PM sent with both versions if you have a specific comparison in mind.
Thanks! I think some of the confusion with the changelist between V1 and V2 is that both versions are intermixed in OP. Example being Kylo’s prayer, you have it listed in both Act 1 and Act 2.
Can I get a link to watch? Thanks!
Acbagel, do you mean what was changed from V1 of the workprint to V2? If so there are quite a few changes and tweaks not all of which I remember at the moment, but most of the total changes for the project are kept up-to-date on the first post of the thread.
Ok, I was just wondering if you had a time stamped changelist for V1 and V2 so I could go back and forth and compare the changes. Either way, I’ll take the link to V2 to check it out.
Great! I actually changed it a bit yet again.
This project is getting very close to a full release. I’m uploading another workprint right now so if anyone wants to check that out just ask. There are quite a few new changes from the first workprint, from beginning to end, literally. The new crawl is included, as well as a whole new piece of music in the end credits.
The only major things left to do are the timecode removals. Other than that, it’s just some finessing of the present changes. Off the top of my head, I’d like to work more on Poe’s interrogation, the Hosnian Destruction shot that was brought up earlier, the Sith eyes, and swapping out the TLJ footage in Rey’s final dream/vision for more TFA appropriate imagery.
Very exciting! Would love to see a Workprint-V1 changelist when it’s ready!
I’d like to take a look at this too, thanks!
Hopefully, I’m not asking too much but I would love a link to this trilogy you edited, sounds incredible! Thanks!
Not at all, sent! Have fun, would love to hear your review after you watch
Sounds super interesting. Can I get a link? Thanks.
Sent!
Once you start down the Dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny.
Except Darth Vader redeemed himself in RotJ.
Hey, I’m just the messenger, take it up with Yoda! But I think his meaning was not that you can’t turn back to the light ever again, but that the dark side has eternal consequences and it consumes your entire being. There is a price to be paid for wielding the dark, and for Vader it was his life.
I just uploaded V2 of this edit. V2 just fixes a few bugs with the crawl and a couple scenes throughout the movie. Nothing major, just touch-ups to fix the initial mistakes.
Since I now have V2’s of each edit, it might be a while before I go to V3’s and final releases of everything. I am personally waiting on other people to finish their edits to see if I am inspired by some of their ideas or scenes to add into mine. I am most looking forward to the Movies Remastered Episode 9 edit (release sometime Q 2/3 2021?), and the Fixing Disney Star Wars trilogy (releasing edits throughout 2021 and 2022). As those come out I will integrate what I feel works well with my Legends Trilogy and upload versions until I feel my work is 100% complete.
As far as future projects go, I don’t have any plans to release edits of any other Star Wars movies. I do have personal edits of Solo, Rogue One, Return of the Jedi, and small edits on some Clone Wars/Rebels episodes, but I don’t feel like my changes are significant enough to warrant writing about and releasing. They are just part of my personal way of watching the Star Wars saga. So until Disney releases something new I will only be slowly updating the Legends Trilogy.
Thanks to everyone who has supported the project and written reviews. I’ve really enjoyed the interactions and I hope my work will remain something for future fans to continue discovering so they can experience the ST in a new light.
Given the difference in the OT heroes’ children, does this mean it’s not directly Legends-compatible?
I’m sure you can find some inconsistencies between the two, but I built my trilogy to work in line with The Crucible Canon https://boards.theforce.net/threads/the-crucible-canon-merging-eu-and-new-canon-as-smoothly-as-possible.50053287/ . In this theory, the Legends children can still exist. In fact, I know of another fan editor who is currently filming scenes with a Jaina Solo to include in TLJ that I will borrow from for my final version.
Can I get a link? Sounds really interesting!
Sent! If you have time, I’d love to for you to post a review here when you’re done.
This was absolutely stellar like your TFA edit was. I’m REALLY hoping you can color correct it. Maybe an editor like Hal 9000 would assist you?
Thank you! Glad you enjoyed. Did you get to watch the TLJ edit as well?
I would love to do some better color correcting for the final releases. I’m not skilled in that area so I would definitely rely on others for that if they’d want to pitch in.
I’d love to see as well, thanks!
I’d like to see as well, thanks!
I personally agree with the Kylo choices and how this edit ends. These are my favorite fan-edits of the Sequel Trilogy so far. People should check these out.
Thank you for the kind words! I’m glad you enjoyed the new experience.
That looks so good! I can’t see anything at all to change anymore. Looks theatrical quality and is a fantastic change.
I watched this last week but did want to give a quick review on it!
Overall the edit works very well to combine the tones of the 2 source materials. I think the highlight of the film was the eeriness right before the Jedi confront Palpatine. There’s like a solid 3 minutes of pure dread as we see how many characters are sensing something imminent. Incredible!
