Rogue One: The Battle of Scarif

First of all I really enjoy this edit for many reasons. I love that now if I want to watch the saga in order it serves as the perfect gap between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope. While I do really enjoy the main characters of the film, they are relatively unimportant to the Skywalker saga. You don't need to see their arch or journey in the film for this reason. Yet you still have Bail Organa, Mon Mothma, Vader, Leia, and Tarkin in the film making it worth watching if you want to watch the saga in order.

OVERALL PROS: It is a great edit worth watching especially if you just want rogue one to be an interlude between Episodes 3 & 4.
It makes the film even better if you watch a ROTS edit with the deleted scenes about the formation of the rebel alliance.
I loved the structure of the film most of all. Starting with Vader and ending with him was a superb idea.
The opening crawl is much needed and fits amazing.

CONS: I think the scene of Chirrut's death is moreso ruined with the audio editing during the scene. The added music for most of the edit for me is out of place and felt unwelcome. This is basically the only gripe I have even though it is a MAJOR one in my opinion.

The edit is a great edition to the site. Thanks eldusto!

I LOVE IT! Adding to my Rogue One Blu-ray case! Great to play before watching New Hope!

The most fun I've had watching this film. Splendid and truly a masterful edit. Other reviewers have already noted the stellar editing—audio and video—and I can only concur. The original is not fresh in my mind but if you did the handful of match cuts, then bravo!

This feels like a "Star Wars: An Event"-film set in the SW-universe, where I don't have to wonder why someone has godlike aim for a blind person. Clearly he's one with the force, and therefore it's explained why he dodges and fires like a master. Rogue One: The Battle of Scarif is pretty much a perfect standalone movie within the Saga, easily replacing the original.

Highly recommended!

As a fan of Rogue One I was pretty interested to watch this edit, knowing it basically just the big ending battle presented as a short film. But, I think the editor did a really great job making it seem like more than just the battle. The opening crawl is great, as is how it leads into the opening scene of this edit. The editing is seamless and there were a few parts that if I didn't know there should have been something there I wouldn't have noticed. The editor did an awesome job putting this together. The audio is pretty nice too, and all the music selections seemed to fit the scenes nicely. There were a few times the music seemed a bit louder than the dialogue, but it wasn't off putting or anything.

All in all, I'm very impressed with the edit and I'm really glad I got the opportunity to watch it.

This edit is without a doubt a triumph, and I would highly recommend it. The film sheds all the problematic parts of Rogue One, and makes the best part work as a one act story.

The audio and video quality are top notch, and the editing is of a professional level. There is not one bad cut in here. What impressed me the most was the audio editing. The re-purposed soundtrack from the original trilogy was extremely well integrated, and lifted the whole sequence to a much higher level. Having read the description, I feared an overuse of the most iconic Star Wars themes, but I should not have worried. The track selection is incredible, as is its implementation in the sound mix. This has clearly taken a lot of work, and it is without a doubt this edit's strongest feature. By a mile. It is also some of the best sound editing I've ever heard in a fan edit.

The narrative is what is to be expected. Rogue One was never strong on characters and themes. Instead of trying to fix this, this edit simply skips the character building by presenting the first two acts in the opening scroll. Surprisingly, this does work better. The third act was always the strong part of the film, but by presenting it on its own, the fatigue that I originally felt after sitting through the first two acts is avoided, and I could enjoy the battle scene much more. That being said, the problem with the original film does persist in this edit. Most of the enjoyment comes from the fact that this is Star Wars, and that it's about the Death Star plans, and because you know where the story is going. The battle itself remains devoid of any real caring for the characters, unlike in the original trilogy. But this can hardly be blamed on the editor. Truly, this is as good as Rogue One will ever get. Several small narrative issues arise because of the scenes that were cut from the beginning. Jyn's hand opens the vault, without any explanation as to why a rebel would be able to do this. Chirrut, now devoid of his connection to the force, is just a blind man, but he has perfect aim and can suddenly walk out in open fire without being hit. But these are small issues, and they did not temper my enjoyment while watching.

Overall, I was left highly impressed and very entertained. Eldusto84 has created the best version of Rogue One that I have seen so far. It is a brave choice to throw out more than half of the film, instead of fixing it, but it certainly pays off. It never was a good film, but now it stops trying to be a film, instead becoming an excellent intermezzo for any Star Wars marathon. But the best part, the part that gave me goosebumps, is the soundtrack alteration. It elevated the entire piece, and will make me watch it again in the future!