
“They were in the wrong place at the wrong time. Naturally, they became heroes.”
-Senator Leia Organa of Alderaan, as quoted by Alan Dean Foster
Star Wars, from the Adventures of Luke Skywalker, by George Lucas (Nov. 1976)
Hello there!
The quote above, written by Alan Dean Foster and referring to Han & Luke, I feel applies a more closely to the characters of Rogue One, the 2016 prequel to that story, and that film’s 2022 prequel, Andor. Heroes of the unsung, unknown variety; their victories and sacrifices all the more meaningful and poignant because of it. It’s almost impossible to rewatch Rogue One, almost 10 years after its premiere, without two seasons of Andor weighing on it, pushing some to see it as a sort of “series finale” to that show.
But I don’t think it really works as a series finale to Andor; yet Andor is clearly, intentionally building to it. Showrunner Tony Gilroy specifically begins to fold the more hopeful/fantastical elements of both Rogue One (which he famously rewrote/reshot/re-edited) and Star Wars into its tapestry near the end, explicitly, for that reason! But Rogue One is still most solidly built, dramatically, as a bridge. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story - Special Edition is my attempt to reverse engineer the bridge, to carry viewers from a complicated 2016 to a more fantastical 1977 in a more streamlined manner; but also back towards the darker, demanding 2023-2025 series.
Sequences are compressed, not just to save time, but to maximize performances - there’s a TON of awards-caliber actors in this flick (the cast’s collective CV - maybe the best pound-for-pound cast IN a theatrical Star War - includes 2 Oscars, 2 Oscar Noms, a Cannes Grand Prix, a Cannes Best Actor, and 2 Emmys in it!) Those scenes have been rearranged a little too; some of Gilroy’s reshoot material is now stacked on top of itself at the open instead of spread out across the first 45min. And the stuff he didn’t reshoot has been made (yup, I’m gonna say it) faster and more intense. In 2016 the callbacks and (yup, gonna say this, too) fanservice was a little more welcomed (or tolerated). In 2025 it’s almost Alien: Romulus levels of elbows-to-the-ribs, and a lot of it’s been removed as a result. Although some of it’s fine. I don’t mind a pitcher of blue milk sitting out. It’s good and good for you. Healthy bones. Makes you strong enough to pull the ea–
Context is the key word here. There’s a lot of context coming to bear on this cut, context folks didn’t have (hell, that didn’t exist yet!) in 2016. Not just Andor, and all the context that show now provides to characters like Cassian and K-2SO, Orson Krennic and Saw Gerrera, even General Draven and Mon Mothma; but context via the previous edits and editors who have worked on this film in the interim. Some of those choices and ideas have been folded into this Special Edition.
That’s why this is a Special Edition: Normally I just do straight cuts and some music replacement. But since this started as some proof-of-concept tweaks, on a forum, to an edit of an edit, and then grew pretty quickly into something way more involved than that, there are things in here I don’t normally incorporate: You’ll see deepfake fixes to the CGI Tarkin & Leia from Shamook, as touched up by faneditor Burbin and integrated by Hal9000, as part of his own remixing of a top-notch edit by DigModiFicaTion. You’ll hear voice-over replacement of Darth Vader from Ryan Golden, as famously heard on YouTube via the Star Wars Story channel.

Click here for the trailer
You won’t hear, however, any music from Andor folded into the soundtrack - not for lack of trying! Multiple scenes had Britell/Roberts cues mixed in at various points, but they all eventually came out. Same with attempts at using shots from the series as flashbacks; The problem was one of tone and style. I don’t think you can take what’s structurally, fundamentally Jyn Erso’s story in this film, and retrofit it to be equally Cassian’s. Especially since, on a larger thematic note, Cassian’s two seasons were ALL ABOUT how he, and his friends (who are everywhere), learned to put other people, and their growing, maturing cause, ahead of themselves, all for the sake of a better future.
I found I was short-circuiting both Rogue One and Andor when I tried to force this movie out of Jyn’s POV - thin as it might be. Although: trimming off a lot of her sarcastic/simplistic fronting and letting Jones’ performance speak more through her expressive-yet-subtle emoting REALLY helps that characterization. Turns out the less you have her posing, the realer she feels.
(That said, if you ARE looking to try a version of this movie that is literally turned into episodes of that show, please check out NFBisms amazing Andor: The Rogue One Arc.)
ANYWAY: If Rogue One is a bridge being retrofitted, then Jyn Erso has to occupy the midway point between Cassian Andor and Luke Skywalker (at least the one at the beginning of Star Wars) as best she can in order for it to work. Cassian has to be a supporting character here, not a co-lead, or Andor doesn’t make sense as a journey for him anymore. Jyn damn sure is not a Jedi, but she IS a believer. The corners of the galaxy they both occupy are dirty and grimy, but they’re literally knocking on doors to rooms that are about to be populated by wizards in bathrobes (a lesson Krennic already knows in his own way). Britell’s music can be pitch shifted and key transposed to blend into Giacchino’s, but the tenor of those compositions just didn’t combine for me, no matter what I tried. I guess that ended up being a metaphor for the project overall.
But the feel and style by which Andor’s story was told (if not through its music or repurposed shots) was absolutely front of mind as the cut evolved. And when changes were applied, they were applied so as to take the ingredients of Rogue One - Grieg Fraser’s photography, Michael Giacchino’s music, Gilroy’s sense of building pressure and dry humor - and cook ‘em up with a little more of that flavor. Especially now that we have so much more context to work with.
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story - Special Edition
2hrs, 6min. 1080p, 2.39:1, 5.1 Dolby Digital, English subtitles (alien-language subtitles burnt-in)
Chapters:
- A Long Ride Ahead
- Main Title and Captain Andor
- Bodhi Rook, Cargo Pilot
- When Has Become Now
- Rebel Interrogation
- Trust Goes Both Ways
- The Guardians of the Whills
- Ambush in the Holy City
- Last Days of the Partisans
- The Message
- The Race to Eadu
- Brief Reunions
- You Can’t Talk Your Way Around This
- Krennic’s Aspirations
- Rebellions Are Built on Hope
- Rogue One
- Make 10 Men Feel Like 100
- Light it Up
- The Battle of Scarif
- The Master Switch
- Stardust
- Your Father Would Have Been Proud
23 Hope and End Credits
Notable changes can be found in this follow-up post here.
if you would like to check it out yourself, DIRECT MESSAGE A REQUEST OR EMAIL ME DIRECTLY AT STRAIGHTCUTSNOCHASER AT GMAIL. DO NOT JUST REQUEST A LINK BELOW. Not only is “link plz” not a great way to get noticed, not only will site ownership probably just wipe it out (it’s against the rules here!) but it’s honestly way better odds you’ll get seen and get your request fulfilled faster if you just DM me, anyway. 😃
Any suggestions, comments, critiques, questions - whatever you got, I’m all ears.