REBEL MOON Part 1 Ending Explained | Directors Cut, Review And Netflix Breakdown

Welcome to the Heavy Spoilers show, I’m your host Paul, and in this video, we’re breaking down Rebel Moon Part 1.

Titled “A Child of Fire,” there’s a lot to break down, with there not only being a sequel coming but also an extended version. Yep, they’re doing another Snyder Cut, but I kind of feel like this is a marketing ploy by the studio.

Has it backfired? Well, the reviews aren’t looking good, and honestly, it’s kind of difficult to review. Knowing that a longer and potentially better version that sorts out the issues in this is dropping soon makes it weird to talk about from a critical point of it.

Snyder said his version is a “Completely different movie and that he wanted the R-rated cut to be his,”.

It’s kind of weird knowing that this isn’t what Zack intended, and there’s already been a bit of damage control. It’s been said it’s all tied up in what Netflix wants to release first but…yeah, they have a streaming service and are doing the longer one in a few months. So personally, I see them as seeing the Snyder Cut movement and how much the demand dominated social media. Thus, they may be hoping it makes everyone double dip, with rumors of the other cut keeping interest in the film. I mean, Director’s Cuts in general…they’ve been a big marketing thing for decades with it making people buy alternate versions of films so they can see the true vision. If you got the Aliens boxset, you might remember that Ridley Scott actually opens it by introducing the new cut and basically saying that he still thinks the theatrical one’s the best version. The director’s cuts are actually shorter and contain fewer shots, and Scott said it was done purely to sell the new boxset.

So, Cynical Spoilers I’ll forever remain, but we will get into it as we discuss the movie.

Anyway, that’s my longest intro ever, and heavy spoilers ahead from this point out. Please smash the thumbs up if you enjoy it, and don’t forget to subscribe for videos like this every day.

With that out of the way, a huge thank you for clicking this; now let’s get into Rebel Moon.

REBEL MOON PART 1 BREAKDOWN

Now, as with all Sci-Fi epics, there’s lots of lore and things to unpack. Inspired by elements of Dune and Star Wars, Snyder crafted a galactic-spanning tale.

A long time ago…in a galaxy far, far away we learn of the mother world, which had a royal bloodline that was so lustful for power that it consumed all the planet’s resources. Sending its armies into space, they attempted to conquer all. However, this lust for power caused the subjects to rise up, and both the king and queen were killed on their coronation. In our world, they just stand outside the coronation holding banners and stuff, but here it was worse than when Heavy Spoilers gets a limited ads symbol, and he has to upload the same crap video twice.

Either way…not really as good as Anthony Hopkins doing it, is it? Either way, there were whispers of revolution on the outer worlds, and a senator named Balisarius seized power in the vacuum. Now a regent, he set out to renew the empire’s strength through his loyalist follower, Admiral Atticus Noble.

His one mission is to crush the rebels…rebels spelled M-O-O-N.

Ah, he said it.

It’s a niche reference that, but if you’ve read The Stand, I hope you appreciate it.

Anyway, this is where we meet Kora, a farm girl on the planet Veldt. Veld means uncultivated land, but I feel the word may be a nod to Watchmen. In that, Ozymandias’ real name was Adrian Veidt, and Snyder, of course, directed the film adaptation. We learn throughout the film that Kora was once part of the Imperium but that she crash-landed on the planet and has been lying low ever since.

With Noble’s un-noble quest out in the stars raging on, we see as this eventually takes him to Veldt. Noble is currently hunting a group known as Clan Bloodaxe, and he demands supplies in order to continue the quest. The cheeky cheeky people of Veldt live on a fertile and rich planet, but they’re like…ah mate…proper crap this. Drier than my nan’s snooflegus, you know what I mean.

Beating the village’s leader, Father Sindri, to death, Noble tells Gunnar that he has ten weeks to have the supplies ready. Gunnar started off believing that they could be partners, and he dropped Sindri in it by bragging about how much they had. Gunnar sees it as an opportunity, but all they care about is conquest and power. Kora just wants to keep her cover and lie low, but Noble leaves some soldiers behind to make sure there’s no funny business.

