Star Wars : An Old Fear

Bad Movies Made Less Bad Presents:
The Sequel Trilogy if the directors had a plan. Hindsight is 20/20.

Major Changes:

• Kylo’s arc is pretty well fleshed out already, the most cohesive character arc of the ST, imo. As much as possible stays for Kylo.
• Rey needs to stay a nobody. And she slowly discovers her powers. She does not hit a stormtrooper with her first shot, and she less powered along the way as much as possible. She is just a special “nobody.”
• Poe’s character arc is nowhere near as complex as Kylo, but pretty much laid out for us.
• Finn is not force sensitive. This means he does not ever make and successful attacks with the lightsaber as well. Only once does he ask Rey about a boyfriend, from then on he keeps friendship motivations. Admittedly, Finn kinda disappears in the final fight, but there are just too many absurd parts to leave him in (no horses on spaceships in this cut!)
• Characters like Hux and Rose have been severely sidelined as they just do not have satisfying character arcs. Both simply fade out of importance in the final movie, but I hope I have not made it too obvious. Hux is no spy, simply muscled out by other power hungry commanders. I loved Rose in TLJ, but without adequate character development in TROS, it was best to minimize her to simply a person helping Finn on HIS character arc. Consequently, the scenes at Canto Bight are greatly reduced, and Rose and Finn simply do not pilot speeders at the battle of Crait.
• "Show, don’t tell" principles in effect as much as possible.

Editing Intent:

My goal was to streamline the storylines of the main characters through all three movies, as if the end was planned from the beginning. Kylo and Rey were of course most important. In my opinion, the end matters most - the "controlling idea" that makes a whole movie experience worth it. The end has to pay off. I started there. Kylo has redemption in death, Rey kills resurrected Palpatine, and the Galaxy shows up FINALLY to help out and defeat an oppressive force. Anything else was expendable.

My editing source for these movies are the original theatrical releases and the AMAZING Hal9000 Edits. Respect.

Four ways to watch:

• Full TLJ Positive Epic Edit

• Two Part Alternate Cut (if you don't like 4h movies)

• Alternate Anti-TLJ Cut (Removes Canto Bight ant the Space Chase)

• Two Part Alternate Cut (if you don't like 4h movies)

Cut List:

Here, (-) represent Hal9000 edits, and (•) represent the additional edits made. I do not want to take credit for other's great work.

Episode VII:

-The Main edit is that Starkiller Base does not fire until close to the end of the film. During the battle over Starkiller Base, the stakes are no longer protecting the Resistance base, but preventing the destruction of the Republic Capitol. Even though they destroy the First Order's superweapon, they fail to do so in time to save the day.

-Intention: To move the destruction of the Hosnian system to the climax of the film, and implement all the little things necessary to facilitate it seamlessly.

-How does this restructuring help the film?

- The second act centers around the events of Maz's castle and remains focused on the characters and their struggle to keep the First Order from finding the map to Luke. The First Order catching up to Han and Rey is sufficient motivation for Finn to decide not to leave, without the Hosnian system being destroyed.

- Starkiller Base firing upon the Hosnian system in the third act links it very closely to Kylo Ren's resolution toward the dark side as he kills Han. Pairing these events magnifies each.

- Han taking a risk motivated by love for his son which brings about costly failure is a dark mirror of Vader doing the same in Return of the Jedi and ending up helping to save the galaxy.

- It alleviates the plot's very close parallel with the original Star Wars.

- Starkiller Base is depicted as functioning in an intuitive way: it drains the nearby star (or "the Sun," as Finn describes it), which covers it in darkness, and then fires on the Republic Capitol. Gone are the awkward questions about why the planet was still in daylight when it fired the first time during the second act, and whether the base is mobile.

- It avoids depicting the Hosnian system clearly visible to the naked eye, very large in the sky, from lightyears away. The official Lucasfilm canon answer is that Starkiller Base created a "space-time disruption," an obvious bandaid answer to apologize for a wanton move on the filmmakers' part. One wonders whether such intersystem spectacles are common in this world, because no one who witnessed the destruction had the slightest trouble identifying what was happening.

