Finn's stormtrooper uprising is THE BEST part of this unused script, and it's criminal that it wasn't used. The Rey and Poe stuff is really trash though, Poe basically does nothing and Rey's arc just feels like it needs a few more drafts (which it probably got). I'd love to see how far these ideas were refined before Disney chickened out and went back to J.J..
Aye, the Finn stuff really is the strongest part of the film. Honestly, I think that’s why Trevorrow wanted to shoehorn Poe and Ray, two characters that had only shared a single scene in the first two sequel films, into a romantic relationship: It gave him something to do with them, despite it being generic as balls (and, based on the actual text of it, fairly negging in tone, something that’s common with Trevorrow’s romance subplots >_> ).
It is a great point that most people overlook that this leaked script was from long enough before Trevorrow was fired that there is probably already a version with issues ironed out, and long before the final version where even more would have been.
wonder if they could use this as an alternate timeline story and it can be still considered canon in the Star Wars universe we know parallel universes exist as shown in Star Wars Rebels cartoon.
@FN-1701AgentGodzillaRangerPrime-El Or an alternate universe where Snoke wasnt a palps clone and palps died in RotJ, or Battlefront 2 (is that canon?).
Luke encouraging Rey to kill Kylo is insanely off-base for Luke’s character. It’s completely counter to his refusal to face Kylo Ren in the flesh at the end of the last Jedi, because the real reason he went to crait was to apologize to Ben. Thematically it doesn’t follow up the last Jedi well at all in this regard.
I agree. I also think the idea of balancing between light and dark fundamentally misunderstands the original idea (and yes, I know Clone Wars also takes this approach).
Completely agree. Luke Skywalker asking Rey to kill, literally undoes Return of the Jedi ending where Luke throws the lightsaber by literally having him pick it up. Is the most horrendous character betrayal. Is no Rise, but the "Fall of Skywalker". In my head the ghost of Luke Skywalker in IX. It is not truly Luke Skywalker but Palpatine possing as Luke. He is all the voices in her head
@@ReySkywalker2 Sort of. I’m talking battle of geonosis level ground battle between armies. Not just the force users. And the space battle was more of a low orbit battle.
“No one is no one” would’ve been the perfect capstone to this saga and a great lead in to all the non Skywalker content to come. And god damn it should’ve been the apex moment for Rey’s character arc. Everything about this script was superior to what we got.
Lmao sureeeeeee. Kylo somehow killing her parents? Luke wanting her to kill his nephew? Poe not doing anything and somehow falling for Rey? It isn't superior.
I think people can convince themselves that ANYTHING is better when they dislike something as much as TROS ... Duel of Fates actually on-screen, would have pissed off the fans just as much ... because the truth is, this trilogy was broken on every level, so such a thing as a 'good' ending just doesn't exist ...
An uprising is so thematically motivating, seeing oppression is so important, Fin feels like he found himself, Rey understands the faults of the past and make's a better future omg. Feels like someone just read me pure gold and all I saw at the theatre was someone saying "Bang, boom! Palpetine's your father, i'm good now, lets kill Palpetine! Zip, Zap. The end! Now didn't that feel like STAR WARS!"
I was adamant Finn's arc should have culminated with him leading an uprising but after this video I've changed my mind. Because the climax of Rise of Skywalker really did resonate with Rose's message of saving what you love instead of destroying what you hate. Which is ironic that Rose's words are more important in a movie where she played less of a role (unfortunately due to the limitations of Carrie Fisher's footage). Rise of Skywalker's theme is about not letting your past affect your future and it's seen played out in all the leading characters. The way that concluded in the conclusion of Finn's arc is with Finn connecting with fellow defected stormtroopers and realising the common feeling that he didn't understand on Starkiller Base, the Force. And it's through that instinct Finn is able to become a leader and make up for trying to run away in Last Jedi with him being the one to destroy the beacon preventing the Star Destroyers from escaping. If you think about, it wrapped out both of Finn's arc from the previous 2 movies with him being force sensitive and a general who doesn't run away ftom the fight. Personally I feel what Disney was dishonest on was trying to market Finn the way he was marketed in Force Awakens just to get diversity points and I'm glad they're being called out on it. But regardless of the corporations I still think credits should be given where its due to the creators.
I felt insulted as a black person that he fell into the stereotypical black comic relief. I was waiting for him to shout something like.."I GOTTA GET ME ON OF THESE!" ...FFS!🙄 Absolute bullshit trilogy and I all these millenial will convince you, ah story doest matter, it was kids yada yada yada! If story characterization doesnt matter why did the OT and even the Prequels endure for so long, why does Ghostbuster endure, why does Back To The Future, The Lion King, Toy Story, E.T and other so called kids films endure. Because they have good stories and the characters are well written.
@@kyledunn8205 not Abrams, John Boyega has been empthatic about defending JJ in numerous interviews. It's TLJ director and Lucasfilm execs, Boyega has reserved for his criticism of tokenizing POC actors. If you claim otherwise, you'll be tokenizing him too
I feel the rey x Poe love storyline doesn’t make sense past the reasons that they think that she needed a love interest (which she really doesn’t) and since Finn and rose are together they had to go with poe as a second choice even though they had no real interaction before so it isn’t really working off anything in the previous movies
Keep in mind that this script would have been refined further, and The Poe X Rey thing would have either become better or have been erased altogether. But, like the video said, this trilogy wasnt supposed to be a single cohesive story, but a telling of Star wars with multiple themes and stories from different points of view. Besides, Colin Trevorrow was never the best at writing romantic subplots.
Colin and Rian worked together to set the seed for their romance in the end of The Last Jedi. Basically, repeating their meeting from the novel of TFA where Rey found Poe attractive.
Rey solana is better then anything else, palpatine, skywalker or even kenobi, it is perfect not because it’s what the audience was expecting or even wanted, but it’s because it’s what the character wanted and that’s the only person who needed it to matter
exactly. it seems like trevorrow and connolly were 2 guys who loved the film series and wanted to do it justice but also wanted to create something that had a lot more to offer. instead, disney just chickened out and catered to the worst kind of fanboys and we ended up getting a disappointing conclusion to the entire film series.
Gotta admit a first name that sounds like ray and a last name that means sunshine (fairly certain?) is a little much, but I agree it's nice that it's just... hers.
I'm not sure whether it's the story that's compelling or the storyteller, but that was actually really touching. Sad that we didn't get this version of Star Wars. Have to admit, though, I'm also not sold on Trevorrow being the guy to pull it off after the debacle that was Book of Henry....
I feel that, however I try to keep in mind that just because Trevorrow's never blown me away with what he's made doesn't mean that he never will or will never make anything good in general. He's got a long career of growth ahead of him, I think.
@@SomeHarbourBastard No, Trevorrow didn't write Book of Henry, but he did direct it. My understanding for the third Star Wars installment was that he was on tap to both write and direct it.
I wished episode 9 used the outline of DOTS script, being modified to make more sense by someone more talented than Trevorow and was directed by Abrams.
@@andreiefectivuatafac1966 Would've been a good place for Poe to take over, since he'd been built up as a Resistance leader in TLJ, and he didn't have much to do in this script outside of being Rey's LI.
The very 'safe' approach to a Star Wars movie worked for The Force Awakens. That was a good film, if a tiny bit uninspired, but I feel like that was the goal. It didn't provide anything *new* but introduced new content for existing fans, and provided a basis for an entire new generation. The T-70 X-Wing is the perfect embodiment of this. A fantastic, but classic design that managed to impress everyone who saw it. Rogue One, The Last Jedi, and Solo, while all not perfect movies, all have exceptional strengths and experiment with the Star Wars formula. Rogue One was a lean into the darker 'behind-the-scenes' aspects of Star Wars. Solo was more eccentric, trying to move away from the larger conflicts. The Last Jedi managed to explicitly state the flaws of the Jedi in a way that wasn't done in the movies before. Yeah the Prequels and The Clone Wars did portray them as bad, but for a movie to downright say it was pretty interesting. The exploration of what the Jedi and Sith even are, and the general simplicity of the Force only really explored in the Old Republic trilogy of games, was something that I praise TLJ for. Rian Johnson needed an environment to base a full story around his ideas, the bad parts of the movie seem to be there just because "It's a Star Wars movie, there's got to be a war". I think a show, anthology movie, or even a book from Rian would be truly spectacular. He's not the best in all regards (His space combat scenes need DRASTIC improvement), but he's proven to be the kind of writer that such a long franchise would need to survive. The TROS we got didn't explore new concepts, didn't expand upon anything we've seen, and wasn't really any good in its own right. The movie has some highlights with scenes, designs, and some general concepts, but overall it just didn't work. None of the characters were treated well, both new and old. Such a blatant disregard for TLJ, no matter anyone's opinion of the movie, should not be ignored. Even minor characters, like Snap Wexley, was done dirty. The 'original' TROS wasn't perfect IMO, but the promise of depth is at least better than such a flat movie. I want to say that Rey's whole thing of "Inspiring Nobodies all across the galaxy" was fucking brilliant. TLJ proved that the galaxy relied so heavily upon the saviors, legends like Luke. Rey's largest flaw is that she was so obsessed with the past, she didn't know how to move forward and made mistakes based on that. Rey is proof to the galaxy that the galaxy isn't just a tale of legends. The galactic civil war was more than just Luke and Vader, something I think Rogue One portrayed nicely. Making Rey into a somebody, no matter who, was the biggest mistake of the movie.
"I want to say that Rey's whole thing of "Inspiring Nobodies all across the galaxy" was fucking brilliant" Mary Sue Nobody. I see. Give your head a shake.
This pretty much sums up my feelings toward Disney's additions to Star Wars. Conceptually, every one of the films (barring TROS) has what it takes to really explore some of the deeper parts of Star Wars. The recent reveals have me hopeful that they are learning from their mistakes, but it's a shame that arguably the most important films they set out to make ended up being the ones that people have the most problems with. Overall, I'm happy with what they're doing with the franchise, but it's undeniable that some of these movies could have been so much more.
Holy F**k. It makes me so sad to realize we never saw this and never will. This script and story is a thousand times better than what we saw with J.J. in TROS. This story ties the sequels so much better with the prequels as most of it takes place in Corusant (spelt wrong prob). This story makes the sequels feel more connected which I like as well. It just makes me so annoying knowing what a story we had in our grasp that we never got.
@@ImplicitlyPretentious nobody owns a video analysis. If you can bring something interesting, even with a little overlap, you can do episode I if you want.
@@_vakas There are only two things that I do enjoy about this script. One is that has Finn and especially Rose do more. Two, I like that First Order rule is depicted with it being oppressive and corrupting. Other than those two things, I don't really care much for this script as to me it feels small in scale and stakes in compassion to Rise of Skywalker. Just saying as a person.
Trevorrow's story is undoubtedly better than TROS. Its a better sequel to TLJ, pays things off from TFA that JJ himself ended up dropping, and is, y'know, actually original, unique, and personal to Trevorrow's perspective on the franchise, just as TLJ was for Rian. I will be forever upset that disney lost their nerve and screwed it up so bad. I still like TFA, but now JJ really is nothing more than an artless yes-man allergic to originality.
