Star Wars: Rise of the Rebellion (Survival Edition)

Rogue one was, for the first time, something different to what we where used to in Star Wars films. I remember people around me commenting so and they where right. Unfortunately, for me, that wasn't enough to make me like it, no matter how excellent the visual effects or cinematography where. My overall enjoyment was around 5-6. At first I gave a try to "Rogue One: The Battle of Scarif" by eldusto84. Although technically an excellent edit and it actually succeeded in creating a 50min version of this movie without feeling like a mess, it was far too aggressive for me. I mean, if we didn't do that with "The Phantom Menace", we certainly didn't need to do this with this one.

Technical-wise, the audio and visual editing for "Rise of Rebellion" is excellent! I didn't notice or "feel" that anything was tampered with, in any scene. And that goes also for DigiModiFicaTion's "non survival" version of this. So job well done here! Not that I was expecting anything less, having seen before "The Coaxium Heist" and "Thor: Ragnarok trimmed edition" by the same editor.

On the narrative side of things, which is the most important part for me, it was also a big improvement! More streamlined, less annoying parts, clever addition removing Saw looking down the secret hatch from the first time and of course, what the title advertises, we get a happy ending! Although, I feel the movie needed a biiit more extra trimming. It still feels too long. Otherwise, the changes where great!

So, this edit is reccomended to anyone who found the original 'ok' and above. If you did, this or the "non survival" edition, will be your go-to version! For me it's the non-survival version because of 'canon' reasons. What happened to all these guys after Rogue One, since they lived? To anyone who did not like the original at all, I don't think this will do anything for you.

Thank you DigiModiFicaTion, thanks to anyone who read my review and may the force be with you!

P.S. I copy pasted here like 90% of my review from the non-survival version, because it also applies here. I just changed or added the stuff that where for this version only.

Rogue One is the only Star Wars movie outside of the original films that I felt did the OT any credit. It had the look and feel of the classic Star Wars and I didn't think it could possibly be improved upon. Then along comes DigModiFicaTion and proves me wrong! All of the changes are welcomed, no matter how small or big: whether removing planet title cards, or replacing Tarkin's/Leia's face with the deepfake ones. But, of course, the biggest change of all in this edit is having the Rogue One crew survive their mission. This was a bold undertaking and I couldn't wait to see how he'd do it... But boy, did he. Really clever editing has achieved a happier ending through what was, in my eyes, seamless editing. And a massive improvement on the original film. It never sat well with me, the original 'Dirty Dozen' ending - now Jyn and friends live to see another day. It's a shame K2SO couldn't also be saved, as he was easily the best character in the whole film. But his sacrifice remains a touching and noble one. I take my hat off to you, sir! You have done great things here and this is my new go to version of this film :)

** On a side note, there is only one change that I would have made to this edit, and that is to reinstate Chirrut's line of "Are you kidding me? I'm blind!" which I thought was a great line and did not detract from the movie or his character in any way.

A solid edit - well planned and beautifully executed!
I loved the theatrical cut well enough to buy the blu-ray, and greatly appreciated "RotR - A Rogue One Edit", but Survival Edition is definitely my new go-to version. I truly enjoyed this edit. It managed to trim to perfection the annoying bits (mostly Saw Guerrera and the Tentacled Interrogator, but also the original depressing ending) and smooth out several tiny bits (like ADRed lines and fan-service).
My only issue is that the survival bit is very jump-cutty, but given the source material - amazing work.

I really enjoyed this edit, a different ending to one of my favorite Star Wars movies. This won't be my go to version, but it was a nice fun change. Technically it was very solid, not perfect but very solid. Nice work!