- It avoids raising the question of why the Resistance did not begin evacuating their base during the third act when they know they are the target. In the original Star Wars, the Death Star was looming overhead; here, there's no obvious reason why they could not have fled.

-This project was born of the emergent idea from all over the Internet after we all saw the film. Numerous people at OriginalTrilogy.com suggested this idea immediately after release.

See also William Gillis’ blog post which explains his rationale for desiring this change: https://humaniterations.net/2016/03/26/how-to-fix-the-force-awakens/

-Special Thanks to Hal9000 and Everyone at OriginalTrilogy.com who contributed, including: NeverarGreat (Visual and audio effects), Sir Ridley (Visual and audio effects), Jackpumpkinhead (Visual effects), Sherman (Cover artwork), MalàStrana (English and French subtitles), Octorox, Smithers, Chris Solo, Ben_danger, That_OT_Ruler, RogueLeader, Kexikus, Bingowings, Darthrush, ImperialFighter, Yuri_Kenobi, Littlev87, Tomo, Cheebo, DominicCobb, TK251, SkywalkerFan01, Rpvee, Scott109, DigMod, DuracellEnergizer, Sougouk, EddieDean, Willrow-Hood, ForceGhostRecon, Jack of All Trades, Vladius, Spiphisser, Marduk666, Chyron8472, HyperDown, Oojason, DougieP, Edezio Enk’or Valorum, Hardcore Legend, JawsTDS, Yotsuya, StarWarsFan Sweden, Valheru_84, KumoNin, SUP3RDeathStar, Jarbear, Bromeo, RogueLeader, AbramPT, Darth_ender, Possessed, YodaFan67, ChainsawAsh, Guilty, Ray_afraid, Anjohan, Tobar, Fishmanlee , Krlozdac, William Gillis (Blogger who voiced the core idea for this project which appeared shortly after the film’s release), Noodle_Finger (fan editor behind a prior TFA edit)

• Removed Poe’s map discussion with old man cut (to remove needless exposition.)

• Shortened Kylo’s discussion with old man about where he comes. (all mentions of Kylo’s parentage removed until Han reveal to Leia to add mystery)

• Reduced Captain Phaser where possible (not a real character arc). Stormtroopers fire on villagers sooner. She doesn’t question Finn about helmet removal. Removed her discussion with Hux.

• Removed Rey’s first trip to the junk outpost, removed for pacing.

- As Finn mans the TIE fighter with Poe, trimmed firing upon fellow stormtroopers so soon after planning to escape. Now, he causes peripheral damage to prevent them from firing at him and takes aim at the command center. (Slightly shifted the placement of the film’s trademark Wilhelm scream in order to retain it.)

- Removed Kylo Ren identifying Finn’s stormtrooper ID from memory.

- Added the Falcon jumping to hyperspace after leaving Jakku, then being ripped from hyperspace soon after, along with removing a now-out-of-place line from Finn about “get[ting] out of this system.” (FX by NeverarGreat)

- Removed Rey saving Finn from the rathtars, cutting from Finn’s line, “They look like that,” to Han and Chewie arriving at the door to the Falcon.

- Removed General Hux from the first scene with Snoke, where he suggests using the weapon to destroy the Republic. (FX by Jackpumpkinhead to remove Hux walking offscreen during first shot)

• Moved any visual reveal of Starkiller base to right before the Resistance is looking at diagrams, replacing them with other First Order fleet shots.

• Removed mention of the Knights of Ren.

• Removed Snoke’s mention that Han was Kylo’s Dad.

- Removed Finn’s comedic line about almost being killed several times by Chewie while tending to him on the Falcon (Mimicked DigModiFicaTion’s approach).

• Removed Han’s mention that BB8’s map is not complete.

• Re-editted Finn’s confession to Rey to reduce romantic affection.

- After Rey flees Maz's castle after her Force vision, replaced the Hosnian system being destroyed in the sky with a Star Destroyer. Finn and Han now gaze up to see that the First Order has caught up with them, as they feared. Finn’s line to Han about the First Order has been changed, including a brief visual modification to his mouth. (FX by Sir Ridley and NeverarGreat)

• Removed Han’s line about liking Chewie’s gun (they’ve known each other for decades, only now he tries the bowcaster?)

