John Doom said:
I kind of knew something about Fett, but I think his background draws from the EU, so I'll have to pass :D
Well, no one actually hates ROTJ, but most of the people I know (including myself) think it's an "half-assed" movie :D Il looks 50% Star Wars (with Luke's journey and ending with the Emperor) and 50% something else (childish or lifeless characters, a good amount of bad special effects and an odd pacing), and when it comes to retcons, ROTJ is the one starting the "shrinking galaxy"'s trend with Leia being Luke's sister which, compared to Vader's revelation which draws a parallel within the protagonist and TESB's main villain, is just here to fix a plot hole and has no actual impact on the story (aside for Vader's threat to make her into a dark jedi).
Speaking of ANH's drafts, it's common for stories to have multiple versions until a final polished one is written. The reason it took so long for ANH, is that it initially drew from a lot of sources (sci-fi novels, contemporary society and Lucas's own experience) which made the script very confusing, so it had to be streamlined more and more until it become what we know today.
Yeah, I see what you mean.
As for the whole childish thing though, SW is after all as much for children, technically more, than it is for adults. Ewoks may be silly, but I always felt like they fitted into the overall story arc really well. Like I said a similar, and much sillier I might add, plot-point was in one of the ANH drafts. Sure I would have preferred Wookiees, or at least something a little less cutesy with the intent of selling toys. But all in all having the Empirical war machine defeat by someone technologically primitive kind of fits with the motifs of the trilogy. It's kind of silly, so it definitely could have been done better, but the events themselves aren't inappropriate. The Rebels have always been associate with something more natural, not just in their more organic coloured outfits but also the planets that they hide out on; such as Yavin IV and Hoth. Even the Rebel ships, especially the Calamari cruisers have a rounded organic feel to them. Plus they're a diverse group. Contrast all of this to the angular star destroyers filled with only white males all dressed in the same drab grey uniforms. The Empire is focused on death machines, e.g. the Death Star, and the Rebels fight more through cunning than through pure power. Even ANH had these motifs; Vader being "more machine than man, twisted and evil," a single person defeating the Empire (at least until they decided to make a sequel), Yavin IV in contrast to the Death Star, etc.
All in all the Empire, or rather a small squadron and by effect the Death Star II, being defeated on a forest planet by a few rebels and a primitive society kind of makes contextually sense. It's silly, but so is a farm boy saving the day with a single torpedo.
Also the ANH rough draft literally had a bunch of Wookiees being taught how to pilot fighters within a single day and destroying the Death Star.
Now that's silly!
Maybe I'm over-analyzing a bit, but my main point is that it wasn't exactly something which Lucas just threw in at the last minute to cash in on it. It was there from the very beginning and there is a reason behind the idea. The problem isn't so much the idea, but rather how it was handled.
Anyway, I get what you're saying, but all this about a fan edit of ROTJ sounds a bit melodramatic to me.