Okay, so I'm finished with 90% of my cuts, and I'm now going through and fixing/rescoring bits of the music that I've cut. In the process, I'm rewatching the first scene in Watto's junk shop and decided to add a piece of music to the scene. Originally, it's quiet up until the point where Anakin and Padme have their introduction (which oddly drops your guard just before possibly the most awkward scene in the movie), so I decided to add a little flair to the junk shop. Part of my thought process also entertained the idea that there really isn't any "fun" bits of music in the film like the Cantina Band scene in ANH (nothing against John Williams' score, of course). Another issue I had with the scene was Jar-Jar's little fight with the random droid (it further adds to his clumsiness and ineptitude), which I can't exactly cut, because he is in the backdrop of a few important moments.
Sothis is how I fixed ALL of that with one addition: I added a filtered piece from a Budapest Klezmer band in the background of Watto's shop, giving the appearance that the music is coming from somewhere within the shopspecifically, the random droid Jar-Jar pokes at. The way I have set it up, while Anakin and Padme are talking, Jar-Jar is in the background, somewhat searching for the source of the music. Finding the droid, he pokes at it, and the music shuts off as the droid springs to life. Jar-Jar wrestles with it for a second or two (which has been trimmed considerably), before Anakin tells him to hit the nose. Jar-Jar pokes the nose again, and the droid collapses, allowing the music to continue playing.
Anyway, I'm telling you this to get some input on the song in particular. Here it is:
(keep in mind, it's not overpowering the scene. just playing in the background to give the scene a bit more flavor). I'm considering giving the Mos Espa town scenes a bit of an additional score as well, which would share similarities with this genre of music. What do you think?

Looks like we have some similar ideas. Where could I find your edit if I wanted to watch it?

Good luck. I made my own fan edits of the prequel trilogy a few years ago. Here are some of the changes I made
Jar Jar never speaks
R2 never flies
C3-PO never switches heads with a battle droid
Darth Maul never gets cut in half*
Darth Vader never screams
General Grevious never coughs
The battle droids don't tell jokes
No pod race announcers
No metachlorians
No virgin birth
No mopey beep Anakin
No beep back talking Anakin
No dopey love scenes
No "Yipee" and "How rude"
We never see Jango's face
We never see Boba's face
We never see Gungan City
We never see the Emperor's big, rubber, naked slug head
I cut each film down from over two hours to about 90 minutes each. It makes a much leaner, faster paced trilogy with more action and less goofiness. It really did help me appreciate these movies a little more.
Communism was just a red herring.

I have dine a prequel edit which runs at two hours. Cuts out tpm as IMO not needed. It begins with obi wan finding the clones and ends with Sith. It focuses more on anakin and has all the story beats that were necessary and what I had to include for a cohesive story.

I'm really looking forward to seeing the cut your making. Just subscribed to your YouTube channel. Go for it.

If there is good reception to my edit of Episode 1, I'll probably edit Episode 2 and 3 as well. 2 is my least favorite of the prequels, mostly for all of its missed opportunities and some of the more awkward romantic scenes.

I think personally the movie I would love to see re-edited is Episode 2. There are alot of bad edits and scenes that go on too long, it would interesting see what that would look like in better form.

3. Anakin piloting then destroying the control ship by accident
   i can't see a way to have anakin in the battle without the silliness. you'd have to cut him all together, i guess. QGJ should have left him on Corusant instead of taking a child into a battlezone.
   and I'm trying to improve on Maul's death (I was originally going to try and have him survive, which I can do
   we find out in Clone Wars (series) that he did in fact survive. Perhaps better to not add him to Ep2?
   "He's dusted, busted and disgusted, but he's ok"

Maul doesn't die in Ep. 1

If there was any way to do something like that without it looking terrible, I'd be all over it.
I'll play around with it, but I just don't know if I can keep Maul alive

It would be damn cool if you could keep Maul alive. Always thought he should have been around still, if not to replace Dooku, then to assist him. If you kept him alive, and then later did an edit of Episode 2, you could alter the fight scene towards the end of it.
Instead of having Dooku vs Anakin/Obi-wan followed by Dooku vs Yoda, you could have Maul fighting Anakin/Obi-wan whilst Dooku battles Yoda. Have Maul beat Anakin and Obi-wan like Dooku did in the original version, but then have Dooku sacrifice Maul to Yoda in order to aid his escape.
Not having any artistic flair what-so-ever, I would have no idea in hell how you'd get Maul into that scene, and without it looking like crap lolone can dream I guess

Oh, I've definitely covered your initial three problems. There's a scene with one of the large fish that I simply can't cut (well, I don't want to), but it's a scene within the bonco, and you see the giant fish swimming about in the distance. It works fine the way it is, but I'm trying to paint out the big fish, if possible.
But Jar-Jar is 100% more of a hero in battle, and the podracing is considerably shorter and more tense.
And for your suggestions:

