Acbagel

I finally got a chance to watch your Andor 1 last night. Wow! What a difference the narrative pacing makes. Removing all the Syril scenes through Ferrix makes it feel like Cassian is actually the main character. I was getting major spy film vibes throughout the whole film rather than the slow unfocused drip of the show’s original pacing. This is a format that is FAR more rewatchable than the D+ one. Here’s my official review:

Audio/Video Quality: This edit was required to be streamed through Google Drive, so they typical degradation from that process is to be expected, but it presented as a typical 1080p film without any major quality issues. I was not once distracted due to a lack of quality in the A/V department. Maybe I’m getting spoiled by modernity, but ever since getting a 4k monitor and working with 4k footage, 1080p has started to look blurry to me haha. So since Andor does exist in 4k and that would be peak quality, I will rate this category of the edit a 9/10.

Visual Editing: Throughout the entirety of the film I spent many moments going, “Did MR remove a scene here or not?” And that’s a good thing! The majority of new transitions were completely smooth and unnoticeable, making me have to go back to the changelog to see if there was in fact a scene in between. The addition of subtitles to the Kenari flashbacks was incredible, though I did notice a typo which distracted from the moment. There were maybe 3-5 transitions where I could tell that a change had been made due to some visual jarring (the biggest offender IMO was right before the title card), but overall the large majority of the film was top tier visual editing. I score this category a 9/10 as well.

Audio Editing: Similar to the above, 90% of the film had perfect audio editing. The only hiccups I noticed were tied into some of the same transitions as the video ones above, but there were a few more where the video was great but some distracting audio carried over between cuts. Nothing too distracting again, but I probably noticed 6-7 instances of this. This area scores an 8.5/10.

Narrative: Now the meat of any fan edit, especially a TV to Movie format. The general story pacing was nearly perfect. It actually felt like a different source material due to the new overarching story. Whereas D+ Andor sometimes felt like watching a real life simulator where sad boy eats breakfast with mommy, this one actually felt like a real, mature Star Wars meets Spy Thriller genre. The slow drip of the revelation of this growing Rebel Alliance was my favorite part. Cassian’s character development was incredibly focused and felt very cinema-esque. Removing some of the lengthy Ferrix segments of side characters was a great choice, and all three of those side characters were done to perfection, especially the bit with hiding who is the rat. Even down to the nitty gritty of Bix’s boyfriend losing her in the alley faster makes scenes play out so much better and I LOVE that attention to detail. Cutting out Syril’s whole pursuit of Cassian on his end did wonders for the first half of the film. Seeing his response to the disaster on Ferrix was a perfect introduction to him as a character, but with all the focused headshots looking at the aftermath it seemed like he was going to be further development of him as an antagonist, but that never happened as he disappeared from the rest of the film which was odd as I was waiting for another appearance. Mon Mothma’s initial scene hit HARD this time around, and it felt like an impactful cameo that made perfect sense in this film. Though, I did feel that her character arc did not end up going anywhere afterwards and she didn’t have any conclusion, so I personally think just that one scene would have been all that was needed. Luthen comes across as one of the most interesting characters in the show and my only wish here was that 1 or 2 more scenes were left in with him as he played too small of a role for how much he seemed to affect Cassian. The heist crew was edited to perfection, each side character was given their one moment in the sun to make an impact on Cassian and they never once dragged on or were given too much spotlight. Absolutely phenomenal treatment of the rebel crew. Finally, I think that the film could’ve benefitted from another 20-30 minutes of runtime as it did end quite abruptly for me. Concluding without the actual heist occurring was a tough one for me. In a way, it was poetic, but after so much build up and planning you naturally expect a payoff. Starting the next film with the heist seems to me like I will lose so much of the investment in the characters that I had been building for the last 2 hours, so I’m not yet sure how to feel about that until I watch the sequel. I think that cutting out ~5 minutes of the initial flashback and adding the heist plot would be perfect and still keep the film under 3 hours, especially considering cutting some of the later Mon Mothma scenes. Overall, I greatly preferred this format for rewatchablitily and cannot imagine sitting through breakfast with mommy again, so this is a marked improvement in that sense. I will score the narrative a 8/10, though I will say I generally prefer slow, long form story telling so a near 3 hour runtime would not intimidate me in the least, which is what I think this film needed.

Enjoyment: With everything said above, this film was a thrill. It was so unique in its storytelling, themes, and pacing. This was a true Star Wars spy thriller. The D+ version was a one of a kind experience, but this edit is also one as well. Baking down all of the crazy number of original scenes into a 2.25 hour runtime is no easy task. I enjoyed the film from start to finish, and would rank it an 8.5/10 experience.

Final rating average: 8.6/10

Thanks for making this, I don’t think I ever would’ve rewatched the D+ show start to finish again, but this… this I could go back to.

PsyGemini said:

I’m in the middle of Book 1 (just about to start the prison episode), and I have to say you truly did an outstanding job, man. I really love smudger9’s work, but IMHO he has to cut a little bit too much in order to fit the whole thing in a single-shot narrative.

I specially love how you managed to make the action flow better, taking out the childish out of place humor and, of course, Mando leaving Grogu, then going to the prison job, and then returning was a stroke of genius, it just works so well!

Thanks for the kind words, Psy! So glad you enjoyed the film, looking forward to sharing Book 2 with you very soon.

Some minor nitpicks:

1. 39:05 ; Mando says “I THINK it’s a child”. Oh, you think, dude? Could this be changed to a less dumb “it’s a child” or something?

Haha well how I understood that was he was saying “child” as in a sentient being and not an animal. Din would have never seen that species before so it’s him trying to process what a strange creature he has stumbled upon and how that is his bounty. I don’t personally have a problem with his line there.

2. 42:24 ; There remains a weird jawa chant (“egg! egg!”) from the removed bit.

