NeverarGreat

JakeRyan17 said:

thebluefrog said:

JakeRyan17 said:

thebluefrog said:

NeverarGreat said:

Harrison was right to want his character dead by the end of ROTJ.

Exactly. Harrison’s ideas of where the character should go have merit. If only Hamill’s ideas had been listened to as as well.

*had been listened to by JJ Abrams, who introduced the Luke abandoning the galaxy in shame plotline.

JJ started it, yes, but it was Rian who took the ball and ran with it. Hamill definitely didn’t want things to go they way they did in TLJ. JJ’s mystery box COULD have been opened in a more appropriate way.

How? By going against everything set up in the prior film? By having a primary hero not grow or develop over 30 years? By sidelining the new characters to have Luke take over the story again?

The only other interesting choice would’ve been for Luke to be revealed the puppet master behind Snoke.

Well Hamill himself said that a more appropriate reason for him going into exile would be the tragic death of his child. There are many other ways as well, such as an accidental death of one of his students, the turn of many of his students to the Dark Side that he could do nothing to prevent, a failure in training Leia which almost led to her death, his wife leaving him due to him prioritizing the Jedi school and refusing to return even after he left it to a next-in-command, Luke losing a battle to Snoke himself…

There are many ways in which Luke could have been on that island which didn’t have him fail at a test which he overcame years earlier. I get that Rian might have been going for the idea that just because someone succeeds once does not mean they will forever and this amplifies his wretchedness, but it comes at the cost of the simplicity of mythic storytelling. I think Rian was trying to say something subtle like this, but for many it ended up being too clever by half.

^It even gets darker over time.

thebluefrog said:

NeverarGreat said:

thebluefrog said:

Frankly, they should’ve both just let Hamill and Ford et al. decide their characters’ fates.

Well, yes and no.

Yes, if you’re going for unchanging characters since the actors have inhabited these roles for years and know a whole lot about what makes these characters tick.

No, if you’re going for a continuation of a character arc like Hermit Luke. In this case it’s important for the writers to know what they’re doing.

Not at all. Harrison Ford, for example, wanted Han to die.

Does anyone think Han as Rebellion General was peak Solo?
Do they love him for his role as lapsed Smuggler?
Is he at all iconic as a failed father?

Harrison was right to want his character dead by the end of ROTJ.

thebluefrog said:

Frankly, they should’ve both just let Hamill and Ford et al. decide their characters’ fates.

Well, yes and no.

Yes, if you’re going for unchanging characters since the actors have inhabited these roles for years and know a whole lot about what makes these characters tick.

No, if you’re going for a continuation of a character arc like Hermit Luke. In this case it’s important for the writers to know what they’re doing.

That last one tho…right in the uncanny valley.

Hal 9000 said:

Subtitles for a mute, invisible character that none of the other characters know is there. He introduces himself as such in the first scene of TPM, and dies of an invisible head explosion during the final scene of TROS, which is explained by a second character who comments on this and then explains how he was also there the whole time but didn’t choose to speak.

Qui-gon doesn’t need subtitles.

That’s a really cool idea! I’d be down with any edit that did that.

It has promise. I really like the ‘For Skywalker’ bits. It is a bit hard to make out what’s going on at first though, perhaps it would be better if a couple of the lines came through louder and clearer along with the more random chatter. It might also be worth muting Poe’s final ‘look at this’ to make room for the new lines. I really like the final bit of ‘standing by’ right before Lando’s laugh since it sounds like it’s coming from a radio, the voices could definitely use more distortion along those lines.

Dunking on the later Potter films isn’t unpopular at all. It’s widely accepted that the series peaked with 3.

However, though 3 is definitely a favorite of mine, I consider The Half Blood Prince to be just as good for completely different reasons. This is the rare time where I genuinely enjoy the dark, murky, and at times sickeningly green/brown color palette because it is appropriate for the darkness of the story being told. The Half Blood Prince isn’t supposed to be pleasant. However, there is a stark filigree beauty in the almost monochrome depiction of the Hogwarts castle and the exquisite details of the crystal cave. It evokes repulsion and enchantment in equal measure, and it is alone among Potter films in this regard.

That was surprisingly moving! Even though the Falcon liftoff to hyperspace over Canto Bight doesn’t make too much logical sense, it definitely feels compelling and might not even need to make sense.

In this version, is Canto Bight on Tatooine? Because if that were set up earlier, it would potentially be really cool. Of course, it would require changing the time of day in the Broom Boy scene.

https://imgur.com/gallery/ho0I10x

You’re a Jedi Rockstar.

