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Sequel Trilogy (Special Edition + StormPilot) (v2 Released)

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 (Edited)

I know I’m not the first to make special editions of the sequel trilogy, but I thought I’d share what changes I’m making to help the trilogy becoming more cohesive. My goal is largely to keep the directors’ intent intact, though my one indulgence they never intended is helping “StormPilot” into the films (I’ll denote changes I made to serve these purposes).

The Force Awakens 34 seconds longer

  • Re-inserted 21C Peasant’s Restoration of Finn and the Villager deleted scene.

  • Re-inserted the first half of the deleted scene “Jakku Message” between Phasma telling Finn to put his mask on and Rey’s introduction. I cut everything after Leia says "Never Underestimate a droid (including the officer’s response). This helps introduce Leia earlier in the film, and sets up Rey finding BB-8 shortly after.

  • As many have done, I cut Kylo remembering Finn’s name/number.

  • Inserted NeverarGreat’s version of the Deleted scene “Leia and the Resistance” that had been modified to include part of “Jakku Message” where Snap Wexley asks Leia if they should contact the Republic.

  • Cut Finn asking if Rey has a boyfriend. (#StormPilot)

  • Cut Finn finding the Lightsaber Training Remote drone.

  • Cut Snoke calling Kylo the “Master of the Knights of Ren” since that didn’t really go anywhere.

  • Cut Han’s line “People who knew him best…” as that kinda confuses Luke’s motivations. It matters more why he left, which Han had already mentioned, than where (which they have half a map to anyway).

  • Cut the first time Finn asks Rey to come with him at Maz’s Castle. (#StormPilot)

  • Cut Finn’s line "You Looked at me like no one ever had. (#StormPilot)

  • Added audio of the Sith Cultists’ chant and Palpatine’s laugh to Rey’s Force vision and cut Maz telling Rey there is someone who could still come back for her and Rey’s response suggesting Luke is her father.

  • Cut C-3PO’s red arm dialogue, and Han’s redundant “I saw our son.”

  • Cut C-3PO’s Line “It’s doubtful that R2 has the rest of the map” since he does. Retained the exposition about low-power mode.

  • Added “Kylo Searches the Falcon” thanks to xxtelecine 7xx removing the timecode burn-in.

  • Cut down Rey and Finn’s reunion hug to be less romantic. (#StormPilot)

  • Cut the amount of times Finn shouts “Rey” when she’s knocked out by Kylo. (#StormPilot)

  • Changed Snoke’s line to Hux, as Starkiller Base collapses, to “Have Kylo Ren come to me. It is time.” to set up the new cliffhanger.
    https://drive.google.com/file/d/1x6D30tDtGy9CvefkYC6iPZ0xvgZericq/view?usp=sharing

  • Cut everything after the Falcon leaves D’Qar into hyperspace. Instead of showing Rey and Chewie in the Falcon and arriving at Ahch-To, I cut to Kylo in his TIE travelling to Exegol and meeting Palpatine at the beginning of The Rise of Skywalker (cutting out the line where Kylo mentions killing Snoke). This helps better set-up the overall arc of the trilogy, but doesn’t really change Kylo’s arc looking for autonomy (from Han in Force Awakens, from Leia, Luke and Snoke in The Last Jedi, and from Palpatine in Rise of Skywalker), but unifies Snoke and Palpatine from the beginning.

The Last Jedi 5 minutes, 48 seconds longer

  • Cut down Poe and Hux’s conversation to have less jokes and fix the pacing of this opening sequence.

  • Repurposed footage of The Millennium Falcon arriving at Takodana as Ahch-To to match films across the series showing ships arrive at planets to lead into footage originally from The Force Awakens of Rey and Chewie arriving at Ahch-To, integrating this into the sequence already in The Last Jedi. This helps not have such a buildup from a cliffhanger. With v2 I have re-added some of the introductory shots of Luke to build up his reveal.

  • Re-inserted the deleted scene “Luke Has a Moment”.

  • Cut out Luke milking the thala-siren to fix the pacing of this sequence.

  • Re-inserted the deleted scene “Poe: Not Much of a Sewer”. (#StormPilot)

  • Added Palpatine telepathically goading Kylo to kill Leia:
    https://drive.google.com/file/d/1bwXR7hUwZ7lZLbEfBkLQiRYZhi6K6sdN/view?usp=sharing

  • Re-inserted deleted scene “It’s Kinda Weird You Recorded That” right before Finn packs, to help motivate him to attempt saving Rey. This helps make their connection more about friendship and trying to save someone that saved his life.

