Doubling down, I see. The point is there are those of us who have put in the time and effort to craft our visions of what this could be (and no—there is no ‘one’ right way). It is a labor of love and it takes more will and dedication to create than to critique. Cheers.

s88 said:

We all know the original release was poorly executed but I can’t believe there is not a consensus that Palpatine’s return was epically bad writing and a desperate attempt to make episode 9 relevant. Why are you not investing the time and expertise to cutting out Palpatine altogether. There is only one fan edit which has done this and whilst flawed, it still made a very good attempt.

You are all supporting the Star Wars 9 episodes essentially being the ‘Story of Sheev’.

What a joke.

Cool. Where can we watch your edit that gives us a movie that was never made?

arabian said:

Sigh. So, Ben dies in this one too. Ah well.

Still looks good.

One of these days I hope to circle back to an alternate cut where Ben survives. Once Destiny of a Jedi is released I’ll need to do the same 4K HDR treatment for my edit of The Last Jedi titled “March of the First Order.” I’m not the fastest editor but I’ll get there eventually. (Probably)

Spectrometer said:

Hey amobex, good to hear from you, I remember watching and reviewing your other fan edit of TROS, is this a continuation of that project?

Hey! Yeah it’s been a minute but I’m starting to post again because I am very nearly ready to release Destiny of a Jedi. As far as it being a continuation—well sort of, I suppose. There are definitely elements you will recognize but there are some foundational changes as well. I’ve had time (understatement) to refine my ideas and build my skillset so I think there is a lot there to offer. Stay tuned for updates and I can’t wait to hear your thoughts once it’s released!

Details added but just a quick note: the project release is still pending completion of subtitles. I will keep updates posted here!

timdiggerm said:

It looks very cool, but years of Star Wars films have taught me not to get too excited by a trailer…

LOL, totally fair but (biased as I may be) I think it’s okay to be at least a little excited. I’ve been working towards this for the last six years and while no edit can make everyone happy I do believe it can bring at least some joy and a sense of closure.

Darth Raditz said:

Interesting poster. Do you have a cutlist?

Working on it today and hoping to have it uploaded a little bit later today actually!

Star Wars Episode IX: Destiny of a Jedi

Luke Skywalker is one with
the force but the galaxy is
still in need of a legend. Now
REY, the last hope of the jedi,
trains to assume his legacy.

Fighting bursts of KYLO
REN’s fury, she discovers
their bond has not been
broken as something both
terrible and distant calls to
him.

Meanwhile, GENERAL LEIA
ORGANA has dispatched her
most trusted agents to race
across the stars on a mission
of vital importance to
restoring peace and justice
to the galaxy…

This project is an end-to-end (i.e. ingestion, color correction, editing, rendering) 4K HDR production. As this is my love letter to the final chapter of the Skywalker Saga I spared no effort in bringing my vision for this film to life. Beyond the technical aspirations though one might ask, “do we really need another fan edit of The Rise of Skywalker?” My (albeit biased) answer is a resounding yes! There is much heart and soul to be uncovered from this oft-maligned installment. My aim is to give weight and meaning to Leia’s sacrifice, clarity to the Emperor’s intentions and machinations, depth to Ben’s redemption, a genuine progression for Finn as a developing character, and stakes to Rey’s internal struggles.

Pending completion of subtitles and selection of a release date so not yet available but–soon…

TECHNICAL

• Format: HDR10 H.265 46.8 MB/s
• File Size: approx. 53 GB
• Run Time: 2h 5m
• Resolution: 3840 x 2160
• Audio: 5.1 LPCM
• Subtitles: English

CHANGE LIST

NOTE: There will be numerous, minor edits or musical cue changes not important enough to specifically document but major changes are listed below

• CUSTOM CRAWL

• SINTA GLACIER COLONY

  • Starfield pans down to the Falcon arriving at the Sinta Glacier Colony
  • Removed chess scene (reserved for epilogue; idea by snooker)

• AJAN KLOSS

  • Created new Ajan Kloss establishing shot
  • Replaced Rey’s frustrated grunt with a sigh
  • Altered Rey’s dialog to, “I’m starting to think it isn’t possible…to hear the voices of guidance through the force.” (AI GENERATED LINE - gratitude to Jar Jar Bricks for assistance with the generation)
  • Layered Leia’s admonition, “Be patient.” over her passing Luke’s lightsaber to Rey
  • Intercut Rey’s training sequence and Kylo’s “Mustafar Minute”
  • Used Kylo’s discovery of the wayfinder to trigger a shared force vision

• EXEGOL

  • Altered Kylo’s approach to face the Emperor
  • Cut to black from Palpatine’s delivery of “…pathway to abilities many consider to be—unnatural.”

