honestabe said:

I do want to start off by saying that nothing I say is a personal attack. I really like that you are trying to make something unique and different. I like that creativity and willingness to take the risk. I am really looking forward to this edit.

Also, some questions: what quality will this work be in? Any information about visual enhancements?

I am personally a proponent of the Hayden force ghost because I would have no idea that Shaw is Anakin Skywalker if I saw the original movie and never bothered to look him up. I could not recognize him in the movie with all the makeup on him after the mask was removed. That ghost would look like some random guy.

Your other edits have me very intrigued. The obvious one is the Vader “no.” Most people find it completely unnecessary.

On to the actual changes - I really like dumping the Death Star for pretty much anything else. I found it awkward that the Empire would build another Death Star after the failure of the first one (this was just sloppy writing for the movie). This is a welcome addition.

I like adding the deleted scenes you mentioned. I may have missed it, but would also consider adding the deleted scene where Luke constructs his lightsaber.

I think it is good to reduce all aspects involving Jabba shenanigans. I was not a fan of it in the movie. I thought it took too long and was very cringeworthy. Same can be said for the Ewoks. Less is more.

Changing some characters in the movie is interesting, but I would need to see the movie to determine how I feel. I also think it is a bit risky expanding the role of Boba Fett. He is a bounty hunter and expanding his role to be a key person fighting for the empire could be misplaced. If you use him like this, then perhaps some background as to why he is effectively now a soldier for the empire versus a hired gun. I do like that you are attempting to expand his role. Your version of Boba surviving also makes a lot more sense than the Disney version of it.

As for the ending, I do like all the planets celebrating because it really hits that a galactic empire was defeated rather than have a small group celebrate on one planet. We all have different views on this.

You could also consider removing the Leia line to Luke where she always “knew” she was his sister. It was over the top in my opinion. There was another fan edit that apparently incorporated lines from Battlefront between Luke and Boba.

I am editing to clarify whether you rearranged Luke on Dagobah before going to rescue Han?

About the force ghost of Anakin: while I understand that Sebastian Shaw might not be instantly recognizable as Anakin, this edit is meant to be watched after Episode IV and V only (yes, I know Mas Amedda is in the film, but you don’t need to watch the prequels to notice Mas Amedda and kind of understand who he is). Furthermore, Hayden’s Anakin looks kind of confused, as Hayden himself admitted that he did not know where the footage would be used when he filmed it.
Vader’s “Nooo!” is completely removed. It’s very unnecessary, though I do think the “Return of the Jedi” version is much better than the one in “Revenge of the Sith.”
While I do like the scene in which Luke constructs his lightsaber, I feel it ruins the experience of the film since it isn’t a surprise when R2 flings Luke’s lightsaber from the sail barge to the skiff. It also wouldn’t make sense since Tatooine takes place after Dagobah, where Luke probably would have built his lightsaber.
To be honest, the Ewoks never bothered me. I honestly prefer them to the idea of having Wookies on Endor. However, some of their shenanigans could be cut, like the one where they throw rocks at the stormtroopers, which causes them to fall down. I did remove the Leia meeting Wicket scene, but that was more because it ruined the pacing of the film.
Regarding Fett’s expanded role, I was thinking of having Vader address him as “bounty hunter” when he and now General Veers bring Luke to Vader, but I’m still debating that. To think about it, that one line does give some slight context as to why Fett is with the Empire and shows that he is still a bounty hunter (until he kills Bib Fortuna in the post-credits scene.)
The reason I got rid of the planets celebrating is because a) the visuals, to me at least, look very dated, b) I really dislike the “Wesa free” moment, and c) I don’t think we need to see the galaxy celebrating the death of the Emperor, since that would not necessarily mean that the Galactic Civil War is over.
Yeah, I could probably remove Leia’s line. Personally, I have never had any major issues, but yeah, I could probably remove that line and be happy with the change.
And yes, the Dagobah scenes take place before the Tatooine stuff. However, during the Dagobah stuff, I removed everything after Luke says “Leia’s my sister!” to keep it more mysterious.