I just wanted to say I love the direction this thread is going in. The changes y'all are proposing for ROTJ are great. I might actually be able to watch the movie when this is finished. Using "Padme once thought as you do" in ROTJ is a bit of a stretch for me though. Does Luke even know his mother's name is Padme?
Spicing up the duel in ANH is an absolute must. InfoDroid, I really like the clip you posted, the only thing that rubbed me the wrong way was the cue from ROTJ when the Falcon leaves the hangar. It was just jarring to hear that cue there, and it really stuck out to me.
As far as making Obi-Wan honest in ANH, I think it's a great idea, but I haven't seen anything yet that totally grabs me. Personally I don't care for the flashbacks that much.
I have another possible solution: have Anakin actually die in front of Obi-Wan in ROTS after he burns. This solves a few issues for me:
1) Ben's dishonesty in ANH is a little more believeable. If Anakin literally dies, it's more believable for Ben to say that Vader "murdered him".
2) In ROTJ, Vader says to Luke, "You don't understand the power of the dark side. I MUST obey." Why is this? Why does he have to obey? My impression of Vader is that it was always his hate (and tie to the dark side) that kept him alive inside the suit. So if he really did die in the lava, and Palpatine actually does use his Sith powers to bring him back from death, then vader has to obey in order to continue living. The second he ceases to serve the dark side, he begins to die.
3) Many people may not be fans of the Hayden ghost at the end of the ROTJ DVD, but it makes a lot more sense if Anakin really dies in ROTS. The Hayden ghost is what got me thinking about all this in the first place. When I saw the ROTJ DVD, I really expected that Lucas would have Anakin die in ROTS.
As far as how to accomplish this, I've just started to think about it. The scene where Anakin burns in front of Obi-Wan would have to be tweaked so that it appears that Anakin is motionless before Obi-Wan walks away. Then Palpatine would come and say something to the effect of, "I will help you, my friend" (I don't know if the source for these lines exists).
We would cut most of the scene of Vader being constructed since Anakin is obviously alive. Only keep the tail end of the scene where the helmet lowers on Anakin's scarred face. Perhaps it's possible to get a static image of Anakin's scarred face as the mask lowers, so that he appears dead up until that point of the first breath in the mask. I don't think the scene with Vader rising on the operating platform has to be changed.
Comments?