MalàStrana

What do you think? Anything else I should do? Anything I shouldn’t do? Please share your thoughts, and I’ll keep you updated as I make progress.

Your edit looks good on paper, and since you’re asking, I’ll give it a shot 😄

Ideas I consider to be good:

New opening crawl, written by Hal 9000
Reduce Poe being cocky with Kylo => DigMod Edit is perfect for that scene.
Add Rey having a daydream/vision about the island (idea by NeverarGreat)
Remove Kylo’s line "Comfortable?"
Reduce Finn shooting a lot of people as he escapes in the TIE fighter => DigMod Edit is perfect for that scene.
Remove Kylo saying Finn’s number
Restore IMAX sequence => What is it ?
Remove Finn’s line "… cute boyfriend?"
Reduce Rathtars
Remove General Hux from first scene with Snoke (VFX by Jackpumpkinhead)
Remove Snoke mentioning Han Solo being Kylo’s father
Replace “These are your first steps” with Alec Guinness’ voice (audio by DJ Mitz)
Replace seeing the Hosnian system being destroyed in the sky with a Star Destroyer (VFX by NeverarGreat)
Change Finn’s line “It’s the first order, they’ve done it” to "they’ve found us"
New sound mix and music for this sequence to match the change in visuals and story
New color grade of Takodana outdoor scenes after Rey runs away to more of a warm evening/sunset light (to have the nice looking TIE sunset shot make a little more sense)
Add unused shots of X-Wings approaching from Teaser 1 and 2
Remove Han shooting over his shoulder without looking
Reduce Han playing around with Chewie’s Bowcaster
Remove Han’s line “I saw our son”, keep the “I saw him” part to keep some mystery
Remove mention of the Hosnian system’s destruction when Finn is introduced to Leia
Add Poe telling Leia that Finn knows about a weapon system/base (edit by NeverearGreat)
R2D2 starts searching for map files on his hard drive after hearing C3PO mentioning the map (edit by NeverarGreat)
Add deleted scene with Leia talking to Korr Sella
After Rey resists Kylo Ren’s mind probe, add the portion of the Snoke scene from earlier where General Hux suggests using the weapon to destroy the Republic (VFX by Jackpumpkinhead to overlay Kylo Ren’s face over his mask)
Further VFX to remove Kylos helmet in this sequence
Move General Hux’s speech to after Kylo Ren overreacts to Rey’s escape
After the speech, the nearby Sun begins to be drained
During the Resistance briefing scene, remove Leia identifying their base as the Starkiller’s next target, Threepio lamenting the prior loss of the Republic fleet, and the mention of the First Order charging the weapon "again"
Remove C3PO’s line "It would take a miracle to save us now"
Remove smoke from Starkiller Base when X-Wings approach (based on VFX by NeverarGreat)
Add deleted scene of Kylo searching the Falcon
Remove Finn not understanding Han’s signal to look at Rey behind him
After Kylo kills Han, the Starkiller fires at the Hosnian system, and Leia senses it through the Force
As Finn and Rey head outside the oscillator, cut to the battle in space where the fighters notice that the oscillator has been damaged. Cut back to Rey and Finn before the X-wings begin their descend toward the trench.
As Kylo Ren and Rey duel, cut to the X-wings descending toward the trench, skipping over the portion of the sequence used earlier.
As the Falcon flies away from the imploding planet, remove shots in which the fighter pilots appear too joyful
Remove Poe’s line "Our work here is done"
Remove Chewie walking past Leia (because of the Chewie hug controversy)
Remove Chewie from crowd behind Leia
Stabilized ending shot (by NeverarGreat)

Ideas that I don’t consider to be good:

Replace Main Theme with Episode I version => Stick to the theatrical version !
Reduce the diss battle between Kylo and Lor San Tekka => I love Von Sydow too much to even remove one frame of him
Add VFX to practical effect desert bird to make the feathers look more convincing
Subtle zoom in on the spy watching as they pass
Remove droid saying “Alert the resistance”

Ideas I need to watch finished to be sure about:

