THE STAR WARS ‘SAGA’ RETOLD, some visual ideas from a certain point of view…

1st POST - An INTRODUCTION

Just for clarification before we start…the following ideas are NOT actual fan edits that are being worked on by me now or in the future…and the visual descriptions shown in this thread are just to show the specific ways I’d choose to amend the existing footage and dialogue more to my liking.

And while not everyone will agree with all of the potential changes I’ve described, perhaps some of you will find something of interest amongst them.

Welcome fellow STAR WARS fans!

There was a time long ago when things were a whole lot simpler for me concerning the ‘Skywalker saga’…back in my youth when only STAR WARS, EMPIRE STRIKES BACK, and RETURN OF THE JEDI existed as a completely satisfying, self-contained trilogy telling the story of Luke’s adventures.

But over the years, each of the additional instalments have conflicted me badly…as although there’s been plenty of moments throughout the various PREQUELS and SEQUELS that I’ve liked, I’ve also ended up wanting to unlearn what I had learned where a lot of their content and storylines were concerned!

So I thought I’d discuss some of the material which bothers me, and show the ways I came up with to tweak, rearrange, or COMPLETELY DISCARD that particular footage and dialogue more to my liking.

Every now and then over the coming months, I’ll add my proposed changes to the Original Trilogy’s PREQUELS and SEQUELS in separate, numbered posts…and will update the bottom of this initial 1st post with the scenes/subjects I’ve covered so far, for quick reference for myself and everyone else.

Any thoughts are welcome of course, but for the sake of everyone’s scrolling sanity…please don’t ‘quote’ the WHOLE of any of these lengthy posts if you wish to comment on anything, as just posting your thoughts will suffice, without everyone having to scroll through every single one of my screenshots again! Thanks. 😃

FIRST UP, I’ll go into some of the possible ‘viewing orders’ available for the current movies in my next post, as well as describe my own preferred method for any future rewatch of them.

HERE’S WHAT’S BEEN COVERED IN THIS THREAD SO FAR, FOR EASY REFERENCE -

An INTRODUCTION - this 1st POST

A roundup of potential ‘viewing orders’ of the Star Wars movies, along with my OWN preferred choice. - see my 2nd POST

My proposed NEW OPENING for THE PHANTOM MENACE - see my 3rd POST

My proposed NEW ENDING for REVENGE OF THE SITH - see my 4th POST

My alternative NEW ENDING for REVENGE OF THE SITH, which I originally had in mind - see my 5th POST

My proposed NEW OPENING for ROGUE ONE - see my 6th POST

My proposed RESTRUCTURE of Luke’s introduction for THE FORCE AWAKENS and THE LAST JEDI…as well as my proposed NEW ENDINGS for both movies - see my 7th POST

2nd POST - A roundup of potential ‘viewing orders’ of the Star Wars movies, along with my OWN preferred choice.

By the end of this year, eleven ( ! ) major live-action STAR WARS movies will have been released in this particular ‘production/release’ order - EPISODE IV:A NEW HOPE - EPISODE V:THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK - EPISODE VI:RETURN OF THE JEDI - EPISODE I:THE PHANTOM MENACE - EPISODE II:ATTACK OF THE CLONES - EPISODE III:REVENGE OF THE SITH - EPISODE VII:THE FORCE AWAKENS - ROGUE ONE - EPISODE VIII:THE LAST JEDI - SOLO - EPISODE IX:THE RISE OF SKYWALKER - and there’s various potential ways to re-order them for ourselves…with very different views on the best way to do it, as described HERE , HERE , HERE , HERE , HERE , HERE , HERE , HERE , and HERE for example!

…so the first decision I had to make was…how would my OWN ideal re-watch of the existing movies begin?

Well, for various reasons, I knew that I definitely WASN’T going to start off with the events of THE PHANTOM MENACE…

…and while I briefly considered the notion of beginning with ROGUE ONE instead, I quickly realised that didn’t work for me EITHER, due to one thing or another…

…so with apologies to George, here’s the ONLY answer that absolutely works best for me EVERY SINGLE TIME -

AND SO ON…

Along with it’s majestic score and explosive sound effects, EPISODE IV:A NEW HOPE’s dramatic mid-adventure opening scenes of Vader and his stormtroopers boarding the Tantive IV were my first introduction to the worlds of STAR WARS and it’s characters…and remains the greatest cinematic opening to any movie ever, as far as I’m concerned.

On top of that, it also remains the best movie to properly establish the overall look and feel of the STAR WARS galaxy in my view, which is why it will ALWAYS be how I’d begin any ‘saga’ re-watch for myself. 😃

…and while there are a number of possible ‘viewing order’ methods to watch ALL of the various STAR WARS movies released so far, I consider watching the entire ORIGINAL TRILOGY one after the other first to be the BEST starting point for someone completely new to the franchise too…so that ALL the great original character introductions and ‘reveals’ are kept INTACT for themselves, while giving better context for the various ‘references’ and ‘call-backs’ featured in everything else that followed…

…then by watching the entire PREQUEL TRILOGY storyline AFTERWARDS as a kind of extended ‘backstory/flashback’ to earlier events, it allows for a longer period of viewing time to pass before we eventually go on to watch the entire concluding SEQUEL TRILOGY storyline too…so that the much older versions of Luke, Han, and Leia won’t seem as jarring, by the time we get to watching the THE FORCE AWAKENS.

So for all these reasons, I’ll always consider the original Episode 4-5-6, 1-2-3, 7-8-9 ‘Theatrical/Production’ release order to be the most satisfying way to watch these movies for myself and others, if they were ALL to be included…but MAINLY because I’d recommend someone new to the franchise begins with EPISODE IV: A NEW HOPE first no-matter-what…EXCEPT… this scenario is messed up by the fact that George decided to replace elderly Sebastian Shaw’s ‘Forceghost’ with a creepy-looking young fella in the current ‘Special Edition’ of RETURN OF THE JEDI instead…which will make newbies ask “Who the hell on Endor’s Forest Moon is THAT?!” if they HAVEN’T watched Hayden in the PREQUELS first!

It’s almost as if George INTENDED it to be awkward, if watched in any way other than his favoured ‘chronological’ order…

I wouldn’t normally want ‘newbies’ to split-up the ORIGINAL TRILOGY to go directly from the highs of THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK to the lows of THE PHANTOM MENACE…but I’d certainly recommend that they use the alternative ‘Ernst Rister’ 4-5, 1-2-3, 6, 7-8-9 order if they’re going to watch the ‘Special Edition’ of RETURN OF THE JEDI for the first time…so that they’ll actually KNOW who that random young ‘Forceghost’ guy is, by the time they get to him in that particular viewing order!

And that order still ensures that someone new starts off with A NEW HOPE first no-matter-what, so that’s good.

But luckily for my own re-watching intentions… (those sub-par 2006 GOUT ‘bonus’ DVD discs aside), the likes of Harmy’s ‘Despecialized Edition’ of RETURN OF THE JEDI and ‘Project 4K83’ both sort out the ‘Hayden’ problem in the meantime.

…and for future purposes, adywan’s ongoing RETURN OF THE JEDI REVISITED has got my back too -

NOTE - This is a ‘work-in-progress’ shot that was previewed by him recently.

Which brings me to the versions of the ORIGINAL TRILOGY I’d ideally include in my own ‘saga’ re-watch…

I’ll always have a huge nostalgic preference for the actual '77 - '80 - '83 original versions over the existing ‘Special Edition’ recut versions…but adywan’s incredible enhancements and fixes for A NEW HOPE and THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK took things to a whole new level, and will never cease to amaze me…so his ongoing REVISITED TRILOGY is my own ‘definitive’ choice to re-watch nowadays…and I’m looking forward to seeing his inventive new ideas for RETURN OF THE JEDI too, eventually.

And of course, the fact that the Tantive IV recedes further away than ever in adywan’s makeover of A NEW HOPE’s iconic opening shot, is what clinched it for me… 😃

CLICK HERE for the sheer perfection of that.

SO TO RECAP, HERE’S MY OWN FAVOURITE ‘VIEWING ORDER’ OF ALL THE MOVIES RELEASED SO FAR -

• ORIGINAL TRILOGY storyline to kick things off with Luke, Han, and Leia…

• PREQUEL TRILOGY storyline as a ‘backstory/flashback’ to events of the past…

• SEQUEL TRILOGY storyline as a ‘jump-forward-in-time’ to conclude the ‘Skywalker saga’ with much older Luke, Han, and Leia…

• SOLO storyline as a ‘backstory/flashback’ to an adventure with Han and Chewie…

• ROGUE ONE to ALWAYS finish things off as a final ‘backstory/flashback’ to bittersweet events involving some familiar faces and settings…as a way of rounding things off with where the entire ‘saga’ started out in the first place…

• …and then I’d eventually start off with the EXACT SAME ‘viewing order’ once again…whenever I decide to have ANOTHER re-watch of the whole ‘saga’ spread over a period of nights, someday in the future! 😃

…AND HERE’S MY 2ND-FAVOURITE ‘VIEWING ORDER’ -

Although I’ve chosen NOT to split-up the ORIGINAL TRILOGY in my favourite option above, I actually quite like the ‘Ernst Rister’ scenario in certain ways too - it’s not just the way it resolves ‘Haydens’ confusing appearance as a ‘Forceghost’ in RETURN OF THE JEDI if anyone starts off with the ‘Special Editions’ of the ORIGINAL TRILOGY before the PREQUELS…it’s also because there’s a case to be made for STRETCHING OUT the uncertainty and loose ends of where everything left off at the end of THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK a lot longer…to allow for watching the build-up of Palpatine and Anakin’s rise to power BEFORE we resume with their relationship as Emperor and Vader in RETURN OF THE JEDI, and BEFORE we find out what happened to Han…

SO IT WOULD GO LIKE THIS -

• ORIGINAL TRILOGY storyline to kick things off with Luke, Han, and Leia…but STOP after THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK…

• PREQUEL TRILOGY storyline as a ‘backstory/flashback’ to events of the past, after THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK ends in uncertainty…

• ORIGINAL TRILOGY storyline resumes with RETURN OF THE JEDI…

• SEQUEL TRILOGY storyline as a ‘jump-forward-in-time’ to conclude the ‘Skywalker saga’ with much older Luke, Han, and Leia…

• SOLO storyline as a ‘backstory/flashback’ to an adventure with Han and Chewie…

• ROGUE ONE to ALWAYS finish things off as a final ‘backstory/flashback’ to bittersweet events involving some familiar faces and settings…as a way of rounding things off with where the entire ‘saga’ started out in the first place…

• …ready to begin all over again someday, in the EXACT SAME way!

But whether you’ve got a preferred order of your own or not…we finally come to some of the changes I’ve got in mind for the actual movies themselves…so NEXT UP, I’ll describe my proposed NEW OPENING for THE PHANTOM MENACE…

3rd POST - My proposed NEW OPENING for THE PHANTOM MENACE

While some may baulk at the idea of including the entire PREQUEL TRILOGY in their own ideal ‘viewing order’, I definitely want to include it in mine…because I happen to like a LOT of the imagery and soundtrack music featured throughout it overall…

…just NOT BEFORE watching the ORIGINAL TRILOGY first…and NOT in it’s existing form either, ideally! 😃

So to start things off, here’s my proposed NEW OPENING for THE PHANTOM MENACE which I’d like to see…as a way to introduce and reinforce the PREQUEL TRILOGY’s entire ‘backstory/flashback’ storyline at some point AFTER I’ve watched the ORIGINAL TRILOGY first…

…and as with all my future examples, I’ll put an ‘asterix’ beside the word ‘CUT’ to indicate every time I’m showing a COMPLETELY NEW CUT that’s different from how things appear in the actual movie…and will use the words ‘and then we continue on as normal’ to indicate where a scene transitions into the next scene as it currently does -

WE START OFF with the familiar 20TH CENTURY FOX FOX/LUCASFILM logos and short music fanfare -

…and as the silent blue wording fades to black, we then CUT* to an ENTIRELY NEW OPENING incorporating some footage from A NEW HOPE, which acts as a short ‘reprise’ of certain events from that movie…beginning with an ‘establishing shot’ of Obi-Wan’s dwelling on Tatooine as we hear Artoo’s faint whistles -

…and then we CUT* to the close-up of Luke saying “YOU FOUGHT IN THE CLONE WARS?” -

…and then we continue on as normal, as Obi-wan discusses Luke’s father, then hands over his lightsaber -

…and then we continue on as normal, as Obi-wan tells Luke what happened to his father, before this introductory ‘prologue’ ends with the close-up of Obi-Wan declaring “…BEFORE THE DARK TIMES…BEFORE THE EMPIRE!” -

NOTE - By adding this short ‘reprise’, it ensures that I would NEED to watch A NEW HOPE before watching my proposed version of THE PHANTOM MENACE to give these characters their proper context at this point, which suits me just fine…and it would help to kick off this ‘middle section’ of my preferred Episode 4-5-6, 1-2-3, 7-8-9 ‘saga’ viewing order with some additional ‘gravitas’ for myself…and of course, I’d ideally use adywan’s STAR WARS REVISITED footage for this, seeing as it’s his enhanced version of A NEW HOPE that I’d choose to start off my ‘saga’ re-watch with in the first place! - CLICK HERE FOR EXAMPLE

…and then we CUT* to the majestic music of the receding STAR WARS main title against a black starfield at this point, as this PREQUEL TRILOGY ‘flashback’ to the CLONE WARS ‘backstory’ begins -

…and then we continue on as normal, as we see THE PHANTOM MENACE’s receding description ‘scroll’ -

NOTE - I’m content to stick with the integrity of George’s underwhelming ‘scroll’ wording as it is, seeing as it WON’T be the introductory description at the start of my overall ‘saga’ viewing order any longer. And adding the ‘prologue’ scene with Luke and Obi-wan beforehand will help to improve it’s dull scenario a little for me too.

