doubleofive said:
Looking at the screencaps, the duel is over by the time the shield is down. Unless you put big ships behind Vader and the Emperor during the most climatic moment in the saga, we can't have the ships get much closer than they are currently. Too bad.

Really, the more I look at the shot where you can see the battle, the more it makes sense to leave it the way it is.

At this point, the Rebel fighters are just starting to be attacked by the TIEs, and the SDs aren't doing anything. Even the angle might be right. I'm not 100% sure as I'm not that good with the 3 dimension thinking required, but I think it does work the way it is.

Impressive, someone might have actually thought all this through when they made it! ;-)

This side view was one of the inspirations for the 3rd Death Star revival, as Lando and the Rebels begin their attack they are pointing at the Death Star.

When they realise the shield is up they turn around and see the fleet was creeping behind them.

So really the Rebels should have their backs to the Death Star and behind them the Imperials should be facing the Death Star (the two fleets only lock together when the Death Star starts firing).

That's where I saw the opportunity of sticking the Death Star into the shot to which the only conclusion is that Luke isn't there (Enter Death Star number 3).