10 Best Movie Fan Edits Of All Time
4. Star Wars Episode I.I: The Phantom Edit
Probably the second-most famous Star Wars fan edit behind Harmy's Despecialized Edition is Mike J. Nichols' The Phantom Edit.
Unsatisfied with the theatrical release of Star Wars: The Phantom Menace - him and everybody else - he got to work reshaping the film into a style and tone more consistent with the Original Trilogy.
From scaling back Jar Jar Binks' (Ahmed Best) insufferable shenanigans and Anakin's (Jake Lloyd) cringe-worthy quips, to trimming down expository and political dialogue, re-editing scenes to more closely match the style of the original films and even restoring deleted scenes, it is a substantial restructuring - and significant improvement - on what hit cinemas back in 1999.
This 119-minute cut - 18 minutes shorter than the theatrical release - just feels more dynamic, less pandering to family audiences and also more ambiguous, even cutting Qui-Gon Jinn's (Liam Neeson) controversial over-explanation of The Force.
The Phantom Edit received universal acclaim from critics and even some filmmakers, such as Kevin Smith. It's really a textbook example of how crucial editing and tone are in making a movie not just successful, but entertaining.