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- Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (an IronMan23 edit)
Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (an IronMan23 edit)
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Updated
Faneditor Name:
Original Movie Title:
Franchise:
Fanedit Type:
Original Release Date:
2015
Original Running Time:
135
Fanedit Release Date:
Fanedit Running Time:
130
Time Cut:
5
Available in HD?
Additional Links:
Brief Synopsis:
Ah, The Force Awakens, one of the most highly anticipated movies of 2015. It was praised for it's fun, fast paced adventure, it's emphasis on practical effects and how it brought back subtlety and nuance to Star Wars. Although, many agree that the film isn't without it's flaws, that have become more obvious with each viewing. So, picture the film with an even stronger characterization of Rey, who is a more vulnerable person and doesn't have to one up anyone around her, and where 'most Guardians of the Galaxy' style humor has been greatly minimized.
Intention:
Stated before, I really do enjoy this film for plenty of reasons. But after noticing some pretty big flaws, such as Rey being an overcompensation by JJ in response to "star trek into darkness', where learns the force too quickly, is almost always at the top of her game and even one ups Han Solo a few different times. How others, Finn in particular, are prone to more mistakes or don't know as much as the protagonist to make them look smarter, and the use of (not bad) humor that feels like it's from a different film. I felt if at the very least these issues are dealt with, a stronger film is left in it's place.
Other Sources:
- The Empire Strikes Back Soundtrack CD (youtube)
- DJ Mitz's edit with Alec Guinness audio (youtube)
- DJ Mitz's edit with Alec Guinness audio (youtube)
Special Thanks:
DJ Mitz for his amazing editing skills, and BanditIncorporated for his thoughts and analysis of the whole "Rey/Mary Sue?" controversy.
Release Information:
Digital
Cuts and Additions:
- Minimal color correction throughout. This is simply to adjust a few things, mainly the hues of magenta to red, dark green to a lighter shade, and added skin toning where they might be overly pale.
- Classic SW theme (ANH version) to replace theatrical cue in the crawl
- New sound FX of stormtrooper blasters cocking as they prepare for battle
- Trimmed Lor san tekka and Poe Dameron’s conversation. Everything after “Now, because of you we have a chance” is repeated since we saw it in the opening crawl
- Slight reordering; repurposed a shot with 3 troopers firing heavy weaponry at Poe’s X wing and moved it to where they disable the ship, instead of just a few minor blasts that shouldn’t do much.
- When Poe is brought before kylo Ren, he doesn’t say anything, since joking would undercut tension. Instead, we hear a force rumble where Kylo is reading his mind.
- Removed Poe’s X wing exploding since I had already used that shot.
- Trimmed down humor between Poe and Finn- now we see: “Because it’s the right thing to do.” “We’re gonna do this.”
- Removed Finn’s line about shooting a Tie Fighter’s guns being complicated. In this version, Finn catches on to concepts a little quicker.
- Trimmed down the scuffle between rey and some bandits, to make her seem a little more vulnerable and not beat them so easily since she was caught off guard.
- Removed a number of jokes involving BB 8 shocking Finn (now only once) as well as Finn’s line (I am with the resistance). He was trying to hard.
- Trimmed a shot or two with BB 8 trying to hold on inside during the first Falcon chase scene.
- It’s now suggested that Finn has some knowledge on how to speak droid, and anything contradicting is gone.
- Trimmed down the Rathtar sequence so Rey and Finn don’t ever tangle with the creatures (no pun intended I swear)
- Rey’s extensive knowledge of the Millennium Falcon has been greatly reduced. Han has owned the dang thing for a lot longer and therefore should know little tricks and tidbits about how to fix it.
- For the Rey’s force vision, we see a split second of Vader himself as the lightsaber ignites. His breathing continues for the length of the Cloud City portion, and his line “I am your Father” is heard before Luke’s “NO!” A brief instance of a saber duel is heard in the forest after Obi Wan calls out to her, then we now hear Alec Guinness’s voice saying “These are your first steps”. No disrespect to Ewan McGregor, I just feel it flows better that way.