…and then we continue on as normal, as we see the red Tantive ship heading towards us -

…and then we continue on as normal, as the Tantive ship passes us and heads away towards the planet Naboo which is surrounded by larger ships -

…and then we CUT* to the close-up of the Tantive ship’s Captain clicking on a switch, as she says “WITH ALL DUE RESPECT, THE AMBASSADORS FOR THE SUPREME CHANCELLOR WISH TO BOARD IMMEDIATELY” -

…and then we continue on as normal, as we pan upwards to the monitor to see Nute Gunray saying “YES, OF COURSE…” -

…and then we CUT* to the interior of the Tantive ship as Nute Gunray says the words “…AND WE’D BE HAPPY TO RECEIVE THE AMBASSADORS” -

…and then we continue on as normal, as the Tantive ship dives downwards, and then lands in a docking bay -

…and then we continue on as normal, as the two hooded Jedi are met by a silver droid and led along a corridor -

…and then we continue on as normal, as the silver droid leaves the waiting room, and the two Jedi finally reveal themselves, as Obi-Wan says “I HAVE A BAD FEELING ABOUT THIS”, followed by Qui-Gon saying “I DON’T SENSE ANYTHING”, followed by Obi-Wan saying “IT’S NOT ABOUT THE MISSION MASTER, IT’S SOMETHING…ELSEWHERE, ELUSIVE…” -

…and then we CUT* to the hologram of Palpatine telling Nute Gunray “WE MUST ACCELERATE OUR PLANS” -

…and then we continue on as normal, as the close-up of Palpatine then says “BEGIN LANDING YOUR TROOPS” -

…and then we CUT* to Nute Gunray saying “AND THE JEDI?” -

…and then we continue on as normal, as Palpatine says “THE CHANCELLOR SHOULD NEVER HAVE BROUGHT THEM INTO THIS, KILL THEM IMMEDIATELY!” -

…and then we continue on as normal, as Nute Gunray bows, and then says “YES, YES MY LORD, AS YOU WISH”, as Palpatine’s hologram fades away -

…and then we CUT* to the silver droid entering the doorway as it brings refreshments to the Jedi -

…and then we continue on as normal, as Obi-wan says “IS IT IN THEIR NATURE TO MAKE US WAIT THIS LONG?”, while Qui-gon taps his hand impatiently -

…and then we CUT* to the Tantive ship in the docking bay, as the pilot says “CAPTAIN LOOK!”, followed by the captain saying “SHIELDS UP!”, as the ship gets blown up -

…and then we continue on as normal, as the Jedi jump up igniting their lightsabers, and the silver droid drops it’s tray, as gas begins to enter the room, and the Jedi hold their breath -

NOTE - This way, the pace of the opening scenes of THE PHANTOM MENACE move along with a greater sense of urgency overall, compared to the existing movie…while retaining the particular Nute Gunray/Palpatine dialogue I want to keep…and by having Nute Gunray in mid-conversation with Palpatine this way, it makes it look as if he was ALREADY aware that the hooded ‘ambassadors’ are actually Jedi, and didn’t just rely on that silver droid happening to mention it in the passing, for him to realise that fact!

Additionally, it also gets rid of Palpatine’s silly-sounding “I DON’T WANT THIS STUNTED SLIME IN MY SIGHT AGAIN!” retort which really grinds my gears ( is that REALLY the best dialogue that George could come up with for Palpatine towards this impertinent lackey?! ), while also removing the whining Neimoidian he’s referring to…so that we stick with the DUO of Nute Gunray and his advisor Rune Haako right from the start.

So that’s the exact opening to the PREQUEL TRILOGY’s ‘backstory’ which I’d like to see…and NEXT UP, I’ll describe my proposed NEW ENDING for REVENGE OF THE SITH which shows how I’d prefer to conclude the PREQUEL TRILOGY’s ‘backstory’/‘flashback’ in a certain restructured way for myself…which would feature MUCH LESS dialogue overall, and a MUCH MORE uninterrupted flow of John Williams’ evocative soundtrack music to end things on…

Wanted to start off by saying I appreciate the time and effort it probably took you to write this all up. You made it pretty enjoyable to read!

I like how you described the initial scene, but when you get into further explanations, I don’t think it is as necessary to go into as much detail for the scenes most of us already know by heart. I think it would be good to emphasize your changes and cuts more than the content of the scenes as they are theatrically. Unless the scenes have major changes and you feel “setting the scene” is necessary.

Anyway, looking forward to your next post.

FreezingTNT2 said:

Here is what my viewing order will be:

Rogue One, ANH:R HD, ESB:R, TFoR (my upcoming 3-in-1 anthology prequel edit), RotJ:R, TFA (NevarGreat), TLJ (my upcoming edit), and TRoS (any upcoming edit that I feel is best).

Good luck with your edits FreezingTNT2, and let’s hope there’s not much in THE RISE OF SKYWALKER that’s gonna require attention! 😃

RogueLeader said:

I like how you described the initial scene, but when you get into further explanations, I don’t think it is as necessary to go into as much detail for the scenes most of us already know by heart. I think it would be good to emphasize your changes and cuts more than the content of the scenes as they are theatrically. Unless the scenes have major changes and you feel “setting the scene” is necessary.

It’s a tricky one RogueLeader - due to the fact that I just don’t have the time to cut full-length video clips together for these ideas anytime soon…so I’m just showing them with screenshots and descriptions a bit at a time, and wanted to give a reminder of the existing scenes and dialogue that I’m keeping too…to try and give a better visual idea of how everything would ‘flow together’ with my cut suggestions inserted, overall.

‘Setting the scene’ as you say, whether it’s for major changes or minor trims.

As far as the rest of the stuff I’m going to show is concerned, I’ll probably need to show the very FIRST shot and the very LAST shot of certain scenes in most instances, with the odd additional shot thrown in as a reminder of some aspects in-between.

So my next post on the final hour or so of REVENGE OF THE SITH is going to be a doozy, as far as the number of alterations I want to show in succession…and I’ll be interested to see what others think of it all.

SomethingStarWarsRelated said:

I love that cut.

Well I’m glad that you do, SomethingStarWarsRelated…as it allowed me to discard a LOT of stuff in-between that I wasn’t personally keen on… 😃

…and it also helped to speed up the pace of these initial exchanges, so that we can get Obi-wan and Qui-gon off on their adventures much sooner.

By the way, a head’s-up for those that may have already looked through my initial posts here - I’ve now included an alteration to my 3rd post which I’d forgotten about at the time - it involves the scene where the silver droid enters the waiting room, and Obi-wan and Qui-gon discuss the situation.

I’d originally described how the ENTIRE waiting room scene played out, before my cut to the Tantive IV being blown up afterwards…but I remembered later that I’d intended to REMOVE Qui-gon’s line where he says “NO, I SENSE AN UNUSUAL AMOUNT OF FEAR FOR SOMETHING AS TRIVIAL AS THIS TRADE DISPUTE” for the purpose of upping the pace of things a bit at that point…to make it seem as if Palpatine’s order to kill the Jedi was carried out more quickly…and also because I didn’t want to hear the ‘trade dispute’ being mentioned again so soon after the ‘scroll’ wording…nor the implication that the Neimoidians were just ‘big fearties’ (good old Scottish expression) at this early point in the movie!

By the way, I’ll not be numbering any of my basic ‘comment/reply’ posts such as this, and will just keep that for my actual ‘description’ posts, to make things easier to follow for myself and everyone else

4th POST

Of all the things I hoped to alter in the PREQUEL TRILOGY, the biggest question mark for me was whether it was possible to overhaul the entire multi-strand ENDING of REVENGE OF THE SITH in a way which satisfied me…as it meant having to deal with a WHOLE HEAP OF MOMENTS that I didn’t particularly care for in the existing version.

So here’s my proposed NEW ENDING for REVENGE OF THE SITH which I’d like to see…to conclude the PREQUEL TRILOGY’s ‘backstory/flashback’ storyline in a certain way which would feature MUCH LESS dialogue and a MUCH MORE uninterrupted flow of John Williams’ evocative soundtrack music to end things on…

…but this has ended up being the LONGEST post I’ll ever need to make on this thread, as I wanted to cover the entire last 1 hr. 6 mins. of the movie ( ! ) …so I ended up having to include a helluva lot of screenshots to get the flow of all this across properly, otherwise my changes might have been a little choppy and confusing to follow overall I reckon, so please bear with it when you have enough time…

…and as before, I’ll put an ‘asterix’ beside the word ‘CUT’ to indicate every time I’m showing a completely new cut that’s different from how things appear in the actual movie…and will use the words ‘and then we continue on as normal’ to indicate where a scene transitions into the next scene as it currently does -

WE START OFF at the point where Anakin and Obi-wan BEGIN their lightsaber duel -

…as Anakin backflips to attack Obi-wan furiously -

…and we end on this shot -

…and then we continue on as normal, as Yoda enters a room to confront the Emperor -

…then proceeds to knock out two red guards with the ‘Force’, before the Emperor zaps him with some ‘Force-lightning’ -

…and we end on this shot -

…and then we continue on as normal, as Anakin and Obi-wan continue their duel -

…before they eventually enter the control room filled with the bodies of those that Anakin killed earlier -

…as they hit a control panel, and we end on this shot -

…and then we continue on as normal, as the cackling Emperor slowly walks towards Yoda lying on the floor, and eventually says “AT LAST, THE JEDI ARE NO MORE” -

…before Yoda gets up saying “NOT IF ANYTHING TO SAY ABOUT IT, I HAVE” -

…and ‘Force-pushes’ him backwards through the air across the room, and we end on this shot -

NOTE - I’d discard the shot of the Emperor knocking over the chair which appears at this point, as I’d like to keep him as menacing as possible throughout the PREQUEL TRILOGY…and this just makes him look silly! 😃 - CLICK HERE

…and then we CUT* to Yoda saying “AT AN END YOUR RULE IS…” -

…as the Emperor gets up -

…and Yoda says “…AND NOT SHORT ENOUGH IT WAS” -

…as the Emperor starts to move forwards -

…and leaps towards the doorway -

NOTE - Another reason why I’d discard the shot of the Emperor falling over his chair is because…the chair is suddenly UPRIGHT again during this shot! Perhaps the Emperor quickly ‘Force’-manoeuvred’ it back into position ‘offscreen’ before he jumped towards Yoda, who knows? 😉 - CLICK HERE

…as Yoda jumps in his way to stop him leaving -

…and they begin duelling near a central platform -

…as the Emperor snarls, and we end on this shot -

NOTE - I’d discard the entire sequence which appears at this point, where Anakin chokes Obi-wan as they continue to duel on top of a long table in an adjoining room…because I’m just not keen on it personally - CLICK HERE

Additionally, I’d ALSO discard the majority of their later follow-up duelling sequence too - CLICK HERE …to get rid of all the ‘twirly-whirly’ lightsaber action / mutual ‘Force-pushing’ / and Anakin’s silly-looking ‘leap across the hologram table’ antics before a control panel is struck…as luckily for my purposes, a control panel had also been struck in the final shot of their EARLIER sequence together too, so it’s possible to continue the duel here in a way I much prefer.

…and then we CUT* to a close-up of a monitor showing the large structure’s ‘protective shield’ starting to shut down -

…while an ominous-sounding alarm goes off -

…as Anakin and Obi-wan continue their duel out a doorway -

…before Anakin kicks Obi-wan backwards and strides determinedly towards him, and we end on this shot -

…and then we CUT* to Yoda and the Emperor continuing their duel, as the central platform begins to rise up through the room’s opening ceiling -

…and continues to rise up -

…and continues to rise up even more -

…as Yoda and the Emperor continue to duel furiously -

…and we end on this shot -

NOTE - I’d discard the close-up of the somewhat silly look on the Emperor’s face which appears at this point - CLICK HERE

…and then we CUT* to this close-up of Yoda -

…while the duel continues on -

…as the Emperor snarls, and we end on this shot -

…and then we CUT* to Obi-wan jumping backwards onto a long pipe -

…as Anakin follows him, and they duel precariously along the pipe -

…as Obi-wan jumps down onto the structure below, followed by Anakin, where they continue their duel -

…and we end on this shot -

…and then we CUT* to Yoda leaping down onto a circular platform -

…as his duel with the Emperor continues inside the Senate building, where the Emperor ‘Force-throws’ large circular platforms at Yoda who sends one back at him, before the Emperor jumps down and attacks him with his ‘Force-lightning’ -

…as ‘Force-lightning’ reflects in Yoda’s eyes, and we end on this shot -

NOTE - I’d also discard the close-up of the somewhat silly look on the Emperor’s face which appears at this point too! - CLICK HERE

…and then we CUT* to Yoda and the Emperor both ‘Force-pushing’ each other back -

…as the Emperor manages to hold onto the circlular platform, but Yoda ends up falling near an access tube far below -

…as Yoda’s cloak ends up floating down before getting caught on some wreckage, and we end on this shot -

…and then we CUT* to Anakin and Obi-wan continuing their duel along a huge extending structure, before it breaks off due to a lava burst -

…as the huge structure drifts off slowly on the lava flow, and we end on this shot -

…and then we CUT* to Yoda crawling inside an access tube -

…as he talks into a communicator and says “HURRY, CAREFUL TIMING WE WILL NEED”, and we end on this shot -

…and then we continue on as normal, as Senator Bail replies “ACTIVATE YOUR HOMING BEACON WHEN YOU’RE READY” -

…as he flies through the Coruscant traffic, and we end on this shot -

…and then we CUT* to Yoda emerging out of the access tube, as he flips a handle to open a hatch, and he jumps down into Bail’s hovering transport below him -

…as Bail flies off, and we end on this shot -

NOTE - I’d discard Yoda saying “INTO EXILE, I MUST GO” at this point…as I’d prefer for him to only decide to do that when he says “UNTIL THE TIME IS RIGHT, DISAPPEAR WE WILL” in his later discussion with Bail and Obi-wan about the twins.