  • Cut Rey’s line to Chewie “And ask about Finn”. (#Stormpilot)

  • Re-inserted deleted scene “Caretaker Village Sequence” to better establish Luke’s mindset, motivation, and overall worldview.

  • Extended the “Mega Destroyer Incursion” sequence to include Finn being recognised by other stormtroopers (Tom Hardy). I only included part of the deleted sequence, avoiding the unfinished effects.

  • Cut Kylo describing Rey’s parents as “Filthy junk traders” who sold her off for drinking money. Rey says “They were nobody” and then Kylo replies “They’re dead, in a pauper’s grave…” This allows for the later revelation of her heritage to be smoother.

  • Added Palpatine’s Fortnite message between the Resistance not receiving any messages from allies and Luke’s arrival. During the message, I show the Star Destroyers above Mustafar (TROS), Stormtroopers Marching (TROS), repeated an exterior of Canto Bight (TLJ), Poe Standing up (moved up from being a reaction to Luke), a shot of Kylo, and then back to Leia.
    https://drive.google.com/file/d/1tUe4Nz4dKptm5UzcBu2QhX9N9FuaISoa/view?usp=sharing

  • Cut Rey’s and Finn’s long hug. (#StormPilot)

  • Added a couple of lines from Palpatine as voiceover/telepathy during the final moments between Kylo and Rey on Crait.
    https://drive.google.com/file/d/1s-thAiSISTEYqjn0oiyRuoWgdiBScyZ-/view?usp=sharing

  • Cut Rey staring at Finn taking care of Rose. Finn still covers Rose, but Rey watching and the second, wider shot of Finn tucking Rose in is cut. It goes from close-up of Rose to the close-up of Rey when Leia enters frame. Even without StormPilot, this interaction further cements a love triangle between Rose, Finn, and Rey that never gets paid off. (#StormPilot)

  • Cut the “Broom Boy” sequence from the ending to be used in The Rise of Skywalker.

The Rise of Skywalker 13 minutes, 20 seconds shorter

  • Changed Opening Crawl

  • Cut Opening sequence on Mustafar and Exegol (Used in Force Awakens), and rearranged the shot order of the Millennium Falcon arriving at the Sinta Glacier Colony, to make the Falcon’s flyby that reveals the Sinta Glacier Colony the opening shot (As every opening scene starts in space).

  • Cut the hyperspace skipping.

  • Cut Finn saying that he needed to tell Rey something. (#StormPilot)

  • Moved a shot of Kylo traveling in his TIE to when Finn turns and feels Kylo’s arrival with the Force to make this clearer.

  • Cut Rey destroying Kylo’s TIE, since it has the Wayfinder and is stolen and destroyed by Rey again later.

  • Reframed shots of Kylo to make make Kylo’s smouldering TIE less noticeable (Not good enough at VFX to remove the wreckage and smoke).

  • Cut Hux informing Pryde of the prisoner, and moved the reveal of Chewie to later (Between Poe and Zorri going up to the roof and Babu working on 3PO)
    https://drive.google.com/file/d/13s_K-gDKT1FjeDzmz_jRLFOlSyk9B6ci/view?usp=sharing
    https://drive.google.com/file/d/1xzdgClxYMrRO-nkuPsMuzIOm9okmzowM/view?usp=sharing

  • Cut C-3PO talking one last look at his friends, cut the sequence down to make it less dramatic (one fake death is enough).

  • Cut Zorri asking if Poe wants to join her. (#StormPilot)

  • Moved Pryde and Hux telling Kylo about Kajimi to after Poe and Zorri’s talk on the roof.

  • Cut Poe asking Zorri to join them and to kiss her (#StormPilot)

  • Cut lines where Rey’s mother says she’s not on Jakku (that’s the first place someone would look after hearing that) and the redundant “You’re a Palpatine” by Kylo.

  • Re-arranged the shots of Leia and the duel of Kylo and Rey to better sync and establish that Leia is influencing Kylo through the Force. Leia drops the headset right after Kylo pauses, her whisper of “Ben” is what causes him to turn around, then show Connix escort Leia (without Maz’s narration), Kylo drops the saber and gets stabbed, Leia’s silhouette, Rey senses Leia and heals Ben, Rey steals the TIE, Leia lays down and says “Bring him home” (from TFA, to Han), back to Kylo.
    https://drive.google.com/file/d/1hBiL84mei6U3zlNsCw29zn5wElLBopwG/view?usp=sharing

  • Cut the expository lines “You’re just a memory…” as it makes the situation more confusing than it just being a Force Ghost/vision summoned by Leia.

