How much do you feel was cut from your series? There are still like 8/9 movies you have.
Anyway to add a ship or two leaving during that Mos Eisley wide shot, feels so static.
Finishing the rest of season 2?
Also would love to hear people’s thoughts of this. Love the idea.
I just finished watching this edit. I evaluate Star Wars fanedits less in terms of preserving canon and more in terms of simply telling a good story, so I submit my comments with that in mind.
I will start by saying that I was not a huge fan of this series. I thought the first three episodes were mediocre, the next three were pretty strong overall, and that the last two were frankly pretty bad. Through no fault of the faneditor, whose efforts are certainly impressive, this same pattern has translated into the structure of this fanedit.
As per the speeder scene that has already been discussed, I think some of the dialogue between the two pilots and Sabine is a bit too “made for TV”, but otherwise I think the speeder scene is necessary because it’s a good re-introduction to Sabine as a character.
As alluded to earlier, most of my issues come in the third act, largely covering episodes 7 and 8. I have two problems broadly, and then a handful of more specific problems.
First, I think the flow of the third act is just too slow and relaxed. We’re at the part of the movie where we should be building up to the climax, and that sense of tension just isn’t there. This is not helped by the fact that Ahsoka acts as if she’s consumed a bunch of edibles and is so zen now that nothing could possibly faze her. I feel that cutting at least some of the more egregious “I’m too high to care” moments might help retain some of the tension. Ahsoka’s only the worst offender. Sabine and Ezra come across as pretty lackadaisical themselves.
Second, I think the other problem is simply that too much dumb nonsense ends up in the third act. Any sense of tension is again obliterated when the viewer is rolling their eyes at the utter stupidity of what they’re witnessing. The zombie horror element of the undead Night Troopers reanimating, making silly noises, and then being effortlessly defeated again is the worst example, imo, but not the only one.
Despite all the trims, the length of this fanedit is still strongly felt. It loses all of its steam in the third act, and while this is the fault of the series itself and not of the faneditor, I still felt obliged to say something. Smudger is something of a miracle worker in my view, so perhaps something can still be done even though I don’t have much in the way of proposed solutions, having not played around with the source material myself.
As for specific problems, I’ve always hated when Shin force pushes Ezra during their confrontation. She pushes him so hard that it looks like it should’ve killed him, yet he’s completely fine only a moment later. It also makes him like a bit of a doofus.
Lastly, I’ll echo what someone else has said about Sabine’s force push of Ezra. It pains me to say it, because I absolutely think Sabine’s force powers are unearned, but something definitely feels like it’s missing with the way its cut, to the extent that someone unfamiliar with the series is going to be confused. With a heavy heart, I say that Sabine’s force push should probably be reinserted.
On the positive side, I would say the first two thirds are nearly perfect (or as good as they can be given the source material), and I especially like the even-handed approach to trimming the Hera subplot.
Thanks Glogus, your thoughts are always appreciated. There isn’t really anything I can add to your points. As you say, the series was set up for an epic finale which it failed to deliver. I had exactly the same feelings as you when I was editing… how can I speed up the pace of this final act. I cut a lot out of episode seven, removed Thrawn’s tactical withdrawals, got rid of the TIE fighter attack. However, there just isn’t anything compelling left… you can’t polish a turd! A shame really because, in this edited form, 1 love acts 1 and 2. Someone with special effects ability and the willingness to physically shoot scenes, like PixelJoker, may be able to come up with something better!
I agree the length is slightly too long. Annoyingly if it wasn’t for the costume change I could have chopped 5 mins off the Seatos approach by getting rid of the space walk and maybe save a few minutes in the finale.
Re-inserting Sabine’s force push is 2/2, so I’ll pop that back in and run a version 2 along with the other changes discussed above.
Thanks again for the feedback.
I wonder what Skeleton Crew will give us!
Specifically, I do think some of Ahsoka’s overly zen-like reactions can be removed—Like when she reunites with Ezra and giggles like a schoolgirl (I don’t know why, but that just grates on me, lol). Again, she’s acting like she just OD’d on Ambien for the latter half of the series, and it detracts from what what should be rising tension leading to the climax.
I also believe something can be done with the over-the-top zombie troopers, even if it’s just to tone down the ridiculous sound effects.
You are right, however, that you succeeded in elevating the material significantly, and you have a killer Act 1 and 2. Your BoBF edit was nothing short of magic. You elevated that material to legit one of my favorite Star Wars films. I was, frankly speaking, astonished by the potential you brought out in it. But perhaps that potential just isn’t here with Ahsoka.
