alright here are my 2 cents
- New opening crawl to provide subtle political exposition, inspired by Reddit user noodle-flinger:
The galaxy is in chaos. With both the First Order and the Resistance decimated, each is desperate to snuff out the other and fill the power vacuum left by the extinction of the Republic.
General Leia Organa lives in hope that Jedi Master Luke Skywalker will return and restore a spark of hope to the fight against the rising tyranny.
But the Resistance base has been exposed. As the First Order speeds toward the Rebel base, the brave heroes mount a desperate escape…
Hope x2 in the second line. maybe just remove the 2nd instance.
• Cut Luke’s joke about Jakku.
I actually really liked this because it’s the one instance in the movie that helps place a planet into the SW universe with a reference and a coloring of that world. All other planets are barely ever referenced and they don’t have a feeling of place / lived in / character.
Also it’s one of the jokes that much more subtle and on words rather than slapstick or too obvious so i’d keep it over most others.
• Experiment with removing the caretakers. I’d say keep them if the third lesson deleted scene can be used, or else remove them. (Seems like the third lesson would be their payoff, so keep them in that event or else remove them as they serve no purpose without that scene. Let Luke be lonely.)
I’m heavily in favor of this so long as the deleted scenes of the 3rd lesson doesn’t involve them. Everything we see of the island makes it look remote, uninhabited and Luke going hermit so they make no sense and they are only here to create chep laughs with Rey.
• If deleted scenes make this possible, give Rey her promised third lesson from Luke.
YES
• Undecided on removing the entire horse chase. If so, simply have Finn and Rose follow DJ out of the cell and we will revisit them later already in hyperspace. If the horse chase stays, perhaps cut away from DJ after he asks BB8, “Did you do this?” in order to remove more ‘Droids’ stuff. If the horse chase is cut, either remove the final scene with broom boy, or else just remove the closeup with the ring.
Not a fan at all of the horse stampede scene but if it is problematic to remove entirely then at least cut down severely.
I do like the final scene with the boy though, not sure why it’s hated so much.
• Trim Snoke’s dialogue pre-death which makes an obvious outcome painfully so.
Curious about this. I’m weary about removing any Snoke since I feel he was already cut short (ha!) but it could help the scene.
• Trim Finn’s nonsense as he fights Phasma, particularly his “Hey!”
Please keep ‘rebel scum’ though. I thought it was a great line, if very fanservicy
How do you feel about Rose ‘saving’ Finn and subsequent kiss? To me it makes no sense. the later if only because they met like 24h prior.
Also I personally completely disliked the Leia superman moment so I’d love to see that go.