No one talking about Rey with the red double-bladed lightsaber?
Blockade Runner I believe. You can actually see one in one of the stills they showed at Celebration.
That matches exactly what was described at the shareholders meeting (I think) earlier this year. Very interesting!
That is really great! I feel like something could be done at the very end to help transition to the credits music. It just feels a bit jarring, it feels like it is missing some kind of build up or something. But honestly that is a perfect track to use for the ending!
Fine, no color correction at all then. Besides, it’s too expensive to even buy a single software for color correction.
DaVinci Resolve is one of the best grading programs out there and it’s free. Instead of demanding others do the work for you, learn to do it yourself.
I was literally about to say the same thing!
“some dank corners of society” haha, very apt!
Yeah, I think this can definitely go both ways, and maybe this is sort of a byproduct of the internet, where conversations are constantly happening online. And suddenly there is this feedback loop that transforms the pleasant sound of reasonable discussion into a screeching war between two sides.
I think it often plays out this way: say someone online wants to have a conversation that is related to race/sex/etc. that they’re genuinely curious about, but then they get called racist/sexist for simply asking the question. It may have just been one insult out of five fair responses, but we know how aggressive comments tend to stand out more. This person may have been open and willing to change his mind, but the personal attack may cause him to fall back into the other camp, and never really understand what the issue was or ever agree with it because of that association.
Especially when it comes to issue of race/sex, it can be tricky having any discussion about it with some people. If you’re trying to talk about inherent bias that exists in literally every person, some people can take just that observation as a personal attack, depending on their own sense of security, but also the attitude/tone of the person they’re talking too.
And the same can play out the other way. The Internet has created this boogieman of the SJW and the femininazi. So people won’t even give ideas regarding feminism, for example, a chance because they feel like they know everything they need to because they followed the algorithm of guys complaining about it on YouTube.
Which kind of ties into the Mary Sue thing. One person might have a fair point about how Rey fits into common traits associated with that trope. But then another person brings up the inherent bias of female characters being called wish fulfillment characters when male characters are rarely ever criticized for the exact same thing, and then the original person feels like they’ve been called a sexist and it devolves into a fight. Or, sometimes a person just calls them a “SEXIST!” and the conversation literally goes nowhere.
It’s weird. I think people get unfairly labeled racist or sexist when literally most people have inherent biases regarding race and sex. They’re not bad people, it might be something they might not be aware of. People who intentionally discriminate based off race or sex deserve that label, but a personal with intentional bias versus unconscious bias or two different types of people. So throwing around those terms devalues the seriousness of the labels, as well as potentially alienating the person who desperately wants/needs to understand their inherent biases to overcome them, which can lead them to become MORE biased. Humans can be a god damned self-fulfilling prophecy, haha.
I’ve seen the opposite also play out, where someone has a really interesting meta or analysis of The Last Jedi and people call point fingers calling “SJW propaganda” or “feminist agenda”. Pop Culture Detective has a really interesting video regarding TLJ and ideas of feminism and masculinity, but you see a lot of those kind of comments there. It’s possible it is partly because they’ve already made their minds up on how they feel about the movie, or they might be insecure regarding their own masculinity and are projecting those complicated feelings online, but regardless, that is why I think it is important to try to approach these topics with respect. If you want people to be open-minded about your opinion, it has to start with respect. So I think a lot of these conversations have to be approached with civility just for the mere desire to counter what apparently is the status quo of online conversation.
I think we just forget how nuanced these conversations can be, and we fit “pro-TLJ” and “anti-TLJ” into boxes. There are pro-TLJ people who think some people take shit on twitter TOO far, and I know anti-TLJ people feel the same way.
Clearly most people who don’t like the film don’t agree with the hate and death threats people like Kellie Marie Tran and Rian Johnson have gotten. There are also people in the pro-ST camp give Reylos A LOT of shit because they think shipping them equates to supporting abusive relationships. What could be an interesting discussion devolves into name calling.
Anyway, people like that guy get themselves into that problem when even agreeing to a debate, so I really don’t have much sympathy. I like TLJ for very personal reasons, so I don’t know why I would feel the need to defend my reasons for liking a movie. Or, if there would even be any logic into that kind of debate format. I don’t like Jurassic World, but I’m not going to pressure people into a debate about why they’re not allowed to like Jurassic World. I remember ranting about JW after its release, a lot like how hardcore anti-TLJ people on YouTube rant about that movie, and in retrospect I feel like the conversations I had with people at that time was some of the most pretentious, self-entitled bullshit I’ve ever wasted breath on. Mostly because I was pretty condescending. In retrospect I thought, why can’t I just let people enjoy a movie they like?
