Your_friendly_Imperial

One popular theory has it that the bearded rebel at Endor is Captain Rex from the TV shows.

I had a hard time noticing the wires at the Jawa droid sale(especially the long one that goes up from the black droid to the top of the screen), i always imagined they were antennas, but they were probably support cables.
Why George didn’t remove them completely in the Special Editions eludes me.

RogueLeader said:

Imperial, I feel like the type of rationalizations you’re making for the prequels, with the same logic, could be just as easily applied to your issues with TLJ to excuse them. I can imagine someone having this exact same conversations 5 years from now, but trashing the newest trilogy as objectively terrible while talking about how the Sequel Trilogy is not as bad and “could’ve been much worse” in retrospect.

I don’t believe so. Unless the next trilogy is going to be directed by Rian Johnson.
Disney is ruining old characters(Han, Luke) simply to market the new characters(Rey, Kylo). Instead they should have gone with George’s idea of a Skywalker soap opera where the old generation passes the torch to the next generation. Then they could have their own thing without pissing on which came before.

And the new characters are missed opportunities:
Finn started interesting as a conflicted Stormtrooper who goes AWOL, but is now just comedic relief.
Rey is the protagonist, but she doesn’t follow the Hero’s Journey. Nothing is challenging for her.
Kylo Ren is the most pathetic villain ever. I don’t buy that he killed Luke’s students.
Snoke was JJs mystery box, but after TLJ is nothing but a joke.

OutboundFlight said:

This is what RJ possibly “ruined” about Star Wars:

• Luke’s ultimate fate is sit around moaning about his failure before he returns to form and sacrifices himself.
• You can now hyperspace attack.
• Animal cruelty exists in Star Wars.

-Luke was the archetypal hero. He single-handedly saved the Rebellion, he believed there was good in Vader, one of the most evil people in the galaxy, he did not fall to temptations of the dark side by the Emperor. This character would never become a grumpy old man with self-pity. Let alone try to kill his nephew in his sleep(wtf?).
-Hyperspace was a separate dimension which did not directly interact with Real Space, hyperspace ramming creates countless continuity issues. Big ships and stations wouldn’t exist in this universe, everyone would be launching hyperspace missiles at each other.
-Animal rights agenda was poorly shoved in

OutboundFlight said:
Compared to the PT:

• Anakin wasn’t a brave warrior, he was a creep.
• The Jedi were idiots.
• Padmé died of a broken heart.
• Stormtroopers are clones of Boba Fett’s father.
• There’s a ton of weird names.
• It’s potentially racist (likely accidental).
• The Jedi Purge happened in a day.
• Anakin built C-3PO and knew R2.
• Anakin knew about Uncle Owen but never checked up on him.

-Anakin was not a coward, he was not creepier than your average sex deprived teenager
-The jedi were clouded by the dark side
-It’s strongly implied that Anakin/Vader killed Padmé
-A mandalorian bounty-hunter makes good material for clone soldiers
-Not weirder than the OT names
-George is not a racist and worked with a diverse cast. Someone who sees racism in his work, only sees what he wants to see.
-Most jedi were either on the battlefield commanding troops or in the jedi temple, it was a good opportunity to stike at them
-Ok, that’s dumb.
-He didn’t like sand 😛

OutboundFlight said:

Yes, TLJ is way worse than the PT! /s I can see the argument TFA is the worst one, although I beg to differ, but I don’t understand how RJ gets SW worse than GL.

Yes, TLJ is way worse than the PT. The Prequels didn’t become cinematic masterpieces, but now people realize that they could have been much worse. And that Star Wars is only Star Wars if Lucas is involved.

DrDre said:

Why not? I don’t even dislike TFA, but in my view TFA is a product created with the intent to cash in on the popularity of Star Wars. It’s a movie created by committee, where the movie wasn’t based on someone’s creative vision, but deliberately tailored to put bums into seats through the power of nostalgia by emulating someone else’s artistic expression.

The same applies to TLJ and TRS, it’s cashing in on nostalgia for OT while at the same time destroying its legacy.
TRS is a corporate product created by a commitee, not someone’s creative vision. 3/4 of the movie were reshot, it has several endings because Disney is concerned that it might flop after the Solo fiasco. Now Lucas has to help them with the ending.

I do like Adywan, but most of the changes seem nitpicky.

