ST The ST: What Would You Change/Revise?

To regurgitate what I wrote earlier, I would have had Han/Leia not know what happened to their son. He was lost years ago during a mission in space or something and is presumed lost, perhaps dead. Except Leia wouldn't accept that and still holds out hope she will find her son. He was training as a jedi at the time with Luke and he blames himself for the loss. Han can't bring himself to tell Leia that their son is likely gone forever and so he still helps her in her search.

This leads us to Ep. VII and Leia asks Han to investigate a disturbance in the Force around Jakku. The film would play out largely like it does but without Starkiller and instead a smaller but highly armed First Order lead by the Knights of Ren with Kylo Ren at the helm. They go around to these ancient Jedi/Force sites in search of artifacts. Jakku is one of those places.

Luke would be on Jedha at the ancient Temple of the Whills, presumably researching something or trying to find something. He's not in hiding. He didn't run away and give up. But his standards of teaching and perhaps his own self blame in the loss of Han/Leia's son while under his ward has made him reluctant and a very tough teacher. So, in all this time, student after student simply doesnt reach his high standard. He is still the only Jedi Knight.

This would create a greater dynamic and tension between the main characters.

Snoke would only be mentioned once in VII as the "supreme commander" or something like that. He would not appear at all. The main villain would be Kylo Ren with secondary support by the Knights of Ren. No Hux except perhaps reimagined as a Knight of Ren. They are in charge of this newly emerging First Order, not just Empire 2.0.

Rey, Finn, and Poe would be emerging characters in the first film but not the main ones. That would happen more over the course of the trilogy until IX, when the new generation finally emerges as true successors of the classic heroes.

 

I always thought Leia and Holdo could have shown they didn't forget the good he did ie - his role in destroying SK base and finding the location to Luke.

Looking forward to part 2.

ps - I laughed at "vistas" thanks to RLM's nerd crew series.

 

I'd change the lightsaber toss

 

Honestly, the biggest change I'd make would be to not have another Skywalker turn to the dark side. I find Kylo/Ben to be the most interesting new character in the trilogy but if given the choice it's definitely not the direction I would have gone.

I'm fine with Luke not having kids, I'm fine with Rey being unrelated and the lead hero. I'd probably have gone with Ben being Luke's first student and Rey becoming Ben's apprentice (so you'd have Luke, Ben, Rey in a similar type of relationship to CW Obi-Wan, Anakin, Ahsoka). Or, you could probably preserve much of Luke's arc if you wanted, keeping Lucas' idea for Luke to be in isolation at the start of the trilogy before Rey comes to him. There could still have been a betrayal, just not by Ben, and Luke could have sent Ben back to Leia and then gone to Ahch-To. Ben could then be struggling with following Luke's instructions to not be a Jedi vs his own feelings that the galaxy needs them. He could struggle to help Rey because his own training is incomplete. They would both face temptations to darkness but overcome them as all Jedi must.

I've not really put anymore thought into fleshing out details or story. That's just the one broad change I would have made.

 

The biggest thing for me would be no character assassination of Luke and Han.

And both would have lived.

 

I would've had Kylo Ren's mask voiced by Bobcat Goldthwait.

 

Let Rey join Ben.
That would have been a Huge Huge twist and also the movie was building up to that point.

 

And since we've already seen Luke save Anakin, having Rey turn evil would not be considered a rip-off by the fans.

Plus, who cares about Rey anyway? And the way this moronic trilogy is going, "subverting expectations" might even make Disney happy.

 

Agree 100%, drama could have been made with other story choices.

 

Yeah, and if they want to they can always redeem Rey in the last episode. Her friendship with Finn can do that magic.
Honestly I was so excited when Ben killed Snoke and they teamed up, I was like "OMG there are really going this path!!! What a MOVE!!!"
just to be let down when they(Rey and Ben) get seperated moments later...

 

I would have waited for The Force Awakens to finish production, or at least be in advanced stages of production so that Rian wouldn't have been kept in the dark only writing TLJ based on a script for TFA in 2014. I would have done this even if it meant having to delay TLJ (which they did eventually do anyway). It would have only meant waiting an extra 4 months, and they seemingly finished TLJ ahead of schedule anyway

This way, Rian could have been working off actual footage of TFA or a rough cut of the movie before writing his script.

