Hal 9000

https://youtu.be/yBEdgPFoBjY?t=8m12s

I wonder if it’d be possible to make it sound like Luke is saying, “At the height of their power, the Jedi allowed [Sheev] to rise, create the Empire, and wipe them out.”

I guess I’d prefer a movie with a greater chance of working upon first viewing over one you come to reluctantly appreciate after a Twitter thread points out how a sequence is thematically relevant.
Doesn’t give me more pause than a ring theory article about the underwater Gungan quest at the start of TPM.

Finn’s arc is intact enough, though Rose’s is mercifully cut down a little. I think it all hangs together well enough. I’m glad you showed me that, though, as part of the vetting process.

Fair point about Rose’s line prior to Canto Bight; I cut it because it seemed like an introduction to a character thread that wouldn’t be played out. But, you are right that it can still contextualize parts of the story which otherwise seem to come out of nowhere.

I am enjoying TLJ more and more as I have digested it, though I shared many of the same knee-jerk reactions to it as a fanboy. Even while I was in that early mindset, the female-ness of the movie would not have bothered me at all if it were the only “problem” with the movie.

Except for the damm tax.

In my mind, TFA and TLJ are lower level edits that don’t radically altar the source material such that I feel the need to rename them.
The prequels are a special case. And TFA and TLJ are good titles that I really like. As I’ve described, these two edits each are more of an effort on my part to be a positive effort to help them just enough to be more easily enjoyed and participate in the continually sprawling Star Wars landscape. The prequels were that way as well, though called for more extensive work and were informed by a body of fan edit ‘textual history’ to be incorporated.

So, no, I like the titles as they are. If I had to retitle them all…

Episode I - CLOAK OF DECEPTION
Episode II - THE APPROACHING STORM
Episode III - LABYRINTH OF EVIL
Episode IV - REBEL DAWN
Episode V - SHADOWS OF THE EMPIRE
Episode VI - ???
Episode VII - THE FORCE UNLEASHED
Episode VIII - LEGACY OF THE JEDI

I don’t mind.

I sort of wonder if this movie will at all acknowledge or reference that Chewbacca once stood next to Yoda during a Jedi Council meeting the day of the Jedi Purge, and then howled sentimentally as Yoda gave him a somber goodbye and blasted off into the night sky.

That is probably the best way that idea can be executed. Great work!

But, I don’t have an impetus to remove the sequence. Especially since we won’t be getting any more Leia.

Just wanted to post this here. Spot on, and rather touching, I thought:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1kjEnDj7K30

I wish I had any advice whatsoever to give, and I’m really sorry to hear about expensive coasters being made. 😦

Very fair criticism. Thanks for taking a look at it, and I’m glad you enjoyed it overall. 😃

It’s subtle, but I think if that’s all that can be done it it still helps sell it.

Yeah, I wouldn’t want to decaptitate Luke or anything. I was just wondering if scooching the saber up slightly in the shot might help it feel more natural. As it is, a crappy theater could conceivably accidentally crop the saber out of that shot when it is projected.
If you tried it, then I’m sure it’s a dead end, but I’ll try playing with it when I have the chance.

darthrush said:

Very, very rough test for an idea regarding Luke dropping the lightsaber:

https://vimeo.com/260179099

Just a thought. The lightsaber right before Luke drops it is a bit low in the frame, given the action we are about to follow of it falling out of frame. I wonder how this might look zoomed in slightly and bringing the saber closer to center of the frame. Perhaps someone with the 4K copy could provide this single shot if this proves to be an improvement.

EDIT: I lied. Of course it’s not “just a thought.” I want it to be good so that I might use it myself. 😉

Fair point, Mala. I’ll… think about it. 😃

It’s Star Wars tradition to be chock-full of weird sex stuff. Or maybe it was just us all these years.

Hmm… yes, of course! The Last Jedi is full of latent sexuality. It’s really the key to everything! The milking scene, Rey asking Kylo for a cowl, the touching hands scene, Rey believing she can save Kylo, Holdo emasculating Poe, etc etc.

I can’t tell if I’m kidding, or if I just need some sleep. It all makes so much sense now. Except BB8’s antics.

The music was not crossfaded at all, but merely begins earlier now in order to keep the whole cue.

