NeverarGreat

After rewatching Rogue One today, I realized that there’s no dedicated thread to this concept from the general thread:

https://originaltrilogy.com/topic/Rogue-One-A-Star-Wars-Story-Fan-Edit-Ideas-thread-/id/52462/page/11#1095259

I have some new ideas for the edit now, so in brief:

• Act 1

The first scene is of Jyn as a child and the director’s visit. Krennic promises to keep the mother and child safe. We see Lyra’s hatred of Krennic and her death, but Galen’s part is unclear. There is no talk of him being morally opposed to the construction project, so it could be reasonably construed that Lyra was the only one against it. After Lyra’s death, immediately cut to Jyn waking up in prison.

We are introduced to Cassian at the trading post, and learn of the Death Star.

Next we have Jyn being ‘rescued’ from Imperial prison.

Jyn is brought to the Rebel base, where the talk focuses on Galen. The implication is that Jyn knows where he is, and the commander threatens to put her back in prison if she doesn’t tell them everything. Mon Mothma says that they want to extract Galen to testify in the Senate.

Outside, Cassian is told to ignore Mothma’s order and kill Galen due to the risk of him building a functioning superweapon.

Tarkin meets Krennic about the security breach on Jedah, saying that the station must be tested immediately. Perhaps add a line from later saying that the pilot was from Eadu. Krennic says that he will not fail.

There’s a brief scene of Jyn dreaming of Coruscant, and mutterings in the other room of the apartment. The word ‘Eadu’ is heard. Jyn wakes up, and they have arrived at Galen’s facility.

The U-wing crashes on the surface. Only Cassian, K2, and Jyn are clearly identifiable on board. Jyn goes to get her father and Cassian goes with a faceless rebel to a vantage point to assassinate Galen.

The Yavin base sends reinforcements to carry out the assassination after losing contact with their team.

Krennic arrives for Galen, and it is only here that Jyn and Cassian get a clear idea that Galen himself is the defector. Krennic mutters to Galen about Jedah and the weapon’s power, now cast as a threat of future action. The X-wings attack and kill Galen, who as he dies speaks to Jyn about her being Stardust and how there’s so much for him yet to tell her.

Back on board the stolen transport, Jyn and Cassian have their row. Cassian says that Yavin should expect a stolen shuttle.

• Act 2

Jyn has a flashback to the day her father was taken from her. She recalls fleeing to a cave and being rescued by Saw. She comes out of the reverie as Mon Mothma is talking. She is saying that the Rebellion has no choice but to repair the trust between themselves and Saw’s organization. Jyn asks what she will get in return for helping them get through the door, and it is only here that the Rebellion offers her freedom.

They get a new U-wing and they talk of trust as Cassian allows Jyn a blaster. They blast off for Jedah.

Bodhi is taken by Saw in a combination of his scenes and is given over to Bor Gullet.

The crew arrives on Jedah and the scenes play out as before. Jyn hears her father’s last message, and realizing that she was the one who killed him with her doubt and giving up his location, she breaks down. He doesn’t say the specifics of a sabotage to the Death Star, just that it has a weakness. His transmission is garbled in those places and they flee the destruction of the weapon. They return directly to Jedah.

• Act 3

The final act needs no changes. There is Krennic’s meeting with Vader, Jyn’s plea to the council, stealing the Imperial transport that they got in act one, etc. I would only change the ending so that the final shot of the film is of Vader watching the departing Tantive IV.

…

The reason I enjoy this structure is that it gives Jyn a very personal, tragic part to play in the story from the beginning instead of her wandering through a series of scenes and situations until act two, at which point she’s still merely an observer. Now her trust in the Rebellion is broken in act one and must be rebuilt through the rest of the film. She also doesn’t need to take the hologram of her father from Jedah since it doesn’t give any specifics of a weakness, only a destination. The screentime of the supporting crew are concentrated in acts two and three instead of being wasted on the Eadu sidequest, which now focuses entirely on Jyn and Cassian.

