Rogue One: THe Battle of Scarif overview

4/6/2017

Hi everyone! So I thought I was done with fanedits after making J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit. Guess not! For my second fanedit, I’ve decided to make a version of Rogue One that revolves entirely around the Battle of Scarif. This was the most exciting sequence in the film by far, and I feel would make for an exciting short film.

In order to make The Battle of Scarif stand on its own (meaning you wouldn’t necessarily need to see all of Rogue One to understand what happens in this cut), I’m making the following edits and adjustments:

Insertion of an opening crawl (of course!). It will summarize the events that occur during the course of Rogue One that lead to the Scarif battle.
First scene of the film is the confrontation between Krennic and Darth Vader, with some adjusted dialogue for Vader.
The Rebels will still bicker over going to war, but this stuff will be trimmed. As will Cassian’s super long monologue about the Rebellion.
I never found myself that invested in Rogue One’s characters to begin with, so a number of “character” scenes and lines will be adjusted. The main focus of the edit will be the battle itself and the actual recovery of the Death Star plans.
Insertion of classic Star Wars music cues from John Williams. I’ve been going through the entire saga OST and will be dropping tracks where appropriate. Most people have agreed that Giacchino’s score just didn’t cut it. Not that I totally blame him; apparently he had 3-4 weeks to write and conduct everything.
Various SFX enhancements. This is big. Because I’m adding new music cues throughout the film, this means that I have to remove some of Giacchino’s cues. Unfortunately the music sometimes bleeds across the 5.1 audio channels with the sound effects, meaning that I’ve had to rebuild the sound design for entire scenes where John Williams’ music is now. This has been by far the most time-consuming part of the edit, but thankfully there are some really great Star Wars SFX libraries online that I’ve been able to use for this.
A light sprinkling of those old-school wipes and transitions from the other Star Wars films. Why not?
The film ends with Vader slicing and dicing Rebel scum, and watching as the Tantive IV flies away. Leia’s scene has been cut.
With credits and everything, the runtime of the edit will be around 45-50 minutes.

So there you go. If you’re in the mood to watch Rogue One but would rather skip the attempts at character development and Forest Whitaker’s pet tentacle monster, pull up Rogue One: The Battle of Scarif and jump straight to the ‘splosions. As with my Hobbit fanedit, The Battle of Scarif will be edited in HD with 5.1 surround sound to ensure the highest possible audio/visual quality. I'm already 80-90% finished with the edit, and will likely release it in the next few weeks. In the meantime, head over to the VIDEOS PAGE where I'll be uploading scene excerpts for your enjoyment. Thanks!

24 Comments

Andrew

4/23/2017 07:30:20 am

This sounds excellent. I look forward to seeing you fanedit!

Peter

4/24/2017 07:27:59 pm

I don't know if you accept any suggestions or if it's too late to ask, but I think, and some might agree and others might not but hear me out.
1) The Death Star's appearance at Scarif should either be removed or keep it but cut out it's shock wave and remove Jyn and Andor's death scene, leave their fates unknown.
2) Rearrange Vader's hallway scene so that it gives the impression that he's heading for the comm room and not Leia's ship. Have the Rebel who is burning the plans to disk placed toward the end to look like he's retransmitting the plans to Leia's ship. Cut out the scene of Leia's ship jettisoning from the Mal Cal ship and instead show it already in space and flying away. This would better line up in continuity with dialogue from A New Hope.
I hope you take this suggestion under advisement as I personally believe that this will make the movie much more better than what we got. Good work by the way, hearing John Williams score makes it more tolerable.

Dustin

4/25/2017 06:03:01 am

Hi Peter, thanks for the suggestions. Can I ask why you think the Death Star should be removed, and why we shouldn't see the fate of Cassian and Jyn?

As for your second suggestion, it would be impossible for me to re-edit that scene with the footage available. I think it works fine regardless!

Lord Sistros

5/12/2017 02:32:34 pm

I agree with Dustin, on both accounts. The plans were "beamed" to the Tantive in a way.