Reedit the part with Stormtroopers inside a transport to make the sequence less jumpy
Add unused shots of Stormtroopers from Teaser 1
Fix Kylo’s helmet which has an inconsistent mouth guard
Reduce Bala-Tik part (idea by NeverarGreat and DigMod) => What is that ?
Slight fix of shot of Rey by the lake (straightened horizon, removed lens distortion)
Color correct shot of Maz, Solo, Rey and Finn walking past the spy to match following shot
Remove Kylo calling Darth Vader "grandfather"
Changes to the talk about Kylo between Han and Leia
Flip back flipped shot of Kylo putting his helmet in the ash tray
Flip back flipped shot of Stormtroopers looking for Rey
Remove sharpening artefacts from a shot of Rey inside Starkiller Base
Change Kylo’s facial scar to match Episode VIII appearance

I would then suggest to change other things (most of them found in DigMod edit), such as:

• Cut Poe and Finn’s conversation after Finn says “Because it’s the right thing to do” [DigMod Edit]
  as well as Finn and Poe’s celebration after blowing up a turret [from DigMod Edit] while keeping the Tie flying within the ship after the celebration
• Cut Finn’s “this is what we look like, some of us” lines [DigMod Edit]
• Cut the mention of a map leading to Luke, in order to remove a very awkward “fourth wall breaking”
• Cut Rey’s “No” when responding to Finn’s “You ever fly this thing?” line [DigMod Edit]
• Finn and Rey’s “I can do this” lines when they first get into the Falcon [DigMod Edit]
• Removed the Falcon taking a nose dive into the sand upon take off [DigMod Edit]
• Cut Finn and Rey’s excessive teenage celebration after they make it to space [DigMod Edit]
• Remove/trim Finn being so awkward at giving Rey the tape
• Cut scene of Finn childishly pushing down on Rey’s head and added Red Gradient glow to mimic the overhead light and connect the edited scene visually [DigMod Edit]
• Remove Han and Chewie coming aboard “We’re home” and cut directly to the two of us finding Rey and Finn in the cargo hold
• Cut the “14 parsecs” dialogue and Rey breaking the fourth wall by being amazed to meeting with a movie hero
• Cut the cameo of the sphere Luke used in Episode IV
• Cut “- What ? - Compressor !”
• Cut all Poe’s cockpit shots and the subsequent “bull eye” shots to free Han-Chewie-Finn [DigMod Edit]
• Cut Poe’s references to his jacket when talking to Finn [DigMod Edit, but keep the “you completed my mission” part of the dialogue]
• Remove troopers walking away from Ren’s wrath after he discovers Rey is missing [DigMod Edit]
• Remove Han’s “so it’s big” line [DigMod Edit]
• Remove Han’s “there’s always a way to do that” line after asking how to blow it up. Removed Leia’s “Han’s right” line [DigMod Edit]
• Remove Leia’s lines about good old times with Han
• Cut scene where Han asks Finn what his job was and their verbal altercation [DigMod Edit]
• Cut the “I’m in charge now !” part when Han and Finn encounter Phasma
• Cut Finn threatening to blow Phasma’s bucket off [DigMod Edit]
• Cut Finn’s answer to Han’s “Trash compactor”: just cut directly to the following scene after Han delivers his line
• Trim Finn v Ren fight so Ren wins easily [darthrush edit]
• Cut Snoke’s line about Ren who needs to finish his training
• Completely cut the hugging scene
• Trim down the “puzzle map”scene so it’s less cheesy

edit: gosh I forgot about one thing: remove Maz’s “Those beasts !” which is cheesy as hell 😄

Octorox said:

I think what you’re missing Malastrana

Well… no actually. Read my previous posts (the one where I was mentionning a flashback structure for example) and you’ll get that I’m not missing any point at all regarding what a fanedit film is… the fact is this project isn’t supposed to be a full length movie, but a short story. This project isn’t mine, but the goal of The battle of Scarif is made clear on the first post of this thread, so, again, if you don’t agree with it and if you begin to think that the two first acts of the movie should be put back and that Giacchino’s score should be left intact I guess you should just stick to the theatrical cut or just wait for a minimal edit that will only remove a few minutes because (in case I’m repeating myself) this is not the goal of this edit.

