccessful by some critics and long-time fans. The purpose of the edit, according to creator Mike J. Nichols
Mike J. Nichols

Mike J. Nichols is an United States Film editing who was living in Santa Clarita, California, California, and was originally from Illinois.Nichols has become a cult hero of sorts as "The Phantom Editor" who created a re-cut of George Lucas' Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace known as The Phantom Edit....
, was to make a much stronger version of The Phantom Menace based on the previous execution and philosophies of film storytelling and editing made famous by George Lucas
George Lucas

George Walton Lucas, Jr. is an Academy Award-nominated United States film director, film producer, screenwriter and chairman of Lucasfilm Ltd. He is best known for being the creator of the Epic film Sci-Fi franchise Star Wars and the archaeologist-adventurer character Indiana Jones....
 himself. The Phantom Edit was the first unauthorized re-edit of The Phantom Menace to receive major publicity and acclaim for making the film appreciably better, and although many other re-editing attempts followed, the original Phantom Edit is still highly regarded as a successful exercise of professional and artistic narrative film editing.

Changes

The changes include:
  • re-editing nearly all scenes featuring Jar Jar Binks
    Jar Jar Binks

    Jar Jar Binks is a fictional character from the Star Wars films Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones, Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith and Star Wars: The Clone Wars ....
     and removing some of what he dubs 'Jar Jar Antics.'
  • removing or re-editing most Battle Droid
    Battle droid

    Battle Droids are a fictional Star Wars unit who are standard combat units for the Trade Federation and Confederacy of Independent Systems during the Clone Wars era....
     dialogue
  • limiting redundant exposition throughout the film
  • trimming reiteration of the politics
  • re-arranged shots and scenes to match original trilogy presentation style
  • removing "Yippee" and "Oops" from young Anakin's
    Anakin Skywalker

    Anakin Skywalker is the protagonist in the Star Wars fictional universe. The Original trilogy and Prequel trilogy follow Anakin's rise as a vessel of The Force , his fall to the dark side, and his ultimate Redemption ....
     dialogue in order to make him a stronger character
  • removing dialogue that specifies the nature of Midichlorians as a biological basis for Force sensitivity.


It was originally circulated to studios in Hollywood in 2000 and 2001, and was followed by worldwide media attention in magazines, television, and especially the Internet
Internet

The Internet is a global network of interconnected computers, enabling users to share information along multiple channels. Typically, a computer that connects to the Internet can access information from a vast array of available server and other computers by moving information from them to the computer's local memory....
.

Rumor attributed The Phantom Edit to Kevin Smith, probably because he edits his own films and his films frequently refer to the Star Wars mythos. Smith admitted to having seen the re-edit but denied that he was the editor. The editor was revealed to be Mike J. Nichols
Mike J. Nichols

Mike J. Nichols is an United States Film editing who was living in Santa Clarita, California, California, and was originally from Illinois.Nichols has become a cult hero of sorts as "The Phantom Editor" who created a re-cut of George Lucas' Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace known as The Phantom Edit....
 of Santa Clarita, California
Santa Clarita, California

Santa Clarita is the fourth largest city in Los Angeles County, California, California, United States. The California Department of Finance estimated the city population as of January 1, 2008 at 177,045....
 in the September 7, 2001 edition of the Washington Post and the June 1 2002 edition of the Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times

The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California and distributed throughout the Western United States. It is the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in the United States and the fourth-most widely distributed newspaper in the United States....
.


Illegally available on VHS
VHS

The Video Home System, better known by its abbreviation VHS, is a recording and playing standard developed by JVC and launched in Europe and Asia in September 1976, and the United States in June 1977....
, DVD
DVD

DVD, also known as "Digital Versatile Disc" or "Digital Video Disc,"is a popular optical disc data storage device media format. Its main uses are video and data storage....
 and later via BitTorrent
BitTorrent

BitTorrent is a peer-to-peer file sharing communications protocol used for distributing large amounts of data. BitTorrent is one of the most common protocols for transferring large files, and by some estimates it accounts for about 35% of all traffic on the entire Internet....
, 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.