I didn’t intend to 100% remove them saying “Egg!” Yes, it’s weird, but jawas are weird. Look at how they eat it later. Weird.

Also, I’m kinda split on the new color grading, half of the time it works really well, but the other half it makes everything a little too artificially warm, bright and redish. But oh well, guess this is up to personal taste. I do however will say that:

3. The opening cantina scene looks WAAAAY too bright, the color skin of the bearded guy looks so red it’s almost he became a different species.

That’s because… He’s uh… a Zeltron 😉

4. The black scenes/details are a little low quality video-wise? Very blurred, like we lost some details.I don’t know how to explain, I’m really not into video editing jargons, but maybe it was the black crushing in the processing?

Yes, I joke above, but I am aware of both the color grading being somewhat intense in a few scenes as well as some black crushing going on here and there. At some point in the future I might come across a spare 30 hours to go frame by frame and plug in glorious 4k source footage to fix all these scenes… But that is not today! Maybe a v4 with Mando S4, but I have a great deal to do on this v3 update storywise.

Anyways, will finish watching ep1 today, can’t wait for the next one!! Thanks for this gem!!

It’s my pleasure, I’ll write a brief update on the next film below.

EddieDean said:

Just had a look at the changelog and this second one is shaping up excellently too. I love this structure- Din fails to find a home with the wetlanders as Boba loses his with the Tuskens, then they crossover. Din’s story features Cara and the threat of constant pursuit throughout and becomes a true sequel to the previous one with the return of Greef and Nevarro.

Yes! Thanks for your input on how to get some more consistent themes presented throughout the films. I have just completed my first draft of Book 2: The Reckoning, and will be watching it tonight for a first bug review. The changelog should be mostly updated aside from anything I want to change after tonight. Hoping for another Friday/Saturday release!

Also, I have many thoughts on how to take Mando S3 content, but I might as well save it for when I actually get to building those films. Feel free to share thoughts and speculate solutions in the meantime though!

Thanks for all the kind words, glad you folks are enjoying this one! I had a ton of fun watching it too. I’m excited to continue developing this saga.

I’m hard at work working on Book 2: The Reckoning. I am just finishing up the big picture storyboarding on the scene order, so now it’s down to the nitty gritty of the new changes. Again, you can track the live progress here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1TIVp5tQY9WxxnOe8iRXvG5t4P6vTi1ZCbb8CnxwB_9Q/edit?usp=sharing

Hope to have this out and ready by the weekend! Enjoy Mando day tomorrow, MTFBWY.

Sent!

honestabe said:

I would like a link to Book 1 when you have the opportunity.

I am also just speculating, but the content of Books 6 and 7 are to be determined based upon the current season, correct?

Yes, I’ve begun initial storyboarding on paper but haven’t taken anything to the editing table yet. 4 more episodes to go before I can get a full vision of what I can do.

I do also note some of the current season will be incorporated into Book 5 unless I misread your prior posts.

That’s the plan as of now! Definitely will be using the beginning of Season 3 alongside the Mandalorian content in Book of Boba Fett to create an entirely new timeline of events. This will make the absence between Din and Grogu appear much, much longer.

The Way of Mandalore v3 has officially launched with Book 1: The Mandalorian, released now!

[Book 1: The Mandalorian] DM me for link

[Book 2: The Reckoning] In progress

[Book 3: The Tribes] In progress

[Book 4: The Believer] In progress

[Book 5: The Apostate] In progress

[Book 6: The Convert] In progress

[Book 7: TBD] In progress

I’m hoping to keep up the pace with ~1 week production time for each film’s update, which should leave me in a good spot when it comes to getting a hang of all that Season 3 is doing. Post here or send a DM if you’d like the link to Book 1 for now!

Special thanks to EddieDean for assistance in storyboarding, idea generation, and bug review.

The Way of Mandalore v3 Update

Book 1:

(Before I get into the main changelog, the primary difference here is the creation of a whole new story order. Din no longer goes to rescue Grogu immediately. Instead, he tries to push away the guilt by taking another job. A newly edited version of the Prisoner episode takes place which fits incredibly well thematically in this film. After that job is a complete mess, Din goes back to Nevarro for more work, but stumbles upon Grogu’s carrier in the trash. He expereinces flashbacks, and this is what motivates him to save Grogu.)

• Added new Mandalorian Disney “Star Wars” intro

• Added Razorcrest departing Pagodan shot (Helps with pacing and viewer being able to track where the Razorcrest is going)

• Added Blue guy incessantly asking annoying questions leading to Mando slamming him in carbonite (He now locks him away as soon as he asks about Mandos’ helmets. Helps us get a tiny bit more characterization for Din right off the bat)

• Cut all the other bounty hunters ominously turning to look at Greef & Din when he mentions the special job (Seems goofy that he is talking so loudly that everyone can hear? It certainly seems like a quiet conversation in a bustling cantina)

• Cut Armorer flashbacks in favor of saving them for later on. Din now stares intently at the pauldron being forged, seemingly feeling something but leaving the viewer to guess his emotions at this time.

• Added IG saying “The asset” instead of, “Said asset” (Credit to Eddie for pointing out error in the original show)

• Reduced the amount of time in which Din tries to open the door at the mercenary compound. He and IG are standing still out in the open and nobody can shoot them for far too long, again lessening the amount of danger it feels like they are in.

• Adjusted EWEB shot timing to be faster, extended soundtrack, and added shot of Mando taking cover while it is still shooting instead of before it shoots (More logical & more intense now)

• Removed IG trying to needlessly kill Grogu. The bounty for Grogu was clearly stated as “Dead or alive (for more money)”, yet IG says the commission was to terminate him? I never understood that line and it was never explained. There is no longer any danger, so why did IG not attempt to bring Grogu in alive? IG now hints that he would kill him, and perhaps is about to justify his reasoning but Din will now suddenly shoot the droid without even hearing him out, showing his distaste for the machines and that he never intended to actually work with it in the first place.