I have the feeling that fanedits of the Disney movies are taken personally by some, as if their personal belief was threatened by the mere xistence of people who don’t think Episode VII/Rogue One to be brillant SW movies and start cutting them down… kinda reminds me of the people who where struggling against PT fanedits because they thought (and were right to think what they wanted to think) the movies were perfect…

It seems some of you don’t get the point of this edit… Have you read the first post ? If you love the theatrical cut I don’t understand why you would want to watch an edit of it. The Cassian character is a catastrophe, glad he’s been radically cut down here. All his lines and especially his speech are so boring and embarrassing…

Vladius said:

it turns Rogue One into the caricature everyone thinks it is - emotionless empty Star Wars-themed action sequences.

But Rogue One IS an empty movie with dumb action sequences that only deliver silly fan service and which is led by emotionless characters 😄 (except the imperial droid)
The point of this edit is to go straight to the point of the main plot: stealing the DS plans. Two third of the movie is useless (and bad) characterization of uninterestig characters. This edit is the best way to link Episode III with Episode IV rather than the theatrical cut (IMHO).

That’s being said, I agree that a flashback structure could be implemented into this edit in order to give a little bit more about the characters, especially Chirrut (just one short scene), nothing more. But this isn’t eldusto84’s plan and there is no real need for this SW short story since the real “main” characters here are Vader (who now opens and closes the short movie), Tarkin, the Death Star, Mothma, Organa, and Leia (and a little bit Krennic’s demise). Erso and friends are not necessary to the myth and are not needed at all for the story of Anakin/Vader.

Yep, not seamless but the voices are closer in tone.

Since that post Adywan hasn’t posted anything new. WHAT’S GOING ON ?!? IS HE STILL ALIVE ?!?

I just want to say the same thing twice, but this time I won’t !

It’s pure Giacchino’s emotive cue (à la John Carter) so… I would also keep it.

You’re right about that. There is the age issue but I get what you mean about the “vibration” (or “electronic-metallic” sound) which is clearly missing in Rogue One.

eldusto84 said:

Thanks for the lengthy feedback, MalaStrana. I am most likely going to release a 5.1 version with a higher compression rate, and could also fix some of the issues you’ve brought up. I have a sound engineer friend who’s going to have a crack at matching Vaders dubbed lines…I agree it’s not perfect.

Maybe it could be possible to retrieve Vader’s lines from Rebels which are from the exact same “JEJ’s voice age” era ?

I’ll be quick: it’s very well done. The Williams cues (great choices !), the sound effects, the shrink edit idea to “frame” this entire “SW short story” with Vader (which by the way tends to solve the theatrical version issue of Vader in R1; here he’s more a secondary character rather than just an extra who shows up at the end to kill random people), etc. I like it, it gets the job done to continue the Vader’s tale from Episode III to Episode IV with a side-story than just the story of characters I don’t care about (Jyn et al.).

Just a few issues:

• the sound is lacking punch, but I understand the 5.1 version will come later
• the image quality is a little bit too compressed
• maybe you should extend the end credits in order to keep the music entirely
• the first OT Vader’s line is jarring since he sounds very young compared to the nowadays James Earl Jones (but the second OT line is fine, nothing jarring)
• the first PT cue when Krennic’s shuttle flyes to Mustafar represents Kamino, why didn’t you choose Ep III “Enter Lord Vader” instead ?
• I wish you had managed to cut CGI Leia as well as Jyn’s line about “figuring out” how to retrieve the plans (it would be better to make her sound as if she knows where to search and how)
• in the opening crawl maybe you could add a reference to the end of the Clone Wars and the very long time until completion it took to finish the Death Star ?
• like I said in a previous post, when Donnie Yen goes to the master switch it would be the perfect moment to implement a flash back of his encounter with Jyn, in order to keep the info that he’s a guardian of the whills and not a Jedi (I take the perspective that your edit should/could work at 100% without knowing the original theatrical cut).

That’s being said, I think your edit is clearly going to replace the theatrical version for me 😃

Thanks for sharing your excellent work (your Hobbit edit already was a huge improvement over the theatrical version).

DuracellEnergizer said:

Earl said:

DuracellEnergizer said:

^Mala sock confirmed.

Nazi of comedy.

