I’m not sure if anyone’s already suggested this (I haven’t exactly been reading this forum regularly), but here’s an idea I have: Anakin’s death feels kind of out of place in the tail end of the Battle of Endor. It’s an emotional, quiet scene, but as soon as it’s done we jump right back into high paced excitement and heroic triumph. The two tones clash and it always felt a bit jarring to me.
So what if instead it were made so Anakin died on the shuttle after it had already escaped the Death Star? Then we transition back to Han and Leia on Endor and any celebration there that might happen, then have the ending Adywan described (Luke burning his father’s body alone as the Jedi ghosts look on).
I can see how you may feel that way, never had an issue with it myself though and I think it’s because you see this kind of thing happening in normal life anyway - small sad moments that mean a lot to the individual but they don’t halt the entire world which could be rejoicing something amazing at that very same moment. I think there’s a number of other things to also consider:
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the urgency of the scene (to get off the DS before it explodes) helps in understanding why it doesn’t linger and go on for to long.
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the rest of the galaxy doesn’t know and is rightfully celebrating the downfall of the Empire (or if you watch the ST, a minor set back at that…)
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they can’t focus too much on the sadness of Luke losing his father in face of the fact he was the biggest and evilest villain in the galaxy that has killed untold number of people (billions if just going by his involvement with destroying Alderan) and the story has been building up to his defeat over 3 movies which the audience are supposed to cheer at along with the galaxy, while also feeling sad for Luke.
I find also that much like with Alderan’s destruction and probably other examples throughout the movies, they don’t deliver all the emotion of one event in one scene. They space it out a bit to give you time to process what has happened and then later on hit you harder with the emotional side of things. For Alderan, it was Obiwan later falling into a chair on the Falcon and relaying his sense of horror and loss of what he was suddenly feeling through the force. For Vader/Anakin’s death, it is the funeral pyre scene as Luke lights it and the music swells, seriously one of the scenes that always makes the eyes get a bit misty (got the chills watching it again just now on Youtube) which then pans up to show the celebrations still going on elsewhere which we are then returned to and see all the main characters joyfully reuniting, Luke somewhat bitter-sweetly. This is in order to bring the audience themselves back into a feeling of jubilance and positivity to end the movie on.
All that aside, while the idea makes sense to an extent it is also changing the story and removing a pretty important if not pivotal scene from the movie. Unless you meant to keep it and make it seem somehow they are on Endor as Luke removes Vader’s helmet on the shuttle’s rear ramp? I’m hoping Ady doesn’t do that or his idea for ending on the funeral pyre with the force ghosts looking on, it just changes to much of the ending that I’ve always loved. Plus I don’t understand how having the force ghosts standing there smiling at each other is appropriate for this idea - turn those “non-frowns” upside down? 😛
Val
Edit: Below is the clip I refer to and to explain my feelings on the ending of ROTJ - Lucas swapping in Hayden’s head and changing the music from Yub Nub is one of the, if not THE changes to the OT that I hated the most and changed forever the way I viewed Lucas, as it fucked with an ending I fondly remembered, had loved watching for many years and never thought anything was wrong with it or the way it left me feeling at the culmination of 3 movies telling a saga that I grew up with.
Anyway - move along, move along…