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Wow, great news. Thanks for being willing to tackle this one; I know there is a good movie in there somewhere.
Star Wars - Episode VIII: The Last Jedi: Legendary
The following information and more can be found at FanEdit.org, home of the fan edits.
Running time is about 143 minutes.
Tagline: It’s time for the Jedi to end…
Synopsis: It’s the same Star Wars: The Last Jedi you pondered over, cleared of distractions. The trip to the casino of Canto Bight is truncated, the Caretakers of Ach-To are removed, and a few scenes are rearranged, allowing Rian Johnson’s story to shine. Strap in for a contemplative journey not experienced since The Empire Strikes Back.
Intention: To address a few standout issues about the film which distract from its focus. This is a fairly conservative edit, doing what is possible to streamline the film without radically altering it.
This is intended as constructive; I enjoy TLJ quite a bit and, given my history with producing fan edits, it was inevitable that I would attempt something like this. What this project is NOT intended as is an indictment of Disney or Rian Johnson. Rather, this is my way of engaging with the film and putting a slight spin on it.
This film subverts audience/fan expectation at many points. While this edit doesn’t seek to reverse this, some instances of this were addressed in order to (hopefully) allow the film to do this while still feeling like part 8 of a 9-part story.
Regarding General Hux: It is not my intention to “rescue” this character, as he is rightfully played as a youthful, arrogant Neo-Nazi buffoon. The changes made to his character in this edit are intended to allow him to remain somewhat threatening, at least up until Kylo Ren takes over as Supreme Leader toward the end.
The humor in this film has been pruned, though a great deal of humor has been retained. Star Wars has always relied on humor, though has never strayed into Spaceballs territory. For example, as much as I enjoyed the “iron/spaceship” gag, it felt like something from a parody of Star Wars rather than something within it. This was my guideline. Humor is very subjective, so I attempted to thread the needle as best I could.
This edit does not attempt to alter Rey’s character in any meaningful way. Her natural talent for using the Force and heroic escapades are necessary to get the film’s story in motion. Her triple-TIE combo shot was removed from the battle of Crait in the conventional interest of “less is more,” and is not intended as a commentary of Rey herself. Also, the removal of a single detail during Kylo Ren’s conversation with her about her parents is not intended to in any way alter the fact that her parents were “nobody,” but merely to address a potential continuity oddity when compared to TFA depicting her parents as leaving Jakku in the process of abandoning her.
All things considered, this fan edit is intended as a lightweight alternative to other edits which remove large swaths of the film. Similar to my edits of the Star Wars prequel trilogy, if you are hoping for a massive overhaul that fundamentally alters the movie, this isn’t the edit for you.
Other sources: Various sound effects from the Star Wars franchise and elsewhere
Special Thanks:
Everyone at OriginalTrilogy.com who contributed, including:
Poppasketti (FX shots and ideas)
DarthRush (FX shot and ideas)
Pleasehello (FX shot)
Snooker (Fx shot)
ChainsawAsh (DTS audio)
MalàStrana (English and French subtitles)
Natedug (Cover artwork, style mimicking Sherman’s TFA:R artwork)
Skenera (color correction)
Krlozdac
TiMartyn
NeverarGreat
One69chev
Collipso
BMadden
Drakul
StrafeSawdoffe
TV’s Frink
HerekittykittyX
DominicCobb
Jarbear
LordRorek
Imadethisfortheanticheeseedit
Zachary VIII
OutboundFlight
TiMartyn
RogueLeader
Handman
Dr. Krogshöj
Nightstalkerpoet
EddieDean
DZ-330
Nd4spd
ChiefWamsutta
Valheru_84
TK-422
Possessed
CourtlyHades296
AbramPT
CarterStarkiller
Cheebo
Snoke&mirrors
Sir Ridley
Anjohan
Kaweebo
Oojason
TheLostJedi
Littlev87
Dat_SW_Guy
Toastedzen
Adywan
Tobar
Ziggyonice
Arosa1091
Chyron8472
TK251
Bop
Gimpy
LeonardoRamos
Octorox
Jrs81
Bromeo
Iryin01
Noodle_Finger (editor behind a prior edit of TLJ)
Special features:
Fan Editor’s Commentary track
Chapter stops
