Star Wars Episode IX: The Final Order

I had to go back and check the original version to see what had been changed. I found the editing changes to be very clever and seemless. I particularly liked the changes to the sith dagger and the delay in finding out chewie was still alive. The theatrical version I found to be the worst of the sequel trillogy but I would now rate this better than the last jedi but still not as good as the force awakens (but it comes a very close 2nd).

You have to appreciate a big swing. Spence has admitted that he doesn't usually edit films he really dislikes, and it's an understandable position to have. With something like TROS, if you changed everything you didn't like, you might not end up with anything at all. Spence's approach is kind of along those lines, taking out as many offensive elements as possible before the wheels go flying off and the whole thing falls apart.

Working from Hal's solid base, Spence does the admirable (arguably necessary) job of cutting out Rey's Palpatine heritage. Further focusing it on the new characters, he also kills off Leia in the first few minutes. We're left with a movie that matches Spence's intent - carrying on the character arcs where TLJ left them off. The question is, how much of a movie is it at this point? The first act is the toughest part, where Spence is really ambitious in terms of reshaping the narrative. I think the narrative he creates is clear, although perhaps a bit too rushed - no fault of his own, considering the original was too rushed to begin with. Things fall into a more manageable pace once the heroes reach Pasaana, but overall, it still feels a bit empty. I'd argue though, again this is the original film's fault. While some of the running threads have been cut out, they were entirely empty threads to begin with, so nothing of substance is lost.

Ultimately, while the drastic cuts overall make the film feel a bit clearly fan edited, it's a compromise I imagine many would be willing to take. The film isn't magically great now, but it is a fun time, where you can watch it and see the hanging plot threads of the trilogy tied up without having to deal with any of the most egregiously offensive moments of the theatrical. Or, at the very least, you can get a sense of how things could have been better had they designed the film a bit differently. A highly recommended watch either way.

I was massively disappointed by the end of the sequel trilogy after enjoying the first two parts. It was obviously rushed and too fixated on pleasing the worst people in the fanbase. Too many cooks, too many ingredients.

After hearing about this edit I decided to check it out and I've got to say it's a phenomenal improvement.

Stripping out the stupid lineage plot does wonders to make it more thematically coherent and also makes the characters a lot more interesting. Moving Leia's passing to the start of the film also adds a very nice subtext of the characters feeling lost after loosing their last mentor. Obviously an edit isn't going to fix the rushed scenes and the narrative grinding to a halt to stare at something from the old films, but it's the best you can possibly do with what's available.

The edit itself is superb and is barely noticable if you didn't know what to look out for. Probably one of the best edits I've ever seen.

This isn't going to suddenly turn the film into a masterpiece but it at least lets it feel like some character got an ending they deserved.

Very much looking forward to seeing what they have done with Kenobi.

The Final Order is one of the stronger edits of Episode IX that I've seen so far. And while my personal bias means that my favorite edit of Episode IX is, well, my own, this one gets a nice, shiny silver medal at number two. This one earns a high recommendation from me!

I'm not a fan of the sequel trilogy, especially ep 8 and 9, that being said i don't have high hopes for edits of said movies, but i was quite impressed by this edit. By removing Palpatine/Rey kinship and Snoke being created by Palpatine, it works much better. The feeling I had when watching this edit was that Palpatine was bidding his time in the shadows while the First Order was waging war to the New Republic and the Resistance.

Some things I'd like to see removed or corrected:
- More OT sounds (especially turbolaser sounds)
- Some of Hux scenes (I hate what they've done with this character)
- "Use Ion cannons" either remove this line or correct all green turbolasers to blue
- TIE scout, I admit that to the common person that would seem a regular TIE but having it replaced by the TIE X1, people will associate it to Vader's fighter. Of course that it could be another fighter hanging in the Death Star, but to me you could either leave at is is or replacing by a TIE Vangard or a legends TIE/sr Scout

https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Scout_ship_(TIE_model) (seen in the movie)

https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/TIE_Vanguard?so=search
https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/TIE/sr_starfighter

All in all I like this edit, and even though I have some issues with the movie itself it has nothing to do with the edit (apart from the TIE Scout). Good work