Well, you also have to remember that Disney even tampered with TROS, so the final version we got doesn’t necessary represent JJ’s vision either. It’s really all Disney’s fault.
@@ajsova It certainly doesn't. Even if you go by actor claims and rumours alone, you can easily come to the conclusion the movie had tons of stuff that was cut along with multiple alternate versions of key scenes that were decided to be put in or left out in the cutting room floor. Or in short, they decided the plot of this movie after they filmed it, which is insane. For example, all this stuff we heard about the Sith cult planning Palpatine's resurrection or the rumours of Hayden Christensen onset might be true but were cut for whatever convoluted reason.
I think it's a better sequel to TLJ than to TFA since it actually works with what that movie did rather than going "NOPE MY FILM NOW AND THIS DIDN'T HAPPEN"
It's obviously better than TROS by a quite considerable margin.... but I would be lying if I was saying there wasn't a ton of bullshit too. - A sudden romance between Rey and Poe, two characters that practically never even met before. - Travelling to Mortis like it's just some random planet - Rey giving a fuck about the Jedi celibacy rules? How would she even know? - The same force lightning asspull that was used in TROS - Poe just getting mind tricked, which should only work on the weak-minded - Kylo Ren and Rey apparently being stronger than Vader, who was the bloody chosen one - Some random master of Palpatine's that isn't Plagueis - The capitol just being a ship... out of nowhere - Luke just giving up on Ben - Ben just not getting a real redemption arc despite 2 movies of showcased inner turmoil and regrets - The fucking name Solana - Rey just basically being balance itself... all on her own... like she is the fucking chosen one... Essentially most things with Kylo Ren just fall flat in my personal opinion. He just turns into a moustache-twirling bad guy for the final fight until his last moments. And the fact Luke just gives up on him is plain ridiculous. The things involving Leia, Finn and the revolution on the other hand sound glorious and much better than anything the actual sequels did.
You gotta remember that this was nowhere near being the final draft. Continuity errors would have been fixed later on, if the writers cared to do so. Also, not every villain needs or deserves a Redemption Arc. I'm honestly fine with Kylo not getting a Redemption Arc in this version.
@@VelociraptorsOfSkyrim You are right, not every villain needs or even should have a redemption arc. BUT when said villain has constantly been displayed as struggling with his own decisions, maybe, just maybe, you shouldn't just throw it all out cause you lack the creativity to work with the established... which is clearly what happened here.
Yep.... more proof that Disney was primarily concerned about money. It's also unfortunate George focused more on the money for Return of the Jedi than the story. Here's the thing though, I feel if it's a good story people will keep coming back again and again because the story is good. In turn that will drive merch sales. However, speaking from a business standpoint a lot of these decisions were made to play it safe which really annoys me, but it is what it is. I would love for mainstream movies to get back to wanting to tell a good story but that probably isn't gonna happen because they are focused on making as much money as possible.
That still happens, you just have to choose movies based on directors, not based on the franchise. For example directors like Nolan, Reeves, Wright and to some degree Vaughn just make movies however they desire. Studio interference usually results in them quitting the project (see Edgar Wright dropping out of Ant-Man) If the movie is worth the attention it usually ends up becoming mainstream anyway.
@@scrabdusanproductions2104 That may be your opinion. Myself and a lot of people say _Empire Strikes Back_ is the best. But I do think _Return of the Jedi_ is the most nostalgic of the original trilogy.
@@cjkalandek996 Yea I know. It's mainly because my favorite Star Wars character is Luke, and I think everyone can agree he was at his best in Return of the Jedi. That and that most critisms of Return really don't hold up on further examination.
Can you imagine how relevant this movie would have been right before we experienced the height of the BLM movement. John Boyega would have OWNED this movie
i actually cried when the chewy carrying R2 part came up. like, how did they think rise of skywalker was better than this epic. i just don't f'ing understand
To be fair, Kathleen Kennedy didn't know how JJ's episode IX would turn out. All she had to go on was that JJ had already turned out a well-liked Star Wars movie. Also Colin Trevorrow's latest movie had just got TERRIBLE reviews and that might have played a part in it.
@@N1thunderfan hey, I wasn't the one making the decision. Personally, as soon as time travel is invented, my first priority is going back to Kathleen Kennedy's office in 2017 and stopping Colin being fired
My biggest problem with the ST is the way Finn was simply wasted. Like, a Stormtrooper turned good? Gosh, him eventually facing the troopers and turning some to his side was such an obvious choice, why didn't they take it?
You know I thought about that and I realized something. It seems only though that are aware or sensitive of the force are actually able to break through the brainwashing instilled within First Order Stormtroopers. Unfortunately, as I've realize throughout regimes like the Nazis or others, brainwashing only fails when reality can no longer be denied.
Would have been hated JUST as much ... Nothing was saving this trilogy, because the characters were just not connecting. Poe and Rey love? ... Would have been hated. No big redemption for Kylo ... Would have been hated. More adventures of Fin and Rose ... Would have been hated. Hux lightsaber suicide? ... Would have been hated. Knights of Ren dispatched easily and without much involvement ... Would have been hated.
Felt 10x the emotion already just by this script reading. This would have resolved so much more of their individual character arcs, shame it wasn't used.
This script actually gives the sequel trilogy a PURPOSE, bc in the end Rey embraces the light and dark within her. And as a Jedi she accepts her love for Poe, and won't have to keep it a secret -- something that Anakin couldn't achieve with Padme. Now idk how ReyPoe would work though, considering that TLJ was very Reylo heavy, but then again Rey rejected Kylo at the end of TLJ and there were multiple hints of ReyPoe in that film...like right when Snoke started torturing Rey and she started screaming, it cut straight to Poe regaining consciousness. And obviously when Rey and Poe meet and Poe says "I know"
Rey got a good story in this movie, and didnt feel as much like a Luke rehash combined with a mary sue. She felt like her own character. Too bad that Poe never had anything to do besides be either the love interest, a side character, or a cheap Han Solo. Finn and Kylo are the best parts of this film, easily. Finn finally was able to grow as a character, outside of that "guy that wants to run" thing he was stuck in for a while. And Kylo Ren was able to seperate himself from the Vader fanboy ripoff part of him and he had potential to become a Vader that was beyond redemption, a truly tragic character.
The politically motivated reasoning makes a lot of sense since also in tros the only lgbt representation was put in so deliberately inconsequential that it could be seen as having “representation” while also able to be cut out in China with no plot differences
This honestly makes me sad. I’m going to say this right now, I honestly really like Force Awakens and Last Jedi and I was eager to see how the story would conclude. Instead, what we got was a fan service slide show that played it far too safe and undoes everything the previous films did and ended up as one of the, if not, THE most disappointing film I have ever seen. Lucasfilm caved in.
Same. I was very excited what would be in episode 9. And what we got? A movie that is awfuly, INTENTIONALLY retconing everything in the previous movie, has a story build entirely on plot conviniences, devoid of any logic, bloated with fan service and basically tries to be Avengers Endgame with Star Wars skin. Skywalker saga DOES NOT deserve this kind of ending. The Rise of Skywalker is stupid, that shit deserves to be decanonized.
You know I love how fair and understanding you are towards the movies. Most RUclips critics feel that they have some big bias underneath their videos but you are pretty fair on all grounds so honestly thank you and you've earned a new sub.
@@ryanforbes871 Nah, you'd need a cut for the whole trilogy which would be idiotic amounts of effort for nothing. People like Justice League characters, no one likes Rey and the company.
@@omarcomming722 yea that’s v true but it would still would’ve been nice to see Colin trevverows attempt of saving the sequel trilogy but ur right that’s true that’s doing a ton of extra work
Brilliant insight. Coming from a sequel appreciator, I couldn't agree more. I think there are some really profound ideas in the sequel trilogy that aren't explored to their full extent or are dropped entirely. It genuinely saddens me that Disney did so much backpedaling on these movies. They could have at least been like the prequels: divisive, but still unmistakably true to the vision of the creators. Duel of the Fates has some real potential, and I think that with some tweaks and even some elements pulled from TROS (specifically the way they handled Leia's inclusion), this would have been an excellent conclusion to this trilogy, and the larger saga.
I like how Ben's end was kind of ambiguous. On the one hand, you could believe he died a villain, but in his final act, he performs an act of benevolence by affirming Rey's identity, so you could also credibly believe that he really did follow in the footsteps of his grandfather. I don't necessarily like everything from this, but it is so much more satisfying than The Rise of Skywalker was. It had compelling worldbuilding, it ties the saga tagether (althoigh Anakin really should appear somehow, perhaps he could appear as Anakin to dissuade him from his course after his Vader form defeats him), it ties together everyone's character arcs. Man, this is so disappointing that we didn't get this instead. I can accept a movie that doesn't do everything that I want, but The Rise of Skywalker not only offends me as a Star Wars fan, but as a fan of film. This movie is canon as far as I'm concerned, because TROS made an absolute cluster of the worldbuilding, themes, and characters of just about the entire saga.
JJ is, no doubt, a good director. But, as a screenwriter, he is fucking dreadful. I'd have little problem with him directing, but it would be an immediate nope if he was also the screenwriter.
I was SOOO nice to hear you talk about the dead ends of Last Jedi. That is the point I've been trying to make and seemingly everyone kept missing about the movie was that it was a movie about failure. Yoda said it explicitly and still everyone missed it. Failure can be the greatest teacher. Everyone had to fail and then learn. Sounds like Duel of the Fates would have grown from that in such an amazing way.
They had the opportunity to make a tie up the trilogy and make a film that would stand the test of time. Instead, they made a throw-away movie catering to the trends to make a quick buck.
No they made a throwaway movie because the fandom threw a loud hissy fit over critics liking TLJ and Disney surrendered to the vocal internet minority. So the result was a hodgepodge of walk-backs rather than a coherent conclusion, which this script seemed to accomplish.
This only reinforces my anger toward Kathleen Kennedy and her sycophants. This should have been the ending to the Skywalker saga. Thank you for putting the time and effort into this. Truly epic.