Subtitles (English and French)
Cuts and Additions (changes for V4 have an asterisk*):
⁃ Trimmed the opening ‘prank call’ joke to prevent it from venturing into SNL territory while retaining the core of the humor
Trimmed Paige kicking the ladder slightly
Added Rey’s voice calling out to Finn immediately prior to him waking from his coma, to gently tie into his Force sensitivity that was not bridged between TFA and TROS (Thanks to poppasketti)*
Used poppasketti’s audio to change the emphasis as Luke tosses the lightsaber
Removed Luke’s quip about Jakku being “pretty much nowhere”
Reinstated the ‘Luke Has a Moment’ deleted scene (Audio transition tweaked slightly by poppasketti)
Reinstated the deleted scene where Poe gives Finn back his jacket (with scene transition provided by OT.com user pleasehello) (Audio transition tweaked slightly by poppasketti)
Removed Rose responding to Finn’s MTFBWY with “…you too”
Tightened Finn and Rose’s reaction to Maz’s line “Oh yes, he can” for slightly better timing
⁃ Removed both appearances from the ‘Caretakers’ on Ach-to (with a visual effects shot courtesy of OT.com user snooker)
⁃ Trimmed away the lone porg who gives Chewie the doughy eyes, though leaving the joke intact otherwise
⁃ Removed Luke’s line to R2, “Nothing can make me change my mind.”
⁃ Cut down the first sequence at Canto Bight to focus on finding the codebreaker. For V3, reinstated a modified version of the balcony scene overlooking kids and horses being beaten, though removing strong hints that Finn and Rose will be able to act upon the town before they leave
Blended the original Anakin lightsaber ignition sound with the existing different sounds for two shots
Made it appear as though Finn and Rose follow DJ out of the cell, briefly elude the guards, and the scene ends. Next time we see the trio, they are already in hyperspace (also removing the implication in the later scene that BB8 helped steal the ship).
Added Emperor laughing over Luke’s vision as he gazes into Kylo Ren’s mind in flashback (idea from TiMartyn)
Added a center wipe transition from the scene with Finn, Rose, and DJ in hyperspace to the fleet losing their medical frigate
Used a few shots from a deleted scene to remove the iron/spaceship gag, which borrowed from an old spoof which laughed at Star Wars rather than along with Star Wars (film speck removed by OT.com user poppasketti)
⁃ Trimmed some of the comedy with BB8 being placed under a basket
⁃ Trimmed the heavy, direct hinting before Snoke’s death, using musical score from TFA (courtesy of OT.com user poppasketti)
⁃ Removed the detail from Kylo Ren that Rey’s parents are buried in the Jakku desert, as this seems at odds with the vision we saw in The Force Awakens and further details revealed in The Rise of Skywalker.
⁃ Moved the scene with Luke and Yoda to immediately prior to Leia looking out over Crait (using audio and video provided by OT.com user Darthrush)
⁃ Removed Finn’s line about the battering ram canon being “old Death Star tech,” and reinstated Poe’s line, “A what now?”
⁃ The crate Luke sits on as he talks with Leia is now stationary and motionless, unaffected by him (effect provided by OT.com user poppasketti)
⁃ Removed Rey’s triple-TIE combo shot, with the Falcon’s involvement in the battle being first revealed with its shadow sweeping by and a single TIE being shot down
⁃ Trimmed Hux ordering fighters to follow the Falcon, leaving this poor tactical move to be attributed to Kylo Ren’s emotional priorities
⁃ Removed Finn’s line, “Oh, they hate that ship!”
⁃ After Rose saves Finn, removed her line about not “fighting what we hate” and “saving what we love.”
Removed ‘Matrix’ shot where Luke dodges Kylo’s saber in slow-motion (idea from TiMartyn)
Removed spot on the sun as Luke gazes out after collapsing, which caused some presumably inadvertent misdirection for some upon first viewing (courtesy of OT.com user poppasketti)
The shot of the rebel alliance insignia ring at the very end has been removed, since it ties into a sequence removed from this version of the film (thanks to poppasketti)*
Snuck in a Wilhelm scream… somewhere in the movie.
A well-conceived plan. However I would leave the Jakku joke, it really worked for me.
You probably don’t recognize me because of the red arm.