Stated below: Rian started writing TLJ before production of TFA even began. All he had was a draft of TFA script, most likely not the final draft:

https://www.slashfilm.com/rian-johnson-interview-highlights/

 

Yep. I still think Rey would have worked better as a padawan in Luke's Jedi Order who he picked to go with him as he went off to hunt for Kylo Ren. You could still have Rey be the focus of the story and Luke's character would not have been ruined.

 

Simply keep George Lucas around as a creative consultant rather than making him feel like he was being ignored or pushed away.

To go on step further, make each saga film one at a time. I would not have started production on a sequel until it's predecessor released on home video. That doesn't mean the Sequel Trilogy couldn't be developed over time as a whole. Have a plan, just don't rush things.

 

You can have Luke and Han regress in their arcs as long as you represent this sufficiently on screen so that it can make dramatic sense. The errors this "creative" group has made is to not develop the drama well.

How I would revise the ST -- you make it more overtly about entitlement vs. merit.

You do this by showing Luke training Rey and Kylo. We see how she's hardworking and has become Luke's heir due to her merit. We see how Kylo wants shortcuts because he believes he deserves them due to being family.

That's a great story, and you might even show how Han and Leia were caught in the middle.

Kylo decides to bring the Sith back because he feels disrespected. He embraces Vader for clear reasons now, not a vague mystery.

This is all so easy to write, and it's all so good, I'm shocked that LFL fumbled the ball.

 

Everything after the throne room Scene feels like it was tacked on or rewritten. I do fell like RJ did have a story that would have challenged everything and subverted expectations but then someone at the last minute vetoed it and the movie was completely changed and restructured. It would make sense given the rumors that Crait was the original opening sequence of the film perhaps a lot of the film was restructured and he worked hard to keep the footage that was already shot. Rey and Kylo leaving with the FO and Resistance going up in flames does feel like the direction the movie was going for a long time.

 

OMG...I would rewind time and force GL NOT to sell!!!!!

 

At this point, I would go with the twilight zone-ish Rey being a dark side spy all along twist I've been hearing about.

It retrospectively makes so many parts of both TFA and TLJ make more sense:

-Rey is a Knight of Ren. And she is much older than she looks. She invents a backstory of being a lone scavenger on Jakku as a cover to infiltrate the Resistance
-she's well trained in the dark side of the force. so she can sense things, like the map inside BB8, Luke's lightsaber, etc. After touching Luke's saber, she is running away because she has everything she needs. Kylo Ren, who isn't in on the secret, freezes her, she doesn't fight back because she is pretending to be a random girl
-It's why Unkar and her act like they don't know each other, because they don't
-Her acting like she wants to be a resistance member while on Jakku is really her method acting to prepare to be a spy in the resistance
-It's why she is so willing to leave Jakku with Finn and keeps asking him for the resistance base location persistently
-her mission is to get the map to Skywalker for Snoke, then go to Luke and pose as a random girl
-Luke doesn't completely fall for it. He's the only one to sense something is not right with Rey so he rejects her and tosses the lightsaber thinking it's not real and tests her repeatedly tp try to out her, explaining his out of character behavior. Her cover is almost blown when she doesn't reject the dark side and she tries to read Luke's mind
-All her training on Arch-to is fake, she's just pretending
-Kylo Ren is not in on the secret plan and is genuinely puzzled by her power
-Everything in the throne room before Snoke dies is a test for Kylo. Rey is part of that test. Snoke says "My faithful apprentice" and the camera focuses on Rey, not Kylo. Rey appears totally calm and not scared at all in the throne room
-When Kylo read Rey's mind, she allowed him to but tried to hide the plan to him, she inadvertently let him read too much about Snoke's motivation, which caused Kylo to feel used and betrayed, so he plans to usurp Snoke
-In TLJ after leaving Arch To, Rey has no reason to continue playing the random girl character, so she acts more dark sidely, and dresses so (dark grey). Her fighting style is more refined in the battle against the guards. The guards don't know her identity so they fight her and she is forced to joing forces with kylo, then tries to kill him when he asks her to join him
-Snoke dying put a wrench in her plan, so she goes back to playing the Rey scavenger with the resistance character

Now Rey can still ultimately choose the side of good in the end....after spending so much time with them she turns. Rey and Finn end up kind of like Jorah Mormont and Danaerys. Somewhere along the line she chooses to side with him over TFO and the Knights of Ren. It takes awhile for her to earn Finn's trust after her confession that she was a spy.