DuracellEnergizer said:

Rey Troi looks like an action figure which had its head taken from a different, slightly smaller action figure.

Even moreso is Han Riker.

Anakin Starkiller said:

Have Leia stay in space 'til Crait, then float down, enter the atmosphere as a meteor and striking one of the AT-M6s with meteoric force.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zya0yW129ss

Yep, I’m definitely going to work on these in order so TFA will be done first, whenever that happens.

Agreed on both points. I’d be interested to hear any ideas people had on how to establish these things other than in a crawl.

Hal 9000 said:

Darth Sadifous said:

JakeRyan17 said:

idir_hh said:

As the boy pulls the broom to him and begins sweeping, a voice crackles into a distant speaker. It is Poe, saying ‘We are not alone. What our mothers and fathers have fought for we will not let die. Today we make our last stand…for the galaxy!’ Many ships jump into hyperspace here, not just one.

Goosebumps.

Edit: Since Crait is now the opening of the film do you plan on including palpatines broadcast in there in some capacity? After the galaxie’s decline to help, hearing the broadcast could be what sets up the rallying of the people’s Fleet at the end of the film.

I integrated the Broadcast into the Crait sequence here:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1tUe4Nz4dKptm5UzcBu2QhX9N9FuaISoa/view?usp=sharing

It still may not be useful, but its definitely possible to integrate.

This is pretty cool, but I think another possible area to integrate it is when the resistance has already fled the base and Kylo is staring at the disappearing dice. The camera lingers on the radio equipment inside the makeshift base. You could have the broadcast play here at the end of TLJ and have TROS pick up with Kylo obsessed with finding Palpatine or the origin of the broadcast at the least.

Thinking about it some more, Palpatine really shouldn’t speak at all except in Kylo’s and Rey’s head so cool as it is it wouldn’t work.

DominicCobb said:

Don’t listen to me, but the shuttle seems kinda goofy. Like he brought that whole big thing? If it were me using it I’d cut away after Ben leaves the shot and not linger on it.

I would have no objections to either ship. In the end it’s just a single shot and the important part is that it is an old Imperial ship with a hyperdrive.

I’m not sure of the Fortnite broadcast as of yet. It might not be needed.

Exactly. I will give a bit of leeway due to the talk that it was the studio heads which required all the cuts to the film late in the process, but the primary fault is still with the filmmakers for overstuffing the film with pointless elements in the first place. Besides, regardless of the pacing the underlying story is fundamentally vapid.

Knight of Kalee said:

poppasketti said:

Here’s some Alts for the Tie replacement:
https://vimeo.com/421655865
pw: fanedit

Lol!

Jokes aside, Vader’s TIE Advanced is a genuinely good option. It makes sense in-universe, and though it’s kind of fanservice-y, it feels like a nice payoff having that TIE and the X-Wing it chased all those films ago, now side-by-side. George Lucas would be proud of that “rhyme”.

We need to have a branching option on the final Blu-ray that randomly shows one of these alternates each time.

StarkillerAG said:

Interesting ideas, but is some of this stuff even possible? Not sure how you’d do things like have Ben be a Force ghost when he talks to Han, or change Palpatine to be a disembodied spirit. It just doesn’t seem feasible.

The Kylo Force Ghost would be the trickiest one to achieve, but since Han is opaque in this scene, it probably wouldn’t feel weird to have Kylo be semi-solid as well. Besides, for transparency all you need is a background tracked to match the movement of the scene and then fade the original footage over top of it. Most of Kylo’s shots are against a misty or cloudy sky, and the rest can just use Death Star junk. Tricky, but doable.

The Palpatine ghost I’m thinking could just fade into a solid form in one shot, so there wouldn’t need to be much work to do in that case. Much more difficult would be in seamlessly cutting out so much of the rest of the finale and Kylo’s involvement.

idir_hh said:

I see you’re putting your writing skills into use, Nev!
TLJ was already too long a film so moving the battle of crait into the opening might be just the right idea. It also allows the film to breathe and enjoy a fleshed out opening with dramatic action and character building. I wonder if some of the Cultists from Exogol could be added to the background in Snoke’s thrown room, Snoke’s allegiance to the Sith Eternal cult would need to be emphasised. Subtle things like playing around with the colour of his robes (purple, black, red) would really give him that “sith” aesthetic. Could even overlay subtle hints of Palpatine’s voice as he utters certain words like “a new Vader…”.
I’m really intrigued by how you’re approaching Kylo Ren in this. Is it meant to be implyed that he has became possessed by the spirit of Palpatine after striking down Snoke? It’s very reminiscent of the very early TROS leaks by MSW. I really like it.