And the answer had more to do with me than it did with them or the movie.
I will say that I think JJ and Kasdan mirrored ANH more for the sake of familiarity, but I felt like Rian’s parallels had more of a narrative/thematic purpose than TFA did. Although I still think TFA does.
I do agree that the First Order could’ve been a little more nuanced or better established, but I’ve felt the cycle of light and dark, good and evil, peace and war, history repeating itself, is a theme of the new films. Maybe they could’ve touched on that more in a direct way?
EDIT: I’m gonna leave this up but I keep forgetting this is the box office predictions thread! Sorry Dre.
While I think a video like this is long overdue, I do agree with Maul that this creator stoops to their level at times, which I think will struggle to bring over people who might be on that dangerous side of the fandom.
I think there are a lot of YouTubers who do have criticisms of the new movies, but they discuss it pretty maturely. They point out their problems with it and then move on to other topics that they enjoy more. This guy is clearing pointing out some of the more toxic creators who might not have the best motivations, and I think that is good.
While I don’t think it makes his viewpoint any less valid, I think resorting to the occasional insult or name-calling really doesn’t help make his points seem legitimate. The thing is, there are probably a lot of younger people who are Star Wars fans, especially boys, that are being introduced to concepts like social justice and feminism through these people, which, in my opinion, is probably not the best introduction to those ideas.
It literally boils down to these people stirring the pot for as revenue, and suddenly you have millions of people repeating those talking points like gospel.
Another YouTuber he didn’t even mention was Vito, who I think has some pretty clear political opinions, and I know at least one of his TLJ videos has 6 million views. That’s crazy.
Maybe we’re blowing it out of proportion, but I just wonder how it (among other things conjured by the Great Algorithm) could be influencing the beliefs and values of the Gen Z audience watching these videos. Really Star Wars is just a drop in the bucket of a larger issue that has been discussed recently. But it does seem any kind of civil discussion on either side is overshadowed by what basically feels like amateur yellow journalism, but on a global scale.
Also, debating any of those people is a wasted effort. I don’t agree with Ben Shapiro, but he is a master debater, and can make any of his opinions seem right with his skill. It’s just more of the same tactics and strategies for them that they have basically perfected to a T through their ridiculously long videos.
I think people have made a lot of fair guesses already, so I would like to revisit this once D23 happens and hopefully that marketing ball starts rolling.
I agree with that. I feel a lot of the similarities TFA has with ANH could’ve worked with less complaint if a little bit of breathing room for that information was allowed. I don’t blame the filmmakers, I’m sure the response from the prequels was a loud and clear “NO politics” to them, but even a little bit more context could’ve gone a long way.
I think how Hal’s Restructured and other edits add the brief conversation between Leia and her envoy helps, but I think even a brief, 1-minute scene with her envoy at the Senate with senators arguing about what to do would’ve been nice. It would’ve been nice to have briefly seen Hosnian Prime and the New Republic before it was destroyed, so we could get a better glimpse at what was actually lost.
And as others have said, I think it would’ve been nice to have briefly seen the New Republic in some capacity. It is easy to forget that Luke, Han and Leia helped create an era of piece that lasted even longer than the Empire, and even a short look at that society might’ve reminded the audience of that.
But really the theatrical version of the movie doesn’t allow for this, since the New Republic is destroyed halfway through the movie. But, edits that push the destruction to the climax do allow for that, if people can come up with ways this can actually be seen.
I definitely think Frozen II will make more than IX. Kids (and adults) around the world love it and it has a similar repeat viewing appeal for kids that Star Wars has for their fans. Plus, Frozen is more popular in China than Star Wars is, so I think that will play a role in that as well.
Nev, I had a thought regarding how you wanted to have BB-8 not reveal/know the location of the Resistance base (for very fair plot and character reasons). I lamented the loss of BB-8’s cutest moments, but I think there might be another way to keep them.
I know my “I’ll drop you off at Panima Terminal” sounds bad, but it is just a rough idea. Both of the moments are obviously recontextualized, and may not be as funny as their theatrical counterparts, but I think it would be a fair compromise between keeping some of that humor that makes BB-8 endearing, but also retaining the logic that you’re trying to preserve. I also kept Finn’s line about needing to get out of this system because I felt it flowed better into Rey’s line. Yes, they do jump to hyperspace in your version, but they were only in hyperspace for a minute or less, so it is probably that they are on the outskirts of that system at the very least. Because of how they fell out of hyperspace, I don’t think it will confuse the audience.