4/25/2017 10:02:38 am

In A New Hope we're given the impression that the Death Star was never used or fully operational not like what we've seen in Rogue One where it's used willy nilly. And I've heard many people say they would've liked it if Jyn and Cassian lived.

Too bad about the Vader scene, it's just that it doesn't line up with canon continuity. Remember "Several transmissions were beam (not handed off) to this (Leia's) ship by Rebel spies." I have seen many people handwave and otherwise make up excuses for it, but that doesn't excuse the fact that it violates and destroys canon continuity with A New Hope, something that should be unthinkable.

4/26/2017 11:12:47 am

In A New Hope, there's an Imperial commander who says "until this station is fully operational, we are vulnerable." Tarkin also says "I think it is time we demonstrate the full power of this station."

From those two quotes, it is clear the Death Star has never been fired at full power. But I don't that means it was never fired at all. Tarkin's line in particular implies they've used it already, in a less powerful capacity.

I don't see how Jyn and Cassian surviving Rogue One would improve the film. We never see them in the OT, so it would be odd to have these incredible heroes never appear again. They make a sacrifice to get the plans to the Rebels, and it makes sense that they lose their lives.

4/26/2017 02:34:31 pm

In regards to Jyn and Cassian not existing in the OT, don't be one of those people, please. It is a big galaxy and a big rebellion, after all. Just because Gareth Edwards is short-sighted doesn't mean you have to be too. One explanation that they could have used to get around it was to have Jyn and Cassian med-evac off Scarif and spent all of A New Hope aboard the Medical Frigate (the one from ESB) bedridden and healing up.
Seriously, is the Star Wars galaxy so small that there is no room for any new characters outside those who actually appeared on screen in A New Hope?

Anyway, like I said, just suggestions. Use them or don't I don't care anymore. I thought you could've made this movie worth watching. I will watch it to see your work, and judge later. But replacing the music with John William's score already gives you a thumb up. Don't screw up.

Darth Sneed

5/4/2017 03:48:11 pm

Peter . . Jesus dude!! The guy spent time making this to share for free. You don't have to turn into a whiny little bitch because he didn't do what you asked him to do AFTER the edit was finished and published. "Don't screw up" and "I thought you could've made the movie worth watching" are the most dick, entitled, whiny statements I've ever seen in response to a FREE fan offering.

If you don't like it, make your own fan edit. But there's no reason to act like a spoiled brat just because you can't get your way.

To Dustin,

AWESOME WORK!! Thank you for your hours of work. Peter may not appreciate what you've done, but the rest of the community is extremely grateful for your hard work and dedication!!

Keep up the good work!!

HANS

5/4/2017 05:45:49 pm

Great work on this fan edit. Don't worry about these weird haters. My only comment is that the file doesn't seem to have 5.1 surround sound. When playing through Plex or Direct on the PS4 it shows up as stereo. But perhaps it's just something weird with my set up.

thanks again!

5/4/2017 07:08:58 pm

Thanks Hans. This version of the fan edit is only in stereo however. I wanted to make the May 4 release, and prepping a 5.1 version would have taken a lot more time. I am hoping to make a 5.1 version available soon however.

5/4/2017 05:52:00 pm

FYI This is how Plex sees it:

Codec AAC
Channels Stereo
Bitrate 323 kbps
Language English
Audio Channel Layout stereo
Profile lc
Sampling Rate 48000 Hz
Stream Identifier 2

Tray Chester

5/9/2017 06:27:25 pm

I was wondering when someone was going to get around to doing this. I've been saying ever since December that it needed to be about 40 minutes tops. I still don't agree with some things done here, but it's better than fast-forwarding and skipping through the official release.

Negative observations so far: Opening crawl music is from a prequel. Mustafar is stupid and should have been removed. Vader and Krennic should have met aboard a Star Destroyer, not a craptastic prequel-related castle. I guess there's nothing that can be done there, unless Star Destroyer walls could be added to the footage. That would be tough. The music from the final battle of the original Star Wars was a good choice, but it sounds like it's in a tin can. I know it's from 1976-1977, but I have files that sound better than that!

