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Return Of The Jedi - a general Random Thoughts thread — Page 11

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SilverWook said:

Is this Jabba’s hookah in a 1984 Doctor Who story?

A big fan of Colin Baker’s sixth incarnation. All the times I’ve watched “THE TWIN DILEMMA” and have never noticed that.

Remember the (deadly) frog head mask from “THE ABOMINABLE DR. PHIBES” (1971)? Something very similar to it is in this serial. It’s in Mestor’s palace throne room, used as decoration.

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RogueLeader said:

Ooo, I’d like to hear more about this over on the script writing threads.

At one point I had an entire trilogy plotted out for a series that featured Owen and Beru as major characters, which I was toying with in this old thread:

https://originaltrilogy.com/topic/STARS-OF-WAR/id/15325

Of course, that one still has them on Tatooine. My ideas eventually diverged into two separate concepts for trilogies, the first being set within the existing prequel canon and the second being constructed as a replacement. Here’s a very rough idea of the three films:

In the first, Anakin is a twenty-something farmer on a fertile world who gets swept up into a galactic war because of his piloting abilities. After his first tour of duty he returns home a hero but Obi-wan realizes that his abilities could be used to revive the order of Jedi Knights to which he owes secret allegiance. He is hiding his true nature since the Republic refuses to allow the Jedi to serve as soldiers, but Obi-wan believes that the Republic is worthy of the Jedi’s protection.

In the second film, Obi-wan recruits Anakin over the objections of his brother Owen and the two go on to start a ‘damn fool idealistic crusade’ to bring the Jedi back into relevance by winning an increasingly desperate war against viscous robots. Anakin sees that he isn’t the first student Obi-wan has recruited. A tall young man from the core worlds flies for General Obi-wan’s command. He pilots an Invader class fighter and Anakin trains alongside him on a Defender class ship. The two become friends under Obi-wan’s leadership, and after winning some decisive victories and saving the planet Alderaan and its Princess from destruction, the Jedi Order is forced to admit that they can be defenders of the peace and warriors of the Republic. However, call-sign Vader perished in the final defense of Alderaan after Anakin prioritized the princesses’s life over Vader’s.

In the final film and after several more years of war, Owen and Beru come to realize that the Republic is being changed by the Jedi and the wars, which are increasingly looking like identical copies intended to serve as a threat to justify ever more Republic control. Their planet’s government is no longer autonomous, and they are forced off their land by robots built by the Republic’s new factories. Owen and Beru are now adrift in an unfriendly galaxy and must work at these droid factories to survive. Because of their jobs, they learn that the enemy is using the same parts as the Republic, fielding massive armies of these murderous robots, while the Republic gets only non-aggressive astromechs and load lifters to retain a flesh and blood Republic army and to disenfranchise workers. Of course, there’s the main plot with Anakin and Obi-wan but the Owen and Beru story ends with them trying to start a new life for themselves away from the Republic turned Empire.

But that’s a story for the screenwriting thread.

You probably don’t recognize me because of the red arm.
Episode 9 Rewrite, The Starlight Project (Released!) and ANH Technicolor Project (Released!)

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Does it say anything? A lot of the OT-era graphical “alphabets” were just gibberish - that was usual in Ralph McQuarrie’s designs for instance. Since it’s from ROTJ it might say something though.

“That Darth Vader, man. Sure does love eating Jedi.”

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How much of a problem is wood rot and/or termites for the Ewok village?

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A new and intriguing interview with Craig Miller, the Director of Fan Relations for Lucasfilm back in the day, and also the man who wrote all of the Fantha Tracks newsletters.

He also talks about Lucas telling his plan, at the time, for Return Of The Jedi…

“The biggest thing was, as you mentioned, that Boba was intended to be the main villain in Return of the Jedi. That film was going to be about rescuing Han, dealing with Boba, etc. The redemption of Darth Vader and overthrow of the Emperor was intended for the next trilogy. But when George decided in 1980 not to do that next trilogy, Boba Fett became expendable and those things had to be dealt with in the third movie.”

and some other intriguing stuff in the interview too…

https://starwarsinterviews.com/star-wars-crew/craig-miller-lucasfilm-director-of-fan-relations

 

(Both the ‘Original Trilogy’ and the ‘Star Wars Crew’ sections of StarWarsInterviews.com are well worth checking out too.)
 

A little patience goes a long way on this old-school Rebel base. If you are having issues finding what you are looking for, these will be of some help…

Welcome to the OriginalTrilogy.com | Introduce yourself in here | Useful info within : About : Help : Site Rules : Fan Project Rules : Announcements
How do I do this?’ on the OriginalTrilogy.com; some info & answers + FAQs - includes info on how to search for projects and threads on the OT•com

A Project Index for Star Wars Preservations (Harmy’s Despecialized & 4K77/80/83 etc) : A Project Index for Star Wars Fan Edits (adywan & Hal 9000 etc)

… and take your time to look around this site before posting - to get a feel for this place. Don’t just lazily make yet another thread asking for projects.

