NeverarGreat

My thoughts as well. Really hope to see it again soon.

If Leia is a Jedi then why on Alderaan was she looking for Luke instead of stepping up and becoming the ‘spark of hope’ herself?

I left a brief review on a more SJW film site in which I said that I liked it while listing the caveats that it was a mess which often ruined aspects of previous films such as the excellent Rey-nobody angle. Even with this middling praise however I was downvoted severely for not hating it enough.

There’s toxicity on all sides. It’s tough to express enjoyment for Star Wars.

OutboundFlight said:

Snooker, I have a similar opinion, but with the opposite movies. I’ve tried to rewatch TLJ many times, and each time it’s made me bored by the characters. It was only until seeing this movie when I realized I liked Rey, Finn, and Poe on the same level as the OT in TFA and TROS, just TLJ was the difference.

I think part of it is the themes. TLJ tries to create complex themes and personally I think it is at the expense of the characters and their arcs TFA was pointing them in. The only part I liked was Luke’s story, but even then I think it came at the expense of making Rey bland.

Now for TROS, yes, the plot is stupid, but I think the character drama is on point. Whereas the Last Jedi felt so run by it’s themes.

This is my feeling. TFA had fun characters but barely said anything with them. TLJ tried to say something but made the characters boring in the process. TROS brought the fun back to the characters but while running so far in the opposite direction with the message that it went back around to being good-bad. And so for me TROS manages to be the first movie of this trilogy that is fun on all fronts.

I feel you. The homestead was touching as a denouement, but you’re right that she should have been with her new family.

The image I had in my head for the end of this trilogy and 9 movie saga was something bigger, grander, more musical than what we got. I just imagined everyone in the Resistance gathered together on some big cliff being joined by the multitudes given hope by Luke, with X-wings and A-wings flying in formation and generally going crazy. Rey on the shoulders of Finn and Poe, her lightsaber raised to the heavens in triumph, John Williams losing his mind with grandiosity.

But no, it’s a somewhat awkward shot of the twin suns for the third time, and a reused piece of music from TFA.

Speaking of Ewoks, the first thing my sleep-deprived mind thought of after seeing the shattered destroyer in the sky above the Endor moon was that this Ewok pilot must have done it. Thinking about it some more it makes 100% more sense that one of Jannah’s compatriots would have done it.

Random thought after seeing TROS: I’m now more pleased than ever that I changed the ending and end music of Starlight, so that now each film will end on a different musical cue.

Thank you Ziggy, and it’s quite true. There’s a wide variation of opinion on the jokey aspects of the movies so I’ve tried to stick to changes which can be rationalized in terms of plot and character rather than tone, which varies greatly from person to person.

The FO’s power in TLJ is shown primarily through the fleet, so getting rid of most of the accompanying Star Destroyers would help. If the Hosnian destruction were placed at the beginning of TLJ Rey’s line would have to be removed anyway, and the loss of the Republic here would be ample reason for a loss of hope for the galaxy.

He definitely Sheeved me out, but in a good way 😉

I assume you’re referring to ‘who talks first…’?

There are many edits which remove these lines, but whenever I watch them they tend to remove too many lighthearted moments to the point that the film starts to feel rather lifeless. I think Poe’s dialogue informs his character rather than detracting from it because of his unflappable bravado. Of course it contrasts with the tone of the scene which is why I’m still on the fence about it, but for now I can’t see a strong enough reason to warrant its removal.

^I dig it.

As for me, time to go back to the beginning.

PM Sent!

I imagine that the wreckage is so far away that no matter where you stood on the cliff the outline would be roughly the same.

PM sent!

And Duracell’s is quite the toxic love 😉

I think a previous diagram will help. Or not.

This shows how ‘Star Wars’ the films are, and how as they get further away from the OT they become less like this recognizable universe until the first and last basically exist in two different universes. The first is weird political space movie and the last is Indiana Potter and the Temple of the Sith

That should about do it.

I think the music would have to do a lot of the heavy lifting in this scene. Definitely need foley of the falling, but I think it could work to have the shot of the woman after she has been blastered if we can see the wound, just a circle of black with singed clothes around it, with maybe a wisp of smoke. It’s the classic delayed reaction. Cut back to Finn (without bloodmarks on his helmet) and the foley of her falling to the ground.

To sell the idea that it is the same trooper, maybe just have the shots of the flametrooper and Tekka walking through the flames then immediately cut back to Finn hovering over the woman as she dies so that it is clear that this is one continuous series of events. He also has a somewhat distinctive blood splatter on the jaw of his helmet which might be enough to distinguish him before the larger blood marks.

The child idea is quite cool, hadn’t thought of that. However in your example Finn’s big moment of revelation still seems to come from the death of his comrade, which causes the confusion going forward. And I think we’d need to see the child in order to really sell the idea.

The only problem with that is that you would have to lose the introduction to Kor Sella which is the only explicit link to the Republic in these movies.

What a nice way of saying I overthink everything 😉

Speaking of, I’ve had an idea about Finn’s characterization in the opening scene. In it, he seems shellshocked by the death of a fellow soldier but using a deleted scene that same reaction could instead be applied to him accidentally shooting an innocent villager.

https://vimeo.com/381248592

Password: fanedit

With some effects work I think it might be fairly passable, and wouldn’t give the impression that he was suddenly awakened to the suffering of his fellow troopers so much as he was horrified and guilt-ridden at killing a civilian. It would also certainly give new meaning to his line about being ashamed of what he was.

Is this worth pursuing?