Unusual Sequel Trilogy Radical Redux Ideas Thread — Page 79

That looks great! For the actual destruction on hosnian prime I think it would be nice to get a shot of the explosion that shows it doesn’t blow up the planet kinda like jedja, but I don’t know where that would come from.

snooker said:

RogueLeader said:

Later, Hux gives his speech and then we see the fleet jump away into hyperspace.

https://streamable.com/ytkl0t

Scene test!

Now, I really don’t know how to handle the Resistance briefing scene. All I’ve managed to do is change Poe’s line from “Lower the shield, destroy that oscillator, and blow up their big gun” to “…blow up their base”

That looks great Man as always! You may not have to blow up the base until a later movie. Would it be possible to do a matte where half of the base is covered in snow, and half is tropical? I had an idea like this that I posted before about putting Canto Bight on the same planet as the Starkiller. It helps explain how

1. The planet is a base, not just another weapon.

2. The reason the 1st order can build this fleet is because its funded by the galaxy’s “scum and villainy”

3. It plays up the idea that the 1st order is the radical remnant of the empire reborn a la Nazis in Argentina. Their supporters live on their base.

sade1212 said:

The above post is severely Poe’s Law-ing me.

Nobody is Poe’s Law-ing. This is the radical redux thread. If you don’t like something, just ignore it, no need to be a dick.

That is a good suggestion NeverarGreat.

Awesome shot!! Cool to see all of these new shots.
One suggestion, to help smooth out the line, “-will bring an end to the Senate, to their cherished fleet…” you could take “We” from “upon which we stand” and have the “We” be spoken at the end of that wide shot, so it becomes “We [cut to close up] will bring an end to the Senate…”

It might not work, but that’s how I thought it could be smoothed out when I originally had this idea. And I think I actually prefer Nev’s idea of using the “fierce machine” line. You have two options, at least!

If you managed to change that Poe line then you’ve made more progress than I ever did. I’ve probably watched that scene dozens of times to try and figure out how to rejig it to fit a new context. It’s just that they refer to it as a weapon, a gun, etc. so many times that it is hard to cut around it.

This might not work for what you’re trying to do, but my solution ended up being this: cut the scene altogether.

More explanation regarding that idea here:

With my idea that they are going to Starkiller Base to get the other half of the map, I figured that since it is the main MacGuffin of the plot, we didn’t need an exposition scene to explain what the new plan is. That scene is really there because at that point in the story, the focus of the plot takes a complete right turn from finding Luke, to destroying Starkiller Base. But, if Act 3 maintains its focus on finding the map to Luke Skywalker, a scene explaining this drastic plot change isn’t required. So instead, you would just have to make small changes throughout Act 3 help maintain that focus.

For example, one idea I had was that when Kylo was interrogating Poe, he would mention, “The map to Skywalker, we have the rest, recovered from the archives of the Empire”. He says this to Rey during her interrogation, but by having Kylo also say this to Poe, it not only gives Poe and the Resistance that crucial information, but we also inform the audience of this fact twice in the film. So, when Han and Finn go to Starkiller Base, we already have an idea of why they’re having to go there (beyond rescuing Rey).

During the Starkiller Base mission, you would cut all references to the shields, and instead they use Phasma to download the other half of the map. You would change the on-screen graphics from the shield being lowered, to graphics of a star map.

The oscillator, in this new version of the film, would function as a planetary tractor beam, and you would set this up a few times through new off-screen dialogue, as well as new on-screen graphics.

For example, the shot in the Starkiller control room, where Hux says, “Begin charging the weapon”, you could create new officer dialogue that says, “Activate the planetary tractor beam” and replace the sun-draining computer graphics to show/hear the tractor beam energy bar loading up (similar to the graphics we see in ANH when Obi-Wan lowers the tractor beam).

I’d assume Rey’s escape would be the reason why they activate the tractor beam, that way she can’t escape even if she found a ship. You could reuse some of the Resistance base cutaways to establish that they know it has been activated, which compromises their mission. It could be something like this:

Connix: General, are you seeing this?

Leia and Statura turned their heads.

Alien Officer: They’ve activated their tractor beam. Now they can’t escape. [new dubbed line]

Wide shot of Leia and Statura

Leia: Send them in!

Statura: Give Poe full authorization for attack!

Comm. Officer: Black Leader, go to sub-lights on your call.