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I’d love to see that alternate timeline where George made further sequels in 1986, 1989, and 1992. That would be really interesting. I wonder how well that would have worked.

But we can’t turn back. Fear is their greatest defense. I doubt if the actual security there is any greater than it was on Aquilae or Sullust. And what there is is most likely directed towards a large-scale assault.

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On one hand, I very much want to see a 1983 film where Boba Fett is the main villain and the entire film is just about the heroes rescuing Han from him.

On the other hand, I question how well a sequel like that would be received after the intense drama and cliffhanger ending of Luke and Vader’s duel in ESB. Would audiences have been willing to wait until further films to have that plot continued or resolved?

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oojason said:

A new and intriguing interview with Craig Miller, the Director of Fan Relations for Lucasfilm back in the day, and also the man who wrote all of the Fantha Tracks newsletters.

He also talks about Lucas telling his plan, at the time, for Return Of The Jedi…

“The biggest thing was, as you mentioned, that Boba was intended to be the main villain in Return of the Jedi. That film was going to be about rescuing Han, dealing with Boba, etc. The redemption of Darth Vader and overthrow of the Emperor was intended for the next trilogy. But when George decided in 1980 not to do that next trilogy, Boba Fett became expendable and those things had to be dealt with in the third movie.”

and some other intriguing stuff in the interview too…

https://starwarsinterviews.com/star-wars-crew/craig-miller-lucasfilm-director-of-fan-relations

 

(Both the ‘Original Trilogy’ and the ‘Star Wars Crew’ sections of StarWarsInterviews.com are well worth checking out too.)
 

Interesting stuff! I’m going to have to pick up that book as well.

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I always felt that Boba Fett should’ve been the ‘other’ Yoda was talking about. He could’ve been an ex-Jedi (or someone who’d abandoned traditional training) and taken on the bounty hunter mantle in order to win Vader’s good graces. The whole ‘no disintegrations’ thing would be because Boba had been doing jobs for Vader and secretly sparing the lives of his targets - thus creating an army of Empire dissenters and ‘criminals’ that would prove crucial in the conclusion of ROTJ (kind of like Lando at the end of TROS). This would account for his being so adamant that Han Solo be taken alive.
Best of all - no “Leia’s my sister”…

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I never thought it made sense for Anakin to be mentioning Leia while he’s dying.

I’m just a simple man trying to make my way in the universe.

Star Wars has 3 eras: The eras are 1977-1983(pre Expanded Universe), (1983-2014) expanded universe, or (2014- now) Disney-bought version. Each are valid.

Important voice tool:
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/1472151/action/topic#1472151

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Luke’s sister should have been part of a '90s sequel trilogy. It’s hard to have objective views on this plot twist after this long though, since it just is what it is.

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JackNapier said:

I never thought it made sense for Anakin to be mentioning Leia while he’s dying.

I disagree. He’d probably be feeling regret over his treatment of Leia, and over the fact that he’s going to his grave without ever having been a father to her. She’d at least cross his mind as he’s dying.

But we can’t turn back. Fear is their greatest defense. I doubt if the actual security there is any greater than it was on Aquilae or Sullust. And what there is is most likely directed towards a large-scale assault.

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oojason said:

A new and intriguing interview with Craig Miller, the Director of Fan Relations for Lucasfilm back in the day, and also the man who wrote all of the Fantha Tracks newsletters.

He also talks about Lucas telling his plan, at the time, for Return Of The Jedi…

“The biggest thing was, as you mentioned, that Boba was intended to be the main villain in Return of the Jedi. That film was going to be about rescuing Han, dealing with Boba, etc. The redemption of Darth Vader and overthrow of the Emperor was intended for the next trilogy. But when George decided in 1980 not to do that next trilogy, Boba Fett became expendable and those things had to be dealt with in the third movie.”

and some other intriguing stuff in the interview too…

https://starwarsinterviews.com/star-wars-crew/craig-miller-lucasfilm-director-of-fan-relations

 

(Both the ‘Original Trilogy’ and the ‘Star Wars Crew’ sections of StarWarsInterviews.com are well worth checking out too.)
 

Thanks for the kind words!
The site is a ‘labor of love’; all 210+ interviews were done by myself from 2005 - 2021.
(Well, mostly 2005 - 2019…in 2020 & 2021 I did less than a handful since I semi-retired)

Shameless self promotion: they’re also available in the form of 5 paperback books: https://www.amazon.com/Dennis-Pellegrom/e/B07HKQ2G5M

Best,
Dennis

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JackNapier said:

I never thought it made sense for Anakin to be mentioning Leia while he’s dying.