• After Grogu and Din are attacked by bounty hunters, they walk the rest of the day before making camp at night where Grogu first attempts to heal his wounds. They then continue in the morning onwards to the soon-to-be scrapped Razorcrest.

• Removed Din telling Grogu to spit out the frog and the subsequent giggle & burp. At this point in the story, Din is not at all playing a parental role so it comes across as an inconsistent characterization and cheapens the eventual parental growth he has later on. Also, the burp is kinda corny. There’s plenty of cute Grogu to be had later on.

• Added in Jawa → Mudhorn → Razorcrest plot, but condensed Mando climbing the Sandcrawler, and some other Jawa semantics. With moving the Wetlands to Book 2, we now need one more sequence to keep the pacing of the film. The jawa breaking the ship storyline serves a more logical encounter with the mudhorn, strengthens the bond between Din & Kuiil, and provides some decent characterization for our protagonist.

• When Din is fighting the Mudhorn and is speared for the last time, struggling to maintain consciousness, the Mudhorn is charging but there is WAY too much time that passes showing Din trying to raise his knife before it hits him. I know it’s kind of for dramatic purposes, but it reaaaalllly feels like it should be reaching him by now and it’s not. In fact when you go frame by frame, the distance between Din and the Mudhorn goes back and forth between being closer and farther due to them trying to force some extra shots in. A slight trim helps the situation feel real and also strengthens the suddenness of the battle’s stoppage.

• Removed the obvious “tell” scene that Grogu is about to stop the Mudhorn charge. It’s actually really cool to experience this scene entirely from the perspective of Din now, as it now plays out more mystical and confusing as we see it unfold from the eyes of the Mandalorian.

• Cut a little bit of Jawa egg eating (it drags on so long lol), and Din’s line “I’m surprised you waited.” It’s a tad corny how Kuiil responds after, and I don’t think Din would actually be surprised? Kuiil hasn’t shown any indication of trying to leave him behind before. Now Kuiil simply gives Din a hard time “I’m surprised you took so long” which does feel in line for his character.

• New space travel transition from leaving Arvala to arriving back to Nevarro.

• Cut Grogu waking up before they arrive on Nevarro. He now sleeps through all of hyperspace and surprises Din by waking up to grab the ball for the first time. I felt like that makes the first ball interaction more noticeable, and makes the ball emotionally connected to Din first realizing that Grogu is okay after saving him from the Mudhorn.

• Removed more flashbacks during cuirass construction in order to use later.

• When Din enters the cantina for the first time after donning his new armor, the order of shots in the cantina makes no sense. A ton of people stare at Din the instant he walks through the door, but Greef, who has the clearest view of the door, doesn’t notice him until the last second. I just swapped some of the reaction shots around to make a more logical and impactful presentation.

• Din now takes a new job from Greef without hesitation, looking to distance himself from the events that just transpired with the child. He leaves Nevarro alone after shoving his conscience away. New soundtrack and visuals were created by using content from Seasons 1 & 2.

• Built new travel and landing sequence as Din arrives on the cruddy space station alone for the criminal job he now seemingly took from Greef.

• Cut the part about only the Razorcrest being needed. Now the shock is that Mando learns it’s not a solo hunting job and that he has to work on a team with others when he really just wanted to take this job to be alone. We see that running away from the Child isn’t going to be the solution Din thought it would be, and this problem only compounds itself as the job goes awry and he is betrayed.

• Edited the entirety of the Prisoner episode to remove all references to Grogu. It works REALLY well as Act 2 to show how much Din is in over his head by abandoning Grogu, and how he is suddenly tired of all the “games” that go along with bounty hunting. Through the disaster of this job, he now realizes the mistake he made by turning his back on the fulfillment that true purpose brings.

• When Din attacks the NR droids, I had to cut some reaction shots from the crew. There are moments where the entire combat freezes in time to show a reaction shot and then resumes only after someone’s shocked face, that crap disrupts the whole flow of the action. We now see Din’s combat play out uninterrupted and then learn that everyone was just chilling watching him do it alone.

• Cut a few lines off of Sheehan and Mayfeld’s argument, only the ones that make Mayfeld seem like an idiot for hiding some information for no reason at all. Now it seems like the alarm button actually caught them all off guard which helps build the tension.

• Cut the scene with Devaronian throwing the NR droid and causing an enormous explosion. Are those things floating gas tanks with guns? Not only that, it was a very shoehorned in one-off scene with terrible transition wipes and probably wasn’t filmed for this placement initially anyway.

• Re-added Zero scanning through the Razorcrest’s comms and finding news about Din’s prior Bounty Hunter guild contract. Changed some audio so it doesn’t reveal anything about Episode 3 (since that hasn’t happened yet in my edit), but it works as both another connector to make this new episode placement feel natural, as well as give us a much needed passage of time scene where Din is still trapped in his cell.

• Cut obvious “tell” scene that Din is hiding in the vents watching the Devaronian. More surprising when the rope flies down around his neck.

• There’s been some discussion on whether we leave the fates of the Bounty crew ambiguous or if we show that Din imprisoned them. However, there was one angle we hadn’t discussed yet. Din is getting abused on this mission, he’s angry at both himself and the scum trying to kill him. I don’t think it’s at all out of the picture for Din to kill everyone, as we just saw him killing many Jawas in Act 1 for messing with him as well. Also for me, logic is king and there is no possible way to explain how the Devaronian survived getting crushed by two doors like that, he is clearly reduced to pulp. So in accordance, I have also edited the female Twi’lek to appear to be killed by Din as well. We already clearly see Din kill the droid, the male Twi’lek, and the guy who hired them all, so killing these two off leaves us with only Mayfeld as the sole survivor. (though we won’t find this out until later in the series and I have left his fate the most ambiguous)

• Added flashback sequence when Din finds Grogu’s carrier in the trash. Cutting back and forth between the similarities between his childhood and his time with Grogu. This one is a guilt trip and a tear-jerker.