…and then we CUT* to Yoda saying “FAILED I HAVE” -

…as Bail veers round and flies away to safety -

…and we end on this shot -

…and then we CUT* to a trooper on a circular platform saying “THERE’S NO SIGN OF THE BODY SIR” -

…as the Emperor tells him to double his search, and orders that his shuttle be prepared for immediate take-off, as he eventually says “I SENSE LORD VADER IS IN DANGER”, and we end on this shot -

…and then we CUT* to the huge structure drifting along on the lava flow, as Anakin and Obi-wan continue their duel -

…before Obi-wan sees the danger ahead -

NOTE - So now we come to one of the sequences I wanted to change the MOST for this ending…where the Anakin vs Obi-wan duel ended up being a truly over-excessive mess for me here, as they jumped onto small ‘Force’-controlled platforms, and continued their duel by ‘lava surfing’ in the opposite direction of the lava flow - CLICK HERE

Although I’ve ended up having to lose a large chunk of John Williams’ epic choral score for the sake of this alteration, I’m content to settle for a portion of it that is heard in the lead-up to this point…and while I’ve had to compromise a little with how things look and sound in this next scenario overall, the Anakin vs Obi-wan duel has already been epic and gone on long enough for me, so I’d much prefer to see things play out like this instead of the existing ‘lava surfing’ antics at this point -

…and we continue on as normal, as Obi-wan leaps off from the side the huge structure -

…and we end on this shot -

…and then we CUT* to the close-up of Anakin immediately preparing to follow him -

…and we end on this shot -

…and then we CUT* to Obi-wan somersaulting down to safety -

…as he lands on firm ground, then turns around -

…and we end on this shot -

NOTE - I’d discard Obi-wan’s initial sideways movement from this shot, so that it looks more like he’s somersaulted DOWNWARDS from the huge structure instead - CLICK HERE

…and then we CUT* to Anakin leaping off the huge structure towards Obi-wan -

…and we end on this shot -

…and then we CUT* to Obi-wan looking up as we hear Anakin’s angry yell -

…as Anakin somersaults downwards towards him, and Obi-wan finally strikes him down -

…and we continue on as normal, as Anakin slides down the slope close to the edge of the lava flow -

…and we end on this shot -

…and then we continue on as normal, as Obi-wan looks down -

…and we end on this shot -

NOTE - I’m content NOT to see the huge structure go over the edge of the lavafall during this new sequence, as it’s just an unimportant aspect which happens ‘offscreen’ in this proposal instead…and including any of it would just get in the way of the flow of the shocking outcome which just happened, as we are focused on the dramatic conclusion of the Anakin/Obi-wan personal tragedy now.

Additionally, I’d also discard this shot of Anakin which appears at this point, as it always seems to me as if he’s a bit further away from the edge of the lava than where he slid down to before - CLICK HERE

…and then we CUT* to Obi-wan turning his lightsaber off -

…as he looks down at Anakin, and we end on this shot -

…and we continue on as normal, as Anakin glares up at him -

…and we end on this shot -

…and we continue on as normal, as an anguished Obi-wan shouts “YOU WERE THE CHOSEN ONE!..” -

…before saying “…IT WAS SAID YOU WOULD DESTROY THE SITH, NOT JOIN THEM!..”, and we end on this shot -

…and then we continue on as normal, as Anakin struggles on the ground while Obi-wan’s voice continues “…BRING BALANCE TO THE FORCE…” -

…and we end on this shot -

…and then we continue on as normal, as Obi-wan says “…NOT LEAVE IT IN DARKNESS!” -

…and we end on this shot -

NOTE - I’d originally intended to try and remove all references to ‘THE CHOSEN ONE’ in the PREQUELS, but I’m now content to go along with that notion…so long as I get rid of Shmi’s talk of giving birth to Anakin WITHOUT a father in THE PHANTOM MENACE! Also, I particularly like Obi-wan’s dialogue about it in the scene above, and there’s a chance that ‘THE CHOSEN ONE’ aspect might carry through into THE RISE OF SKYWALKER too, so there’s that as well.

…and then we continue on as normal, as Anakin groans in pain, and Obi-wan walks up to retrieve Anakin’s lightsaber -

…before turning around to look down, and we end on this shot -

NOTE - I’d discard the first half of the shot which appears at this point, where Anakin screams “I HATE YOU!”…as it just comes across as silly and petulant to me - CLICK HERE

…and then we CUT* to Anakin struggling on the ground -

…and we end on this shot -

NOTE - I’d discard this shot of Obi-wan saying “YOU WERE MY BROTHER ANAKIN, I LOVED YOU” which appears at this point, as I’d prefer to end on his anguished words earlier - CLICK HERE

Additionally, I’d also get rid of this shot of Anakin struggling which then appears at this point, as I’d prefer to end on the slightly longer shot of him struggling above - CLICK HERE

…and then we CUT* to Anakin’s legs, as his clothing catches fire -

…and we end on this shot -

…and then we continue on as normal, as Obi-wan looks down at Anakin screaming in agony -

…and we end on this shot -

NOTE - I’d discard this shot of Anakin screaming in agony which appears at this point, as I’m just not keen on it personally, and there’s plenty of screaming in agony to go around as it is! - CLICK HERE

…and then we CUT* to Obi-wan turning his gaze away -

…and we end on this shot -

…and then we continue on as normal, as Anakin screams in agony as the fire spreads over him -

…then totally engulfs him, and we end on this shot -

…and then we continue on as normal, as Anakin burns and screams -

…and we end on this shot -

…and then we continue on as normal, as Obi-wan turns to look again -

…and we end on this shot -

…and then we continue on as normal, as a badly burned Anakin screams in agony -

…and we end on this shot -

…and then we continue on as normal, as Obi-wan starts to walk away -

…and we end on this shot -

…and then we continue on as normal, as Anakin screams in agony as Obi-wan leaves -

…and we end on this shot -

At this point, here’s a few individual snippets to give a decent idea of how this would all look and sound overall, if you play them one after another -

1st Part - CLICK HERE - (Duel before the lavafall, then Obi-wan leaps off the huge structure)

2nd Part - CLICK HERE - (Anakin prepares to follow immediately)

3rd Part - CLICK HERE - (Obi-wan somersaults down and lands, then turns around)

4th Part - CLICK HERE - (Anakin leaps off the huge structure towards Obi-wan)

5th Part - CLICK HERE - (Anakin yells as he somersaults downwards, as Obi-wan strikes him down, and he slips down the slope)

6th Part - CLICK HERE - (Obi-wan switches off his lightsaber, as he shouts at Anakin, then picks up Anakin’s lightsaber)

7th Part - CLICK HERE - (Anakin struggles on the ground)

8th Part - CLICK HERE - (Anakin’s legs catch fire)

9th Part - CLICK HERE - (Obi-wan looks away as fire engulfs Anakin, and Obi-leaves)

…and then we continue on as normal, as Obi-wan emerges towards R2D2, and C3PO informs him that he has Padme aboard the ship -

…and we end on this shot -

…and then we continue on as normal, as Padme lies unconscious, and Obi-wan gently places his hand on her shoulder -

…and we end on this shot -

NOTE - I’d discard the shot of Padme opening her eyes, and saying “OBI-WAN…IS ANAKIN ALRIGHT?” which appears at this point - CLICK HERE …as I’d prefer to end her dialogue at the point Anakin ‘Force-choked’ her earlier.

Additionaly, I’d ALSO discard Obi-wan gently touching Padme’s cheek with the back of his hand, as well as the shot of him looking down at her which appears just afterwards too - CLICK HERE

…and then we CUT* to Obi-wan taking his hand off Padme’s shoulder and walking away -

…as R2D2 whistles sadly, and we end on this shot -

…and then we continue on as normal, as Padme’s ship takes off -

…and flies away from Mustafar, as we end on this shot -

…and then we continue on as normal, as C3PO pilots the ship, and Obi-wan looks very troubled -

…and we end on this shot -

…and then we continue on as normal, as a metal hand slowly pulls on the ground -

…and we end on this shot -

NOTE - I’d REMOVE this shot of Anakin slowly crawling up the slope which appears at this point - CLICK HERE …so that it can be reused to REPLACE another shot of him a little later on.

…and then we CUT* to Anakin slowly crawling up the slope, as a large shadow passes over him -

…and we end on this shot -

…and then we continue on as normal, as the large shadow turns out to be from the Emperor’s shuttle as it flies past -

…before it folds up it’s wings as it lands on a platform, and we end on this shot -

NOTE - I’d discard this shot of Anakin looking up as we hear a trooper’s voice saying “YOUR MAJESTY, THIS WAY” which appears at this point, as I’m just not keen on it personally - CLICK HERE …and I’d REPLACE it with the shot I removed earlier, as I’d prefer to keep Anakin’s facial burns more indistinct from this point on.

…and then we CUT* to Anakin slowly crawling up the slope as he groans -

…and we end on this shot -

…and then we CUT* to the Emperor accompanied by two troopers, as he points and announces “THERE HE IS…HE’S STILL ALIVE…”

…and we end on this shot -

…and then we continue on as normal, as Anakin slowly rolls onto his back -

…and we end on this shot -

…and then we continue on as normal, as the Emperor orders “GET A MEDICAL CAPSULE IMMEDIATELY!” -

…as a trooper says “YES SIR, RIGHT AWAY”, before both troopers leave, and we end on this shot -

…and then we continue on as normal, as the Emperor slowly walks over to Anakin, and kneels down to touch his head -

…and we end on this shot -

…and then we continue on as normal, as we ‘wipe’ to two spacesuited aliens looking down on a planetoid base -

…and we end on this shot -

NOTE - I’d discard the close-up shot of Yoda with his eyes closed which appears at this point, as I’m just not keen on it personally - CLICK HERE

…and then we CUT* to Yoda being interrupted by Bail as he says “EXCUSE ME MASTER YODA…”, as Yoda opens his eyes and turns around -

…and then we continue on as normal, as Bail says “…OBI-WAN KENOBI HAS MADE CONTACT” -

…and we end on this shot -

…and then we continue on as normal, as Padme’s ship arrives at the planetoid base -

…and we end on this shot -

…and then we continue on as normal, as Padme’s ship drops down to land inside the planetoid base -

…and we end on this shot -

…and then we continue on as normal, as Obi-wan carries Padme down the ramp of her ship, and Bail says “WE’LL TAKE HER TO THE MEDICAL CENTRE, QUICKLY!”

…and we end on this shot -

…and then we CUT* to the Emperor ship’s on a stormy Coruscant platform, as he accompanies Anakin’s medical capsule -

…and we end on this shot -

NOTE - I’d discard the shot of the Emperor’s ship coming in to land on the Coruscant building’s platform before the shot above…as I’ve already seen it fold it’s wings and land on Mustafar earlier anyway, and would just prefer to see the Emperor disembarking with the medical capsule instead, as I like it’s juxtaposition with the shot of everyone getting off Padme’s ship beforehand - CLICK HERE

…and then we CUT* to Anakin on an operating table, as medical droids attach metal legs to him -

…as he screams in agony…

…and we end on this shot -

…and then we CUT* to Padme being attended to in the medical facility, as a medical droid says “…WE ARE LOSING HER” -

…and we end on this shot -

…and then we continue on as normal, as Obi-wan says “SHE’S DYING?” -

…and we end on this shot -

…and then we CUT* to the medical droid saying “WE NEED TO OPERATE QUICKLY, IF WE ARE TO SAVE THE BABIES” -

…and we end on this shot -

…and then we CUT* to Yoda as he takes in the situation -

…and we end on this shot -

…and then we CUT* to the medical droid saying “SHE’S CARRYING TWINS” -

…and we end on this shot -

NOTE - I wanted to get rid of the ‘she’s lost the will to live’ nonsense of course, and I had already put together a version of all the medical facility shots and dialogue which I preferred, and included it here…UNTIL I remembered that someone mentioned in the past that R2D2 shouldn’t really have interacted with Yoda at any point…as they don’t seem to recognise each other when they meet on ‘Dagobah’ in THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK! Well this bugged me, as I agree with that…and as far as I recall, this is the only instance we actually see them together throughout the PREQUELS…so while it was a pity to lose shots of the neat medical set, it was more important to me to smooth the continuity better for myself, and I ended up having to redo the whole sequence WITHOUT any of the shots of C3PO and R2D2 inside the actual medical facility with Yoda and Co. …and very luckily, there was just enough of the relevant dialogue in the shots without them to make a new sequence I was satisfied with…without having any continuity issues with the medical droid’s arms or the aliens behind it. 😃

…and then we CUT* to Obi-wan looking solemn, as he walks over to look through the glass -

…and puts his hand over his mouth, and we end on this shot -

…and then we CUT* to Anakin in a protective suit, as the faceplate section of his helmet is swung towards him -

…as it starts to lower, and we end on this shot -

NOTE - I’d discard the initial shot of Anakin on the table, as I’m just not keen on it personally…as his boots have got metal clamps around them, and I don’t want to include any shots of him being restrained in any way - CLICK HERE

…and the reason I don’t want to see him restrained on the table in any way is because…I’d rather not be reminded of his whole ‘FRANKEN-VADER’ sequence with the Emperor whatsever! - CLICK HERE

…and then we continue on as normal, as the faceplate continues to lower slowly -

…and we end on this shot -

NOTE - I’d discard this shot of Anakin’s burnt face which appears at this point, because I’m just not keen on it personally - CLICK HERE …and although I reckon that joining the two slightly different faceplate shots would work okay in motion for myself, I’d just discard the first shot and only use the second one with the red eyepieces throughout, if it’s too jarring.