• AJAN KLOSS

  • Cut before Rey giving back Luke’s lightsaber to Rey scouring Luke’s journal
  • Removed, “Rey! The Falcon’s back.” (reserved for Death Star duel)
  • Removed, “Go! Go!” (reserved for Resistance departing for Exegol)
  • Trimmed Poe, Rey, and Finn bickering
  • Trimmed resistance meeting to remove speculation on sith methods and the countdown to open hostilities
  • Altered Rey and Leia’s private exchange to include Rey handing back Luke’s lightsaber while emotionally saying, “Take Luke’s saber.”

• DESTROYER

  • Opened with Kylo interacting with Vader’s mask
  • Used the touch of the mask to trigger a force vision of the Emperor layered with distant laughing
  • Cut to Kylo having his mask repaired
  • Trimmed sequence of Kylo marching with his knights to omit the storm trooper commentary
  • Cut to Boolio’s head being slammed on the table to kick off the First Order’s board room meeting
  • Altered Kylo’s dialog to, “We have a spy in our ranks who sent a message to the Resistance.”
  • Cut from Kylo’s line, “My knights and I are going hunting for the scavenger.” to Rey re-fueling the Falcon on Ajan Kloss

• AJAN KLOSS

  • Edited Rose’s expression during her interaction with Finn to end their conversation on less of a tone of exasperation and more of an endearing note
  • Altered C-3PO’s dialog to “You are sending a message? To whom? Oh dear, I do hope you reach him in time.” (AI GENERATED LINE)

• DESTROYER

  • PALPATINE: The Princess of Alderaan acts in vain. You sent word to her Rebellion?
  • PRYDE: Yes m’lord.
  • PALPATINE: *Good. The jedi apprentice will come. We will be one. My plan begins."

• PASAANA

  • Skywalker Puppet Show courtesy of Hal 9000, poppasketti, and other forum members who contributed to the discussion
  • Altered Kylo’s dialog to, “Palpatine wants me to turn you to the dark side.”
  • Trimmed Rey and Kylo’s force conversation
  • Re-worked the timing of the running sequence and storm trooper encounter
  • Moved the beads analysis to after Lando’s line, “Follow me.”
  • Altered Lando’s dialog to, “I was sent a transmission.”
  • Left C-3PO’s, “They fly now?” and cut other parts of the comedic relief exchange
  • Removed Finn and Poe’s celebration
  • Edited the attack sequence so that Rey one-shots the storm trooper
  • Cut from Finn shouting, “Rey, I never told you!” to BB-8 falling through the quicksand
  • Kept the flashlight sight gag but substitued the sound effect
  • Transitioned straight from Poe’s dialog, “You mean when Poe’s not here?” to, “What’s that?” as Poe discovers Ochi’s speeder
  • Moved up C-3PO’s dialog, “Bones, never a good sign.” and cut to BB-8 discovering Sith blade
  • Removed one of C-3PO’s exclamations, “Serpent!”
  • Focused attention on Finn witnessing Rey’s force healing with a subtle zoom effect
  • Focused attention on Finn sensing Kylo’s presence by intercuting Kylo’s ship flying over the hill with Finn staring out of the window and saying, “It’s Ren.”
  • Used trailer footage of Rey preparing to face Kylo
  • Removed Kylo’s ship explosion
  • Added bursts of Rey’s Sith throne vision over the explosion of the transport
  • Added a flashback to Leia’s embrace and her once, seemingly bizarre encouragement to, “Never be afraid of who you are.” while Rey stares in horror at her hand
  • Altered Rey’s dialog so that she reveals only she sat upon the Sith throne in her vision
  • Removed Hux and Pryde’s conversation, the reveal that Chewbacca survived, and a brief mention of the countdown that had been removed in a previous edit