You could even have an X-Wing pilot mention the “tractor beam” off-screen at some point during the battle. My point is that you can establish the new function of the “oscillator” throughout the film without really needing the briefing scene to explain the new plan. Even after they blow the oscillator up, you could have an insert shot of a First Order computer and see the tractor beam energy bar drain. The biggest issue would be cutting around shots of the planet blowing up, which I have seen done to an extent, like in DigMod’s edit, but you would need to find/make shots of the Falcon and the X-Wing squadron leaving the planet without it blowing up around them.

Another issue you run into by cutting the super weapon and sun-draining aspects is when the sun disappears during Kylo and Han’s scene. Perhaps you could replace the fading sun with a moon, and we could see a Star Destroyer pass over it, blocking out its light. This way you still maintain some symbolism of the First Order’s influence corrupting Ben, snuffing out his light, basically. Also, after this scene it is basically nighttime on the planet, so the moon being present could also help establish that it is night now on Starkiller Base.

Anyway, you might not need any of this, but I think this idea could work if a few new shots and lines could be created.

But I suppose the scene is important if you’re setting up this idea that their power system is so volatile, that destabilizing the oscillator should blow up the planet. But, it also might be hard for you to edit around and alter shots of the Starkiller Base hologram with the cannon still intact.

I also feel that you would need to keep the sun-draining aspect of the base to explain why the planet has enough energy that it could implode and turn into a star at the end. But you could establish that it does this in order to build their new fleet. Maybe you could redub Ackbar to ask, “How do they power a factory of that size?” and Finn could say, “It uses the power of the sun.”

Excellent ideas!! I’ll start toying around with those :>

I feel like I don’t want to have the planet explode at the end, just the ‘First Order Base’ part of it? idk lol. Part of the victory at the end is that that base is no longer usable for the First Order

So! The movie is: The Resistance, fearing the rise of the First Order, seeks Luke Skywalker who they believe will save the day. The First Order manages to destroy the Senate of the New Republic, effectively cutting the head off of any outside help the Resistance could rely on. However, our heroes manage to locate Skywalker, leading to new hope, the end!

I want to start working on a crawl that could help hammer home that the Resistance has these two goals

Okay. So you could probably keep some shots of it the planet falling apart, but it sounds like you still might need one or two replacement shots. At the very least, the est. shots of the planet imploding and turning into a star.

Here is something that I wrote for the crawl a while back that could possibly fit that:

Luke Skywalker has vanished. In his absence, the radical FIRST ORDER has emerged from uncharted space and will not rest until the glory of the Empire has been restored.

With the New Republic doubtful of the threat this remnant poses, General Leia Organa mobilizes a covert Resistance to gather evidence of the First Order’s true scale before it is too late.

Believing the last Jedi could rally the galaxy to their cause, Leia has sent her bravest pilot to Jakku, where a former Imperial archeologist holds the missing piece to Luke’s whereabouts…

This crawl accomplishes a few things.
• The scale of the First Order is a mystery because they have rebuilt in hiding, and the New Republic is doubtful they are anymore dangerous than past Imperial remnants.
• The Resistance has been mobilized to find evidence that the First Order is a genuine threat to the Republic.
• Leia believes finding Luke could add legitimacy to their claims, which ties their desire to find Luke to their desire for the Republic to take this new threat seriously.

I think all of this fits well with what we see in the film, too.
• When Poe first sees the First Order hangar bay, he is almost in shock by how sophisticated it looks.
• When we meet Leia, she makes it clear that the Republic doesn’t take her, or this threat, seriously.
• If you show that Starkiller Base has been mined out, it could help show that they have been able to rebuild their fleet off-the-grid (though this idea might necessitate cutting the war profiteering stuff from TLJ). The “uncharted space” line could help hammer in this idea that they have been rebuilding in secret.
• While you could say, “Believing the last Jedi to be their key to victory”, I think by saying Luke could rally the galaxy to their cause, it helps set up how Luke is not only a powerful warrior, but a symbol of hope that can influence the entire galaxy.
• While not necessary, I feel like setting up Lor San Tekka as a former Imperial archeologist that has been “protecting” the missing piece of the map helps provide some much-needed context for where this map came from, and why it is split into two parts. More explanation for that:

While not explicitly explained, the idea is that Lor San Tekka used to be an Imperial archeologist who was looking for the First Jedi Temple, under orders of the Emperor. Perhaps he is Alderaanian (“To me, she’s royalty”), and after its destruction, he left the Empire and took the last piece of the map with him. He has been protecting its location ever since, perhaps only sharing it with Luke, which is how he got there himself. Maybe Lor San didn’t know Luke went into hiding, but Leia went looking for Lor San because she knew he had the map. So this helps explain why a part of the map is in the Imperial archives, and why this random old man has the missing piece. “This will begin to make things right” now potentially has an additional meaning, if Lor San had previously helped the Empire find and destroy sacred Jedi sites. If you keep the films focus on finding the map, I felt it was important to try and give more context to its origins.