…and then we CUT* to the faceplate slowly getting nearer -

…and we end on this shot -

…and then we continue on as normal, as the faceplate is fitted in place -

…and the top section of the helmet is attached, as we hear Darth Vader’s first rasping breath, and we end on this shot -

…and then we CUT* to Padme’s head moving slightly, as she exhales her final breath -

…as she passes away, and we end on this shot -

NOTE - Yes, Padme remains done for in my ideal version…but she managed to hold out long enough for the medical facility to save her twins, so that’s good. And it also means I can keep the funeral procession scenes which I like. I’d prefer for Padme to be fatally damaged by what Anakin did to her on Mustafar, and unable to say anything before she dies…and I really like the juxtaposition between this shot of her breathing her last and the shot of Darth Vader’s mask breathing for the first time beforehand…as it’s all I need to see of Padme since we last saw her being attended to in the medical facility as shown above, since I’d rather discard all the child-birth moments in-between! 😃

…which happens to include getting rid of this shot where R2D2 and Yoda were seen together too - CLICK HERE

…and then we continue on as normal, as Obi-wan looks on distressed while holding one of her babies -

…and Yoda turns away sadly, and we end on this shot -

…and then we CUT* to the Tantive ship arriving at Naboo -

…and we end on this shot -

…and then we continue on as normal, as Yoda discusses the twins with Bail and Obi-wan aboard the Tantive ship -

…as they agree that the twins should be separated for their safety, before Yoda says “UNTIL THE TIME IS RIGHT, DISAPPEAR WE WILL”, and they bow in respect and go to leave, and we end on this shot -

NOTE - I’d discard the rest of the sequence which appears at this point, where Yoda tells Obi-wan that he has training on Tattooine for him, and that Qui-gon has returned from the netherworld of the Force, and that he will teach him how to commune with him…as I’m just not keen on it personally, and don’t need every single ‘loose end’ explained away. And anyway, there might even be a ‘surprise’ appearance of Qui-gon’s ‘Forceghost’ at the end of THE RISE OF SKYWALKER somewhere for all we know…so I can wait until then to see him appear as one, if that’s the case. 😉

…and then we CUT* to Padme’s sombre funeral procession on Naboo -

…as we have our final look at Luke and Leia’s mother -

…and we end on this ‘wipe’ shot -

…and then we continue on as normal, as we see Star Destroyers and TIE ships in space -

…as the TIE ships scream by, and we end on this shot -

NOTE - I’d discard the shots of Vader walking down the bridge which appear at this point, as the dodgy-looking stand-in for a ‘younger Tarkin’ is far too distracting for me - CLICK HERE …so I’d rather not see him at all!

…and then we CUT* to the Emperor and Darth Vader on a Star Destroyer bridge, looking out the window at the Death Star under construction -

…and we end on this shot -

…and then we continue on as normal, as Darth Vader folds his arms -

…and we end on this ‘wipe’ shot -

…and we continue on as normal, as the Tantive ship approaches Alderaan -

…and we end on this shot -

NOTE - I’d discard this shot of the Tantive ship heading down into the city which appears at this point, as I’m just not keen on it personally - CLICK HERE

…and then we CUT* to the Tantive ship landing on a platform in the city -

…and we end on this shot -

…and then we CUT* to the Tantive ship’s interior, as Bail prepares to leave, and tells Captain Antilles to wipe C3PO’s memory -

…as a startled C3PO says “WHAT?” -

…and R2D2 beeps in amusement -

…as C3PO nervously says “OH NO…” -

…and we end on this shot -

…and then we CUT* to Yoda’s transport heading to ‘Dagobah’, as he goes into self-imposed exile -

NOTE - This deleted ‘Dagobah’ scene actually begins with a slow pan across the planet for a few moments BEFORE Yoda’s transport comes into the shot, although I couldn’t find a pic of it…but I’m including a clip link further down as a reminder of how the whole scene looks and sounds in motion.

…as his transport lands, then opens up -

…and Yoda looks out -

…and we end on this shot -

Here’s the clip - CLICK HERE

…and then we CUT* to a large balcony on Alderaan -

…and we end on this shot -

…and then we continue on as normal, as Senator Bail presents his wife with a baby girl -

…and we end on this shot -

NOTE - Because I’ve tried to give the impression that Padme didn’t recover to name her twins herself before she died, I’m going to assume that it was actually their respective adoptive parents who named the babies themselves.

…and then we continue on as normal, as we see the baby girl’s face -

…and we end on this ‘wipe’ shot to Obi-wan on Tattooine -

…as Obi-wan dismounts -

…and then meets up with Beru -

…as he hands the baby over to her -

…and we see the baby boy’s face -

…as Beru smiles -

…and Obi-wan smiles back at her -

…as Beru turns to take the baby over to Owen -

…while Obi-wan watches them for a moment, then turns to leave -

…as Beru shows Owen the baby -

…and they both turn to look in the distance -

…as they watch familiar twin suns, before we conclude on this ‘wipe’ shot to the end credits -

** WHEW! **

So that’s the way I’d ideally like to see the ENDING of REVENGE OF THE SITH restructured…but it would mean editing it in DVD quality to keep everything consistent, due to my wanting to incorporate the deleted ‘Dagobah/Yoda’ scene…

…which I’d be fine with personally, although an HD version of all this would work fine WITHOUT the deleted scene too…as the shot of C3PO saying “OH NO…” would also transition nicely to the shot of the large balcony on Alderaan directly, as the overall sequences and music flows well for that also.

( By the way, because I’ve ended up putting so many screenshots on here, it kinda works like a visual ‘flick-book’ of this proposed ending if you go back and just scroll down continuously from the beginning again by holding your cursor on the bottom right scroll arrow. It gives a very good idea of how the whole thing would flow together if you do that )

HOWEVER…a long time ago, I briefly toyed with the notion of how I’d alter that ending if I were to begin a ‘viewing order’ with the PREQUEL movies BEFORE watching the ORIGINAL TRILOGY…so before I go onto anything else, some of you may be interested to see what alternative changes I originally had in mind for that long-ditched scenario… 😃

So that’s UP NEXT, to show the different changes I wanted at the time.

“mean editing it in DVD quality to keep everything consistent”

Perhaps you can gradually blur the HD footage over a few scenes around the place you insert the SD footage 😉

5th POST

Okay, although my ideal ending of REVENGE OF THE SITH involves the layout I showed in my previous descriptions, due to the fact that I’d rather include certain imagery of Darth Vader ( SILENT! ) in the suit…some of you might be interested to see what I ORIGINALLY wanted as an ending when I briefly toyed with the notion of starting my ‘viewing order’ with the PREQUEL TRILOGY ages ago, until I decided against it for the numerous reasons I’ve previously mentioned.

I’ve got to pick a spot to show how things would have flowed, so this point is as good as any…and of course, EVERYTHING BEFORE this scene would have been laid out in the exact same way as described in my previous posts, but without the A NEW HOPE footage at the beginning -

…and then we continue on as normal, as Obi-wan carries Padme down the ramp of her ship, and Bail says “WE’LL TAKE HER TO THE MEDICAL CENTRE, QUICKLY!”

…and we end on this shot -

…and then we CUT* to the Emperor ship’s on a stormy Coruscant platform, as he accompanies Anakin’s medical capsule -

…and we end on this shot -

NOTE - I’d discard the shot of the Emperor’s ship coming in to land on the Coruscant building’s platform before the shot above…as I’ve already seen it fold it’s wings and land on Mustafar earlier anyway, and would just prefer to see the Emperor disembarking with the medical capsule instead, as I like it’s juxtaposition with the shot of everyone getting off Padme’s ship beforehand - CLICK HERE

…and then we CUT* to Padme being attended to in the medical facility, as a medical droid says “…WE ARE LOSING HER” -

…and we end on this shot -

…and then we continue on as normal, as Obi-wan says SHE’S DYING?" -

…and we end on this shot -

…and then we CUT* to the medical droid saying “WE NEED TO OPERATE QUICKLY, IF WE ARE TO SAVE THE BABIES” -

…and we end on this shot -

…and then we CUT* to Yoda as he takes in the situation -

…and we end on this shot -

…and then we CUT* to the medical droid saying “SHE’S CARRYING TWINS” -

…and we end on this shot -

NOTE - I wanted to get rid of the ‘she’s lost the will to live’ nonsense of course, and I had already put together a version of all the medical facility shots and dialogue which I preferred, and included it here…UNTIL I remembered that someone mentioned in the past that R2D2 shouldn’t really have interacted with Yoda at any point…as they don’t seem to recognise each other when they meet on ‘Dagobah’ in THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK! Well this bugged me, as I agree with that…and as far as I recall, this is the only instance we actually see them together throughout the PREQUELS…so while it was a pity to lose shots of the neat medical set, it was more important to me to smooth the continuity better for myself, and I ended up having to redo the whole sequence WITHOUT any of the shots of C3PO and R2D2 inside the actual medical facility with Yoda and Co. …and very luckily, there was just enough of the relevant dialogue in the shots without them to make a new sequence I was satisfied with…without having any continuity issues with the medical droid’s arms or the aliens behind it. 😃

…and then we CUT* to Obi-wan looking solemn, as he walks over to look through the glass -

…and puts his hand over his mouth, and we end on this shot -

…and then we CUT* to Anakin on an operating table, as medical droids attach metal legs to him -

…as he screams in agony…

…and we end on this shot -

…and then we CUT* to Padme’s head moving slightly, as she exhales her final breath -

…as she passes away, and we end on this shot -

NOTE - Yes, Padme remains done for in this alternative version too…but she managed to hold out long enough for the medical facility to save her twins, so that’s good. And it also means I can keep the funeral procession scenes which I like. I’d prefer for Padme to be fatally damaged by what Anakin did to her on Mustafar, and unable to say anything before she dies…as it’s all I need to see of her since we last saw her being attended to in the medical facility as shown above, since I’d rather discard all the child-birth moments in-between! 😃

…which happens to include getting rid of this shot where R2D2 and Yoda were seen together too - CLICK HERE

…and then we continue on as normal, as Obi-wan looks on distressed while holding one of her babies -

…and Yoda turns away sadly, and we end on this shot -

…and then we CUT* to the Tantive ship arriving at Naboo -

…and we end on this shot -

…and then we continue on as normal, as Yoda discusses the twins with Bail and Obi-wan aboard the Tantive ship -

…as they agree that the twins should be separated for their safety, before Yoda says “UNTIL THE TIME IS RIGHT, DISAPPEAR WE WILL”, and they bow in respect and go to leave, and we end on this shot -

NOTE - I’d discard the rest of the sequence which appears at this point, where Yoda tells Obi-wan that he has training on Tattooine for him, and that Qui-gon has returned from the netherworld of the Force, and that he will teach him how to commune with him…as I’m just not keen on it personally, and don’t need every single ‘loose end’ explained away. And anyway, there might even be a ‘surprise’ appearance of Qui-gon’s ‘Forceghost’ at the end of THE RISE OF SKYWALKER somewhere for all we know…so I can wait until then to see him appear as one, if that’s the case. 😉

…and then we CUT* to Padme’s sombre funeral procession on Naboo -

…as we have our final look at Luke and Leia’s mother -

…and we end on this shot -

…and then we CUT* to Yoda’s transport heading to ‘Dagobah’, as he goes into self-imposed exile -

NOTE - This deleted ‘Dagobah’ scene actually begins with a slow pan to the left of the planet BEFORE Yoda’s transport comes into view on the right of the shot, although I couldn’t find a pic of it…but I’m including a clip link below this as a reminder of how it looks and sounds in motion.

