Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi: Legendary

Been a long time since I watched the original and this is the first fan-edit I've seen.

The pacing is leagues better. Distracting tone-shifting humor and repetitive exposition has been trimmed and makes for much smoother scenes.

The excised sections of Canto Bight does absolute wonders, amazing how much more tolerable that section of the movies is. Do not miss it at all, almost forgot that it should have happened. You're more invested in the immediate action and forget that there was this whole slog about back-story and saving animals. Didn't feel too brief for me.

I'm not sure why the slave boy is still at the end. Where'd he get the ring? Is he oppressed? Is the New Order the reason he's oppressed? Where is he located, is it somewhere that the New Order is causing problems? There's no context for that scene. It also just bothers me that he's so clean. Those slave children just look like L.A. child actors to me.

Editing is very tasteful and a lot of the fixes are effective in their simplicity. I think the poppasketti music cue for the lightsaber toss is inspired and the removal of Roses' line after her crash introduces enough ambiguity that you don't know WHY she's being contradictory to her values rather than knowing the reason and it not making sense.

I did not like Finn and Roses' meeting scene in the original and this is better but it does feel a little odd. I looked at the change list and saw that the "breathe" line was re-instated but I'm not sure why. I saw this cold, didn't read the change-list or any forum discussions before and that popped out at me as un-warranted for him to say. She doesn't get excited enough for that to make sense, the shot really holds on him like it's a big joke but there was not much of a set-up.

I could do without Leia flying. It doesn't make me angry like it does with some, but it just strikes me as a bit silly. It doesn't look very convincing and it's not staged or directed in a way that feels powerful to me. Like, I have some problems with the hyperspace jump kamikaze scene on a story level but I can't deny the visual power. It's arresting, but I can't say the same for Leia flying.

Ultimately, the movie doesn't get better for me on a fundamental level. There's things that make sense to me even less than they did the first time. I more and more don't really understand what this movie is about or what Rian Johnson is actually trying to say. I get to the end of the movie and have so many questions about what this really adds to the discussion of myth in popular culture. It's subervise in ways that seem to really only work for people that already agree with its perspective, Johnson doesn't really use much rhetoric. There's not a lot of writing or filmmaking that's being used to help along people that aren't on board. I'm all for subversion, but you got to be a little more deft with your tools when you're working in pulp.

I'm not sure I'm really interested in a more radical edit, though. I have things I'd prefer to be changed but they wouldn't make my overall opinion of the base movie different. I think HAL9000 makes this just about as polished as it can be. A wonderful piece of editing and much easier of a watch.

Watched the 720 mp4 and it looked great, a very good encode for its size.

The Last Jedi's Thematic expansion on the entire saga up to this point is incredible, and those who complain that it's "not in line with George's vision" are fooling themselves. The problem is, this theme of the past dying so the new can take hold isn't exactly noticed when there's these distractions that pull us away from it.

Thankfully, they're removed seamlessly here. I won't go into much detail, because I'd just basically be describing the same movie. I will say I never noticed the incredible arc of Poe's character before, or the incredible subtle aspects of Ren's arc, because the non-thematic nature of certain scenes Johnson didn't know how to cut distract us from them. (which I should say is more the fault of SCHEDULING DEADLINES for these kind of blockbuster films creating enough stress of management he might not have had time to perfect it to a Tee, so I don't blame him and I never will. This is very much still his film, if not moreso now thanks to HAL9000)

The only real issue I have with this edit, and it's only a nitpick but a symbolic one nonetheless, is that the last scene feels less meaningful now. I still get its purpose and strength, but by cutting the earlier scene that sets it up it just seems to have less pre-established weight. The basis for the Rebellion inspiring this kid is a bit lost without a scene to establish the hope they LITERALLY gave to him by giving him the ring. It still has thematic power and perfectly closes the thematic arc of the film, just with slightly less emotional weight than before.

But this is a nitpick... JUST LIKE EVERY COMPLAINT AGAINST THIS FILM:
Glorified Nitpicks.

Which is why you wisely chose not to take out the film so much as things Johnson didn't have time to take out of the film with artistic foresight himself. He had almost 4 hours of content to edit in a little less than 6 weeks, and when you can do better THEN you can criticize him. This cut is now closer to his vision.

Bravo, HAL9000
~Silver Screen Samurai~

i really liked it :)

I have watched the theatrical version 3 times now - once in theatres, twice on blu-ray - and not that I didn't love it, but I did have issues. This cut, however, fixes most, if not all, of my issues, and I do wish this was the cut in theatres. Thank you, Hal and the rest of the people involved from OT.com.

Exquisite work as always. I fully recommend this edit to any detractors of the original film. HAL9000 really showcases his mastery of video and audio editing. A must have for Fanedit collector's.