Star Wars: Rise of the Rebellion (Survival Edition)

Having just completed this I've gotta say "wow!"

What a great set of changes to the movie, most notably of course the deepfakes (amazing!) and the new ending (feels good!). I could still tell that there was supposed to be some kind of death at the end, I could just feel it in the framing of the shots, but you worked around it fantastically well and what you gave us was a fun and uplifting rebellion story!

There were very few audio issues, mostly just something soft in the ear like a sound that seems to end quickly, or a voice that disappears too fast, but I know sometimes that unavoidable. Likewise the shots in the ending were done as well as possible, near perfect, but there was a small amount of character movement that didn't (maybe couldn't) line up.

Overall you've created a very fun edit that sucks out the down moments and redeems some of the characters (Cassian especially). Excellent work, would definitely watch again!

Removing several scenes in the 1st act was a good choice, the story flows a lot better this way. The removal of the “soap opera” about Cassian’s orders was also a good cut.

Tarkin and Leia’s deepfakes are the greatest improvement for me. The “uncanny valley” is gone now. Thank you to all those involved in making them look like this.

The new scene of Baze on the beach alongside Chirrut also works very well, it does look a lot more powerful this way.

I personally prefer, storywise, the original version where all the Rogue One crew sacrifice themselves “for the greater good”, but I enjoyed a lot to check this alternative version of the ending. It was seamlessly edited and also worked fine.

Many thanks to the author and all those who helped!

Storywise, this edit is significantly better than the theatrical version of "Rogue One". The story flows better and the characters are the best that they can be with the avilable footage. Most of the editing is excellent, with the exception of a bit starting around 1:53:49, which I'll touch on further on in this review. The audio and visual quality are excellent, looking and sounging more or less identical to the Blu-ray. There are differing opinions on the survival ending, but I personally like and prefer it.

DigModiFicaTion replaced Grand Moff Tarkin's CGI face in most shots with the first version of Shamook's excllent deepfaked versions to be provided by Burbin of OriginalTrilogy.com (since the creation of this fanedit, there has been a second, far more complete and visually improved collection (hereafter "V2" of Shamook's Tarkin deepfakes provided by Burbin). For a few shots for which he could not access Shamook's deepfaked versions at the time, DigModiFicaTion used deepfakes by Jarkan. Finally, he replaced Leia's CGI face with a deepfake by Derpfakes. The Shamook and Derpfakes deepfakes are a significant improvement over the CGI versions (which gave the "uncanny valley" effect), but in my opinion, the Jarkan deepfakes are of such poor resolution as to be distracting.

Starting at about 18:46, Tarkin's face is the original CGI version for two shots lasting several seconds (as there was - and unfortunately still is - no deepfake footage available for that portion). As a result, it doesn't look the same (or as good) as the Shamook shots. However, this is forgivable considering the circumstances.

Starting at about 18:54, Tarkin's face is a deepfake by Jarkan, whose Tarkin deepfake doesn't look nearly as good as Shamook's. The V2 of Burbin's collection of Shamook Tarkin and Leia deepfakes has since become avilable at the Original Trilogy forums, and it contains Shamook's far superior deepfaked version of this shot. If DigModiFicaTion ever makes another updated version of this edit, he could use it.

Starting at about 45:12, Tarkin's face is again a subpar deepfake by Jarkan. Again, Burbin's V2 also contains Shamook's version of this shot and could be used in an updated version of this edit.

Starting at about 45:50, Tarkin's face is a Jarkan deepfake for three shots, these being by far the worst of them. Frankly, these shots look quite bad, the first being downright terrible. Once again, Burbin's V2 features Shamook's versions of these shots.

Starting at about 46:22, Tarkin's face is the original CGI version, as Shamook's version of this shot was not yet avilable (but now is in Burbin's V2.)

Starting at about 1:52:08, Tarkin's face is the original CGI version, as Shamook's version of this shot was not yet avilable (but now is in Burbin's V2.)

The added shot at about 1:53:33 (from a fan film) looks a bit digital compared to the rest of the movie (which was shot digitally but graded to look like film and had film grain added). A bit of film grain would improve the shot.

The two shots starting at about 1:53:49 depicting Jyn and Cassian running on the beach unfortunately do not work. Cassian is injured and has to lean on Jyn to walk in other shots both before and after, so seeing the two running without any limping or Cassian leaning on Jyn just doesn't fit. I don't think these shots were necessary anyway, as the following shots showing Jyn helping a limping Cassian through the U-Wing doorway are enough to sell that they managed to get to the ship. We don't need to see them running on the beach beforehand, as it can simply be assumed that they managed to get to the U-Wing by hastily limp-running there with Cassian leaning on Jyn.

The Derpfakes Leia deepfake, which starts around 1:56:41, is a significant improvement over the original CGI face, but the brightness and contrast are a little off, making it look a little too bright and washed out. Most noticeably, the inside of Leia's mouth looks gray instead of black. I think that a little brightness and contrast correction could fix this. Having looked at both Leia deepfakes carefully, I'm not sure whether I prefer Burbin's V2 of the Shamook one, or the Derpfakes one used in this edit. The Burbin/Shamook one has far better texture/detail and brightness/contrast, but I can't decide which one makes her teeth look more natural, and I think the Derpfakes one might have slightly more natural facial movements (It's hard to tell).

Thanks for this excellent edit of Rogue One! I thought the audio/video edits were very well done and I didn't notice any technical issues due to editing! Narrative-wise, I think this may be the best version of Rogue One (theatrical or edited), you just made it work so much better! As others have said, I do miss the "Are you kidding me, I'm blind" line, but I do fully understand the reason it's no longer there. Overall, this edit of Rogue One is a must watch in my opinion!

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.