Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker: Anti-Cringe-Cut

After seeing TLJ in theaters I had no hope for this film and it still managed to be worse than my expectations. Whereas I would say theatrical TLJ was a worse individual movie, I would say TRoS was worse for Star Wars as a whole.

This edit does a valiant job of salvaging whatever could be saved from the abomination of its original plot. I watched this edit under the perspective of "The Crucible Canon" https://boards.theforce.net/threads/the-crucible-canon-merging-eu-and-new-canon-as-smoothly-as-possible.50053287/ and while I still think this is a bad film, I didn't end up furious after watching it.

A/V Quality: Perfect to my eyes, didn't notice anything there which gives this area a 10.

Visual Editing: While this area was still on the good side of things, I would recommend a Version 2 at some point with some touchups. As far as scene transition and the like go I'd give that a 10, however as Don made some much needed fixes to the narrative he was forced to add in some additional effects that are passable, but not perfect yet at an 8/10. Kylo's ship addition isn't extremely noticeable and I don't think a first time or casual viewer would notice, but it is slightly jarring when you do notice it. There's some room for improvement there. Regarding the Luke being alive fixes, I don't think it is at a believable level yet. However, from my perspective as I watched these scenes it seemed to me like Luke was still channeling an illusion to Rey, even on the island. If it is too difficult to make it look like he is actually there, I think keeping a ghostly but colored figure like he is currently in the edit might be the move if you run with that idea and touchup with that. Finally, regarding Kylo's death, when he stands up for his final scene you can see his stabbed area, but no flesh wound. Adding a simple mask and trace of the wound using footage from the theatrical version would be nice. Did a quick concept here: https://imgur.com/a/HReJkpB

Audio Editing: Some slight audio bugs could be hammered out but overall very good here, 9/10.

Narrative: This movie's plot is such a mess that I do not think it can be redeemed, at least until deleted scenes come out (if Disney ever allows it...). While much improved over the original, this movie still suffers from the plot moving at light speed. I cannot catch a breath in this film, and with the needed cuts to the major cringe in theatrical it makes this movie fly even faster. I loved the changes to Rey's storyline, but would take it even farther with Rey not taking the Skywalker name. She is, and always should be... Just Rey. And there are edits I've seen that do keep that intact. In this edit, it is slightly confusing why Palpatine is so interested in Rey, especially as a child in regards to the storyline of her parents. It's possible to explain this in the current cut, but something else needs to be in here for it to entirely make sense. I have also seen cuts that make Rey accidentally kill her own parents on the ship when she was a child which I think works better in showing her dark side temptations. Finally, I did love the Lando reveal a lot in this cut, but it was a little confusing as to whose body was under the tarp there. I didn't hear anyone say it was Leia, and if it was... TRoS is a year after TLJ so why is her body still under a tarp in the jungle? Overall, the narrative was good, and I'd even say it was believable as a plot, though the original content is so flawed I am working under that understanding. Oh, I would also highly suggest adding the "Force Ghost" edit from John into the next version of this, but I don't know if another version is even worth it without deleted scenes. Luke passing after helping Rey is fantastic too!

Enjoyment: Whereas I would've originally gave TRoS a 1/10 in the theater version, I would score the TRoS Anti-Cringe cut as a 6/10 film, which earns an 8/10 performance for this edit. Again, watching this edit under "The Crucible Canon" perspective that is linked above changes my perspective with this movie. TLJ had more cringe whereas TRoS had more terrible plot points, so I think this movie is harder to flip as well as you did with TLJ. It was A LOT better than theatrical and I do think it is a watchable film now, but one that could benefit greatly from a Version 2 with some fixes listed above.

TLDR;
A good edit and what I'd watch at this point. Improved over theatrical considering Luke isn't dead and the cringe and pure nonsense is gone so I'm not eye-rolling for 2 hours.. Could use a little touchup on audio in a few places, and needs a Version 2 on some video effects before being a passable "theatrical" version. Could use help from deleted scenes (if they ever come) and some small narrative adjustments.

I'll give credit where it's due. Like TLJ ACC, it's a massive step up in quality from the original, which (like many) I utterly despised. And I give major props to the editor for trying some ambitious changes to the original. Unfortunately, in some cases, it seems like the editor's reach may have exceeded their grasp.