Episode 9 Rewrite, The Starlight Project (Released!) and ANH Technicolor Project (Released!)
We’ll see. Hopefully removing the jokes that detract will be enough and I won’t have to remove things that would work well were it not for them.
Wow, great news. Thanks for being willing to tackle this one; I know there is a good movie in there somewhere.
If appropriate audio exists, Rose could be made to say, “Poe said this codebreaker would have a red palm bloom on his lapel,” rather than “Maz said…”
It would still likely seem weird to see Finn and Rose take off without knowing their plan. That Maz scene is hot garbage but it might just have to stay.
Your cutlist sounds very close to what I’d want to do, HAL, which makes a lot of sense considering how highly I regard your prequel edits.
Your ideas for trimming the humor are nicely balanced - this movie needs some comic relief, but everyone seemed to react so poorly to certain specific jokes that they want to gut all of them, including the ones that worked.
Personally, I’d also cut the “clothes iron” bit and I’d definitely get rid of the “cowl” joke. I don’t mind the Jakku joke, but so much important shit happened on Jakku in canon after Endor that it isn’t really “nowhere,” so I have no problem seeing it go.
What are your plans for handling that Leia scene? I like the idea of cutting away after the explosion and the next time we see Leia, she’s being carried away on a stretcher.
The Maz scene was the only truly offensive thing in this movie. I imagine that this was the intent though, since Rian has no qualms with destroying the stupid aspects of The Force Awakens in the most savage way possible. What better way to tell JJ that Maz is a videogame NPC than by literally putting her in one?
You probably don’t recognize me because of the red arm.
Episode 9 Rewrite, The Starlight Project (Released!) and ANH Technicolor Project (Released!)
Your cutlist sounds very close to what I’d want to do, HAL, which makes a lot of sense considering how highly I regard your prequel edits.
Your ideas for trimming the humor are nicely balanced - this movie needs some comic relief, but everyone seemed to react so poorly to certain specific jokes that they want to gut all of them, including the ones that worked.
Thanks! Hopefully you’re right; it’s hard to guess how the tone will be affected until I can sit down and watch a rough cut!
Personally, I’d also cut the “clothes iron” bit and I’d definitely get rid of the “cowl” joke. I don’t mind the Jakku joke, but so much important shit happened on Jakku in canon after Endor that it isn’t really “nowhere,” so I have no problem seeing it go.
I like the clothes iron joke; reminded me of Raiders of the Lost Ark when the Nazi takes out a device and seems to be preparing to torture Marion, but it turns out to be a hanger for his jacket. However benign the joke is, it is still one of far too many fake-outs, so perhaps removing it could help alleviate that.
What are your plans for handling that Leia scene? I like the idea of cutting away after the explosion and the next time we see Leia, she’s being carried away on a stretcher.
I don’t think I’ll alter it. It was not one of the things that bothered me when I left the theater, and were it not for Carrie’s real-life death, it wouldn’t stuck out at all. (Actually, Carrie’s death may have been what MADE that scene work for me; impossible to tell.) It is our one and only opportunity to see Leia wield the Force onscreen, sadly. I’m sure IX would have capitalized on this.
The Maz scene was the only truly offensive thing in this movie. I imagine that this was the intent though, since Rian has no qualms with destroying the stupid aspects of The Force Awakens in the most savage way possible. What better way to tell JJ that Maz is a videogame NPC than by literally putting her in one?
Ugh, you’re probably right. Same reason it doesn’t work to try to parody Road Runner or Tom & Jerry shorts.
Pragmatically, though, I don’t see this scene successfully being cut. I don’t suppose it would read well to replace the visuals with some sort of audio-only interface, with the equivalent of a floating holographic waveform.
JEDIT: To keep from having three posts in a row. Interesting that Rian Johnson used the same font for his title in the crawl as ROTJ and the prequels, again making TFA sort of an odd one out. What do you think JJ will do for IX?
JEDIT: To keep from having three posts in a row. Interesting that Rian Johnson used the same font for his title in the crawl as ROTJ and the prequels, again making TFA sort of an odd one out. What do you think JJ will do for IX?
Yeah, I noticed that, too. I guess that makes ANH, ESB, and TFA the “odd font trilogy” in a way.