Some things are really good, like the Coruscant battle (a fitting finale to the saga), though some of this would have been better had it been set up in TLJ. Other things either don’t work or (IMO) go against some core concepts. Trying to pair Rey and Poe is so forced and just wouldn’t have worked (worse than trying to pair Finn and Rose). This concept of balancing the light and dark side goes against the concept of the dark side as a corrupting force (i.e., something that is a distortion of the light and therefore cannot be balanced). There is something to the idea that the Jedi path was imperfect and incomplete (and thereby failed to achieve lasting balance), but the idea that the Jedi needed to embrace their darkness doesn’t quite make sense given the struggles of Luke and Anakin. Also, it still doesn’t seem to really deal with Rey’s core backstory (her abandonment) in a compelling way. This appears like another way of writing it off (even if connecting it to Kylo Ren). Anakin had to deal with the fact that he couldn’t rescue his mother from slavery and death. Luke had to deal with the truth that the father whose legacy he wanted to fulfill is the villain who has caused him all his pain. Rey has to...face her enemy, who is revealed to have killed her parents? What does that change? Nothing. It’s irrelevant to her present motives. Stressing this because one of the weakest points of the sequel trilogy has been on how it fails to effectively develop its central characters. This script really does a great job with Finn, but it still fails Rey, Poe, and Ben. Here, Poe still suffers the most (he really would be much better served being paired up with Finn - not romantically, but in a buddy cop sort of way - because they parallel each other). And Rey needed not only her personal story (making her resolving of her abandonment the crux of her character development), but also a much more compelling arc within the larger Jedi/Sith story. All that said, this is definitely a much, much more coherent story than that of Rise of Skywalker, and it still handles the characters in a much better way that TLJ.
i feel like your missing the whole balance part, the whole point of star wars is to find balance, Luke's story was about a person learning to find balance between his emotions and feelings as well as reason and logic
That's essentially my perspective. I think DOTF, in concept, doesn't do much different than TROS: I think it's still the story having come up with conflicts and character drives out of nearly thin air, when I think TLJ didn't leave much to it. Rey and Poe are a romance now! Kylo killed Rey's parents! Kylo gets his face burned and learns force vampirism! Now Finn is going to do a stormtrooper rebellion thing! Now let's spend time talking about the balance!
@@bronodrono6357 not really the light is also bad, look at the prequels and you see the jedi order obsession with the light had led to there own down fall and its only when you balance both the light and the dark you achieve peace
in the OT balance is more like a tranquil sea than balancing two sides of a scale. The dark side is a corruption of the Force (note the term “light side” never appears in the OT or the Prequels). That the Old Jedi were flawed doesn’t negate the idea of the “light side” as the balanced state. It only negates the idea that what the Jedi practiced (and the way they practiced it) was pure. In my opinion, that was a far more interesting path they could have taken. Rather than finding fault with the Force or the Jedi understanding of the dark side, perhaps it’s the Jedi themselves who are at fault. Perhaps what they practiced was tainted and impure, and that is why the Jedi were twice susceptible to deception and betrayal. But the idea that what is needed is a balance between corruption and purity is just the wrong idea, and it’s in fact a very flawed concept when you actually consider what the dark side is about. Not just anger, but the sort of hatred that produces patricide and genocide. And nothing in Star Wars has been about balancing emotions and logic... But even if you were right about all of this, it still doesn’t change the fact that these films are a very poor way of telling that sort of story. JJ Abrams is clearly driven more by complex mysteries, vague legacies, macguffins and nebulous emotional cues rather than by character development that is rooted in what characters experience. Rian Johnson seemed to me far more interested in deconstruction and virtue signaling (I use this term VERY rarely) than in actual narrative or character development. Neither seemed to really get what makes for good characters and storytelling. But I do think there was a way to tell these stories that fit with Star Wars, properly developed the character, and still retained the outline of what JJ Abrams and Rian Johnson wanted to do.
We will never get this cut but I hope they would have made something similar to the Snyder Cut releasing this version even though that's never gonna happen
Oh man... I stumbled upon this video late night. I was actually moved by a lot of this: 1) "No one is no one" as a response to Kylo's contemptful remarks during heated battle is a powerful moment, worthy of a centered jedi. 2) Rey Solana on the brink of death, getting to commune with jedi force ghosts and then choosing to come back scarred and received with disbelief from stunned grievers in the dessert actually brought tears to my eyes when I pondered it, I had to pause the video and really imagine this ending. It'd turn Daisy Ridley's vulnerable performance as Rey and her struggles to find herself throughout the movies into something that feels earned. A tried and true jedi who knows who she is now, a new iconic jedi well on her path. 3) Collective change coming from individual change does feel like a beautiful sentiment for the closing of this Sequel trilogy, the grey "balance to the force" as opposed to the hopeful idealistic OG trilogy and darker tale of corruption in the Prequel trilogy. Oh, and 4) Your voice acting was indeed painfully hilarious :'D Very cool concepts, I think I do prefer it to the final version! Thanks for putting this all together in a digestible video.
I'm getting the feeling that the real reason they wanted a different director for each movie is because that was also the case for the original trilogy.
I'm afraid that I've influenced my kid so much with my own opinion of Disney Star Wars that he won't have one of his own. This wasn't intentional on my part, but it's hard not to be outspoken when you see something you love being butchered by a company you absolutely despise. My guess is I'm probably not the only parent guilty of this. My kid does love General Grievous though, and I never did, so maybe I'm not as much of an influence on him as I fear. If anything he's influenced me to see a character I once didn't care for in new more positive light. Perhaps time will inevitably change both our perspectives. I liked Rise of Skywalker more than most, but this is undeniably better. I don't really care for the ending though. Rey just magically gets to return to the land of the living? How? Why? It seems like such a cop out to rob Rey of her sacrifice just to give the film a happier ending. I don't like it. Nor do I like the Rey/Poe love interest thing. They didn't even meet each other until the end of The Last Jedi. Had they met sooner, and a connection between them been established I could maybe buy into it, but here it just seems like a cheap half assed way of adding in romance at the last minute.
I think the Dark Knight Trilogy was definitely planned, but Rises was restructured with Heath’s death. Narratively, Batman Begins and The Dark Knight are definitely well planned, plotted.
Actually not really, Nolan said they did it a film at a time and never planned anything. The joker card at the end of Batman Begins wasn't meant as a sequel tease, but more as a hint that Gotham was becoming the Gotham we knew from comics and film
You can tell BC each film feels complete. Plot threads aren't left hanging open at the end of each film and they can all be watched separately (this is something I think TLJ also does) Nolan hates sequel baiting and the idea of not telling your entire story, for instance he hates post credits scenes in Marvel BC it suggests the film isn't complete. anything he wanted to say he said in each film
Also, let's not forget how things rhyme because the Sequel Trilogy ALSO had to restructure its finale due to one of its biggest stars dying unexpectedly.
I enjoyed the Episode IX we got, like, a hell of a lot. It got me in 'the feels'. ...but this would've been way better, I started to get just as emotional hearing you read the original climax.
No lie, with all the drama surrounding star wars for the past 2years I didn't bother reading the Duel of the Fates script, I was just exhausted with it all. But this script, was a story, not a laundry list of obligations or subversions, a story, at peace with TFA & TLJ and had something to say about Star Wars as a whole. Its a damn shame Lucasfilm folded. A damn shame.... RIP to this beautiful script.
Implicitly Pretentious said in his defense of The Last Jedi: _"Artists are not obligated into giving the audience what they want. Otherwise it's a business, not art."_ I wish all fanbases in nerd culture would realize this. ESPECIALLY the Star Wars fanbase. Very vocal sects of fanbases seem to be only capable of stuff that makes them uncomfortable through the lens of hating them to death and wishing they would go away forever. They weren't even patient enough to wait another two years to see how this would all end to see whether or not the story of the sequels was even FINISHED to make up their minds on everything as a whole. The fact people are still more angry at TLJ instead of those awful Disney live-action remakes or fan-service pieces like Terminator Genisys really frustrates me. The latter will always be FAR MORE offensive to their respective franchises than anything Johnson did with Star Wars.
Disney didn't HAVE to coward out though. The critical reviews of Last Jedi were good, the film made a profit. They CHOSE to use a script that didn't pay off any story arcs from the prior movies, didn't give Finn anything to do and brought back Palpatine in the most transparent and desperate "We need a big bad and fast" way possible. As annoying as the fan backlash was, Disney panicking is on them. Yeah there's dumb stuff about this script too but I'll gladly take Rey/Poe coming out of nowhere and Hux offing himself than Palpatine's back AND he has an armada AND he's responsible for everything.
@@ViccVegaa023 I blame both personally. Both sides share the blame in equal amounts but for different reasons. The fan backlash was serious BUT obviously higher-ups should have simply listened to them, but still decide to push through with this new direction. IE they should keep in mind what their audience would like to see, but in the end, they need to realize it is the director who needs to be allowed to expressed his or her vision above all else. That's why they got the job. And to be in the director's shoes, imagine how awful and infuriating it would be to work almost all your life to get even a slight sliver of hope to direct a movie from a franchise you love, then later on find out you aren't allowed to bring any of your own ideas to the table and you're going to make something other's want through and through because ticket sales are needed. I don't really like Trevorrow's filmography, but I would have stuck with this script and find ways to write around Leia with Fisher's passing, and buffing out some of the scratches and rough-edges. Toss out Rey x Poe for something that relates to the love of friends without shoehorning in some pointless romantic subplot, Kylo getting a more bittersweet ending so the dyad can continue, give Rey a band of new Jedi to be with so they can later join forces with the Knights of Ren, get Anakin in there through perhaps a force ghost as he talks to Kylo, Luke being the one to want to see the dyad come together and Rey being worried she'll have to kill Ben, Poe being more than a love-interest, and keep stuff like Tor Vallum, Kylo's visions, Finn's uprising, and the stuff on Coruscant in tact. It would have pissed SO MANY off, but I think in the longrun it would be looked back on more fondly than whatever the hell Episode IX was. And even if it wasn't like that, I would prefer it over Rise of Skywalker which was basically just endless Star Wars porn that was so amazingly vapid and seemed to not care at all that someone was directing it and maybe wanted to share what they had to say instead of just having the studio say it.
@@martynstembridge7714 It was the best SW movie since the originals and the fact so much of the fanbase wanted fan-service over a script like VIII's says a lot about modern nerd culture.
Hey I'm only 23 minutes in for now, but I had to pause it to say that this video is amazing! When the news about this script broke, there were a few people breaking it down and summarizing some plots elements using various production artwork, but this imagery really sells the emotion in the story, and helps me feel like I saw an actual ending to the trilogy and even all 9 films. The disappointment of RoS made it easy to forget my investment in these characters and how likeable they actually were, and this really brings it all back. Thank you, it's truly great work! Maybe this will happen for GoT one day too lol
This masterpiece made me cry! Don't know how. It was where Chewie was getting shot in the back with R2-D2 and the R2 unit sharing his experiences throughout the past 60 years with General Leia!
there was this air of anticipation when "the force awakens" came out as after being raised a fan of "star wars" and then coming into my early adulthood with the disappointment of the prequels. i felt like a kid again after watching "the force awakens". when "the last jedi" came out. i i knew it was going to be different. it had flaws but i appreciated those flaws as it made me realize it's going into a more adult-like direction as i thought what rian johnson did was ballsy and made hope for the next film. with "the rise of skywalker", i was going through some personal stuff relating to my dad's death as i was anxious to see how the series ended. for some reason, whatever feelings i had based on my experiences in watching all of those films. it wasn't there. i spent much of the film going... "uh..." "what?" "huh?" it wasn't just me but the people at the screening i went to. no one clapped, no one made any big noises as it ended with a whimper and people were coming out that screening confused and underwhelmed. having read "duel of the fates", i felt like every one who grew up on the series and went through good times and bad times with the series were cheated. even with the flaws that the script had, it at least took risks and was trying to at least take the series forward and put more care into those characters instead of what we got in the end.