• Replaced shot of Din clearly deciding not to kill Pershing with a shot of him still pointing his blaster at him. (Dr. Pershing seems extremely afraid still at this point, and it doesn’t match Din’s relaxing body language in the original)

• When Din is confronted by all the Nevarro hunters I rearranged the sequence of him jumping into the astromechs trailer. In the original, he lays around way too long getting shot at and the order of following shots is bizarre. I have recut this scene to be far more action-oriented, and Din now makes the logical decision to attempt to get the droid to drive far sooner. However, he is now interrupted by blaster fire and then attempts again shortly after. I also reduced a few of Din’s killshots as he racks up way too many precise shots and that lessens the danger we feel he is in. (Scene is more intense and more logical now instead of feeling like “How is everyone missing so many shots here?”)

• Similarly, I rearranged some of the killshots and added new SFX when Din is pinned down with the Disrupter rifle. Original was too slow and verging on cheesy, it should now feel more terrifying.

• Cut down looking confused when his flamethrower runs out of fuel, surely he has practiced before? He wiggles his arm in disbelief as it flutters out, all the while everyone stops shooting? Tightened up the shots for intensity.

• Din now experiences the flashbacks of being saved by the Mandalorians as a child as he is currently being saved by them again as he now, as a Mandalorian, is doing the same for Grogu. It is incredibly poetic and the best scene in the film.

• Increased the speed of Din and Greef’s final standoff and fixed a bug in the original show. (They again do the weird thing here where Greef actually gets shot twice by the same blaster bolt. I’ve found this bug in a few other places throughout the show. Someone gets shot, then it cuts to a new camera and that same person gets shot again in the new camera angle. It’s super disorienting, check it out frame by frame on the original sometime. It happens REALLY bad on Werner Herzog’s death)

• Cut Grogu messing with the controls on the way to Sorgan, will use later in the series. (It’s too lighthearted/humorous & doesn’t really fit the tone of the ending)

• Intercut IG-11’s resurrection and Greef’s survival together as a transition between Nevarro and the closing scene on Sorgan. This sets up future films and shows us a gap of time for the travel to take place.

• Film now ends with Mando & Grogu landing on Sorgan and walking out together, the start of a new life.

• Adjusted Credits concept art to coincide with new story order.

[Film is going through one final bug check this evening, so I can send out links tomorrow]

Hey, everyone! I am actively editing v3 now and it’s going really well. Doing a top to bottom analysis of each film, so currently going through Book 1. You can track my progress and make suggestions here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1TIVp5tQY9WxxnOe8iRXvG5t4P6vTi1ZCbb8CnxwB_9Q/edit?usp=sharing

spunkmeyer said:

Hi there.

Very interesting reading this thread is. I’d appreciate being linked up at some point.

Keep up the good work. Do you have any hobbies ?

Rob

Thanks, Rob! Do you want to watch the current v2 release or wait ~4 weeks for the v3 release? Hmm, hobbies… Definitely enjoy any sort of good storytelling. Love a good slow paced story based video game (Mass Effect series is my all time favorite), currently reading the Witcher novels for the first time (haven’t played the games yet), and then I enjoy MMA as a sport to watch as well as train physically too. Thanks for asking, glad to have you around.

EddieDean said:

Hell yeah, great to have you back! Really interested to hear more of your plans.

And I’m really interested to hear more of your suggestions 😉 Your brilliant ideas are the main cause of all this new work in the first place so keep piling them on!

jediminecraft said:

Hey! I watched your edit and I really enjoyed the changes you made to the series! However, I do have somewhat of a gripe with the video quality on some of the episodes, and I’ve heard you’re working on a v2 of the edits, so I wonder if you could also make a higher bitrate option with 5.1 audio?

I’m definitely trying to address some of the technical aspects. I think I mentioned it earlier in this thread, but the main cause of those issues is that I actually started working on this project in 2020 with Season 2 coming out. I did a lot of work on some crappy source footage before I even joined here and learned about fan editing. I then built The Way of Mandalore from that same project file rather than starting from scratch not realizing how much the quality differed. That’s why there are some inconsistent blacks/audio. I tried to run it all through an upscaler and it helped in some ways and hurt in others. At this point I’m a bit lost on any good solutions aside from completely recreating half of the project which would delay everything by months, but I’ll ask some others for advice.

Hey guys, just provding an update! I’m finally moved into my new house and finished setting up my office last night. The real work starts this weekend! I’m watching Episode 3 right now. Been reworking some of my storyboards based on Episode 2 and I’m definitely going to be keeping Film 5 entirely free of Grogu so we can actually feel his absence. Will be moving some of the Mando storyline into Act one of Film 6.

Feel free to post any other thoughts for how S3 can change The Way of Mandalore for the better!

yoshif8tures said:

Okay so, so far out of season 2, you could make an arc out of episodes 2, 3, 7, 8, 10 and 12 so far, of which episode 12 is a must watch.
I don’t remember much of season 1 but I think you could make it a story about clones adjusting to life under the empire and take it off of the bad batch.
Focus more on Crosshair, since he is really the only interesting character in this show.

Thanks for the suggestions. I agree, it might be beneficial to keep my edit smaller in scale and only focus on that transitionary story rather than so much about TBB squad specifically.

Thanks, everyone! Great feedback and ideas. I still am leaning towards cutting the croc and somehow making that into a flashback, but am waiting on actually developing that right now so we can see where that plotline goes first. Too many mysteries to begin chopping stuff up right now.

I am putting together a list of all the great receommendations I’ve received for my first 5 films. I might toss it into an excel sheet and have it publicly listed so people can keep track of progress and make comments in case I misssed something in these forums. Really grateful for everyone pitching in!