It all does a great job to wrap up Clone Wars and this was my wife’s first time ever seeing RotS after we watched all of TCW the last few months. She was in tears by the end!
As for things to fix, there’d only be a few, and most of them are directed to the NCC which I know isn’t a completed project so I won’t bother getting into that. For FotR, the only corrections I can think of were I believe there’s a slight audio desync that occurs in TCW scene on Mandalore with Bo-Katan and Ahsoka after capturing Maul. Either that or something about the animation there is throwing me off, maybe just double check. The one main criticism I’d give is I think there’s too many cut to black transitions between the sources. Maybe look into some wipes instead of hard cuts to black.
Thanks for your work on this, it’s a great idea and I think the best way to experience a more consistent story for TCW characters into the movie.
Sent to all 4! Would appreciate reviews if you have the time.
I really found my passion for this film and hit a stride at the midway point of working. I went back and rewrote this thread’s OP and changelist so you will now have a detailed explanation of every decision I made. And with that… The workprint is complete! I will be uploading tonight so please post here or DM me if you’d like to see.
Love a lot of these ideas, and especially agree with the title 😉 . Wondering how you’re going to pull off the Anakin content? Where are you getting that footage from that makes it look like an actual part of the movie?
I made a lot of progress the last couple days and have a working cut for Act 1 and began on Act 2. I’m hoping the new way I introduced Palpatine is going to a be a better way of tying his story to Legends!
Can you go into more detail about that? Not exactly sure what you’re looking for.
gladion said:It’s a compilation that removes unnecessary elements like Rose, and only sees Ray and Kylo Ren’s confrontation. Edith featuring Kylo Ren is also fine.
That’s still not a lot to go on. You’re looking for a The Last Jedi edit then? Your best bet is to browse https://originaltrilogy.com/topic/an-index-of-projects-help-thread-for-star-wars-fan-edits-and-other-projects/id/59793 for ST edits. Read what each one does and find something that appeals to you.
Can I have a link to your edits?
Sent!
Quick update on the cut. I have all my project files organized and began on Act 1. I am reorganizing so many scenes here that progress is a bit slow. This is most definitely the most difficult edit so far, but I’m happy to end on the biggest challenge! The changelist will start to be updated soon.
Can you go into more detail about that? Not exactly sure what you’re looking for.
My issue with your interpretation of Rey in this film is at least partly connected to what you had Luke trying to teach her in FotJ. My idea would be to try and get it across that by the end she’s learned that lesson of internal balance.
The film already contains external manifestation that she’s trying to achieve it, she heals the serpent, followed by using Force Lightning. She wants to take Ren’s hand, but goes to her friends instead. She mortally stabs Ben, then heals him. Her issue is that she’s struggling and I would rather see her work through that struggle and come out ready to build a new order of Force users that isn’t Jedi or Sith, than die because she’s a failure.
Ah, but this is where I would disagree. Rey didn’t fail in her death, she succeeded. She fulfilled her destiny, just as Anakin did. Her choices brought balance to the force. This Legends theme of balance is that you cannot change fate for long, as there cannot be free will in a galaxy where this force guides things. Think to what Kreia said, “I hate the Force, I hate that it seems to have a will, that it would control us to achieve some measure of balance when countless lives are lost”. - (Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II) I wouldn’t say Anakin failed to bring balance to the force as he died. Neither would I say that Rey and Palpatine failed to do the same. Fixing this cycle of destruction isn’t about learning to wield a “gray” force as there is only light and dark, it’s about learning symbiosis with the living and cosmic force as you fall neither too heavily into the light’s passivity or the dark’s aggression. It can easily be argued that, as Kreia believed, the only way to truly make peace is to somehow destroy the force itself. But at least at the end of my saga, the galaxy can rest without one side in charge. There is no chance that Rey possesses the wisdom to effectively create a new order of force users along these lines. It would continue to feed the cycle, so in my edit the force is doing exactly what Kreia hated: Using its will to control people to achieve a measure of balance as lives are lost.
It could be accomplished with two pretty simple changes to the Exogol confrontation and two during the finale.
When Rey says she’s here to end the Sith and Palpatine asks “As a Jedi?” change her “Yes” to a “No.” and edit Palps next line accordingly.
Then cut the Jedi from the sequence completely.
Show Rey’s friends on the Falcon with her as it goes to Tatooine.
When Rey is burying the past on Tatooine, cut the Force Ghosts and have her say “Just Rey” instead of “Rey Skywalker.”
With the changes you made for FotJ, plus the theatrical’s concept of Rey confronting her fear, this gives the very clear impression that she’s trying to move beyond the failures of the Jedi, and by the end has succeeded. She’s supposed to be the one who has resolved the Grey through refined Jedi sight, as referenced in the TFA novelisation’s Book of the Whills quote.
However it’s your edit, and those are just my thoughts on resolving Rey’s story.