1. My current opening crawl is as follows (a few minor things may change, but this is pretty much the final version):
   "Episode One
   SHROUD OF THE SITH
   For a thousand generations, the Galactic Republic has been the great pillar of order and harmony in the galaxy, aided by the mystic warriors of peace and justice known as the Jedi Knights.
   But now, the shadow of war rises. The peaceful planet of Naboo has been seized by a blockade of deadly warships, sent by Viceroy Nute Gunray of the corrupt Trade Federation, for reasons unknown.
   While the Senate's endless debating drowns Naboo's cries for justice, the Supreme Chancellor of the Republic has secretly dispatched two of the Jedi Order to settle the conflict."
2. I would LOVE to add some deleted scenes (QGJ destroying one of Maul's probes, in particular), but as I'm doing a 1080p blu-ray version, I haven't been able to find any deleted scenes above 720p. I tried adding one in to see how different it lookedand it's pretty noticeable. I've tried everything to make it appear higher quality, but everything I've found would probably hurt the film more than help. If you or anyone else knows where I could find high-quality resolution versions of the deleted scenes, there are two or three which I would most definitely add in (including the pre-podrace scene you mentioned).
3. I'm currently working on cutting/coloring the final fight sequence, and I agree. I think some cuts are useful, but there are far too many to keep you engaged in perhaps the best moment of the entire film. I've done my best to keep most of the fight intact, but I have reworked a few bits here and there (after QGJ dies, I've done my best to make Obi Wan's fighting style change a bit. Instead of the perfectly choreographed style from before, Obi Wan now strikes with more intensity and anger.), and I'm trying to improve on Maul's death (I was originally going to try and have him survive, which I can do, but then there's no way to convincingly kill him in Episode 2, so I'll probably just leave his death). There's not much else I can say about this until I actually do it haha.
   Thanks for the input!

I love phantom menace and think all your ideas on how to improve it are just right. The biggest problems with the film imo are:

1. Unnessescary action with ocean monster - the sense of adventure this location provides is cool, but the pointless action is unessescary.
2. Podracing is wayyy too long. Way too long. Seriously, its too lomg dammit.
3. Anakin piloting then destroying the control ship by accident. Likewise jarjar succedding on the naboo field by accident. So dumb and corny.
   Youve said youre covering these issues though so thats cool.
   As for suggestions:

1. i like the tax description in the beginning. The entire political / taxing angle i found really intriguing and mature for what i heard was a kids film. Plus that IS what kicks off the filmnand entire crisis so its pretty important. What are you changing it too? Dont makemit something too bland and without character

2. Think aboutnadding some deleted scenes. Theres a nice panning shot ofnthe naboo buildings when qui and obi and jarjar enter naboon tyhat could be used to good effect (NOT the dumb waterfall sequence that occurs beforehand). Also the dawn before the podrace is a nice quirt moment before the race thatcould be useed. There maybe be other scenes but i cant remember them right now.
3. The final battles sequences could be better paced with some editing. I dislike the way it constantly cuts away from the obi/qui and maul duel to the other battles, it kills the pacing a bit imo. Some of that may be served better shown in longer sequences with fewer cuts.
   Thats about all i can think of riht now. Youve defintely nailed the smaller (i guess) issues like subtitling jarjar, the midichorlians, the jesus birth, and pqdmes voice to be more peered with anni (though not sure if her queen voice should be touched - thats pretty bad ass) and i look forward to seeing your work in full

I know, I've been way behind schedule. Life came at me pretty fast these last few months, so some things had to take a backseat to others. Unfortunately, this edit was one that had to take the back seat. It is still coming, though. And probably much sooner than I'm making it sound. Thank you (and everyone else) for their patience.

Six months into the new year and I'm hoping this remaster and redit and rescore of Episode One arrives soon. Updates please, OP?

Alright, I'm seriously impressed by this. Wouldn't have thought that. Thanks!

