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ben_danger

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Join date
16-Feb-2008
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2-Dec-2023
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Post
#1081082
Topic
The Prequel Radical Redux Ideas Thread
Time

My issue with the construction, is its placement in the film. Other Star Wars films don’t really have ‘destination’ endings like ROTS does - they just conclude the plots of their individual movie, and we have the set up for the following film in the crawl.

It does just come down to what agenda you want you perfect PT to have. For me, I’d like equally ambiguous sequential films that run I-VI, and just pretend they were planned and made in that order. ROTS in reality was created with the Vader payoff in mind.

Post
#1081071
Topic
The Prequel Radical Redux Ideas Thread
Time

It wouldn’t be hard to re-edit.

As far as I remember -

  • Mustafar duel ends when the gantry collapses, Obi Wan rises to his feet on the lava bank, and just observes Anakin’s burnt crushed body under the gantry wreckage as he walks away.
  • Padme gives birth on Alderaan - but you only see one child.
  • Obi-Wan reluctantly takes the child (I think it was implied he was stealing him), and flies away into space in Grevious’ fighter.

And that’s it - open ended ending. It felt like an actual film, instead of a prequel spoon feeding the audience into IV.

Post
#1080962
Topic
ROGUE TWO - fanedit idea
Time

(I have no intention of making this edit, but I think it might just be an interesting concept for future edits should somebody be inclined.)

THE CONCEPT

So lets imagine ROGUE ONE was the first film in a franchise of space fantasy films. The producers had sketched out a grander story and universe that would follow on from it. Much like GAME OF THRONES, we are left with a conclusion where our initial protagonist is dead, but now other heroes and villains can take the reigns and lead the series.

The next film in the series would explain what happens to the Death Star plans, and who (and what) the mysterious Jedi is etc.

So taking the meat from existing STAR WARS films, how would you build a sequel in the same style as ROGUE ONE?

A POSSIBLE APPROACH

Open with young OBI WAN from ROTS. He’s just defeated Darth Vader (no ANAKIN references), who lies face down in the ash on Mustafar. We cut to a scene with BAIL ORGANA (no yoda) and then he’s taking a child to tatooine. This could be a good exposition dump, but also visually links BAIL from R1.

TITLE CARD

The rest of the film follows ANH with a few alterations to the structure.

  • We jump straight to LUKE observing the battle, and reinsert all the deleted scenes of BIGGS. The story follows on purely from Luke’s perspective until we get to BEN’s hut.
  • BEN tells him about VADER. The full hologram is played, then cuts to the TANTIVE IV - where we see LEIA insert the disk into R2D2. VADER blows the door down, she is capture and taken away etc. (Sort of like the switch in perspective in INTERSTELLER when cooper see’s murphy’s message).
  • Cut back to OWEN shouting for LUKE. LUKE is about to leave BEN’S rejects his call to adventure. They find the dead JAWAS, burning homestead etc.
  • Tarkin’s board room scene (it’d be amazing to get some of those deleted scenes in there too for the SITH references)
  • Cut back to BEN and LUKE heading into MOS EISLEY

… then the rest of the film would follow as usual.

*A few other alterations would include some musical changes (or downgrades depending on your point of view).
*Possibly including some R1 footage of YAVIN, but of vastly empty hangars due to the losses at SCARIF. Maybe even Mon Mothma could be glimpsed frowning over table display during the final battle.
*Losing the wipes and stylistic ques of the OT in favour of what we were presented with in R1.
*A more drawn out Alderaan destruction perhaps?

There are just some ideas anyway.

What excites me most, is the prospect of what R3 and R4 edits become. As we have the possibility of exploring flashbacks, it slowly becomes more SKYWALKER focused again possibly, with subtle nods to PT plotlines to tie them together.

Again - merely a thought experiment, and a nice topic for discussion. In no way could this surpass the OT, but might be a nice alternative or different take on the classic.

Post
#1080959
Topic
The Prequel Radical Redux Ideas Thread
Time

An old member named SSWR had some similar ideas years ago - trying to turn Mace Windu into a sort of Snape character, who was a sort of tragic hero. Sadly he closed his youtube account a while back so some of his videos are lost - but there are some here -

AOTC COUNCIL
ROTS WINDU
ROTS ANAKIN’S TURN

A lot was achieved with adding different context to various head turns and grumpy expressions. He had a bunch of other videos, including a brilliant ending to ROTS that was never recovered.

Post
#1073971
Topic
Rogue One: The Battle of Scarif fan edit (Released)
Time

Watched the edit - and really enjoyed it, and it is really well done.

I do however feel that it could go a bit further, and would look forward to seeing some revisions.

John Williams score is well utilised overall - although I do notice where you use one piece for a long time (such as ESB cloud city rescue piece) over lots of shorter intercut pieces. It is worth noting that stylistically Williams’ score does vary over the years he was composing STAR WARS music, so it does in some sense seem less consistent.

