I’ve been lurking this thread for a while, and I just wanted to say there’s some brilliant stuff going on here. I went from thinking TROS was unsalvagble for edits, to anxiously awaiting the release of all the great work that’s being done. Everything with the force ghosts is flawless really, it looks incredibly professional, jonh must be some kind of wizard. I think the terrible pacing of TROS has forced everyone into awkward positions in regard to edits. TLJ was bloated, so nearly everyone just cut down what they didn’t like and left the rest (which is completely fine). But since TROS already feels hacked to pieces, and the flaws are so deeply rooted within the film, it made everyone take some really creative choices, and I think the final products will look wildly different from each other, which is pretty exciting. Just excellent work all around 😁
One suggestion I was thinking of, since Mustafar seems to be a point of discussion: how about making Rey’s vision during her training sequence intercut with Kylo’s scene where he’s killing all of those people. Rey can sense what’s happening via their connection, which is what throws her off. So, Opening crawl > some form of Kylo on Coruscant > reaching out to Vader’s mask and hearing the word “Mustafar” > introduction to Rey, levitating in the forest > Kylo’s rage from the theatrical cut’s first scene intercut with Rey losing it. This presents some problems, like the reforging of his mask needing to be placed somewhere else now, if it was intended to be spliced together with Mustafar.
However I think this change would work for a few reasons: 1) The film really should highlight Rey and Kylo’s connection (the Dyad), and cutting back and forth between them here would help sell that a lot. Showing that even subconsciously they can reach out to each other across the stars (get it? 😁) 2) These scenes are visually striking put back to back. Kylo is in a forest fire, dead trees all around him, and a red sky. Rey is in a lush forest, full of life, with a blue sky. Some nice contrast wouldn’t hurt, especially since it reflects each of them nicely. 3) The Mustafar scene is very short and abrupt, if it’s cut together with another scene, it feels more complete. 4) The extremely quick clip show of other movies in Rey’s vision is super jarring. Not only is each shot on screen for about a tenth of a second, making it hard to tell what you’re looking at, they’re completely unconnected. You see flashes of Luke on Ach-Tu, Han’s death, Evil Rey, Palpatine’s Throne, Rey’s mom, Rey’s parents abandoning her, Kylo closing his eyes somewhere, and Vader’s helmet. What exactly is that supposed to mean? Is she worried she won’t live up to the Skywalker legacy (flashes of Luke)? Is she scared she’ll give in to the dark side (evil Rey)? Is she seeing glimpses of her parents (her mom hugging her, their ship taking off)? Is she sensing Palpatine’s presence (his throne)? Or is it something else? The answer shouldn’t be all of the above. If she’s just sensing Kylo massacring all the villagers, and that’s what makes her lose control, I think it’s a lot clearer. Her connection with Kylo is making her impulsive, reckless, and full of rage. If other scenes are edited, so that the film revolves around Rey’s fear of turning to the dark (mirrored with Kylo turning to the light), I think this could work. The film is completely aimless thematically, may as well center it around something.
Just my two cents. There’s a ton of great work going on, and I just wanted to chime in with my own suggestion here. I’m really looking forward to seeing everyone’s own edits.