I remember when J. J Abrams was announced to direct Episode 9 and everyone was excited given that people don't like Trevorrow's filmography(But honestly man is pretty much OK) so imagine the irony when Episode 9 came out and we found out that Trevorrow's take actually lined up a lot better with what Rian Johnson set up. Great video
This sounds really fucking good. I actually teared up multiple times. When Finn inspires the storm trooper, makes his speech, storm troopers removing their helmets, Lukes speech about the force and Rey's no one is no one. That was really good stuff. I always felt JJ Abrams wasn't that great of a director, his movies sometimes seemed like an "almost there but not" sort of movies. Now I can safely say he's totally not in it for the art and storytelling.
Honestly this would have been such a moment for Disney if they'd actually baked this version a little longer. Anyway the advent of the awful Mulan remake really shows where the company is headed: chasing a bigger market and eschewing making art. For in this day in age, art is not required to make money. Making a statement is no longer linked to profits. Hopefully the execs at Disney will learn their Mulan 2020 lesson. I am not optimistic.
Speaking as an ‘old person’ (soon you’ll jooooinn uuussssss) JJ is no magician. He’s still just a ding dong who loves lens flares and making money. He never sticks the landing. I think just about anything written by someone else and directed by someone else including my dogs would have been better than JJ pulling The Emperor out of his butt at the last minute like that was his plan all along? It probably was and thats pathetic.
Man, I absolutely despised TLJ + RoS, but watching this at the least helped me realize what TLJ was going for story wise but I hated the execution ahaha. Good video though! Would have been to see Duel of the Fates!
@@danielcaverly1970 I’ll die on the hill saying that The Last Jedi is possibly the best thematic Star Wars film. Dual of the Fates would’ve cemented that as everything TLJ sets up was going to get a payoff in that film.
I enjoyed the stuff in TLJ with Rey, Luke and Kylo. I just think that the sideplots could've had a few more rewrites to make it work better with the overarching narrative.
Though I still don't think Duel of the Fates would be a good movie, nor a good continuation of The Last Jedi and The Force Awakens, the fact that it at least has a creative soul to it and at least acts more as a bad sequel to The Last Jedi (as opposed to The Rise of Skywalker acting as almost a soft reboot of the whole trilogy) means I could respect it a lot more as a creative venture. With a few changes (get rid of the awful Poe x Rey romance, Ben Solo accepts redemption with a living atonement and happily ever after (or else what did Han and Luke both give their lives for?), and continue to explore Rey and Ben's Force Bond instead of dropping it entirely), Duel of the Fates definitely could have been the ending the trilogy and the saga deserved. I'm not sure what the value was in just scrapping everything and starting from scratch, the bones were good.
Honestly, Finn deserved to be the Jedi of this trilogy. Unlike Rey (who is a chosen one in all but name) Finn IS indeed a true no one hero. He literally starts his story as a walking serial number. It would’ve been awesome to see the next Jedi Knight coming from those the Empire/First Order sees as their disposable human tools.
I really hate the fact that we got TROS instead of this and disney is to blame but Disney's reaction was because of those fans who cried and cry till date about last jedi. This would've made TLJ much better just like ROTJ made empire strikes back, I just wish I could see this instead of TROS.
@@idk-yl7fn I say it's fans fault and disney has more control over SW than marvel, so yeah disney is to blame for not believing in their own trilogy but what can you do when once before it already happened with prequel trilogy and they probably wanted to avoid that situation so they were like okay take whatever you want and don't come after us. People blame others but in reality the fandom is toxic, it's better to not touch their precious jedi warrior(not peacekeeper) luke Skywalker or anything related to that, I'm happy that disney is focusing on mandalorian and other properties.
How would this have made TLJ better? If DOTF does it's thing and uses those elements in a strongly written way, does that change what was done in and/or with TLJ?
@@Dagenspear I'm not talking about the movie, I'm talking about the movie's perspective and importance in the trilogy. Rey being no one and still rising up against the resistance, finn leading a charge against the 1st order at coruscant, I mean it doesn't neglect the events in TLJ but builds upon them for a grander and cohesive story like the originals and prequels and this TLJ what was lacking in this trilogy or any SW trilogy for that matter, even if you watch originals for the first time and leave them without ROTJ it will feel weird and nothing will make sense and Lucas knew this that's why he didn't retcon this instead tried to give a perspective on it as it wasn't always the plan but he did it because he knew that story needed it. Disney failed everyone in this matter as they retconned nearly everything in the TLJ, Rey is palpatine now, snoke was palpatine all along(making anakin's sacrifice completely worthless). The list goes on but one thing is clear ROS was the most reactionary film I've seen after justice league and like that it ruined overall saga for me not just sequels but prequels too by taking the retcon turn they turned story into same old clusterfuck where nothing made sense and fans were happy( still they're not).
Before I die .... I hope that this either comes out in the next few years AS is from this essay. OR that the fans end up making one. Seriously I hope 40 years from now, Colin will end his career with one last one for us all!
Can this please be made into an Animated mini series, or I will even take a novelization of Duel of the Fates. It's not perfect but this is a good finale act, and doesn't even try to recon the Last Jedi. I meant love or Hate the TLJ, I don't think any of us wanted a movie that wasn't subtle in its changes of past films. We wanted an epic and memorable final Act of this Trilogy, and I believe that Duels of the Fates, dose just that.
This was a fantastic essay and just makes me wish we could have gotten that movie or some version of it where they dealt with Carrie Fisher's untimely death and worked it in. Thanks for taking the time to even do this and put it together. Well done.
dawg why am i tearing up? thank you for enlightening me even if u just relayed this script, u did a great job. idk man this film would've been too ambitious for the SW disney was trying to put out however, god damn it could've been the absolute shit.
![[OLD VIDEO] Last Jedi - Secularisation and Modernity | Video Essay](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/OZ6pm5-WFrU/mqdefault.jpg)
![[OLD VIDEO] Last Jedi - Secularisation and Modernity | Video Essay](/img/tr.png)
Finn's stormtrooper uprising is THE BEST part of this unused script, and it's criminal that it wasn't used. The Rey and Poe stuff is really trash though, Poe basically does nothing and Rey's arc just feels like it needs a few more drafts (which it probably got). I'd love to see how far these ideas were refined before Disney chickened out and went back to J.J..
Aye, the Finn stuff really is the strongest part of the film. Honestly, I think that’s why Trevorrow wanted to shoehorn Poe and Ray, two characters that had only shared a single scene in the first two sequel films, into a romantic relationship: It gave him something to do with them, despite it being generic as balls (and, based on the actual text of it, fairly negging in tone, something that’s common with Trevorrow’s romance subplots >_> ).
it's more easier to fix than TROS, which has no redeeming qualities
It is a great point that most people overlook that this leaked script was from long enough before Trevorrow was fired that there is probably already a version with issues ironed out, and long before the final version where even more would have been.
@@stevenirizarry1304 Well, it had better humour than TLJ, often.
Ah... that's it.
wonder if they could use this as an alternate timeline story and it can be still considered canon in the Star Wars universe we know parallel universes exist as shown in Star Wars Rebels cartoon.
"I know my opinion, and I'm actually going to keep it to myself because i don't want to get shouted at"
Lol I feel ya bruh
I read it at the same time he said it😂
@@jesseanderson1584 lol nice
Two Thoughts:
1. Your telling of the original script made me cry. (in a good way)
2. Star Wars looks phenomenal in black & white.
I second both of these points.
I third both of these points
I fourth both of these points.
I'll add a fifth
Sixth right here
I think they should make this as an animated movie, with Clone Wars style animation.
Serving as an alt-universe ending.
I’ve been saying this for a while now too, even a comic, I just want to see it in some form
@FN-1701AgentGodzillaRangerPrime-El Or an alternate universe where Snoke wasnt a palps clone and palps died in RotJ, or Battlefront 2 (is that canon?).
I want a comic, sort of like The Star Wars. With art inspired by the concept art.
Alt? you mean canon right
no. if they gon do it they should do it in live action. except idk how theyd do leis
Luke encouraging Rey to kill Kylo is insanely off-base for Luke’s character. It’s completely counter to his refusal to face Kylo Ren in the flesh at the end of the last Jedi, because the real reason he went to crait was to apologize to Ben. Thematically it doesn’t follow up the last Jedi well at all in this regard.
I agree. I also think the idea of balancing between light and dark fundamentally misunderstands the original idea (and yes, I know Clone Wars also takes this approach).
It's a little easier to forgive when he's actively trying to talk Kylo out of it rather than doing like Obi-Wan's ghost.
Completely agree. Luke Skywalker asking Rey to kill, literally undoes Return of the Jedi ending where Luke throws the lightsaber by literally having him pick it up. Is the most horrendous character betrayal. Is no Rise, but the "Fall of Skywalker".
In my head the ghost of Luke Skywalker in IX. It is not truly Luke Skywalker but Palpatine possing as Luke. He is all the voices in her head
I hate to be that guy, but The Last Jedi discarded that theme of redemption too and was wayyyyyy off Luke’s character
@G Ren Luke and Leia don’t agree Ben is “Beyond Saving”, Quite the Opposite actually...
The script has flaws but it is a far better ending than ROS. The battle of Coruscant would’ve been so cool!
Strong disagree. DOTF is good but TROS is far better.
They both have their good points, I'm just not satisfied with ToS.
Agreed. The final battle in the main Star Wars Saga deserved a ground battle alongside a space/dogfight featuring every race you can think of.
@@northstarrogue There was a space battle with a ground battle.
@@ReySkywalker2 Sort of. I’m talking battle of geonosis level ground battle between armies. Not just the force users. And the space battle was more of a low orbit battle.
“No one is no one” would’ve been the perfect capstone to this saga and a great lead in to all the non Skywalker content to come. And god damn it should’ve been the apex moment for Rey’s character arc. Everything about this script was superior to what we got.
Lmao sureeeeeee. Kylo somehow killing her parents? Luke wanting her to kill his nephew? Poe not doing anything and somehow falling for Rey? It isn't superior.
Zon Boi It is though. So there’s that
I AM ALL THE JEDI
😂
NO YOU’RE NOT
@@Heyoo414 Arguing which is superior between this terrible script and the terrible film we got only means we're the losers.
Hoopla10 Don’t know. Script sounds like a saga-ender to me. We lost because we got the movie we did
I think with some fine-tuning, Duel of the Fates would've been a great way to conclude the sequel trilogy.
I think people can convince themselves that ANYTHING is better when they dislike something as much as TROS ...
Duel of Fates actually on-screen, would have pissed off the fans just as much ... because the truth is, this trilogy was broken on every level, so such a thing as a 'good' ending just doesn't exist ...
@@martynstembridge7714 To each their own, I guess.