• KIJIMI

  • Removed Zorii’s dialog, “I want to see your brains in the snow.” and adjusted the entire interaction (partially inspired by Movies Remastered)
  • Edited the confrontation so that Rey is portrayed as the instigator
  • Removed C-3PO’s dialog, “R2 storage units are famously unreliable.”
  • Removed D-O’s dialog, “Sad.”
  • Re-worked Poe and Zorii’s rooftop interaction
  • Cut from Kylo’s arrival to Zorii’s dialog, “Poe, it might get you on the capital ship.”
  • Removed C-3PO’s dialog and cut directly to the hangar arrival
  • Shortened and shuffled the storm trooper jedi mind trick sequence
  • Removed Kylo’s dialog, “…to keep you safe.”
  • Moved the flashback to young Rey so it occurrs after Kylo’s dialog, “Search your memories.”
  • Transitioned out of the flashback from young Rey screaming, “No!” to present Rey also screaming, “No!” while attacking with her lightsaber
  • Removed Rey’s memories of her parents
  • Altered Rey and Kylo’s dialog so that Rey interrupts Kylo before he can tell her why her parents sold her and that her parents were killed because they didn’t know where she was
  • Removed Rey’s mother’s dialog, “She isn’t on Jakku. She’s gone.”
  • Altered Kylo’s dialog to, “You know why the Emperor’s always wanted you?”
  • Moved Kylo’s dialog from a later, excised scene, “I know where she’s going.” to play over the cut from Rey on the ship to Kylo on Kijimi
  • Removed Kylo’s dialog, “She was in my quarters.”
  • Removed the execution scene and Hux’s admission that he is the spy since this edit’s spy is actually General Pryde acting on the Emperor’s orders while Hux is just the scapegoat
  • Edited Finn and Hux’s interaction so that Finn shoots first and asks questions later
  • Re-scored the hangar scene with a passage from “Join Me” on the official Rise of Skywalker soundtrack
  • Altered Kylo’s dialog to, “The Emperor never wanted you dead.”
  • Slightly adjusted Rey’s delivery of, “…father.”
  • Layered the arrival siren at the end of Rey and Finn’s conversation and removed Kylo and the Emperor’s force conversation in favor of transitioning directly to Kef Bir

• KEF BIR

  • Layered in Rey’s dialog, “Wayfinder’s there.” as camera pushes past Rey and zooms on the Death Star wreckage
  • Added sith whispers to dagger being pulled out from rucksack and cut to Jana and crew riding up (idea by majoras_wrath)
  • Altered Jannah’s dialog to, “You started something. All of the stormtroopers here heard your story.” and, “…just like you did.” (idea by RogueLeader; AI GENERATED LINEs by Jar Jar Bricks)
  • Focused attention on Finn saying he believes in the Force with a subtle zoom effect
  • Moved scene of Jannah telling Finn there’s another skimmer to after Finn and Poe’s hillside exchange
  • Removed second sequence of Rey on the skimmer
  • Sith whispers added periodically to Rey searching for the Wayfinder
  • Inserted a modified version of a previously cut scene where Snap informs Leia that there’s been no response from the Falcon
  • Re-worked Dark Rey vision entrance to play as a ‘jump-scare’
  • Re-worked Rey and Kylo’s interaction
  • Cut from Kylo dropping off screen to Finn in wreckage tunnel
  • Re-scored duel with Samuel Kim’s Battle of the Heroes and Duel of the Fates mashup
  • Slightly re-worked arrangement of duel shots to fit new music
  • Added Jannah shouting, “Rey! The Falcon’s back!” as Kylo and Rey both look up to see the silhouette of the ship approaching from the distance (layered with sound fx)
  • Layered Han shouting “Ben!” as Kylo is about to deliver the killing blow followed by a cut to Leia suddenly grasping her desk for support
  • Added new score and flashbacks of Han approaching on the catwalk as Kylo turns back in distraction
  • Cut to Leia worriedly pacing back at base as Rey heals Ben
  • Cut back to a healed Ben staring at Rey after Maz tells R2 that Leia will need all her strength to reach her son
  • Intercut scene of Chewbacca, Finn, and Jannah running in the halls of the Falcon (originally post rescue from the falling command ship on Exegol) with Rey running to Ben’s ship
  • Used a clock wipe to transition from Rey flying away to Ben standing contemplatively on the wreckage
  • Crafted a sequence of Leia reaching out to Ben and the sacrifice it required to foster his redemption
  • Painted Han out of the wide shot of the wreckage (up to interpretation why)

• DESTROYER

  • Crafted a new sequence of Pryde receiving a summons from Palpatine, arriving at Exegol, and raising the Final Order fleet
  • Removed the destruction of Kijimi

• AJAN KLOSS

  • Removed the scene discussing Kijimi’s destruction
  • Faded to “Goodbye dear Princess”
  • Established the Falcon returning
  • Removed Finn’s dialog, “He wanted her alive.”