- Once Finn uses the lightsaber for the first time, music used from "Rogue One" was inserted to add an extra level of tension and power behind each swing of the blade.
- In the Resistance base, while Han and Leia converse any mention of Snoke seducing *ahem* to the dark side was removed. Never felt right to me.
- As Kylo tries to interrogate Rey on Starkiller base, instead of Rey pushing away Ren on her own, Kylo instead triggers something inside that breaks the connection as we hear from a familiar sound…
- Finn is now the one who shuts down the planetary shields since he was working there at one point. Gone are the jokes about him working for sanitation and the misuses of Captain Phasma.
- Rey cannot and should not be able to understand chewie. Period, it probably took Han awhile to learn it and the same goes for everyone else, force user or not.
- As soon as *ahem* kills *cough* on the bridge, two key shots were slowed down to classic OT slow motion, as if it were all a dream and to let the emotions sink in.
- The lightsaber duel between Kylo and Rey was re edited, trimmed and re ordered for a second short break to make Rey seem more vulnerable and just barely beat him at the end.
- Once Rey has reached her destination at the end, we see a cloaked figure standing on a cliff, accompanied by a familiar score before he turns around, revealing himself to be Luke Skywalker, and then we cut to credits. Save everything else for the sequel, we get enough taste for the main course next time.
And many more tiny trims even I couldn't keep up with!
- Classic SW theme (ANH version) to replace theatrical cue in the crawl
- New sound FX of stormtrooper blasters cocking as they prepare for battle
- Trimmed Lor san tekka and Poe Dameron’s conversation. Everything after “Now, because of you we have a chance” is repeated since we saw it in the opening crawl
- Slight reordering; repurposed a shot with 3 troopers firing heavy weaponry at Poe’s X wing and moved it to where they disable the ship, instead of just a few minor blasts that shouldn’t do much.
- When Poe is brought before kylo Ren, he doesn’t say anything, since joking would undercut tension. Instead, we hear a force rumble where Kylo is reading his mind.
- Removed Poe’s X wing exploding since I had already used that shot.
- Trimmed down humor between Poe and Finn- now we see: “Because it’s the right thing to do.” “We’re gonna do this.”
- Removed Finn’s line about shooting a Tie Fighter’s guns being complicated. In this version, Finn catches on to concepts a little quicker.
- Trimmed down the scuffle between rey and some bandits, to make her seem a little more vulnerable and not beat them so easily since she was caught off guard.
- Removed a number of jokes involving BB 8 shocking Finn (now only once) as well as Finn’s line (I am with the resistance). He was trying to hard.
- Trimmed a shot or two with BB 8 trying to hold on inside during the first Falcon chase scene.
- It’s now suggested that Finn has some knowledge on how to speak droid, and anything contradicting is gone.
- Trimmed down the Rathtar sequence so Rey and Finn don’t ever tangle with the creatures (no pun intended I swear)
- Rey’s extensive knowledge of the Millennium Falcon has been greatly reduced. Han has owned the dang thing for a lot longer and therefore should know little tricks and tidbits about how to fix it.
- For the Rey’s force vision, we see a split second of Vader himself as the lightsaber ignites. His breathing continues for the length of the Cloud City portion, and his line “I am your Father” is heard before Luke’s “NO!” A brief instance of a saber duel is heard in the forest after Obi Wan calls out to her, then we now hear Alec Guinness’s voice saying “These are your first steps”. No disrespect to Ewan McGregor, I just feel it flows better that way.
- Once Finn uses the lightsaber for the first time, music used from "Rogue One" was inserted to add an extra level of tension and power behind each swing of the blade.
- In the Resistance base, while Han and Leia converse any mention of Snoke seducing *ahem* to the dark side was removed. Never felt right to me.
