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I really have very small interest in TFA fan edits because I know they’ll mostly just cut out stuff I love, but there are some small quibblies that I’ll probably have to sort out for myself at some point.
For instance, and it’s strange no one’s mentioned this, but the Kylo speaks to Vader scene doesn’t really work. I mean, as a scene, by itself, it totally works. But it’s placement within the film just seems… random? It’s right in the middle of the sequence of the heroes at Maz’s castle, but it’s only about a minute long and doesn’t really have anything to do with that. So just a very short and unrelated detour, which sort of ruins the power of the scene a bit.
So I see two options to fix.
A) Make the scene more relevant to Kylo’s storyline. Solution: move the scene right after Snoke’s “We shall see.”
or B) Make the scene more relevant to the heroes storyline. Solution: move the scene right after Han and Leia talk about Kylo.This sounds like a very good point indeed, considering that I found that substantially re-arranging the position of certain scenes in the prequels for my own cut-lists made them much more impactful for me. I’m definately gonna have a look at this suggestion of yours when I get around to pinning down my own TFA alterations. It’s a great scene, but I agree it’s placement might be more effective if used elsewhere.
I’ve spent a bit more time working out my own ideal version of TFA recently, and thought that some of you might be interested in my conclusion to do with DC’s suggestion above - while I reckon the ‘Stardestroyer/Kylo talking to Vader’s mask’ scene works well enough as a ‘cutaway-setting’ during the initial ‘Maz’s palace’ sequence at that point, I’ve decided I’d prefer to SHIFT it for my own version after all - although to a different spot to either of DC’s suggestions. And I’ve also decided I’d like to move the position of a couple of other major scenes too.
However, I’m currently very torn between whether I’d prefer to keep the FULL ‘Hux speech/Starkiller weapon firing/Finn & Han looking upwards as the Hosnian Republic planets are destroyed’ sequence as it currently stands (due to loving the score heard throughout it, and some of the shots included)…OR whether I’d prefer to CHOP IT UP and show the Starkiller weapon firing and destroying the planets after Han’s death instead (in a somewhat similar manner as the way shown in some edits/clips already - which unfortunately means losing a few ‘Kylo/Hux/First Order troops’ shots I really like, as well as the full melancholy score at this point). At the moment, I’m slightly leaning towards KEEPING the current overall structure just as it is, while changing other things in the movie…but I may end up doing BOTH versions eventually to see which flows best for me overall.
In the meantime, here are some scene rearrangements I’m planning for my version where the FULL existing ‘Hux speech/Starkiller weapon firing/Finn & Han looking upwards as the Hosnian Republic planets are destroyed’ sequence is KEPT just as it is -
To recap, the CURRENT sequence of scenes are arranged like this -
…once the Falcon blasts off at the end of the ‘rathtars’ sequence, we see the 'pirate informer’s close-up as he notifies the First Order that BB-8 is with Han in the Falcon…and then go to seeing 2 TIEs fly towards the Starkiller base as we see the 1st ‘Snoke/Hux/Kylo’ scene (which ends with Snoke saying “We shall see…we shall see”)…and then go to the Falcon in hyperspace/Han and Rey struggling for control/Finn bandaging Chewie/BB-8 showing Han his ‘piece of the map’/Han telling them “this is our stop”…and then go to the Falcon in hyperspace, as it approaches Maz’s planet/our heroes land on Maz’s planet, and enter Maz’s premises/where a droid informs the ‘resistance’ of their whereabouts, followed by a female informing the ‘First Order’ too…and then go to the Stardestroyer where Kylo speaks to Vader’s mask/and continue with Maz discussing things with Han, Rey, and Finn/as Finn tells Rey he’s leaving, and Rey ends up being drawn to Luke’s saber and has bad visions/before she tells Maz she wants nothing to do with it, and runs away into the woods…and then go to the ‘Starkiller planet/Hux’s speech/weapon firing/Kylo watching from stardestroyer bridge/Finn and Han’s reactions/Hosnian people and planets blowing up’ sequence…before eventually returning to Rey running through the woods, who has been followed by BB-8, as she then sees the approaching TIE ships flying overhead, and is eventually captured by Kylo soon after…
However, my own re-arrangement of the above scenes will look like this INSTEAD (with the shifted scenes in CAPITALS) -