@@martynstembridge7714 It still would've been an overall better way to end the trilogy.
I think with some fine tuning my car can run better.
@@martynstembridge7714 something called an opinion exists
An uprising is so thematically motivating, seeing oppression is so important, Fin feels like he found himself, Rey understands the faults of the past and make's a better future omg. Feels like someone just read me pure gold and all I saw at the theatre was someone saying "Bang, boom! Palpetine's your father, i'm good now, lets kill Palpetine! Zip, Zap. The end! Now didn't that feel like STAR WARS!"
It did feel like Star Wars, just not like the evolution of Star Wars it needed to be.
@@matti.8465 I can't help but feel that Rise of Skywalker is what RLM thinks Rogue One is.
Episode IX was Star Wars porn. Not a Star Wars story.
Disney did Finn and John Boyega so dirty.
I was adamant Finn's arc should have culminated with him leading an uprising but after this video I've changed my mind. Because the climax of Rise of Skywalker really did resonate with Rose's message of saving what you love instead of destroying what you hate. Which is ironic that Rose's words are more important in a movie where she played less of a role (unfortunately due to the limitations of Carrie Fisher's footage).
Rise of Skywalker's theme is about not letting your past affect your future and it's seen played out in all the leading characters. The way that concluded in the conclusion of Finn's arc is with Finn connecting with fellow defected stormtroopers and realising the common feeling that he didn't understand on Starkiller Base, the Force. And it's through that instinct Finn is able to become a leader and make up for trying to run away in Last Jedi with him being the one to destroy the beacon preventing the Star Destroyers from escaping. If you think about, it wrapped out both of Finn's arc from the previous 2 movies with him being force sensitive and a general who doesn't run away ftom the fight.
Personally I feel what Disney was dishonest on was trying to market Finn the way he was marketed in Force Awakens just to get diversity points and I'm glad they're being called out on it. But regardless of the corporations I still think credits should be given where its due to the creators.
I felt insulted as a black person that he fell into the stereotypical black comic relief. I was waiting for him to shout something like.."I GOTTA GET ME ON OF THESE!" ...FFS!🙄 Absolute bullshit trilogy and I all these millenial will convince you, ah story doest matter, it was kids yada yada yada!
If story characterization doesnt matter why did the OT and even the Prequels endure for so long, why does Ghostbuster endure, why does Back To The Future, The Lion King, Toy Story, E.T and other so called kids films endure. Because they have good stories and the characters are well written.
Not Disney, Abrams/LucasFilm. Disney give Lucasfilm free reign like they do with Marvel Studios and Pixar
@@kyledunn8205 not Abrams, John Boyega has been empthatic about defending JJ in numerous interviews. It's TLJ director and Lucasfilm execs, Boyega has reserved for his criticism of tokenizing POC actors. If you claim otherwise, you'll be tokenizing him too
@@ShaneJoshua1980 I feel insulted as a person that you think it's not perpetuating division by being insulted as a black person.
I feel the rey x Poe love storyline doesn’t make sense past the reasons that they think that she needed a love interest (which she really doesn’t) and since Finn and rose are together they had to go with poe as a second choice even though they had no real interaction before so it isn’t really working off anything in the previous movies
Keep in mind that this script would have been refined further, and The Poe X Rey thing would have either become better or have been erased altogether. But, like the video said, this trilogy wasnt supposed to be a single cohesive story, but a telling of Star wars with multiple themes and stories from different points of view. Besides, Colin Trevorrow was never the best at writing romantic subplots.
Colin and Rian worked together to set the seed for their romance in the end of The Last Jedi. Basically, repeating their meeting from the novel of TFA where Rey found Poe attractive.
Sounds hell of a lot better than the forced Reylo shit they gave us instead.
Rey solana is better then anything else, palpatine, skywalker or even kenobi, it is perfect not because it’s what the audience was expecting or even wanted, but it’s because it’s what the character wanted and that’s the only person who needed it to matter
exactly. it seems like trevorrow and connolly were 2 guys who loved the film series and wanted to do it justice but also wanted to create something that had a lot more to offer. instead, disney just chickened out and catered to the worst kind of fanboys and we ended up getting a disappointing conclusion to the entire film series.
The character isn't a real person.
@@Dagenspear you dont watch movies often do you?
Solana is obviously Solo + Organa. She should have remained nameless. Rey.
Gotta admit a first name that sounds like ray and a last name that means sunshine (fairly certain?) is a little much, but I agree it's nice that it's just... hers.
I'm not sure whether it's the story that's compelling or the storyteller, but that was actually really touching. Sad that we didn't get this version of Star Wars. Have to admit, though, I'm also not sold on Trevorrow being the guy to pull it off after the debacle that was Book of Henry....
I feel that, however I try to keep in mind that just because Trevorrow's never blown me away with what he's made doesn't mean that he never will or will never make anything good in general. He's got a long career of growth ahead of him, I think.
He didn’t write _The Book of Henry_
@@SomeHarbourBastard No, Trevorrow didn't write Book of Henry, but he did direct it. My understanding for the third Star Wars installment was that he was on tap to both write and direct it.
DANG that script was WAY better than Rise of Skywalker
ikr? this was awesome, I could feel the emotion in it
I wished episode 9 used the outline of DOTS script, being modified to make more sense by someone more talented than Trevorow and was directed by Abrams.
@@andreiefectivuatafac1966 And write around Fisher's death obviously. Leia played a big part in Duel of Fates.
@@IP_Films01 yeah, maybe they could've given to Poe or Rose Leia's part
@@andreiefectivuatafac1966 Would've been a good place for Poe to take over, since he'd been built up as a Resistance leader in TLJ, and he didn't have much to do in this script outside of being Rey's LI.
The very 'safe' approach to a Star Wars movie worked for The Force Awakens. That was a good film, if a tiny bit uninspired, but I feel like that was the goal. It didn't provide anything *new* but introduced new content for existing fans, and provided a basis for an entire new generation. The T-70 X-Wing is the perfect embodiment of this. A fantastic, but classic design that managed to impress everyone who saw it. Rogue One, The Last Jedi, and Solo, while all not perfect movies, all have exceptional strengths and experiment with the Star Wars formula.
Rogue One was a lean into the darker 'behind-the-scenes' aspects of Star Wars. Solo was more eccentric, trying to move away from the larger conflicts. The Last Jedi managed to explicitly state the flaws of the Jedi in a way that wasn't done in the movies before. Yeah the Prequels and The Clone Wars did portray them as bad, but for a movie to downright say it was pretty interesting. The exploration of what the Jedi and Sith even are, and the general simplicity of the Force only really explored in the Old Republic trilogy of games, was something that I praise TLJ for.
Rian Johnson needed an environment to base a full story around his ideas, the bad parts of the movie seem to be there just because "It's a Star Wars movie, there's got to be a war". I think a show, anthology movie, or even a book from Rian would be truly spectacular. He's not the best in all regards (His space combat scenes need DRASTIC improvement), but he's proven to be the kind of writer that such a long franchise would need to survive.
The TROS we got didn't explore new concepts, didn't expand upon anything we've seen, and wasn't really any good in its own right. The movie has some highlights with scenes, designs, and some general concepts, but overall it just didn't work. None of the characters were treated well, both new and old. Such a blatant disregard for TLJ, no matter anyone's opinion of the movie, should not be ignored. Even minor characters, like Snap Wexley, was done dirty. The 'original' TROS wasn't perfect IMO, but the promise of depth is at least better than such a flat movie.
I want to say that Rey's whole thing of "Inspiring Nobodies all across the galaxy" was fucking brilliant. TLJ proved that the galaxy relied so heavily upon the saviors, legends like Luke. Rey's largest flaw is that she was so obsessed with the past, she didn't know how to move forward and made mistakes based on that. Rey is proof to the galaxy that the galaxy isn't just a tale of legends. The galactic civil war was more than just Luke and Vader, something I think Rogue One portrayed nicely. Making Rey into a somebody, no matter who, was the biggest mistake of the movie.
"I want to say that Rey's whole thing of "Inspiring Nobodies all across the galaxy" was fucking brilliant"
Mary Sue Nobody. I see. Give your head a shake.
This pretty much sums up my feelings toward Disney's additions to Star Wars. Conceptually, every one of the films (barring TROS) has what it takes to really explore some of the deeper parts of Star Wars. The recent reveals have me hopeful that they are learning from their mistakes, but it's a shame that arguably the most important films they set out to make ended up being the ones that people have the most problems with. Overall, I'm happy with what they're doing with the franchise, but it's undeniable that some of these movies could have been so much more.
dude what a perfect summary
My thoughts exactly 💯
I love your comment!!
Holy F**k. It makes me so sad to realize we never saw this and never will. This script and story is a thousand times better than what we saw with J.J. in TROS. This story ties the sequels so much better with the prequels as most of it takes place in Corusant (spelt wrong prob). This story makes the sequels feel more connected which I like as well. It just makes me so annoying knowing what a story we had in our grasp that we never got.
No it's not. Rey and Kylo are far different in TLJ than they are in this.
@@vittoriacolona that'd be called "character development", and you don't develop in necessarily positive or negative ways
This gave me chills man. What could've been...
Jenny Nicholson read it on her channel.
Implicitly is summarizing the big ideas
@@Chaogardenx Oh okay but it's the general idea of that script that's really cool. Even if it may need some work
When I saw the title I thought "Oh cool, he's gonna talk the Phantom Menace." This is just as good though.
Full Fat Videos owns that territory now 😂
@@ImplicitlyPretentious nobody owns a video analysis. If you can bring something interesting, even with a little overlap, you can do episode I if you want.
@@ericemanwu I'd watch it.
Finn's story arc moved me to tears...what a lost opportunity!
Finn was a better commander in TROS. And there was no need for him to turn him into Che Guevera.
@@vittoriacolona Wasn't a better character though.
@@_vakas There are only two things that I do enjoy about this script. One is that has Finn and especially Rose do more. Two, I like that First Order rule is depicted with it being oppressive and corrupting. Other than those two things, I don't really care much for this script as to me it feels small in scale and stakes in compassion to Rise of Skywalker. Just saying as a person.
Trevorrow's story is undoubtedly better than TROS. Its a better sequel to TLJ, pays things off from TFA that JJ himself ended up dropping, and is, y'know, actually original, unique, and personal to Trevorrow's perspective on the franchise, just as TLJ was for Rian. I will be forever upset that disney lost their nerve and screwed it up so bad. I still like TFA, but now JJ really is nothing more than an artless yes-man allergic to originality.
Well, you also have to remember that Disney even tampered with TROS, so the final version we got doesn’t necessary represent JJ’s vision either. It’s really all Disney’s fault.
@@ajsova
It certainly doesn't. Even if you go by actor claims and rumours alone, you can easily come to the conclusion the movie had tons of stuff that was cut along with multiple alternate versions of key scenes that were decided to be put in or left out in the cutting room floor.
Or in short, they decided the plot of this movie after they filmed it, which is insane.
