''Star Wars Episode I.I: The Phantom Edit'' is a

fan edit A fan edit is a version of a film Film editing, modified by a viewer, that removes, reorders, or adds material in order to create a new interpretation of the source material. This includes the removal of scenes or dialogue, replacement of audio an ...

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 George Walton Lucas Jr. (born May 14, 1944) is an American filmmaker. Lucas is best known for creating the ''Star Wars'' and ''Indiana Jones'' franchises and founding Lucasfilm, LucasArts, Industrial Light & Magic and THX. He served as chairm ...

. ''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.

History

''The Phantom Edit'' was originally circulated in

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood, ...

studios in 2000 and 2001, and was followed by media attention.

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, and the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

all covered the edit to various degrees. Rumor initially attributed ''The Phantom Edit'' to

Kevin Smith Kevin Patrick Smith (born August 2, 1970) is an American filmmaker, actor, comedian, comic book writer, author, YouTuber, and podcaster. He came to prominence with the low-budget comedy buddy film ''Clerks'' (1994), which he wrote, directed, co ...

, 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

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in the September 7, 2001, edition of ''

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''. Available on VHS,

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and later via BitTorrent, the DVD contains two deleted scenes and a

commentary track An audio commentary is an additional audio track, usually digital, consisting of a lecture or comments by one or more speakers, that plays in real time with a video. Commentaries can be serious or entertaining in nature, and can add informatio ...

by the editor as well as a few

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. 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.

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

Changes

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 Jar Jar Binks is a fictional character of the Gungan race from the ''Star Wars'' saga created by George Lucas. Jar Jar appears throughout the ''Star Wars'' prequel trilogy – as a major character in '' Episode I: The Phantom Menace'', with a ...

and removing some of what Nichols dubs 'Jar Jar Antics' * Removal or re-editing of most of the

Battle Droid In the ''Star Wars'' space opera franchise, a droid is a fictional robot possessing some degree of artificial intelligence''.'' The term is a clipped form of " android", a word originally reserved for robots designed to look and act like a huma ...

dialogue * Limiting of

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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

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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

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" —

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

(November 5, 2001) * " one by someone with a gift (and equipment) for editing" — Michael Wilmington, ''

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'' Film Critic The 2010

documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional film, motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". Bill Nichols (film critic), Bil ...

The People vs. George Lucas ''The People vs. George Lucas'' is a 2010 documentary comedy film directed by Swiss director Alexandre O. Philippe. It explores the issues of filmmaking and fanaticism pertaining to the '' Star Wars'' franchise and its creator, George Lucas. Th ...

'' cites ''The Phantom Edit'' as a key example of the

remix culture Remix culture, sometimes read-write culture, is a term describing a society that allows and encourages derivative works by combining or editing existing materials to produce a new creative work or product. A remix culture would be, by default, pe ...

created by the ''Star Wars'' franchise.

Sequel: ''Attack of the Phantom''

Nichols followed up his edits of ''Episode I'' with an edit of '' Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones''. Called ''Star Wars Episode II.I: Attack of the Phantom'', the DVD contains a re-edited version (38 minutes cut, new runtime of 104 minutes) of ''Episode II'' in surround sound, with a commentary track. At points during the commentary, the viewer has the option to pause the film to view in more detail some of the things that the editor is discussing.

References

External links

Wayback Machine archive of ''The Phantom Edit'' fan website

"The Phantom Editor Strikes Again"
Joshua Griffin's April 29, 2005, review of ''Episode II.I: Attack of the Phantom'', on TheForce.net fan site {{DEFAULTSORT:Phantom Edit 2000 films 2000 independent films Fan films based on Star Wars Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace Alternative versions of films Unofficial adaptations 2000s American films