Add back the deleted scene where Vader chokes Moff Jerjerrod, but he kills him anyway after Jerjerrod says, “It is the Emperor’s command”, and Vader gives a snarky remark, “My apologies” (from Rogue One).
Sets up Vader’s conflict with the Emperor far better and also gives us some classic Vader force choking just like ESB.
I know this sounds stupid, but I’d love to restore the shoe to the Battle of Endor. It’s such a goofy little quirk.
I’ve been re-reading through this thread, and I just want to again point out how great this idea is. It transformes Boba from Jabba’s employee to a bounty hunter on a mission who is only in Jabba’s palace for a specific reason, not to be bossed around.
So, I was thinking of alternate ways to better connect the opening scene with Vader to the rest of the first act Jabba sequence without removing that scene or ruining a lot of the mystery surrounding the rescue mission, and then this idea hit me:
Vader: The Emperor is not as forgiving as I am.
Vader walks away from the shocked officer and exits the hangar. Vader continues down a hallway and onto an elevator. We wipe to to Vader in his meditation chamber. His chair spins around to the face the view screen on the wall. It flickers with static and then reveals the helmeted face of Boba Fett. It appears he is within or outside Jabba’s palace.
Vader: Skywalker will come for Captain Solo. I want him alive, bounty hunter.
Boba Fett: As you wish.
The view screen flickers off and we wipe to Tatooine, where we see the droids approaching the palace.
This idea accomplishes a few things. First, we create a stronger narrative through line between the first scene with Vader on the Death Star and the entire Jabba sequence. It doesn’t take away from any of the mystery of the first act because Luke coming to rescue Han is established in the opening crawl. Plus, we’re adding a brand new scene rather than deleting anything. I think this is a clearer way to establish that Boba Fett is trying to capture Luke for Vader than to try and insert vague Boba dialogue that might just stick out. Also, Vader and Boba communicating through view screens is reminiscent of how they communicated with each other in the Holiday Special, so it is a funny little parallel to that.
That would be cool, would it just be reusing empire footage with maybe an ai voice?
The idea behind the lines were that you could construct them by combining words from other lines. “As you wish”, “Captain Solo”, “Skywalker”, “I want him alive”, and “bounty hunter” are things the respective characters have said before.
Off the top of my head I don’t remember when Vader said, “will come for”, though.
The idea behind the lines were that you could construct them by combining words from other lines. “As you wish”, “Captain Solo”, “Skywalker”, “I want him alive”, and “bounty hunter” are things the respective characters have said before.
Off the top of my head I don’t remember when Vader said, “will come for”, though.
These days I think we can use AI tools to voice both Vader and either of the two Fetts
I’m no vfx wizard but I imagine it would be possible to make a clean matte of the ghosts since they phase into the shot. Then we just need a good Hayden clip, I’ve looked at some interviews and found some good ones but he’s talking in most of them. If we can manually close his lips that would work.
I think the two biggest things I want to see made for this movie would be a good version of the ghost (don’t like Hayden but Shaw isn’t really good, either), possibly an older Hayden deepfake or something yeah, and then the “Your mother once thought as you do” line from Vader.
I’m glad you liked that idea, Ice! I was hoping to have a ROTJ edit with this idea implemented by this month for the 40th anniversary of its release, but life has gotten in the way unfortunately. I’ve sort of lost interest in personally editing any of the other movies or shows (still like chiming in ideas though!), but really the only film I’d like to make a fan edit of at this point is this one.
The cool thing about the Boba working for Vader idea is that it can implemented very heavily, or very lightly, depending on how conservative you wanted the edit to be. So you could have this scene between Vader and Boba, which makes their motivations clear and creates a better segue between the Vader opening and the Tatooine first act, but you also could just give Boba one line in the palace. When Luke falls into the pit, you can have Boba say to Jabba, “He’s no good to me dead” or with voice AI “Vader wants him alive”, and then Jabba could reply “The Jedi’s mine!” Or something like that. But if Jabba, in his greed, ignores Boba request, it would add more reason as to why Boba just lets shit hit the fan on the sail barge. Anyway, there’s a lot of little things you could do to beef up Boba’s role in the first act which I think enhances what’s already in the film pretty nicely.