Do you think you could add a quick shot of the air speeder pulling away from the parking area?
Outbound, thanks! And that is an interesting idea! You, or someone who picks up that book, could maybe report back and see if it has a format that an edit like that could use as an outline.
It’s one of those things that creates more questions than answers but in a good way.
Exactly! It is hard to explain, but that’s basically what I was thinking too.
One idea I had a while back for generating mystery was labeling every film as part of the 34th saga in the opening crawl. Makes you feel like you’re seeing but a fraction of this wide universe, and makes you wonder what other grand tales there are to tell in it.
That is an interesting idea! It makes me think how an early draft of Star Wars referred to it as Saga I, the Star Wars. You basically could add that to the opening crawl like: Star Wars. the 34th Saga. Episode IV.
I think it is cool and makes sense! Although I think in its current form, so much has been cut and it feels too brief. I think seeing so Obi-Wan looking out the window and then seeing him in the air speeder are too close together.
0%
Place a Sith Holocron next to Snoke on the left armrest of his throne.
You could add it to the entirely of TLJ, or at the very least his first scene with Kylo Ren. It’s a small detail that doesn’t necessarily spell out anything, but it could add an extra clue regarding Snoke.
Snoke could’ve been a dark side acolyte or enthusiast who used the knowledge of that holocron to gain his power. He could’ve been an already powerful dark sider who used the holocron to unlock new secrets. He might want to restore the Sith Order, or is just using it for his own personal gain. Or, it was left by Palpatine to manipulate others as a part of his contingency.
Still keeps him mysterious, but at the very least it gives us an onscreen source of his power for those who feel like there wasn’t enough. The desire for such an addition might change if we learn more about him in IX, but if we don’t I think it would be a pretty simple idea to implement.
While it would take more work, if you added it to all the throne room scenes, you would also get a nice bit of dualistic imagery when the Sith holocron rests on one side of Snoke, and a Jedi lightsaber rests on the other.
I’m really liking this one!
That addition of ‘in the New Republic’ flows really nicely in my opinion. I don’t know if ‘noble’ is necessary, or if ‘legendary’ was better, or if it should just be ‘last of the Jedi Knights’. Not saying you should do anything, it does work, but maybe play with some other adjectives too?
The second paragraph isn’t bad. I’m wondering if you could use a different world than ‘suffering’, or just say ‘hundreds of worlds’. Suffering is just a little vague. Why are they suffering? Are they suffering under the Republic? Under the First Order, which has forced them to join their cause?
Some experimenting with paragraph 2:
In his absence, an evil warlord has unified the supporters of the fallen Empire into the FIRST ORDER, while secretly constructing the deadliest weapon the galaxy has ever seen.
also
In his absence, hundreds of worlds have allied with the remnants of the Empire to form the FIRST ORDER, which has constructed the deadliest weapon the galaxy has ever seen.
I‘m liking the third too! Maybe consider replacing ‘dire’ with ‘hidden’ since that angle sorta got lost in this version? I like how you used ‘the Senate’ in this iteration too. Not saying I think this would be better, but you could use ‘fearsome’ rather than ‘fearful’, and I also think you could cut ‘now’ from ‘now spreading’. Do you still feel the reinserted deleted scene works within the new context? I think it does.
Also, did the ANH crawl fly away to the horizon that fast towards the end? It feels fast but maybe it is just me. Anyway, as far as content I think this is one of my favorite so far.
Off topic but I wanted to mention something else on my mind.
One of your ideas I love about your edit is having Poe fail at blowing up Starkiller base like he does in theatrical version.
Yes, Poe also fails to blow up Starkiller base before it destroys the Republic in Restructured, but the trench run stills ends in the same result as it does in A New Hope. But with your most recent version, I could see how a hypothetical audience could be surprised with what happens.
In a way, I think it turns Poe’s trench run from pretty simplistic plot/imagery repetition into intentional parallelism that is meant to subvert audience expectation in a clever way. Anyone who has seen Star Wars knows what the trench run means. I think it is one of the weakest points in the theatrical film, because I imagine a lot of fans were like, “Really? Seems like a pretty on-the-nose rehash.” But in your version, when Ackbar says it didn’t work, I could imagine audiences raising their eyebrows and thinking, “Oh, it didn’t work?”
