With 15 years of discussion and a thousand fan edit topic threads, it’s pretty amazing to see all of the fan edits that have been made here. It’s been interesting to see the additions, alterations and preservations made to these films, and how the fan editing process has changed and evolved not only on this site but overtime in general. Although I suspect the founders of Original Trilogy never imagined people would be sharing edits of Episodes 7, 8 and so on fifteen years after they established this website. Just like everyone thought it would all be over in 2005, it’s really unlikely that Episode 9 will be the final chapter of the Skywalker Saga. Despite that, the fan editing community has grown a lot since then, and I think that has presented a very interesting opportunity.
For awhile now I have been thinking about eventually doing fan edits for the whole saga once Episode IX has released. I’m sure I’m not the only one who has thought that either. When I think about this idea, though, my thoughts keep coming back to TFA Restructured. Even though Hal was the leader on that edit, it really was a big collaborative project and it was a really fun and exciting process to witness. Although I think it is sometimes simpler to do these on your own, and they’re usually for personal use anyway, the idea of a collaborative saga edit is really appealing to me.
In the past I’ve thought of this idea as a continuity cut. Basically this would mean, at its most minimal, to make changes to the nine films to fix apparent contradictions between them. Hal tackles one of these contradictions nicely in his Revenge of the Sith edit by having Padmé survive, which fixes the contradiction of Leia remembering her in Return of the Jedi. With this series of edits, though, that edition could also be introduced (with Hal’s blessing), or, the mention of Leia’s mother in ROTJ could be changed, if the group thinks that it would best for Padmé to die in childbirth in this particular version instead. It could go either way based off discussion and consensus.
But I also think a large collaborative process could be an exciting method to improve the films as a whole. We could go through the films as a group, suggest changes, debate on their merits, and get a consensus. While this pretty much happens on a daily basis in various threads, the decision still typically comes down to the single, primary editor and their personal preference since, in the end, they’re making it for themself. With this concept, we could give the project a set of rules or goals that we could base decisions off of, just like the Restructured editing process came down to what changes best served the objective. And if we can’t agree on things, it’s fine, because we could always take this edit and use it as a template for our own personal edits. I’m sure there would be plenty of things I would suggest that would get voted down, but that’s the point of this idea!
If we are all just going to make our own edits, then what is the point of a collaborative edit anyway? I think one of the strengths of this community is how everyone is so willing to help each other and share their work. But I also think that when we work together, we can accomplish even more than if we were on our own.
While I don’t think final decisions should even be made until Episode IX comes out, I think this kind of concept would be a really fun and interesting process to be a part of. I just look at what was accomplished with the Restructured edit, things I thought were impossible, and it legimately improved the film with seamless professional changes. I just think it would be interesting to see if this kind of process could be applicable to at least one of the films, if not the whole Saga.
While it’d be nice if these edits could stand on their own as pretty solid edits, this kind of project at the very least could be used as a database of various edits for the saga films. I know I’m being naive and this is sort of an ambitious concept (I feel like Anakin in the picnic scene). At the very least, I think it is something to think about. There are so many talented people in this community, and I think every single member can bring unique ideas and perspectives to the cutting room.
Despite our different opinions on the films, we all love Star Wars, and at the very least this would be another good excuse to get into very deep discussions on the nature of Star Wars and the films, and really break it down from the beginning to the end (for now)…
TL;DR: Who would be interested in eventually working on a collaborative edit of all nine saga films?
EDIT: Here is a list of general inconsistencies and plot questions I’ve gathered so far, some my own thoughts but mostly from across the internet. While I think a lot of these questions don’t even need edits, most could be explained,I figured I would put them on here so they can be addressed since they’re apparently commonly asked questions.
-The Phantom Menace-
Why does Obi-Wan say Yoda is the Jedi Master who trained him when that was clearly Qui-Gon Jinn? lines in question from ESB: “There you will learn from Yoda, the Jedi Master who instructed me.” and “Was I any different when you taught me?” /
Why do Jedi wear Tatooine robes? /
Why is the tech level so different from OT? /
Does the Rule of Two contradict contradict the Emperor and Vader trying to recruit Luke in ESB and ROTJ? /
-Attack of the Clones-
Why is Mace Windu the only Jedi with a purple lightsaber? /
Why was it never explained why Jedi Master “Sifo-Dyas” ordered the clone army? /
Why does Count Dooku just tell Obi-Wan the Sith’s strategy for undermining the Senate? /
-Revenge of the Sith-
If Chewbacca always knew the Jedi were real, why didn’t he ever tell Han? /
Why does Yoda run away from his fight with Palpatine? /
Why does the Death Star take so long to build?/
What’s up with Anakin’s yellow Sith eyes? Why does Anakin momentarily get them but we don’t see Dooku, Luke when he almost killed Vader, or Kylo Ren ever have them? /
-A New Hope-
How exactly is Leia a princess? /
Why didn’t the Imperials just shoot the escape pod? /
Why’d they hide Luke on Vader’s home planet and even have him keep the Skywalker name? /
Why does 3PO mention the princess on board Tantive IV, then doesn’t know about the princess when he is with Luke? / Ady handled this in original Revisited by removing 3PO’s first line on ship. He reinserted it in the Purist edition though.
Why doesn’t R2 tell Luke anything about the past? /
Why did Obi-Wan age so much between trilogies? /
Why didn’t Obi-Wan change his last name (Ben Kenobi) while in exile? /
Why doesn’t Obi-Wan remember R2 or 3PO? /
“Your father wanted you to have this when you were old enough…”/
Why did the Death Star need to travel around the moon to destroy the rebel base? Couldn’t it just blow it up? /
Are stormtroopers clones? /
-Empire Strikes Back-
How did Luke get around the blockade of Hoth? /
Why does the Empire only disable the Millennium Falcon hyperdrive and not the whole ship? /
Luke became a Jedi by training with Yoda for only a few days? /
Why does Obi-Wan call Luke their “last hope” in ESB if he knows about Leia? /
-Return of the Jedi-
Where did the second Death Star come from? How did they build it so fast? /
What was Luke’s plan to save Han? /
Why didn’t Yoda and Obi-Wan just tell Luke the truth about Vader?
How can Leia remember her mother, when Padme died in childbirth? /
Leia is Luke’s sister? Incest vibes? /
“Obi-Wan once thought as you do…” /
Why does Vader suggest destroying the Emperor in ESB, but then practically be his lap dog in ROTJ? /
How can two trees destroy an armored battle vehicle like an AT-ST? /
How did the Ewoks have a dress in Leia’s size? /
How did Anakin know how to become a force ghost? /
Why do all the force ghosts appear to Luke as he knew them in his life, except Anakin? /
-The Force Awakens-
What’s the deal with the First Order?
Where did Snoke come from?
What’s the relationship between the New Republic and the Resistance?
How does Rey speak Wookiee? /
How did Poe Dameron survive the crash landing on Jakku? /
Has Han never really used Chewbacca’s gun? /
What happened to Finn’s blaster at Maz’s castle? /
-The Last Jedi-
Why does Kylo Ren’s scar look so different than it did at the end of TFA? /
Why can’t the First Order send another ship to flank the Resistance? Why don’t they swarm them with TIE fighters? /
Why isn’t hyper speed ramming more of a thing? /
Why does Anakin’s lightsaber seem to change color between the movies? /
This is what I’ve gotten so far. It might be a good idea to look for articles addressing plot holes within each specific film. While a lot of these, in my opinion, are nitpicky, it might help us to rationalize some questions and figure out which items really deserve edits. Let me know if you have any other ideas.