Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker Redux Ideas thread — Page 20

I hope they include the Oracle scene on the BD. I suspect they cut it because it revealed Kylo was in love with Rey, something they wanted to save as a surprise for the end of the film. I’m speculating now but I believe I read somewhere that Rey had a scene with Maz before she left for Pasaana. I bet that Maz explained in that scene that Leia was dying, and they cut it for the same reason (leaving her death a surprise). Hope if true they include that as well. I much preferred JJ’s TFA approach where he just dropped Kylo being a Solo like it was no big deal.

I hope it is too. I think you can see Vader’s castle in the distance in that shot from the Art book, actually.

Agreed. I think Rey and Kylo’s feelings for each other should have been built up more blatantly throughout the film. Not doing that left some people feeling unsure of what to think about this kiss. I felt like Abrams turned them into surprises, when really it was a matter of set ups and pay offs.

RogueLeader said:

I hope it is too. I think you can see Vader’s castle in the distance in that shot from the Art book, actually.

Agreed. I think Rey and Kylo’s feelings for each other should have been built up more blatantly throughout the film. Not doing that left some people feeling unsure of what to think about this kiss. I felt like Abrams turned them into surprises, when really it was a matter of set ups and pay offs.

Even for someone like me who assumed they were in love after TLJ, you still aren’t really sure in this, because they could have easily gone a different direction because it wasn’t explicit. I think solidifying Kylo’s feelings for her right off the bat are important for grounding his headspace right from the start, and colors his intentions differently (and more clearly) throughout.

Between this image and the leaked November cue list, I’m hoping it’s a finished scene on the BD.

With that in mind, here’s an idea for a first act restructure (based on the November cut):

• Kylo on Mustafar
• Oracle
• Rey meditating
• Rey training/Kylo touching Vader’s mask/visions
• Poe and Finn’s mission
• Kylo goes to Exegol
• Falcon returns to base

Also, regarding the earlier discussion about Leia’s body disappearing when Ben dies and her vision of her son dying… you could actually solve both of these problems pretty easily by simply not having Ben die. Of course then you have another problem - what happens to him after Exegol?

I have a very clear idea for how to handle a Ben Lives alternate ending, which will be the first thing I work on once the film comes out on Blu-ray, but I kind of want to wait and see how much I can do on my own before I share it.

But speaking of Ben Lives, I’m still kind of debating on how to handle Ben bringing Rey back to life. It makes sense that if Ben resurrects Rey, that he will die since he gave her his life Force. So just cutting him dying might feel like it goes against what the movie established about the power.

So should we just have Ben save Rey and not die, regardless of the questions it might raise, or introduce some “divine intervention”?

RogueLeader said:

I have a very clear idea for how to handle a Ben Lives alternate ending, which will be the first thing I work on once the film comes out on Blu-ray, but I kind of want to wait and see how much I can do on my own before I share it.

But speaking of Ben Lives, I’m still kind of debating on how to handle Ben bringing Rey back to life. It makes sense that if Ben resurrects Rey, that he will die since he gave her his life Force. So just cutting him dying might feel like it goes against what the movie established about the power.

So should we just have Ben save Rey and not die, regardless of the questions it might raise, or introduce some “divine intervention”?

Yeah, you could probably have some more Jedi voices if you wanted to suggest they were helping. Maybe something as simple as Luke’s “A thousand generations live in you now.”

DominicCobb said:

RogueLeader said:

I have a very clear idea for how to handle a Ben Lives alternate ending, which will be the first thing I work on once the film comes out on Blu-ray, but I kind of want to wait and see how much I can do on my own before I share it.

But speaking of Ben Lives, I’m still kind of debating on how to handle Ben bringing Rey back to life. It makes sense that if Ben resurrects Rey, that he will die since he gave her his life Force. So just cutting him dying might feel like it goes against what the movie established about the power.

So should we just have Ben save Rey and not die, regardless of the questions it might raise, or introduce some “divine intervention”?

Yeah, you could probably have some more Jedi voices if you wanted to suggest they were helping. Maybe something as simple as Luke’s “A thousand generations live in you now.”

I’m still not sure exactly how to go about portraying it, but whether Rey or Ben dies, I think it would be interesting if Anakin were to be the one to bring them back to life. So let’s say it is Rey… As Ben is hugging Rey’s body, maybe he could hear Anakin say something to him (or maybe not so Ben does it thinking he will die and not contradict his act of selflessness), then Ben places his hand on Rey and closes his eyes. Then maybe these “healing” shots could be altered to show someone appear kneeling across from Ben, and placing their hand on top of his. We could get a brief glimpse of Anakin’s face, either by taking a shot or two of him from ROTS, or deepfake a shot or two of a stand-in. At the very least you could just film an insert of a hand being placed onto Ben’s, something you could shoot with a robe and a green screen.