- As Kylo tries to interrogate Rey on Starkiller base, instead of Rey pushing away Ren on her own, Kylo instead triggers something inside that breaks the connection as we hear from a familiar sound…
- Finn is now the one who shuts down the planetary shields since he was working there at one point. Gone are the jokes about him working for sanitation and the misuses of Captain Phasma.
- Rey cannot and should not be able to understand chewie. Period, it probably took Han awhile to learn it and the same goes for everyone else, force user or not.
- As soon as *ahem* kills *cough* on the bridge, two key shots were slowed down to classic OT slow motion, as if it were all a dream and to let the emotions sink in.
- The lightsaber duel between Kylo and Rey was re edited, trimmed and re ordered for a second short break to make Rey seem more vulnerable and just barely beat him at the end.
- Once Rey has reached her destination at the end, we see a cloaked figure standing on a cliff, accompanied by a familiar score before he turns around, revealing himself to be Luke Skywalker, and then we cut to credits. Save everything else for the sequel, we get enough taste for the main course next time.
And many more tiny trims even I couldn't keep up with!
User reviews
5 reviews
Overall rating
9.5
Audio/Video Quality
9.4(5)
Audio Editing
10.0(5)
Visual Editing
9.2(5)
Narrative
9.4(5)
Enjoyment
9.4(5)
Overall rating
9.0
Audio/Video Quality
8.0
Audio Editing
10.0
Visual Editing
9.0
Narrative
9.0
Enjoyment
9.0
This is a very solid edit. The Force Awakens is not a perfect film and there's only so much you can do with it. This edit does a good job but I wish more things had been cut.
Pros:
Forced humor removed
Finn's character being somewhat obnoxious and over the top removed
Scenes cut down that had previously went on too long
Very nice audio editing during Rey's lightsaber vision
Cons:
Han's no look shooting still there
Finn vs Stormtrooper electro-rifle fight still there
The flash of Vader during Rey's lightsaber vision stood out to me as not fitting quite fitting in
Rey gets a hug but not Chewie. Is there a way to remove this whole scene?
When they go to deactivate the shield, the part with Phasma is removed which is ok Since it involves Finn being obnoxious, but it makes you ask why they're in the base. All they do is go inside, find Rey, and then leave. It's not a huge deal but it does tend to stick out. If you never saw the original you might not notice though.
Overall:
Solid edit but could have gone a bit further in cutting.
Pros:
Forced humor removed
Finn's character being somewhat obnoxious and over the top removed
Scenes cut down that had previously went on too long
Very nice audio editing during Rey's lightsaber vision
Cons:
Han's no look shooting still there
Finn vs Stormtrooper electro-rifle fight still there
The flash of Vader during Rey's lightsaber vision stood out to me as not fitting quite fitting in
Rey gets a hug but not Chewie. Is there a way to remove this whole scene?
When they go to deactivate the shield, the part with Phasma is removed which is ok Since it involves Finn being obnoxious, but it makes you ask why they're in the base. All they do is go inside, find Rey, and then leave. It's not a huge deal but it does tend to stick out. If you never saw the original you might not notice though.
Overall:
Solid edit but could have gone a bit further in cutting.
User Review
Do you recommend this edit?
Yes
Format Watched?
Digital
S
Overall rating
8.6
Audio/Video Quality
9.0
Audio Editing
10.0
Visual Editing
8.0
Narrative
8.0
Enjoyment
8.0
SPOILERS etc...
The Force Awakens
I enjoyed the event when it came out at the cinemas and I felt emotionally buoyed seeing Han and Chewie etc. The style was good, the vibe was Stars Wars, the FX were neat and the music felt like home - The skywalker theme brings tears every time after all. Po was fine, BB8 was a success etc
But....Fin was a likeable but very inconsistent character and Rey was also likeable but was an inappropriately self aware agent of pop/pc culture for 2016 earth. Snoke was just a bit shit to look at frankly, Sydow was totally wasted on this film and Phasma sounded like the matriarch in “The Beach” but could act half as well. Luckily non-one gave a sh*t about her anyway in the end. The story was old and tired but the overall shtick was endearing etc.