First things first, the technical for the most part is top notch, and most of the edits are seamless as they were in the first fanedit. But there are some issues that stand out. The Kylo Ren parked fighter looks totally unconvincing, especially since the black smoke is still rising right behind it. The flashback to Luke and Rey's discussion when Kylo is dying is a really good idea, but the sound clashes with the sound in the present scene. I think a silent flashback to the same scene, possibly supplemented with other scenes of them connecting in TLJ, would have achieved the same effect and fit more naturally. Speaking of, it's still painfully apparent that Luke is a Force Ghost during his talk with Rey, and the edits of him coming to talk to Rey stick out like a sore thumb for how unconvincing it is; in fairness, that's mostly because the editing for the most part is really high quality, but even so it just feels unnatural.

As far as the movie watching experience, it was okay. Granted, again, that's a huge improvement from "I wanna throw a copy of this movie into the sun". It had a fast pace that cut out all of the pointless scenes and allowed it to be really entertaining for the most part. I actually wound up enjoying the character interactions between the main trio far more in this edit. Unlike the first two movies, this edit allowed them to actually shine not just as individuals, but also as a team the same way Luke, Han and Leia did.. It really felt like they were the close friends/found family the movie was insisting they were, and made their "curtain call" after the final battle far more satisfying. Also, Kylo Ren's new death is a massive change that works in the edit's favor, and I love that it forgoes the painfully predictable route of him getting a last minute redemption, and instead shows him finally letting go of his anger and finding peace in death.

With that said, the story is dragged down by things that simply don't make sense. The first is Palpatine being the ultimate villain; it never should have happened, it makes absolutely no sense, and it takes away the feeling of victory of the end. After all, if he came back once, who's to say he won't come back again? Granted, this is in no way the editor's fault, and there's really no way around it short of a full reshoot. And moving the reveal to the end of TLJ does at least help make it seem a bit more natural part of the story. However, there are other story decisions the editor made that also don't make sense.

The biggest is Luke hunting for Exegol/Palpatine. He's leaving notes on his search for Rey, but where is he leaving these notes? They said his trail went cold on that desert planet, but then it turns out he's just hanging out on Ahch-To for some reason? Why is his X-Wing all of a sudden in the water if he's been searching for Exegol across the galaxy? And then when Rey shows up, she now knows the way to Exegol, so did Luke figure it out? If he did, why didn't he tell the Resistance? And if he doesn't, how did Rey figure it out? It can't be from Ren's fighter since she just destroyed it. Then there's Leia's body being kept since her death. I get the idea is she becomes one with the Force when Luke does, and it is a nice moment, but since she died in TLJ ACC, has the Resistance just spent months or a year carrying her body around everywhere until it just ups and vanishes? Also, why does Luke die at the end? In the TLJ it seems at least he died from the exertion of projecting himself, here he just up and dies as soon as the Emperor does. Like "Well, my work is done, guess I'll die now." It would have made a lot more sense if the reason he stayed behind was to channel all of his power into Rey, which would also help explain why she's channeling all of the Jedi, and the exertion of that was what killed Luke.

I still enjoyed the edit. In the end, this edit, along with TFA and TLJ ACC, does form a decent trilogy with a far more focused story arc than the "canon" sequel trilogy. It highlights the strength of the story and its characters. It's clear a lot of work went into these edits, and for the most part they work rather well.

After watching DonKamillo's The Last Jedi edit I was super excited to see how more changes could be made with TROS. It's a fantastic effort with lots of great cuts. Admittedly, you're stuck with whatever footage you have and with limited visual adjustments possible.

Overall it's really great and WAYYYYY better than what we got in theaters. Leia stays dead since his TLJ edit, Luke is alive but on Ach To, and some of the fan service is really cut down. I love how Lando just shows up at the end because why would be be around earlier? There's a better arc for Kylo/Ben and he doesn't show up AT ALL vs. The Emperor-- and it works! My biggest joy was how DonKamillo made Palpatine spread a message throughout the galaxy, indicating his return, and Poe's line about SOMEHOW he returned is gone. Sheesh.