Star Wars - Episode IX: FINN POLITELY DECLINES ROSE

Here is a slightly different attempt at Rose’s final line:

https://vimeo.com/267589743
password: fanedit

RogueLeader said:

Hal 9000 said:

I’d be interested. What’d you post? There are thousands of comments.

Here is my post on that thread:
http://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/1201956/action/topic#1201956

Nice, thanks. Good points; this movie certainly gives us substance to digest, which I am glad for. I said TFA felt a little anemic when it came to mythic substance.

Some thoughts on your workprint.
Early on, it is a little noticeable how Finn just randomly says, “I’m not a Resistance hero” even though Rose never calls him that. Yeah, she says, "THE Finn”, but she could’ve meant, “Yeah, the First Order traitor, Finn!” I do like the idea of cutting the “breathe” line, but I wonder if more of what Rose says could be kept.

Hard to disagree with you.

I believe the box Luke sits on at Crait still moves, at least in the version I watched.

Yeah, I forgot that I hadn’t actually gotten that clip back yet, but it should be forthcoming.

I really liked the new placement of the Luke and Yoda scene. I feel like it really works there.

Favorite single change.

I don’t think the changes to Finn’s sacrifice were very seamless. Maybe I’m just biased since I’ve seen it a few times, but the trimming of his attack run is noticeable, mainly how the music crossfades. Also the trimming of Rose’s lines wasn’t seamless to me either. I wonder if you cut “I saved you, DUMMY” but kept “not about fighting what we hate” line, it might work better. Maybe just keeping the first half and let the audience assume the rest? I’m not really sure on this one. I don’t know if it is the line that doesn’t work or the moment the line is in.

I’m uploading a clip to test a slightly different approach.

I feel like without seeing the Canto Bight slave kids at some point earlier in the film, it feels really out of place seeing them at the end, especially with the focus on the ring that has no context anymore. Are we to just assume now that they are just random slave kids somewhere out in the galaxy, unrelated to Canto Bight? I think the way you trimmed it still leaves some questions but I think it pretty much works. I wonder when you cut to them rushing into the casino, you could have the music continue to play, but quietly fading out, in the background to help the cut. It just halts at the moment. Not a deal breaker though. It’d be great if you could use a shot of them leaving the planet, but it would be hard to use what’s available and it not look weird.

I imagine it wouldn’t work, but I will attempt a more gradual fade out of the casino steel drum music. And the more I think about it, I like that we don’t already know these kids. They’re just Cinderella-archetype kids in bad situations using brooms as lightsabers and wearing Rebel Alliance decoder rings as they tell stories in the basement when their pig monster master is away. For all we know, this could be a glance into the far future.

I’d be in favor of keeping the leaf/reed moment. Or at least keeping, “Okay… but what is it?”

I can’t keep only that one line without screwing up Rey’s eyeline between shots. It doesn’t matter, since I am putting the reed moment back in. It works well without it, and I think Darthrush’s version will do this very well.

Overall though I think most of your cuts were pretty seamless. I didn’t read your cutlist before I watched it and I actually didn’t notice some of the changes, like removing the coin sounds from BB-8 (though I think you can still hear it a little when he gets thrown out) and the removal of the cowl line. Good job.

Thanks! The coins can still be heard somewhat with BB8 being thrown out, though if you weren’t already primed for them, I bet they would just sound like bits and pieces of BB8, as if he hit the ground and shook a few things loose inside.

Thanks, Mala. 😃

I wish my brain could tell you right now. For a few things: DTS audio, flawless opening crawls, greatly improved Boleyn sequence, various little changes, removed ‘high ground’ altogether, etc.

I would suggest getting V5 for archival purposes, since there will NOT be any further updates. But there’s not much to tout aside from ‘presentation’ aspects and little things.

V5 is the “Oh, all right, let’s go round one more time and make it as good as it can be before placing it permanently beyond my reach.”

MalàStrana said:

The “put a cowl” line is also the opposite of a latent sexuality since it clearly denies it. I thought it was a very clever removal.

What better way to include latent sexuality than by ‘clearly’ denying it? 😉

And thanks, Darthrush! That’s a good question. I think this edit will be a fairly lightweight one. Sort of like my old prequel edits (2006ish). If I can trim away what cringe moments I can (subjective), perhaps the rest won’t be as bothersome. And if I can remove a good swatch of the Canto Bight digression, perhaps the subplot can still feel solid enough while reducing the runtime a little.