What Is The Star Wars: Revenge Of The Sith Ultimate Edition?
Decades after the release of "The Phantom Menace," the "Star Wars" prequels remain a bit of a dividing line for fans. For many, there were a disappointing return to a galaxy far, far away that could be described as a mixed bag at best. For a great many others, that's the "Star Wars" they grew up with, and their relationship to it is entirely different. But one thing that is widely agreed upon is that George Lucas got closest to nailing it in 2005 with "Revenge of the Sith." For what it's worth, the novelization is even better.
What's interesting about the movie, though, is that so much has been added to the narrative over the years, thanks to animated shows such as "The Clone Wars" and, more recently, "The Bad Batch." Well, one fan set about trying to tell a more complete version of the tale of "Episode III" a couple of years ago, using all of these disparate pieces of storytelling and assembling them into something called the "Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith Ultimate Edition." But what is it, you may ask? Let's get into the nitty-gritty of it.
What is the Ultimate Edition, exactly?
This is all the undertaking of an unidentified mega-fan who runs a Patreon account under the name Zacharias, as well as a couple of YouTube channels: Madman's Knowledge and Jedi's Knowledge. In May of 2021, Zacharias completed work on a massive fan edit that was dubbed the "Revenge of the Sith Ultimate Edition" which clocks in at around five hours in length, split into two parts. You can even check out the trailer for it above.
Zacharias took other stuff from canon to create this new fan edit of "Episode III," including four deleted scenes that were left on the cutting room floor by Lucas. The premiere episode of "The Bad Batch" and the final four episodes of the final season of "The Clone Wars" were also edited into the film. All of it is presented in chronological order, as Zacharias put it, "for the purpose of bringing these stories together to end one show and start another without having to view these interlinked events separately."
Given that the final season of "The Clone Wars" ends up running into the events of "Revenge of the Sith," with "The Bad Batch" picking up right after, it does make narrative sense to address these events. What's more, this is a fascinating experiment to try and weave the narrative together in one unbroken story.
Where you can watch it
Now, as with any fan edit or something of this nature, it gets a little tricky when it comes to copyright. Just because someone isn't trying to make money on something like this, the fact remains that Disney and Lucasfilm still own the rights to all things "Star Wars." It's not just about profit. Copyright law is a tricky, sometimes fickle, beast. That being the case, it's hard to distribute something like this as nobody wants to be sued by a gigantic corporation like Disney. But there is a way to watch this version of the film, for those who are willing to put in a little bit of effort.
In May of 2021, Zacharias held a premiere event on Discord for the "Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith Ultimate Edition." But that was a one-time thing more than two years ago. For those who are interested now, the only way to do it is to contact Zacharias directly. Fortunately, they include an email address in both the original Patreon post and the YouTube trailer description.
For those who do decide to reach out via email, a Google Doc will be sent that includes links to a poster for the film, some background info on the project, and yes, links to watch the film (as of this writing). There are even separate links for editions with or without subtitles. So yes, there is a way to watch it, it's just not quite as simple as going to Disney+ and clicking a button or two. Those who wish to see this experimental take on "Star Wars" will need to do some legwork.