- Removed Han shooting a stormtrooper while facing the other way.

• Depowered Finn for lightsaber fight with stormtrooper. He does not land any attacks.

- Throughout the battle at Maz’s castle, applied a slight sunset color correction to harmonize the sunset lighting present before and afterward.

• Re-editted to Han now reveals Kylo’s parentage for the first time when he first speaks with Leia.

- New deleted scene included of Leia discussing the Republic. The scene was originally intended for earlier in the film, and Leia’s prominent braid has been removed to match her scenes immediately prior and after. Audio has been redesigned to accompany a finished film, and the sequence retimed to accommodate it. (FX by Sir Ridley and NeverarGreat)

- When Finn is introduced to Leia, removed mention of the Hosnian system's destruction, though retained mention that Finn had worked on the base (thanks to FX work by NeverarGreat).

- R2 now has a blinking light to indicate that he has begun searching for the map. (FX by NeverarGreat)

• Reduced Han and Leia’s discussion about Kylo to make Leia seem more focused, and somewhat implies Han was more of an absent dad. (Not great for Han, but needed for Kylo’s character arc)

- After Rey resists Kylo Ren's mind probe, added the portion of the Snoke scene from earlier where General Hux suggests using the weapon to destroy the Republic. Kylo Ren’s face has been overlaid where his mask was for one shot, and a few shots from behind have had the back of his head replace his hood. (FX by Jackpumpkinhead and krlozdac)

- Moved General Hux's impassioned speech to after Kylo Ren overreacts to Rey's escape from her cell.

- After the speech, the nearby Sun beings to be drained, as Hux and the troops gaze upon the stream being sucked into the planet. (Recolored to yellow-orange, and reversed so as to appear to be going down into the ground)

- During the briefing scene at the Resistance base, removed Leia identifying their base as the Starkiller's next target, Threepio lamenting the prior loss of the Republic fleet, and well as mention that the First Order is charging the weapon "again."

- Cleaned up the smoke and debris around the Starkiller weapon exhaust when the X-Wings approach. (FX by NeverarGreat)

• Re-edited “Oh Really, you’re cold?” by Han to leave “the force doesn’t work like that! Oh really?”

- During a brief cutaway to the Resistance base as Han and Chewie infiltrate the oscillator, removed Threepio's line, "It would take a miracle to save us now."

- Removed Finn’s comedic moment of misunderstanding Han’s head nod while searching for Rey (Mimicked DigModiFicaTion’s approach).

- Immediately after Kylo Ren kills Han, the Starkiller fires and destroys the Hosnian system, as Leia senses it through the Force. (Some FX by Sir Ridley and NeverarGreat)

- As Finn and Rey start to head outside the oscillator, cut to Snoke and Hux planning to destroy the Resistance. (FX by Sir Ridley)

- First Order technician redubbed to state the weapon will be fully “re”-charged in 30 seconds. (Voice from AbramPT)

• Depowered Finn for the lightsaber fight with Kylo. He is seen only defending, he does not land a strike on Kylo.

• Removed Hux’s plea to Snoke to leave Starkiller base as well as Snoke’s mention of completing Kylo’s training.

- Chewie has been cropped out of a shot of him walking past Leia. (Crop and image enhancement by Sir Ridley)

- Extended the shot of R2 waking up, to allow him to finish searching his backup data. (FX by NeverarGreat)

• BB-8 immediately fills R2-D2s map with the missing piece, not needing Poe to give it the chip.

- Color corrected Ach-to to bring it a little closer to the corresponding scene’s lighting and weather conditions in The Last Jedi.

• The end of Episode VII cuts into Episode VIII, so the transitions in meeting Luke are different.

