Star Wars Fan Re-edits Phantom Menace

June 18 -- Those fans who thought George Lucas went over to the Dark Side with his decidedly cheesy, family-friendly Star Wars: Episode I — The Phantom Menace have gotten their revenge. An unofficial "revised" copy of the film has been circulating, and fans have even gone so far as to hawk copies in front of Hollywood's Chinese Theatre, according to The Associated Press.

The new version, dubbed The Phantom Re-edit: Episode 1.1, includes redubbed dialogue for super-irritating Jar Jar Binks that makes him appear less bumbling and more dignified and deliberate, as well as other changes that heighten the suspense and sense of danger.

Joshua Griffin, who reviewed the revision for TheForce.net, told the AP, "They took out the part where Jar Jar steps in poop on Tatooine and juggles pop cans in the junkyard."

The character of Anakin Skywalker, who evolves into the evil Darth Vader in the later films, was also made more ominous through the deletion of parts of his dialogue — such as the un-Vaderish "Yippee!"

Of course, LucasFilm isn't happy about the myriad copies being passed around and sold.

Jeanne Cole, a spokeswoman for the company, told the AP, "When we first heard about it, we just thought, 'This is one of the fans having fun with Star Wars.' Now that it has gotten into massive duplication, it has crossed the line. We are now talking about copyright infringement."

Cole added, "We don't think these people maliciously intended to break the law or hurt LucasFilm. Now, we just want them to stop."