It didn’t feel like a cliffhanger to me. It felt like the resolution to the storyline that began with “Luke Skywalker has vanished”.
I agree with this. I have a feeling they debated over it, but, ultimately, if you start your film with the words “Luke Skywalker is missing,” he better be found at the end of the film.
By deleting the journey of Luke’s first lightsaber, the through-line of the film became Luke Skywalker himself. And, to not solve it would damage the film as a whole.
I found more people pissed that they said he’d be in the movie and was basically a glorified cameo. I just personally think it would’ve worked better if his reveal had been saved for 8 instead of just tacked on to the end of 7 as a cheap cliffhanger.
I don’t think it is a “cheap cliffhanger”. The movie needed a bright point at the end to counter all the negative.
Compare with The Empire Strikes Back’s end scene. There was Luke being out of pain on the path to recovery, Chewie and Lando following a lead on Han and the Rebel fleet being safe - all positive things. Imagine how the movie would have felt without those things.
By the way, that scene is IMHO the only time in the movie where the music is really good.
It didn’t feel like a cliffhanger to me. It felt like the resolution to the storyline that began with “Luke Skywalker has vanished”.
Exactly. It would have been a cliffhanger if they didn’t find him.
It didn’t feel like a cliffhanger to me. It felt like the resolution to the storyline that began with “Luke Skywalker has vanished”.
Exactly. It would have been a cliffhanger if they didn’t find him.
The movie would have felt like a waste if they didn’t find him.
Guys that’s fine if you don’t agree with me. This is a thread about edit ideas. That’s my edit idea and reasoning behind it. I loved the movie but I just personally think it would have benefitted from ending a little sooner. Just my opinion. No need for the heated debate.
I would agree that the end-scene is a lure to go see the next movie, yes. Disney probably gave instructions to Lucasfilm to make the movie have that property, which made Arndt and the others design the movie to be that way from the beginning.
And yes, I also have a feeling of cheapness about it, but I have that about about the whole of Disney’s New Star Wars Empire. It appears to me that with a movie being released every year as if Disney are in it only to milk it as much as possible. What I am afraid of is that they would milk it so dry that the franchise and the fan-base would be spent after episode 9 …
To expand on the comments above about the movie being “a waste without Luke” (in decreasing importance):
It is also difficult to predict how cutting the end-scene would work together with the next movie in the series. I anticipate that when we next first see her, some time will have passed during which she has undergone some Jedi training by Luke.
I just wish Kylo Ren only took his mask off in front of Han Solo, the rest of the movie he could should have kept it on, but perhaps the mask had some sand caught inside it from the planet Jakku which was coarse and rough and irritating…
So here’s why this is not a good idea: overload.
Even if the bridge scene didn’t do anything for you personally, it’s undebatable that it’s a keystone sequence in the movie. It’s Ren’s biggest decision as a character (so far) and it’s the culmination of Han’s development throughout the saga–the Han we meet in the Mos Eisley cantina would never have a kid, let alone reach out and try to reconcile with one while leaving himself physically and emotionally vulnerable.
By saving the reveal of Ren’s face–and identity, as some others have suggested–for that scene, you risk piling too much information and OH MY GOD revelation onto this emotionally cathartic confrontation. It might seem cool on paper, but from a storytelling perspective there would just be too much going on at once.
Imagine the famous catwalk revelation at the end of Empire, except in that sequence we see Vader without his helmet for the first time and he drops that Leia is Luke’s sister. There’s just too much going on for the audience or even Luke to reasonably parse.
Plus we need the proceeding two scenes of maskless Ren to establish his very human conflicts and insecurities–not to mention Driver’s unsettling facial and vocal performance–to sell how absolutely tormented he is in that confrontation.
And yeah, as Frink said having Ren masked during the interrogation would have kneecapped that part’s emotional dynamic.
TL;DR version: that change sounds cool on paper but the scene would have imploded under its own weight in execution.
