Hello there,
I just wanted to pop in and talk about your fanedit (“Rekindled”) a little more.
This weekend I spent some time rewatching all of the fanedits I could find of The Last Jedi. Afterwards, I walked away with some ideas and thoughts on what I liked and what I didn’t. Of all of them, I will say that your version continues to be my favorite rendition as it addresses some of the biggest issues I had with the original film. With that said, I also saw some things in other edits that I hope you may someday consider for a future version, or a new fanedit altogether.
The things I like the MOST about your fanedit:
- Removing the Leia spacewalk — it was absolutely a deus ex machina
- Removing Rose’s rescue of Finn — your version is FLAWLESS
- Trimming — but keeping — most of Poe’s “prank call” with Hux
- Changing the music during the Luke lightsaber toss scene
I know that your fanedit was based on HAL 9000’s “Legendary” edit, for which I very much enjoyed his work as well, especially these changes:
- Cutting much of Canto Bight
- Reinserting “Luke has a moment” and “Poe: Not Much of a Sewer” deleted scenes
- Removing the Ach-to caretakers and meant-to-be-humorous Porg scenes
- And numerous other small changes
Having built Rekindled off of Legendary, and addressing a few more points that I had issues with, yours remains the pinnacle of fanedits for The Last Jedi. Friends I’ve shown it to have agreed, saying that it has totally changed their opinion of the original film.
So now, after having rewatched Rekindled (along with several other fanedits), I think I know what I still want to see in a fanedit of The Last Jedi. Not necessarily in your fanedit, but if you were ever to release a newer version or even another fanedit altogether, I think these three items would really help enhance The Last Jedi:
Further trimming Paige Tico (bomber girl) kicking the ladder to drop the detonator.
I know that you shorted this slightly, but to be honest, I still find it longer than it needs to be. I keep screaming at my TV, “Just get up and go grab the damn thing!” Two kicks or so is fine, but right now, it is still too long, I think. ForceGhostRecon’s “Clean Cut Version” does a pretty good job of fixing this.
Changing BB-8’s repair of Poe’s X-Wing
I’ll be honest, I always thought this scene was too silly. BB-8 starts popping new fingers into every socket on the board, only to use his whole head which magically fixes the problem. It was just too slapstick for me. The best fix I’ve seen of this is one that I’m almost afraid to mention because of some controversy regarding the faneditor creating it. Regardless, the actual change itself [watch it here] is really great and is one I’d love to see happen someday.
Finding a better way to introduce Holdo
This is a bigger change. Last week, Gigawattboy posted a couple clips from his new fanedit of The Last Jedi (not yet released). In his version, keeping Admiral Ackbar alive allows the introduction and motivation of Holdo’s to feel so much better. I feel like her character came out of nowhere. Supposedly she’s been friends with Leia despite us never having heard of her, but she seems like she can’t be trusted and she doesn’t reveal any indication of a plan of action. Gigawattboy’s incredible roto work makes it possible for Ackbar — a character we know and trust — to introduce Holdo, which feels so much more authentic and allows us to appreciate her later sacrifice. [Clip is here]
As of right now, that’s all I’ve got. Again, I’m not asking you to consider these changes for Rekindled (although I think if you did they would be well-received). But if you ever wanted to play with it a little more, I certainly would like to see your work. Otherwise, someday, I might ask about using Rekindled as the base of a fanedit of my own! But as that day may be a long ways off, being able to share these ideas with you at least allows me to dream, eh?
Thanks again for your great work!