This fan fix sorts out what it can and it does it mostly invisibly and the audio cues are clean and in places inspired. Fin is much more assured and seemingly respected more. Rey is less Mary Sue and is a more endearing force sensitive fluke than before – even vulnerable at times rather than the relative smart arse they fabricated. Much of the humour is smoothed over nicely and the most endearing examples remain. The humour worked in the cinema as a shared giggle etc, but pops up wincing and too often when you watch it back multiple times. I thought Iron Man 23 did a very good job of cleaning up untidy or distracting threads. He restructured the end scenes nicely and featured some choice trailer moments. Blend this with the Restructured edit and you'd have a very fine filtered fix.
But without access to the “cutting room floor” there's nothing you can do to fix the totally unjustified and non-contextual sappy connection forced between Leia and Rey at the end – talk about a snowflake committee. I might have to wrangle with this film myself as you also simply can't have Chewie and Leia ignore each other after what happens. I'd be tempted to cut the whole back to base scene altogether just to get rid of that. Awfully jarring nonsense.
The above scene notwithstanding my hat is off to this edit, sincerely.
The Force Awakens
I enjoyed the event when it came out at the cinemas and I felt emotionally buoyed seeing Han and Chewie etc. The style was good, the vibe was Stars Wars, the FX were neat and the music felt like home - The skywalker theme brings tears every time after all. Po was fine, BB8 was a success etc
But....Fin was a likeable but very inconsistent character and Rey was also likeable but was an inappropriately self aware agent of pop/pc culture for 2016 earth. Snoke was just a bit shit to look at frankly, Sydow was totally wasted on this film and Phasma sounded like the matriarch in “The Beach” but could act half as well. Luckily non-one gave a sh*t about her anyway in the end. The story was old and tired but the overall shtick was endearing etc.
This fan fix sorts out what it can and it does it mostly invisibly and the audio cues are clean and in places inspired. Fin is much more assured and seemingly respected more. Rey is less Mary Sue and is a more endearing force sensitive fluke than before – even vulnerable at times rather than the relative smart arse they fabricated. Much of the humour is smoothed over nicely and the most endearing examples remain. The humour worked in the cinema as a shared giggle etc, but pops up wincing and too often when you watch it back multiple times. I thought Iron Man 23 did a very good job of cleaning up untidy or distracting threads. He restructured the end scenes nicely and featured some choice trailer moments. Blend this with the Restructured edit and you'd have a very fine filtered fix.
But without access to the “cutting room floor” there's nothing you can do to fix the totally unjustified and non-contextual sappy connection forced between Leia and Rey at the end – talk about a snowflake committee. I might have to wrangle with this film myself as you also simply can't have Chewie and Leia ignore each other after what happens. I'd be tempted to cut the whole back to base scene altogether just to get rid of that. Awfully jarring nonsense.
The above scene notwithstanding my hat is off to this edit, sincerely.
User Review
Do you recommend this edit?
Yes
Format Watched?
Digital
M
(Updated: April 09, 2017)
Overall rating
9.8
Audio/Video Quality
10.0
Audio Editing
10.0
Visual Editing
9.0
Narrative
10.0
Enjoyment
10.0
The TFA got me mixed feelings when it came out and still does but you did a very good job =)
Please do not take offense n any of my comments, they are just suggestions/opinions and always with the intent of improving/motivate and never otherwise =).