I’m currently toying with an idea to make Din and Grogu’s absence appear much longer. I really need to see how more of S3 plays out first though so I’m sticking with touching up the earlier movies for edits today. I’m moving this friday to my new house so next week I’ll be much more productive. Looking forward to discussing Wednesday’s episode with you all soon.

The way I’m brainstorming the flashback idea is definitely to use it later on in the show instead of my first film. Like Eddie said, I am trying to get that mysterious slow drip of Din’s character early on. Especially with the new updates coming for that movie.

Honestly, the flashback could be used around the same point in the story (either right before or right after Grogu reunion depending on how that idea plays out) and cut out the whole crocodile fight. It would cut right from “Din” about to say the oath regarding his helmet to him walking into the cave to confront the Armorer about his transgressions. It would make it appear as if he did say those words and is now wrestling with his violation of them.

Hard to speculate as to what else I would keep or cut in the episode as I need more of the season. But the pirate and IG content is up in the air for either cutting or moving around too. When you look at the concept art in the credits, it appears Grogu wasn’t in half of the scenes… Like when Din goes to Bo-katan, she didn’t even react to Grogu and he wasn’t in the concept art there. Makes me wonder if they CGI’d him in later on.

Hey everyone! I’m going to be editing this with new content as the episodes come out. This will be my whole big v2 update with all the changes discussed previously, making this whole edit even more transformative than it already is.

My mind was running wild with ideas as I watched the new episode. My initial plan is pretty radical… I think I want to use some content in here to extend Din’s journey BEFORE he reunites with Grogu. I feel like Grogu didn’t really contribute all that much or go through any meaningful development here.

Also, did anyone else think that opening sequence was a flashback? Any way I could edit it to function as one? I have some cool ideas in my head to test out with this. I am on a business trip out of state for the rest of the week so I’m not able to start testing yet, but I’d love to keep this thread open for discussion and brainstorming together. Looking forward to working with you all through this season and making the best Mando story together!

gurgle1624 said:

I’m just gonna say it now…I’m going to ask for links to any project you’re on. I’ve heard nothing but great things about your edits. The amount of work your putting into these things is above what we deserve. So I’m going to officially ask for the links to:
Heirs of the Force
Fate of the Jedi
Legacy of the Force
The Bad batch
The way of Mandalore

There I did it…Obviously its at your discretion and if their even completed yet.
You will make our family extremely happy if you could send those links.
Thank you and if there’s some place I can donate for your efforts please provide a link as well.
Scotty

Hey, Scotty. I appeciate your excitement and hope the edits deliver what you’re looking for! A few of them are still in the “beta” phase but they’re all fully watchable. I’ll be making more updates throughout the year as well.

No need to donate! Your happiness while watching makes it more than worth it for me. I love Star Wars and it is my pleasure to spread some of that love through fan editing. I’ll send you a DM.

Ryan_ said:

Sorry for me taking so long to post this. I was out by the time I ended this movie and so I couldn’t do it, but that aside, I’m very happy to how this movie turned out and think you did a good job. You made a lot of things about this movie a lot better, and trust me, there were lots of problems.

Well it’s only been like 8 months since I last responded in this thread, but someone recently posted here and I noticed I never replied to your last comment. Thanks for taking the time to write out your experience with my edit!

First thing’s first I love about this change is that Ben lives instead of Rey. Rey living honestly made her a lot more hated character because she never faced any struggles nor were arc satisfying in the slightest. Ben had an actual established arc; Luke, Leia, and Han died trying to redeem him, and while it isn’t a complete 180, at least we have a more satisfying conclusion. His character opened up a more possible chance for the future where we see him and Finn having a possible meeting in a near future while also serving as a vigilante who serves no side as both the light and dark is balanced within him. I’m finna headcanon in one of his travels that Ben found a young girl whose parents both died and was a baby, and he took her in assuming the role as father figure, and naming her Rey. There is so many opportunities with Ben now being an haunted individual who serves balance of the Force. The Jedi and the Sith died, and now Ben could possibly start a New Order, no Jedi, no Sith, but an Order that serves the Force and the Force alone.

Thanks for the kind words. I really do think I hit the right notes on the character arcs here. The only thing that remains is to touch up some of the shots to make it more “theatrical” since I changed so much. It’s only a workprint to make sure the story flowed well, and I think it does after reading so many reviews, but I’d love to add more here thematically.

And now about that ending, that was amazing! Going through all the adventures by Threepio’s memories is an amazing send off as we see a proper ending to the trilogy and more respectful! Luke is my second favorite Star Wars character behind Anakin Skywalker, and I’m glad to see him receiving appreciation from a writer that actually respects him and the character that he is. You made him even better in this trilogy while keeping the main message of what he is intact.

Wonderful! That was a fun ending for me as well, and my hope was that it makes every Star Wars fan feel something nice 😃

Hux’s death still makes me frown because I wish he had a more respectful one such as dying on a Star Destroyer, but at the very least, his death seems to be more out of failure to capture the crew instead of the spy part. That fixes up his death slightly.

Definitely agree here, I’m open to any and all suggestions about how to give Hux a more fitting send off. He was so abruptly and ridiculously deleted out of the storyline though that it’s extremely difficult to transform his death in any meaningful way. The best I could do at first is get rid of the ridiculousness, but still the abruptness remains.

That said; I do have a minor nitpick which is out of your hands. I wish Finn had a more active role such as getting his chance to lead a Stormtrooper Rebellion in a more active. That’s more of a my problem since I love that part about the original Episode 9, Duel of the Fates, and is again out of your hands. That said, you removed him as a joke and made him a better character. He should have honestly been a deeper darker character who had a troubled background but slowly pushing back then. I wish they used his character in a correct format, but at least you removed all that made him a joke and made him more better. He deserved more respect than they had gave him especially since the potential they gave him, but at least you have the opportunity of Ben training him in the Force in the nearby future. Ben would undoubtedly feel an obligation to protect Finn and Poe because they had been the closest people to Rey that she had left as well as Chewie because he had once served his father. R2 and Threepio would become Ben’s Droids, I imagine, because as horrible as his deeds, he still is a Skywalker who has both Anakin and Padmé’s blood within him and their children.