Gimpy said:

sade1212 said:

The above post is severely Poe’s Law-ing me.

Nobody is Poe’s Law-ing. This is the radical redux thread. If you don’t like something, just ignore it, no need to be a dick.

If people simply ignored things they didn’t like, that’d kill over 66% of the entire internet.

I really love the dreadnought idea. I wonder if there’s any way to tie it to TLJ, maybe inserting some shots of captain Cannady in TFA? It would also be nice if they said Dreadnought in TFA, or if Poe had some line about destroying it because it destroyed the republic or something. If you can show that Poe wants to destroy it purely out of revenge for the republic I think it’ll play better for his arc.

You could bring in Poe’s line about how every one destroyed “is a world saved” in the TLJ as if he’s saying it on the radio to Leia.

Not a bad idea! Especially if you remove the planet-killing aspect of the Star Destroyers in TROS. Might as well reuse the line somewhere else.

If you integrated canto bight into your new matte painting (the top half is the snow covered military installation) the bottom is Canto Bight, you could use some of the kajimi footage (where imperials are terrorizing civilians) to show that there is a kind of zone between the two biomes of the planet.

If you do that, there should be some sort of establishment, maybe in the crawl, that the New Republic has already fallen.

I wrote something up awhile back and making this change across the films. Obviously a benefit would be that it might make the trilogy feel less like a retread of the OT. The downside would be the stakes might not be as high if the capital isn’t destroyed and the Republic isn’t in tatters and eventually conquered.

After Luke’s disappearance in TFA, you could establish that the New Republic and the First Order (a reunified Imperial remnant) have a truce, or peace treaty, to prevent another full-scale war. The First Order has no plans to conquer the Republic in this film. Their only goal is to find and destroy Luke Skywalker and the Jedi.

While Snoke isn’t a Sith, he could be referred to as a Sith cultist, an acolyte of the Emperor, a former Inquisitor, whatever. The Sith are gone, but Snoke wants to restore them.

Leia clearly objects to their goals, but the New Republic has a treaty to uphold and won’t interfere. So, Leia forms a Resistance cell within First Order space to sabotage the First Order and keep them from finding Luke first. The First Order does not destroy Hosnian Prime in this film. Instead, the third act is about Han and Finn acquiring the second half of the map from Starkiller Base (and rescuing Rey).

Even though the dynamics of the Resistance and First Order are similar to the Rebels and the Empire, this feud only exists in one half of the galaxy, and the New Republic still exists off-screen in the other half. While this might seem like a pointless change since they remain off-screen, removing the Starkiller super weapon, and the Republic’s destruction, allows the story to focus on this quest to find Luke and bring back the Jedi, differentiating it from A New Hope.

The Last Jedi would have the least amount of changes, structurally. But any reference to the Republic being destroyed, or the First Order taking over the galaxy within weeks, is removed. A reason for why the Resistance fleet doesn’t just escape to Republic space may need to be created. Perhaps the Supremacy is generating a gravity well, or we could add an interdictor to the fleet. Perhaps this could be a place for more radical ideas for the B-plot. When Leia refers to her “allies”, maybe she could be more explicitly referring to the Republic. Maybe they get a transmission from the Republic on Crait specifically saying they cannot intervene.

After Kylo Ren becomes Supreme Leader in TROS, this is when he finally enacts their plan to try and take over the galaxy. He is the main antagonist of this film, because Palpatine has not returned.

Perhaps finding Exegol was always Snoke’s goal after destroying Luke, and Kylo just followed through with it. Exegol could be established as where the secrets of the Sith lay hidden, and where Sidious left a lost fleet for his potential successor.

Once the Resistance gets this information, they share it with the Republic in hopes they’ll help them out. And sure enough, it is the entire New Republic armada that shows up at the end of the film to the end the war before it begins.

During the battle, Kylo Ren and Rey have their duel on the ruins of the Death Star. After their fight, Kylo Ren turns, and he orders the rest of the First Order to surrender, ending the war once and for all.

I actually had an idea for remaking TFA to completely 100% change Luke’s character to be actively involved with the New Republic. There’s footage that’s usable with him interacting on ships in space. Which would mean no exile…or at least not in the same way.

This would cause a domino effect that would require a lot of editing of all 3 films…but I think it’s doable.

Alternatively, I think making “Episode 6.5” is also doable, showing him before Kylo snaps.