Synopsis:

Rekindled is a mostly conservative edit that attempts to improve The Last Jedi experience by trimming or removing some of the weaker sections. Canto Bight has been greatly condensed, Leia's spacewalk removed, and Rose no longer crashes into Poe, to name a few changes. It is always difficult to find the right balance between humor and drama, but this cut hopes to retain the lighthearted spirit of Star Wars while removing parts that distract from the story.

Intentions:

For The Last Jedi, I had a reaction similar to Hal 9000, and his Legendary edit was the most in line with what I wanted to see. It smoothly trimmed Canto Bight and was conservative with regards to cutting humor, along with a host of changes and tweaks I had never even considered that drastically improve the pacing. However, for me there are a few scenes I still have trouble watching, scenes that take me out of the movie every time: Leia’s spacewalk, Finn vs. Phasma, BB8 piloting the imperial walker, and Rose’s “rescue” of Finn. These scenes broke my suspension of disbelief and disengaged me from the story. So, with permission, I have used Hal’s edit as a base, and made a few additional changes.

Change List:

- Trimmed Hux prank call to remove the "mama" joke - Trimmed Paige kicking the ladder slightly (Hal 9000) - Very slightly trimmed Paige’s grabbing the detonator - Tweaked music during Luke's saber toss so it's not a joke (https://vimeo.com/284554005 password: fanedit) - Reinstated the ‘Luke Has a Moment’ deleted scene (Hal 9000) - Reinstated the deleted scene where Poe gives Finn back his jacket (Hal 9000, with scene transition provided by OT.com user pleasehello) - Cut Luke drinking milk (just that shot, not the scene) - Removed both appearances from the ‘Caretakers’ on Ach-to (Hal 9000, 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 (Hal 9000) - Removed Luke’s line to R2, “Nothing can make me change my mind.” (Hal 9000) - Removed Leia's spacewalk (some music and edits inspired by Ivan Ortega’s version) FX shot: transition from bridge explosion to exterior. (https://vimeo.com/282243317 password: fanedit) - Cut Maz's line about having a physical relationship with the codebreaker - Cut down the first sequence at Canto Bight to focus solely on finding the master codebreaker (also removing sounds of coins rattling around inside BB8 in two shots) (Hal 9000) - Blended the original Anakin lightsaber ignition sound with the existing different sounds for two shots (Hal 9000) - 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). (Hal 9000) - Added a center wipe transition from the scene with Finn, Rose, and DJ in hyperspace to the fleet losing their medical frigate (Hal 9000) - 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 (Hal 9000) - Trimmed some of the comedy with BB8 being placed under a basket (Hal 9000) - Trimmed the heavy, direct hinting before Snoke’s death, using musical score from TFA - Removed Finn fighting Phasma and BB-8 in imperial walker. FX shots: rotoscoped BB-8 into two shots (closeup and wide) Finn and Rose escaping hanger (https://vimeo.com/283242749 password: fanedit) - Reinstated Finn/Rose deleted scene in shuttle - Moved the scene with Luke and Yoda to immediately prior to Leia looking out over Crait (Hal 9000, using audio and video provided by OT.com user Darthrush) - Removed Finn’s line about the battering ram canon being “old Death Star tech.” (Hal 9000) - Removed Rose's suicidal "rescue" of Finn and their dialogue after (based on darthrush’s The Dark Cut). Now, Rose gets shot down, and then Finn does. FX shots: two shots of Rose getting shot down (one provided by OT.com user big_gareth), removed Kylo-Ren’s shuttle from shot of AT-AT firing, added sparks and lighting from explosion inside Finn’s cockpit, removed 2nd skimmer from two shots of crash, rotoscoped Finn and Rose out of cannon firing, added reaction shot with explosion light on Kylo-Ren’s face (https://vimeo.com/289775362 password: fanedit) - The crate Luke sits on as he talks with Leia is now stationary and motionless, unaffected by him - Trimmed Hux ordering fighters to follow the Falcon, leaving this poor tactical move to be attributed to Kylo Ren’s emotional priorities (Hal 9000) - Removed Finn’s line, “Oh, they hate that ship!” (Hal 9000) - Removed spot on the sun as Luke gazes out after collapsing, which caused some presumably inadvertent misdirection for some upon first viewing.

Additional Notes:

I used Hal 9000's Legendary edit as a baseline for the edit, conforming my bluray copy to match his edits so there was no generational loss. Some shots had to be taken into After Effects for compositing, but most of the work was done in Premiere Pro.

Other Sources:

John Williams score and other Star Wars sound fx.

Special Thanks:

From OriginalTrilogy.com: Hal 9000 (Legendary edit, ideas and guidance), DarthRush (FX shot and ideas), big_gareth (FX shot and ideas), Pleasehello (FX shot), Snooker (FX shot), ChainsawAsh (DTS audio advice and overall QC), MalàStrana (English subtitles; poppasketti conformed for Rekindled edit), jarbear (ideas), RogueLeader (ideas), NeverarGreat (ideas), Ivan Ortega (ideas), ziggyonice (qc), revstevens (qc), Natedug, jeebus, HyperDown, liambrazier, krlozdac, DigMod, stretch009, One69chev, Collipso, LordPlagueis, BMadden, Drakul, StrafeSawdoffe, TV’s Frink, HerekittykittyX, DominicCobb, LordRorek, Imadethisfortheanticheeseedit, Zachary VIII, OutboundFlight, TiMartyn, 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, Arosa1091, Chyron8472, T