Not if you’re watching revisited RotJ once it comes out in 2028! 😄
Seems interesting and so far I agree with most of the cuts (I would keep the evil BB-8 subplot though). The title is going to stay the same ? (Legend of the Jedi could be a good title… Legend of the Last Jedi ?).
Pretty confident the actual film title will remain the same. I thought the subtitle should be something related to legends. (Though calling it TLJ: Legends would carry a weird connotation now. Eh, I might though.)
“Here we go again.”
I’ll be doing an edit of THE LAST JEDI eventually, and this’ll be a place to outline and process ideas as they take shape and coalesce into an informed approach to guide the blade to the movie. Hopefully, anyway.
This goes without saying, but I’m planning to use the best ideas that fit my goals with this edit, and welcome anyone using any and all ideas generated by this discussion. Let’s all benefit from each other as we hone the film down to our individual visions. I’ve already gathered these initial ideas together without regard to their origins, so forgive me if your ideas appear here as well.
My biggest goal is to recover the tone from the SNL and ‘Droids’ humor, in order for the effective things about the movie to do what they do.
Here are proposed changes at this early stage:
- New opening crawl to provide subtle political exposition, inspired by Reddit user noodle-flinger:
The galaxy is in chaos. With both the First Order and the Resistance decimated, each is desperate to snuff out the other and fill the power vacuum left by the extinction of the Republic.
General Leia Organa lives in hope that Jedi Master Luke Skywalker will return and restore a spark of hope to the fight against the rising tyranny.
But the Resistance base has been exposed. As the First Order speeds toward the Rebel base, the brave heroes mount a desperate escape…
• Reign in the SNL opening with Poe and Hux. (Try: Cut to cockpit as Hux begins monologuing, cutting back to him in time to see monologue part 2, cutting back to fully loaded bar in cockpit.)
• Only because I’d already be editing the film at this point and not because this is in any way called for, try to have the first scene with Luke appear overcast as TFA was. Whatever filter used to achieve this could be gradually faded out over the course of the sequence.
• Cut Luke’s joke about Jakku.
• Trim Finn and Rose at their first meeting; no Rose talking to herself, no “MTFBWY” or Finn telling her to breathe. Experiment with Rose knowingly threatening Finn by telling him she stunned escapees earlier that day, like she already knows what he’s up to.
• Remove or trim Finn and Rose saying the same things at the same time, if possible
• Somehow remove Maz’s Battlefront Skype call, if at all possible. That thing was straight out of a video game cutscene.
• Experiment with removing the caretakers. I’d say keep them if the third lesson deleted scene can be used, or else remove them. (Seems like the third lesson would be their payoff, so keep them in that event or else remove them as they serve no purpose without that scene. Let Luke be lonely.)
• If evil BB8 is removed later, remove the mouse droid’s signature sound during the first Force-time scene.
• Possibly replace ignition sound of Anakin’s lightsaber. (I cant tell without the opportunity to listen to it repeatedly whether this is even needed, and a close re-listen to TFA showed me that they appear to have blended the original ignition sound with a new sound, which I can accept. If that’s the case in TLJ, that’ll work. If not, I plan to replace the ignition sound with that from TFA. I do, however, recall the quick red-guard headshot sound effect as being a non-ignition sound effect, which I will leave alone because I understand why its like that.)
• Keep the scene with Chewie about to eat a porg, though remove the final porg giving him the sad eyes.
• Remove Luke’s “nothing can make me change my mind.” I think there are two identical shots of R2 to join together, even allowing for as much of a pause as needed.
• Possibly remove Rey asking Kylo Ren for a cowl to cover himself. (Cowl? Wouldn’t that be for his face?)
• If deleted scenes make this possible, give Rey her promised third lesson from Luke.
• Undecided on removing the entire horse chase. If so, simply have Finn and Rose follow DJ out of the cell and we will revisit them later already in hyperspace. If the horse chase stays, perhaps cut away from DJ after he asks BB8, “Did you do this?” in order to remove more ‘Droids’ stuff. If the horse chase is cut, either remove the final scene with broom boy, or else just remove the closeup with the ring.
• Possibly trim Yoda’s dialogue between “…for you to look past a pile of old books” and “yes, yes, wisdom they held…” This removes Luke’s odd defensiveness and Yoda’s wisecrack.