Episode VIII:

- Special Thanks to Hal9000 and Everyone at OriginalTrilogy.com who contributed, including: Poppasketti (FX shots and ideas), DarthRush (FX shot and ideas), Pleasehello (FX shot), Snooker (Fx shot), ChainsawAsh (DTS audio), MalàStrana (English and French subtitles), Natedug (Cover artwork, style mimicking Sherman’s TFA:R artwork), Krlozdac, TiMartyn, NeverarGreat, One69chev, Collipso, BMadden, Drakul, StrafeSawdoffe, TV’s Frink, HerekittykittyX, DominicCobb, Jarbear, LordRorek, Imadethisfortheanticheeseedit, Zachary VIII, OutboundFlight, RogueLeader, Handman, Dr. Krogshöj, Nightstalkerpoet, EddieDean, DZ-330, Nd4spd, ChiefWamsutta, Valheru_84, TK-422, Possessed, CourtlyHades296, AbramPT, CarterStarkiller, Cheebo, Snoke&mirrors, Sir Ridley, Anjohan, Kaweebo, Oojason, TheLostJedi, Littlev87, Dat_SW_Guy, Toastedzen, Adywan, Tobar, Ziggyonice, Arosa1091, Chyron8472, TK251, Bop, Gimpy, LeonardoRamos, Octorox, Jrs81, Bromeo, Iryin01, Noodle_Finger

• Moved as many scenes as possible with Luke and Rey on Ach-To to BEFORE the Rebel base evac.

- Used poppasketti’s audio to change the emphasis as Luke tosses the lightsaber

- Removed Luke’s quip about Jakku being “pretty much nowhere”

- Reinstated the 'Luke Has a Moment' deleted scene (Audio transition tweaked slightly by poppasketti)

• Moved 'Luke Has a Moment' deleted scene to right after he is told about Han’s death (sorry Hal)

⁃ Removed both appearances from the ‘Caretakers’ on Ach-to (with a visual effects shot courtesy of OT.com user snooker)

⁃ Trimmed away the lone porg who gives Chewie the doughy eyes, though leaving the joke intact otherwise

⁃ Removed Luke’s line to R2, “Nothing can make me change my mind.”

- Removed silly mugshot of Hux after commenting on Poe’s X-wing approach

⁃ Trimmed the opening ‘prank call’ joke to prevent it from venturing into SNL territory while retaining the core of the humor

- Trimmed Paige kicking the ladder slightly

- Reinstated the deleted scene where Poe gives Finn back his jacket (with scene transition provided by OT.com user pleasehello) (Audio transition tweaked slightly by poppasketti)

- Removed Rose responding to Finn’s MTFBWY with “…you too”

- Tightened Finn and Rose’s reaction to Maz’s line “Oh yes, he can” for slightly better timing

• Removed all mention of Leia and Rey’s beacons. (seems silly that they would assume the “impossible light speed tracking” and not suspect someone cracked the silly beacons, which seems simpler)

• Re-edited Ma’z codebreaker info to make more sense, removed the line about the high roller tables.

⁃ Cut down the first sequence at Canto Bight to focus on finding the codebreaker.

• Removed even more from Canto Bright casino room shots

- Blended the original Anakin lightsaber ignition sound with the existing different sounds for two shots

- Made it appear as though Finn and Rose follow DJ out of the cell, briefly elude the guards, and the scene ends. Next time we see the trio, they are already in hyperspace (also removing the implication in the later scene that BB8 helped steal the ship).

• Removed the side plot of Rose’s necklace needed by the codebreaker (felt hollow, this is more about Finn learning)

• Added Leia’s jedi training sequence as a memory as she is drifting in space.

- Used a few shots from a deleted scene to remove the iron/spaceship gag, which borrowed from an old spoof which laughed at Star Wars rather than along with Star Wars (film speck removed by OT.com user poppasketti)

⁃ Trimmed some of the comedy with BB8 being placed under a basket

- Removed Snoke saying he would destroy “the entire island” on Ach-To (seems odd without having established Caretakers live there which Rey cares about)

⁃ Trimmed the heavy, direct hinting before Snoke’s death, using musical score from TFA (courtesy of OT.com user poppasketti)

⁃ Removed the detail from Kylo Ren that Rey’s parents are buried in the Jakku desert, as this seems at odds with the vision we saw in The Force Awakens and further details revealed in The Rise of Skywalker.

⁃ Moved the scene with Luke and Yoda to immediately prior to Leia looking out over Crait (using audio and video provided by OT.com user Darthrush)

⁃ Removed Finn’s line about the battering ram canon being “old Death Star tech,”

• Removed Poe’s “A what now?”

