Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens: Restructured

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.

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...

Continuing a re-watch of the Skywalker Saga, this is the first edit of TFA I've ever watched.

I mistakenly thought that this was an edit for a prolonged reveal of Kylo Ren's identity. But in fact, this is an edit for (spoilers ahead) moving the destruction of the Hosnian system to just after Han gets killed. This change ratchets up the emotion considerably. Before, my only reaction was, "Oh, a bunch of extras that I've never met are dying. Whoop-dee-do." Now, as I'm still reeling from the sucker punch of Han's death, all this new death and mayhem gets shown onscreen. It's gut-wrenching in a good, dramatic way, the way it should have felt the first time.

Only quibble: Even though HAL changes the line to say that the weapon will be "re"-charged in 30 seconds, the question now becomes where the charging comes from. The first time, Starkiller Base sucked up an entire sun. In the theatrical cut, since time has passed, viewers can assume that the Base has eaten another sun. But how did it charge again so quickly if it just spent all its energy wiping out a system? There was no time for it to consume a different star. And if it still had energy left over after all that, why did it need to re-charge? Mind you, it takes longer to write out the reason for the quibble than it does for this tiny moment to happen onscreen. It doesn't detract from the overall enjoyment.

And the addition of the Emperor's theme in v4 when Kylo Ren talks to Vader's helmet is an EXCELLENT choice, because (spoilers) of what we learn in Ep. IX.

I haven't seen any other TFA edits to compare this one to, but this is absolutely a top-notch effort!

Hello there.

I finally had the chance to watch this fanedit again. I had originally watched the first version of this fanedit, I and have been able to now watch the final cut.

What can I say? Thank you HAL. This is a top notch job.

The idea of changing the timing of the Starkiller base firing for the first time works like a charm. And now it is seamlessly and beautifully executed.

I love the appearance of the Star Destroyer at Maz Kanata's. This reinforces the feeling of dread of the First Order that we get at the beginning of the movie.

I also love how the storytelling is reinforced. The presence (and demise) of the Galactic Republic is more felt.

Starkiller firing is more dramatic.

Han Solo's fate is more relevant to the story....

Even R2-D2 has a bigger, more consistent role in the story now!

All in all, this makes the movie BETTER, with some great editing and wise retelling of the story.

It is a must in everyone's STAR WARS fanedit collections. Thanks again!! Keep it up!!

This editor has previously brought some fine edits, and I was confident that this one would please. A very straightforward piece of work, not deviating far from the original, only making some continuity changes that add to the dramatic climax. I was pleased with the overall effect, and feel like this version could easily be swapped with few viewers ever knowing the difference.

I was also quite impressed that subtitles were included.