As certainly as a J.J. Abrams film will have lens flares and M. Night Shyamalan will utilize a twist ending, a Star Wars film is going to have a lot of wipe cuts. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but the editing style has become an expected part of the galaxy far, far away. It is so deeply entrenched in Star Wars lore that it even warranted a good hearted jab in Space Balls.
As superfans cling to every tiny morsel of information about The Last Jedi that they can get their hands on, director Rian Johnson took to Twitter to poll fans to see which film in the franchise had the most wipes. The Phantom Menace had the most (first in wipes, last in our hearts) with a whopping 55, The Empire Strikes Back had 42, A New Hope had 31, and The Force Awakens only had a relatively restrained 14. However, the upcoming Last Jedi is slightly breaking with tradition and only featuring 12.
https://twitter.com/rianjohnson/status/901187564115079168
https://twitter.com/rianjohnson/status/901188116869857280
Sure, this is awfully small potatoes in the world of film trivia, but there is a certain comfort that comes with obsessing over this particular lore. When the world is on fire, it’s heartening to know that at least we have more Star Wars to look forward to.
(Via The Hollywood Reporter)