So I figured I’d throw my hat in the ring!
A fledgling REPUBLIC struggles to keep peace. The sinister FIRST ORDER, an imperial remnant, has seized territory and threatens to envelop the galaxy in chaos.
General Leia Organa leads a brave RESISTANCE inside enemy space. But Luke Skywalker, the last Jedi, has vanished – and without his help this fight is futile.
Desperate to find her brother, Leia has sent her most daring pilot on a secret mission to Jakku. There, an old ally has discovered a clue to Luke’s whereabouts…
With this crawl, my prime objectives were:
1.) Clarify the sociopolitical context of the film.
2.) Reestablish the convention of ANH’s and ESB’s crawls - which open with an explanation of the wider situation (“It is a period of civil war”, “It is a dark time for the Rebellion”).
In respect to 1.), I think that the film’s events only make sense if the war between the Resistance and the First Order is interpreted as a proxy war - with the Resistance merely supported by the Republic, but nevertheless operating autonomously and in non-Republic space. General Hux, himself, states that the Republic is a “government that supports the Resistance” - and Maz Kanata mentions that the First Order is an expansionist project, “spreading its shadow across the galaxy”. So, the conflict would appear to be one of containment - the Republic subscribes to a domino theory, and seeks to limit the First Order’s influence in the galaxy by pushing back territorially via guerrilla means. The crawl should express this as best as it can.
And with 2.), while “Luke Skywalker has vanished” does make for a dramatic opening line, the Star Wars movies have always been about personal journeys projected against a larger struggle. They’re war movies - the state of war hangs over everything, and propels both characters and narrative. Emphasising wartime at the start of the crawl, then, lends this epic quality - broadening the film’s scope.
For this reason, among others, I also rewrote ROTJ’s crawl:
The Alliance is doomed. Retreating to the outer rim, the Rebels prepare for a final strike against the tyrannical Empire.
Sensing victory, Lord Vader has overseen the construction of a new Death Star – this ultimate weapon, once completed, will secure the Emperor’s spiteful reign.
With hope fading, Luke Skywalker journeys to Nal Varr in an attempt to rescue Han Solo from the clutches of the vile gangster Jabba the Hutt…