• ACH-TO

  • Altered Luke’s dialog to, "Leia sensed it during your training. (ideation in Ascendant thread, AI LINE GENERATED by Jar Jar Bricks)
  • Recreated the purple blade effect for Leia’s saber for 4K HDR presentation (originally colored by skenera)
  • Removed Luke’s dialog, “…by someone who would finish her journey.”
  • Altered Luke’s dialog to, “Lesson three–a thousand generations live in you now…”

• AJAN KLOSS

  • Blended portions of the mission briefing with the battle preparations using selective voice over and replacement score

• EXEGOL

  • Multiple sequence edits and order adjustments not specifically listed for drama and tension preferences
  • Altered the first interaction between Rey and Palpatine:

  PALPATINE: Long have I waited—for my grandchild to come home, Empress Palpatine. You will take the throne. It is your birthright to rule, here. It is in your blood—our blood.
  REY: I haven’t come to lead the Sith
  PALPATINE: No—your hatred, your anger… You want to kill me?
  REY: Yes
  PALPATINE: Good. Kill me and become what your father could not—the new emperor

  • Altered the second interaction between Rey and Palpatine:

  PALPATINE: The time has come. With your hatred you will take my life and you will ascend.
  REY: All you want is for me to hate but I won’t
  PALPATINE: Looks up to the doors opening and revealing an outmatched and overwhelmed Resistance fleet taking heavy losses
  PALPATINE: They don’t have long…

  • Removed any implications that Rey senses Ben until the moment she passes the lightsaber
  • Altered Finn’s dialog to, “Rose, please.–I love you.”
  • Improved timing of Ben’s behind the back block
  • Added dialog for Ben and Rey:

  BEN: You know.
  REY: I do.

  • Added score under Palpatine’s realization of their connection as a dyad in the Force
  • Added dialog for Palpatine: Your coming together is your undoing.
  • Crafted a new sequence of Rey hearing voices of guidance through the Force and finding balance (Dialog removal courtesy of bbghost)
  • Upscaled force ghost visual fx using Topaz AI and recreated all sequences in 4K HDR (Visual FX courtesy of jonh)
  • Shot-matched new compositions and used as a base layer to add the purple blade effect for Leia’s saber throughout (originally colored by skenera)
  • Altered Palpatine’s dialog to, “Let your death be the final word in the story of the Jedi!”
  • Used people’s fleet call sign comm chatter (courtesy of TROS: Ascendent)
  • Removed Finn sensing Rey’s death (Recontextualized elsewhere)
  • Re-scored Ben and Leia becoming one with the Force with Samuel Kim’s recreation of the Rise of Skywalker trailer music
  • Resequenced victory scene and removed any indication that Finn and Poe know Rey’s fate

• AJAN KLOSS

  • Trimmed start of Resistance celebration
  • Rearranged scene so music swells emotionally when Finn is watching Rose
  • Removed Zorii

• EPILOGUE

  • Upscaled visual FX shots and custom color-matched to existing color-corrected source (Visual FX courtesy of poppasketti, jonh, and snooker)
  • Recreated entire, perfect epilogue sequence of TROS: Ascendant

SPECIAL THANKS

• Hal 9000
• SpenceEdit
• bbghost
• poppasketti
• jonh
• skenera
• Movies Remastered
• Jar Jar Bricks
• 44rh1n
• All the members of this awesome community for contributing to the lively discussion surrounding Rise of Skywalker

It doesn’t take all that long to level up and I find the conversations happen in fits and spurts but the community is solid and supportive. There are multiple channels to participate in depending on what interests you.

Interpretation is a funny thing. I saw it as less of a physical presence and more of the detonation of a memory bomb she implanted as a last chance to get through to him. In my head that’s why the conversation mirrors so closely the bridge conversation in TFA and why I painted him out in the wide shot. I can totally see where you are coming from though. Thanks for checking it out!

I’ve been away for a bit but I had a thought about tying Leia’s final moments to Ben’s redemption more closely. Not sure if someone else has already beat me to this particular punch but here’s a take nonetheless.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/16uoi_8jiqei5ooLU2BptMp_LwmBcb5pV/view?usp=sharing

Clearly a lot of thought has gone into that and whosever edit these changes make it into I would love to see.

Oh man, how good would it be to repurpose Finn’s, “They’ve taken enough of us. Now we take the war to them” line as a holograph being watched by storm troopers. If only.