• Cut Finn’s line to DJ: “Are you kidding? Look at us.”
• Experiment with cutting BB8 hiding under a box, cutting conversation at the door that Finn and Rose are breaking into, beginning the scene with Finn calling Poe and says they’re almost in. (If so, cut down on BB8 and evil BB8 staring each other down after being caught. Might even be possible to remove evil BB8 from that shot.)
• Trim Snoke’s dialogue pre-death which makes an obvious outcome painfully so.
• Possibly remove the specific detail that Rey’s parents are buried “in the Jakku desert.” It sort of muddies the water, as the TFA forceback scene implies they left the planet.
• Trim Finn’s nonsense as he fights Phasma, particularly his “Hey!”
• Remove BB8 commandeering an AT-ST, and ensuing jog toward an escape shuttle.
• Remove Poe’s “big ass door.” Hopefully that shot is static, so a simple crossfade or similar trickery will make it work, saying “Let’s just hope that door holds out,” or whatever the exact line is.
• Similarly, remove Finn’s unnecessary line about the battering ram being “old Death Star tech.” (Let’s never reference the Death Star in another ‘saga’ film ever again.)
• I’ll ask anyone here who is willing, to stabilize the crate Luke sits down on while talking with Leia. The filmmakers bothered to not have him physically interact with the ground, or make walking foley sounds, so this seems like a small but positive change to make. (You just gotta do stuff like this while you’ve got everything cracked open.)
• If removing horse chase, cut away from Rose after “I saved you.”
• Remove the porg smacking against the Falcon window, unless doing so can’t be done without harming the music.
• Possibly cut Hux repeating Kylo’s orders.
• Possibly remove the dice from the end. But probably not.
• Remove black dot in the sun at the end.
• Likely retain the broom boy scene regardless of how much of Canto Bight was removed, as it is tied to Luke’s legacy.
The first paragraph of your revised opening crawl implies the First Order and the Resistance are evenly matched in terms of military might, which contradicts the movie. Keep the first paragraph of the official opening crawl.
Cut Luke milking the thala-siren.
Cut the “reach out” miscommunication joke.
Edit Rey’s vision in the cave on Ahch-To.
Recolor Admiral Holdo’s distracting hair.
Cut the entire horse chase. Finn and Rose should simply follow DJ out of the cell.
Cut Leia claiming she likes Poe, which makes light of his mutiny.
Cut Finn’s attempted suicide run against the enemy cannon, and cut Rose stopping Finn from sacrificing himself.
Finn and Rose should retreat with Poe and the others. (Rose’s clichéd line, “We will win not by fighting what we hate but by saving what we love,” was asinine because Finn was about to sacrifice himself to save the ones he loved.
It was thematically inconsistent for Rose to admonish Finn for trying to sacrifice himself right after Holdo sacrificed herself in a kamikaze attack.)
Keep the Millenium Falcon dice at the end.
Cut the broom boy scene
LordPlagueis said:
Recolor Admiral Holdo’s distracting hair.
Hell no ! It’s one of the many good nods to the PT ! 😃
Should Poe and Rey meeting for the first time be removed ? As far as I remember they both were only 1 meter away for the other during the “map sequence” of TFA ? This scene in TLJ was… odd… as if Johnson didn’t even bother to watch TFA to be sure or to ask the LFL continuity committee…
You could always replace the hologram Maz Kanata with a hologram of another alien from the extended universe.
The Maz scene was the only truly offensive thing in this movie. I imagine that this was the intent though, since Rian has no qualms with destroying the stupid aspects of The Force Awakens in the most savage way possible. What better way to tell JJ that Maz is a videogame NPC than by literally putting her in one?
I hated the Maz scene too, but to say it was the only truly offensive thing in this movie is some serious FAKE NEWS!
The Maz scene was the only truly offensive thing in this movie. I imagine that this was the intent though, since Rian has no qualms with destroying the stupid aspects of The Force Awakens in the most savage way possible. What better way to tell JJ that Maz is a videogame NPC than by literally putting her in one?
I hated the Maz scene too, but to say it was the only truly offensive thing in this movie is some serious FAKE NEWS!
