This may come as a shock, but...the Star Wars Prequel Trilogy is awful.
It's not just one single issue, either: aside from the films' terrible acting and dated CGI, so many little problems built up to create one of the most disappointing trilogies in cinema history. What's worse is that there's real potential there: the story of Anakin Skywalker's ascent and eventual downfall is still engrossing...it's just marred by Jake Lloyd and greenscreen.
At this point, it's hard to imagine that anything less than a full remake could possibly fix all of the problems of the Star Wars Prequel Trilogy - but, in the meantime, a few incredibly dedicated fans are doing their best to make the worst Star Wars movies watchable. Created by YouTuber JeremyMWest-Esquire, the 'Anti-Cheese' edits are pretty self-expanatory: all of the unfunny, extraneous fluff has been chopped out of the Prequel Trilogy. This isn't one or two moments getting the axe, either: re-dubbed dialogue, new characterization and even major story edits are just a few of the changes present.
So, if you've been looking for a way to re-watch the Prequel Trilogy before The Force Awakens arrives, it looks like the fan-made edits may be the best way to do so:
The video above is the entire re-cut version of The Phantom Menace, and while it's still a terrible, terrible movie, the Anti-Cheese edit does a lot of things right. First and foremost, any mention of midichlorians have been completely removed, as have many scenes involving Jake Lloyd's Anakin. Both Gungans and the Trade Federation Viceroys have been completely re-dubbed, and are no longer ear-grating racial stereotypes. Even the obnoxiously high-pitched Battle Droid dialogue has been re-done - for the first time ever, Battle Droids are actually imposing, not just over-sized action figures.
What's amazing is that those three edits are just the beginning: looking at the video description reveals just how much has been completely cut out or re-worked, and the full list of edits is staggering.
It's not just The Phantom Menace, either: Jeremy's channel features all three films in the Prequel Trilogy, all with their own set of changes. Granted, Episode I features far more edits than the other two movies, but some of the changes are huge - it's almost like some parts of the Prequel Trilogy should never have existed...
Without completely remaking the movies, the Prequel Trilogy will always be laughably bad when compared to the original films...but the Anti-Cheese edits go a long way towards making them watchable.
For all three Prequel Trilogy re-edits, head on over to Jeremy's YouTube channel.
