G&G-Fan

My last rewatch (my birthday; good day to rewatch my favorite movie) has me convinced the movie takes place over a period of months or even a year. I don’t care what any external media tells me.

Vader was searching for the Falcon in the asteroid field long enough that he decided to hire bounty hunters to find them. He doesn’t seem like the kind to reach out for more aid until he’s tried himself for awhile. Sith ego and all that.

Luke goes through many different stages of his training, each one implied to have a decent chunk of time pass in-between.
Both of the time intervals in which the Falcon is getting fixed (in the asteroid field, on Bespin) probably take place in the span of weeks, not mere days. I can imagine repairing a spaceship’s got to be pretty time expansive. Think about how long it takes to fix a modern car.
The scene in which Luke leaves to save his friends actually takes place way after he first sees the vision. In the latter scene, he nods to Yoda saying, “You will destroy all for which they have fought and suffered.” He agrees and decides to stay. However, when he’s leaving, he says “I can’t keep the vision out of my head!” suggesting its been haunting him for some time and can no longer listen to reason.
Yoda also reminds him of his failure in the cave. Luke responds, “But I’ve learned so much since then!”
It sounds like months have passed since then.
Luke is very proficient with a lightsaber during the Bespin duel. I like to think he taught himself after ANH, perhaps using Jedi texts taken from Ben’s hut. Or again, his proficiency is due to actually training with Yoda for months, not just weeks. Or both.

Without a hyperdrive, it must’ve taken the Falcon forever to reach Bespin.

This further enhances the narrative IMO. Vader’s conquest for Luke is more ruthless and desperate, Luke’s training is more extensive, Han and Leia have had lots of alone time for their romance to blossom.

My interpretation:
We don’t know how long it actually took for Luke to reach Dagobah. Maybe a week? A month?
The rest of Luke’s training takes place in the next few months that it takes for the Falcon to reach Bespin.
During this time (likely the first month), Han & co. hide inside the asteroid for a week and escape. Vader eventually decides to hire bounty hunters, then the Falcon hides behind the Star Destroyer and heads for Bespin.
Luke receives the vision of Han and Leia in pain far before they arrive (otherwise it’s not a premonition 😄).
Luke leaves Dagobah around a week before Vader captures Han and Leia (let’s say Bespin is closer to Dagobah than Hoth).
No major time gaps after that, since Luke’s plot finally converges with the Han/Leia/Vader plot.

From TVTropes “Early Installment Weirdness” page for Star Wars:

When Vader is talking to Tarkin about Obi-Wan Kenobi being aboard the Death Star, Tarkin says “Surely he must be dead by now.” and Vader says “Don’t underestimate the Force”. This suggests that Obi-Wan is much older than his physical appearance would suggest and that a Jedi’s Force sensitivity allows them to live a lot longer than normal sentient beings. This is further backed up in the subsequent OT films which reveal that Yoda was 900 years old when he died in Return of the Jedi and Yoda says to Luke “When 900 years old you reach, look as good you will not” as if it was normal for human Jedi to live such a long lifespan. In The Phantom Menace, which takes place 32 years before A New Hope, Obi-Wan is shown to be a young man who’s still a Padawan learner and the EU established that Obi-Wan was only 57 years old in A New Hope, so this exchange between Vader and Tarkin now seems rather odd. Perhaps Tarkin’s reaction can be interpreted as him being surprised that Obi-Wan survived the Jedi Purge and remained hidden from the Empire for so long. As for Yoda’s age, it’s explained in the EU that members of his (unnamed) species live much longer than humans do and his comment to Luke was likely a joke.

I take it with a grain of salt but it’s an interesting mindset.

This could solve the whole discrepancy of the Empire only being around for 20 years because the Empire was created when Anakin became Vader, and Luke is only 20 years old, and yet everybody acts like the Empire’s been around for a long time and the Jedi are long extinct. Maybe Luke’s not actually that young. Luke and Leia are just able to retain their youth longer. Vader, the Emperor Obi-Wan, and Yoda have all been around way longer than the Prequels establish, which is why they all look older than their post-Prequel ages. It’s also why Owen and Beru look old: it’s actually been longer than 20 years.

A cowardly Grievous could’ve actually worked if he was presented as this sneaky, raptorial ambush predator. His physical appearance is somewhat based on Nosferatu.
It still differentiates him from Vader, Sidious, Maul, and Dooku, whilst having him remain cool in his own way.

Instead they have him run head first into combat, lose, and then just run away.

What specifically would one incorporate?

Is there anything specifically that you think would contribute to the story/character work?