Before the film came out I remember so many people wanting Anakin to make some kind of appearance in the movie, and although we heard his voice, I think people were hoping for more. This could be a nice way to achieve that, as well as have Anakin have one final act in the last film of the Skywalker Saga. I like the idea that the dyad could be a literal representation of “balance”, and if Anakin were to bring one half of the dyad back to life, then he would be restoring balance through the power he was desperate to discover during his life. It also makes the power of resurrection more special, since that is something only the Chosen One can do. And you could further explore the implications of Anakin doing this for Rey, the last Jedi, and Ben, his grandson, and granting this gift to them so they can experience a future that he and Padme never could. (I also like the idea that Anakin’s very first line in the first film being “Are you an angel?” and then appearing like an angel at the end of the last film.)

Anyway, a lot to chew on, but I think this would really surprise people if we could get it to work.

Just had another, simpler idea for this issue. What if during that moment of Ben trying to heal Rey, we cut to Leia’s body disappearing back at the Resistance base? The implication could be that a little bit of Leia’s life Force was still in this world, like when she communed to Ben through a vision of Han, but she gave that little bit of life left to ensure Ben wouldn’t die in the healing process. Would that be too vague? Maybe we could hear Leia whisper something to Ben?

Dom, I think you were trying to figure out what to do with that shot earlier. Maybe this could be where it goes. I know that originally the idea was putting Leia’s body disappearing right after the Ben and Han scene to imply it was Leia communicating to Ben. Maybe we could keep that implication by Ben hearing Leia say “Ben” after he throws his saber, which is what prompts him to turn around and look for the source of the voice. You could take the line from where she says “Ben” earlier, during Rey and Kylo’s duel. Maybe you could also use “Son”, then you could use “Ben” and “Son” interchangeably between the two scenes. Though I think that moment of Ben sensing her mother’s death might work better without her saying his name, since it also felt like Leia was trying to distract Ben so Rey could get the upper hand. Without her saying something, it might seem like he is just sensing it on his own.

EDIT: Leia does say, “We can sill save him” in TFA during her conversation with Han. Maybe when Ben is hugging Rey’s body, we could have Ben hear Leia say, “Son, we can still save her”, or “You can still save her”

Interesting thoughts, but not for me. I know you tend to be democratic when it comes to devising edit ideas, but personally I don’t care that people wanted Anakin in the movie. I don’t like how the PT tried to reframe the saga as his story, and I don’t care much for making sure his status as ‘chosen one’ is kept intact.

Honestly too I think having Anakin’s hand involved would just be kind of unintentionally funny, considering the romantic nature of the scene (and somewhat undercut the hand-taking throughline of their relationship).

DominicCobb said:

Honestly too I think having Anakin’s hand involved would just be kind of unintentionally funny, considering the romantic nature of the scene (and somewhat undercut the hand-taking throughline of their relationship).

Okay, fair enough! I just laughed out loud imagining it with that in mind and I see your point! 😂

What do you think of the Leia idea instead?

RogueLeader said:

DominicCobb said:

Honestly too I think having Anakin’s hand involved would just be kind of unintentionally funny, considering the romantic nature of the scene (and somewhat undercut the hand-taking throughline of their relationship).

Okay, fair enough! I just laughed out loud imagining it with that in mind and I see your point! 😂

Grandpa watching over baby’s first kiss.

What do you think of the Leia idea instead?

That’d work much better, and maybe if you put Leia’s body disappearing after one could assume some part of Leia’s lifeforce helped bring Rey back or something.

That’s true! You could actually leave the shots in the same order, and not have to meddle with the soundtrack too much. Really, all you would need to do is add a Leia line like, “We can still save her…” to make it clearer that Leia played a role in saving Rey, and providing enough of an explanation as to how Ben also survived the process.

Then you can cut away before Ben’s smile begins to fade. Later, Rey and Ben can then meet up on Tatooine. And I have a practical idea for how to achieve that without shooting any new footage.

RogueLeader said:

That’s true! You could actually leave the shots in the same order, and not have to meddle with the soundtrack at all. Really, all you would need to do is add a line like, “We can still save her” to make it clearer that Leia played a role in saving Rey, and providing enough of an explanation as to how Ben also survived the process.

Then you can cut away before Ben’s smile begins to fade. Later, Rey and Ben can then meet up on Tatooine. And I have a practical idea for how to achieve that without shooting any new footage.

Hmm, would it involve using footage of Ren on Pasaana? That’s the thought that occurred to me recently.

DominicCobb said:

RogueLeader said:

That’s true! You could actually leave the shots in the same order, and not have to meddle with the soundtrack at all. Really, all you would need to do is add a line like, “We can still save her” to make it clearer that Leia played a role in saving Rey, and providing enough of an explanation as to how Ben also survived the process.

Then you can cut away before Ben’s smile begins to fade. Later, Rey and Ben can then meet up on Tatooine. And I have a practical idea for how to achieve that without shooting any new footage.