Anyway, those are my thoughts.

Hal 9000 said:

Deepfake them with low-resolution images of their own faces, perhaps becoming progressively distorted throughout the film.

Anakin and Obi-wan’s Final Battle Would Have Smelled Slightly Like a Car Air Freshener - A Video Essay By StarWarsTheory

Rodney-2187 said:

NeverarGreat said:

Rodney-2187 said:

If the OT was released in today’s climate, it would receive the exact same level of ridicule as the prequels and sequels.

Sorry, but this isn’t a sentiment that makes sense to me. To focus just on the original film; it was like nothing people had ever seen in '77 with special effects that were invented for the movie and made by a group of world-class talents at the pinnacle of their skills, and which tapped into the zeitgeist so deeply that most of the people in the US had seen the movie, mostly through word-of-mouth, by the time it left theaters.

To extract the film from its historical context and compare it to something released today is ludicrous, especially since it would undoubtedly suffer John Carter issues where it is seen as predictable due to the multitude of films that had been made in emulation of the elements which made Star Wars great. It’s like saying the moon landing wasn’t actually that great because we know how to make better spaceships and would do that differently today.

Finally, you say ‘in today’s climate’, but I assume you mean in the climate of the Star Wars fandom or movie fans in general. People are always comparing new movies in a franchise to the originals, so these films couldn’t be released ‘in today’s climate’, because that same climate has been built out of expectations set by…the originals.

Here’s an acid test - if the originals were objectively no better than the prequels or sequels, with rudimentary and sometimes embarrassingly dated effects, then I guarantee that there would be talks to remake them. Robocop, The Thing, Final Recall…they all got the remake treatment. But films like Blade Runner, 2001, Indiana Jones…nobody even considers a remake even though they would have massive name recognition, and I think we all know the reason for that isn’t some arcane legal one.

Read my comment just before this one where I said I like the originals more than the prequels or sequels. I also said my comment was more of a critique of movie reviews in general.

I like your NASA analogy. Yes the OT was a groundbreaking achievement, certainly more so than the prequels or sequels. I’m a fan of the Saturn V rocket. I have a model of it displayed in my movie room. The moon landing was an incredible achievement. But to use your same analogy, would be like saying the Space Shuttle or Falcon 9 are inferior to the Saturn V, even though technologically superior, just because they weren’t around for the moon landing. I’m sure the SR-71 is superior to what the Wright brothers flew. I’m just saying if you evaluate them on their own, side by side. But I see your point about being groundbreaking for their time.

Again though, my comment was more of a critique of the mudslinging reviews that are popular now. How people go on a seek and destroy mission with a hate-for-clicks revenue stream. I’m not one who thinks movie making has significantly declined. I think reviews have become too critical. I love the Original Trilogy. But when I look at them objectively, I see similar flaws in them that people lambaste other movies for. If social media was around back then, the contrarians would have had plenty to say about the OT.

Not so sure your comment about remakes will stand the test of time though. I think everything will be remade eventually. Interstellar is extremely similar to 2001. They wouldn’t remake Blade Runner because slow brooding noir isn’t known for box office results. Look at BR 2049. Blade Runner is another of my favorites by the way. I think Indiana Jones will get rebooted with another actor very soon actually.

I love the OT, but I don’t think it’s irreproachable, and I also think other movies, especially those in the Star Wars franchise, get critiqued on a whole other level.

Certainly everything with name recognition will be in danger of eventual remakeland, but famous movies are usually famous for being exceptional in some way. From what I’ve heard, the remakes of each of the movies I listed were fairly standard and unexceptional. It’s the catch-22 of remakes; for a film to be considered for a remake it has to be of unusually high quality, but any remake is unlikely to escape mediocrity itself. The exceptions to this rule where people are interested in a remake of a boring mess of a film, like Dune or Eragon, are themselves adaptations of source material which is of above average quality in the first place.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lxwEX_J_6CQ

Obi-wan finally admits it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJT1P9PlVGo

A look at how the Death Star might move through Hyperspace.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNxa9ec3N9M

Some short amusing things.