Anyway, I applaud the efforts here, and unless something comes along that caters to my gripes (yeah right!), I'll be hanging on to this. MTFBWY!

5/9/2017 07:09:09 pm

Thanks for the comment! I'm sure you understand it's impossible to please everyone...many people enjoyed seeing Mustafar in Rogue One, including myself. The prequels weren't masterpieces but they did a great job of expanding the Star Wars universe and showing us cool new worlds. Plus, Rogue One is technically a prequel too!

5/9/2017 07:11:04 pm

Sorry but I had to come back. Unfortunately, after only 5 minutes of viewing, I had to delete this. As a fan editor, it should be known to not fiddle with Vader's dialog. It was very jarring and off-putting. The different levels and different effects used on the voice through the years make it a big-no-no to try and manipulate. It takes the viewer out of the experience faster than the prequel music and sounds did on the previews. Gareth Edwards' film is a cluster**** no doubt, but unfortunately this edit is just a shorter one. Maybe as time and technology go on, this can be pulled together. Good luck.

Ranger

10/26/2017 09:47:02 pm

Dustin,
I enjoyed BoS immensely. It's knowledgable, graceful and smoothly edited, with the score to match. I appreciate what you've done here - it's imminently watchable, and so much less grating than the original. Throughly enjoyable and well fit into the ouevre. Thank you.
Ranger

Vader

11/7/2020 02:54:42 am

Get a grip.

Jeff

5/9/2017 07:59:59 pm

Dustin, thank you! Someone who understands how much music means to a movie. I really enjoyed watching your version of rogue one much more than the original version. It's so much more like Star Wars and had me on the edge of my seat for that battle, unlike when I saw it in the theater. I really appreciate the time and effort you put into this I hope others do too. Well done! I used to only enjoy the last 5 minutes of Rogue One, not anymore!

This will be the version I watch, much like Harmy's original trilogy edits. You nailed it! THANKS!

5/9/2017 08:33:46 pm

Jeff, to be clear, Harmy's Despecialized Edition is a restoration, not a fan edit.

Thomas Mason

5/10/2017 03:12:35 am

The fan edit is great, though you did say that the Leia scene was cut, but it's still in there, so I don't know what you changed your mind or if the ending just didn't work without it. I've got no problems with the Leia scene to begin with, so I'm not complaining, just curious.

Also, I have to say that two of those scenes could have been left without the Williams music, those being the walker coming out of the smoke and Chirrut walking to the master switch. Those scenes work a lot better without blaring music.

And third, and this is just a personal thing, I think Krennic arriving at Vader's castle should have been accompanied by the Mustafar theme from Revenge of the Sith, the music you used, while good, I associate more with Kamino more than Mustafar. Anyway, good work again.

5/10/2017 11:18:48 am

I just changed my mind with Leia's scene. The CGI bothers me but it ends the film on a better note than Vader watching the blockade runner get away.

I've heard multiple people mention they want the Mustafar theme when Krennic visits Vader. So maybe I'll make a 2.0 version with that. No promises thought!

Greg

5/19/2017 08:34:26 am

What about having the voice of Leia, but speaking her line of "Hope" while her back is to the camera and we see her hair buns?

Love the edit by the way! The opening crawl really sets it all up.

Nicholas Wood

5/11/2017 02:58:36 pm

Fantastic edit! The John Williams music you added in works surprisingly well for all scenes! Also what's the music score that starts at 32:15? It sounds amazing.

5/12/2017 06:52:17 am

Thanks! The track title is Escape from Cloud City/Hyperspace from Empire Strikes Back. You can listen to it here https://youtu.be/dQw4w9WgXcQ

Anglik

8/19/2019 08:48:17 pm

Um... Have I just been rickrolled? :-)

Rogue One: THe Battle of Scarif overview

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Rogue One: THe Battle of Scarif overview

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©2023 Maple films ltd.all rights reserved

©2023 Maple films ltd.
all rights reserved