The other two big changes I would like to do would be to make the second Death Star feel more inevitable rather than repetitive, and of course improve the Ewok plot. But with new tech like voice AI and what not, it adds a lot of potential for a future ROTJ edit. Like Omni mentioned, you finally could get a solid version of the “Your mother once thought as you do” line. I remember how much of a struggle we had trying to make that work back in 2018. The AStarWarsStory YouTube channel also used voice AI to replace the dialogue for the deleted sandstorm scene, which would be cool to see in an edit.
Again, there is a lot of potential, but I do struggle with trying to find a balance between a conservative approach and a radical edit. Like, where is the line for a classic film like Return of the Jedi? Sometimes I feel like if you were to make really radical changes, you should just go all in and make a “Revenge of the Jedi” edit that tries to progressively make the trilogy more mature by going with a darker tone for this film, rather than the happily ever after ending we got. Not trying to “improve” the film, but just making an alternate version. Otherwise, you should just add to the film rather than heavily restructure or cut from the it (Again, with the one exception being some parts of the Ewok plot imo). Still trim from here and there, but maybe add to the film more than take away. Not saying this is how it should be done, just my philosophy.
the only film I’d like to make a fan edit of at this point is this one.
the only film I’d like to make a fan edit of at this point is this one.
Haha, we’ll see what June has in store for us!
And if I did, could I use your Semi-Specialized edition as a basis?
And if I did, could I use your Semi-Specialized edition as a basis?
If not a full film edit, I’d at least be interested in seeing some demos of these Boba ideas.
Also, I like this version of the “your mother” line a lot. Sounds pretty seamless to me.
RJ, I’m still happy to try a ROTJ style Vader meditation chamber matte!
You probably don’t recognize me because of the red arm.
Episode 9 Rewrite, The Starlight Project (Released!) and ANH Technicolor Project (Released!)
RJ, I’m still happy to try a ROTJ style Vader meditation chamber matte!
Ooooooooo I want one too!
I’d happily add the “Vader wants Boba Fett to capture Luke” subplot to my edit.
Yes, I would love that Nev!
And G&G-Fan, the cool thing about this Boba idea is that there are a lot of little ideas I wanted to sprinkle throughout Act 1, but it is very modular, so other editors can pick and choose which things they’d want to take or leave for their own edits. They all would work on their own, but also will work great together. I’ll definitely share all of the assets once I get to that point.
Yes, I would love that Nev!
And G&G-Fan, the cool thing about this Boba idea is that there are a lot of little ideas I wanted to sprinkle throughout Act 1, but it is very modular, so other editors can pick and choose which things they’d want to take or leave for their own edits. They all would work on their own, but also will work great together. I’ll definitely share all of the assets once I get to that point.
What else would you do with your edit?
Yes, I would love that Nev!
Then I will continue gathering resources for the matte. I have everything in a Mega folder right now, consisting of screengrabs and BTS photos of the Emperor’s throne room which features the screen that I intend to use for the matte. My screengrabs are from 4K83 which means that they are probably not as high-quality as the official 4K release, and there are some BTS photos which are not in high quality.
So I’m again putting out a request for higher quality sources. Ideally there would exist somewhere a full-on high quality image of the screen, but failing that I could stitch something together with 4K film screengrabs if someone were to help replace the ones currently in the folder.
You probably don’t recognize me because of the red arm.
Episode 9 Rewrite, The Starlight Project (Released!) and ANH Technicolor Project (Released!)
What else would you do with your edit?
There’s 3 major changes with several minor edits that could be added to enhance the change, but they are not completely necessary for the idea to work.
Vader: Skywalker will come for his friend, Captain Solo. I want him alive, bounty hunter.