Because of the new Williams music, the original score does really stick out now. The music in the later stages of the film (around Jyn’s death) which develops from earlier more simple motifs now feels a little out of place, without those earlier references. I’d consider overhauling this segment, and maybe try and relate it closer to the ANH scores which we would hear in the earlier stages of ANH.

Now depending on the agenda of the edit, I would cut MORE of the characterisations of the RO characters. To me, this is something to watch before ANH, so I would expect to see more ‘anonymous’ rebels seizing the plans. You might want to consider removing characters like Chirrut, whom without any prior context might seem unusual. K-2 could be simplified more at the beginning, so his sarcasm is perhaps more subtle.

Post
#1058995
Topic
Rogue One: The Battle of Scarif fan edit (Released)
Time

The thing I liked about the Dol Guldur edit, was that I could watch that with a selection of LOTR fan films that had the same approximate length, which would each provide some sort of context to LOTR afterwards. So as oppose to watching a six movie marathon (HOBBIT>LOTR), you could build up to watching LOTR by watching a series of shorter pieces.

I guess in a sense that’s what all these new Star Wars Anthology films are trying to do is to elaborate on individual characters/events. A Battle of Scariff movie would do so in a more direct way than Rogue One did.

The thing I really liked about the Dol Guldur edit though - which I’d hope to see in other edits - is how smart you were at presenting the information. The white council scene as I mentioned earlier went from being a dull exposition dump, to developing into something investigatory with the inter-cut scenes with Beorn and so on. It was such a nice way to set up later events.

Similar shorts in Star Wars are endless really. You could focus on any one character or event, and build up context around them by using bits from other films in flashbacks and so on. ‘Anakin’s fall’ is the most common one that we’ve seen in specific edits, and short youtube trailers. I haven’t got any specific ideas myself though!

Post
#1034786
Topic
The Prequel Radical Redux Ideas Thread
Time

An idea from ROGUE ONE I really enjoyed was that the DEATH STAR is powered by the same crystals used in the Lightsabers.

If you were to maintain that the concept of a superweapon powered by such crystals is the objective of the SEPARATISTS, then could the world’s they invade/conquer (so NABOO) be Kyber rich worlds? Perhaps even GEONOSIS is actually a superweapon in progress - much like STARKILLER base (which could also be re-explained in a VII edit as a forgotten other version).

Post
#1030629
Topic
Star Wars REBELS: Season 2 - re scoping all sabers (Part-Finished)
Time

I’d go green if you want to keep her familiar to CW era Asoka, or White for simplicity. I like the idea that as a non-affiliated force user she has more of a blank identity, and white also seems fitting with the retro designs used in the series.

I really like Yellow in KOTOR/TOR, but I see that as more of a classic era which does not communicate with the movie era - like it is clear with the scope of the Star Wars universe that technology is lost and rediscovered. Yellows and golds also hark bark to classical and antique ages - which yellow ties in well with. So it functions well in KOTOR, but maybe less well here possibly.

Purple I feel was always a poor choice in the PT. In a way I wish all PT blades were just blue.

Post
#1027448
Topic
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story - Fan Edit Ideas thread...
Time

The Aluminum Falcon said:

Ronster said:

We See Luke Looking through his Binoculars on Tattoine (This replaces the opening shot of Star Wars 77)

Suggested ending on Luke with the deleted scenes a few pages back. Feel it makes more thematic sense and also creates a nice parallel with Force Awakens also concluding with Luke.

I guess it depends on your intended viewing order really. If you were imagining ROGUE ONE as a film to be viewed post-ANH then LUKE might make sense (just as another cameo). You could even have R2 on the Tantive IV tuning in on a computer terminal and accidentally picking up the plans as they were being transmitted to the main Rebel ship.

Personally I’d prefer to think of ROGUE ONE as pre-ANH viewing, so would cut back on the cameos and obvious references, let ROGUE ONE tell its own story.

Post
#1020779
Topic
Rogue One * <em>Spoilers</em> * Thread
Time

Lord Haseo said:

ben_danger said:

I felt the characters were sufficiently developed for their various purposes within the movie. We spend as much time with them as we do LUKE/LEIA/HAN in ANH.

What exactly do we learn about Chirrut Îmwe, Baze and Bodhi Rook other than the templates for their characters? Not much…Can’t say the same for Luke, Han, Leia, Rey, Finn and Kylo Ren.

What do we learn about Chewbacca and R2D2 in ANH? We don’t need to have some sort of comprehensive emotional arc for each character necessarily.

In the case of Baze and Chirrut, I found the theme of renewed faith quite resounding - especially as they live in a universe where the Jedi have just gone extinct. Bodhi is constantly terrified - but then does something brave and feels fulfilled - almost like a watered down Han I guess (selfish - selfless).

As someone said earlier, the film is really about the Empire and the Rebellion, where as the within the OT they are just merely components of the larger story.