Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens: Restructured

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(Updated: October 25, 2023)
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9.6
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10.0
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10.0
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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.

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9.6
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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.

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9.8
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Great edit. I really enjoyed the overall restructuring to move Hosnian System to the end of the movie. The overall restructured nature of this edit works very well.

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The force awakens was always my favourite of the sequel trilogy and this edit adds to it in good stuff. it wasn't perfect and but it wa good

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Overall rating
 
9.6
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10.0
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9.0
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9.0
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?

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