…as his transport lands, then opens up -

…and Yoda looks out -

…and we end on this shot -

Here’s the clip - CLICK HERE

…and then we CUT* to the Tantive ship heading to Alderaan -

…and we end on this shot -

NOTE - I’d discard this shot of the Tantive ship heading down into the city which appears at this point, as I’m just not keen on it personally - CLICK HERE

…and then we CUT* to the Tantive ship landing on a platform in the city -

…and we end on this shot -

…and then we CUT* to the Tantive ship’s interior, as Bail prepares to leave, and tells Captain Antilles to wipe C3PO’s memory -

…as a startled C3PO says “WHAT?” -

…and R2D2 beeps in amusement -

…as C3PO nervously says “OH NO…” -

…and we end on this shot -

…and then we CUT* to a large balcony on Alderaan -

…and we end on this shot -

…and then we continue on as normal, as Senator Bail presents his wife with a baby girl -

…and we end on this shot -

NOTE - Because I’ve tried to give the impression that Padme didn’t recover to name her twins herself before she died, I’m going to assume that it was actually their respective adoptive parents who named the babies themselves.

…and then we continue on as normal, as we see the baby girl’s face -

…and we end on this ‘wipe’ shot to Obi-wan on Tattooine -

…as Obi-wan dismounts -

…and then meets up with Beru -

…as he hands the baby over to her -

…and we see the baby boy’s face -

…as Beru smiles -

…and Obi-wan smiles back at her -

…as Beru turns to take the baby over to Owen -

…while Obi-wan watches them for a moment, then turns to leave -

…as Beru shows Owen the baby -

…and they both turn to look in the distance -

…as they watch familiar twin suns, before we conclude on this ‘wipe’ shot to the end credits -

So that’s how I’d have chosen to keep Darth Vader’s suited appearance unseen and voice unheard for myself, UNTIL his usual first entrance in A NEW HOPE…had I decided to start a saga ‘viewing order’ with the PREQUEL TRILOGY first.

NEXT UP, I’ll describe my proposed NEW OPENING for ROGUE ONE when I get the chance.

6th POST

So here’s my proposed NEW OPENING for ROGUE ONE now.

There’s a LOT I like about this movie, but once again there’s plenty throughout it which I’d prefer to discard or alter. However, the MAIN thing I would change for myself is the way the entire beginning was structured. My own preference would be to start off with Jyn as an adult, rather than as a child…and luckily, there’s a straightforward way to do this without scrapping all of the early scenes.

But before I start, I’d like to mention the opening title introduction to the movie first -

Like others, I really missed the familiar 20th Century Fox logo and sound of it’s fanfare when this was released, but to also have it open SILENTLY without the usual STAR WARS title and scroll theme music too, felt really jarring at the time…and seemed pretty weak sauce compared to the triumphant introduction of previous entries in the franchise. Even if there had been some sort of short music cue for the LUCASFILM logo which then faded out to the usual silent blue wording, it would have given a little more anticipation to things.

And on top of that, I didn’t care for the fact that the new silver LUCASFILM logo and it’s follow-up blue wording had been SHRUNK IN SIZE compared to THE FORCE AWAKENS intro, as seen here -

But since I’d always prefer to use ROGUE ONE to conclude my personal ‘Star Wars saga’ viewing order on, I’m content for the likes of it and other ‘standalone’ movie storylines such as SOLO to start off less-bombastically than the ‘main saga’ chapters do anyway, as a way to differentiate them somewhat…as I just look on them as an additional fun watch AFTER the ‘main’ 9-chapter ‘SKYWALKER’ storyline finishes.

However…I’d prefer to alter the current opening intro a little for myself, to restore just a bit more of that ‘Star Warsy’ anticipation which I missed…so here’s how I’d do it -

We START OFF with the familiar STAR WARS title, as it SILENTLY recedes away from us and fades out -

…and then we CUT* to the LARGER silver LUCASFILM logo from THE FORCE AWAKENS -

…before the LARGER blue wording from THE FORCE AWAKENS appears and eventually fades out too -

PUT THIS INFO. IN A ‘BLUE BOX’ - PERHAPS IT WOULD BE POSSIBLE TO PUT ‘20TH CENTURY FOX’ FANFARE MUSIC OVER THE ‘STAR WARS’ TITLE AND ‘LUCASFILM’ LOGO BEFORE IT FADES OUT TO THE SILENT BLUE WORDING?? OR…PERHAPS I COULD START WITH ‘LUCASFILM’ WITH A SHORT MUSIC CUE OVER IT, AND THEN FADE TO THE SILENT ‘STAR WARS’ TITLE AND BLUE WORDING??

…and then we CUT* to the ROGUE ONE title receding away from us as the main theme music kicks in -

…and then we continue on as normal, as the title and music fade away, and we get our first introduction to Jyn Erso -

…as a drip on her forehead wakes her up and she sits upright, and we end on this shot -

NOTE - Jyn actually sits more fully upright than shown in the shot above.

ALSO - I’d prefer to discard the shot which appears at this point of Jyn wiping her forehead - CLICK HERE , and I’d also prefer to discard the shot of her sleeping alien cellmate which then appears immediately after - CLICK HERE

…and then we CUT* to Jyn sitting upright, as she looks out her prison cell to see a stormtrooper guard walk past -

…and then we continue on as normal, as the music swells and we head to the RING OF KAFRENE TRADING OUTPOST -

…as we pan down to a busy marketplace, and get our first introduction to Cassian Andor -

…and we end on this shot -

NOTE - I’d prefer to discard the shot which appears at this point of the aliens at the food stall, to quicken the pace here slightly - CLICK HERE

…and then we CUT* to Cassian continuing to walk through the busy marketplace as a stormtrooper approaches -

…and then we continue on as normal, as Cassian turns to run down an alley, and meets up with a contact who’s nervously waiting to tell him some news from Jedha. The contact tells Cassian “AN IMPERIAL PILOT…ONE OF THE CARGO DRIVERS, HE DEFECTED YESTERDAY…HE’S TELLING PEOPLE THEY’RE MAKING A WEAPON…THE KYBER CRYSTALS, THAT’S WHAT THEY’RE FOR!”

Then Cassian asks “WHAT KIND OF WEAPON?”, as the contact anxiously tries to leave saying “LOOK, I HAVE TO GO”…

…as Cassian suddenly grabs him and shoves him back, demanding “WHAT KIND OF WEAPON?!”

…as the contact yells “A PLANET KILLER!”

…and we end on this shot -

NOTE - This isn’t a biggie by any means, but I’d prefer to discard the shot which appears at this point of the contact yelling “THAT’S WHAT HE CALLED IT!”, as he knocks Cassian’s hand away - CLICK HERE , because Cassian is then seen to still be holding the contact’s coat in the next shot immediately afterwards…and although the contact’s face is not lined up exactly between the two shots I’d join together instead, I reckon it would look less jarring in motion than seeing Cassian still holding his jacket after being shrugged off…as the contact is then seen to shrug off Cassian’s hand just afterwards anyway.

…and then we CUT* to Cassian taken aback as he says “A PLANET KILLER?..” in a hushed tone -

…as the contact shrugs Cassian’s hand off, saying “SOMEONE NAMED ERSO SENT HIM, SOME OLD FRIEND OF SAW’S”, as Cassian then says “GALEN ERSO!..”, then demands “…WAS IT?!” -

…as the contact says “I DON’T KNOW, THEY WERE LOOKING FOR SAW WHEN WE LEFT…”

…and we end on this shot -

NOTE - I’d prefer to discard the shot which appears at this point where Cassian says “WHO ELSE KNOWS ABOUT THIS?” , and the contact replies “I HAVE NO IDEA” - CLICK HERE , and I’d also prefer to discard the shot which appears immediately after it too, where the contact says “IT’S ALL FALLING APART…SAW’S RIGHT…” - CLICK HERE

…and then we CUT* to the contact loudly saying “…THERE’S SPIES EVERYWHERE!”, as two stormtroopers appear saying “WHAT’S ALL THIS?..C’MON, LET’S SEE SOME SCAN DOCS”

…as Cassian pretends to kneel down for his gloves, then turns around to shoot the stormtroopers -

…as his shocked contact says “NO…WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!”, while people at the the end of the alley react, and Cassian looks for a way out -

…and then we continue on as normal, as people flee the area -

…and a stormtrooper appears at the end of the alley who reports “TROOPERS DOWN, SECTOR NINE!” -

…and we end on this shot -

NOTE - I’d prefer to discard the shot which appears at this point of the contact saying “I’LL NEVER CLIMB OUT OF HERE, MY ARM!” - CLICK HERE

…and then we CUT* to several stormtroopers running through the crowds, saying “GET OUT OF THE WAY…MOVE,MOVE!” -

…and we end on this shot -

NOTE - I’d prefer to discard the scene which appears at this point of Cassian saying “CALM DOWN, CALM DOWN…IT WILL BE ALRIGHT” as he then back-shoots his unsuspecting contact - CLICK HERE, as that put me right off his character from the start when he did that. When Cassian has no choice but to escape himself, I’d rather have seen him just having to leave his unfortunate contact to an uncertain fate, instead of ruthlessly backshooting him…as I wanted to like his character better during this first impression of him, and he was already a ‘badass’ after shooting the two stormtroopers.

…and then we CUT* to a close-up of Cassian tucking his blaster away as an alarm blares -

…and we end on this shot -

NOTE - I’d discard the beginning of the shot which appears at this point of Cassian looking down - CLICK HERE , and just start from the point where he’s already turned to make his escape, which will give the impression that he’s just having to leave his contact behind to his fate.

…and then we CUT* to Cassian with his head turned starting to make his getaway, as the music rises and he climbs out of the alley -

…and then we continue on as normal, as we head to the JEDHA IMPERIAL-OCCUPIED MOON, where the defecting cargo pilot Bhodi is captured by Saw’s gang -

…and then we continue on as normal, as we head to the WOBANI IMPERIAL PRISON PLANET and a large transport vehicle appears -

…as we see that Jyn is now aboard the vehicle in chains along with other prisoners -

…and we end on this shot -

NOTE - I’d discard the shot which appears at this point of Jyn suddenly sitting upright instead of leaning forward like her other shots - CLICK HERE , and I’d also discard this close-up of the alien which then appears immediately afterwards too - CLICK HERE , as I’d prefer to make it look like the prisoner opposite Jyn is looking over at the stormtrooper guards at this point instead.

…and then we CUT* to the stormtrooper guards -

…as Jyn is looking back and forth, until the transport vehicle suddenly jolts to a halt -

…as a stormtrooper guard says “WHAT NOW?” as he stands up, and another stormtrooper replies “I DON’T KNOW, MUST BE ANOTHER PICKUP” -

…as the stormtrooper guard says “I THOUGHT WE HAD EVERYBODY”, as he reacts to a knocking sound, and turns around -

…as armed rebel troops board the transport vehicle -

…and the rebels identify Jyn as ‘Liana Hallik’, and free her from her chains. Jyn then proceeds to attack the rebels with a handy shovel, and then runs towards the transport vehicle door to escape -

…as a tall droid stops her, and throws her to the ground -

…as the tall droid says “CONGRATULATIONS, YOU ARE BEING RESCUED…PLEASE DO NOT RESIST” -

…and then we continue on as normal, as we head to YAVIN 4 and the REBEL ALLIANCE BASE -

…as Jyn is taken into the rebel base for questioning -

…and we continue on as normal, as we learn a lot of information about Jyn’s background when she is spoken to by General Draven, Mon Mothma, and Captain Cassian Andor -

General Draven speaks saying “YOU’RE CURRENTLY CALLING YOURSELF LIANA HALLIK. IS THAT CORRECT? POSSESSION OF UNSANCTIONED WEAPONS. FORGERY OF IMPERIAL DOCUMENTS. AGGRAVATED ASSAULT. ESCAPE FROM CUSTODY. RESISTING ARREST. IMAGINE IF THE IMPERIAL AUTHORITIES HAD FOUND OUT WHO YOU REALLY WERE, JYN ERSO. THAT IS YOUR GIVEN NAME, IS IT NOT? JYN ERSO, DAUGHTER OF GALEN ERSO. A KNOWN IMPERIAL COLLABORATOR IN WEAPONS DEVELOPMENT”

…as Mon Mothma then tells Jyn it’s a chance for her to make a fresh start, and that they think that she can help them…as she then introduces Captain Cassian Andor who proceeds to question Jyn…who tells him that she hasn’t seen her father since 15 years, and that Saw Gerrera saved her life when she was a child, and raised her…but that she hasn’t seen him since years.

…and we also find out that the rebels want her to help them to meet with Saw, to get access to the ‘Imperial defector’ to confirm his story about the weapon, and to try and locate Jyn’s father and bring him back to testify about it to the Senate.

…as Jyn and Cassian walk towards a ship where the tall droid K-2SO is already aboard, as General Draven calls Cassian over to quietly order him to ignore what was said about taking Galen Erso back, and that he’s to kill him instead if he finds him.

…and then we continue on as normal, as General Draven watches Cassian, Jyn, and K-2SO fly off on their mission -

…and then we continue on as normal, as a pair of metal legs approach, and we hear the words “LIES…DECEPTIONS!” -

…as we get our first introduction to Saw Gerrera who suspiciously confronts Bhodi -

…as Saw orders “BOR GULLET!” to his gang, and Bhodi is hooded again and taken away -

…and then we continue on as normal, as a TIE Fighter screams past, and a stardestroyer comes into view in front of the Death Star -

…and then we continue on as normal, as Krennic approaches Tarkin on a stardestroyer, where Tarkin discusses the missing cargo pilot and the need for an immediate test of the weapon…and that failure will find Krennic explaining why to a far less patient audience -

…as Krennic says “I WILL NOT FAIL”, then turns to leave, as Tarkin looks out at the Death Star -

…and then we continue on as normal, as the screen momentarily goes black before the first part of Jyn’s ‘flashback’ dream of past events with her parents begins -

…as Jyn’s father Galen comes over to Jyn saying “WHAT’S THE MATTER JYNA?..ARE YOU AFRAID?”

