i’ve just read your updated cutlist: seems good ! I wish you would cut more (slight comedic) things but I globaly agree with the list.
Any particular things you would like to see cut?
the main thing I think I don’t agree with being the ending. But again I may change my mind about that when I get to see the finished result. The issue being I like fanedited version to keep the last shot of the official theatrical cut as it is (or more or less s it is, since Hal/Nev version has stabilized the shot).
There could be an issue with cutting out the ending when you watch different edits or original versions back to back and they don’t quite line up. My thinking behind removing the bit with Luke is that the scene is unnecessary in hindsight. Back in 2015 it was nice to get a look at Luke, but having seen TLJ the “cliffhanger” ending doesn’t quite work for me. Knowing that Luke will just throw the lightsaber away takes away the suspense of the ending. And ending with the Falcon in space seems like a more traditional Star Wars ending.
I’m still not totally sure about this decision though, since I like that the Luke ending gives some closure to “Luke Skywalker has vanished!”. Perhaps I could make two versions.
Perhaps my argument here is that aiming to hide the revelation only serves to suprise the audience, but it doesn’t suprise any of the main characters, so it doesn’t add to their emotional arcs. And as revealing it to the audience later doesn’t carry additional emotional heft for our main heroes (because it’s not a suprise), we’re not taken on a different emotional journey by hearing it either here or there. And as I said earlier, when you do leave it as is you get the persistent discomfort and anticipation about their eventual confrontation.
Good points. I still feel like it’s nicer to not spell everything out immediately, and I find it a bit silly how Snoke refers to Han Solo as “your father” and how Kylo addresses Vader as “grandfather”. So while I agree with you that the change may be pointless, it just feels slightly better to me this way.