DominicCobb said:
In the context of the whole saga, Hayden is Anakin. Sure, you can understand that Shaw is supposed to be Anakin, but the fact of the matter is he never once looked like that in any of these films. Not to mention, continuity-wise, Shaw is far too old to be playing Anakin (he still works as the unmasked Vader because his injuries, the suit, and the dark side have made him more decrepit). You can say that it doesn’t make sense that the ghost would look like he did decades before he died, but I’d argue it makes as much sense as an imagined fantasy version of older him.

Now, the other thing people complain about is that the Hayden footage was a costume test, and it doesn’t fit. This is true, and it’s a little janky, but it’s not that bad. Here’s the thing though. The people saying Shaw’s acting is not being respected? That’s silly. Shaw’s acting is intact, in his scene with Hamill. Shaw’s ‘acting’ in the ghost scene was literally just George telling him to smile at the camera. That’s it. He had no idea the context, what was going on, or why he was smiling. So I’d say that’s only marginally better than a costume test.

Ultimately what it comes down to for me is that Anakin/Vader shouldn’t end up with a ghost at all at the end of the movie, so both versions are stupid to me, personally.

He didn’t look that old as ghost. If we consider the Prequels Canon, Anakin should be in the late 40s/50s, not young like Hayden Christensen.
About disrespecting actors, i take the opposite view. I believe all the actors of Darth Vader/Anakin Skywalker were disrespected. David Prowse, the original Vader was overdubbed, replaced by Shaw in RotJ and later ostracized by George Lucas. Sebastian Shaw who plays the unmasked Vader in RotJ is now removed in the final scene, and his face is covered up with CGI(removed eye brows, changed eye color). Jake Llyod was mobbed for playing the young Anakin in TPM. Hayden Christensen is hated for the performance that George wanted from him.

Or you know, it’s a weapon for self-defense.
Jedi don’t choke or electrocute people with the force.

Lightsabers are not fantastic, they are Sci-Fi weapons. Some plasma in a containment field, with which you can cut stuff with. Imprinting your soul or hatred on them isn’t gonna do much. The jedi and sith enhance their own abilities to do fantastic things like blocking blaster shots.

Obi Wan’s lesson to Luke at the training session was to trust his own instincts, not his lightsaber.

It’s as if buddhist monks start worshipping their staffs or if Knights Templar think their swords are relics. Just because they use weapons, doesn’t mean their weapons have to be mystical or holy objects.

Jedi worship life and the force, not lightsabers.

Crystal bleeding sounds stupid. There’s my reason.

It’s probably the best version. Unless you insist on the original from a purist standpoint.

Darth Vader’s lightsaber is blue like in the novels by Alan Dean Foster.
He also wears his suit to jump in space from ship to ship.

Anakin’s younger self(Hayden Christensen) doesn’t fit together with old Obi-Wan and Yoda.
If George also replaced Alec Guinness with Ewan McGregor and Yoda with the CGI puppet from II-III, it would be more consistent. Not that i would like it, i don’t think old jedi masters would choose a young appearance as ghosts.

Btw i don’t see the hypocrisy, ESBs emperor was poorly made and Ian McDiarmid has played Palpy since RotJ. He’s objectively the better emperor.

The Empire is a lot more competent. Palpatine knows how to stay in power.
The Death Star is an impenetrable fortress without exhaust port, tight security makes sabotage almost impossible. Yavin 4 is blown up and the rebels scatter in all directions. Imperials have more versatile fleets to combat the Rebel insurgency, mostly fighters and frigates while the capital ships get point-defense systems. Stormtroopers are now professionals and deadly, no more making fun of their bad aim and clunky armor. They are the elite corps of the Imperial Army, made up of veterans of the Clone Wars. Their armor absorbs energy weapons and they have camouflage (no more white in deserts and forests). Ground vehicles are more like those in the Prequels(more functional) and armored divisions always advance with infantry support. Every time rebels fight imperials in the open, they get obliterated. That’s why they have to use more guerilla tactics, no more decisive battles.