…and then we continue on as normal, as Galen playfully lifts her up and puts her to bed saying “I’LL ALWAYS PROTECT YOU” -

…and we end on this shot -

NOTE - I’d prefer to have Saw with a headful of hair right from the start, as I found the transformation of him starting out as completely bald to then having an abundance of hair to be quite jarring…so I’d discard the rest of the ‘flashback’ shots which appear at this point which end with his bald appearance opening the hatch - CLICK HERE …and would replace them with an alternative, EXTENDED ‘flashback’ at this point instead…as a way of revealing a devastating aspect of Jyn’s past, while allowing me to include some important footage and dialogue from the opening which I liked, but didn’t want to start the movie off with.

…and then we CUT* to another time as Jyn’s ‘flashback’ dream takes a turn for the worse, and a black ship screams downwards towards a planet -

…and we end on this shot -

NOTE - I’d prefer to discard the shot which appears at this point of the ship flying over the beach…as well as it’s flyby past the working droid…and the close-up of the droid - CLICK HERE , CLICK HERE , and CLICK HERE

…and then we CUT* to young Jyn running frantically as the black ship passes overhead -

…and we end on this shot -

…and then we continue on as normal, as we see the black ship on a monitor screen -

…as Jyn’s concerned father and mother look on -

…and Jyn eventually reaches her homestead -

…as she says “MAMA!” on entering -

…and her mother Lira says “WE KNOW” -

…as her father Galen tells her “JYN, GATHER YOUR THINGS, IT’S TIME”, and they all hurry to grab some belongings -

…as Lira rushes towards a monitor in the kitchen area and looks over at Jyn -

…as the monitor beeps and an image appears, and we hear a male voice urgently say “HELLO” -

…as Lira turns to the monitor saying “SAW!”, and we end on this shot -

NOTE - Luckily for my purposes, bald Saw is indistinct in the shot above due to the angle of the monitor, and I’d prefer to discard the close-up shot of the monitor which appears immediately after at this point, where Lira says “…IT’S LIRA, IT HAPPENED…HE’S COME FOR US” - CLICK HERE

…and then we CUT* to Jyn looking towards her mother, as we hear Saw advise “YOU KNOW WHAT TO DO” -

…and then we continue on as normal, as the black ship turns to land -

…and we end on this shot as we hear Jyn’s father Galen say “JYNA, COME HERE…” -

…and continues to say “REMEMBER, WHATEVER I DO…I DO IT TO PROTECT YOU…SAY YOU UNDERSTAND…” -

…as Jyn says “I UNDERSTAND” -

…and Galen says “I LOVE YOU STARDUST” -

…as Jyn says “I LOVE YOU TOO PAPA” -

…and Jyn’s mother Lira says “GALEN…” -

…as Galen says “GO!” -

…and we end on this shot -

…and then we continue on as normal, as several death troopers approach -

…and we end on this shot -

NOTE - I’d prefer to discard the shot which appears at this point of Krennic and the death troopers - CLICK HERE

…and then we CUT* to Galen on his own, as he heads outside -

…and then we continue on as normal, as Jyn and Lira run to hide -

…as Lira whispers “JYN…”, and pulls her behind a rock -

…as Lira says “YOU KNOW WHERE TO GO DON’T YOU?” -

…and Jyn nods silently, and Lira takes off her necklace -

…as Lira says “TRUST THE FORCE”, and gives Jyn her necklace -

…and we end on this shot -

NOTE - I’d prefer to discard the shot which appears at this point of Krennic and the death troopers - CLICK HERE

…and then we CUT* to Galen walking towards the intruders -

…as Jyn stops running and decides to head back -

…as Krennic and the death troopers approach Galen -

…as Krennic says “YOU’RE A HARD MAN TO FIND GALEN…” -

…and continues to say “…BUT FARMING…REALLY?, A MAN OF YOUR TALENTS?” -

…as Galen says “IT’S A PEACEFUL LIFE” -

…and Krennic says “LONELY I IMAGINE” -

…as Galen says “SINCE LIRA DIED, YES” -

…and Krennic says “OH…”, as he walks forwards saying “OH…MY CONDONLENCES”, as he then turns to the death troopers ordering “SEARCH THE HOUSE!” -

…as Galen says “WHAT IS IT YOU WANT?”, and Krennic replies “THE WORK HAS STALLED…I NEED YOU TO COME BACK” -

…and Galen says “I WON’T DO IT KRENNIC” -

…as Krennic says “WE WERE ON THE VERGE OF GREATNESS, WE WERE THIS CLOSE…TO PROVIDING PEACE AND SECURITY FOR THE GALAXY” -

…and Galen says “YOU’RE CONFUSING PEACE WITH TERROR” -

…as Krennic says “WELL…YOU HAVE TO START SOMEWHERE” -

…as the death troopers search Galen’s property -

…as Galen says “I’D BE OF NO HELP KRENNIC…MY MIND JUST ISN’T WHAT IT WAS…” -

…and continues to say “…I’VE TROUBLE REMEMBERING…EVEN THE SIMPLE THINGS” -

…and then we continue on as normal, as Jyn is crouched on the ground watching and listening -

…as Krennic says “GALEN…” -

…and continues to say “…YOU’RE AN INSPIRED SCIENTIST, BUT A TERRIBLE LIAR” -

…and then we continue on as normal, as we see Lira approaching in the distance, as Krennic says “NOW I ADMIRE THE EFFORT…” -

…and continues to say “…I REALLY DO”, as he turns to notice Lira -

…as we see Lira getting closer, and Krennic says “OH LOOK…” -

…and continues to say “…HERE’S LIRA BACK FROM THE DEAD”, as Galen turns and runs towards her -

…and Krennic says “IT’S A MIRACLE!” -

…and then we continue on as normal, as Jyn watches the death troopers raise their guns at Galen -

…as Lira keeps running towards them -

…and Krennic raises his arm and shouts “STOP!” -

…and we end on this shot -

NOTE - And again this isn’t a biggie by any means, but there’s another slight continuity error here, so I’d prefer to discard this shot of Krennic which appears at this point, as his arm is suddenly down at his side - CLICK HERE

…and then we CUT* to Lira raising her concealed gun -

…and then we continue on as normal, as Krennic says “OH LIRA…TROUBLESOME AS EVER” -

…and Lira shouts “YOU’RE NOT TAKING HIM!” -

…as Krennic says “NO, OF COURSE I’M NOT, I’M TAKING YOU ALL…” -

…and continues to say “…YOU’LL ALL COME, YOU, YOUR CHILD, YOU’LL ALL LIVE IN COMFORT”, as Jyn keeps watching and listening -

…and Lira says “AS HOSTAGES” -

…as Krennic says “AS HEROES OF THE EMPIRE” -

…and Galen says “LIRA…PUT IT DOWN” -

…as Krennic warns “THINK VERY CAREFULLY”, as Galen and Jyn look on -

…and Lira says “YOU WILL NEVER WIN!” -

…as Krennic orders “DO IT!” to the stormtroopers, and they shoot Lira -

…and Lira’s gun shoots Krennic in the shoulder -

…as Jyn sees everthing, and Galen shouts “LIRA…NO!” and rushes over to her -

…and then we continue on as normal, as Krennic yells “THEY HAVE A CHILD!..”, and Jyn starts to flee -

…as Krennic orders “…FIND IT!” -

…and Galen holds his dead wife -

…and we end on this shot -

NOTE - I’d prefer to discard these next two shots of young Jyn running away which appear at this point - CLICK HERE and CLICK HERE, to slightly quicken the pace here.

…and then we CUT* to Jyn running into a nearby cave -

…as she opens a hidden hatch and climbs in -

…and then shuts the hatch behind her -

…and then we continue on as normal, as death troopers search for Jyn -

…as Jyn peers out a small gap -

…and two death troopers enter the cave -

…as Jyn continues to watch through the gap -

…and the two death troopers turn to leave -

…as Jyn stops watching, and climbs down a ladder -

…and we end on this shot -

NOTE - I’d prefer to discard this shot of Jyn sitting on the floor which appears at this point - HERE

…and then we CUT* to the stormy exterior of the cave that young Jyn is hiding in -

…as Jyn shakes a lamp in the dark to get it to work properly -

…and then looks upwards when she hears someone approaching -

…as we hear footsteps getting nearer the hatch -

…and we end on this shot -

…and then we CUT* to the sound of the hatch opening as adult Jyn suddenly awakens from her ‘flashback’ dream aboard the ship, and looks at the ‘necklace’ her mother gave her -

NOTE - I’m content not to show that it was Saw who opened the hatch, as we already hear Jyn tell the rebels that he saved her life and raised her…and we’ve also seen that Jyn’s mother contacted Saw earlier in her ‘flashback’ dream too…so thanks to those reveals, we can reasonably assume that a younger (NON-bald preferably 😉 ) Saw came along and rescued young Jyn at that point. -

…and then we continue on as normal, as Cassian tells K-2SO that they’re coming into orbit, and to take the controls -

…as Jyn puts away her ‘necklace’ and looks out the window -

…as Cassian says “THAT’S JEDHA…OR WHAT’S LEFT OF IT!” -

…as Cassian says “WE FIND SAW…WE FIND YOUR FATHER”, and Jyn stares out the window as the music rises -

…as the ship flies over the surface of Jedha and lands -

…and then we continue on as normal, as the group approach Jedha city -

…and Cassian takes out his macrobinoculars -

…as Jyn says “WHAT’S WITH THE DESTROYER?” -

…and Cassian replies “BECAUSE OF YOUR OLD FRIEND SAW GERRERA…HE’S BEEN ATTACKING THE CARGO SHIPMENTS”, as he looks through the macrobinoculars -

…and Jyn asks “WHAT ARE THEY BRINGING IN?” -

…as Cassian says “IT’S WHAT ARE THEY TAKING OUT”, then passes her his macrobinoculars -

…as Jyn looks through them -

…and Cassian says “THE KYBER CRYSTAL…ALL THEY COULD GET…WE WONDERED WHY THEY WERE RESTRICTING THE TEMPLE…NOW WE KNOW…” -

…and continues to say “…IT’S THE FUEL FOR THE WEAPON” -

…as K-S20 adds “…THE WEAPON YOUR FATHER’S BUILDING” -

…and Jyn says “MAYBE WE SHOULD LEAVE TARGET PRACTICE BEHIND” -

…as K-S2O says “ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT ME?” -

…and Cassian says “SHE’S RIGHT…WE NEED TO BLEND IN…STAY WITH THE SHIP” -

…as K-S2O says “I CAN BLEND IN…I’M AN IMPERIAL DROID…THE CITY IS UNDER IMPERIAL OCCUPATION” -

…and Jyn says “HALF THE PEOPLE HERE WANT TO REPROGRAM YOU…THE OTHER HALF WANT TO PUT A HOLE IN YOUR HEAD”, as Cassian gives a wry smirk -

…and K-S20 says “I’M SURPRISED YOU’RE SO CONCERNED WITH MY SAFETY”, as Jyn says “I’M NOT…” -

…and continues to say “…I’M JUST WORRIED THEY MIGHT MISS YOU…AND HIT ME!”, as she hands him a bag -

…and Jyn walks past K-S20, as Cassian gives him a reassuring pat -

…and K-S2O says “DOESN’T SOUND SO BAD TO ME”, as he drops the bag to the ground -

…and then we continue on as normal, as we zoom-in towards Saw’s hide-out -

…where Bhodi is strapped to a chair and we hear a low gutteral roar -

…as the nightmare fuel that is ‘Bor Gullet’ slithers into view -

…and Bhodi looks scared as Saw says “BOR GULLET…CAN FEEL…” -

…and continues to say “…YOUR THOUGHTS”, as we see Bor Gullet’s eye -

…as Saw watches Bor Gullet getting closer to Bhodi, and says “NO LIE…” -

…and continues to say “…IS SAFE!” -

…as a tentacle reaches out at a terrified Bhodi -

…and we end on this shot -

NOTE - I’d prefer to discard this close-up shot of Bor Gullet’s throbbing eye which appears at this point - CLICK HERE

…and then we CUT* to the tentacles starting to wrap around Bhodi, as Saw says “WHAT HAVE YOU REALLY BROUGHT ME?..” -

…and we end on this shot -

NOTE - I’d also prefer to discard this shot of the tentacles wrapping around Bhodi as Saw continues to say “…CARGO PILOT” which appears at this point - CLICK HERE

…and then we CUT* to Saw saying “BOR GULLET…WILL KNOW THE TRUTH…” -

…and we end on this shot -

NOTE - I’d also prefer to discard this shot of the tentacles feeling Bhodi’s head which appears at this point - CLICK HERE

ADDITIONALLY - I’d also prefer to discard this shot of Saw saying “THE UNFORTUNATE SIDE EFFECT…IS THAT ONE TENDS…TO LOSE ONE’S MIND” which appears immediately after - CLICK HERE , due to the fact that his first words actually start on the previous tentacle shot I want to get rid of.