I wholeheartedly agree with everything here as well. Finn was treated poorly as a character top to bottom. I thought he had by far the most interesting storyline coming out of TFA, but they completely squandered his character arc to force him into a comic relief role instead of giving a proper ex-stormtrooper turned Jedi. I will stand on this mountain of salt until the day I die.

I have mixed feelings about Leia healing Ben but it’s better than Rey healing him. I also do wonder have you ever considered having Anakin appeared to Ben when he was about to throw his lightsaber? I love that scene where Ben reflect on his own, but feel like Anakin should appear at that moment to talk to his grandson. Him just throwing the lightsaber… doesn’t feel right.

I’m not 100% settled on that decision for my final cut of this film. Like you said, it’s better than Rey healing him (which is one of my worst scenes in Star Wars due to the destruction of thousands of years of established force lore), but I’m not convinced it works well enough with Leia doing it either. I’m half at a loss here though as Kylo has a gaping hole in his gut and still needs to make it to the final Act of the movie lol… Yes, I’ve seen many attempts at Anakin communicating to Ben in this scene, and if done originally by Lucasfilm I think it would’ve worked well as a storytelling device, but I haven’t found a way to do any of it in a believable way on my own.

Your movie actually respected Anakin’s legacy, and even though I always thought Plagueis should have been the one who returned instead of Palpatine, you even made his return more satisfying as it’s referenced Anakin used Rey as a vessel to put down his tormentor for decades down once and for all. Great movie! And this is now Canon for me! 😃

Respecting the legacy of the Chosen One was priority #1 for me here. It’s the main reason I disliked the original movie. I think my edit does a much betterjob of not throwing Anakin in the trash. I was also on Team SnokeIsPlagueis (until JJ Abrams said he didn’t know who Plagueis was…), but alas Disney is going to Disney. Anyway, thanks for the kind words and that’s quite an honor to have my edit be added into your personal Canon. I hope to improve this film even more in the next year and look forward to sharing that with you again in the future.

Hadrian sunrider said:

There is an Anakin rise of Skywalker cut on the way

https://youtu.be/tuVFq7iFbFE

Thanks, Hadrian, I will definitely follow the production of his scene.

Hey everyone, addressing a few of the last posts here and giving an update.

I’ve only completed ~50% of the new additions to Episode 0 so far. I am still in the process of moving into a new home and switching over my studio, and it was a slight fixer-upper so probably another 3-4 weeks until I have everything settled in and I’m no longer painting and replacing carpets every evening instead of editing…

Eddie, as always, incredible analysis! I haven’t even watched any of TBB Season 2 yet, so I’m a bit behind on connecting the dots between thematic elements of the seasons. Will definitely come back to your post when I get into that segment of the story.

So a bigger picture update on this project. To be honest, I’m struggling to have a genuine love and connection with the source material. Some of it is pretty decent, but I’m not emotionally invested here yet. Now that isn’t to say that I am cancelling this project, but progress here is naturally slower due to the fact that it sometimes feels more like a “chore” instead of a joy-inducing hobby. Maybe that connection will grow over time, but with the small amount of free time in my life right now it’s been tough to dedicate it this edit. With The Mandalorian S3 looming and my Way of Mandalore project getting a very neat makeover… Well, you get the picture. I do want to find the diamond in the rough with this show, and I will, just not according to to the timeline I originally planned. New house purchase, increased work responsibilties, and a lack of natural love for the content has caused delays.

No, this edit will not be 4k. This one will be 1080p only. I know some people love 4k and others hate it because it’s too hard to download with the increased file sizes. I know the perfect solution for all would be for me to make it both ways and host all options for people, but that’s a nightmare and a half. Personally I would do 4k, but I received a lot of feedback on my Way of Mandalore being 4k and it being too inaccessible for many downloaders.

Yoshi, that video is absolutely perfect haha.

EddieDean said:

I watched your episode zero (taken from the Clone Wars series’ Bad Batch arc) and it’s all you could hope for. The original content isn’t particularly strong, but you’ve cut it exactly right, trimming the fat and keeping the focus on the Bad Batch characters. It worked as an example Bad Batch mission (introducing them all through the lens of Rex, and with Echo as the emotional core), and I was glad you completely removed the final episode for pacing and focus, using only its ending.

It works far better as an episode of the Bad Batch than it did as a Clone Wars episode, so I was glad you cut the Anakin/Padmé content (especially since I still used just those scenes in my TCW:Refocused edit elsewhere), and the Anakin/Mace content (which wasn’t very additive, except for the scene of Anakin killing Trench, which I also would have cut from this or TCW:R anyway as it’s too similar to other things we’ve seen in TCW, and Trench doesn’t need to be a major villain.

Where did you place the Anakin/Padme scene in your series? I love that scene and when I cut it, I knew it needed a home elsewhere in TCW. It was just so irrelevant to TBB.

And I agree about Trench. I really like when Anakin kills him, but like you said, it doesn’t necessarily add anything new and Trench’s return was a bit too random and sudden in general.