Boba: As you wish.
That is the simplest version. Would be achieved by reusing existing dialogue, voice AI, or hiring voice actors. I would like to make 2 versions, one Boba voice that sounds like Morrison, and the other sounding like Wingreen’s original performance.
1b. Again, using footage from ESB, show Boba in the Slave 1 cockpit, then a shot of his ship flying off screen. Will be altered to look distinct from the ESB shots.
1c. This would then transition to the wide establishing shot of R2 and 3PO walking to Jabba’s palace, but would add the Slave
What else would you do with your edit?
There’s 3 major changes with several minor edits that could be added to enhance the change, but they are not completely necessary for the idea to work.
Vader: Skywalker will come for his friend, Captain Solo. I want him alive, bounty hunter.
Boba: As you wish.
That is the simplest version. Would be achieved by reusing existing dialogue, voice AI, or hiring voice actors. I would like to make 2 versions, one Boba voice that sounds like Morrison, and the other sounding like Wingreen’s original performance.
I would probably use existing footage of Boba for the shot of him on the view screen, but it would be cool if I could get into contact with someone who has a Boba costume to create new footage. But a part of me would want to just use existing footage rather than film new material. Not sure though.
1b. Again, using footage from ESB, show Boba in the Slave 1 cockpit, then a shot of his ship flying off screen. Will be altered to look distinct from the ESB shots.
1c. This would then transition to the wide establishing shot of R2 and 3PO walking to Jabba’s palace, but would add the Slave 1 flying in the distance and arriving at Jabba’s. The intention here is to have a physical object that ties one scene/location to the next, similar to the escape pod or the probe droid in the first 2 films.
1d. After Luke falls into the Rancor pit, Boba says to Jabba, “He’s no good to me dead” (or a variation of that line) and Jabba replies “The Jedi’s mine!”
There is a specific wide shot I have in mind for this moment, but it would be nice to create a new shot if possible. There’s a black and white two shot of Jabba and Boba that I would love to use, but I doubt colorization could totally match the rest of the scene. It’s possible, though. I actually think there may be a two shot of them in the scene already that I could potentially use as well.
Also worth noting that this is the one addition you could add to the film to establish that Boba is trying to capture Luke. And it would be a rather simple addition, just a reused line and maybe a new Jabba subtitle. From this you can deduce why Boba is there, who he is capturing him for, and why he doesn’t just blast Luke away from a distance during the sail barge assault. The rest is really superfluous, but overall adds more intrigue to the plot, characterization for Boba and Vader, and cohesiveness to the overall plot of the film.
2a. Add the sound of Boba spurs off screen right before Han says, “What’s that?”
2b. When Leia looks up, cut to a new shot of Boba slowly raising his gun at Han and Leia.
This would require a new background plate that Nev has already made, and the shot of Boba would be a reversed shot of Boba lowering his blaster after the thermal detonator situation is resolved. Boba doesn’t have to say anything here, but you could have him say something like, “Going somewhere, Solo?” or “Not so fast, Princess.”
2c. When Jabba and the rest of his minions are revealed behind the curtain, give Jabba a new line that is something along the lines of, “Well done, bounty hunter!” or “You were right, bounty hunter!”
Again, this isn’t a necessary change at all, but it would add to Boba’s characterization.
So none of this necessary either, but obviously the way Boba goes out has been a common complaint with ROTJ, so some of these ideas would kind of push toward this concept that Boba is trying to capture Luke by any means necessary rather than simply kill him.
3a. Before Luke cuts Boba’s blaster, we see/hear the beginning of a stun shot start emanating from the barrel. This dissipates in a flash of light and fizzle sound after Luke slices the blaster.
3b. Add yellow energy effect to Boba’s lasso/rope. Again, cooler/more intimidating, but also feels like a better tool to capture a Jedi that carries a weapon that could just cut through a rope. This effect would be similar to what we see Sabine use in Rebels when Kanan and Fenn Rau teach her how to use the dark saber.
