Wow, that’s even better than I imagined it! I hope I don’t sound hyperbolic when I say that I got goosebumps on my arms. You’re doing amazing work!
Here’s an idea, if you want to try it going forward; what if you used the final trailer’s epic rendition of the main theme, starting when Rey crosses the sabers and the ghosts lift their hands?
It starts at about 1:26 in this video, with the “This Christmas” card.
This music never got used in the film, but I think it’s wonderfully triumphant, and such a great piece that it’s a pity it’s nowhere in the movie. What better place for it than as a great catharsis or denouement for the saga, for it to come in as the grand villain of the saga is destroyed for good by the combined will of the heroes of it. It could continue and come to an end, and return to the original soundtrack, as Finn and Jannah destroy the control ship with Pryde in it.
I think that latest version of the Mustafar scene, assuming Hal wants to keep the Battlefront footage, is perfect! Looks good and not too “pristine” so to speak.
I think cutting Mustafar altogether would be an unfortunate loss, though Vader’s Castle would probably need to go unless one is able to change the background of the wayfinder scene to appear to be inside the castle, or maybe put some of the iron trees on the ridges in the establishing shot so it’s clear it’s the same place. I also agree that Ajan Kloss probably shouldn’t be Naboo. It makes for a nice parallel on a surface level but the more you think about it the more of a bad idea in-universe it seems for them to stick their big base there, especially on Leia’s part as has been said.
I feel like Poppasketti’s alternate extended shot would fit better, and then in the Battlefront footage does anyone else think the Star Destroyer overhead may or may not need to go, since we don’t see it in any other shots? I also agree that the shots after the stormtroopers leave the shuttles look a little too much like, well, video game footage. I think it starts not with the jet troopers but with the blaster fire, though. If the blaster fire shot does stay, then I think the blue bolts will need to be recolored yellow since the Kylo footage has yellow bolts, but again I think that’s where it becomes gamey and you can tell it doesn’t belong.
I also agree with the sentiment that you can tell it’s not Mustafar in the shot inside the shuttle. The lens flare also seems a little too pink in the prior shot, while the sky in the background seems a little blue in the following (and the palm tree is kinda weird).
Sorry to be pedantic!
I do also agree that this is the strongest way to start the film and first show Kylo’s face.
If I may take a stab at the crawl…
A new hope emerges! After Luke Skywalker’s heroic sacrifice, the tyrannical FIRST ORDER has silenced communications between neighboring systems to silence the growing uprising.
REY, sole heir to the Jedi, continues her training under GENERAL LEIA ORGANA, who has dispatched her brave agents across the stars to unite the disparate rebelling worlds in the name of the Resistance.
Meanwhile, Supreme Leader KYLO REN has chased whispers of a hidden power to Fortress Vader on MUSTAFAR, seeking the means to eliminate any threat to his rule…
If you remove the bridge shot from this sequence, that gives you the opportunity to use it for a Coruscant cameo at some point, which is something I’ve seen discussed in other threads. You could also use it as a shot for part of Palpatine’s Fortnite broadcast.
I agree that the helmet scene works better in the opening, if only for continuity reasons.
Sounds interesting. I’d also like a link, please!
I got a chance to sit down and watch the whole edit last night, and I thought it was a treat! I can’t offer technical feedback in the way ziggyonice did, but I will offer some of the thoughts I had while watching.
From the jump I loved the Jakku regrade, it does a lot to showcase the idea of Jakku as a kind of purgatory. Just the simple brighter colors make it look much more hot and miserable, so when Rey keeps insisting she has to go back there’s even more of a feeling of “Why would you ever want to?” to it. In addition with the scenes of her scavenging and fighting and tinkering, it really hammers home that this is really all she’s been doing all day long for most of her life.
I particularly enjoyed the darker undertones to Rey as well, and the whispers/voices that accompany her Force feats definitely shine. She’s obviously a person with issues and, as Snoke and Kylo said, a lot of latent ability, and especially having just watched the rest of the saga and Clone Wars, Rebels and so on, it’s clear cut that she is on a dangerous path. She has no formal training yet already taps so deeply into these emotions and into her buried feelings of being left behind in order to get ahead. I think this leads quite well into Luke’s horror in TLJ when he accuses her of going straight to the dark. I’ll be seeing TROS this evening, but I’m hoping that it will continue the themes of Rey being far closer than she knows to falling. I personally never really clicked with the complaints of Rey being a Mary Sue, but I do think were someone who does to watch this edit they might feel that there’s better reason for her to do the things she does.
I absolutely loved the Leia and Han voiceovers when Han touches Kylo’s saber, especially after coming off of the psychometry in Jedi: Fallen Order and seeing Kylo dig around in Poe and Rey’s minds, and with the SFX used. It plays out so naturally and matches up so well with the expressions on Kylo’s face that it feels like a part of the original scene. Bravo on that! I do agree that Leia seems to react pretty late.
I remember reading somewhere in this thread that you intended to place in some kind of voice that names Hosnian Prime when Starkiller Base is preparing to fire, and I definitely think that would help since we as viewers have no reason to know that isn’t Coruscant unless we’ve read some EU material. Likewise, the transition from Takodana to D’Qar is not immediately apparant, in my opinion. I don’t believe it’s ever stated that they’ve gone to a different planet, and I remember when I first watched TFA I thought that it was a different place on the same planet as Maz’s castle. Some kind of throwaway line to contextualize that, maybe just a simple “Welcome to planet D’Qar” or something, might go a long way on that matter, more so than a wipe transition and suddenly we’re somewhere completely different that also is green and pretty.