Sad!
alright here are my 2 cents
- New opening crawl to provide subtle political exposition, inspired by Reddit user noodle-flinger:
The galaxy is in chaos. With both the First Order and the Resistance decimated, each is desperate to snuff out the other and fill the power vacuum left by the extinction of the Republic.
General Leia Organa lives in hope that Jedi Master Luke Skywalker will return and restore a spark of hope to the fight against the rising tyranny.
But the Resistance base has been exposed. As the First Order speeds toward the Rebel base, the brave heroes mount a desperate escape…
Hope x2 in the second line. maybe just remove the 2nd instance.
• Cut Luke’s joke about Jakku.
I actually really liked this because it’s the one instance in the movie that helps place a planet into the SW universe with a reference and a coloring of that world. All other planets are barely ever referenced and they don’t have a feeling of place / lived in / character.
Also it’s one of the jokes that much more subtle and on words rather than slapstick or too obvious so i’d keep it over most others.
• Experiment with removing the caretakers. I’d say keep them if the third lesson deleted scene can be used, or else remove them. (Seems like the third lesson would be their payoff, so keep them in that event or else remove them as they serve no purpose without that scene. Let Luke be lonely.)
I’m heavily in favor of this so long as the deleted scenes of the 3rd lesson doesn’t involve them. Everything we see of the island makes it look remote, uninhabited and Luke going hermit so they make no sense and they are only here to create chep laughs with Rey.
• If deleted scenes make this possible, give Rey her promised third lesson from Luke.
YES
• Undecided on removing the entire horse chase. If so, simply have Finn and Rose follow DJ out of the cell and we will revisit them later already in hyperspace. If the horse chase stays, perhaps cut away from DJ after he asks BB8, “Did you do this?” in order to remove more ‘Droids’ stuff. If the horse chase is cut, either remove the final scene with broom boy, or else just remove the closeup with the ring.
Not a fan at all of the horse stampede scene but if it is problematic to remove entirely then at least cut down severely.
I do like the final scene with the boy though, not sure why it’s hated so much.
• Trim Snoke’s dialogue pre-death which makes an obvious outcome painfully so.
Curious about this. I’m weary about removing any Snoke since I feel he was already cut short (ha!) but it could help the scene.
• Trim Finn’s nonsense as he fights Phasma, particularly his “Hey!”
Please keep ‘rebel scum’ though. I thought it was a great line, if very fanservicy
How do you feel about Rose ‘saving’ Finn and subsequent kiss? To me it makes no sense. the later if only because they met like 24h prior.
Also I personally completely disliked the Leia superman moment so I’d love to see that go.
“This cannot be! Is… Is it an omen?”
Please take “Let’s go chrome dome!” Out.
Top of my personal list would be removing BB8 incapacitating a guard via a barrage of coins, along with the setup of him being loaded with coins. Those two shots bother me more than Leah Poppins. May be a non-issue depending on how much the whole Canto Bight sequence is trimmed.
How do people here feel about Rey’s voice over during the “mirror” sequence? I love the shot visually, but verbal narration feels wrong in Star Wars. Of course when it cuts, we’re shown she was explaining it to Kylo… but it feels to me like it the filmmakers thought the meaning of the sequence wasn’t clear and ADR’d the beginning of her story in as a way to cover it. I think you could just cut from the end of the mirror to the hut and the line “I never felt so alone…” (or whatever it was).
“Searching for Bobby Tables…”
Top of my personal list would be removing BB8 incapacitating a guard via a barrage of coins, along with the setup of him being loaded with coins. Those two shots bother me more than Leah Poppins. May be a non-issue depending on how much the whole Canto Bight sequence is trimmed.
I agree…although “Leah Poppins” doesn’t bother me at all. And there’s two things wrong with how you said it.
Mary-Sue Poppins ?
I agree with most of these changes. But just remove the entire canto bite sequence. i watched the flim twice they explain to poe what happened to them so the entire sequnce is pointless
I think the focus needs to be on rey luke kylo ren and snoke try to minimize the poe arc just a little bit minor changes
Also remove some of the jokes when we need a serious tone
Like when luke sees r2d2 remove the joke when luke says cheap move just have luke sit there in shock.
Also remove the middle school kiss just cut after she says we need to save the things we love.