Seeing as we know Ken is Solo’s son already I don’t think that’s a problem.
If anyone is exposing himself emotionally it’s Ken.
I’m not just going to kill you dad, I’m going to look you in the eye while I gut you with a flaming sword, that should get rid of any lingering thoughts of home and hearth.
Thank heavens it’s not the sort of series where he would have to do the rest of that Oedipus jive.
Seeing as we know Ken is Solo’s son already I don’t think that’s a problem.
If anyone is exposing himself emotionally it’s Ken.I’m not just going to kill you dad, I’m going to look you in the eye while I gut you with a flaming sword, that should get rid of any lingering thoughts of home and hearth.
Thank heavens it’s not the sort of series where he would have to do the rest of that Oedipus jive.
Ken?
I knew they would cut the forklift battle! 😉
Where were you in '77?
Dude, Kenny is dead!
I’m sure theses have been brought up, but here are my ideas on what should be added:
There maybe more ideas once the Blu-ray/ DVD comes out, to know exactly what the deleted scenes are.
The rest of the movie should be left as is.
One day we will have properly restored versions of the Original Unaltered Trilogy (OUT); or 1977, 1980, 1983 Theatrical released versions (Like 4K77,4K80 and 4K83); including Prequels. So that future generations can enjoy these historic films that changed cinema forever.
Yoda: Try not, do or do not, there is no try.
Personally I thought the movie was fantastic overall - a soft reboot of the franchise, but a darn good one. I’ve liked it more the more I’ve thought about it, and it’s definitely rekindled my love of Star Wars.
1. Have Finn fight with Captain Phasma on Takodana. This would increase the tension between the two characters as well as add to her prestige. (first time we see a stormtrooper fight with a melee weapon is this special character)
2. Remove Kylo Ren’s “Thank you” to Han after Kylo stabs him. I think even in the midst of the act, Kylo needs to be in emotional, traumatic hell. Han did NOT make the act any easier whatsoever - and in fact, he made it a million times harder… Kylo was hoping that Han would ridicule or talk down to him, say what a failure he was, etc… THAT would have made killing Han easier and a “Thank you” would be useful. But as it stands, Han was an unconditionally loving father in this scene. Only after Han starts to fall (or even after catching up with Finn and Rey) should Kylo’s resolve start to solidify. The “Thank you” line completely jerked me out of the moment and is the biggest, easiest change I would make.
3. Shorten the lightsaber battle between Finn and Kylo. I know Kylo is hurt and Finn has been trained with martial weapons, but this was still a bit too long.
4. Trim a lot of the fan service lines. Most are forced actually detract from the film.
How would you do number 1?
How would you do number 1?
Standing up.
This place has really gone downhill.
The Finn/Ren duel is already really short. Unless you want it to be over in <10 seconds, I think it’s fine. If you pay attention to the choreography of it, it’s pretty believable. Stretching it out to 30 seconds or so as the movie does gives the scene some pretty cool tension. You know Finn is going to get destroyed, but since it doesn’t happen immediately there’s a bit of dread and suspense as to what will happen to Finn.
I wouldn’t do a Fan Edit of TFA. If anything I’d make an Extended Edition. ONLY if all the deleted scenes are properly finished with completed ADR, effects, scoring, etc.
It felt a bit too rushed in cinemas TBH.
I thought Ken’s thank-you was essential.
I throws the audience into thinking he might need help going home and shows Ken’s world view to be utterly twisted by his Master’s teachings.
He genuinely find’s Han’s sacrifice to be ‘helpful’ and thanks him sincerly.
That’s really F&*ked Up! In a good way.
I thought Ken’s thank-you was essential.
I throws the audience into thinking he might need help going home and shows Ken’s world view to be utterly twisted by his Master’s teachings.
He genuinely find’s Han’s sacrifice to be ‘helpful’ and thanks him sincerly.
That’s really F&*ked Up! In a good way.