For example, all this stuff we heard about the Sith cult planning Palpatine's resurrection or the rumours of Hayden Christensen onset might be true but were cut for whatever convoluted reason.
I think it's a better sequel to TLJ than to TFA since it actually works with what that movie did rather than going "NOPE MY FILM NOW AND THIS DIDN'T HAPPEN"
@@ajsova Did they? TROS feels like 100% JJ movie.
I actually think this is slightly worse. Also, Star Wars movies are on Lucasfilm. Disney doesn't handle creative decisions of subsidiaries
So, whenever I'll feel like watching episode IX I'll come back to this video.
It's obviously better than TROS by a quite considerable margin.... but I would be lying if I was saying there wasn't a ton of bullshit too.
- A sudden romance between Rey and Poe, two characters that practically never even met before.
- Travelling to Mortis like it's just some random planet
- Rey giving a fuck about the Jedi celibacy rules? How would she even know?
- The same force lightning asspull that was used in TROS
- Poe just getting mind tricked, which should only work on the weak-minded
- Kylo Ren and Rey apparently being stronger than Vader, who was the bloody chosen one
- Some random master of Palpatine's that isn't Plagueis
- The capitol just being a ship... out of nowhere
- Luke just giving up on Ben
- Ben just not getting a real redemption arc despite 2 movies of showcased inner turmoil and regrets
- The fucking name Solana
- Rey just basically being balance itself... all on her own... like she is the fucking chosen one...
Essentially most things with Kylo Ren just fall flat in my personal opinion. He just turns into a moustache-twirling bad guy for the final fight until his last moments. And the fact Luke just gives up on him is plain ridiculous.
The things involving Leia, Finn and the revolution on the other hand sound glorious and much better than anything the actual sequels did.
You gotta remember that this was nowhere near being the final draft. Continuity errors would have been fixed later on, if the writers cared to do so.
Also, not every villain needs or deserves a Redemption Arc. I'm honestly fine with Kylo not getting a Redemption Arc in this version.
@@VelociraptorsOfSkyrim You are right, not every villain needs or even should have a redemption arc. BUT when said villain has constantly been displayed as struggling with his own decisions, maybe, just maybe, you shouldn't just throw it all out cause you lack the creativity to work with the established... which is clearly what happened here.
Yep.... more proof that Disney was primarily concerned about money. It's also unfortunate George focused more on the money for Return of the Jedi than the story. Here's the thing though, I feel if it's a good story people will keep coming back again and again because the story is good. In turn that will drive merch sales. However, speaking from a business standpoint a lot of these decisions were made to play it safe which really annoys me, but it is what it is. I would love for mainstream movies to get back to wanting to tell a good story but that probably isn't gonna happen because they are focused on making as much money as possible.
That still happens, you just have to choose movies based on directors, not based on the franchise.
For example directors like Nolan, Reeves, Wright and to some degree Vaughn just make movies however they desire. Studio interference usually results in them quitting the project (see Edgar Wright dropping out of Ant-Man)
If the movie is worth the attention it usually ends up becoming mainstream anyway.
Return of the Jedi is the best Star Wars movie, though.
@@scrabdusanproductions2104 That may be your opinion. Myself and a lot of people say _Empire Strikes Back_ is the best. But I do think _Return of the Jedi_ is the most nostalgic of the original trilogy.
@@cjkalandek996 Yea I know. It's mainly because my favorite Star Wars character is Luke, and I think everyone can agree he was at his best in Return of the Jedi. That and that most critisms of Return really don't hold up on further examination.
@G Ren , Rotten Tomatoes doesn't mean sh*t.
Can you imagine how relevant this movie would have been right before we experienced the height of the BLM movement. John Boyega would have OWNED this movie
i actually cried when the chewy carrying R2 part came up. like, how did they think rise of skywalker was better than this epic. i just don't f'ing understand
To be fair, Kathleen Kennedy didn't know how JJ's episode IX would turn out. All she had to go on was that JJ had already turned out a well-liked Star Wars movie. Also Colin Trevorrow's latest movie had just got TERRIBLE reviews and that might have played a part in it.
@@conorb7094 you can write a history paper that gets a D but then come out with an amazing English short story that gets an A.
@@N1thunderfan hey, I wasn't the one making the decision. Personally, as soon as time travel is invented, my first priority is going back to Kathleen Kennedy's office in 2017 and stopping Colin being fired
@@conorb7094 I concur
It really isn't bro. There are far many errrors here than in ROS
My biggest problem with the ST is the way Finn was simply wasted.
Like, a Stormtrooper turned good? Gosh, him eventually facing the troopers and turning some to his side was such an obvious choice, why didn't they take it?
You know I thought about that and I realized something. It seems only though that are aware or sensitive of the force are actually able to break through the brainwashing instilled within First Order Stormtroopers. Unfortunately, as I've realize throughout regimes like the Nazis or others, brainwashing only fails when reality can no longer be denied.
There is an alternate universe where this version of Episode 9 was released into theaters.... I wanna live there
This story is so much more... mythic? I feel emotions instead of the massive nothing I felt in the theatres.
Would have been hated JUST as much ... Nothing was saving this trilogy, because the characters were just not connecting.
Poe and Rey love? ... Would have been hated.
No big redemption for Kylo ... Would have been hated.
More adventures of Fin and Rose ... Would have been hated.
Hux lightsaber suicide? ... Would have been hated.
Knights of Ren dispatched easily and without much involvement ... Would have been hated.
@@martynstembridge7714
Maybe your right, but I'll take anything over TROS
@@Wimikk maybe I glaxy far aawaybsome in that glaxy gotnto see this version
Felt 10x the emotion already just by this script reading. This would have resolved so much more of their individual character arcs, shame it wasn't used.
Why not make campaign release Duel of The Fates?
This script actually gives the sequel trilogy a PURPOSE, bc in the end Rey embraces the light and dark within her. And as a Jedi she accepts her love for Poe, and won't have to keep it a secret -- something that Anakin couldn't achieve with Padme. Now idk how ReyPoe would work though, considering that TLJ was very Reylo heavy, but then again Rey rejected Kylo at the end of TLJ and there were multiple hints of ReyPoe in that film...like right when Snoke started torturing Rey and she started screaming, it cut straight to Poe regaining consciousness. And obviously when Rey and Poe meet and Poe says "I know"
Rey got a good story in this movie, and didnt feel as much like a Luke rehash combined with a mary sue. She felt like her own character. Too bad that Poe never had anything to do besides be either the love interest, a side character, or a cheap Han Solo. Finn and Kylo are the best parts of this film, easily. Finn finally was able to grow as a character, outside of that "guy that wants to run" thing he was stuck in for a while. And Kylo Ren was able to seperate himself from the Vader fanboy ripoff part of him and he had potential to become a Vader that was beyond redemption, a truly tragic character.
The politically motivated reasoning makes a lot of sense since also in tros the only lgbt representation was put in so deliberately inconsequential that it could be seen as having “representation” while also able to be cut out in China with no plot differences
This honestly makes me sad. I’m going to say this right now, I honestly really like Force Awakens and Last Jedi and I was eager to see how the story would conclude. Instead, what we got was a fan service slide show that played it far too safe and undoes everything the previous films did and ended up as one of the, if not, THE most disappointing film I have ever seen. Lucasfilm caved in.
Same. I was very excited what would be in episode 9. And what we got? A movie that is awfuly, INTENTIONALLY retconing everything in the previous movie, has a story build entirely on plot conviniences, devoid of any logic, bloated with fan service and basically tries to be Avengers Endgame with Star Wars skin. Skywalker saga DOES NOT deserve this kind of ending. The Rise of Skywalker is stupid, that shit deserves to be decanonized.
I feel like this really builds on the Sequel Trilogy very well and expands on the themes that were presented. Love it.
God, this would have been a beautiful ending to this trilogy. It just makes me more bitter about how it all ended.
You know I love how fair and understanding you are towards the movies. Most RUclips critics feel that they have some big bias underneath their videos but you are pretty fair on all grounds so honestly thank you and you've earned a new sub.
This would have been better than Rise of Skywalker
That’s facts if we can get the snyder cut we can get this
@@ryanforbes871 Nah, you'd need a cut for the whole trilogy which would be idiotic amounts of effort for nothing. People like Justice League characters, no one likes Rey and the company.
@@omarcomming722 yea that’s v true but it would still would’ve been nice to see Colin trevverows attempt of saving the sequel trilogy but ur right that’s true that’s doing a ton of extra work
@@omarcomming722 people like the Justice League characters, but not Zach Snyder's take on them
Friend, my nephew's first grade science fair play was better than The Rise of Skywalker. But you are certainly right.
I wish we got this instead
This is head canon for me.
So they took Finn basically leading a proletariat revolution and went. "Uhhhhhh... idk... Have him ride some horses across a thing I guess"
And yell 'Rey!'
A lot.
This... this sounds like a STORY. Everything in RoS was just plot.
That doesn't make sense
That may be one of the most insightful analyses of RoS I've yet heard. And I'm jealous I didn't come up with that line first XD
Brilliant insight. Coming from a sequel appreciator, I couldn't agree more. I think there are some really profound ideas in the sequel trilogy that aren't explored to their full extent or are dropped entirely. It genuinely saddens me that Disney did so much backpedaling on these movies. They could have at least been like the prequels: divisive, but still unmistakably true to the vision of the creators. Duel of the Fates has some real potential, and I think that with some tweaks and even some elements pulled from TROS (specifically the way they handled Leia's inclusion), this would have been an excellent conclusion to this trilogy, and the larger saga.
So Rise of Skywalker does have a story because it has a plot
I like how Ben's end was kind of ambiguous. On the one hand, you could believe he died a villain, but in his final act, he performs an act of benevolence by affirming Rey's identity, so you could also credibly believe that he really did follow in the footsteps of his grandfather. I don't necessarily like everything from this, but it is so much more satisfying than The Rise of Skywalker was. It had compelling worldbuilding, it ties the saga tagether (althoigh Anakin really should appear somehow, perhaps he could appear as Anakin to dissuade him from his course after his Vader form defeats him), it ties together everyone's character arcs. Man, this is so disappointing that we didn't get this instead. I can accept a movie that doesn't do everything that I want, but The Rise of Skywalker not only offends me as a Star Wars fan, but as a fan of film. This movie is canon as far as I'm concerned, because TROS made an absolute cluster of the worldbuilding, themes, and characters of just about the entire saga.
These types of videos are very addictive lmao, I love these essays
Great video. But now I'm terrified for what JJ is going to do with DC. Especially if he makes the next Superman movie
JJ is, no doubt, a good director. But, as a screenwriter, he is fucking dreadful. I'd have little problem with him directing, but it would be an immediate nope if he was also the screenwriter.
Hello there
General Kenobi
@@TheOneAvocado you are a bold one
This feels like the other two sequels, flawed but interesting and fun!