Another problem with Rey living is that in that case, then Kylo’s arc has no resolution. In my cut it makes sense for him to be downtrodden as a living reminder, a Cain-like figure in the Bible, but if Rey is still alive then Kylo’s dark pursuit of her would doubtlessly spiral the galaxy into more conflict. There’s no way he would be satisfied to leave things alone as his primary motivation has always been her. And as I explained in OP, his healing power to revive Rey and then him dying is utterly ridiculous within the bounds of Legends.
As for Ben, I’d leave him on Tatooine at the end.
This is what I’m leaning towards. Him seeing the force ghosts, then ending on him looking at the suns. Not sure if this would provide enough resolution though. As Rogue said, I am a little concerned on this ending being considered unsatisfying, but I’ll see when it’s put together.
Okay, yeah, I see what you’re getting at. I suppose it would be interesting to see any alternative than the story ending at practically the same place it started, in terms of Rey in TROS ending in basically the same place Luke ended in ROTJ. Rey doesn’t end the film with any newfound knowledge that sets her apart from the past Jedi, like Trevorrow’s Duel of the Fates script at least attempted to do. Since the film’s climax has Palpatine and Rey both reiterate their identities as Sith and Jedi, there is some interesting finality in the fact that they both destroy each other, essentially ending a feud the lasted millennium.
Boom! That’s exactly it. If we look at the trilogies and how they conclude:
PT: Ends with the Dark winning
OT: Ends with the Light winning
ST: Ends with… the Light winning again
Like if you were going for any sort of balance or pattern, at minimum you should have the Dark winning again. That’s why the trilogy felt so empty to me, there’s no greater meaning. It’s just a rehash of the exact same conclusion of the last trilogy, even against the same villain! So with my edit having the ST end with both sides losing… or do both sides win? Depending on your point of view, we’ve now seen some new way of balance being achieved. The force achieving balance in unexpected ways is CRUCIAL to Star Wars. The Jedi thought Anakin would end the Sith according to their proud understanding, but it blew up in their face as the the force achieved balance in a much different way later in time. Palpatine made the same mistake and was caught off guard by destiny as well. The ST should end with another way of balance appearing in an unexpected form, not something utterly predictable and obvious. This is the end of a SAGA. If we end it all in the exact same way it ended in the middle then nothing was accomplished. In my edit, the tired cycle is finally broken. Normal people can stop getting dragged into these Jedi vs Sith wars as we enter an actual new era for the galaxy. One where there is real, tangible hope that things might truly be different this time instead of a ticking time bomb waiting for the next Jedi vs Sith galactic war.
When I look at Rey and the idea that she’d create this new type of Jedi Order, I just don’t see it. She never ever reaches any sort of conclusion about why the Jedi were wrong, doesn’t have a single opinion or thought about the philosophy of the force, or the slightest idea of the doctrine of the Sith or Jedi. Her caveman-like view is “Jedi good. Galaxy need good.” She never evolves beyond this understanding and her Jedi Order would inevitably create another Sith and the cycle would begin again. Her death, along with Luke and Leia puts an end to this.
With Ben/Kylo, you have a character who renounced both the Jedi and the Sith, and although he is no longer Supreme Leader, he didn’t totally flip 180 and become good again either. Maybe more along the lines of a Byronic hero or anti-hero at this point, because at the very least, he may ensure that future generations don’t make the same mistakes that the Jedi, the Sith, and himself made.
Exactly! While Kylo doesn’t physically die like Rey will, spiritually and symbolically the person we saw for 3 movies is gone. It can be argued that he wasn’t really a true Sith to begin with, but as Rey died, so did his desire to pursue power and the Dark. He is effectively a dead man walking, hollow, a shell. He won’t be the Dark side user we saw, but he also hasn’t turned into a Light side user. Right, his role is now one of a keeper of memories, of mistakes, the embodiment of galactic conflict and a reminder to the galaxy of why you can’t bottle up the force into a silly religion or Order.
If an edit cut Palpatine from the film, I think keeping Rey and Kylo alive would make sense. But since yours keeps Palpatine for reasons I agree with (primarily because it is difficult to keep a 2-hour runtime, which I also agree is essential to a Star Wars film), I think having Rey die could allow the film to end in a less predictable way.
While I don’t love how Palpatine is included, his representation of the Sith is needed for the theme I’m trying to present. And yes, hopefully a Rey sacrifice will give the confrontation more weight and affect viewers in a more emotional way.
Do you have any ideas for how you’ll have Kylo be on Tatooine at the end of the film?
I do! there’s a handful of fan edited clips of Kylo on Tatooine that I’ll pull from, and I’m going to insinuate that his only interaction was with the Resistance was getting the Falcon back from them. So he will arrive on Tatooine on that ship, and my only debate left is whether I want to end with him flying away from Tatooine, or remaining there…