I think when you’ve been working so long on an edit and looking at the same sequences over and over again you can lose sight of what else can be done. I’ve made the alterations discussed above and I think I’ll leave it as is… for now.
I’ve moved back to my episode I to add in the new series logo and crawl style, upgrade it to 4K and maybe tighten it up a touch. Then I’ll come back and have another look at the final act along with any further feedback I get from this round of viewings and do a proper V2.
I have a loose idea regarding the whole series.
Maybe you can leave ambiguous the Grogu’s decision, leaving it as a cliffhanger in Episode III.
Then, make Ahsoka episode IV instead of V.
And then Mando s03 could become the fifth episode. In this case, it takes one more movie to keep the suspense of Grogu’s decision. Also, in this order, we have some nice introduction of Ahsoka in eps II and III before the movie centered on her in EP IV.Also, the Moff Gideon reveal could be moved to the episode III end (for ex) as a cliffhanger as well.
Or to Ahsoka’s film since they’re discussing the Thrawn’s return there.
For ex. You could add the scene where the old Asian X-wing captain discovers that Moff Gideon probably escaped as the last scene of the episode III.
Then in Ahsoka’s movie (as ep IV) include the scene of the shadow council discussing Thrawn’s return. It could be even cool to make a transition from Gideon asking sarcastically “where is he?” to the scene from “Ahsoka” that introduced the grand admiral.It could flow really well this way and would make all the films more “connected”.
Those are some of the changes I would love to see as well to make the set of movies flow closer as a unit.
For Sabine, it’s really all about how they treat he going forward. Like with Grogu, Disney wants to close arcs too quickly.
Right now it just feels like Mando, Mando (with Ahsoka), Another kind of Mando, Mando, Ahsoka.
This would be Mando, Mando (with Ahsoka), Ahsoka, Another kind of Mando, Mando
I don’t know … kind of doesn’t feel so one sided.
Ever think about making this Ep 4 and moving Mando season 3 to Ep 5? Or even Ep 3. This way the transportation of the prison fits closer with capturing the prisoner? It would also connect the series as a whole better.
I would love a link to the the set.
Smudger, super excited. Can I get a link?
So that’s a wrap! The Edit is complete and rendering. I just need to sort the artwork and I will release it over the weekend. PM if you want a link.
One final clip… Shin v Sabine with the lightsaber injury.https://drive.google.com/file/d/1xjuJFpsI72RcskvOuHRfVY-Kz9DshdRu
I like as it takes away the false death overuse.
2h 57 is pretty dang long for SW, sure just one movie?
Does Dumbledore come off nicer?
I would love a link as well.
It may never be A+ Indy, but I do think we can take it from C Indy to B/B+ Indy and that would be perfectly fine.
Smudger, can I get a link … .always love your stuff.
So this is not compatible with your previous 3rd episode? We have to wait for the updated one to remove the reuniting of Grogu and Djarin?
Have you thought about holding off for Ahoska and connecting all of these as a set a movies not called Mandalorian, but something else that blends them as one connected series?
PM Please
Smudger, can I get a link. Love your work.
I would love a pm so we can start listening to these!
Do you have a video online of just the lightsaber battle? I saw a few cut versions that matched closer to the time of the original, but with the new flourishes and that looked fantastic without being over the top.
Having never seen the show or its other edits before, I just watched this and liked it a lot!
I had only read bad things about the show, but if that’s the case then you did a great job with the source material. It feels like a movie and the pace is just right. Proficiently put together as well.
I did think the audio was a bit muffled, specially at the beginning, and the image is quite soft (I watched the ~7GB upscaled file).
Other than some nitpicking, my main gripes with the cut itself would be:
- The musical score is VERY lacking. Not completely throughout, but in most dramatic and tenseful moments it screams “generic youtube channel epic trailer music”. I wonder how much work would be to rescore the cut with some varied SW music, it’d certainly improve it;
Thanks again for sharing and the work you put into it.
Integration of SW music has rally shown as making the series better.
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Have any thoughts on the two kidnappings of Leia? I haven’t seen anyone solve in a reasonable manner yet.
I wrote about that in my OP. Trying out an idea I haven’t seen attempted yet.
What do you mean “reasonable manner”? Do you have an opinion on what you think does and doesn’t work regarding this topic?
I have seen some amazing cuts of both kidnappings, but when both are included it just feels like “didn’t we just do that?” Or I have seen where individuals try and cut both as one and while a great idea, there isn’t enough footage to explain many of the elements (under water base vs street slums.)