The debate about the merits of Star Wars: The Last Jedi will no doubt continue for a long time yet, because fans still can’t seem to make up their minds about how they view the eighth installment in the Skywalker Saga. Rian Johnson was slaughtered online for the creative decisions he made as it initially proved to be the most divisive entry in the franchise yet, before finding himself thanked for his contributions just two years later as the vitriol shifted in the direction of J.J. Abrams and The Rise of Skywalker.
It may have split the fanbase right down the middle, but critics without a lifelong affinity for Star Wars seemed to get a real kick out of The Last Jedi. In fact, the movie’s Rotten Tomatoes score of 90% sees it rank fourth behind A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back and The Force Awakens, while an 84 on Metacritic places it second behind only George Lucas’ classic original.
One of the major criticisms of The Rise of Skywalker was that it relied too heavily on nostalgia and callbacks to Star Wars history in a blatant attempt to placate those that were so angry with The Last Jedi, which resulted in pretty much everything that happened in Episode VIII having very little bearing on the overall story told in the Sequel Trilogy.
Now, a new fan trailer has balanced the best of both worlds and re-edits the preview for The Last Jedi to give it a vintage makeover, bathing the most polarizing adventure in a galaxy far, far away in the warmth of fuzzy nostalgia and classic sound effects. And based on their most recent projects, if there’s one thing Lucasfilm loves about Star Wars, it’s relying on the past to market and sell the future.