I’ve always wanted to find a way to have her say, “that was you!?!” That way it would be less of ‘I can’t believe you’re a storm trooper too’ and more of ‘I can’t believe you’re that storm trooper.’

Duuuuuude. I’m about half-way through all of my purple saber edits for the 4K release and my FCPX automatically updated to 10.6.6. Unfortunately, the plug-in I use for the effect (mSaber) isn’t compatible. Even worse, this update also updates the libraries so they won’t open in a previous version! I checked with the developer and it’s not as simple as waiting for an update apparently.

I guess my plan right now is to download a demo of a previous version (that shouldn’t overwrite my current application) and try to rebuild just the relevant project. The only catch is the demo only works for 90 days so by hook or by crook these purple saber effects will have to be finished by then. Awesome.

Rant over.

Wow, thank you so much for the awesome feedback! Your kind words and thoughtful criticisms have given me much to consider for when I revisit this cut.

Cheers!

Spectrometer said:

Hello, having watched Ascendant, I really like the ideas in this edit, can you give me the link to the latest release?

Ascendant is wonderful and is also the giant whose shoulders this edit sits on. I absolutely love my take on Rise of Skywalker but it wouldn’t exist without Ascendant and the threads here with people discussing ideas and criticisms.

DM sent and I hope you enjoy.

Cheers!

jadenkorr41 said:

Here’s my as many frames extended of force ghosts as I can. I realized it’s 1080p, because I didn’t want to upload the 4K on YouTube. But it was from a 4K source and compresses for YouTube uploading.

https://youtu.be/2w3WMFKfX2o

Yeah, no absolutely. I’d love to see what you’re working on. Feel free to DM the links, or post them, or post a link to a post in your thread that has the links already—whichever.

Regarding mSaber, it does appear to be restricted to FCPX or Motion so it won’t work for all workflows. Bummer.

As far as HDR—more power to you. I don’t have the foggiest notion about working with that technological terror (hence my conversion to SDR). I can’t wait to see what you come up with though! Keep me posted.

Sure thing! My work flow starts with color correcting the entire 4K source (see this post for reference). Then I upscaled jonh’s force ghost clips with the blue lightsaber as I figured that one had the least amount of processing applied and I like the results I’m getting when adding my own lightsaber effects (using MotionVFX mSaber). My upscale settings are as follows:

• AI Model: Artemis Medium Quality v13
• Output Size: 4K UHD
• Grain: On
• Amount: 5.0
• Size: 3.0
• Video Format: MOV - ProRes 422HQ

Finally, I only slot in the upscaled clips that have actual added VFX and process color adjustments to blend in with the original 4K source as seamlessly as possible. This leaves me (and in the future other editors once everything is uploaded to my share folder) maximum options and flexibility for future editing decisions.

Cheers!

Things are happening. I finished and posted the 4K Leia Training sequence with my own application of the purple saber effect previously and now I’m moving on to Rey using Leia’s saber on Exegol. It’s very tedious but so incredibly rewarding to watch it in full resolution with my own color correction applied as well.

I’ve already upscaled jonh’s force ghosts and am pretty happy with the detail, grain, and color balancing when compared to the 4K source without the additional FX work. I can’t wait to see it all come together with the rest of the purple saber effect and I’ll be posting progress updates here. Stay tuned!

4K Color Corrected Purple Saber - Exegol Pt. 1

Runtime: 0:08
Size: 669.2 MB

DM sent

Nope. It’s just a test clip to show what my rendition of the purple saber effect looks like in 4K. Also, just be aware the preview that loads is of lesser quality and if you want to see the full resolution you have to download the 2GB file.

Here is the training sequence in 4K with both the blue and the purple saber for comparison. It’s mostly hue replacement and masking but for the close up in the end I used the mSaber plugin from MotionVFX as well.

Leia Training - Purple Saber

Runtime - 0:59
Approximately 4.3 GB

I genuinely appreciate your kind words! Honestly, I’d love to do a ‘Ben lives’ alternate cut someday. His demise in the original cut felt empty but having ghost Ben goes a long way (for me) to making it right since I don’t see Star Wars movies mysteriously reviving him in the future. He is no Palpatine after all.

Realistically though—I have so much that has to be done on my Rise of Skywalker and Last Jedi edits for their 4K final release that it will be a while before I take up alternate cuts. If you come up with something in the meantime—do share. I’d love to see it!