Source? Yeah, sorry, I'm a bit late in responding, but this doesn't sound very realistic to me. 1977 was the year the original Star Wars movie came out, and the name "Sith" is not mentioned once in this movie.
it's not mentioned in the movie, but it is in the script and in the novel. there's even trading cards from 1977 that feature the 'dark lord of the sith'
http://caimages.collectors.com/psacertimages/51960_941x1597.jpg
There's plenty of Star Wars Fan-Edits on youtube, why would they pick on you?
the big studios are abusing the 'take-down' rules of youtube by asking youtube to take down ANYTHING that's supposed to violate their copyright. I say abuse, because they've been marking anything that trips their algorithm, eg the movie 'pixels' the studio ordered a take-down of a review of a computer game review that was made nine years before their stupid movie was made! Or taking down reviews that don't even feature any of their content at all.
why? because they can.
http://www.theverge.com/2016/2/1/10887120/youtube-complaint-takedown-copyright-community
"He's dusted, busted and disgusted, but he's ok"

Source? Yeah, sorry, I'm a bit late in responding, but this doesn't sound very realistic to me. 1977 was the year the original Star Wars movie came out, and the name "Sith" is not mentioned once in this movie. I could be wrong, but I'm sure it also wasn't mentioned in any other of the OT films.
Of course, in interviews much later, George stated that he had the whole concept finished when making Episode 4. But even if that would be true, the info about the meaning of the word "Darth" wouldn't mean anything to a journalist of that time, because he wouldn't even have heard the word "Sith" ever before. And even if George explained to that journalist what the word meant, I doubt he would have included it in his article as it wouldn't represent any necessary information.
Of course, prove me wrong, if that's the case.

Huh. Didn't know that.
Even so, I'm not 100% sure how I'll handle the "darth" bits. I have a version currently where they're cut (or replaced with "lord" when acceptable) and a version where they're not. I figured I'd show it to a few people before I complete the project, or I'd ask around to see what the popular opinion was. I don't know if I care about the name as much as I used to.

i admire your dedication to try this and i hope i can see the results. everyone complains about the prequels, but few try to make it better.
I'm considering removing any mention of the title "Darth"
Darth is supposed to be a contraction of 'DARk lord of the siTH' according to George Lucas. This was revealed on a trading card from 1977.
"He's dusted, busted and disgusted, but he's ok"

Okay. When you explain it that way, I get it. Go for it!

I think you may be misunderstanding what I'm doing, as far as the music goes. I don't have a guy making an original score to replace John Williams' stuff. I wouldn't dare. No, what I'm doing is taking pieces Williams has done for other Star Wars films (most likely the original trilogy), as well as pieces composed for Star Wars games and tv shows, and using those bits in place for some scenes that I personally feel could use a bit more emotion. And I'm rearranging when some of the pre-existing pieces occur in the film. I'm not doing anything completely unnecessary. But when cutting the film, there are several scenes that HAVE to be re-scored, because the existing music is jumpy from the cut. I'm trying to make it as natural as possible, while also improving the emotional impact of some scenes that just don't do it for me. 99% of the "re-scored" pieces will also come from John Williams. Anything else will be something someone else did for Star Wars.
As far as Midichlorians gothey just have to go. I hate them, and I can't justify leaving them in. They are not integral to the story. The arrogance of the Jedi can exist without the midichlorian idea, and the story is better off without it. There are several references throughout the prequels of "misunderstanding" the ways of the force and being "misguided" in your learning. These work fine without Midichlorians and still convey a similar message to what you're suggesting.
I am getting rid of the direct mention of the virgin birth, but there will be enough substance for you to infer a virgin birth of you choose to do so. Anakin's mother simply says "there was no father" in my version, and QGJ gives a curious look, which is more subtle than just spelling something out. This way, you can read into the scene however you want. There was no father, as in the father wasn't in the picture, or there was literally no father. The prequels were never great with subtlety. And in my opinion, the immaculate conception felt forced. I'd rather leave it up for interpretation.
And I am definitely aware to musical callbacks in TFA. That's factoring into what I'm doing (and sort of inspiring it).

Getting rid of Jar Jar's foolishness and his voice is a good move. Also, good to subtitle Trade Federation. Also, good riddance to the two headed announcer. But so much of what you are doing is trivial or destructive to episodes 2 and 3.
Removing the midiclorian reference destroys what leads to the Jedi's downfall. They are arrogant and place their faith in technology, instead of completely the Force. When you understand that the Jedi are not supposed to be wonderful wonderful in the prequels, you will understand why the midiclorians are included.
Re-scoring parts of the movie? Seriously? Your guy can do better than John Williams?
Getting rid of the virgin birth? Heads up! That concept will be returning to episodes 8 and 9. It's widely recognized that Snoke's music from TFA is the same as the Darth Plageus music from ROTS. Do with that as you wish.
Apart from Kathleen Kennedy and Rian Johnson, I think John Williams knows more about the plots of Episodes 8 and 9 than anyone else. Yes, he's been told more than even JJ Abrams. There are MANY musical prequel references in the score for TFA. Often in surprisingly odd places. I believe he knows the next films will be coming back to the prequels thematically and has written his score accordingly.
So, unless you want to do another re-edit in 2019, I suggest you don't mess with anything that effects the themes of the films.

My advice, shut your damn mouth.
Rant over. You can all return to your normal lives.