 

Amen

 

I would have just kept the same schedule for the ST like the OT and PT, a film every three years.

 

I’m not getting any younger, and want a film a year.

 

Heavy emphasis on Knights of Ren as villains and anti-heroes.

-Removal of Hux, Phasma, Kanjiclub.
-Removal of Poe and Finn.
-Introduction of Knights of Ren since the very beginning, in TFA.
They are all Force Users, Luke's former students of different age, wielding lightsabers, lightwhips, light-staffs.
Vibe-wise they are the NAZGULS of SW: shadowy figures serving their Master, Snoke.
A) One of them will form the rivalry duo with Kylo Ren. Both of them are like Optimus Prime and Megatron, two leaders, fighting for the Snoke's attention. There will be alot of tension between them throught the whole trilogy, arguing on what to do with Resistance, Old Trio, Rey, Snoke etc.
B) One of them will be Starscream to Kylo Ren's Megatron.
C) Two of them will be husband and wife, that keep some secret (probably are Rey's parents or other plot twist).
D) One of them is Snoke personal guard.
E) One of them has no presence in TFA.

All three movies has basically the same central plot except there are no lame villains, and all stuff that happened, based on relationships between Kylo and Knights of Ren, and Rey.

TFA
During the whole TFA we see Kylo, KoR "A", "B" and "C" searching for the map to Luke Skywalker. All for different reasons.
KoR "B" betrays Kylo in the end of TFA, wouding him instead of Chewi, thus making him unable to stand against Rey.
KoR "A" kills KoR "B" and rescues Kylo from SKB.

TLJ
KoR find out the place where Luke hide. Kylo has the same attitude towards Rey, and KoR "A" intrigues by it, and watch it from the side. He thinks Rey gonna be their demise.
Meanwhile KoR "E" returns from Uknown Regions with some info for Snoke. They leave the details behind the curtains. KoR "E" is badass and he hunts down Resistance (Leia and Han).
Meanwhile Kylo, KoR "A" and "C" come to Ach-To to attack Luke and Rey.
Sudden revelation is that KoR "C" want Luke to tell them where is their daughter. Tension grows, and it leads to 2 vs 2 vs 2 battle. Kylo and KoR "A" vs Luke and Rey vs KoR "C".
At some point Kylo blocks KoR "A" deadly attack against Rey and them both retreated.
KoR "C" reveal they are Rey's parents. There is the backstory. Together they decide to bring down Snoke. Luke is a dickhead so KoR "C" and Rey leave Ach-To without him.
TLJ ends with Rey and KoR "C" facing Snoke, KoR "D", KoR "E" and Kylo with KoR "A". There is the BIG showdown.
Snoke dies by the hand of KoR "A" and Kylo.
KoR "E" and KoR "D" die protecting Snoke.
Rey's parents die in a fight. Depends of what you want, either Kylo or KoR "A" kill them. Thats the big shoking moment.
Luke comes for the rescue. He knocks down both Kylo and KoR "A" and saves Rey.

Ep9
KoR "A" and Kylo are the leaders of FO. It somewhat reminds Darth Revan and Darth Malak relationships.
Plot is Rey vs Kylo and KoR "A" and Kylo vs KoR "A". Will someone be redeemed and who would it be?
The end.

Thats how you need to use the full potential of KoR, and not leave them for the very last movie, that has already been overloaded with characters.

 

If THESE films are the result?

 

I loved Rogue One (now my favorite SW film), really liked Solo, enjoyed TFA well enough, and appreciated parts of TLJ. So far, SW looks to be on the right track.

 

While I can obviously not have knowledge of the timeline in an alternative universe, I think all evidence points to at least 2 of these films having the potential of being better, if there was more time to develop them. I am not even making any assumption about the quality of the films, cause that can be very subjective, but it does feel that if they had been stretched out in a less frequent timeline, many things would have gone more smoothly, and it's quite possible that this would have improved the quality of the films.

I wish I could feel the same about the right track of Star Wars..... with current developments and plans in the big screen, I would say I feel the opposite. The TV world though seems more promising.