According to the film's stunt coordinator, 90 percent of the action Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker filmed made it into the finished movie. After what felt like a huge wait for many Star Wars fans, the final film in both the sequel trilogy and the lengthy Skywalker saga finally arrived last December. While the film was everything that some Star Wars fans hoped for and more, other fans were not so quick to praise the J.J. Abrams spectacle. Instead, Rise of Skywalker has been caught in the middle of one of the most divisive Star Wars debates of all. Of course, a Star Wars film wouldn’t be a Star Wars film without a controversy or two, and few can deny that while Rise of Skywalker may not be everyone’s cup of tea, it's filled with consistent action.
Though originally intended to be directed by Jurassic World filmmaker Colin Trevorrow, creative differences resulted in Trevorrow’s Rise of Skywalker departure early on. Some rumors persisted that The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson would step up to take the project on, but instead, the job went to The Force Awakens director, J.J. Abrams. This was a point of conflict for some Star Wars fans, given Abrams’ handling of The Force Awakens. Nonetheless, Abrams returned and delivered a highly ambitious, action-laden adventure.
In fact, the degree of action found in Rise of Skywalker remains one of its greatest strengths. With a multitude of lavish locations at its disposal, the battles between the Resistance and the First Order are as intense as they are diverse. What’s more, as Screen Rant recently learned, the vast amount of action scenes shot for Rise of Skywalker remain in the film - something that isn’t all that common when it comes to shooting action scenes. During an exclusive interview with Rise of Skywalker’s stunt coordinator Eunice Huthart, Screen Rant learned that 90 percent of what was shot made it into the film. Said Huthart on the subject:
I've done movies where I'd say 60 percent, 65 percent or 70 percent of our action makes the film. I'd say on the whole, probably 90 percent of what we shot action-wise made the movie.
Considering exactly how many battles take place in Rise of Skywalker, it makes sense that so much of what was shot made it into the final cut. Some have criticized Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker for being bloated and over-ambitious, but it does make sense that the finale of the Skywalker saga should have a certain amount of action. On that front, Abrams delivered in a big way, leaving very little on the cutting room floor. It’s good to know this was the case, as the upcoming Blu-ray and DVD release of Rise of Skywalker won’t contain any deleted scenes. That news had been a disappointment for many Star Wars fans, so hopefully knowing that about 90 percent of the action scenes that were shot remain in the film will help to soften the blow.
Regardless of the prevailing opinion of Rise of Skywalker, Abrams seems to have put everything he could into it. All talk of action sequences aside, the film might have relied quite heavily on aspects of Star Wars films that came before it, such as The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, and there is arguably the issue that the film’s plot relied on all too convenient twists at times. Still, it’s hard to deny Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is a visual feast and the fact that the majority of its action footage was kept speaks to the high degree of talent involved in completing the Skywalker saga.