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Spike TV ROTJ Summary

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 (Edited)
Here is the writeup on Spike TV of ROTJ being shown next week:

-- Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi (1983, PG) Premieres Sunday, April 13 (8:00 - 11:00 PM, ET/PT); Encore Monday, April 14 (5:00 - 8:00 PM, ET/PT).

In the epic conclusion of the Saga, the Empire prepares to crush the Rebellion with a more powerful Death Star while the Rebel fleet mounts a massive attack on the space station. Luke Skywalker confronts his father Darth Vader in a final climactic duel before the evil Emperor. In the last second, Vader makes a momentous choice: he destroys the Emperor and saves his son. The Empire is finally defeated, the Sith are destroyed, and Anakin Skywalker is thus redeemed. At long last, freedom is restored to the galaxy.
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Here is the writeup on the VHS 1995 ROTJ:

The Millenium Falcon flashes through hyperspace and creatures from all over the galaxy defy the Galactic Empire in this stunning chapter of the SW saga. After rescuing Han Solo and Princess Leia from certain doom at the hands of Jabba the Hutt, Luke rejoins Yoda. Only by completing his jedi training can he become a jedi knight and defeat Darth Vader and the dark side of the force. With favorites Chewbacca, R2 and C3PO, plus the ewoks, ROTJ takes SW adventure to new heights of excitement.
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Wow what a difference 13 years makes in a context of a movie now? Do you notice in the Spike TV write up, Lucas now focuses on Darth Vader saving the galaxy, instead of Luke saving the galaxy back in 1995? There is no mention in the Spike ROTJ writeup of Chewy, R2, C3PO, and not even HAN SOLO or PRINCESS LEIA!!!!! No, the story is sold as Darth Vaders, take it or leave it.

The tradegy of Darth Vader is what Lucas wants, but he should rename it the Tradegy of the Star Wars Trilogy.
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I like summary #2 here much better. 'S a shame Lucas has to make it the tragedy of Anakin Skywalker, isn't it? And what's up with the preview giving away the ending in the first one, but not the VHS? Way to ruin the suspense for first-time viewers, Spike.

A Goon in a Gaggle of 'em

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Not much point in watching the movie after reading that first synopsis- :P

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The second synopsis is obviously better and less of a spoiler. However, I've always had issues with the first sentence:

"The Millenium Falcon flashes through hyperspace and creatures from all over the galaxy defy the Galactic Empire in this stunning chapter of the SW saga."

What an example of poor, bland writing. It's obviously filler to pad out the synopsis and make it longer. It could apply to any one of the OT movies.

Rant over

You know of the rebellion against the Empire?

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With that spoilerific write up I'm surprised Spike TV doesn't go into detail about why a young Anakin Skywalker shows up a the party dressed in translucent blue.

"Well here's a big bag of rock salt" - Patton Oswalt

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I get Spike in HD. I wonder if they will show the HD Verson's? no info from there site yet. just a pic of Vader with Breath Sound as of today 3/25/08.

http://origin.www.spike.com/starwars/
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On the other hand, how many new viewers could there possibly be? Anyone who hasn't seen the OT probably knows how they end, anyway. Same thing with the Wizard of Oz and Casablanca.

On a side note: the Palpatine=Darth Sidious plot twist is officially obvious. I showed TPM to my 3-year-old sister, and when she saw the hologram of Palpatine in the Queen's chambers, she said "It's Darth Sidious!"
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Johnboy3434 said:

On the other hand, how many new viewers could there possibly be? Anyone who hasn't seen the OT probably knows how they end, anyway. Same thing with the Wizard of Oz and Casablanca.

On a side note: the Palpatine=Darth Sidious plot twist is officially obvious. I showed TPM to my 3-year-old sister, and when she saw the hologram of Palpatine in the Queen's chambers, she said "It's Darth Sidious!"


Who really thought it wasn't obvious besides the gushers who still think GL is a genius? I mean seriously, back in the day after TPM came out, even with all the evidence before them, people still wouldn't believe it until they saw Palpatine in the robes.
F Scale score - 3.3333333333333335

You are disciplined but tolerant; a true American.

Pissing off Rob since August 2007.
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Yeah, the fact that they were all played by the same actor kind of gave it away. :-P Frankly, I never thought it was supposed to be a secret. :-?

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The whole "secret" of Sidious' identity was more of a nudge wink sort of thing. The guy never intended for the PT to have any surprises. Lucas obviously never considered the possibility that not every body in the world who was going to see TPM had already seen the OT. If he had approached the PT without the idea that everybody knows what is going to happen anyway, then no doubt it would have been a lot better. The whole "well they are obviously meant to be watched 4, 5, 6, 1, 2, 3" argument is retarded, if it had always been intended to be watched out of order then they would not be parts 1, 2, and 3 now would they? Lucas bunged the whole thing up, that is the only way to work it.

"Every time Warb sighs, an angel falls into a vat of mapel syrup." - Gaffer Tape

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C3PX said:

The whole "secret" of Sidious' identity was more of a nudge wink sort of thing. The guy never intended for the PT to have any surprises. Lucas obviously never considered the possibility that not every body in the world who was going to see TPM had already seen the OT. If he had approached the PT without the idea that everybody knows what is going to happen anyway, then no doubt it would have been a lot better.