In retrospect it makes the Resistance being able to come up with a plan to destroy it within minutes actually work. At that point the audience is like, “Okay, I know where this is gonna go.” But, their impromptu plan didn’t work as planned. Yes, they still succeeded at destroying Starkiller, but only at the cost of the thing they were trying to save.
I know subverting expectations has become a somewhat controversial phrase, but I think this is actually what we want in this case. Not only does it surprise audiences, but it also surprises the characters within the story. Poe and the Resistance know the story of Luke and how he destroyed the Death Star in the nick of time. They’re emulating the Rebellion just as much as the First Order is emulating the Empire. They think they’ll be able to pull of the same thing, and we do too, but it is interesting when we, and they, turn out to be wrong. It also helps prepare the audience for The Last Jedi, which does a lot of the same thing. Poe’s semi-failure can also add to what compels Poe to do what he thinks is necessary at all costs, like he’s trying to compensate for that failure at the end of TFA.
I know you know all this, just wanted to reiterate my support of it! Obviously the BIGGEST critique of TFA is its similarities to ANH. This is what you’ll hear from even casual fans. While fan edits can try to eliminate the parallels, I think if an editor can come up with ideas like this that turn those parallels on their head, it can actually transform TFA’s weaknesses into its strengths.
The obvious connection here is Osmosis Jones.
It sounds like he meant that from a visual standpoint in particular.
EDIT: Also wanted to say that I’m really enjoying how we’re having an interesting discussion about this even though we have different opinions!
I do think it is interesting from a marketing perspective. Are artistic integrity and marketability fundamentally separate things? Can a franchise flick be substantive, but also be a vehicle for merchandising?
I think a number of factors are at play, but I wonder if the secrecy surrounding the production of these films have made them more difficult for companies like Hasbro to make toys that are consistent with the final product (here’s looking at you, Constable Zuvio).
I will be interested to see if we get any Mandalorian toys during this year’s Force Friday. It seems like a perfect opportunity to make cool toys of bounty hunters and grimy stormtroopers. If we don’t see much toys, it’ll make me wonder if there is some failure to take opportunities to merchandise the content that is available.
This is another reason why I think an Old Republic setting for future movies would be great. That time period is ripe for the imagination, full of Sith, Jedi and other mysteries. Exotic aliens and ships. Tons of opportunities for toys, if they make them.
I do think your first paragraph is too short, the others a little too long maybe. Starkiller’s AG’s whole crawl is too brief, I think.
Just as reference, here are the Original Trilogy crawl word counts:
Paragraph 1: 24, 32, 29
Paragraph 2: 30, 27, 27
Paragraph 3: 29, 22, 22
Total: 83, 81, 78
I’m just gonna throw out another idea that tries to fit within this format.
Luke Skywalker has vanished. In his absence, the mysterious FIRST ORDER has risen from the ashes of the Empire and will not rest until Skywalker, their greatest threat, has been destroyed.
During their exile, the First Order constructed a weapon more deadly than the dreaded Death Stars, capable of destroying any star system from across the galaxy.
Held hostage by this hidden weapon, the New Republic mobilizes a covert Resistance to locate their long-lost hero before their new enemy finds him first…
I wanted to try to keep the exposition regarding Starkiller, but also maintain the focus on finding Luke. Illustrating that the First Order is focused on finding Luke before anything else might help justify why the First Order hasn’t already attacked the Republic.
…with a devastating weapon able to destroy any star system while hidden in the depths of space.
I’m not enamored with “while hidden in” for some reason either, but I’m not sure what I’d replace it with.
Maybe something like:
…with a hidden superweapon, capable of destroying any star system from across the galaxy.
This is really cool, Dre! Where are you getting these datasets from to make your graphs?
I’m wondering about how much actual marketing and advertisement plays into this. Because it’s not like they just release the movies and then wait for the masses to buy toys. Do we know how much they’re spending on marketing for the MCU compared to Star Wars?
Hey Steve, I think the opening crawl is meant to be more flowery than literal. Unknown Regions would be cool to use, I’ve tried making it work before, but it doesn’t really roll off the tongue well in the crawl.
Also, I think calling Luke a Jedi Master might leave the impression that there may be other Jedi, but he’s the only Jedi Master. Also, I think Masters are still technically Jedi Knights.
Nev, that line would fit in well where you now have “You’re nothing without the First Order.” Maybe we can see if we can get a clean sound byte if that line when the episode comes out, I’ve heard that might not be Gwendoline though.