That’s my issue: the only reason Kylo would say “Thank you” is because Han did something that was helpful. The struggle was the moral and emotional decision, not the physical distance. Han made this struggle more difficult to overcome, so a “Thank you” feels out of place.
If there was no emotional struggle and Kylo just walked up and stabbed him, a “Thank you” would be a perfect line.
Completely agree. With everything.
Search your feelings, you know it to be true.
Honestly I forgot he said “Thank You”. I was so heartbroken by the death of Han that I wasn’t listening to anything Kylo said then. I mean, I totally saw it coming, but it never really hit me that o my god my childhood hero is dead until I saw it happen.
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I thought Ken’s thank-you was essential.
I throws the audience into thinking he might need help going home and shows Ken’s world view to be utterly twisted by his Master’s teachings.
He genuinely find’s Han’s sacrifice to be ‘helpful’ and thanks him sincerly.
That’s really F&*ked Up! In a good way.That’s my issue: the only reason Kylo would say “Thank you” is because Han did something that was helpful. perfect line.
Han did help him. By putting himself in a perfect position to die Kylo has an opportunity to fully embrace the Dark Side. I see no issue with it.
Han helped Kylo by not shooting first.
Now that I think about it, the only thing (or at least, the first thing) I’d really want to change (if I had the software, time, or know-how to do such things) is the colors. Teal and orange was prominent in many scenes (as with most modern movies), which was especially noticeable upon second viewing. Unless my eyes are being weird and I’m seeing things that aren’t there (which has happened before).
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Hard to say what should be corrected. TFA has a shitty script but is nicely done on the surface.
If possible it would be cool to remove the inappropriate and unfunny humor (especially during Poe/Ren scenes), the ridiculous “fan service” elements (“oh, you’re General Han Solo !”, “12 parsecs” and stuff like that: it’s “Star Wars”, not “Last Action Hero”…), and most of “Jar Jar” Finn characterisation (this character is so stupid… why isn’t he killed ?). The same goes with the line establishing that stormtroopers are conditioned kids who hence don’t join the Empire by choice.
The scene with the space monsters aboard Han’s ship is so lame that it should be trimmed to basically nothing. Talking about Han, his terrible line “Chewie, we are home” is also something to definitely cut. Most of the really painful interaction between Leia and Han (has Lucas written those lines ?) must be trimmed.
There might be lots of other things but I must confess that I don’t quite remember a single scene free of lame elements in this (very) average movie. The Maz cantina thing, yep, also something to consider erasing (her “HAN SOLOOOOOOO” line… gosh, so lame…). Saddly it seems impossible to cut the terrible “Rey’s Jedi Mind Trick found in your magic pocket because the script needs you to use it now” scene. Close ups on General Hux during his speech (when he is almost crying like a little nazi doll) are to be removed as well. Most of Kylo Donald Duck Ren characterisation should also be removed in order to let the main villain look like a real threat and not a whining piece of shit kid who’s mad a his parents for grounding him.
ALL the opening crawl (the worst ever written in the saga so far) has to be rewritten to focus on the real heart and background of the movie: the Empire is back and going to strike harder than ever. Luke’s to be found should be only in the last paragraph, 'cause it starts the movie plot.
And at the near end, it would be better to wake up R2 before the script tells him to wake up (when Ren leaves the planet for instance ?), and to trim the shitty “let’s complete the puzzle map together” sequence so it wouldn’t look so dumb (well, it would still be a very dumb sequence anyway). The pathetic “National Geographic” final shot is to be put in a trash.
The deleted scene explaining the political background really needs to be reinstalled.
I guess it would end up being a 100/110 minutes movie, which is fine. It could be a good movie with those changes.
edit: the Han Solo/Kylo Ren scene should stay untouched. Even if the scene itself is lazy, there is a very beautiful direction idea with the lights getting down. The dialogue between Han and his son is also very good. Rey almost ruins everything with her “acting skills” in the aftermath, but Chewie going berserk is fine, so I guess it might be one of the very few good scenes that don’t need to be re-edited.