I have only three minor ideas you might want to consider:

1. Opening with a subtitle saying “Shortly before the end of the Clone Wars” or similar, to just clarify when this is set if you’re picking the show up after TCW/ROTS (which I reckon anyone should).
2. Since I’m a big fan of skipping the Citadel arc (as it’s just not very strong, despite Tarkin’s appearance and Echo’s death), and it’d be a while since the viewer had watched that anyway if they were watching in chronological order, I would look for an opportunity to include Echo’s death as a very brief flashback - perhaps during the scene you cut with Rex pondering over a helmet. I’m mainly asking this because it’d help me personally - some do want Citadel included in TCW:R, just for that scene alone, but it’s so throwaway - but it could add value to this episode since this is the first point in the overarching story when it becomes relevant, and you do have a good scene to embed it in.
3. This is a bit of a longer shot, but you could end this episode on TBB#1’s opening, the newsreel (perhaps without the newscaster’s narration), to effectively bring us up out of this episode’s extended flashback and back up to speed. That’d get that out of the way, allowing TBB#1 to begin on the actual drama, not an extended intro.

I absolutely love all 3 of those suggestions. Great ways to spice up the mildly bland content. I will get to implementing all of that right now. Thanks for the write up, I think those ideas are just what this Episode 0 needs to feel like a proper prequel to TBB show.

To everyone else who asked to see, I will send it out as soon as I complete the above additions.

I now have the “Episode 0” Bad Batch origin story completed and available for viewing. Let me know if you want to watch it.

Main edits:

• This is not meant to fit into the larger mythos of The Clone Wars show, even though it is technically content from Season 7 of TCW. This is meant to function as a prequel storyline to The Bad Batch show to learn how Echo joins them and give a brief glimpse into their missions during the Clone Wars in-universe.

• The main focus here was on telling a Bad Batch focused storyline instead of the long-form 4-episode TCW arc with all of those main characters. We now only get a few character easter egg appearances of Mace, Anakin, and Obi-Wan, and the larger narrative of the Battle of Anaxes has been removed. This is a 50-minute focused narrative on the Bad Batch acquiring Echo. If I were to edit TCW arc as its own show now, I would probably create a storyline solely about the Battle of Anaxes based on what I removed from this TBB edit.

• Aside from keeping all scenes focused on TBB, I have also made edits to the squad consistent with the altering of my previous posts about edits to the characters in my in-progress “Episode 1”. This includes the less over-the-top stereotypes in trimming down Wrecker and Tech, reducing some childish humor, and quickening action scenes for less goofiness all around.

I didn’t find this TCW arc about TBB to be very interesting aside from the Battle of Anaxes and the character development for Anakin… So I’m saying here that I’ve removed all of my favorite content, haha. But really, this now works much better as an intro to TBB instead of a disjointed introduction to the squad during an otherwise very intense and entertaining time of TCW episodes. I think this would’ve played out better if TCW had made a 4 episode arc about the Battle of Anaxes focused on the Jedi, and then introduced this content as the first episode of TBB Season 1 later on.

I’m planning to finish my TBB Episode 1 later next week.

Haris123 said:

Hey bruv a happy late merry Christmas. Just wondering on how progress is for this edit?

Hello, and an even later Merry Christmas to you. Progress has been slow the last few months, unfortunately. Moving to a new place (finally bought a house!) and it’s been a time sink of incredible proportions. Obviously, I missed my intended goal to get this done before the Season 2 debut! However, I am back into editing this right now and hope to complete this project as soon as I can.

I’m still grinding out this “Episode 0” of TCW content. As I’ve mentioned before, I think that arc is a rather dull storyline in general, but I do feel it’s necessary to frame these characters in a new way right from the get-go. I’ll post some editing notes tomorrow.

guywithpie42 said:

I have a physical need to see all of your SW work. Please send links to everything including the BB and Mando/BF.

Nearly brought a tear to my eye when I read how you bought a second ticket in disbelief when you first saw TLJ and were shocked by what you saw. I did the same exact thing and left with the same conclusion; it was the first time I disliked a Star Wars movie.

Based on what I can see your understanding of REAL Star Wars is impressive and your changes are fantastic.

Sent! Thank you for the inspiration and I completely relate with you. To be honest, I still have not fully recovered my true love for Star Wars as a result of TLJ & TRoS. I don’t think that wound will heal until I experience a Star Wars film in the theater that touches me the same way previous films did. Seeing Luke in Mando and the last season of TCW did a lot to help bring back some of that magic, but I still believe that the best of Star Wars belongs on the big screen and I eagerly await another story in theaters.

My edits are an attempt to rectify the feelings I experienced from those films and I am at least proud of my effort in making something that I no longer despise. I do plan to put a lot more into my trilogy edits in the coming year as well, but I hope you enjoy the current versions.

EddieDean said:

I’ve watched movies 1-4, and am loving this so far. As promised, some more detailed feedback.

As ever, this is all caveated by me thinking these are absolute great movies as-is, and already my archival versions.

Wonderful feedback, Eddie. We both know that is an editor’s dream to receive so I am very thankful for your time there. Reading through that, I definitely plan to take another pass on the series as a whole and maybe drop a full-on v2 at some point. However, as that looks like another 30+ hour project to complete, I find myself at a bit of a crossroads here…

The current v1 release as-is works well. It’s a solid 8/10 for what it could possibly be, so I’m happy to have it out since it’s been brewing since early summer, and I even started working on it personally in 2021. Reading so much feedback, considering unifying the themes a bit better and moving whole episodes around and such, well… I just saw that it looks like Mando Season 3 is on pace for a February 2023 release. I guarantee watching that will influence what I can do with The Way of Mandalore as a whole. Understanding more of where they plan to take Boba/Din’s characters will hugely change the origin stories I plan to rework. I could crank out a v2 by the end of the month/December based on the feedback, then do another pass for a v3 release in Spring '23 after Season 3 wraps up… But if things in the soon releasing Season 3 completely alter what I’m about to do in v2, well, that’s no fun to do all that work and then change it all up again.