Darth Sadifous said:

Apologies if these has been touched upon before, but I have an older copy of this edit with Vader, Palpatine and Tarkin looking over Coruscant at the conclusion of the film instead of the fledgling Death Star. I enjoyed this choice, so I was just wondering when it reverted back to the Death Star over Coruscant and the reasoning behind the change. Love your edits Hal, just curious.

Can I have this?

Jar Jar Bricks said:

I just sent Hal a few AI line options for 3 the other day!

What lines?

I’d like to apply to join.

Dr. Pretorius from Bride of Frankenstein reminds me so much of Tarkin. I have to think there’s some inspiration there from Pretorius in Tarkin.

I don’t really see it. And I think the positives outweigh the negatives.

What’s better, a butt ugly transfer that crushes a ton of detail and has weird colors, or a really good looking transfer that has some flaws when you really squint and look frame by frame?

Also… if you really wanted, you could just recolor the area around Luke.

Will this be 4K, 1080p, or both?

Octorox said:

Gotcha makes sense. I honestly wish all the cg creatures could be removed but I think that’s a personal taste thing.

I like the idea of the creatures, but hate the dated CGI. After all, Dewbacks were in the original cut, just immobile.

I had this idea of attempting to make them look like Harryhausen-esque stop motion creatures by changing the frame rate (there’s a stop motion feature in Davinci Resolve), and using sharpening to make it look more like a clay model. That method didn’t’ help too much. I think one would have to straight up change the texture to give it the look I want. Which I would appreciate advice on how to do, if anyone has any idea.

(it would be a dream of mine to do this with the Jabba scene so we could see what a 1977 version of the scene could’ve looked like if they had the budget)

Dat_SW_Guy said:

Heres a new update: fixing the R2-D2 continuity error where R5-D4 pops up behind him after he explodes. Let me know what you guys think!

(The rotoscoping isnt 100% perfect yet, I’ll fix it but heres the shot as a whole)

Thank you so much for this! This bugs me. Fantastic job.

Apparently Luke’s force kick was intentional!

With this info, I honestly hope it’s kept in Revisited.

Man your edit is gonna be so useful for my own

That guy with no name said:

Either way, I absolutely hate these shots lol…

Why

Sometimes I’m just at a loss of how y’all are able to do this kind of stuff. It feels like you just spawn things out of the aether sometimes. I’m stunned.

This is pretty incredible. I can think of so many great uses for something like this.

Maybe its not my place to say this but I feel like maybe y’all should hop off Hal. He’s voiced that he wants to be done with the Prequels. The fact that he’s made all these alternate versions of his edits is a courtesy. He doesn’t really owe anything, it’s his own passion project made mostly for his enjoyment. While I’m the last one to criticize someone for making suggestions to other editors (especially because the editor might want and like feedback), with how much Hal has voiced wanting to move on, at this point, make your own (like I will eventually, even if it takes eons lol).

Mocata said:

The awkward part is the repeated exposition and the first reveal of the Falcon being changed.

The Jabba scene is still bad.

The first time someone refers to Luke as “Skywalker” is himself when telling Leia who he is.
It wouldn’t be smart for the Lars to give him his father’s last name while in hiding. So his name on Tatooine was Luke Lars.
Him announcing himself as Luke Skywalker is him reclaiming his father’s last name after finding out the truth about him (“I want to learn the ways of the Force and become a Jedi like my father.”)
He started calling himself Luke Skywalker in his own mind after Ben told him his father was a Jedi Knight. Him introducing himself to Leia is the first time he verbalizes this.

JoyOfEditing said:
It starts with the Death Star II being built and ends with it being blown up.

Huh?

I understand everything else but I’m a little confused here.

You said Ep1 would be the new introduction to Tatooine. Can you explain in detail how you’ve accomplished that?

G&G-Fan said:

Have HD versions of the fixed out-of-focus Vader close-ups in his arrival on DSII been released? If not, would you be willing to share them? I’d love to use them for my own edit and I know it’ll be a long time before this releases.

If not, how did you accomplish the effect, so I may try it myself?

Bump

I’m a Jabba scene hater as much as the next guy, but am I the only one who kinda finds the theatrical transition awkward and sometimes wishes there was still a scene in between? Maybe with Vader/Tarkin, or a Jabba scene where he’s portrayed with a practical effect.

As a person who grew up with the special edition, its odd having a very quick crossfade between two shots that look almost identical in composition yet are very different in mood.

Are the 2011 Blu-rays a good source for the Prequels? I know they’re definitely not for the OT from all I’ve learned about OT restoration (thank goodness for oohteedee’s D+77/80/83). But they’re the highest quality versions of the Prequels I currently own and I want to know if they’re good to use for sources for edits or if I should get something else.

That’s awesome. Love the dedication.