I was SOOO nice to hear you talk about the dead ends of Last Jedi. That is the point I've been trying to make and seemingly everyone kept missing about the movie was that it was a movie about failure. Yoda said it explicitly and still everyone missed it. Failure can be the greatest teacher. Everyone had to fail and then learn. Sounds like Duel of the Fates would have grown from that in such an amazing way.
This is truly so amazing. And makes me so much more frustrated at what we ended up getting.
Wait, so rise of skywalker could’ve been... good? That’s mad, the scrapped ideas sound way better than what we ended up getting
They had the opportunity to make a tie up the trilogy and make a film that would stand the test of time. Instead, they made a throw-away movie catering to the trends to make a quick buck.
No they made a throwaway movie because the fandom threw a loud hissy fit over critics liking TLJ and Disney surrendered to the vocal internet minority. So the result was a hodgepodge of walk-backs rather than a coherent conclusion, which this script seemed to accomplish.
@@benwasserman8223 Exactly.
This only reinforces my anger toward Kathleen Kennedy and her sycophants. This should have been the ending to the Skywalker saga. Thank you for putting the time and effort into this. Truly epic.
It’s not her fault, it’s JJ’s, and to a lesser extent Trevorrow’s for leaving the project.
While I enjoyed TROS, I admit this would've been a FAR better finale for the Skywalker Saga.
Some things are really good, like the Coruscant battle (a fitting finale to the saga), though some of this would have been better had it been set up in TLJ. Other things either don’t work or (IMO) go against some core concepts.
Trying to pair Rey and Poe is so forced and just wouldn’t have worked (worse than trying to pair Finn and Rose).
This concept of balancing the light and dark side goes against the concept of the dark side as a corrupting force (i.e., something that is a distortion of the light and therefore cannot be balanced). There is something to the idea that the Jedi path was imperfect and incomplete (and thereby failed to achieve lasting balance), but the idea that the Jedi needed to embrace their darkness doesn’t quite make sense given the struggles of Luke and Anakin.
Also, it still doesn’t seem to really deal with Rey’s core backstory (her abandonment) in a compelling way. This appears like another way of writing it off (even if connecting it to Kylo Ren).
Anakin had to deal with the fact that he couldn’t rescue his mother from slavery and death.
Luke had to deal with the truth that the father whose legacy he wanted to fulfill is the villain who has caused him all his pain.
Rey has to...face her enemy, who is revealed to have killed her parents? What does that change? Nothing. It’s irrelevant to her present motives.
Stressing this because one of the weakest points of the sequel trilogy has been on how it fails to effectively develop its central characters. This script really does a great job with Finn, but it still fails Rey, Poe, and Ben. Here, Poe still suffers the most (he really would be much better served being paired up with Finn - not romantically, but in a buddy cop sort of way - because they parallel each other). And Rey needed not only her personal story (making her resolving of her abandonment the crux of her character development), but also a much more compelling arc within the larger Jedi/Sith story.
All that said, this is definitely a much, much more coherent story than that of Rise of Skywalker, and it still handles the characters in a much better way that TLJ.
i feel like your missing the whole balance part, the whole point of star wars is to find balance, Luke's story was about a person learning to find balance between his emotions and feelings as well as reason and logic
@@samuelhadjaissa5201 I think you are missing the point of the dark side. The LIGHT is the balance not a combination with the dark side
That's essentially my perspective. I think DOTF, in concept, doesn't do much different than TROS: I think it's still the story having come up with conflicts and character drives out of nearly thin air, when I think TLJ didn't leave much to it. Rey and Poe are a romance now! Kylo killed Rey's parents! Kylo gets his face burned and learns force vampirism! Now Finn is going to do a stormtrooper rebellion thing! Now let's spend time talking about the balance!
@@bronodrono6357 not really the light is also bad, look at the prequels and you see the jedi order obsession with the light had led to there own down fall and its only when you balance both the light and the dark you achieve peace
in the OT balance is more like a tranquil sea than balancing two sides of a scale. The dark side is a corruption of the Force (note the term “light side” never appears in the OT or the Prequels).
That the Old Jedi were flawed doesn’t negate the idea of the “light side” as the balanced state. It only negates the idea that what the Jedi practiced (and the way they practiced it) was pure.
In my opinion, that was a far more interesting path they could have taken. Rather than finding fault with the Force or the Jedi understanding of the dark side, perhaps it’s the Jedi themselves who are at fault. Perhaps what they practiced was tainted and impure, and that is why the Jedi were twice susceptible to deception and betrayal.
But the idea that what is needed is a balance between corruption and purity is just the wrong idea, and it’s in fact a very flawed concept when you actually consider what the dark side is about. Not just anger, but the sort of hatred that produces patricide and genocide.
And nothing in Star Wars has been about balancing emotions and logic...
But even if you were right about all of this, it still doesn’t change the fact that these films are a very poor way of telling that sort of story. JJ Abrams is clearly driven more by complex mysteries, vague legacies, macguffins and nebulous emotional cues rather than by character development that is rooted in what characters experience. Rian Johnson seemed to me far more interested in deconstruction and virtue signaling (I use this term VERY rarely) than in actual narrative or character development. Neither seemed to really get what makes for good characters and storytelling.
But I do think there was a way to tell these stories that fit with Star Wars, properly developed the character, and still retained the outline of what JJ Abrams and Rian Johnson wanted to do.
We will never get this cut but I hope they would have made something similar to the Snyder Cut releasing this version even though that's never gonna happen
If only I had a time-machine...
This is the best look at this script I've seen so far.
Oh man... I stumbled upon this video late night.
I was actually moved by a lot of this:
1) "No one is no one" as a response to Kylo's contemptful remarks during heated battle is a powerful moment, worthy of a centered jedi.
2) Rey Solana on the brink of death, getting to commune with jedi force ghosts and then choosing to come back scarred and received with disbelief from stunned grievers in the dessert actually brought tears to my eyes when I pondered it, I had to pause the video and really imagine this ending. It'd turn Daisy Ridley's vulnerable performance as Rey and her struggles to find herself throughout the movies into something that feels earned. A tried and true jedi who knows who she is now, a new iconic jedi well on her path.
3) Collective change coming from individual change does feel like a beautiful sentiment for the closing of this Sequel trilogy, the grey "balance to the force" as opposed to the hopeful idealistic OG trilogy and darker tale of corruption in the Prequel trilogy.
Oh, and
4) Your voice acting was indeed painfully hilarious :'D
Very cool concepts, I think I do prefer it to the final version! Thanks for putting this all together in a digestible video.
This would of made Finn one of the best characters in the saga
I'm getting the feeling that the real reason they wanted a different director for each movie is because that was also the case for the original trilogy.
OT had one writer lmao
It did, but all three had George overseeing the whole thing. J.J. oversaw the first film and said “so long!”.
I'm afraid that I've influenced my kid so much with my own opinion of Disney Star Wars that he won't have one of his own. This wasn't intentional on my part, but it's hard not to be outspoken when you see something you love being butchered by a company you absolutely despise. My guess is I'm probably not the only parent guilty of this. My kid does love General Grievous though, and I never did, so maybe I'm not as much of an influence on him as I fear. If anything he's influenced me to see a character I once didn't care for in new more positive light. Perhaps time will inevitably change both our perspectives. I liked Rise of Skywalker more than most, but this is undeniably better. I don't really care for the ending though. Rey just magically gets to return to the land of the living? How? Why? It seems like such a cop out to rob Rey of her sacrifice just to give the film a happier ending. I don't like it. Nor do I like the Rey/Poe love interest thing. They didn't even meet each other until the end of The Last Jedi. Had they met sooner, and a connection between them been established I could maybe buy into it, but here it just seems like a cheap half assed way of adding in romance at the last minute.
At least your kid has the mandalorian
You _despise_ them? That might be a bit of a stretch, don't you think?
That moment of R2 sharing the catalog of adventures with Leia is sneaky good. That one got me in the feels. Wish we could have seen that.
I think the Dark Knight Trilogy was definitely planned, but Rises was restructured with Heath’s death. Narratively, Batman Begins and The Dark Knight are definitely well planned, plotted.
Actually not really, Nolan said they did it a film at a time and never planned anything. The joker card at the end of Batman Begins wasn't meant as a sequel tease, but more as a hint that Gotham was becoming the Gotham we knew from comics and film
You can tell BC each film feels complete. Plot threads aren't left hanging open at the end of each film and they can all be watched separately (this is something I think TLJ also does) Nolan hates sequel baiting and the idea of not telling your entire story, for instance he hates post credits scenes in Marvel BC it suggests the film isn't complete. anything he wanted to say he said in each film
Also, let's not forget how things rhyme because the Sequel Trilogy ALSO had to restructure its finale due to one of its biggest stars dying unexpectedly.
I am grateful that you verbalized the difference between the sequel trilogy and the previous two trilogies. That being it's meta-aproach to Star Wars.
lmao imagine if they recreated that famous "student in front of the tank convoy" photo
that would have been based
In an alternate universe, we would have gotten this movie :(
Ever watched Jurassic World Fallen Kingdom by chance lately
I enjoyed the Episode IX we got, like, a hell of a lot. It got me in 'the feels'.
...but this would've been way better, I started to get just as emotional hearing you read the original climax.
Dude, This is so good. You reading was excellent. Not ashamed to say my eyes didn't stay completely dry.
“Magician for the elderly” lmaoooo
RIP to your comment section 😭
Good video though :)
Thanks and yep, I'm going to keep my head down now and work on my 5 other non-Star Wars videos now 😂
@@ImplicitlyPretentious Cant wait to see what you have planned next :)
No lie, with all the drama surrounding star wars for the past 2years I didn't bother reading the Duel of the Fates script, I was just exhausted with it all.
But this script, was a story, not a laundry list of obligations or subversions, a story, at peace with TFA & TLJ and had something to say about Star Wars as a whole. Its a damn shame Lucasfilm folded. A damn shame.... RIP to this beautiful script.
This made me tear up, I love your channel.
To all those people who complain about the Disney movies like last Jedi. This was your fault this didn’t happen. Remember that
Implicitly Pretentious said in his defense of The Last Jedi: _"Artists are not obligated into giving the audience what they want. Otherwise it's a business, not art."_ I wish all fanbases in nerd culture would realize this. ESPECIALLY the Star Wars fanbase. Very vocal sects of fanbases seem to be only capable of stuff that makes them uncomfortable through the lens of hating them to death and wishing they would go away forever. They weren't even patient enough to wait another two years to see how this would all end to see whether or not the story of the sequels was even FINISHED to make up their minds on everything as a whole.
The fact people are still more angry at TLJ instead of those awful Disney live-action remakes or fan-service pieces like Terminator Genisys really frustrates me. The latter will always be FAR MORE offensive to their respective franchises than anything Johnson did with Star Wars.
Disney didn't HAVE to coward out though. The critical reviews of Last Jedi were good, the film made a profit.
They CHOSE to use a script that didn't pay off any story arcs from the prior movies, didn't give Finn anything to do and brought back Palpatine in the most transparent and desperate "We need a big bad and fast" way possible.
