Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens: Restructured

Excellent work throughout. Transforms what was initially a "cover-band" version of A New Hope into a dark mirror of that film's hopefulness. Everything that went right for our heroes the first time goes terminably awful, or at least the things that felt like mere plot points in Episode IV (Obi-Wan's death, the destruction of Alderaan) resonate much more strongly here, thanks to the editor's re-alignment of events. The First Order is framed as dangerous insurrectionists who have managed to strike a blow against democracy, and the galaxy is upended once again, setting the stage for much more tense stakes of the next instalment. No amount of editing can smooth over the lucky coincidence-powered story beats that fuel this movie, but theme and character are at least allowed center stage to distract the viewer from these failings. I look forward to seeing what miracles Hal9000 can work with Episode IX next...

It was great. The original film kinda feels too narrow. It was good and enjoyable but I felt it kinda had more to it than what was shown.
This restructured edit exposed the other hidden parts of the film that allowed the entire thing to kinda relax and stretch outward, like a giant settling into its chair.

I never noticed the edits. Perhaps because it has been some time since I've seen the original, but somehow the entire edit is solid and well-paced. Some aspects still ring rather hollow for me: the entire thing with Maz Kanata simply drags on. Especially in light of what was to come later in the trilogy. Focusing more on Rey's character arc was a good thing, but it did slow the film down. It felt like the slow, stretched out middle part of a miniseries. Overall at Takodana, the film simply slows down a little too much, and it feels like something from The Phantom Menace, especially since right before it the escape sequence was so damn thrilling. Then again, it's not the editor's fault that the film itself is pretty much rather long. It feels as if the entirety of A New Hope and half of Empire Strikes Back was crammed into a single movie, but then again, cutting out more than HAL9000 already did would greatly disrupt the film's identity.

Other than that, it was great. Great video quality, great audio. I'd watch it again.

In going through edits of the sequel series, I’ll give credit to the go-to selections here, although I’m looking at it from a lens a few years removed from that insufferable final film and amidst the various successes and failures of SW on the small screen.

Force Awakens will be best viewed via Hal’s edit, although TFA isn’t an intrinsically a bad film to begin with. There is a lingering bad taste the final film (a cinema experience, for me, unparalleled in its repulsiveness) gave to the overall trilogy when we realize there isn’t going to be any real backstory, nor satisfying arc, for Finn.

Finn’s character instead was used as a sort of plot device from the get-go and to realize that his story wasn’t any deeper than it seemed from this first episode is indeed disappointing.

But alas, I’m not reviewing the edit, which, by restructuring some of the elements here does put a better spin on Finn and his place in the story. I’ll forever have a soft spot for this film in general, seeing my old childhood heroes come back, and this edit serves these characters well, aside from the fact that Chewie still needs to be blocked out of the scene when Leia and Daisy (er….Rey, sorry) embrace, and the inexplicable indifference the film has to Han’s final scene I will never forgive. That’s just me. But I’m not alone here...

Again, I digress. No fault of our editor, whose work on the prequels I have enjoyed immensely. I feel obliged to keep a copy of the first two sequels on hand. This is one of them.

If you’re hesitant to give a full-blown, four-alarm fire recommendation for a fanedit because the film itself has distasteful elements, I guess this the classic reviewer conundrum. Can you discern good Korean food from average if you have problems with digesting that spice?

Though it had its flaws, I quite enjoyed the original TFA and thought it was a very promising start to the new Trilogy when I first saw it in 2016. One of the criticisms TFA had was its structural similarity to ANH, and while I think TFA was different enough to set it apart, the demonstration of the Starkiller weapon and the destruction of the Hosnian system felt like the destruction of Alderaan by the Death Star. Moving that sequence toward the end made good narrative sense and I thought that the Takodana section was edited fantastically to facilitate this change, but I couldn't help but feel like it threw the pacing of the third act off, despite how well edited it was. Maybe it's just a subjective thing, because this edit is definitely well done otherwise and I highly recommend it. It's a great alternative cut, but it doesn't replace the original for me.

Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens: Restructured gives new life to what I consider the last good mainline Star Wars film.
After watching Hal's prequel edits, I had every intention of watching the "Custom Special Edition" cuts of the original trilogy. However morbid curiosity took me down a different path and I found myself skipping ahead to Episode VII. I figured if I didn't like rewatching the sequels, I can always wash the taste off with the originals. While I've heard plenty of great things about Hal's prequel edits -- which led me to create this account in the first place -- I intentionally held off on looking into opinions on the sequel edits, because I want to experience these cuts blind.
I personally loved The Force Awakens when it came out, I was 100% on board the hype train and put all my faith in this trilogy. Even with the gift of 20/20 hindsight, I don't think I could have ever predicted just how badly this trilogy would sour my love for this series. However, I can still watch The Force Awakens and have an enjoyable time despite the moments that now make my eyes roll given the context of what comes next.
That being said, I'm very happy with the restructuring done by Hal with this edit. Specifically the choice to move the destruction of the Hosnian system to the final act was genius, it's executed so seamlessly that I forgot I was watching the movie out of order and actually felt the bittersweetness of the victory destroying Starkiller Base, as even though they accomplished their goal, they were too late to save the Republic. In the back of my mind while watching fan edits I can usually recognize when things are switched around or added, no matter how clever the editing, and I must admit this recut actually got me to stop thinking about that in the final act and enjoy the ride. In a lot of ways, it almost feels like I was watching this movie for the first time all over again and getting a spark of that hype I felt in the theater.
There were still moments left in the movie that I didn't care for, but overall, I absolutely recommend this fan edit. Hal, you do good work.