ben_danger said:
okay, here is a ROUGH (and i mean rough) idea for an alternative dagobah opening/early scene. i was thinking perhaps placed after vader first visits the death star. this would also precede yoda dying, although the possibility of of breaking the two scenes up with some of the jabbas palace story would work.
this would follow the assumption that luke has been training since ESB, and that building his lightsaber is the final stage of his training. throughout the scene yoda would be weezing and showing signs of extreme old age. also some recoulourng/tweeking would be needed to alter lukes appearance so its less obvious where it is sourced from.
i had the idea after finishing though, that enstead of yoda giving luke the crystal, perhaps we could also see yoda's lightsaber de-constructed (assuming he had one and never lost it) so there would be an element of master-apprentice handing down.
i think the lighting could be better tweakied, so it is in almost complete darkness, so when the lighsaber is lit, the scene is flooded with green light. POW.
excuse the music, i think something more sombre would work much better in hindsight....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0uqWOxsSx4
Even in its rough form.....that sequence just gave me chills. This is exactly what was missing from Luke's character development in jedi. This is the defining moment where he stops being a farmboy playing jedi and becomes the character we see through the rest of the movie.
I completely disagree with your own criticisms actually.
1. Don't show him deconstructing Yoda's lightsaber. What makes the sequence so much more effective is that to a first time viewer it's not even immediately clear what's happening here. It looks at first like it's just more telekensis training....and then when the crystal appears the music hits at just the right moment when the audience figures out what he's doing.
2. The music is perfect. It harkens back to Luke's failure of lifting the X-wing, and Yoda showing him what he can accomplish if he sets his mind too it. This is his moment, his triumph, so it should parallel that scene.
I would however change it so that Yoda is watching from the side, rather than on luke's back. It shows that Luke no longer needs yoda to litterally look over his shoulder in his training. His master has nothing more to teach him now, and merely watches from afare at how far his pupil has come.
So help me.....somehow.....we must make this so.