  • Moved the shot of Leia’s hand falling to the end of Ben and Han’s talk, just before the wipe to Palpatine telling Pryde that the princess of Alderaan interfered with his plans. Everyone surrounding Leia’s body has been moved after that scene.

  • Destruction of Kajimi follows Chewie’s cry, and precedes Rey arriving at Ahch-To. As Rey burns the TIE, Poe asks “Kajimi, how?” moving into that reaction sequence.

  • Cut Luke’s comment about throwing away the lightsaber. After he asks “What are you doing?” I cut to Poe talking to Leia, saying “I don’t really know…” to generally sync these two mentor conversations that follow.

  • Adjust the arrivals at Exegol to have Rey further ahead of the Resistance. Rey is already in the Exegol temple/palace while the fleet is travelling.

  • Cut Zorri’s return at the Battle of Exegol. (#StormPilot)

  • Added the line “I’m Rey Skywalker” to when she’s facing Palpatine (back to the camera) after her pep talk from the ghosts. I’m thinking about instead of re-using the line from the Tatooine scene, to use a stronger read of the name “Skywalker” from somewhere else in the series when she’s referring to Luke.
    https://drive.google.com/file/d/1PgWPmFNwS-8gVolohSmydxuRMPrsVBgi/view?usp=sharing

  • Adjusted a lot of the Resistance celebration. Rose’s line is louder and her hug with Chewie is cropped to be a close-up. Maz repeats some of her lines to Rey in voiceover, suggesting that Lando is Jannah’s daughter. She smiles in reaction to a slightly shorter version of the scene between Lando and Jannah. D’Acy and Tyce‘s kiss is also cropped to be a close-up (if LGBTQ+ representation is gonna be this scarce, might as well give it a close up). Zorri is cut out, and Poe’s flirtation is directed at Finn instead, he even asks if he can kiss Finn (#StormPilot).
    https://drive.google.com/file/d/1DUXM3TIlAJKR8pH2sMwvhbrzjWZt6XwL/view?usp=sharing

  • Moved the scenes at Bespin, Endor, and Jakku to after the reunion of Rey with Poe and Finn. This is followed by the Broom Boy sequence from the end of The Last Jedi, with the story being told adjusted from “Luke Skywalker, Jedi Master” to “Jedi Skywalker” so that it can refer to Rey.
    https://drive.google.com/file/d/1DUXM3TIlAJKR8pH2sMwvhbrzjWZt6XwL/view?usp=sharing

  • Cut the Tatooine sequence completely. Laying Luke to rest at the home he only wanted to leave, and where Leia had only been the sex slave of a giant slug not only seemed super disrespectful, but also doesn’t seem like Rey would know about the place. Also not having a ghost for Ben doesn’t line up with the precedent from Return of the Jedi.

Here is a link to samples of some adjustments if you’re curious:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1PC9SLgB6oweXn9o_Nm3N_e3rLbJMaKht?usp=sharing

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 (Edited)

I’d love to re-add more deleted scenes from The Force Awakens, such as Kylo searching through Falcon, but I’m not skilled enough to remove the timecode burn-ins.

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Sounds pretty awesome! I wonder if you could include the structural changes that Hal9000 made to the Force Awakens, which create a more sensible flow to the plot (and removes the ridiculous visibility of the planet-destroying beam being visible from other star systems).

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HyperDown said:

Sounds pretty awesome! I wonder if you could include the structural changes that Hal9000 made to the Force Awakens, which create a more sensible flow to the plot (and removes the ridiculous visibility of the planet-destroying beam being visible from other star systems).

I thought about it, but I didn’t want to restructure too much. When I considered restructuring it, I had debated moving the opening battle of The Last Jedi into The Force Awakens, and cutting a lot more out of TFA. As I looked at it more, it started seeming like I’d be doing more harm than good. I’ve been debating the big structural changes from Hal’s version, I like them on paper but I haven’t watched it through to see it fully in context yet.

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You should watch Hal’s TFA edit in full, it’s really good. The juxtaposition of Han’s death and the Republic’s destruction is a big punch in the gut, and it sets up the tone of TLJ wonderfully.

My preferred Skywalker Saga experience:
I II III IV V VI VII VIII IX

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StarkillerAG said:

You should watch Hal’s TFA edit in full, it’s really good. The juxtaposition of Han’s death and the Republic’s destruction is a big punch in the gut, and it sets up the tone of TLJ wonderfully.

I definitely will, I downloaded it the other day. Just have been focused only cuts and watching other things. Again, I love the concept of it.