…once the Falcon blasts off at the end of the ‘rathtars’ sequence, we see the 'pirate informer’s close-up as he notifies the First Order that BB-8 is with Han in the Falcon…AND THEN GO TO THE FALCON IN HYPERSPACE/HAN AND REY STRUGGLING FOR CONTROL/FINN BANDAGING CHEWIE/BB-8 SHOWING HAN HIS ‘PIECE OF THE MAP’/HAN TELLING THEM “THIS IS OUR STOP”…and then go to seeing 2 TIEs fly towards the starkiller base as we see the 1st ‘Snoke/Hux/Kylo’ scene (which ends with Snoke saying “We shall see…we shall see”)…AND THEN GO TO THE FALCON IN HYPERSPACE AGAIN AT THIS POINT, AS IT APPROACHES MAZ’S PLANET/our heroes land on Maz’s planet, and enter Maz’s premises/where a droid informs the ‘resistance’ of their whereabouts, followed by a female informing the ‘First Order’ too…AND CONTINUE WITH MAZ DISCUSSING THINGS WITH HAN, REY, AND FINN AT THIS POINT/as Finn tells Rey he’s leaving, and Rey ends up being drawn to Luke’s sabre and has bad visions/before she tells Maz she wants nothing to do with it, and runs away into the woods…AND THEN GO TO THE ‘STARDESTROYER WHERE KYLO SPEAKS TO VADER’S MASK’ SCENE…and then go to the FULL ‘Starkiller planet/Hux’s speech/weapon firing/Kylo watching from stardestroyer bridge/Finn and Han’s reactions/Hosnian people and planets blowing’ sequence as it currently stands in the movie…before eventually returning to Rey running through the woods, who had been followed by BB-8, as she then sees the approaching TIE ships flying overhead, and is eventually captured by Kylo soon after…
(Note: I reckon the current placement of the 1st ‘Snoke/Hux/Kylo’ scene certainly works just fine as it is after the ‘rathtar’ sequence ‘pirate informer’ notifies the First Order of BB-8’s whereabouts…and the only reason I’m moving it at all, is that I want to continue on with the Falcon’s interior scenes after it blasts off, and also like the notion of then SPLITTING the Falcon’s journey to Maz’s planet with the ‘Snoke cutaway-setting’ at that point instead…and while DC’s idea to stick the ‘Kylo/Vader’s Mask’ scene to immediately after the 1st ‘Snoke/Hux/Kylo’ scene can work quite effectively as a way to stay with a ‘Kylo cutaway setting’ a little longer, I just slightly prefer staying a little longer with him using a direct join with the ‘Hux speech/weapon firing’ scene instead…ESPECIALLY as the stardestroyer shots tie-in very nicely nearer together)
…and then jumping forward in the movie a little, I’ve also decided to shift the 2nd ‘Snoke/Hux/Kylo’ scene also - however, I’ve decided on a certain change for myself that I know some others aren’t keen on - totally removing the ‘Kylo unmasking/Rey interrogation’ scene, so that I can keep Kylo’s ‘face reveal’ until Han tells him to take his helmet off on the gantry. Thing is, due to the fact that the movie ends up revealing that Kylo is Han’s son early on in the proceedings…along with having the big set-piece of the Starkiller weapon destroying the planets early on too (about half-way through)…then I feel that I’d like to at least keep the ‘reveal/mystery’ of what ‘Ben’ actually looks like, to much later in the movie.
I wasn’t sure if it was possible to do this adequately for myself initially. But on balance I think so, as I can see a way where I can rearrange the footage/dialogue from BOTH of the ‘Snoke/Hux/Kylo’ scenes to still make 2 scenes that are satisfying enough for me…where Kylo keeps his helmet on throughout. And while I like the dialogue between Kylo and Rey in the interrogation scene, I reckon I can live without it for the ‘effect’ of Kylo’s reveal at the point Han catches up with him.
So here’s how I’d now insert the 2nd ‘Snoke/Hux/Kylo’ scene instead -
To recap, the CURRENT sequence of scenes are arranged like this -
…the movie has progressed from where Kylo took Rey away, to the point in the ‘resistance base’ where Leia is telling Han that she wants him to get their son back, and she walks away when told “General, the reconnaissance report on the enemy base has come in”…and then go to 2 TIEs flying over the snowy First Order base/where Rey wakens to her interrogation by Kylo/and the 2nd Snoke scene starts with him yelling “The scavenger resisted you?” at a HELMETLESS Kylo (and ends with Snoke saying “Bring…her…to…me”)/Rey struggles and attempts to make a trooper free her, as Kylo approaches with helmet on/Rey tries again, and succeeds in getting the trooper to free her and drop his weapon/as Kylo returns and smashes up the empty room with his sabre/as 2 troopers turn around and go back the way they came/and Hux on base bridge says "Begin charging the weapon, as we then see the sun sucked towards the planet, and we then return to the ‘resistance’ base as Poe discusses the Starkiller hologram with everyone…
And here’s how my own re-arrangement of the scenes will look INSTEAD (with the shifted scene in CAPITALS) -
…the movie has progressed from where Kylo took Rey away, to the point in the ‘resistance base’ where Leia is telling Han that she wants him to get their son back, as she walks away when told “General, the reconnaissance report on the enemy base has come in”…and then go to 2 TIEs flying over the snowy First Order base…AND THEN GO TO A ‘REARRANGED’ VERSION OF THE 2ND ‘SNOKE/HUX/KYLO’ SCENE WHERE KYLO ‘KEEPS HIS HELMET ON’ (AND ENDS ON SNOKE SAYING “BRING…HER…TO…ME”)…and then go to Rey struggling and attempting to make a trooper free her, as Kylo approaches with helmet on/Rey tries again, and succeeds in getting the trooper to free her and drop his weapon/as Kylo returns and smashes up the empty room with his sabre/as 2 troopers turn around and go back the way they came/and Hux on base bridge says “Begin charging the weapon”, as we then see the sun sucked towards the planet, and we then return to the ‘resistance’ base as Poe discusses the Starkiller hologram with everyone…
So that’s what I’ve got in mind for all that if I KEEP the Starkiller weapon firing where it currently is in the movie. (but of course, certain scenes would be re-arranged a bit differently for my version where it fires AFTER Han’s death)