Octorox

Huge improvement!

GregKnight06 said:

Hi 🙂
I never had the chance to see this edit.
Can I have a link please ?
Thanks 😀

Sure, please send me a PM.

21C Peasant said:

Like many others, when it came to the force ghost scene, I used to be an adamant Shaw supporter. I still like the original very much, but I’ve also come to see the merit in continuity between trilogies. The Kenobi show also sparked my interest in trying to come up with something that could possibly tie things together a bit better. Here’s something I put together using footage of Hayden’s face from recent interviews so that it’s more age-accurate.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yF55QWytYbE

This is a big improvement over the official version.

The Hal9000 ‘Custom Special Editions’ are the ones I recommend. They do retain the Sebastian Shaw ghost, but otherwise include several nods to continuity with the prequels. For example, In Empire Strikes Back, Obi-Wan’s ghost refers to Yoda as “A Jedi Master Who Instructed Me” rather than “The Jedi Master Who Instructed Me” and in ANH, he tells Luke “I wanted you to have this” when giving him Anakin’s lightsaber instead of “Your father wanted you to have this”. If there was a version with the Hayden Ghost, I would say they would be perfect for what you want, but you can always combine the Final Cut version of ROTJ with Hal’s ANH and ESB, or make your own tweaks to ROTJ.

Since you’re using the original titles, will these edits be given new names to match the naming scheme of the sequel edits? Might help for people like myself using Plex to differentiate the two versions. Also, would you consider adding back R2 and 3PO to the birth of the twins in the alternative version? The fact that you can still see them in the reflection has always bugged me a bit.

Glad that you are doing these as an alternate option. For midichlorians I would consider the Phantom Edit route of adding back in oblique references but keeping out the exposition dump Qui-Gon gives to Anakin.

Alderaan94 said:

Hii. Are you still working on this? I did try this myself in the past and improved most of the deleted scenes.

Sorry, it’s pretty much been on the backburner. I’d be interested to see your version.

I’m looking forward to this edit! Your Kenobi is still the definitive version imo. Can’t wait to see what you come up with.

I definitely fall into the category that’s not that precious about the universe and pretty open to whatever they’d like to make but the biggest thing for me is that I think they need to start treating TV shows as TV shows and not padded movies split into 6-8 parts. When their shows have played to the medium’s strengths and had well constructed individual episodes and arcs like Andor, early Mandalorian, and the animated shows, it has worked for me.

JadedSkywalker said:
Leia running the government how does that work if the galaxy finds out Vader was their father.

Funny enough this is actually addressed in the canon novel Bloodline which I very much enjoyed.

To weigh in on the Padme discourse, I do like her as a character but mostly because of the Clone Wars and not the films. My favorite female Star Wars character is probably Ahsoka. I think she goes through a really interesting arc in the animated series, although I don’t think her live action appearances have quite done the character justice.

I like that RogueLeader. I think what I was less receptive to was the idea of playing it straight as Rey Palpatine and then just casting a bit of doubt at the end.

I think if Palpatine is consistent in his message that he created Rey, Ben is consistent in his message that he thinks Palpatine is a liar, and Luke’s POV is that ultimately it doesn’t matter, that could actually provide some interesting tension.

I agree that I would like to avoid the flashbacks to Rey’s parents, or any suggestion that Rey is the “granddaughter” of Palpatine through her father. I know the canon explanation is that Rey’s father is a type of clone but in the context of the movie it just brings up the weird “did Palpatine have sex?” question.

As for the question of how it impacts canon, I think the base version of Ascendant is still a great edit for those who want to hew closely to canon, and a Rey nobody version should be less concerned about future canon material if it conflicts with the goals of the edit.

Since V5 of Rise of Skywalker: Ascendant just dropped, I thought it might be a good idea to revive this thread. My personal take is that the whole idea of Palpatine lying about Rey’s identity is overcomplicating things. I personally think a Rey Nobody version should just focus on Rey’s struggle with the dark side and not emphasize the question of her lineage at all. I think the best current take on this is Spence’s edit, although with the use of AI dialogue we wouldn’t have to cut quite as much as he did. I will try to come up with some of my own suggestions for dialogue.

Unfortunately, to my knowledge, there isn’t a pure extended version of TFA. The Force Awakens Starlight edit reintegrates several deleted scenes but it also has many other changes.