I can already imagine the fanedits pulling out Eadu and filling runtime with parts of the show.

There’s already a shuttle visible in the wreckage of the Death Star.

Boba flies high above the Great Pit of Carkoon and prepares to unleash a dizzying array of missile-based weaponry from his armor. His targeting system locks on to Luke, Han, R2, Lando, even Leia and C-3PO. He looks at Luke. “For my father…Jedi.” he growls in an Australian accent. Suddenly a tentacle shoots out of the Sarlacc beak, ensnaring the formidable bounty-hunter. He turns his attention to the menace beneath him, but his weapons can’t get a lock. He fires missiles at the Sarlacc but they go wide and he is dragged down into the depths.

Luke stares at the pit as a deep rumbling is heard. He races to the other side of the barge, Leia in tow. “Let’s go, and don’t forget the droids!” He shouts, swinging to freedom. Behind them the pit ignites in a fireball of Mandalorian glory, engulfing the sail barge and sending Jabba’s crime syndicate into the stratosphere.

Rodney-2187 said:

If the OT was released in today’s climate, it would receive the exact same level of ridicule as the prequels and sequels.

Sorry, but this isn’t a sentiment that makes sense to me. To focus just on the original film; it was like nothing people had ever seen in '77 with special effects that were invented for the movie and made by a group of world-class talents at the pinnacle of their skills, and which tapped into the zeitgeist so deeply that most of the people in the US had seen the movie, mostly through word-of-mouth, by the time it left theaters.

To extract the film from its historical context and compare it to something released today is ludicrous, especially since it would undoubtedly suffer John Carter issues where it is seen as predictable due to the multitude of films that had been made in emulation of the elements which made Star Wars great. It’s like saying the moon landing wasn’t actually that great because we know how to make better spaceships and would do that differently today.

Finally, you say ‘in today’s climate’, but I assume you mean in the climate of the Star Wars fandom or movie fans in general. People are always comparing new movies in a franchise to the originals, so these films couldn’t be released ‘in today’s climate’, because that same climate has been built out of expectations set by…the originals.

Here’s an acid test - if the originals were objectively no better than the prequels or sequels, with rudimentary and sometimes embarrassingly dated effects, then I guarantee that there would be talks to remake them. Robocop, The Thing, Final Recall…they all got the remake treatment. But films like Blade Runner, 2001, Indiana Jones…nobody even considers a remake even though they would have massive name recognition, and I think we all know the reason for that isn’t some arcane legal one.

snooker said:

RogueLeader said:

Later, Hux gives his speech and then we see the fleet jump away into hyperspace.

https://streamable.com/ytkl0t

Scene test!

Now, I really don’t know how to handle the Resistance briefing scene. All I’ve managed to do is change Poe’s line from “Lower the shield, destroy that oscillator, and blow up their big gun” to “…blow up their base”

I would play with having him still say ‘This fierce machine which you have built…will bring an end to the senate, to their cherished fleet’ since he could be using the word ‘machine’ to suggest the First Order war machine in general.

Oh, that’s what you focus on, the lack of eye stalks? Why isn’t anyone complimenting him on his delicious, succulent marbling?

Cinefy said:

Spotted weird mistake on Ajan Kloss, Poe’s X-Wing on the Resistance Base set only appears to have 1 s-foil either side when it should be 2 by 2,

https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/starwars/images/d/dd/Poe's_second_x-wing.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20200415215956

The image doesn’t work, but are you aware that the s-foils of the sequel X-wings lie one behind the other instead of stacked on top of each other?

I think some sort of full shot is needed, just to see what’s going on with these new elements.

I wonder if there’s any part of the destruction of Kijimi that could be used.

As I understand it, a movie not having ‘tight’ writing doesn’t mean it has plotholes per say, just that it isn’t as efficient with its scenes/dialogue/plot as another movie.