When I initially approached this, it wasn’t to change away from what the directors were doing. I just wanted the Palpatine reveal to make a little more contextual sense. Then the character of Zorri pissed me off enough that I decided to go all-in on StormPilot.

Zorri’s character doesn’t really have a purpose in the film. She shows up and reveals more of Poe’s backstory, but none of that backstory affects what we know about Poe and it doesn’t make us or the other characters question trusting him. She then leads then to Babu Frik, when Poe already knew where he was since he navigated to the planet and city where his workshop was, and that workshop was far from new. She then introduces yet another McGuffin, only to hand it over moments later without any action on our heroes’ parts. She also tempts Poe away from the cause, but again we know Poe too well by this third film to know he would never be tempted. She also has one of the many interchangeable hero shots in the end battle. The only other scenes she has is where she dismisses Poe’s romantic advances, and this happens twice. Both scenes have it where it can be read as her being interested or disinterested in Poe, but both are explicitly clear in communicating that Poe is straight.

Zorri Bliss’ entire character is there to scream “No homo”. That felt a bit insulting after the marketing campaign about LGBTQ+ representation only to find a quick, wide-shot with two unnamed characters, who have never shared the screen prior to this moment, kissing. One of them, Commander Larma D’Acy, has a larger role in The Last Jedi but is never named on screen, while her partner, pilot Wrobie Tyce, barely has any screen time in The Rise of Skywalker at all.

I always read Finn as being straight, since 2015 when he was obsessed with Rey and her possible boyfriend. I ignored his amazing chemistry with Poe, and his motivation in Last Jedi and Rise of Skywalker again being tied to the female characters around him, I wrote the idea off. Fans wanted Poe to be gay, even Oscar Isaac wanted Poe to be gay. Introducing Zorri Bliss was an insult to LGBTQ+ fans who would’ve been much happier without Zorri and the random kiss at the end to have been between Poe and a male member of the Resistance.

End of rant explaining why I added StormPilot to my cut. Apologies if that’s something you couldn’t care less about.

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It’d certainly be exciting if some VFX master was able to cobble together a convincing kiss to replace the one we got…

Maybe a couple of body doubles with the faces edited?

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JKMaxx said:

It’d certainly be exciting if some VFX master was able to cobble together a convincing kiss to replace the one we got…

Maybe a couple of body doubles with the faces edited?

My edits are being finished in 1080p, so I used the 4K version of that shot to at least make it closer up. I don’t mind their performances, I more mind that it’s such a throwaway.

I also updated the end sequence to try and make Maz involved with the Lando/Jannah conversation and make it clearer that Jannah is his daughter. I also took Poe’s line of dialogue asking Zorri for a kiss and put it in their reunion scene.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1DUXM3TIlAJKR8pH2sMwvhbrzjWZt6XwL/view?usp=sharing

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Ah, I should have specified! I meant Stormpilot. No hate for D’Acy and Tyce, but I can’t say I wouldn’t have preferred something more substantial, especially given all the headlines about making history with representation in Star Wars.

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JKMaxx said:

Ah, I should have specified! I meant Stormpilot. No hate for D’Acy and Tyce, but I can’t say I wouldn’t have preferred something more substantial, especially given all the headlines about making history with representation in Star Wars.

Gotcha! yeah… I wish I was proficient enough to make their hug into a kiss. Alas, I have to assume they were making out between that initial embrace and Rey finding them.

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 (Edited)

The Force Awakens is done, pending being able to find timecode-free versions of “Finn and the Villager” or “Kylo Searches the Flacon” deleted scenes.

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 (Edited)

Thanks to xxtelecine 7xx, I was able to add “Kylo Searches the Falcon”. I have finalised The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker edits.

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Looking over your cutlist and watching your samples, I think this is one of the cleanest looking trilogy edits I’ve seen proposed. It’s focused and not overly ambitious.

I really like that you moved the arrival at Ahch-To to the beginning of TLJ. From the first time I watched TFA, I thought the hyperspace jump was the natural place to end the movie. I feel the rest of it was tacked on to shoehorn Mark Hamill in for marketing. If I ever do a full trilogy edit, this would be a must for me.

The only edit I’m not too sure about is the delay of Chewie’s reveal in TRoS. I feel like a fair amount has happened in the movie by that point, so why are Hux and Pryde only getting to Chewie now?

I also agree that Hal’s structural changes would be ideal. It doesn’t change the story, it just helps it flow better while reducing the feel of copying ANH.

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joshuabri said:

Looking over your cutlist and watching your samples, I think this is one of the cleanest looking trilogy edits I’ve seen proposed. It’s focused and not overly ambitious.

Thanks!