Just want to say that as someone who grew up primarily with the SE, I chose to show this version of A New Hope to my roommate for his first time viewing. He really enjoyed it and wasn’t taken out of the movie by any of the updated effects. Afterward I showed him a video comparing the theatrical and the special editions and he was baffled by the changes to the Greedo scene, the Jabba scene, and the extended Mos Eisley entrance. I think this is a good sign you chose the right balance of SE and theatrical elements.

Minor quibble, I saw this text appear in the subtitles, which I’m pretty sure is a mistake, I can easily edit the srt file myself but wanted to let you know: https://imgur.com/ss3LUI2

Here’s an alternate take I found on the Lost 20 scene that cuts it down further to use basically only finished footage: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YIQTcvtHvhw

At that point though, I’m not sure if it’s even worth including. Thoughts?

So this is something I’m toying with creating as a companion to my Revenge of the Sith extended edition. Like with that edit, I’d like to only add scenes that I feel help the movie rather than adding in every bit of usable footage. I’ve added my preliminary thoughts on each scene but I’d appreciate input on what people would most like to see.

DVD Deleted Scenes:

Padme addresses the Senate: Yes
I feel like this scene adds helpful context to the political plot. I might use Hal9000’s slightly edited version since it removes close-up shots of JarJar that have dodgy vfx.

Analysis Droids: Maybe
I don’t feel like this scene really adds much to the narrative, but it does look to have finished vfx. I would appreciate input on how people feel about it.

Extended Stroll on Naboo: Yes
Discussion of Padme’s family complements the dinner scene nicely.

Conversation with Mace on the landing platform: No
This is basically an alternate take of a scene that’s in the movie. Works well for fanedits that exclude that scene but I think it’s redundant to include in an extended edition

Dinner with Padme’s family: Yes
This scene is pretty much my reason for making this edit. It’s definitely going in.

Padme’s bedroom: Maybe
Idk about this scene. It’s a bit cheesy but so is a lot of this movie.

Meeting with Dooku: Yes
Nice to see Padme actually attempting a diplomatic solution

Geonosian Trial: Maybe
The vfx on Poggle looks dodgy to me in this scene and I’m not sure it adds much.

Blu-Ray deleted scenes:

The Lost Twenty: I really wish I could include this scene but the vfx are just too dodgy. This is the best restoration effort I’ve seen but I don’t think the flashback style really fits in a Star Wars saga film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2ENkNIOOZ4

All others: Imo, none of the others really add much to the movie and their quality is all pretty rough.

Other scenes:

The lightsaber fight from Kenobi was really well-integrated into Spence’s edit but since it’s not truly a “deleted scene” I’m not sure whether it should be included. Thoughts?

So I never made a post about it but I updated this edit back in March with the changes I had previously mentioned. Here is the updated cutlist: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1A_ebcMg0Cg6vmUcFBUDrxMmZo74ihquqoFf_YusejR0/edit?usp=sharing

EddieDean said:

That’s a good question! As a rule I like edits which preserve all the canon, so Hal’s are always a safe bet. I really enjoyed Spence’s too, though they cut a bit too much canon for my preferences. They’re tight and enjoyable though.

Gotcha. Hal’s are probably my preference at this point as well. My own edits I mostly keep around for legacy reasons. I know Hal spitballed a few years back some ideas for even more conservative/canon-friendly edits. I’ve considered trying to create cuts based on those notes, but I’m not sure if there’s enough of an audience for it, there are so many prequel edits already out there.

Hi Eddie, I was wondering if you personally have preferred prequel edits to pair with the Refocused project. I know your spreadsheet says to choose your favorites but I’m wondering if there’s any you think work particularly well in this context.

Hello, I uploaded a new version that should fix all issues with the previous version. Link is the same, available by PM.

I wanted to let everyone know that unfortunately an issue with V4 has been brought to my attention. There are a couple moments where the video freezes and glitches out for a moment. Unfortunately I no longer have the project files so it might be a little while until I get around to addressing this. Sorry everyone!

Sorry! I just sent you a response, check your PMs.

I liked this line from the Ahsoka show “Talent is a factor. But training and focus are what truly define someone’s success.”. I don’t think it has to be “either-or” with the Force. Rey can be unusually attuned to the Force from birth, but that doesn’t preclude anybody from being able to use the Force. I see it kind of like the Ratatouille quote “Not everyone can become a great artist; but a great artist can come from anywhere.”

I was disappointed by season 3, but not so much that I’m not still excited to see how this turns out.

I noticed that the sunset color correction on the scene in Bail’s Office seems to be a lot more subtle or missing in V8 compared to V7. Not sure if this was intentional. It’s not a huge deal, I just thought I’d mention it just in case.