In all, I feel absolutely that your hard work has paid off in spades, and that you’ve already made the definitive fan edit of The Force Awakens for hardcore fans and to show to newbies alike. I believe that your future plans such as new alien subtitles, voiceover for TR-8R, Phasma triggering the silent alarm and so on will only serve to make it even better. Once more, bravo!
I’ve got nothing but respect and admiration for the work of JSteven/FGR. Bullshit to continue banning one of the most talented and creative editors here over some shit he said years ago.
I would, personally, argue that those who run this site are entitled to set their own rules and are under no obligation to provide a platform to anyone who chooses not to follow them. Making good content isn’t carte blanche to do whatever. ForceGhostRecon does seem to have their own site for their edits, judging from a cursory search. I don’t care to dig more so for all I know, it is defunct, but I fail to see how that would become the problem of the mods here.
Perhaps if this person wishes the mods here to provide him a platform to share his edits with everyone else, it would be smarter to take responsibility for some shit he said years ago that got him initially banned and move on, yes? I can’t imagine it’d be hard to express regret and ask what needs to be done to be able to return, if it’s really so minor and if the content making matters more than spouting slurs. I’d imagine that it’s doing the exact opposite to double down, claim that was never said and deny the alts are his, all while going behind the scenes and not only admitting to it, but also all but promising to keep doing it.
It seems pretty silly to never even resolve the initial issue, to keep breaking the rules and then to try to call the mods out for not getting over it. But that’s just me.
I just finished watching Natedeug’s “Chronology Cut” in my marathon leading up to Episode IX, and I found that his execution of keeping the reveal intact was solid. In his edit, Obi-Wan and Yoda are standing at the window while Padme is on the operating table. The medical droid informs them that they are losing her, and will need to operate to save the babies. Bail says “Babies?” and the droid elaborates that she is carrying twins. Obi-Wan walks further down, looks back at Padme and covers his mouth, Yoda sighs and looks down, then the film cuts to the three discussing what to do with the children. After that, Padme’s funeral on Naboo is the rest of what we see of her.
By doing this, Luke and Leia aren’t actually seen being born, so the Leia reveal is still preserved for RotJ whether the viewer chooses to watch in chronological order or in machete order. Luke’s identity will still be obvious in ANH without him explicitly being named in ROTS, especially after he is left with on Tatooine. However, Bail still says he will take the girl in this edit, so I’d imagine that were one to use it to introduce someone who has not seen the films, it’s not hard to discern that Leia is the other baby if they’ve been paying attention and know who she is, and/or if they know that Bail is the senator of Alderaan. Still, I thought the edit was executed quite well.
Perhaps if you still wanted to work in Leia remembering Padme, you could do something like that in conjunction with, instead of cutting to Padme’s funeral, something in which she lives and is seen on Alderaan? HAL9000’s edit uses a shot from “The Other Boleyn Girl” that does exactly that after the Tantive III lands on Alderaan; it doesn’t fit perfectly but it is convincing enough, in my opinion. Since you plan to do a purist canon cut as well, that shouldn’t offend anyone who wants Padme to die within the film instead of between films.
On topic, Episode IX will be arriving in just over two weeks. I of course don’t intend to rush Neverar’s hard work, but I’m also eager to see what you’ve done with the film and use it leading up to the big finale.
Aside from getting TR-8R some voiceover, might I ask what else remains on your to-do list?
I’ve mentioned the ROTS novelization in another thread, but I think its material on this topic is also relevant. The Jedi that Padme trusts is indeed Obi-Wan in the novelization, and she does meet with him in her apartment just like the script excerpt RogueLeader shared, which leads Anakin to sense that he has been there and confront her about it. The idea of Padme hiding something from him is much more prevalent throughout the novel.
On the topic of Anakin not tracking throughout ROTS and having different motivations at different times, perhaps dialogue from the ROTS video game could be used to supplement certain scenes? In the game, it’s the opposite of the novel; Padme is not in the game at all. Anakin’s fall is entirely based on the hypocrisy of the Jedi. For example, the game has a full-on fight with Mace and they have quite a bit of dialogue that is not in the movie. They argue about Anakin drifting to the dark side and Mace/the Jedi betraying their values. During the fight with Obi-Wan, Obi has extra dialogue trying to turn Anakin back to the light, with Anakin refusing the Jedi’s way of doing things. Perhaps some of this could be spliced in to supplement Anakin’s fall.
The “mask” concept is not unprecedented in terms of canon material. I’m not sure about NEU’s stance on the topic, but the Revenge of the Sith novel features the following after Anakin disposes of Windu.
“And so the mask becomes the man,” he sighed with a hint of philosophical melancholy. “I shall miss the face of Palpatine, I think; but for our purpose, the face of Sidious will serve. Yes, it will serve.”
However, in the novelization, this goes hand in hand with the concept of being deformed by his own lightning reflected back at him.
And the circuit completed itself: the lightning reflected back to its source. Palpatine staggered, snarling, but the blistering energy that poured from his hands only intensified. He fed the power with his pain.
The yellow glare from Palpatine’s eyes spread outward through his flesh. His skin flowed like oil, as though the muscle beneath was burning away, as though even the bones of his skull were softening, were bending and bulging, deforming from the heat and pressure of his electric hatred.
In text, it does not come off as too “out there” (in my opinion) but in the film, it is not conveyed as well. This just supports HAL’s point that it all could have been portrayed better had the film actually set out to do so, rather than leaving it to supplementary material to go back in and patch up. With the available material in terms of footage, not much can be done.
In the same situation as Malakili, would love to be able to find this edit. It sounds like it does exactly what AOTC needs while remaining more or less canon friendly.