WYSHS

dskhfcjqsbgf,j<sh; THIS LOL !!! nkgjd

MalàStrana said:

Would anyone have “fresh” dlc links for the bluray versions of TCW episodes 1-2-3 ? The ones I have are corrupted. Thanks !

So no one I guess 😄

eldusto84 said:

MalàStrana said:

By the way are you going to address the issue that a weakness is known by Jyn to have been implemented by her father ? It’s totally inconsistent with ANH so I was wondering if you were going to remove it. And since the main focus of your edit is the battle of Scarif are you going to use a flash back structure to keep at least the dialogue between Donnie Yen character and Jyn about the kyber crystals and the Whills ? (could be cool to find a way to somehow keep that small interesting part)

No, I’m actually removing any mention of Galen in this edit. He’s already dead by the time this film starts, so I found it odd for the characters to reference someone we haven’t seen on screen. No flashbacks with Chirrut either- talking about Kyber crystals is interesting but doesn’t add anything to this edit. I’m trying to keep it completely focused on actually stealing the plans and the ensuing battle.

Ok, so it sounds great ! Yep you’re right about the kyber/whills dialogues which don’t add anything to your edit (actually they don’t really add anything to the theatrical version either but it was a nice touch).

You begin your edit with the Krennic/Vader scene (which is a very good idea), but are you going to keep some of Krennic/Tarkin and the very classy shot of the dish being placed on the death star as well (I don’t think you will since you mention the destruction of Jedha in your crawl) ? When I watched the movie a second time it occured to me that Krennic should have been the main character of the movie, so your “third act” edit could keep this “Krennic point of view” situation. Last question (sorry 😃), about the Yavin IV material, will you keep the Bail/Mothma scenes (I’m a big fan of Bail/Motham material found in Episode III fanedits) and cut the C3PO/R2 caméo ?

(edit: well, you plan on releasing your edit in 3 days so I guess I’ll know in a very not so far future what’s in your edit 😄)

flametitan said:

MalàStrana said:

SilverWook said:

MalàStrana said:

SilverWook said:

They’re charging for that stuff? Who do they think they are, Rifftrax? 😉

1$ if you want to keep a copy; free if you just want to listen to it.

@Disco_Lobot : you should stop insulting people by the way. Especially for a 1-week newb around here.

Who did he insult? I don’t think much of RLM either.

Come on, I’m pretty sure you had a good laugh with their PT chronicles a few years ago 😃

Maybe when I was 13, but now RLM just feels cringe inducing to listen to. I really dislike his sense of humour.

Ok, it’s great dude… I don’t get the age thing about being 13 (this is like a running gag around here the age thing, I’ve never seen that on any other forum or website, mayve it’s specific american humor “I’m not 12… you’re a kid, grow up, this is college year now, LOL”. It’s curious but who am I to judge anyway ?)

(or you mean that you were 13 when you watched RLM videos for the first time ? Ok then, it’s clearer)

MalàStrana said:

DuracellEnergizer said:

Yes, Frink, get some rest. It shouldn’t take you longer than instantly to recognize Mala’s troll status.

THIS !

LOL !

DuracellEnergizer said:

Yes, Frink, get some rest. It shouldn’t take you longer than instantly to recognize Mala’s troll status.

THIS !

SilverWook said:

MalàStrana said:

SilverWook said:

They’re charging for that stuff? Who do they think they are, Rifftrax? 😉

1$ if you want to keep a copy; free if you just want to listen to it.

@Disco_Lobot : you should stop insulting people by the way. Especially for a 1-week newb around here.

Who did he insult? I don’t think much of RLM either.

Come on, I’m pretty sure you had a good laugh with their PT chronicles a few years ago 😃

TV’s Frink said:

Why would someone who isn’t a troll give a movie a 1/10 ranking and then go and buy it on Blu-ray?

…

Oh.

?

(you’re getting old Frink, get some rest)

Jeebus said:
Damn, only one week and he’s already a better poster than a lot of long-timers 😛

Jeebus said:
Insightful stuff.

SilverWook said:

They’re charging for that stuff? Who do they think they are, Rifftrax? 😉

1$ if you want to keep a copy; free if you just want to listen to it.

@Disco_Lobot : you should stop insulting people by the way. Especially for a 1-week newb around here.