I’ve always thought it was ambiguous in ROTJ whether Vader even knew that Leia was his daughter.

He figured out that Luke had a sister, but he just refers to her as “twin sister” / “your sister”. I feel like he would have referred to her by name if he had been able to figure out the actual identity of Luke’s sister.

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An article on the crowd reaction in the movie theater watching the end of Return Of The Jedi back in 1983:

Star Wars fans scream for Darth Vader twist in 1983 reaction video” at the Digital Fix
 

The video:

Darth Vader’s Redemption - Cinema Reaction (1983)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MhHn6oD-B7M : a 2 minute video at Clavis YouTube channel.
 

I found it interesting to see, but if I were in the movie theater I would have gone back to a later viewing to try and watch the ending in more quiet surroundings!

The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear.

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It’s better the way it is. A whole nother trilogy would’ve stretched the story too thin. Return of the Jedi was a perfect ending to tie all the loose ends.

My Star Wars Fan-Edits

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As curious as I am to see how further sequels would have turned out, ESB does have a very “penultimate” vibe to it. It doesn’t simply feel like a second movie. It feels like it’s building up to a finale. So it would be weird if several sequels to it came out over the following years.

But we can’t turn back. Fear is their greatest defense. I doubt if the actual security there is any greater than it was on Aquilae or Sullust. And what there is is most likely directed towards a large-scale assault.

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Regarding Darth Vader’s added "No"s when he picks up the Emperor in the special edition, while I absolutely prefer him being quiet as in the theatrical cut, I feel like it wouldn’t bother me so much if the first one wasn’t there. The second one as he picks up the Emperor kinda feels at least a little organic. Again, it was still better quiet, but I don’t think it would destroy the scene as much. But the first one before he picks up the Emperor is just beyond cheesy and it just makes me wonder how the Emperor doesn’t hear him and turn around and start zapping him. It always just throws me out of the scene.

Just my thought as I rewatched the versions of the scene in comparison.

My Star Wars Fan-Edits

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I disagree with people who say this movie isn’t as well-directed as the other two in the OT. I really love the directing in this movie. Marquand does such a great job always putting the camera close to the characters so you can really feel the emotions of a scene.

My Star Wars Fan-Edits

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G&G-Fan said:

I disagree with people who say this movie isn’t as well-directed as the other two in the OT. I really love the directing in this movie. Marquand does such a great job always putting the camera close to the characters so you can really feel the emotions of a scene.

I find that the cinematography looks better and more appealing in the 4K83 projects than it does in the official releases. I think it has something to do with the colors and the filmic look, but the movie just looks a lot prettier.

But we can’t turn back. Fear is their greatest defense. I doubt if the actual security there is any greater than it was on Aquilae or Sullust. And what there is is most likely directed towards a large-scale assault.

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Servii said:

I find that the cinematography looks better and more appealing in the 4K83 projects than it does in the official releases. I think it has something to do with the colors and the filmic look, but the movie just looks a lot prettier.

My latest rewatching was done on Disney+ cause I’m lazy, and honestly the movie looked fantastic to me (after I turned up the color on my TV, as the 2019 OT transfer is desaturated AF). Next time I marathon the movies I want to watch the original version as the special edition changes bothered me but the movie looked great.

I really love the way Marquand films Darth Vader, especially. In all of his shots he always emphasizes Vader’s bulk, which makes him feel powerful and imposing. Kershner did too a great job of it too, but Marquand does it in his own way that’s just as good and that I feel like is worth mentioning.

Also I’m gonna drop a couple more hot takes. This movie is just as perfect as A New Hope and Empire Strikes Back and the Ewoks are not only fine but necessary. There’s so much dark stuff going on in the movie (especially the Luke/Vader/Emperor plot) and the stakes are so high that some comic relief is necessary. Also of course this movie is gonna be more lighthearted then Empire, it’s the one where the good guys win.

My Star Wars Fan-Edits

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I would’ve liked the Ewoks if they’d looked less like teddy bears and more like miniature versions of this:

Though the performances still would’ve suffered having to rely on little person actors. I don’t mean to offend, but they don’t make for the best agile arboreal creatures.

“The Anarchists are right in everything; in the negation of the existing order and in the assertion that, without Authority there could not be worse violence than that of Authority under existing conditions. They are mistaken only in thinking that anarchy can be instituted by a violent revolution… There can be only one permanent revolution — a moral one: the regeneration of the inner man. How is this revolution to take place? Nobody knows how it will take place in humanity, but every man feels it clearly in himself. And yet in our world everybody thinks of changing humanity, and nobody thinks of changing himself.”

― Leo Tolstoy