Amongst this is a droid who comes to be known as Jimmy, who comes from a long line of robotic knights. Ever since their king was killed, they’ve refused to fight, but Kora recruits him to join their band of rebels.

He tells us of the king and queen’s daughter, who was known as the Redeemer, who was seen as a person that could save the mother world. Known as Issa, there is a resemblance to the villager Sam, which leads into Jimmy spouting off about her.

Again…can’t do it as well as Hopkins, but we discover that Kora was once her bodyguard.

After her world was taken by the Imperium, she was raised by Balisarius and turned into a ruthless warrior.

She never knew why he spared her, but she did go to pull the trigger on him, so perhaps he saw strength. I think we will learn more about him in part 2, and I have a theory time…theory time…theory time…about what it is.

Kora says that he saw something in her, and my guess is they had a similar childhood. We know the Imperium conquered many worlds, and I feel like he would’ve been in a similar position. We also learn that the soldiers were encouraged to love so that they had an attachment during the fury of war. Balisarius is without one when we see him, and I think that like Kora, he probably lost his. Maybe in her, he saw something else, and a child that he could raise as the person he was in love with didn’t survive long enough to have one with him.

Does that make sense…is that theory time…I don’t know, but I kinda feel like that’s where we’re going. However, there’s also the fact that she’s the Scar-giver, which could tie in with Issa.

Issa was seen as a future for the world and a way they’d once lost due to all their war. Issa was able to give life, and this power was thought to be something that could regenerate the mother world.

REBEL MOON PART 1 THEORIES

Kora being a young girl as well could’ve been an opposite to her and a way to bring death across the galaxy. We know that Part 2 has the subtitle “Scar-giver,” so it’s likely going to be what the entire film focuses around. We don’t really get the answer to this, and obviously, I’d love to hear your theories below. We learn she’s the most wanted fugitive in the entire galaxy and potentially she’s the assassin who killed the Royals. There’s talk about how their death came from giving charity to an off-worlder, which in many ways fits in with that.

Perhaps her father got his surrogate daughter to carry it out, and this was the reason that he became regent.

Again theories…but she says she feels guilt over the assassinations, and that’s the reason that she fled.

In the end, she sees some soldiers assaulting Sam and smashes them like the like button. Jimmy comes in and stands up to his masters, leaving just the soldier Arris, who stood up to the Imperium too.

At this point, they head out for the providence in order to do a Seven Samurai. Making their own band of warriors, they start to assemble a cast of characters that can help them out in their fight against Noble.

Now, I feel like this is where you can see a lot of the movie was cut down, as we have the pacing kind of all over the place. Some characters come in and are taken out as fast as they arrived, and you really wonder if they were even needed at all. Obviously, I’m guessing these would get more room in the extended cut, and it would feel a bit less breakneck as we go through it.

As always, Snyder uses slow-mo in action scenes, and this gives them a sense of his own unique style. I don’t think he could’ve cut them down and had the movie still look as good, however, I think this might add into the film’s criticisms. Again, I don’t think he could cut them, but when you have to cut the other stuff, then it leads to some plot issues. I kinda compare it to Batman V Superman, in which I thought the extended cut sorted out all the issues. I really enjoy that version, but the theatrical cut got rid of a lot of the cohesive moments that helped to fill in some of the questions you might have.

That was obviously all studio mandated, and I feel like this is history repeating itself.

There’s a lot of characters, but Snyder’s not been given the run time to do them justice, so it was either cut them out completely or cut down the character development. Now that’s for the side ones, but I genuinely think Kora especially gets a lot, and there was enough here to keep me invested.

Now speaking of history repeating itself, they go out to what’s basically Rebel Moon’s Mos Eisley cantina which is where they’re seeking info about Titus. Played by Djimon Hounsou he’s a former imperium General who like Kora is rebeling against her master.

Now at the Cantina is Kai, played by Charlie Hunnam, who’s basically your Han Solo of Rebel Moon. Also, a bit of trivia: did you know that Han Solo is the Han Solo of Han Solo: A Solo Story?