…and then we CUT* to the engine roar of a cargo ship and TIE fighters flying over Jedha city, as Jyn and Cassian make their way through the city -

NOTE - I’d discard the first part of this shot of the old woman cooking which appears at this point - CLICK HERE , to avoid a continuity mismatch when I cut to another shot featuring the same old woman soon after, where she’s suddenly sitting at another area.

…and then we CUT* to Jyn and Cassian making their way through the bustling city -

…and we end on this shot -

NOTE - Due to VARIOUS reasons, I’d definitely discard the entire scene of Jyn bumping into the argumentative ‘bad duo’ of Doctor Evazan and Ponda Baba from A NEW HOPE’s Mos Eisley cantina which appears at this point, and ends on this shot as we hear an announcement saying “CITIZENS OF JEDHA…” - CLICK HERE

…and then we CUT* to an old woman sitting beside a hologram of Bhodi, as we hear an announcement saying “…YOU MUST COME FORWARD WITH INFORMATION OF THE LOCATION OF THIS MISSING CARGO PILOT…” -

…and then we continue on as normal, as we faintly hear the words continuing to say “…A REWARD OF 600 CREDITS FOR ANY INFORMATION SHALL BE AWARDED”, and Jyn and Cassian continue to make their way through the city -

NOTE - Although Jyn and Cassian now end up walking on the other side of each other, I’m content that in motion it looks as if Cassian must have ended up starting to move to the other side of Jyn during the hologram shot of Bhodi, due to the way they’ve had to move past other people at this point.

…and we continue on as normal, as Jyn and Cassian continue on their way through the city -

So that’s the way I’d like to see the beginning of ROGUE ONE play out for myself, and one day over the coming weeks I’ll get around to showing how I’d prefer to tweak the way it ends too.

In the meantime, since THE RISE OF SKYWALKER is due for release shortly…I thought it might be fun to describe the scenario I’ve got in mind to amend the most problematic entry in the entire ‘saga’ for myself…so THE LAST JEDI is NEXT UP.

7th POST

Okay, onto THE LAST JEDI now…

There’s a WHOLE HEAP of changes and stuff I’d prefer to get rid of throughout this movie someday…so just as J.J. rounds the SEQUEL trilogy off with THE RISE OF SKYWALKER finale, I’ll now describe the BIGGEST alteration I’d prefer to make to THE LAST JEDI for myself…to show how I’d keep Luke dressed in his darker robes THROUGHOUT, and ONLY reveal him wearing his lighter ‘Jedi robes’ near the end of the movie, when he eventually saves the day…WITHOUT him being ‘momentarily tempted’ to kill his nephew, NOR being evasive about it to Rey in any way!

To do this, I’d split up ‘the search for Luke’ differently during the first two movies…and START OFF by ending THE FORCE AWAKENS with Rey and Chewie just BEGINNING to look for him, in the same kind of way that DigModiFicaTion did for his ‘Heir To The Force’ edit. -

…Rey and Chewie prepare to take off -

…as Leia and the rebels watch them leave -

…and the Falcon jumps to lightspeed -

…as Rey and Chewie’s search for Luke BEGINS -

NOTE - I’d prefer to totally discard the original ending of this movie where Rey travelled to the island and found Luke…because he was already dressed in his ‘Jedi robes’ at that point for one thing, which is one of the things I want to eliminate in this entire restructure…and because I found it frustrating that we didn’t get ONE SINGLE WORD out of Luke before the end credits kicked in, as I yearned to hear his voice! So as great as it was to see him again after all those years, I’m content to lose that footage for an ALTERNATIVE introduction to his character at a later point in the SEQUEL trilogy instead.

HOWEVER - I’d include Rey’s journey to ‘Ahch-to’ and some of her initial climb up the island in a restructured version of THE LAST JEDI for myself, to make it look as if her journey to find Luke took LONGER once the Falcon took off…as we anticipate seeing him during that movie instead.

…and we FINISH on a circular ‘iris’ wipe to the end credits music…

(I’ll come to the various OTHER changes I’d prefer to see for THE FORCE AWAKENS another day, by the way)

…and then THE LAST JEDI begins in the usual way -

…and the movie CONTINUES ON until we eventually get to the point where Finn has recovered, as Poe goes over to assist him…and Finn eventually asks “WHERE’S REY?”

…and then we continue on as normal, as dawn breaks on an island which comes into view -

NOTE - At this point, I’d prefer to use the footage from THE FORCE AWAKENS to make it look as if Rey’s journey to ‘Ahch-to’ took LONGER…but rather than join the footage of Rey and Chewie travelling in hyperspace to immediately after the shot of Finn and Poe, I’d prefer to KEEP the atmospheric island shot and music cue which appears at this point above…which would work for me as a kind of precursor of where Rey is headed, before we see it’s location more fully when the Falcon eventually reaches the planet, and heads towards it. -

…and then we CUT* to THE FORCE AWAKENS footage of Rey and Chewie in hyperspace as Rey stares ahead expectantly -

…as the Falcon drops out of hyperspace to reveal the watery planet ‘Ahch-to’ -

…and the Falcon dives down towards the island -

…and then we continue on as normal, as Rey looks back at Chewie and Artoo beside the Falcon -

NOTE - Although the Falcon landing place shots are mismatched between THE FORCE AWAKENS and THE LAST JEDI, I’d prefer to KEEP the shot above to retain the flow of the music at this point, and just ignore the difference by the time we see the Falcon again later on. If it bothered me that much, I would just cut directly to the close-up of Rey below as she begins to climb the island instead, immediately after we see the Falcon reach the island.

…and then we continue on as normal, as Rey begins to climb up the island -

…and we end on this shot from THE FORCE AWAKENS -

NOTE - Rey would normally have reached the stone settlement at this point in THE FORCE AWAKENS, as seen in this shot - CLICK HERE , but I’d prefer to reveal it in this next shot below instead.

…and then we CUT* to this shot from THE LAST JEDI, as the music rises and we see a stone settlement -

…and then we continue on as normal, as Rey reaches the settlement and enters a deserted courtyard surrounded by several stone dwellings -

…where she suddenly hears a scraping sound and looks round -

…and we see a door close shut on a stone dwelling -

…as Rey approaches the door -

…and says “MASTER SKYWALKER?..I’M FROM THE RESISTANCE…YOUR SISTER LEIA SENT ME…” -

…and continues to say “…WE NEED YOUR HELP” -

…as she knocks the door with her staff when there’s no response -

…and then says “HELLO?..” as she looks around -

…and then we continue on as normal, as we see a porg squawking -

…and we end on this shot -

NOTE - I’d discard the next shot of the porgs checking out the lightsaber which appears at this point - CLICK HERE , as well as the shot of Rey picking it up which comes just after - CLICK HERE

…and then we CUT* to Rey contemplating Luke’s lightsaber as she sits near a cliff edge -

NOTE - Rey doesn’t offer Luke his blue lightsaber back in my version, as he’s just not interested in his ‘Jedi’ past, nor her mission, nor in leaving the island throughout her time there…although it could also be imagined that she offered it to him ‘offscreen’, and he just told her to keep it, as he didn’t want it. Either way, she ends up hanging onto it herself.

…and she sees Luke’s X-wing submerged in the sea, and thinks about her next move -

…and then we continue on as normal, as we see some random items inside the dwelling -

…and we hear a ‘knock, knock’ sound as we see hands on a folded ‘Jedi robe’ -

…and then we hear another ‘knock knock’ sound as we finally get our FIRST introduction to Luke Skywalker…who responds “GO AWAY!” -

…as his door suddenly gets smashed in, and Luke turns around -

…as Chewie enters roaring, followed by Rey -

…and Luke says “CHEWIE…WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!” -

…as Chewie grunts and we end on this shot -

NOTE - I’d prefer to discard the next shot of Rey saying “HE SAYS YOU’RE COMING BACK WITH US!” which appears at this point, as I’d rather continue Luke and Chewie’s interaction a little, WITHOUT Rey translating.

…and then we CUT* to Luke asking “HOW DID YOU FIND ME?” -

…and then we continue on as normal, as Rey says “LONG STORY, WE’LL TELL YOU ON THE FALCON” -

…and Luke looks at Rey saying “FALCON?..” -

…as Chewie sighs despondently -

…and Rey looks saddened, as Luke says “WAIT…” -

…and he continues to say “…WHERE’S HAN?..”

…and then we continue on as normal, as the first scene featuring Kylo Ren begins -

…and then the movie CONTINUES ON as Luke proves difficult, and Rey fails to convince him to help out several times…until we eventually reach the point where Luke reluctantly agrees to give Rey three lessons, telling her that he WILL teach her the ways of the ‘Jedi’, and why they need to end…and after his FIRST lesson with Rey (where he frustratedly walked off on her because she was easily tempted towards a ‘dark place’, and we discovered that Luke had ‘closed himself off from the Force’) , we later reach a point in the movie where Luke is willing to resume with his SECOND lesson with her…

…as Rey follows him to the top of the island and Luke says “LESSON TWO…”

…as he continues to say “…NOW THAT THEY’RE EXTINCT, THE ‘JEDI’ ARE ROMANTICISED, DEIFIED…IF YOU STRIP AWAY THE MYTH AND LOOK AT THEIR DEEDS…THE LEGACY OF THE ‘JEDI’ IS FAILURE, HYPOCRISY, HUBRIS…”

…and Rey walks towards him saying “THAT’S NOT TRUE!”

…as Luke continues to say “…AT THE HEIGHT OF THEIR POWERS THEY ALLOWED DARTH SIDIOUS TO RISE, CREATE THE EMPIRE, AND WIPE THEM OUT…IT WAS A ‘JEDI MASTER’ WHO WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE TRAINING AND CREATION OF DARTH VADER…”

…and Rey says “…AND A ‘JEDI’ WHO SAVED HIM…”, as she sits down beside Luke and continues to say “…YES, THE MOST HATED MAN IN THE GALAXY, BUT YOU SAW THERE WAS CONFLICT INSIDE HIM…YOU BELIEVED THAT HE WASN’T GONE, THAT HE COULD BE TURNED!”

…as Luke responds “…AND I BECAME A LEGEND…FOR MANY YEARS THERE WAS BALANCE, AND THEN I SAW…‘BEN’…MY NEPHEW…WITH THAT MIGHTY ‘SKYWALKER’ BLOOD…IN MY HUBRIS I THOUGHT I COULD TRAIN HIM, I COULD…PASS ON MY STRENGTHS…‘HAN’ WAS…‘HAN’ ABOUT IT, BUT…LEIA…TRUSTED ME WITH HER SON…I TOOK HIM…AND A DOZEN STUDENTS…AND BEGAN A TRAINING TEMPLE…”

…as he stands up and walks away a little, and continues to say “…BY THE TIME I REALISED I WAS NO MATCH FOR THE DARKNESS RISING IN HIM…”

…and he continues to say “…IT WAS TOO LATE…”

…as Rey quietly asks “WHAT HAPPENED?..” and we end on this shot -

…and then we CUT* to a ‘flashback’ of Kylo asleep, as we hear Luke say “I SENSED IT BUILDING IN HIM…” -

…and his voice continues to say “…I’D SEEN IT IN MOMENTS DURING HIS TRAINING…BUT THEN I LOOKED INSIDE…”

…as his voice continues to say “…AND IT WAS BEYOND WHAT I EVER IMAGINED…”

…and we hear the sound of lightsabers and anguished cries, as Luke quickly pulls his hand back in shock, and his voice continues to say “…SNOKE HAD ALREADY TURNED HIS HEART!..”

…and we end on this shot -

…and then we CUT* to the exterior shot of the training temple, as Luke’s voice continues to say “…I WENT TO CONFRONT HIM…AND HE TURNED ON ME…” -

…and then we continue on as normal, as Luke yells “…BEN…NO!..” and Kylo uses the ‘Force’ to bring the building crashing down on top of him -

…and in the blackness, we hear Luke’s voice say “HE MUST HAVE THOUGHT I WAS DEAD…” -

…as we see Luke’s metal hand rises out of the burning rubble, and his voice continues to say “…WHEN I CAME TO…” -

…as Luke staggers to kneel beside Artoo in front of a scene of devastation and dead bodies, as his voice continues to say “…THE TEMPLE WAS BURNING…HE HAD VANISHED WITH A HANDFUL OF MY STUDENTS…AND SLAUGHTERED THE REST…LEIA BLAMED SNOKE…BUT…IT WAS ME…I FAILED…” -

…and then we continue on as normal, as we revert back to Luke ruefully continuing to tell Rey “…BECAUSE I WAS LUKE SKYWALKER…JEDI MASTER…” -

…and he continues to say “…A LEGEND…”

NOTE - So that’s the SINGLE version of the ‘flashback’ I’d prefer to see Luke relay to Rey at this point, which tells the whole truth from the start, without any evasiveness on Luke’s part…as I’d much rather that he DIDN’T contemplate killing his nephew with his lightsaber there-and-then as he slept…even for a ‘moment’, thanks!

…as Rey says “THE GALAXY MAY NEED A LEGEND…I NEED SOMEONE…TO SHOW ME MY PLACE IN ALL THIS…” -

…and Luke listens silently -

…as Rey stands up saying “…AND YOU DIDN’T FAIL KYLO…” -

…and she continues to say “…KYLO FAILED YOU…I WON’T!”

