I think going back and making some additions is a good idea Hal, and I like how you’re still being restrained about your changes. I think all of your ideas sound pretty good.
I was actually with you regarding the “myth” line, but I think the arguments for keeping it are solid, so I would now agree with keeping that as is. It would be like hearing stories of Pecos Bill, Paul Bunyan or John Henry and finding out they aren’t just tall tales. And as they mention, the latter scenes with Han helps her realize all of those stories are in fact true.
I like the change you’ve made with Finn about being less willing to kill stormtroopers, I like it. I think it makes sense and will help not feel as weird if Episode IX decides to have Finn play a part in some kind of First Order/stormtrooper revolt.
With that in mind, what about later in the film when Finn impales a surprised stormtrooper with the lightsaber? It is a little brutal, so should that be cut as well? I would honestly even cut the whole “I need a weapon/You have one!” interaction because it sort of brings attention to the fact that Finn suddenly no longer has the blaster that he’s been carrying around this whole time. Just some thoughts though.
I also agree about the shot of Han shooting blind. It is a little too much. The only thing I could think of would be to have Han go “huh”, like he didn’t expect for that to work, and you could take it from earlier in the film when Rey fixes the Falcon, but it might just draw even more attention to the whole thing.
Regarding the edit that has the First Order target the Resistance after destroying Hosnian Prime, I’m kind of on Nev’s side about the whole thing. I know it was included for story reasons, and to explain that the base still had energy inside it, which caused it to go nova, but I’m wondering if these things are really necessary for what Nev refers to as “a threat which we know won’t materialize”.
If I recall, everyone was kind of going back and forth on the idea for awhile, trying and suggesting different things, until we finally just decided on something since we were getting close to the deadline of TLJ’s release. I’m not saying remove it, but I definitely think that part could be worth giving some more thought to before deciding on something.
And this might not be the right edit for this, but during the shot early in the film when Kylo says, “You’re so right”, right before killing Lor San Tekka, you can see the flicker of Kylo’s lightsaber at the bottom of the screen before you hear his lightsaber activating. It would just require a little cropping to fix it, but it’s not a big deal either I guess.