The Phantom Editor

Nov 5, 2001 | Earlier this year, rumors of a new, supposedly better version of "Star Wars: Episode 1 -- The Phantom Menace" began surfacing on the Internet. The rumor-mongers were not talking about the video version, which had already been released. Nor were they chattering about the then-unreleased DVD -- just out, with extended scenes and George Lucas commentary -- but actually a shorter version that was traversing the bootleg circuit. This version had been reedited by a fan who disliked the film, but who saw a lot of promise in the footage. The revision was titled "Episode 1.1 -- The Phantom Edit," and was, allegedly, much better than Lucas' original.

For a while it was treated as but a wishful myth. But through the infamous underground network of "Star Wars" fanatics, copies of the new version began popping up all over the place. Fans would watch it in a friend's living room or at a party, dub off a copy for themselves, download it onto their Web site and send it to other rabid fans.

No one knew who the "Phantom Editor" (as he identified himself at the start of the movie along with the e-mail address thephantomedit@hotmail.com) was or where the tape had its origins. But this added to the mystique and appeal, for materialized from out of nowhere was a good film that had been hidden inside the disappointing original one -- perhaps the film that every adult "Star Wars" fan had been hoping "Episode 1" would be.

Lucas supposedly was interested in seeing the reedit. And then it was rumored that the project was the work of filmmaker Kevin Smith ("Clerks," "Chasing Amy," "Dogma"), until a statement on Smith's Web site denied it, adding that he "has seen a copy and can confirm that it does exist." As further confirmation, a fan site popped up as a home base for discussion and analysis of the film (more than 105,961 hits thus far). Sample discussion subjects included "E-mail me if you want a copy," "need a copy of the re-edit.please!!!!" as well as the more...