Anyway, there’s also a Tarak who can bond with animals, and my favorite character, which is Nemesis. Though her weapons are getting compared to Lightsabers, I think they do enough to distance them, and she’s probably the standout character design-wise. Leaning heavily in with the samurai influences, the way she’s shot just leaps off the screen. I think it has to be said that, as usual, that’s one of Snyder’s greatest strengths, and watching her slice up Peter Parker’s dream woman is so good as a standalone scene.

The score is also in a really similar vein to Batman V Superman, so hey, if you liked that, you’re gonna like this one too. At points, I even thought it might be that, but it’s such an amazing soundtrack I didn’t mind it.

In the end, a meeting is brought together with the Clan Bloodaxe, which is headed up by Darrian and Devra. Darrian and his half of the clan agree to help, whereas Devra sees it as being an inevitable loss.

Anyway, Kai ends up betraying the Rebels after he says he just has to drop some cargo off.

It’s a trap.

We discover that Kai’s home was ravaged by the Imperium, and he’s seen firsthand how deadly they are.

Captured, Nobel riffs off the famous band of rebels and realizes that Kora is the Scar-giver. This is when Gunnar is ordered to execute Kora, but instead, he frees her… like, actually frees her… not the… I will free you… then they kill them… which leads to a massive battle. They’re rebel, they’ve gone rogue, call Tom Cruise, they’ve gone bloody rogue.

The battle isn’t without its losses either, as Darian gets killed during it. Thus, I think his sister’s gonna finally step up to the mark and avenge her brother and his men.

Kora also goes toe to toe with Noble, and he seems to fall to his death. However, we later learn that Noble survived, and he’s surrounded by the red priests we’ve seen throughout the film. I don’t know if this is a nod to Dungeons and Dragons, but they’re doing something that looks like it could be necromancy. Either way, it leads to him being neurally in conference with Balisarius, who demands Kora is returned to him. He states that he wants to publicly execute her, and if Noble fails, he’ll be the one who dies.

Atticus then wakes up with his orders clear. Though he’s been given another chance at life, we don’t know how long that will be, and hey, man’s on borrowed time too. It makes me wonder if Issa’s still alive and this is how this machine manages to bring him back. The guy is definitely dead, but this, like her powers, has resurrection.

Now, as for Kora and Co, they head to Veldt, which is where they catch Jimmy now rocking antlers. The war is coming, and they need to get ready, as the sequel’s dropping in April.

They say it would’ve been a beautiful place to die… it would’ve, mate, but we’re not bloody gonna. There is a teaser on Netflix that pops off immediately after, and though I can’t get a copy of it, I can bloody describe it. It has the villagers training and getting ready for a fight, and we also see the general’s past at the battle playing out. Darrian shows up in it too, but I feel like this moment with the prior one is purely flashbacks. They also give the idea that Sam is skilled too, and I wonder if she’s actually Issa. Jimmy did say that she shared a resemblance, and maybe Kora fled with her and faked her death. She is, of course, carrying the bloodline, and I wonder if she’s hiding and will come back and lead in the future.

REBEL MOON PART 1 REVIEW: IS THE FRANCHISE DEAD ON ARRIVAL?

Anyway, as for my thoughts on the movie. It’s kind of difficult to give them because,as I said, I know that a longer cut is coming down the line that will probably sort out all the issues I have… or at least some of them. For example, when I went to see Batman V Superman in the cinema, I was in the car on the way home listing off stuff that didn’t make sense. Once the extended cut dropped, though, pretty much all those issues were fixed, with me looking stupid now, ’cause all that stuff had been explained.

Director’s cuts again are really weird because it’s like the studio admitting that they meddled in the entire thing. However, there are lots of reasons why they’re done in general. More times than not, they’re done to achieve the artistic vision of the director, with them releasing years and sometimes even decades down the line.

Blade Runner is a great example, and Ridley Scott was forced to have narration put into the film because the studio worried that audiences would be lost. They also forced Scott to use B-roll from The Shining at the end in order to give the movie a happy ending. Even when the Director’s Cut of this was lauded about, it wasn’t even really a director’s cut, as someone else edited it, and Scott then just gave notes. So years later, they did the final cut, which Scott got to oversee. However, director’s cuts can be dangerous, and that’s because people… change.

For example, George Lucas has changed his mind on whether Han shot first like… like 95 times now.