I really like that you moved the arrival at Ahch-To to the beginning of TLJ. From the first time I watched TFA, I thought the hyperspace jump was the natural place to end the movie. I feel the rest of it was tacked on to shoehorn Mark Hamill in for marketing. If I ever do a full trilogy edit, this would be a must for me.

I’ve always felt that way too. I personally don’t like when characters are used as McGuffins, reserving him for the next movie where he is a character rather than object was one of the first changes I made.

The only edit I’m not too sure about is the delay of Chewie’s reveal in TRoS. I feel like a fair amount has happened in the movie by that point, so why are Hux and Pryde only getting to Chewie now?

I kept part of their exchange about there being something more than Rey escaping, mainly to help fix the plot hole element. I’m delaying the specifics and that reveal because the fake-our death lowers the stakes of the overall narrative, and distracts us from Rey’s turmoil and self-distrust. We need to empathise with her belief that she killed Chewie, it’s harder to do that when we not only know in the back of our minds Chewie isn’t dead, but we’ve seen him alive and well in the film already.

I also agree that Hal’s structural changes would be ideal. It doesn’t change the story, it just helps it flow better while reducing the feel of copying ANH.

I really like his structural changes, but I’m still sitting with them. I had already planned out most of these changes prior to discovering this site or his edit. I like that it doesn’t mirror A New Hope, but having a larger battle on Takodana creates a plot hole where the smaller faction of First Order fighters were overrun by the Resistance coming in full force.

If a Star Destroyer and those resources were available, Kylo would have not abandoned Finding BB-8. He would have been able to capture Rey, but still been able to keep the fight going until he captured BB-8, or even killed his parents (as was already on his mind). Without being able to reconcile those elements and character motivations, it’s harder for me to commit to them.

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I think I’ve got a version 1 if anyone is interested in watching.

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Personally I’ve been following Hal’s edit but I support adding in StormPilot as much as possible 😃 I like the new final Ajan Kloss scene a lot more. Did you have to add in Rey’s theme instead to help with adjusting the scnes?

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Brewzter said:

Personally I’ve been following Hal’s edit but I support adding in StormPilot as much as possible 😃 I like the new final Ajan Kloss scene a lot more. Did you have to add in Rey’s theme instead to help with adjusting the scnes?

I’m less familiar with the music side of things, so most of my music editing was trying to smooth over and keep transitions in tact. I did adjust the music during the fight on Exegol, because the main Star Wars theme when the fleet shows up was just too much for me.

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I’m thinking about adding Palpatine’s line “Do it.” from ROTS to TLJ as a telepathic connection to Kylo when he’s about to fire on Leia.

I want to add more of Palpatine’s presence to TLJ, but keep it as only something Kylo knows about or experiences until the broadcast.

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 (Edited)

Post-v1 Changes (so far):

Added Palpatine goading Kylo to kill Leia in TLJ. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1bwXR7hUwZ7lZLbEfBkLQiRYZhi6K6sdN/view?usp=sharing

Smoothed out a transition where Rey’s “What happened?” is asked prior to the scene transition (without her lips moving) at the beginning of TROS as a means of cutting Lightspeed skipping.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1oMQk3WdYVab50ujf2Ju1qIFtyG8JI03x/view?usp=sharing

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Sounds like a nice idea to sneak in Palpatine guiding Kylo, though the actual lines maybe should be quieter, or disguised between some sound effects (like the “ForceTime” or Sith whispers) to convey the feeling this is Palpatine actually speaking to Kylo’s mind, rather than a voiceover. The “Do it!” could also be placed closer to the music swell to fit better with the emotional crescendo.

Nice job!

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Knight of Kalee said:

Sounds like a nice idea to sneak in Palpatine guiding Kylo, though the actual lines maybe should be quieter, or disguised between some sound effects (like the “ForceTime” or Sith whispers) to convey the feeling this is Palpatine actually speaking to Kylo’s mind, rather than a voiceover. The “Do it!” could also be placed closer to the music swell to fit better with the emotional crescendo.

Nice job!

Cheers, I’ll make those adjustments and have a new version up in a bit.

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21C Peasant said:

Finn and the Villager Deleted Scene - No Timecode

It’s a simple scene that some might consider unnecessary, but I’ve always really liked it. I think it gives Finn’s decision not to kill the villagers a more personal touch.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1YRD1oJpk_vKHniG2ZB2_Z1ZpX8Z72xlE/view?usp=sharing

Re-added Finn & The Villager. It’s been cropped at times, but the framing works really well, didn’t notice until I compared versions with the BD.

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Sounds good, link please 😃