The Empire can’t finish of the Rebellion, because they have to deal with an Outside threat which ties up most of their resources. (The only thing that makes sense)

Lightsaber combat is the noble way of combat by the Sith lords and Jedi knights, its martial arts choreography is inspired by historical swordfighting. It’s intense, but not over the top.

ideas:
-Not all the Jedis have been purged and there are more Siths(maybe an aristocratic class?)
-Are the Jedi a new religion which threatens the Empire? Maybe there are several sects of force-users.
-The Old Republic didn’t last thousands of years/generations and Imperial rule was longlasting
-Luke becomes the new Emperor after beating Palpatine

ATMachine said:

Who is that lone Imperial officer in ROTJ who isn’t wearing a Commander rank plaque?

I don’t believe he has a name. He’s an uncredited extra without backstory.

It feels wrong to group STD with Enterprise and First Contact(i quite liked those).

However, shows can become better in later seasons, especially TCW which is also by Filoni.

Moderator Edit… - to remove bashing on TLJ in here - when there are more relevant threads in General SW Discussion to post in.

A quick reminder that the Star Wars Preservation and Star Wars Fan Edit sections of the site are NOT the places to bash on certain eras or aspects of the films, actors, film-makers or owners.

Critiquing a scene in the Star Wars Fan Edits section with the aim of improving it, removing it, altering it etc is perfectly fine. Statements such as ‘Disney sucks’ and ‘this film is so shit no Fan Edit can save it’ etc, is not.

DominicCobb said:

Not even Looper?

119minutes later: It’s an Ok movie. I even liked Rian’s contribution to Breaking Bad, but with Star Wars he missed the mark… by a long shot. And now he attacks the fandom for not liking his movie.

ChainsawAsh said:

If you don’t think 1/3 of the sequel trilogy can be improved in any way, why are you in a thread dedicated to thinking up ideas to improve it in future fan edits?

The same could be said about people who think AOTC is the absolute worst and still edit the Prequels.
In my opinion, TFA was only half-bad, Palpatine’s return and Lucas involvement in Rise of the Skywalker intrigues me.

And i never understood “General” Leia Organa, when did she learn to lead troops?

We could exchange this banter ad infinitum and derail the thread. Short and Sweet: I am one of those people who doesn’t like The Last Jedi, and i don’t see a way to restructure the film to make it to my liking. In fact, i don’t like any of the footage Rian Johnson put on film.

Luke should have fought against Kylo Ren in person and his confrontation with the walkers should end like Dark Empire(size matters not…). He never, never should have abandoned the jedi order, that’s not Luke.

Probably a bit of both, it’s a radical idea. Anyway, the First Order being the underdogs is how i felt they should have been when i first saw TFA in the cinema and i never liked Starkiller base. It was only reinforced with the poor world-building of the series.

Starkiller base would have to be a normal planet, an icy world with a FO base. In this version it also makes more sense that the New Republic views the FO not as a threat, because they don’t have a planet-sized superweapon, but are just brutalizing peasants in the Inner Rim. Otherwise the Republic navy should have bombed them into oblivion long ago.

Like the beginning of the Force Awakens when FO toopers raid a village on Jakku. That’s literally all they’d do in my version, the First Order has a couple of ships and stormtroopers and they use them to punish locals who cooperate with the Republic.

The First Order never rules the galaxy, they don’t own a galaxy weapon with which they blow up Republic space, they don’t own star destroyers. They are the underdogs who try to stay under the radar of the New Republic. Their tactics are subterfuge and terrorizing civilians. Essentially make them the Taliban of the galaxy.

4throck said:

sade1212 said:
My point is that I moved Luke’s death to the end,

Ending a movie on a death scene doesn’t work. You need to see what was achieved by the sacrifice. That’s why you have celebrations on ROTJ and TPM…

I disagree, i think the funerals of Vader and Qui-Gon Jin would have been far stronger endings. The Ewok party and that strange carnival in TPM were never needed. And Luke is the archetypal hero who saved the galaxy, it’s distasteful to cheapen his death with moments of levity.

Make the FO a small warlord faction or make them a faction trying to topple the Fel Empire after the Imperial-Sith war. Kylo Ren has to go, Rey needs to be nerfed, Snoke is a waste of space.
Knights of Ren vs Imperial Knights could be good. With jedi as 3rd faction, only serving the force.

I’d also like to add that Imperial Knights and Cade Skywalker were better representations of moral ambiguity/ gray jedi in Star Wars than Luke Skywalker rejecting the jedi order which doesn’t fit his character.