I don’t have an opinion on if ANH or ESB has tighter writing, since they are both incredibly efficient with the amount of character/plot progression per minute of screentime. Even ROTJ is fairly tight in terms of bringing the Luke/Vader relationship to a conclusion.

I think a good example of flabby writing would be Anakin/Padme in AOTC, where they have a half-dozen scenes which don’t move their characters forward at all in the eyes of the audience. Another is the Exegol plot from TROS, where our characters go to four or five locations just to find a mcGuffin while barely developing as characters at all. But again, the problem is a lack of character progression per scene, not necessarily how flabby/nonsensical the plot becomes. Tight writing, in this case, does not equal a tight plot. Fury Road has a simplistic, borderline stupid plot, but it packs so much character work into each scene that one would never call the writing flabby.

It’s also a funny line.

jedi_bendu said:

Besides, the opening crawl says “first major victory”. I didn’t expect the Rebel alliance to have had absolutely no success against the Empire before that, I just expected it to be smaller victories, which is what we see in Rebels.

What?

It is a period of civil war.
Rebel spaceships, striking
from a hidden base, have won
their first victory against
the evil Galactic Empire.

And yes, you could lawyer your way out of the victory on Lothal, but that’s weasel words.

The point is that I can’t imagine they will hold to a single brief line from a less-than-popular movie if it means keeping the main character out of the show.

Heh, you think I remember this movie?

Anyway, I feel like it’s a bit like ‘Their first victory against the evil Galactic Empire’, which got thrown out the window in Rebels.

They could send her on some early missions, then have her stick to the base later on to train under Leia.

Mandalorians in the OT and PT are only cool because the Mandalorian culture hasn’t been established yet, so they by definition don’t act like Mandalorians.

Mandalorians in Clone Wars were a pointless waste of episodes except for that one Mandalorian who doesn’t act like a Mandalorian.

Mandalorians in Rebels are almost entirely pointless, except for a single episode: ‘Trials of the Darksaber’ where the Mandalorian doesn’t act like a typical Mandalorian.

Mandalorians in The Mandalorian are worthless except for the one Mandalorian who is gradually deprogrammed from his cult of Mandalorians.

In conclusion:

This guy has been making custom sabers for years. Can you imagine how cool it would have been to have a brief scene where Rey fixes Luke’s saber and reveals these inner workings?

Sure, they would have had to buy one of these, but 7,000$ would have been lunch money for TROS.

I love this place.

I love the people here.

I love occasionally necrobumping a thread.

Have a wonderful evening everyone, and may we meet again on the morrow 😃

Jar Jar Bricks said:

“A guy who is part of a space nazi government, has blood on his hands, including killing children, first time seeing his son battles him, chops off his hand, then potentially murders one of his best friends. Tries to prevent him from escaping the planet so he can brainwash him into a nazi as well.
Year or so later son decides that his father is actually a great guy deep inside.”

Sorry, couldn’t help myself haha

The difference is that one person believes that there still exists humanity in this damaged shell of a man, the other seems to think this is prime boyfriend material.

JakeRyan17 said:

So, you want to cut the character development out? That doesn’t make sense.

Luke is very clear about what he did and why, and SparkySywer did a great job summarising it.

Except that Luke’s reasons for exile are

1: He feels guilty about almost killing Ben/failing his new order

and/or

2: He thinks the Jedi are fundamentally flawed due to letting Palpatine rise under their noses and being vain about using the Force.

Both of these reasons amount to Luke ‘running away’ because in none of them does he draw a clear line between his power and the rise of the Dark Side.

As to this cutting out the character development, this is supposed to be Rey’s story in the first place and it merely streamlines the theme of Luke’s failure rather than complicating it with flashbacks and lengthy explanations that threaten to lose parts of the audience. If you need paragraphs to explain a secondary character’s motivations in a Star Wars movie, you’ve failed.

jarbear said:

Hal 9000 said:

Dawn of the Rise of the Skywalker: Justice Ascending

Why am I imagining Rey having a mustache that’s been digitally “shaved”?

“Rey Superman”