As annoying as the fan backlash was, Disney panicking is on them.
Yeah there's dumb stuff about this script too but I'll gladly take Rey/Poe coming out of nowhere and Hux offing himself than Palpatine's back AND he has an armada AND he's responsible for everything.
@@ViccVegaa023 I blame both personally. Both sides share the blame in equal amounts but for different reasons. The fan backlash was serious BUT obviously higher-ups should have simply listened to them, but still decide to push through with this new direction. IE they should keep in mind what their audience would like to see, but in the end, they need to realize it is the director who needs to be allowed to expressed his or her vision above all else. That's why they got the job. And to be in the director's shoes, imagine how awful and infuriating it would be to work almost all your life to get even a slight sliver of hope to direct a movie from a franchise you love, then later on find out you aren't allowed to bring any of your own ideas to the table and you're going to make something other's want through and through because ticket sales are needed.
I don't really like Trevorrow's filmography, but I would have stuck with this script and find ways to write around Leia with Fisher's passing, and buffing out some of the scratches and rough-edges. Toss out Rey x Poe for something that relates to the love of friends without shoehorning in some pointless romantic subplot, Kylo getting a more bittersweet ending so the dyad can continue, give Rey a band of new Jedi to be with so they can later join forces with the Knights of Ren, get Anakin in there through perhaps a force ghost as he talks to Kylo, Luke being the one to want to see the dyad come together and Rey being worried she'll have to kill Ben, Poe being more than a love-interest, and keep stuff like Tor Vallum, Kylo's visions, Finn's uprising, and the stuff on Coruscant in tact. It would have pissed SO MANY off, but I think in the longrun it would be looked back on more fondly than whatever the hell Episode IX was.
And even if it wasn't like that, I would prefer it over Rise of Skywalker which was basically just endless Star Wars porn that was so amazingly vapid and seemed to not care at all that someone was directing it and maybe wanted to share what they had to say instead of just having the studio say it.
The Last Jedi was horse shit ... Let's not try to pretend it wasn't.
@@martynstembridge7714 It was the best SW movie since the originals and the fact so much of the fanbase wanted fan-service over a script like VIII's says a lot about modern nerd culture.
Hey I'm only 23 minutes in for now, but I had to pause it to say that this video is amazing! When the news about this script broke, there were a few people breaking it down and summarizing some plots elements using various production artwork, but this imagery really sells the emotion in the story, and helps me feel like I saw an actual ending to the trilogy and even all 9 films. The disappointment of RoS made it easy to forget my investment in these characters and how likeable they actually were, and this really brings it all back. Thank you, it's truly great work! Maybe this will happen for GoT one day too lol
I think this is the longest it’s taken till we get to your intro music. Great video by the way
This masterpiece made me cry! Don't know how. It was where Chewie was getting shot in the back with R2-D2 and the R2 unit sharing his experiences throughout the past 60 years with General Leia!
Ever watched Jurassic World Fallen Kingdom by chance
Amazing that JJ read this, and chose "THE DEAD SPEAK!" instead lol
This is script is my canon ! And this video essay was perfect from begning to the last second!!!
there was this air of anticipation when "the force awakens" came out as after being raised a fan of "star wars" and then coming into my early adulthood with the disappointment of the prequels. i felt like a kid again after watching "the force awakens". when "the last jedi" came out. i i knew it was going to be different. it had flaws but i appreciated those flaws as it made me realize it's going into a more adult-like direction as i thought what rian johnson did was ballsy and made hope for the next film.
with "the rise of skywalker", i was going through some personal stuff relating to my dad's death as i was anxious to see how the series ended. for some reason, whatever feelings i had based on my experiences in watching all of those films. it wasn't there. i spent much of the film going... "uh..." "what?" "huh?" it wasn't just me but the people at the screening i went to. no one clapped, no one made any big noises as it ended with a whimper and people were coming out that screening confused and underwhelmed. having read "duel of the fates", i felt like every one who grew up on the series and went through good times and bad times with the series were cheated. even with the flaws that the script had, it at least took risks and was trying to at least take the series forward and put more care into those characters instead of what we got in the end.
I remember when J. J Abrams was announced to direct Episode 9 and everyone was excited given that people don't like Trevorrow's filmography(But honestly man is pretty much OK) so imagine the irony when Episode 9 came out and we found out that Trevorrow's take actually lined up a lot better with what Rian Johnson set up.
Great video
I wish I got to see this movie.
“if only, if only” the Trevorrow sighs..
I was in the feels this whole video, but when Chewbacca r2 and c3po were getting shot I started tearing up
This sounds really fucking good. I actually teared up multiple times. When Finn inspires the storm trooper, makes his speech, storm troopers removing their helmets, Lukes speech about the force and Rey's no one is no one. That was really good stuff.
I always felt JJ Abrams wasn't that great of a director, his movies sometimes seemed like an "almost there but not" sort of movies. Now I can safely say he's totally not in it for the art and storytelling.
Honestly this would have been such a moment for Disney if they'd actually baked this version a little longer. Anyway the advent of the awful Mulan remake really shows where the company is headed: chasing a bigger market and eschewing making art. For in this day in age, art is not required to make money. Making a statement is no longer linked to profits. Hopefully the execs at Disney will learn their Mulan 2020 lesson. I am not optimistic.
Except all od that is needed for a film to make a profit. It's a big reason why Mulan flopped
This would’ve been an epic conclusion to the saga
This is actually beautifully crafted, flaws and all
So much better than what we got 😔😪
Speaking as an ‘old person’ (soon you’ll jooooinn uuussssss) JJ is no magician. He’s still just a ding dong who loves lens flares and making money. He never sticks the landing. I think just about anything written by someone else and directed by someone else including my dogs would have been better than JJ pulling The Emperor out of his butt at the last minute like that was his plan all along? It probably was and thats pathetic.
Coruscant kind of gives me the Mega City One vibe. This script is so much better than what we got.
Man, I absolutely despised TLJ + RoS, but watching this at the least helped me realize what TLJ was going for story wise but I hated the execution ahaha. Good video though! Would have been to see Duel of the Fates!
I loved half of TLJ and hated the other half
@@danielcaverly1970 I’ll die on the hill saying that The Last Jedi is possibly the best thematic Star Wars film. Dual of the Fates would’ve cemented that as everything TLJ sets up was going to get a payoff in that film.
@@MrDH287 I have a lot of problems with the resistance storyline, the rey,kylo,and luke storyline are amazing though
@@danielcaverly1970 exactly. That's exactly how i feel
I enjoyed the stuff in TLJ with Rey, Luke and Kylo. I just think that the sideplots could've had a few more rewrites to make it work better with the overarching narrative.
Now I know why Daisey Ridley cried after she reading this script. That ending was tearfully good.
Though I still don't think Duel of the Fates would be a good movie, nor a good continuation of The Last Jedi and The Force Awakens, the fact that it at least has a creative soul to it and at least acts more as a bad sequel to The Last Jedi (as opposed to The Rise of Skywalker acting as almost a soft reboot of the whole trilogy) means I could respect it a lot more as a creative venture. With a few changes (get rid of the awful Poe x Rey romance, Ben Solo accepts redemption with a living atonement and happily ever after (or else what did Han and Luke both give their lives for?), and continue to explore Rey and Ben's Force Bond instead of dropping it entirely), Duel of the Fates definitely could have been the ending the trilogy and the saga deserved. I'm not sure what the value was in just scrapping everything and starting from scratch, the bones were good.
Honestly, Finn deserved to be the Jedi of this trilogy. Unlike Rey (who is a chosen one in all but name) Finn IS indeed a true no one hero. He literally starts his story as a walking serial number. It would’ve been awesome to see the next Jedi Knight coming from those the Empire/First Order sees as their disposable human tools.
I really hate the fact that we got TROS instead of this and disney is to blame but Disney's reaction was because of those fans who cried and cry till date about last jedi. This would've made TLJ much better just like ROTJ made empire strikes back, I just wish I could see this instead of TROS.
It's Kathleen Kennedys fault, not Disneys.....Disney was just the owner of the franchise, and she was in control.....
@@idk-yl7fn I say it's fans fault and disney has more control over SW than marvel, so yeah disney is to blame for not believing in their own trilogy but what can you do when once before it already happened with prequel trilogy and they probably wanted to avoid that situation so they were like okay take whatever you want and don't come after us. People blame others but in reality the fandom is toxic, it's better to not touch their precious jedi warrior(not peacekeeper) luke Skywalker or anything related to that, I'm happy that disney is focusing on mandalorian and other properties.
How would this have made TLJ better? If DOTF does it's thing and uses those elements in a strongly written way, does that change what was done in and/or with TLJ?
@@Dagenspear I'm not talking about the movie, I'm talking about the movie's perspective and importance in the trilogy. Rey being no one and still rising up against the resistance, finn leading a charge against the 1st order at coruscant, I mean it doesn't neglect the events in TLJ but builds upon them for a grander and cohesive story like the originals and prequels and this TLJ what was lacking in this trilogy or any SW trilogy for that matter, even if you watch originals for the first time and leave them without ROTJ it will feel weird and nothing will make sense and Lucas knew this that's why he didn't retcon this instead tried to give a perspective on it as it wasn't always the plan but he did it because he knew that story needed it. Disney failed everyone in this matter as they retconned nearly everything in the TLJ, Rey is palpatine now, snoke was palpatine all along(making anakin's sacrifice completely worthless). The list goes on but one thing is clear ROS was the most reactionary film I've seen after justice league and like that it ruined overall saga for me not just sequels but prequels too by taking the retcon turn they turned story into same old clusterfuck where nothing made sense and fans were happy( still they're not).
I love this script. Reminds me so much of Harry Potter and the deathly hallows.
I liked TROS but this would have been nice.
Before I die .... I hope that this either comes out in the next few years AS is from this essay. OR that the fans end up making one. Seriously I hope 40 years from now, Colin will end his career with one last one for us all!
Can this please be made into an Animated mini series, or I will even take a novelization of Duel of the Fates. It's not perfect but this is a good finale act, and doesn't even try to recon the Last Jedi.
I meant love or Hate the TLJ, I don't think any of us wanted a movie that wasn't subtle in its changes of past films. We wanted an epic and memorable final Act of this Trilogy, and I believe that Duels of the Fates, dose just that.
This is brilliantly written and produced. Thank you so much for this content. I mean it.
And it's this story that's the reason I will never accept Rise of Skywalker as canon.
This was a fantastic essay and just makes me wish we could have gotten that movie or some version of it where they dealt with Carrie Fisher's untimely death and worked it in. Thanks for taking the time to even do this and put it together. Well done.
I’m going to wipe my rise of sky walker dvd and burn this video on it. Then I’ll put it back in the case on the shelf next to the rest of the saga
dawg why am i tearing up? thank you for enlightening me even if u just relayed this script, u did a great job. idk man this film would've been too ambitious for the SW disney was trying to put out however, god damn it could've been the absolute shit.