_Thank the Maker for removing the bad joke attempts =)
- Excellent job with the CC throughout the movie =) (except Ren's saber glow in his last fight with Finn/Rey)
- Loved the addition of that klaxon sound (i want it lol) to the hangar scene
- Excellent cut/trim of the Rathar scene (it is somewhat closer to what I've done myself too) =)
- I won't comment about adding the RO music to Finn vs Riot Stormtrooper scene
- In the few edit's I've seen, all editors have failed continuity in the third part of the film, when using Ren. In some scenes he has is "pseudo cloak/cape" and in others it vanishes
- Thank you for removing the line "Han Solo" when he senses him. It is more logical to me that he would sense Rey than Han Solo, if i interpreted your intention, correctly. (Never liked that line)
- I think you could have used Phasma just a bit while she was patrolling the SK's base hallways before Han and Finn got her. She is the leader of the Stormtroopers and we never get to see her after Hux's speech again.
I'm glad that you removed her bad performance in the end though =)
- I liked what you've done with Poe/Rey (especially Rey's interrogation scene) it never felt right to me their interaction
- Excellent job in dealing with the aforementioned interrogation and lightsaber scene between Ren/Finn/Rey, although i must add that i didn't like that sort of "aura" like red coming out of Ren's saber when it clashed with Anakin's saber.
- Nice ending too =) With Luke.
PS: I was about to give 0! You didn't add more X-Wings to the attack =P (Kidding).
I cannot add more to this review... all in all i liked it a lot to have seen your "vision" of TFA =)
Good work, big hug Iron =)
Please do not take offense n any of my comments, they are just suggestions/opinions and always with the intent of improving/motivate and never otherwise =).
_Thank the Maker for removing the bad joke attempts =)
- Excellent job with the CC throughout the movie =) (except Ren's saber glow in his last fight with Finn/Rey)
- Loved the addition of that klaxon sound (i want it lol) to the hangar scene
- Excellent cut/trim of the Rathar scene (it is somewhat closer to what I've done myself too) =)
- I won't comment about adding the RO music to Finn vs Riot Stormtrooper scene
- In the few edit's I've seen, all editors have failed continuity in the third part of the film, when using Ren. In some scenes he has is "pseudo cloak/cape" and in others it vanishes
- Thank you for removing the line "Han Solo" when he senses him. It is more logical to me that he would sense Rey than Han Solo, if i interpreted your intention, correctly. (Never liked that line)
- I think you could have used Phasma just a bit while she was patrolling the SK's base hallways before Han and Finn got her. She is the leader of the Stormtroopers and we never get to see her after Hux's speech again.
I'm glad that you removed her bad performance in the end though =)
- I liked what you've done with Poe/Rey (especially Rey's interrogation scene) it never felt right to me their interaction
- Excellent job in dealing with the aforementioned interrogation and lightsaber scene between Ren/Finn/Rey, although i must add that i didn't like that sort of "aura" like red coming out of Ren's saber when it clashed with Anakin's saber.
- Nice ending too =) With Luke.
PS: I was about to give 0! You didn't add more X-Wings to the attack =P (Kidding).
I cannot add more to this review... all in all i liked it a lot to have seen your "vision" of TFA =)
Good work, big hug Iron =)
User Review
Format Watched?
Digital
S
(Updated: April 05, 2017)
Overall rating
10.0
Audio/Video Quality
10.0
Audio Editing
10.0
Visual Editing
10.0
Narrative
10.0
Enjoyment
10.0
With a fine touch and the sensibility of a good editor, Iroman23 really manages to extract a lot of attempts at "humor" that made TFA feel...well, not great and leaves us with a much faster, intense and streamlined movie. The narrative and color corrections are also most welcome and he manages to pull those so well you can't really notice there's something different unless you're looking for those moments of discomfort that came when somebody in a board room ordered for a joke to be inserted where none was needed.
User Review
Do you recommend this edit?
Yes
Format Watched?
Digital
J
Overall rating
10.0
Audio/Video Quality
10.0
Audio Editing
10.0
Visual Editing
10.0
Narrative
10.0
Enjoyment
10.0
Well done Ironman23, this was a very enjoyable edit, you really brought a more serious tone to Poe and Fin which I loved, thank you. The saber fight at the end was nicely cut with the destruction of the star base and the ending with Luke was a nice touch too.
User Review
Format Watched?
Digital
T