How so? Even if there were people going to see it that hadn't yet seen the originals, there's still things he couldn't really do. He couldn't put Yoda or Obi-Wan in any real danger. Anakin, at some point, had to become Darth Vader. About the only surprise I think he could have pulled would be to either have Padme survive or have her die at Vader's hand. Either one of those would have been preferable to the crapfest we got. But aside from that, I don't think he could've really done a whole lot.

I actually think it would've been a lot better if he had used more material from the OT while making the PT, especially ROTS. At least then they'd have an accurate Tantive IV and they probably wouldn't have had to do pick up shoots to show Obi-Wan retrieving Vader's lightsaber (seriously, HOW did they miss that).
F Scale score - 3.3333333333333335

You are disciplined but tolerant; a true American.

Pissing off Rob since August 2007.
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lordjedi said:


How so? Even if there were people going to see it that hadn't yet seen the originals, there's still things he couldn't really do. He couldn't put Yoda or Obi-Wan in any real danger. Anakin, at some point, had to become Darth Vader. About the only surprise I think he could have pulled would be to either have Padme survive or have her die at Vader's hand. Either one of those would have been preferable to the crapfest we got. But aside from that, I don't think he could've really done a whole lot.


1. Don't let us know that Anakin Skywalker is Darth Vader or that Darth Vader sired Luke/Leia.

2. Never even show Yoda.

3. Have the prequels deal with totally unrelated characters altogether (centering on a young Obiwan at the most).

4. Have Palpatine not be the Emperor in one way or another in order to trick OT fans.

"Now all Lucas has to do is make a cgi version of himself.  It will be better than the original and fit his original vision." - skyjedi2005

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The problem with the way Lucas told the PT, is that he wrote some parts with the OT viewer in mind, and other parts with the 1-6 newer viewer in mind, and that is why it is so uneven. Whatever way Lucas chose, that would be fine, but he actually sprinkled various scenes that appeal to the old and new viewer.

You have the Sidious/Palpatine identity, and we can debate whether it is effective or not, but it is made for the 1-6 viewer. Then you have the last 15 minutes of ROTS, once Anakin gets slashed by Obiwan which is clearly made for the 4-6,1-3 viewer, as even Lucas states it in the ROTS commentary, "There is alot of these scenes I didnt' need to put in here at the end, but I knew that the older SW fans wanted to see this stuff, but I didn't need to put it in.

Another example is you have QuiGon use the jedimind trick in the first 10 minutes to Boss Nass, which would go right over the head of a 1-6, cause Alec Guiness doesn't explain it til the beginning of Episode IV to Luke. You have Yoda just appear in Episode I as the council head, but to a new viewer, what does that mean, as to his first appearance in Episode V, where he totally plays Luke and the audience as THE Jedi master. Another example of screwed viewing is Yoda dropping his cane in Episode III when Order 66 happens, but again that isn't explained til Episode IV when Guinness talks to Luke about HOW he feels when Alderran is blown up. So what has happened is you have all these introductions to plot points in the back half of the story now! Let me know how many movies, books, TV shows you have ever seen where everything is explained or recapped halfway through the story!
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lordjedi said:

C3PX said:

The whole "secret" of Sidious' identity was more of a nudge wink sort of thing. The guy never intended for the PT to have any surprises. Lucas obviously never considered the possibility that not every body in the world who was going to see TPM had already seen the OT. If he had approached the PT without the idea that everybody knows what is going to happen anyway, then no doubt it would have been a lot better.


How so? Even if there were people going to see it that hadn't yet seen the originals, there's still things he couldn't really do. He couldn't put Yoda or Obi-Wan in any real danger.


Hmm, I guess I didn't think about that part. I suppose that is exactly why characters like James Bond and Jack Bauer are never put in any real danger either...

Like I said, not everyone has seen the OT, it would be nice if he at least had writen it with that in mind instead of with the constant idea of "well, they already know what is going to happen." New people are born everyday, as time goes on more and more people will see the saga in order and see the whole series without a single surprise. The whole "I am your father" and "Leia is my sister!" plot twist have been effectively neutralized for future viewers. With a little creativity the PT could have been excellent and still preserved the OT's twists.

"Every time Warb sighs, an angel falls into a vat of mapel syrup." - Gaffer Tape

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CO said:


Let me know how many movies, books, TV shows you have ever seen where everything is explained or recapped halfway through the story!


A good reason why making the original movie into "episode IV" was a very bad idea. A really dedicated and talented person could have made that work, but George clearly bit off more than he wanted to chew and I don't think his talents were broad enough even if he had been willing.

"Now all Lucas has to do is make a cgi version of himself.  It will be better than the original and fit his original vision." - skyjedi2005

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The one part of the updated descriptions that I remember really surprising me is on the Empire '04 dvd "while Han and Leia flee to the beautiful Cloud City of Bespin."

Ok, what percentage of people who've watched the movies do you think could name that planet Cloud City is at? Han says it just that one time, and even then Harrison's so in character that you don't even notice or think about it.
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Speaking of names, why does the synopsis at the top of this thread say "Anakin Skywalker is thus redeemed"? He was called Lord Vader throughout most of the movie. It's also the way he's supposed to be regarded through the whole film except when Obiwan discusses him a bit. Since when did the redemption of "Anakin Skywalker" figure as a major focus of the film? We used to think it was Lord Darth Vader that was redeemed, but now that George doesn't like that idea it doesn't really work as a major point of the movie anymore; it involves crap from the prequels and crap from George Lucas' own mind, but it isn't touched on in the actual film.

"Now all Lucas has to do is make a cgi version of himself.  It will be better than the original and fit his original vision." - skyjedi2005