I do still have some issues but they're actually pretty minor. Changing Luke from being a Force ghost to still alive was tough and the visual isn't 100% convincing. Also Leia's lightsaber was changed to yellow in the flashbacks (cool idea!) but at the end battle its blue with the repaired Anakin one made yellow. A visual mistake but one this Star Wars geek noticed right away. I would have made a few more edits myself-- removing Rose completely, erase a few pointless lines and jokes, and adjusting some visuals. But overall this is a great job and my definitive version.

Not bad. There are definitely choices made that I wouldn’t make, but I also understand it is a continuation of your previous edit. Of course the biggest changes in these edits is the changing of who lives and who dies. And though I do like Han Solo’s scene, and you did as good as you could probably do with it within the new narrative, I just think you should’ve ended the scene when Rey leaves. Likewise you’ve done an admirable job with de-ghostifiying Luke, but it’s still not always convincing. A small quibble, but I’d lose Zorii in the final fight and celebration. You’ve diminished her role so significantly that it’s just a weird reaction from Poe. I know people love Babu Frik but I’d still lose it. It also looks as though it might be possible to trim the “I am all the Jedi” bit so that she just has the second saber in her hand already. That would make more sense IMO because as far as I noticed, she doesn’t ever lose it in this edit. I’m also disappointed that you apparently deemed a same sex kiss “cringe-worthy.” And I’m completely confused with the color change for the lightsaber at the end.

Now the way I review these edits is to nitpick while I watch, so that’s what’s above. Overall I think this is a very good edit, particularly if you like what was done in this editor's TLJ edit. The visual editing is superb. I don’t know if it counts as visual editing, but the special effects weren’t always convincing. I’ve already mentioned the Luke ghost, but I just don’t think the effects for having Ren land his TIE work. The effect isn’t sold and to do that just to get rid of Rey’s jump move I think is a bad trade off. I’d have to double check to be sure but there were definitely some music cues that seemed to cut abruptly. It mostly it as great.

The movie definitely feels tighter and is improved. A few choices make this difficult for me to fully endorse, but it’s better than the theatrical and if you're a fan of the TLJ Anti-Cringe, you'll likely enjoy this.

I owe DonKamillo a review for this one, but it's a hard one to quite put into words. His TLJ edit, though not my favorite, is really great work. This one... is as good as it gets? I'm of two minds; on one hand, I want to commend the effort to make something out of this cinematic malpractice, on the other hand, a corpse will eventually smell, no matter what you do.

As a fanedit, it's a valiant effort; small cuts to tighten the pace, trying to maintain continuity with the TLJ "Anti-Cringe Cut" and, well, that's the thing; The Rise of Skywalker is such a condensed disaster, I couldn't even tell you what has been edited in the movie without reading the list of changes.

I know, this isn't the most helpful review and it's not a reflection on DonKamillo's talent or efforts here; I just want to make sure that, if you watch this, you know what to expect. Some movies are so consistently bad, they're impossible to fix. It's a problem that, surprisingly, the Prequels didn't have, because for all their bad dialogue and questionable action sequences, you could tighten them up and come out with something enjoyable. TRoS is dense; you can't remove any major scenes without losing significant details and you can't space them out to breathe, because they never shot anything quiet or character-building. What DonKamillo does here, in effect, is cut out a lot of the extraneous information that don't contribute anything to the film, making it a little less of a headache. For example, Poe and Zorii don't know each other beforehand in this version of the film, which is good, but at the same time you can't cut out Zorii entirely, because her three minutes of screen-time are necessary to further what passes for a plot here, despite the fact that she's otherwise a superfluous character. That kind of thing.

From a technical perspective, the edit is good. I didn't really notice anything, it looks as pretty as it should with seamless transitions. The only bit that pulled me out was Luke's scene and his de-ghosting-- but I'm the guy that needs fifteen minutes to do a simple jpeg edit on Gimp, I'm not going to be the one to complain about this type of thing.

Ultimately, it's hard to rate the enjoyment of an edit like this, because the source material is just abysmal. I'd like to say that this is a better version than the theatrical, but I honestly never want to see anything related to TRoS in general, ever again. If, for some reason, you're enough of a SW fan to want to put yourself through this nipple-clamp of a movie again, then I can at least say that the "Anti-Cringe Cut" is the significantly less painful version of it.