Oh gosh it’s so great 😄

https://redlettermedia.bandcamp.com/track/star-wars-rogue-one-a-star-wars-story-commentary-track

(Rogue One: A Prequel Story 😉)

By the way are you going to address the issue that a weakness is known by Jyn to have been implemented by her father ? It’s totally inconsistent with ANH so I was wondering if you were going to remove it. And since the main focus of your edit is the battle of Scarif are you going to use a flash back structure to keep at least the dialogue between Donnie Yen character and Jyn about the kyber crystals and the Whills ? (could be cool to find a way to somehow keep that small interesting part)

SilverWook said:

MalàStrana said:

lovelikewinter said:

James Cameron is a douche

Ouch 😄 ! One of the most important artists of the past decades. Not only an artist, but an engineer and an explorer. The kind of man (along with Lucas by the way, as well as Zemeckis, Spielberg, Jackson and Del Toro) who is a pioneer and a researcher in cinematic ways of telling a story. One of the most talented sci-fi storytellers. So… ok man, “bouh hou hou, Cameron said bad things about Episode 7, he’s a douche, bouh hou hou me sad 😦”… Ok 😄

I don’t think anyone is disputing that. But if he could find time in his busy schedule to sign off on HD transfers of The Abyss and True Lies, so they could finally see a Blu Ray release this century, that would be nice. 😉

Yep I concur about that. But isn’t Fox to the blamed as well ?

(edit: eiyosus already answered that !)

(yet I’m pretty sure La totale! is not going to get a bluray version before True Lies does 😄)

After watching R1 at home on bluray, I can refresh my ranking. I won’t put grades. I don’t like all SW but I don’t think I really hate any. I specify the version I find to be the best to watch, but a “theatrical ranking” and a “fanedit ranking” would be the same.

1. A New Hope
   [NewGuy’s Semi-Despecialized version with my corrected audio track]
   Just perfection.

2. The Empire Strikes Back
   [Bluray version with corrected audio track]
   Almost as perfect as ANH.

3. Return of the Jedi
   [Q2’s Semi-Despecialized version]
   A very few lame parts overwhelmed by a great many things.

   3.5. Tarkovsky’s Clone Wars
   [the complete series]
   Tarkovsky’s dynamic style meets the prequel era, and it’s awesome.

4. Revenge of the Sith
   [Hal9000’s Labyrinth of Evil v4.2]
   Impressive and visually stunning achievement which sadly failed what needed to be done right.

   4.5.1. The Clone Wars
   [not all, a selection of the best episodes along with Smudger9’s edits]
   The Anakin I wanted to see in the movies. The birth of a very good SW character (Ahsoka).

   4.5.2. Rebels
   A handful of episodes are very great, especially those which link the PT era with the OT era.
   Good tvseries. Could have been better with another lead.

5. The Phantom Menace
   [Hal9000’s Cloak of Deception]
   Mediocre and childish opening for a saga that has some redeeming qualities.

6. The Attack of the Clones
   [Hal9000’s The approaching storm]
   A (almost) complete failure filled with fascinating ideas and a strong overall story (The Clone Wars begin, that’s a big deal). But something really went wrong during shooting and editing.

7. The Force Awakens
   [still don’t know what version will be the best: Hal9000’s restructed template with a few more changes such as DigMod’s Heir to the Force for example]
   A somehow decent movie (albeit it looks very cheap) but the lack of substance doesn’t sustain interest after the quite fun first act. The way the Force is used in this movie is very problematic. Don’t know if Episode VIII will fix it. Could have been far better.

8. Rogue One
   [theatrical, maybe Battle of Scarif project could do the trick]
   Visually it’s fabulous. The music is also high Giacchino’s quality. It doesn’t look cheap like Episode VII, and some ideas (even if not done right) have a great potential. But there is a feeling of total emptiness about it. It feels… liveless… and often falls in the ridiculous dimension (space Zatoichi dodging laser blasts as if he was in a ZAZ movie). Boring characters, boring storytelling, action scenes with no involvement… A little bit of all of that. The fact is I don’t care for the characters. Everything was there for a masterpiece and in the end it’s just a huge disappointment. The retcon about the weakness of the death star implemented voluntarily is the worst idea of the movie, and maybe the worst thing in the entire saga.