Spielberg also got addicted to tinkering with his movies, and he spent a ton of money altering the guns in E.T. to change them to walkie-talkies. Then he ended up turning them back because he changed his mind.

Tweaks like this can be dangerous, and it kind of becomes the death of the author where once it’s in the audience’s hand, it belongs to them. In the end, a lot of changes can often end up angering fans, and there are tons of videos ranting about the Star Wars special additions. However, you also have fans getting angry at the studio for holding back the director and forcing them to put something in the first place.

Now why I’m doing all this is so I can explain why I just don’t get why Netflix has done what they’ve done.

Will it even get to a point where fan movements constantly demand other versions of films to the point that it becomes a bigger talking point than what else the studio is trying to release? I think that’s something we’ve seen happen with Snyder, and I get called a Snyder shill quite a lot, but that’s because I enjoy his DC movies.

Now Netflix owns their streaming service and can put on something on it that’s as long as they want. They’re not really held back by movie theaters, who only have a certain amount of time to show movies a day and a certain amount of screens. Thus, I can’t help but feel like this is all just a marketing tactic by them to try and capture some of the fandom and attention.

Snyder, to me, is up there as being someone who I associate with director’s cuts, and that’s not just because of Justice League. Watchmen… Watchmen, right… I bought the DVD, then bought the director’s cut, then bought the Blu-ray, and then the director’s cut Blu-ray. Then I bought the ultimate edition Blu-ray, and then I bought the 4k, and then the 4k ultimate edition, and then the 4k color-corrected version.

Clearly, chumps like me will keep buying as long as we’re promised better versions of the films we like. I’ve never actually went back to a theatrical release outside of Alien once a director’s cut is released, and that’s how I feel about Rebel Moon as well.

The characters are introduced and out of the movie before we get a chance to know them. The plot threads at points can feel like they get way too much attention, while other threads are cut down to the point they don’t feel developed at all. Now, do I think that these issues will be fixed in the extended version?

Yes!

Which is why it’s so annoying because I genuinely feel like the pieces are there.

There’s really good stuff scattered throughout, but in the back of my mind when I was watching it, and we had something cut down, I thought, ‘Ah well, that will probably be in the director’s cut.’

Now visually, Snyder is on his A-game as usual, and it’s crazy how much better this looks than most movies. Everything about it pops, and most of the film you could pause… screenshot it and use it as a postcard.

The production design is excellent too, and these characters feel like they’ve been ripped right out of a gritty comic book. In the end, it’s annoying because I can see the potential. But judging off just this cut… it all falls short. The movie’s also getting lambasted on Rotten Tomatoes which is frustrating because we know what else is being withheld to make fans double dip.

To me, though, what I view as a marketing move has backfired a bit because this is supposed to be launching a new universe.

I genuinely think that there’ll be a chunk of the audience that just won’t go back to this at all, even with the director’s cut being released. When you’ve got sequels banking on it as well, it’s like they purposely started off on the wrong foot. Which is weird… and if you haven’t seen the film yet and for whatever reason are just watching this video… then wait… my advice is just to wait… and watch the R-rated version when that comes out.

Don’t let Netflix know that they can do this sort of thing with part 2, and please Netflix… just release the film you should do the first time. Let us judge that instead of having to wait it out and watch lesser ones because I think all the bad PR around this has soured a lot of the discourse. If people fully switch off on this new universe, then Netflix kind of has themselves to blame, and I suspect that many people might not go back.

So yeah, this is a weird one to review, and though I think there’s a lot there to like, it’s clearly been a hatchet job. Now, there’s also the potential that the director’s cut will have issues too, and what it could lead to is people dunking on it for there being two bad versions of the movie. So yeah… I think that’s weird… but just going off this version, I think the faults held it back, and what we get is a compromised film.

Now, there was enough here to keep me invested, and I will be back to talk about the extended cut.

If you want to see that, then please subscribe and make sure you leave your thoughts on the film and the situation behind it.

Please drop a like on the video and obviously let me know in the comments below.

With that out of the way, a huge thank you for sitting through the video. I’ve been your host, and I’ll see you next time. Take care, Peace.