Star Wars: The Last Jedi: Total Eclipse of the Spark

Updated
Star Wars: The Last Jedi: Total Eclipse of the Spark
Faneditor Name:
Franchise:
Fanedit Type:
Original Release Date:
2017
Original Running Time:
145
Fanedit Release Date:
Fanedit Running Time:
102
Time Cut:
43
Brief Synopsis:
This is a follow-up to my Force Awakens edit “The Ford Awakens”, where Han Solo survived the events of that movie…due to having zero footage of him to use in the Last Jedi, I had to give him a minimal role in the film. He only appears on-screen once (in the scene where he meets Luke…yes, he meets Luke), and the rest of his appearances are represented by various soundbites from the original trilogy, each carefully selected to connect to certain scenes in the third act.
Intention:
To give Han a fighting chance, as well as create a unique, alternate climax that leaves the force with minimal hope.
Release Information:
Digital
Cuts and Additions:
- The edit has a cold open pre-title scene but does eventually lead into the text crawl
- The entire battle with the Dreadnought has been cut. It shoots on the base, the resistance escape.
- Luke is already training Rey when the movie begins.
- Kylo smashing his helmet in a rage is cut
- Canto Bight is retained as is Poe’s whole issue with Holdo and his mutiny, largely to make sure the film was of an acceptable length, it’d be 35 minutes long with the amount of cuts I made.
-.Luke still arrives and assures Leia noone's ever really gone. Film ends on a cliffhanger with seemingly all hope lost and Rey tempted to join the dark side by Kylo.

Plot holes I couldn’t hope to fix:
- Kylo and Snoke’s initial conversation is heavily edited. Kylo has been wounded in battle, but because Rey didn’t wield a lightsaber in my “Ford Awakens” edit, it’s left unclear how he got it. The scene merely serves as a reason to unmask Kylo
- Finn journeyed with Rey and Han to Luke’s island in “The Ford Awakens” but is back with the fleet here, again, this was because I could not work out how to get him off the island or even have scenes with them on the island. Just assume he got tired waiting for Rey to complete her training and went back to help the resistance.
Cover art by Zarius (DOWNLOAD HERE)
image

User reviews

2 reviews
Overall rating
 
8.0
Audio/Video Quality
 
9.5(2)
Audio Editing
 
8.0(2)
Visual Editing
 
7.5(2)
Narrative
 
7.5(2)
Enjoyment
 
7.5(2)
(Updated: March 17, 2020)
Overall rating
 
9.0
Audio/Video Quality
 
10.0
Audio Editing
 
9.0
Visual Editing
 
8.0
Narrative
 
9.0
Enjoyment
 
9.0
Another masterpiece by Zarius! It was the perfect follow up to the Ford Awakens. You get Ha,n Leia, and Luke. Not together, but close.

I was hoping some deleted scenes would be in there to replace the cuts. Maybe they were, but so subtly I didn't notice. When I read it would focus more on Rey training with Luke it would have been fun to see her trying to rescue that village. The part where Han is in the Falcon near the end was only audio, and I thought maybe they could have been enhanced by some shots of him in the cockpit, if only to show he was really there.

Most people can't stand that scene where Leia uses the Force, but I've never felt that way. Keeping her alive when some think she should have just perished in space has always been a delightful surprise to me. A little morbid how some just want to see how they kill her off since she had passed away by then. I would have simply not had her get blown out into space if they don't want that. But anyway, that scene is the same as in the theatrical version here.
The cliffhanger ending was pretty good. I know I hate those in the theater when it's going to be a couple of years before the conclusion. It works in this case though. It's an exciting and interesting new way to see this movie and I like it a lot.

User Review

Do you recommend this edit?
Yes
Format Watched?
Digital
Report this review Comments (0) | Was this review helpful? 0 0
Overall rating
 
7.0
Audio/Video Quality
 
9.0
Audio Editing
 
7.0
Visual Editing
 
7.0
Narrative
 
6.0
Enjoyment
 
6.0
Zarius follows up his Ford Awakens edit to continue the sequel trilogy with the inclusion of a lost iconic hero. While I didn't enjoy the original TLJ movie, the idea and scope of this edit was intriguing in retaining Solo and I was curious as to how this would play out in an edit.

The inclusion of Han did feel a little forced as he literally just pops up on screen for a second and then disappears. Zarius was clear about this, and I don't think it was the main focus of the edit so I didn't base a lot of my rating on this, but it it really was a blink and you missed it moment. This is understandable from a source footage stand point, but I found it a bit distracting.

A more central focus to the edit was Zarius' attempt to tighten things up by removing some key sequences of the film. The removal of the opening space battle was handled well and the edit moved along without too noticeable of cuts, but as the edit progressed some of the transitions between the end of scenes and incoming scenes felt a little forced at times. Some scenes did feel like they had been shortened here and there to achieve the new narrative. Those narrative changes, while they increased the pace of the film, left me a little confused with characters and their intentions/motivations (cut space battle but Rose still talks about her sister, Kylo's helmet and wound, Holdo and Poe, etc.) Interestingly, I think the narrative changes actually took a lot of focus off of Rey and put more on Finn and his journey, or at least that's what I remember the most after viewing.

Personal takeaways:
The audio and video quality looked and sounded good for the presented rendering file size. Some visual and audio cuts were a bit to fast or hard for my personal taste and the narrative changes, while intriguing, were perhaps limited by the source material. Again, I didn't really enjoy the original movie, so the enjoyment rating is more a reflection of the original film and that my interaction with the film itself didn't really change as a result of viewing this edit. I do commend Zarius for taking on a lofty task of continuing a story that includes a character that isn't in the movie itself. It will be interesting to see if JJ can pull it off with the upcoming Rise of Skywalker.
D
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