Just finished watching the preliminary workprint, and I loved it! It promises a great cut of this film is on its way. Even for a work-in-progress with unfinished edits and some technical nitpicks, as a whole it is a pretty watchable movie with a lot of potential.

I’ve only followed this thread recently, so I don’t know if some these aspects have been discussed before. That being said, these are my first impressions:

The new color grading in Jakku, giving the impression of a bleached, overly bright feel with those white sands and skies, looks great and makes Jakku more unique (as far as desert planets can be) instead of being Discount Tatooine.
I’m glad you kept Poe’s funny snarking at Kylo.
Poe’s interrogation aboard the Finalizer is amazing and Kylo Ren feels even more frightening. I’d maybe make some of the shots shorter or more ambiguous, specially those that hint at Starkiller Base.
The BB-8 night scene looks cool but feels way too quick to serve as a buffer between the two scenes with Poe. If the shot of BB could be made a little longer, with some music tweaked to better blend into the next scene, it would be great.
Kylo saying “the one from the village” without name-dropping FN-2187 sounds seamless.
Rey’s Ponemah line during her restructured conversation with Finn sounds clipped. I guess you consciously left that scene unfinished, but you’ll get back to work on it soon.
Are you still planning to do the extended dialogue between Finn and the Crimson corsair?
To further bridge this movie and TROS, I believe Palpatine’s laugh could fit during Rey’s Force vision after she sees Ochi’s ship take off and before she finds herself at the hallway looking for Finn. Or maybe again at the end, when Rey uses the dark side to overpower Kylo Ren.
The transition between Kylo’s prayer to Vader and Finn reacting to the Destroyer felt a bit rough to me, but I think it’s just because I was used to see Vader’s helmet afterwards. Or maybe it’s the music transition.
When Rey returns to the Takodana castle there is a misplaced Han audio, if I recall correctly.
Revealing Ben’s parentage in a step-by-step way, with the pay-off after Han witneses Ben on Takodana, was amazing.
Removing the on-the-nose Death Star reference during the Resistance briefing was well done.
Leia’s “The First Order, charging the weapon now” sounds a bit clipped at the beginning and there seems to be an unnecessary echo at the end of “Order”.
The “Any word from the Republic?” also sounds rough, despite being a good idea I’m on board with.
The lighting change for the scene where Kylo first unmasks is a total win. It now makes Kylo much more menacing and, in hindsight, the stronger light vs dark symbolism plays well with the concept of their Force dyad.
The voices in Rey’s head before doing the mind trick was a nice touch. The music blending during the brief cut to Kylo approaching could be smoother.
Phasma’s new lines (were they taken from Battlefront II or Resistance?) sounded pretty great, specially the one before being knocked by Chewbacca, which is hilarious in hindsight.
Despite the unfinished sound mixing, the First Order alarms and the added TIE Fighter lights/shadows are a cool concept and they make for a better context for Rey hiding in that hatch. IIRC, you’re working to make Phasma the one that sounds the alarm, right?
Kylo’s scene in the Falcon was surprisingly touching, one of my favorite changes of this edit. This scene will look amazing when finished.
I liked the wordless storytelling in the moments right before Han’s death in the theatrical cut, but the added voiceovers sound pretty and don’t detract from the scene.
I have mixed feelings regarding the restructure of the Hosnian firing sequence. I was pretty satisfied with the approach of the Restructured edit, with the weapon firing right after Han is killed, as the musical scores match and both scenes flow well if they are put together, making for a great emotional impact. Still I find you did a great work piecing together the battle so the I think it might flow somewhat better if Leia’s reaction is shown before Chewie goes on a rampage. Cutting from Kylo’s expression right to Chewie felt a bit weird, and the music tonal whiplash reflected that.
Is there anyway to name the Hosnian system as the seat of the Republic? Poe’s sole mention of the planet was cut, so I understand if it’s not possible.
On the other hand, Rey’s (Force?) dream and its interspersing with R2 waking up and completing the map is a very satisfying pay-off. The TLJ recycled shot of Rey sitting in the Ahch-To hut is a bit too prominent in my opinion, so it may stand out when it reappears in the next movie. Otherwise I don’t have any issues with it. And that night-time D’Qar shot is gorgeous.

That would be all I think. Looking forward for future versions of this edit!