Reviews

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 (Clerks
Clerks

Clerks is a United States comedy film written and directed by Kevin Smith, who also appears in the film as Jay and Silent Bob. Starring Brian O'Halloran as Dante Hicks and Jeff Anderson as Randal Graves, it presents a day in the lives of two store clerks and their acquaintances....
, Mallrats
Mallrats

Mallrats is a 1995 in film written and directed by Kevin Smith. It is the second to be set in Smith's "View Askewniverse" series of interlocking films set mostly in New Jersey, although the movie was filmed in the Eden Prairie Center, which is located in Minnesota....
, Chasing Amy
Chasing Amy

Chasing Amy is a 1997 in film romance film comedy-drama written and directed by Kevin Smith. It is the third film in the View Askewniverse series....
)

"...Materialized from out of nowhere was a good film that had been hidden inside the disappointing original one." — Daniel Kraus
Daniel Kraus

Daniel Kraus is a Germany football goalkeeper who plays for FC Carl Zeiss Jena.References...
, Salon.com
Salon.com

Salon.com, part of Salon Media Group , often just called Salon, is an online magazine, with content updated each weekday. Modern liberalism in the United States politics of the United States is its major focus, but it covers a range of issues....
 (November 5, 2001)

"[Done by] someone with a gift for editing!" — Michael Wilmington, Chicago Tribune
Chicago Tribune

"The Trib" redirects here. For other newspapers with similar names, see Tribune The Chicago Tribune is a major daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, and the flagship publication of the Tribune Company....
 Film Critic (June 18, 2001)

This was mentioned in the comic strip FoxTrot, drawn by Bill Amend, where Jason Fox mentioned this video, stating that the "more annoying characters" had a diminished role in the video. The last panel in the strip showed a scene at Skywalker Ranch, where someone (presumably George Lucas
George Lucas

George Walton Lucas, Jr. is an Academy Award-nominated United States film director, film producer, screenwriter and chairman of Lucasfilm Ltd. He is best known for being the creator of the Epic film Sci-Fi franchise Star Wars and the archaeologist-adventurer character Indiana Jones....
) screams, "My Jar Jar-free edition leaked out?! I could have made millions! Billions!" and another, unknown person states, "Sir, please don't pound R2 like that."

Attack of the Phantom

The Phantom Editor
Mike J. Nichols

Mike J. Nichols is an United States Film editing who was living in Santa Clarita, California, California, and was originally from Illinois.Nichols has become a cult hero of sorts as "The Phantom Editor" who created a re-cut of George Lucas' Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace known as The Phantom Edit....
 followed up his edits of Episode I with an edit of Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones
Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones

Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones is a 2002 in film space opera film directed by George Lucas and written by Lucas and Jonathan Hales....
, for the stated purpose of not just providing easy criticism of Episode II, but to do the harder work of demonstrating why he thinks his edit is better.

Called Star Wars Episode II.I: Attack of the Phantom, the DVD contains a re-edited version based on a DVD release of Episode II in surround sound, with a commentary track. At points during the commentary, the viewer has the option to interrupt the movie to view in more detail some of the things that the editor is talking about.

See also

  • List of changes in Star Wars re-releases
    List of changes in Star Wars re-releases

    The following are partial lists of changes in Star Wars re-releases. The commercial success of Star Wars has given George Lucas the opportunity to alter his original trilogy, which is composed of Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back, and Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi....


External links

  • , BBC News Article, Thursday, June 7, 2001
  • , an NPR story, 'Star Wars' - The Phantom Edit, Robert Siegel talks with Andrew Rogers from Zap2it.com, July 16, 2001
  • , a Salon.com article by Daniel Kraus, November 5, 2001
  • , a PBS Article by Charles C. Mann, November 22, 2001
  • , Joshua Griffin's April 29, 2005 review of Episode II.I: Attack of the Phantom, on TheForce.net fan site
  • , Wookieepedia page about this edit