my only problems with the edit are that they showcase some scenes that I actually was disappointed with when I first saw the movies.
For some of said scenes I later became “understanding”, because I realize that some people are more focused on the psychology of the plots involved, and such, but as someone who is MUCH more interested in daydreaming about fantastic technology and fantastic war, I tended to prefer the approach of the original trilogy, and surprisingly the last jedi, which was to ASSUME that the movie looked goofy and stage-like, and play on that, instead of trying to completely answer a call for realistic representation of tech and action.
Modern special effects allowed producers to really make SOME very convincing scenes, but this was over-ruled by other aspects of film-making, like comedy, and romance acting. (actually all acting, which is completely different than effects and fantastic display) , The Last Jedi very clearly tried to be a “film-play”, just like the original trilogy, where viewers are almost explicitly instructed to take a second to remember it’s a set before the scene rolls.
Please understand that what I’m saying is that making movies is very hard, and the movies, simply put, are not finished. Sometimes I think a few fan films are actually better than the entire series of movies,. This particular edit is different, being more like a summary than a separate inspired story, but even this film is like that. I would rather watch this edit than any of the films represented, because so many times during the full movies I will wish something were different. With an edit like this, I can just imagine and fill the gaps how I want to. !!
anyway, I like the return of the Emperor, but I would make the emperor a little differently.
I would personally focus on the fact that massive infrastructure projects result in population growth, and portray the emperor as an individual who is working hard to provide for the majority of the future, by creating infrastructure that will support them. If you are given a choice, to choose if one person you will never meet will die, or 5 people you will never meet will die, I think most people will choose to keep the larger number alive, ESPECIALLY if that’s the entire information available. Most people would navigate a constant stream of “choose more or less people to survive” by simply selecting “more people survive” every single time. The emperor, in his magnificent wisdom, can see very clearly more often than anyone else when he makes the decision correctly (which is hard to predict in the real world of infrastructure development). In practice, when a leader is surrounded by the people who are the lower number of survivors, and is forced to choose between more or less survivors, it will matter that the lower number of survivors is the leaders immediate company. Fortunately for Emperor Palpatine, he did not come from this elite class, and instead rose to power during the culmination of a technological plateau, where technology had not advanced much, but instead the same infrastructure and technology proliferated around the galaxy. Suddenly it was time for infrastructure to start to upgrade significantly and to begin proliferating a new generation of technology, but there was no clear leader for this new upgrade. The emperor, however, gained support from the lower classes by causing the proliferation of infrastructure to halt, and then gained support of the upper classes by swearing allegiance to the spread of new technology, meanwhile rising from a place that was separate from the upper-classpeople, giving him no bias towards them when making decisions, and clearing his mind to see much more plainly when he would choose for the better of the future majority.
The Emperor never had an evil day in his life, but he could see all around him people who’s future would be bleak, or see them die in misery, for the betterment of the growth of the population. He valued so much, the life of everyman, that he could never choose to preserve one famous wealthy individual in favor of several poverty stricken ethnic slaves. The Emperor strove to bring the opportunities of infrastructure access to all citizens of the Galactic Empire regardless of their financial birthright. It is unfortunate that so many tribal and financial leaders around the Galaxy had made their way through oppression of their peoples, and strove to secretly promote resistance while publicly supporting the Empire. It is because of this corruption that so many lost souls who had not yet had opportunity to become a greater part of the Empire chose to bear arms against the infrastructure projects the Empire strove to undertake. These barons with their unearned wealth and illicit trade drive children to rebellion, making them willing to destroy any Imperial structure no matter how peaceful, and willing to kill any number of citizens no matter how innocent, and yet they are here among us to tell us that they are our allies, and they number so many that we are blinded by their might and do not see them for what they are. The Emperor struggled day and night to work for the everyman, and wore the savage evidence of his tiresome effort, but never, even in the face of death, relaxed his commitment toward the progress of the infrastructure. And he lost his life at the hands of exactly those children who never had the opportunity for a normal life, and who lived in emotional strife over the realities of resource limitations and what it means for them. There is no greater plague on an Empire than the edge of its influence.
