Max Rebo band SE

Of all the SE changes, this one has always been the only one that I found absolutely and utterly unwatchable. I cringe so hard the entire time when this thing comes on.

Greedo shooting first was at best odd and unnecessary, the Jabba scene was redundant, the Wampa and "alert my star destroyer" were pointless, but this one just makes me wince. It's the only SE change that really, REALLY bothers me. 

I honestly prefer the HaydenHead change to the Max Rebo one. It seriously pisses me off.

Just wanted to get that off my chest.

In your face?  That's hardly--

Oh.

I really wouldn't mind the updated singer via CGI if only they kept "Lapti Nek."  To be honest, I used to look forward to that musical number when I watched ROTJ.  Now I just can't stand it and skip right through it.

By the way... I recently found out that there were two versions of "Lapti Nek" in the films.  I don't know when the other one was used... but this is the one that I grew up with on my 1995 VHS set...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dV0LD-QAzg0

I think the english version was used for the single.

Personally, I really don't like Lapti Nek and never have. The directing and action in the scene is boring, the puppets are awful and the music sucks. Its still a muppet musical, the SE just exaggerats it. Jedi Rocks isn't very good, but if I had to choose I would probably go with the SE version, I find the parodic silliness more effective than the lameness of the original. The only thing I don't like about it is that that level of CG (noteably the close up of Sy Snootles) is not consistent with the rest of the film, so the sequence seems "dropped in". 

I never understood why Jabba killed the green girl instead of the fat lady with 6 breasts.

I never liked a big musical number in ROTJ, whether it was Lapti Nek or Jedi Rocks.  IIRC, George thought it would be "fun" to have a musical number in a Star Wars film, so that's what we got.  Is it actually fun?  I guess that's a matter of personal tastes.  Does it work in the narrative of the film?  It seems completely unnecessary.

And while we are on the topic of the songs, who came up with the title Jedi Rocks?  At least the name Lapti Nek seems like it could be in the context of the film.  Jabba could request a song called Lapti Nek.  Having him ask to play something called Jedi Rocks doesn't make a bit of sense.

Every time I see CG Snootles make that stupid pirouette or utter "uh oh" as Oola falls into the rancor pit an overwhelming desire to splatter her plastic brains all over the walls takes me; she's as bad as Jar Jar at his worst.

captainsolo said:

So...bad puppets in the background or bad CGI aliens in the extreme foreground-you take your pick.

There's absolutely no doubt that the puppets were bad.  But I think they are MUCH MUCH MUCH less distracting than the CGI.  The Special Editions came out when I was in 5th grade... and even then I thought the CGI was TERRIBLE in that scene.  If a 10 year old can spot it... it must be awful.

I've contemplated doing my own ROTJ edit which removes that scene.

But yeah, as hard as I had tried, I couldn't think of one thing that the scene did to benefit or advance the plot.

Too childish for a Star Wars movie.

'Lapti Nek' didn't even seem like a 'musical number' to me, it was just a background element similar to the cantina song.

I actually think it was just a way to showcase some "cool" (in Lucas's opinion) aliens. In From Star Wars to Jedi, you can hear Lucas talking about how with high production values and more experience, he could have made a much better ANH; well, we know where that went... Anyway, I think that Lucas may have subconsciously tried to make ROTJ a better ANH by relying on more effects. For example, they have many parallels. ROTJ and ANH both feature a grand battle with a Death Star blowing up. In both, there is a lightsaber battle. They contain Luke experiencing a revelation early in the film as opposed to later like in ESB. In ANH, Luke learns his father was a Jedi; in ROTJ, he realizes Leia is his sister. In my opinion, this Max Rebo sequence was George Lucas's way of trying to improve on the cantina scene (which he expresses dissatisfaction about). The problem is that the Max Rebo sequence is completely unessential and not just in the background like it should be.

Quackula said:

'Lapti Nek' didn't even seem like a 'musical number' to me, it was just a background element similar to the cantina song.

100% agree

SilverWook said:

DuracellEnergizer said:

Every time I see CG Snootles make that stupid pirouette or utter "uh oh" as Oola falls into the rancor pit an overwhelming desire to splatter her plastic brains all over the walls takes me; she's as bad as Jar Jar at his worst.

She was portrayed as a scheming backstabbing little hussy on The Clone Wars recently. Her voice was like nails on a chalkboard to me. Add that to the fact she's killed my favorite villain on the show, makes me glad she probably was on Jabba's sail barge when it blew! ;)

 You're not gonna like this ...

Wookieepedia said:

The [Max Rebo] band played at Jabba's Palace during Luke Skywalker's attempt to free Han Solo and later played at their execution over the Great Pit of Carkoon. The band barely escaped the catastrophe that followed, jumping to safety as the Sail Barge blew apart.