3c. Have Luke manage to deflect the turret shot that knocks down Boba and damages his jet pack.
This simply requires you to add a new blaster shot, but this allows you display Luke’s skill, rather than have him rely on the turret gunner being a terrible shot.
(This might be what is already happening in the scene, but it is hard to tell)
3d. Add sparks coming from Boba’s jet pack after he falls to the ground.
3e. Han says, “Boba Fett? Boba Fett? Where?” a little sooner, and we hear Chewie growl a reply.
This is supposed to imply Han hitting him is more intentional rather than accidental.
3f. Boba shoots Luke’s hand rather than a random henchman.
Again, this makes it so Boba doesn’t miss an easy shot. In fact, he makes a difficult shot meant to disable Luke rather than kill him. He just didn’t realize Luke had a robotic hand.
3g. Potentially cut shot of Luke’s bad kick and Boba flailing through the air in the background.
This is not only makes Boba a little goofy, but I think it might be better to not show Luke going back to business immediately after getting shot, but I’m not sure about this one.
3h. Remove/replace Boba’s scream.
3i. Replace the Sarlacc burp with muffled blaster shots.
3j. I’ve also considered making it so Boba’s shot actually causes Luke’s saber to malfunction during the rest of the battle. So potentially making the blade shake/quiver, and add sparks occasionally emerging from the hilt. This could add some tension to the rest of the battle where Luke is just fighting goons, but it also would be a way to potentially reuse the deleted scene of Luke building his lightsaber. In this version, Luke would repair his saber in a cave on Dagobah before leaving the planet. Meant to just be a brief ominous moment after Luke talks to Obi-Wan about having to potentially kill his father, and how Luke’s insight about Leia could be used to serve the Emperor. Again, not necessary at all. Just an idea though.
But I think that’s the gist of it.
These are all stellar ideas! They all add so much while still being relatively subtle
Those sound fantastic, I would love to see mockups of all of those.
Is there a reason why more edits do not place Luke on Dagobah at the beginning of the movie? The opening crawl would need to be changed to indicate Luke was training along with cutting out his line about coming back to complete the training.
It seems illogical that Luke’s skills as a Jedi would improve without any additional training. I also found it hard to believe that Yoda would completely flip flop on his insistence of Luke to complete his training to all of sudden going with, “never mind everything I previously told you.”
I also find it stupefying that Luke would decide to take off while the rebel alliance is on the verge of their final battle.
Seeing Luke in person for the first time as a black hooded figure force choking the Gam guards is just such a good reveal for him and sets up his arc. I would love to see the saber building deleted scene redone to be on dagobah and put in the beginning though.
Is there a reason why more edits do not place Luke on Dagobah at the beginning of the movie? The opening crawl would need to be changed to indicate Luke was training along with cutting out his line about coming back to complete the training.
It seems illogical that Luke’s skills as a Jedi would improve without any additional training. I also found it hard to believe that Yoda would completely flip flop on his insistence of Luke to complete his training to all of sudden going with, “never mind everything I previously told you.”
I also find it stupefying that Luke would decide to take off while the rebel alliance is on the verge of their final battle.
I was originally gonna do it, but I’ve changed my mind.
It messes with the pacing. Having two very talky scenes right after the Vader scene doesn’t work. Luke’s mysterious introduction is far better.
Luke is likely self-taught at this point. It’s not ridiculous at this point after his lightsaber skills established in ESB for him to get better with it, and raw force power is not reliant on training.
Isolated from the prequels there’s nothing that establishes that Jedi training takes any longer then it does for Luke in the OT. And even taking the prequels into consideration, Lucas seems to mostly attribute starting from a young age to learning the Buddhist practice of non-attachment early then anything else.
Yoda “flip-flopped” because Luke had overcome the personal flaws that prevented him from being ready in ESB. Luke’s flaws mostly came from within. He couldn’t lift the X-wing not because he wasn’t powerful enough, but because of his lack of belief in himself.