Not too long ago, fans were asked to redo the original Star Wars movie in 15 second segments. I wish I had known about this. If I had, I would definitely have filmed something. Once the entries were submitted, they were available to view and vote for online. Then they stitched the scenes together to create a new, full length version of Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, made completely by fans. That new film is Star Wars Uncut.

Star Wars Uncut is not something to watch while doing something else. Sure, it’s a movie you’re probably already familiar with and a lot of the audio is taken directly from the original movie, but the movie completely changes every 15 seconds. And a lot of the fun in this film is the visual gags and pop culture references that people have inserted into their scenes. I managed to spot Homer and Moe from The Simpsons, The Dude, Walter and Donny from The Big Lebowski, and some Star Trek crew members.

It’s hard to pick a favorite scene. Maybe it was the animated C3P0 oil bath scene that took the dialogue between Luke and C3P0 out of context for a hilarious effect. Maybe it was the tweeted “A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away” or the message board responses that followed the opening crawl. There’s just too much good packed into these two hours.

Forget George Lucas releasing all six Star Wars movies in the theaters again in 3D. This is the Star Wars movie to be excited about this year! I love Star Wars Uncut. Something tells me this is going to end up being my favorite movie of 2012. I know it’s very early in the year to be making that prediction, but I can’t remember the last time a movie filled me with as much glee as I felt while watching this.

I really hope they do the same thing for The Empire Strikes Back. I will definitely film a segment for that. I only wish I hadn’t thrown away that Han Solo Frozen in Carbonite costume I made for Halloween last year.