…as Luke continues to listen silently -

…and we return to Rey once again -

**…and then I’d definitely prefer to continue on with the DELETED ‘Third Lesson/Caretaker Village’ sequence at this point, except with a couple of minor alterations which I’ll come to shortly.

Here’s the best clip I could find of it for the sake of showing it** -

Third Lesson/Caretaker Village clip - CLICK HERE

NOTE - I really like this scene a LOT overall, and would absolutely want it in my version of the movie…as I want Rey’s final words in it to be the catalyst which finally brings Luke around…NOT Yoda’s intervention, which I’m discarding anyway…because I don’t want Luke to be wearing his ‘Jedi robes’ at that point yet…but also because I really dislike the fact that Yoda’s ‘Forceghost’ had the ability to powerfully control a lightning bolt in the ‘living’ world to destroy the tree!

So here’s the ALTERATIONS I’d like to make to the Third Lesson/Caretaker Village scene -

1. I’d discard the unfinished shot of Rey running on the beach in the distance…and would join the end of the footage where she’s running with Luke’s blue lightsaber in close-up, directly to where she starts to run up stone steps towards the entrance instead, which should work fine enough in motion for me.

2. I happen to really like the look of the Caretaker Village set where Rey and Luke talk, but I’d discard the unfinished shot where Rey walks away from him, as the sea etc. doesn’t match the earlier view…and would join from the end of where Rey has turned her back to leave after exasperatedly telling him “I UNDERSTAND THAT ACROSS THE GALAXY OUR REAL FRIENDS ARE REALLY DYING!..THAT OLD LEGEND OF LUKE SKYWALKER THAT YOU HATE SO MUCH, I BELIEVED IN IT!..I WAS WRONG!”, directly to the final close-up of Luke’s face instead.

It’s at this point that I’d prefer to have Rey give up trying to convince Luke to leave the island with her, as she’s totally disillusioned with him now…WITHOUT any further lying ‘relevations’ from Kylo, or ‘hand-touching’ with Kylo, or confrontation with Luke, all of which I’d prefer to discard.

…so after a disillusioned Rey has given Luke a piece of her mind and walked off, we then see a close-up of Luke’s humbled reaction, and we end on that shot…

…and then we CUT* back to green laserbolts being fired, as we CONTINUE ON with the ‘space chase’ which appears at this point in existing movie -

…and then we continue on as normal from here, as Hux destroys the rebel’s helpless medical frigate…and we eventually conclude the ‘Canto Bight mission’, as we see several fathiers look up at the night sky as the 'codebreaker’s stolen ship flies off to safety -

NOTE - I’d certainly prefer to include the Canto Bight ‘side-mission’, rather than try to discard it, as I want to show how the friendship builds between Rose and Finn…and I’m guessing it’s likely to be expanded upon a lot more in THE RISE OF SKYWALKER anyway…but I’ve got a shortened, heavily-tweaked version of it in mind, which I’ll eventually cover here sometime too.

…and then we continue on as normal, as the scene ‘transition wipes’ to the island at night -

…and we end on this shot -

NOTE - Luke would normally come out of the shadows to rejoin with the ‘Force’ at this point in the existing movie…but I’d prefer to DELAY that moment until a bit later for myself.

…and then we CUT* to a very disillusioned Rey walking away, until she suddenly stops -

…and we end on this shot -

I’m discarding the entire scene of Rey getting into a ‘Force-connection’ conversation with Kylo which appears at this point, so that means two things thankfully…it means I can get rid of ‘topless Kylo’ being told by Rey to cover himself up - CLICK HERE …and also means I can get rid of the image of ‘scary Luke’ attacking him for no reason in his lying version of the ‘flashback’ too - CLICK HERE

This next cut is one of my favourites…because if I never have to watch those particular scenes again, it will be too soon!

…and then we CUT* to a tearful Rey deciding to TURN AROUND and head off in another direction -

…and then we continue on as normal, as Rey approaches the ‘dark place’ she felt in her unsuccessful first lesson with Luke -

…and she jumps down towards the ominous hole -

…as she walks to the edge of it, and kneels down to look inside -

…as she looks closer into the hole -

…and is suddenly sucked into it -

…as she plunges into the water below -

…and then scambles ashore in the cavern -

…as she finds herself facing a mirrored surface, and walks towards it to see several duplicates of herself -

…as she touches her reflection -

…and finds herself on the other side of it -

…as she turns to see the illusion of many duplicates of herself stretching into the distance -

…and we end on this shot -

NOTE - I like this variation of when Luke went into the ‘dark place’ on Dagobah in RETURN OF THE JEDI, as it comes across as quite creepy overall…but I’d prefer that it didn’t go on for SO LONG…so I’d discard the shots of Rey twisting her hand around which appear at this point…as well as all the finger-snapping shots and speeded-up multiple shots of her too, which I’m not keen on either…which means that I can also get rid of Rey’s voice (in another ‘Force-talk’ with Kylo it turned out) saying “I SHOULD HAVE FELT TRAPPED OR PANICKED…BUT I DIDN’T…IT DIDN’T GO ON FOREVER, I KNEW IT WAS LEADING SOMEWHERE…THAT AT THE END IT WOULD SHOW WHAT I CAME TO SEE…”, seeing as I don’t want her to be ‘Force-talking’ to Kylo at this point in the movie.

…and then we CUT* to Rey clenching her fist -

…and then we continue on as normal, as Rey approaches the mirrored surface again -

…and reaches out to touch it -

…as she whispers “LET ME SEE THEM…”

…and she continues to whisper “…MY PARENTS…”

…as she continues to whisper “PLEASE…”

…and two shadows appear in the mirror, while Rey watches intently-

…as the two shadows approach and meld into one -

…as the shadow turns out to be a reflection of Rey -

…and she drops to her knees in deep disappointment -

…as she says “I THOUGHT I’D FIND ANSWERS HERE…I WAS WRONG…”

…and we end on this shot -

NOTE - I’d discard the entire scene of Rey ‘Force-talking’ to Kylo and touching hands as Luke interrupts which appears at this point - CLICK HERE , and I’d ALSO get rid of the entire scene where she confronts Luke just afterwards - CLICK HERE

…and then we CUT* to the Falcon taking off as Rey decides to leave the island, and Luke watches from afar -

…as Luke turns away -

…and then we continue on as normal, as the island comes into view -

…and we end on this shot at the point where the wind whistles and there’s a brief lull in the music cue that plays -

NOTE - I’d definately discard the entire scene of Luke meeting up with Yoda which appears at this point - CLICK HERE, as I don’t want to see Luke wearing his ‘Jedi robes’ yet…but also because I’d rather he resolved to ‘rejoin’ with the ‘Force’ and help out the rebellion on his OWN accord, with Rey as the catalyst…WITHOUT having to be prompted into it by Yoda’s musings…and ALSO because I really dislike the fact that Yoda;s ‘Forceghost’ was shown to be able to powerfully affect the ‘living’ world by controlling lightning to strike the tree!

ADDITIONALLY - I’m not going to feel bad about losing him in this, as I’m guessing that he’ll make another brief appearance of some sort in THE RISE OF SKYWALKER anyway!

…and then we CUT* to Luke appearing out of the shadows into the moonlight, as the wind whistles -

…as he finally decides to ‘rejoin’ with the ‘Force’ -

…and we see Leia’s brain activity start to fluctuate -

…as Luke continues to concentrate -

…and Leia’s ‘Force-connection’ response to him continues as she whispers “Luke…”

…and Luke’s eyes open suddenly as he whispers “Leia!..”

…and we end on this shot -

…and then we CUT* to the 'codebreaker’s stolen ship flying in hyperspace -

…as Rose and Finn make their way back to continue their mission -

…and the movie CONTINUES ON from here, until we eventually reach the point where Luke has decided to get involved…as he appears as an ‘Force’-connected ‘astral projection’ of his younger self…complete with an ‘astral projected’ BLUE lightsaber…

…and saves the day by distracting Kylo long enough to give Leia and all the other rebels a chance to escape…

…as we see that Luke has FINALLY embraced his ‘inner Jedi’, and chosen to put on the ‘Jedi robes’ from his stone dwelling for this supreme effort…

…as the movie CONTINUES ON from here, and the rebels find a way out of the Crait base, as the exertion of Luke’s ‘astral projection’ over such a great distance ends up killing him…and he becomes ‘one with the Force’…

So Luke unfortunately ‘passes on’ thanks to Kylo…and I’m intending to describe the way I’d prefer to restructure the likes of the Crait battle and Luke’s whole ‘projection’ encounter with Kylo leading right up to his death, when I have more time another day.

But in the meantime, I’ll finish this off by showing how I’d prefer to alter the VERY END of the movie for myself too -

…Kylo and his troops appear, and search the rebel base -

…as Kylo kneels down in the rebel control room when he sees something -

…and then looks up when his ‘Force-connection’ to Rey suddenly begins to re-establish -

…as Rey looks back silently, and closes the door of the Falcon -

…as Kylo sees his father’s ‘dice’ disappear -

…and we ‘transition wipe’ to the Falcon escaping -

…as it jumps to hyperspace and we end on this shot -

NOTE - I’d prefer to discard some of the shots in the next sequence which appear at this point…such as Poe hugging his alien pal, and then introducing himself to Rey…to allow for a more sombre mood overall when we see Rey at this point…before the hopeful ‘group’ shot eventually appears to cheer things up!

…and then we CUT* to inside the Falcon as C3PO stands beside Artoo who’s whistling -

NOTE - I’d prefer to discard the first half of the shot above where C3PO says “SUCH A FRIEND…”, and just start at the point where we only hear Artoo instead.

…and then we continue on as normal, as Chewie hugs Leia, and she warmly responds “CHEWIE…”

…and we end on this shot -

NOTE - By the way, if I’d chosen to hear C3PO saying his “SUCH A FRIEND…” line, I would have placed him saying it AFTER we see the shot of Chewie hugging Leia instead.

ADDITIONALLY - The shot above always felt like ‘compensation’ for the fact that Chewie and Leia seemed to walk past each other with no acknowledgement near the end of THE FORCE AWAKENS. But I’d discard that shot from my ideal version of THE FORCE AWAKENS anyway, so this moment feels natural since Chewie’s been away quite a while on his mission to find Luke.

…and then we CUT* to Finn rummaging about -

…as he finds a blanket to put over Rose, and Rey looks on -

…as Leia sits down beside Rey -

…and Rey says “LUKE IS GONE…”*

…as she continues to say “…I FELT IT…BUT IT WASN’T SADNESS OR PAIN, IT WAS…PEACE AND PURPOSE…”, and Leia replies “I FELT IT TOO…”, as Rey asks her “HOW DO WE BUILD A REBELLION FROM THIS?..”, and Leia puts her hand on Rey’s, and says “WE HAVE EVERYTHING WE NEED…” -

…as Rey gives a little smile at her reassurance -

…and we get the hopeful ‘group’ shot to cheer us up -

…as we end the movie on the Falcon flying in hyperspace -

NOTE - I’m fine with ending this instalment on the Falcon too, as I definitely don’t want to end things on the ‘broom boy’ scene…because that whole sequence feels more like a full stop to the story, instead of a continuation at this point…and I’d prefer to end things with the regular characters, rather than some random kids.

…and we finish on a circular ‘iris’ wipe to the end credits music…

So that’s that then.

I’ve somehow managed to avoid the majority of trailers and spoilers for THE RISE OF SKYWALKER so far, and will be going to see it over the weekend with a couple of family members. I’m looking forward to hearing John Williams’ final score for the ‘Skywalker saga’, and at this point I’m wondering several things -

1. Will Kylo be ‘turned’ to the ‘light side’, and ‘redeemed’ by the end of the movie? - I hope not…as he’ll certainly get no forgiveness from me for killing off his old dad in the first SEQUEL instalment, and being the cause of Luke’s death in the second instalment too! I’d rather he stayed an irredeemable meanie till the end.

2. Will ‘Forceghosts’ continue to wield amazing power that can affect the ‘living’ world at will? - I hope not…or Yoda might as well just zap Kylo with an electric bolt from the heavens whenever it suits him.

3. Will Leia’s previous footage be integrated in a manner which works well? - I really hope so.

4. Will Luke get some decent scenes as a ‘Forceghost’ in this? - Again, I really hope so.

5. Will we see a heap of certain ‘Forceghosts’ turn up for a final ‘group shot’ ending? - I guess I’d be okay with that, depending on how it’s done.

6. Will we finally find out who Rey’s parents were?..and will she be related to the ‘Skywalker’ clan if so? - Hell, I barely care at this point.

7. Will I feel the urge to overhaul a heap of moments throughout this final instalment too? - Probably, and I’m certainly expecting to!

MERRY CHRISTMAS to you all, and NEXT UP I’ll go into my proposed NEW OPENING for SOLO sometime in the new year… 😃

EDIT - Well ‘THE RISE OF SKYWALKER’ was released since I made this post, and I’ve decided that the only way to make a more satisfying re-watch of it for myself is to COMBINE a restructured version of it with a restructured version of ‘THE LAST JEDI’ to turn both movies into one ‘mega-movie’ finale to the overall ‘Skywalker’ saga - where Rey DOESN’T declare that she’s a ‘Skywalker’ right at the end - because it’s going to be one lengthy ‘combined’ movie now, with only the ‘THE LAST JEDI’ title and scroll wording at the start.