• Removed Finn and Rose from Speeders (extensive cuts) and streamlined story here.

⁃ Removed Rey’s triple-TIE combo shot, with the Falcon’s involvement in the battle being first revealed with its shadow sweeping by and a single TIE being shot down

⁃ Trimmed Hux ordering fighters to follow the Falcon, leaving this poor tactical move to be attributed to Kylo Ren’s emotional priorities

⁃ Removed Finn’s line, “Oh, they hate that ship!”

⁃ The crate Luke sits on as he talks with Leia is now stationary and motionless, unaffected by him (effect provided by OT.com user poppasketti)

- Removed ‘Matrix’ shot where Luke dodges Kylo’s saber in slow-motion (idea from TiMartyn)

- Removed spot on the sun as Luke gazes out after collapsing, which caused some presumably inadvertent misdirection for some upon first viewing (courtesy of OT.com user poppasketti)

• Removed any shots of Physical Luke after he disappears from Crait – he simply disappears from Ach-To too, just leaving the robe shots.

• Removed Hux’s extended glare at Kylo in the evacuated rebel base on Crait, as he is now being sidelined.

• Removed Broom kid scene unfortunately, as we cut directly to Episode IX with Kylo hacking people up on Mustafar.

Episode IX:

I did this episode's changes while Ascendant was being worked on. Once Hal9000 officially released it, I reviewed it for any more optimizations I could add. Big thanks to Hal9000, “jonH,” and everyone at OriginalTrilogy.com who contributed, including: poppasketti (voice, audio and visual FX), jonh (visual FX), skenera (visual FX), DominicCobb (clips provided), Sir Ridley (visual FX), axlanian , krausfadr, RogueLeader (voice and audio work), ChainsawAsh (DTS encode), snooker (visual FX), Burbin , ||FanEditore, nevertellmetheodds, LILLIAN02230 (audio work), Chase Adams, Cinefy (music mockups), sade1212 (video help), idir_hh (video help), Luka Frik (video help), Octorox (video help), mrbenjamino (audio work), bbghost (audio work), MaláStrana (help proofreading French subtitles), 13las, 1amJanus, AaronSW, AbramPT, act on instinct, Adaman Kenobi, adobewan, Anakin Starkiller, AnEyeOut, Axios, babajaga, BadeHistory731, BedeHistory731, BeenByTheDuneSea, Bmadden, Broom Kid, Burbin, Buzz Lightyear, buzzclub, CamSMurph, CarterStarkiller, Clavis

CMMAP, commandercluck, CourtlyHades296, darkshadowspike, DarkSpecter5K, darksteel1335, Darth Giacomo, Darth Muffy, Darth Sadifous, DarthYcey, Dat_SW_Guy, Delpheas, Dendros, Dexter Jettster’s Lab, dgraham414, Dorksyde, double A-ron, drakesepi0I, Drakul, DuracellEnergizer, DZ-330, Ed Slushie, EddieDean, EddyMerkxs, fidodido, FreezingTNT2, GeekForFun, Gimpy, hedgesmfg, hitfan, Hoop28, Humby, HyperDown, HyperDown, Ice, Icecream2448, ilFanEditore, InitAbsolute, Jackpumpkinhead, JakeRyan17, Jamesleaf, Jar Jar Bricks, jarbear, Jaws123DRevenge, jeangreyforever, jkimm, JKMaxx, Johannus, JonMalder, jordan_winter, Josanael, jrs81, JurassicNinja, kewlfish, Keysarsoze001, kingofmonsters, Knight of Kalee, krlozdac, Krusfadr, KumoNin, LeperMessiah117, LesPaul32, Lesser, Lifeincontext, Lightsideuser, Llirael Moroth, macesmajored, MaestroDavros, majoras_wrath, Masquerade Overture, MasterSolo, MDDBatman, medioCORE, Molten, monsterchief, moondear, moralcrocodile, moripro2311, mrsmith, natm, Neerb, NeverarGreat, nevertellmetheodds, NFBisms, nicko1981, nightstalkerpoet, nl0428, Ocrop27, omnimuffin, oojason, oviniboy, Paden, Panakin, Papa’s_rod, phineasbg, pleasehello, PodracingThisis91, potatoechip, regularjoe, Rh_2002, rocknroll41, schizopolis23, Schmendrick, sgroov90, Sh0ckwa73, ShadowCloudX, Siliconmaster482, SilverKey, Sir Ridley, SkeletonPack, SkywalkerArts, SleepyBear, sloppy_rig, smpearce1981, SomethingStarWarsRelated, specialk2121, StarkillerAG, stein, stevepaynter, Switchitup, szopman, Tammer5, Terrybartoner, TheAlaskanSandman, thebluefrog, TK-422, TK42-WAN, Tobar, Toblerone, Vidmaster, xxtelecine 7xx, yic17, yotsuya, ZaneFlare92