My main purpose for the re-edit was to give people a “better”, more concise & enjoyable way to rewatch before Season 3. As it looks like that is coming sooner than I thought, I don’t want to get crushed in crunch time on my other projects that also need released before the next season. I’m currently leaning towards taking a pause on this one for a few months, as I do need to get my Bad Batch project done by the end of the year, and have my Kenobi ready to go in January as well. I think that investing in this v2 heavily again right now will make those other tasks impossible to complete in time. Plus, after spending so much time making this whole series over the past few months, a change of source material is refreshing to keep me motivated.

How do people feel about that? Am I concerned about Season 3 for nothing? Should I grind out a v2 + v3 or just wait for one big update since so much could change in February?

21C Peasant said:

One of the major issues that I had with the show (and one of the very first things I tackled in my personal edit) is that Leia is portrayed as being so sassy.

This is a major misunderstanding of what makes a strong child character. Even if the writers were trying to make this some sort of an arc for Leia, it just doesn’t sit well that she would be so disrespectful to legitimate authority and, at the same time, so wise beyond her years. I was fine with her telling off her cousin, but her rudeness to her mother and to Obi-Wan made her virtually unlikeable. And Obi-Wan was basically sealed as a loser by constantly getting dissed and one-upped by a spoiled child. Fortunately, with a number of small cuts here and there, Leia came much more in line with what we should expect from her — gutsy but classy, outspoken but just. She can still have a character arc without her starting out as a total brat.

Enough of my ranting!

Overall, I’m really liking your Legends approach. Can’t wait for more details!

Thanks for the suggestion, 21C! I 100% agree with you there. So much of how we feel about a character is influenced by how other characters treat them, especially by other characters that we generally are inclined to like (Leia). When the berating is so one-sided like in this show, it really makes the viewer go, “Oh, yeah, maybe Obi-Wan is kind of a loser…” and that is the last thing in the world I want for that character. I am definitely playing close attention to the dialogue in order to ensure that we don’t get the feeling that Obi-Wan is a bum. But it is certainly a fine balance in also ensuring that so much of child Leia isn’t stripped away that she becomes a ball of nothingness. I’ll get back to this edit in December I believe, and get to writing out the change log.

yoshif8tures said:

You should check out this upcoming edit that will redo some VFX

https://www.reddit.com/r/fanedits/comments/yigaka/fortress_inquisitorius_new_look/

Yes, certainly familiar with pixeljoker’s work! I’ve communicated with him on Discord too and in my OP mention how part of the reason I’m aiming to release in January is because he is providing editors with his VFX scenes after his own release around Christmas. I’m trying to prepare the majority of my own storyline decisions, and then just plug in the VFX he is generously providing.

Warhorn said:

Hey, I would love a link for your movie edits. They look great 😃

Sent! Hope you enjoy, may the force be with you

yoshif8tures said:

Thanks for making this edit, especially one who swore to never watch any version of this film again. You sir have made this the best fanedit this film could possibly be. I very much look forward to seeing the finished film.

Awesome! Thanks so much for the kind words. I was also one who swore to never watch this movie again, but I’ve grown to like it with these adjustments made. I can’t wait to touch everything up next year and make it even better.

bbghost said:

would love a link, please

Sent, bbghost! Hope you enjoy and feel free to leave feedback in this thread as this movie is still a work in progress. Your opinion means a lot to me

bob_downunder said:

Could I please get a link. Love the sound of your edits

Sent, hope you enjoy.

yoshif8tures said:

I enjoyed this a lot more, you sir have done a fine job of editing this.

Thanks for taking the time to say something nice. I am glad it made a difference for you and hope you feel the same about my Episode 8 which is much more transformative.

WitchDR said:

I, too, decided to watch through Book 5 first, since the Boba content was the worst and needed the most work.

Figured I’d share a few things I wrote down while watching:

Thank you for the detailed notes, WitchDR! I am currently working on trying out some new plot points for Books 1/2 but will get back to this post again afterwards.

Eddie, lots of great ideas and ponderings that I will get back to thinking through and responding to soon. I do want to first make sure that this initial idea works out well for Book 1, but unifying the themes in later movies like you’re talking about does make sense and I will do a full analysis of everything you wrote later on.

yoshif8tures said:

I just want to say that I’ve been very impressed so far with what you’ve done with this series.
One thing that strikes me as odd though is that at the end of book 2, he goes back to the sarlaac to try to find his armour and ends up on obliterating it.
Not only does this seem silly but over the top, not to mention he should recall he had the armour when he came out?
Anyway, I’m enjoying it a lot so far and it’s excellent.

Thanks, glad you’re enjoying it. I’ve seen a couple people mention they don’t like the sarlacc scene as a whole, but I haven’t personally been persuaded yet on it being out of character for Boba. I don’t think Boba has any memory of the first few minutes/hours outside the pit. He can’t recall getting stripped of the armor so I don’t think it’s out of the question that he would go and look there first. And killing the sarlacc is a classic Mandalorian/Bounty Hunter move I feel. The beast beat him, so he wants revenge and to prove that he is superior. What specifically makes it seem “silly”? I am usually hugely critical of “silliness” in Star Wars but I didn’t feel too bad about the sarlacc sequence initially. Is it great/well directed? No. But is it entirely out of character/disruptive? I haven’t been persuaded of that yet.

As far as progress on Book 1 re-work: Been extra busy and haven’t had as much time to put into it, but I’ve worked through the whole prison break episode now and have it functioning properly in the new story order. Found a good solution for the droid hunter death.

Unfortunately, there aren’t many additional instances available of showing Din thinking about Grogu during this time as it is a very fast paced episode and due to the timeline of armor modifications like Eddie mentions, there are some very real restrictions on which scenes can be reasonably moved around between seasons. I am working on fitting in one more instance of Din looking at the “ball” on his ship as he flies back to Nevarro after the job, and have just begun work on the carrier-flashback sequence that will now change his destiny forever. I really want to nail that scene so it might take a bit to get that working right with the soundtrack and flashbacks.