MTHaslett said:
Hey Possessed. I just found this thread and got excited about your edit.
I LOVE the idea of cutting the first Ewok scene with Leia. I've dreamed of what that would achieve-- it would definitely pick up the pace at that point and keep our focus on Luke where it belongs.
This is probably too late, but I had some other ideas that might suit this project:
1. What if the first things we see in Jabba's palace wasn't from the droids, but was actually the capture of Chewie and failed rescue of Han?
This would improve the "plan" that Luke et al seem to be enacting. My question has always been-- what if Leia succeeded? How would they get Chewie and the droids? Or was Leia's failure part of the plan? Anyway, starting with Chewie gives the plan a more logical escalation and gives Jabba a stronger sense of menace.
This would mean cutting around 3p0 for that scene. Use subtitles to replace his lines. Then I'd cut to an even whackier idea:
2. What if Luke's trip to Degobah came next? Luke isn't on Tatooine yet, he's busy with another errand first-- Yoda. This would get us right into the main story earlier and remove a big kink from the storyline that occurs when this scene is saved for later. The idea that Luke would go to Yoda before saving Han would indicate the level of pain Luke is still going through over his fight with Vader.
Both of these changes would bring a dose of darkness to the opening of ROTJ. In my mind, that brings it closer into alignment with ESB.
After Luke leaves Yoda and Obi Wan, we would get the scene of the droids walking up to Jabba's palace and the stage would be better set for their scene, the death of the first dancer, and then Luke's arrival and the reveal of Leia as Jabba's new bikini girl.
3. A minor note is that I would certainly recommend cutting the chatter between Han and Luke as they ride out to the Sarlaac pit. There is way too much "humor" that both falls flat and deflates the tension in that sequence.
I know you most likely want to finish your edit and I'm not sure why these ideas would make you want to hold off-- but I offer them in case they can be of any use.
I love what I'm seeing here and thanks for all your hard work!
MTHaslett said:
Now I'm just saying this to say it, but if one were to start with the capture of Chewbacca and then Luke seeing Yoda die, then it might work best to cut away to Luke before the failed rescue of Han.
That way things would really look bad-- first Chewie is caught with no apparent hope of rescue (avoiding the silly reveal of Lando); then we find otu Luke isn't even there --and Yoda dies; then Leia gets herself caught... Jeez!(cut the Han/Chewie reunion scene). With the darkest possible music over all this, it would feel as suspenseful as it was supposed to.
Then come the droids walking right up to the mouth of the lion... Their presence indicates that Luke has arrived, but he's already way behind. But at least his plan now makes a little sense-- gift the droids, go in and try to get everyone else out -- if it all fails, R2 has his light saber hidden away as a second chance. (Provided Jabba makes R2 a drink server and takes them all to the Sarlaac pit and etc... I will never really understand Luke's plan).
BTW: Thanks, Sluggo-- Starkiller Ranch lives!
I'm just importing these ideas from Possessed's thread as I think they warrant more discussion.
The idea of having Chewie being turned in for the reward would work nicely but as Possessed mentioned, it is a little abrupt. However, it could work if the opening crawl is re-worked to mention that the heroes are being hunted by the Empire and bounty hunters alike, or something like that. And maybe the scene could be improved with a small establishing shot of a landing pad behind the palace with a strange ship landing. The engines shut down and the sound of Jabba's baroque band is heard, transitioning the scene for when Leia and Chewie walk into the throne room.