• Cut Kylo on Mustafar.

• Replaced footage of Snoke in the cloning tanks with Palpatine in the cloning tanks (thanks poppasketti)

• Removed Palpatine’s line about creating snoke and being all the voices in his head.

• Removed his promise of a fleet. The motivation for Kylo to align is simply vanity, about truly becoming the next Vader.

• Removed plotline about Rey connecting with all the past Jedi.

• Edited down Rey’s training, removing Leia training her all altogether.

• Added future Palpatine shots to Rey’s vision during training

• Removed the notorious ‘lightskipping” scenes all together

• Edited Rebels discussion to remove mention of a Sith fleet.

• Removed Rey and Leia’s discussion about leaving. (too forced, sorry Leia. You do best when you just die in this one, you kinda gave Poe command at the Battle of Crait)

• Removed all of the Pasaana scenes including worm healing, Chewbacca fake death, Rey using lightning.

• Removed Kijimi scenes, including the C3PO’s memory storyline, Zorii storyline.

• Re-edited Rey to say she only sees herself on the Sith Throne

• Reduced almost all of the Jannah storyline

• Removed Finn and Jannah chasing Rey onto the Death Star

• Re-edited Leia to simply be dying, and to calling out to Kylo as her last effort – not the intent to stop Kylo in order to let Rey kill him, Leia never gave up hope.

• Re-edited Kylo and Rey Death star fight to remove Rey stopping Kylo’s lightsaber with the force

• Re-edited Kylo hearing Leia, dropping his saber and Rey stabbing him to be quicker and to feel like Rey quickly took advantage of the situation before realizing how dark that was.

• Removed Kijimi PLANET exploding, implied that only the city was destroyed.

• Re-edit Rebel discussion to remove “planet-killing star destroyers”

• Removed force ghost Luke catching lightsaber.

• Moved Leia Jedi training montage to previous during her Mary Poppinis scene.

• Removed force ghost Luke straining to raise his X-Wing.

• Added subtitle to cult chants “Assembled flesh, rise again!” (my most questionable of all edit choices, imo)

• Removed Palpatine needing Rey to Strike him down.

• Removed all mention of Rey being a Palpatine again

• Removed Ben being tossed down the hole.

• Reordered to have Ben save Rey after they are both struck down by Palpatine. Used 4k footage to crop out the lightsabers in the shot that would affect continuity. Added lightning flashes and sith cult chants in the background.

• All Finn and Jannah storylines in the final fight have been removed (no horses on spaceships)

• Removed “I am all the sith” and “I am all the jedi” chat, its really as simple as a revived Rey kicks a weak Palpatine’s ass.

- The ghostly visages of Yoda, Obi-Wan, Anakin, and Luke appear behind Rey and assist with overpowering the Emperor (incredible visual FX work from jonh)

• Added Ben to final force ghost vision (thanks jonH)

- The holochess scene between Chewie, Finn, and Poe has been moved to Tatooine

• Removed Rey’s new lightsaber reveal, and the interaction with the old woman on tatooine. Hopefully this leave an ambiguous ending that can be debated about what the ending means – is she ending the jedi for good? Or is she simply closing the Skywalker saga?

- The final shot has been replaced with the Falcon taking off, flying toward the suns, and jumping to hyperspace. (FX by snooker and poppasketti)