I have decided to implement a new idea into my Return of the Jedi fan-edit. Basically there’s going to be a new opening crawl that states that after his defeat to Darth Vader in ESB, Luke returns to Dagobah to train with Yoda, and his allies have formulated a plan to free Han Solo from Jabba (including the droids). My idea is that the film will be edited to make it appear as if Luke had been training with Yoda in the time period between ESB and this film, which explains how Luke became a better, more powerful Jedi in-between. It also helps the plan to free Han Solo make more sense, as now the efforts by the others can be seen as them attempting to free Han without Luke during his absence on Dagobah. However, since their plan doesn’t work, Luke has to go to Tatooine to save their asses. The scenes on Dagobah will be moved to the beginning and intercut with the Jabba’s palace scenes.
Btw, my The Phantom Menace edit has been exported is now available. It’s more of a combination of others edits so I know mine isn’t exactly revolutionary or anything, but if you find my version appeals to you based on the list of edits on the document linked in the first post then I’d be happy to share it with anyone. Don’t hesitate to DM if interested 😃
I think the only con to moving the Dagobah scenes to the opening act would be that the film would lose some of that ambiguity regarding Luke’s allegance at the beginning. The moment Luke arrives to Jabba’s palace kind of plays with the possibility of him having turned to the dark (being arrogant, Force-choking the guards, wearing black and a sinister-looking cloak, etc.).
But otherwise, the arrangement would explain why the Rebels went with such a hasty plan, it would make Luke’s power upgrade more believable and his intervention more badass in hindsight. Anyway, regardless of how you restructure your edt, the important thing is that the film should adequatly convey Luke’s conflict with the dark side.
And I would be totally interested to have your Phantom Menace version!