Hmm, would it involve using footage of Ren on Pasaana? That’s the thought that occurred to me recently.

It’s not what I had in mind, but that’s definitely an option. I’ve seen a few fan alt. endings on YouTube that reuse footage of Kylo on Pasaana, so that might be the simplest option.

What do you have in mind?

Ben can revive Rey and live because dyad. There. Problem solved.

DominicCobb said:

What do you have in mind?

I sent you a PM.

Anakin Starkiller said:

Ben can revive Rey and live because dyad. There. Problem solved.

So you don’t think people would question the logic at all? At the very least the Leia idea gives us a good reason to keep Leia becoming one with the Force in the same place without having to have Ben die as well.

I mean, you could cut the dialogue about healing requiring you to give away a bit of your own life, but that would make it amusingly overpowered. It would remove questions about how many years of life expectancy Rey gave away to heal that worm and Kylo’s fatal stab wound though. My preferred option is to keep Ben’s sacrifice - it is essentially his main redemptive act, and I think his selfless attempt to save someone from death does (for all the faults of the rest of the movie) act as a satisfying contrast to Anakin’s selfish attempt in ROTS - but then have him Force Ghost Ex Machina’d back into the living world. I just don’t think the movie places enough weight on Ben’s death to be able to not make it feel skipped over and overlooked; so he has to survive to keep the ending satisfying. I rewatched Fellowship of the Ring EE yesterday and I was struck by how much more effectively the death scenes in that movie are handled.

Lot of that arts look so good… what do you guys think the deal is with the floating ash that Kylo observes?

This might be a weird idea. I recall the Exogol scenes being pretty blue, or at least having a blue hazy tone. What if we regraded it to have a more neutral tone, or give it a monochromatic, almost black and grey look, to emphasize this Sith throne world as a world of literal darkness. And later when Rey/Kylo use their sabers, they’ll really stand out well against the blackness.

Vader’s floating ashes is probably Palpatine leading Kylo to him with the Force.

It uses bootleg footage and is titled pretty pretentiously (if deemed inappropriate to post about, please remove. thank you mods), but the YouTube channel “Rey Kenobi” posted an interesting edit to the ending that I think could be a kind base model for editors who like the idea of Ben living at the end. It uses Leia’s death as a springboard to heal Ben after his apparent death after healing Rey. I won’t post a link due to bootleg footage, but if you wanted to hunt it down on your own, there you go.

I’ve seen that! Thanks for bringing that up Darth Lucas!
To summarize:

1. Ben brings Rey back to life
2. Ben falls over dead
3. Ben begins to fade
4. Cut to Leia’s body fading away and Maz smiling
5. Ben fades back in
6. Rey lifts him up (shot reversed)
7. Ben and Rey smile at each other and kiss

I think the reverse shots could use some work to make them feel slightly different and less obviously reversed, like the way Ben’s hand moves on the back of Rey’s head (maybe you could just mask his hand out in that shot). I think you would need to rearrange the shots of them looking at each other a little differently too to try and sell it more. But Rey Kenobi’s version does have a clear sequence of events and maintains Ben’s act of selflessness, with his mother giving him one final gift.

I like the idea of Leia intervening in some way (either for Ben or Rey) because it reminds me a little of the Mortis arc from Clone Wars. Towards the end of that arc, Ahsoka dies, but The Daughter offers what was left of her own life Force to save her, but Anakin was necessary to act as a conduit for the life Force to be transferred.

So in this version of the film, it could play out similarly. Leia, the “daughter” of Anakin, gives what little of her life Force still lingered in this world to bring Rey back to life, with Ben, the grandson of Anakin, acting as a conduit like Anakin once did.

But you would get a similar idea whether she helps save Rey or Ben, I think.

DominicCobb said:

Interesting thoughts, but not for me. I know you tend to be democratic when it comes to devising edit ideas, but personally I don’t care that people wanted Anakin in the movie. I don’t like how the PT tried to reframe the saga as his story, and I don’t care much for making sure his status as ‘chosen one’ is kept intact.

Honestly too I think having Anakin’s hand involved would just be kind of unintentionally funny, considering the romantic nature of the scene (and somewhat undercut the hand-taking throughline of their relationship).

Same here. I have no interest in seeing Anakin in this film and I never cared for how GL claimed the saga was meant to be his story all along, especially that Chosen One prophecy nonsense. I’m glad it wasn’t referenced at all in TROS with the exception of Anakin mentioning some vague mumbo jumbo about bringing balance.

As for the alternate ending with Leia using her life force to revive Ben, I think that is the best decision especially since we actually have Maz looking jubilant when Leia’s body fades away. This moment doesn’t work as well if you have her smiling because Ben has just passed away too, even if he is reunited with his mother. It does make sense if Maz senses that Leia has used her final act to revive her son and reunite him with Rey. Very interesting to see Ben integrated in that final scene although hopefully in footage that doesn’t have him dressed up as Kylo Ren.