Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi: Anti-Cringe-Cut

While I do like this like this edit, I don't think it's my ideal edit of the film.

The audio quality is somewhat mixed. A lot of the times it's good, but whenever something like an explosion happens the music and other sfx are blown out and the audio gets distorted. At some points, voices are really quiet. This mostly happens with side characters that only have a line or two. For example, when the girl in the command center says, "We have enough fuel for just one jump." and, in the same scene, the Ackbar like character has a line that is just barley audible. There are other instances after this scene where this happens but they are few and far between.

The Poe/Holdo subplot edit is good. The added deleted scenes between the Luke/Rey and the fish nun, Finn and Poe on the bridge, and Luke mourning Han are scenes that should've been apart of the theatrical cut. A lot of smaller cuts did feel noticeable but that's probably because I'm flirting with my own TLJ edit and I know this film a bit too well. I know Canto Bight is a point of contention among fans but I think it and the original Poe/Holdo subplot should be left in. Not because they were particular amazing, it's just without them this film just feels kind of anemic. I thought viewing an edit with them removed will change my mind it only really reaffirmed it. The Luke/Rey and Kylo/Snoke plots are really good already so it's not too bad. I didn't really like Luke's force vision. Maybe I'm misinterpreting it, but we already know Luke knows Rey may turn to the dark side. Why would he need to be reminded by Yoda to stand down? Hell even if he didn't know why would he need to be reminded to stand down at all? I think the theatrical cut worked fine and this extra bit was not needed. I probably dislike this edit the most. Leia's death felt off too. I think a different music track being played here could've helped sell it. The cut directly to Luke in the Falcon just made it feel less authentic. But also with the limited footage it would be a hard sell to begin with. I think just keeping the piano bit that plays originally when Leia as floating space, then trasnitioning to Luke in the Falcon while it still plays would work better.

The removal of Canto Bight, the edited Poe/Holdo subplot, and Leia actually dying have a kind of domino effect the rest of the film. Especially the ending. The ending feels incomplete. Finn is gone most of the movie and then he's just on Canto Bight all the sudden (in a First Order get up no less). Then when the resistance is on the Falcon it just feels abrupt. This is the "domino effect" as this scene kind of has to be abrupt because Leia can't be their because technically she's dead. I think changing the music that plays here to something more somber could help with selling this as the music is trumphant when it doesn't really feel that triumphant. The track worked in the orginal because of Leia's bit about "We have everything we need." but the most triumphant thing about this scene now is the glow of the kaiber crystal (if you can catch it). Maybe instead of having it be revealed at the end that Luke is infact alive, intercut with the Falcon and Luke getting up and looking towards the sunset. You can show that Rey's smile is because she knows Luke is okay or something like that and just use the music from the Luke death scene. Not sure how well this would work, but it's an idea.

It will be interesting to see how episode 9 turns out and if DonKamillo will do an edit of it. If I end up enjoying that, I think I'll enjoy the Anti-Cringe Cut more.

A damn good improvement on the theatrical cut which I thought was frankly terrible. I can honestly say I didn't cringe once which I suppose is mission accomplished. I thought the narrative changes were rather well handled, especially considering just how much was cut, and it's certainly better off for it.

The audio and visual quality is generally good but considering the file size, I thought the image would be a bit sharper. There were a couple points where it looked a bit lower res to me but I do tend to sit quite close at my desk so take that for what you will. However, it is plenty watchable.

Biggest complaint would be what adabisi mentioned about the 5.1 audio where it sticks to the left channel. It was quite distracting so I tried switching back and forth with Stereo which unfortunately wasn't much better with a noticeably narrow soundstage.

Overall I would definitely recommend giving this a watch! It's about as good a version we're going to get.

So, I'm finally getting around to leaving a review...

This edit is great! It is way more enjoyable than the theatrical cut. Killing Leia off was a ballsy move. The green lightsaber at the end when Luke fights Kylo Ren feels a bit off because you can see that it is Anakin's lightsaber instead of the green one that Luke had in ROTJ. That's my only complaint. Very enjoyable and worth the watch. Hopefully when Episode IX comes out you'll edit that one too, so that Leia's death can remain in fanedit continuity

The main problem I had with the movie was the absence of restraint in the display of humor.

The humor made the characters human in the previous movies. In this one (particularly this one), humor imbues the characters of a form of childishness. This diminishes a lot of the feelings displayed in the movie: melancholy, rage, hate, ... They were all numbed.

This edit restores in a seamless manner what makes the essence of the Star Wars saga. Indeed, Luke surviving, Leia dying make the movie a bit of a stand-alone.

Nonetheless, a fantastic feat.

Thank you for your work !

What can I say? I utterly hated the regular film. I hated the pointlessness of the plot. I hated all of the side plot nonsense with almost every character. I despised the way the fanbase that kept this franchise alive for all of the years that we had no films were treated when we spoke up about our dislike for the film. But the assassination of Luke Skywalker's character was the ultimate sin IMO.

Then I watched this edit.

I didn't know this movie had anything redeemable. However after viewing this cut of the film, I can honestly say it felt like a genuine Star Wars film! Although I doubt I could ever love "The Amazing Wonder Rey", I think this film made everything seem much more plausible. No more man shaming and idiotic male characterizations. You instead get strong characters across the board. Useless side plots are gone, the idiotic humor is gone and the tone is much more dire akin to ESB! We get a Luke Skywalker that feels much more realistic. (Disney's worst mistake was not starting this trilogy during the New Jedi Academy years and showing us Luke, Han and Leia together on screen during a peaceful time.) However despite Disney's shortsightedness, this edit leaves Luke alive and feeling more like a character that had his fall and can now rise again and be the light he was always meant to be! I love this edit and I am so grateful it exists! Thank you DonKamillo, and bravo sir! Bravo