Yep, Kylo being possessed by the Spirit of the Sith just seems like such an obvious way to do his redemption that I don’t know why they didn’t go that direction. Killing Kylo also gives Rey a much more believable potential for evil in my opinion since she is now literally possessed, something that not even Luke had to face.

JEDIT: Edited the first post to elaborate on the end of TLJ.

I have debated for months about even bothering to complete this trilogy since most of TROS is irredeemably bad. Unfortunately, The Last Jedi for all its merit still doesn’t feel like a satisfying end for these characters, so Starlight would either be an incomplete story or have an embarrassingly perfunctory final chapter.

In light of this, I’m considering a more unconventional edit of TLJ and TROS:

EPISODE IIIV - THE LAST JEDI

Since the Force Awakens will end with the Falcon leaving for Luke’s island, the extra scene of Rey and the Jedi Steps will be one of the first scenes in The Last Jedi, and the story of TLJ from here mostly follows the film with some added deleted scenes. A Sith Wayfinder could be added to Snoke’s throne as a visual connection between Snoke and the upcoming Sith fleet. The death of Snoke shows his eyes glow red and his spirit leave Snoke’s body.

The climactic scene of the film is Holdo’s Sacrifice. Rose and Finn go where they belong, and when Kylo awakens on the Supremacy his eyes smoulder red. The scene is followed by Yoda and Luke and then the Broom Boy scene. As the boy pulls the broom to him and begins sweeping, a voice crackles into a distant speaker. It is Poe, saying ‘We are not alone. What our mothers and fathers have fought for we will not let die. Today we make our last stand…for the galaxy!’ Many ships jump into hyperspace here, not just one.

EPISODE IX - THE RISE OF SKYWALKER

The Rise of Skywalker begins with a pan down to Crait and the arrival of Finn and Rose and BB-8. The Broom Boy scene at the end of the previous film acts as a misdirection, as there is no response to the Resistance’s call for help. Luke’s arrival and confrontation with Kylo will be edited so that Kylo seems more conflicted about his identity. To do this I would remove his final raging run against Luke; in this version Luke will hand Kylo an ultimatum and Kylo will accept this without undue screaming. The voice of Palpatine again comes to Kylo when he finds the illusory dice.

After the Falcon leaps into hyperspace, Kylo consults the mask of Vader and Palpatine’s voice again speaks, telling him that he’s been every voice inside his head. Palpatine tells Kylo to bring him the girl and he can have the Sith fleet. He sees a vision of Rey on the throne, a vision shared with Rey as she meditates on the new Resistance base. Mustafar minute, Kylo on Exegol, and the Iceberg/Lightspeed skipping are gone. The Falcon lands and they hear that somehow Palpatine has returned and there’s a Sith fleet on Exegol. Rey learns of the wayfinder and they go to the desert planet to find it and the dagger. Cut Rey Palpatine and Rey’s parentage. She merely finds the dagger without healing the snake and she Force lightnings Chewie. Kylo is now so consumed by the Sith spirit that he rebuilds his mask.

They get to the Death Star and they fight. Rey kills Kylo. This shock kills Leia as well. Rey flees in Kylo’s TIE fighter to Luke’s island, fearful of the sudden voices of the Sith in her head. Her eyes begin to shine red. Kylo, now a ghost, meets the spirit of Han and is redeemed in death. On the island, Luke says that Rey needs to face her fear and go to Exegol. She does so, leading the Resistance to the Sith Fleet.

Rey goes to the Sith throne. Around her are the Sith cultists and Palpatine’s disembodied voice fills her head. He tells her all sorts of lies, such as that she is a Palpatine, that she belongs on the throne, basic Sith stuff. The roof opens up and she sees her friends being struck down over the planet, Palpatine’s voice telling her to take the throne and save them. She assents. A sudden shock strikes her to the ground and Palpatine’s laughter fills the throne room. As she lies on the ground a ghostly form appears and coalesces into the body of the Emperor. ‘Look what you have made’ he says to her prostrate form. The cultists chant as he sits on the throne and unleashes lightning on the fleet. Rey beseeches the ghosts and they appear to her, Ben included. Between them all she rises and defeats the ghost of Palpatine. Above her the Resistance is victorious, and she flies away in the X-wing.

After the celebration, she buries the sabers on Tatooine as her friends play games on the Falcon, and then the Falcon flies into the sunrise.