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Can we get some love for Yub Nub?

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A place to discuss the REAL end song of ROTJ. I don’t get why everyone says the '97 song is better. Yub Nub is more fun and fits the mood better. (And the added planet scenes are too prequel-ish for my liking.)

You’ll laugh! You’ll cry! You’ll kiss three bucks goodbye!

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No.

“Remember, the Force will be with you. Always.”

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I really shouldn’t be helping to kick off this thread by NOT giving love to Yub Nub, but so sue me, I have never liked it. It always felt annoying and strangely anti-climactic for me, the closing feeling for a film I really love. Victory Celebration, on the other hand… I love bittersweet-sounding music, and the piece is that and so much more. For me, it feels joyful, relieved, hopeful, all the rest. I would gladly do without the SE changes and watch the original version of ROTJ, if it weren’t for Victory Celebration. For that track alone, I choose the 2004 version every single time.

“Remember, the Force will be with you. Always.”

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Yub Nub fits the movie better and feels less generic than its replacement. It’s very innocent and light-hearted sounding, which I enjoy. It’s a simple, joyful song that fits the Ewoks, with lyrics representing the Rebellion’s victory that they had suffered so long to achieve. The fact that the trilogy, after putting its heroes through so many horrific experiences, ends on a note of such sheer, childlike joy is very satisfying.

Also, I’ve never been a fan of the added planet montage, either. It doesn’t make sense in-universe and is unnecessary. The Emperor is dead. The point is taken by the audience, while still leaving open the possibility of future stories involving the Empire as a faction.

But we can’t turn back. Fear is their greatest defense. I doubt if the actual security there is any greater than it was on Aquilae or Sullust. And what there is is most likely directed towards a large-scale assault.

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I love the way Yub Nub leads into the credits music, and I appreciate how it’s much more believable diegetic music for the Ewoks to be playing and for everyone to be dancing to.

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The way it merges with the vocals in the credits is beautiful. The rest is fine since it’s a fantasy movie from 1983. It’s not supposed to sound like something from a lame pan-pipes compilation played in a New Age gift shop in 1997.

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jedi_bendu said:

I really shouldn’t be helping to kick off this thread by NOT giving love to Yub Nub, but so sue me, I have never liked it. It always felt annoying and strangely anti-climactic for me, the closing feeling for a film I really love. Victory Celebration, on the other hand… I love bittersweet-sounding music, and the piece is that and so much more. For me, it feels joyful, relieved, hopeful, all the rest. I would gladly do without the SE changes and watch the original version of ROTJ, if it weren’t for Victory Celebration. For that track alone, I choose the 2004 version every single time.

I agree completely with you. Growing up i remember Victory Celebration would make me feel sad, it felt like the very end. Yub Nub doesn’t make you feel like we reached the summit of the story. Throughout star wars we’re given music filled with beautiful strings and range, but this song doesn’t even have a feeling of star wars until the last 15 seconds or so.

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Yub Nub is fantastic. It fits the childish nature of the Ewoks way better than Victory Celebration, and is also way less generic than VC. I also DESPISE the planet montage, it looks horribly dated and includes Prequel planets that someone watching the OT for the first time wouldn’t recognize.

Use the Force, Joh Yowza.

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Even though I prefer Yub Nub, I do think Victory Celebration better fits the bittersweet ending of the trilogy, especially in the context of the prequels, in which, let me remind you: the main character gets BURNED ALIVE IN GRAPHIC DETAIL. In the context of 1983, though, I definitely agree with Mocata that it sounds out of place.

It turns out the reason it sounds like “90s new age” is that the temp track was taken from the soundtrack to this TV documentary series called 500 Nations. It aired in 1995 and sounds typical of History-Channel-type documentary background music from the late 90s and early 2000s.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pler4cr4yxo

There’s something oddly charming about synthesized generic new age being played by a live orchestra, though. I mean whatever, it still somewhat fits the tribal setting I guess.

I hate the Disney Channel Live Action Universe

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Yub Nub is a lackluster. I am glad they replaced it in 1997 SE.

真実

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Dek Rollins said:

Yub Nub is superior because of the part when Anakin’s ghost shows up.

I was thinking this too as while I like both and slightly do prefer Victory Celebration with all the planets from the Prequels, I have to agree that Yub Nub does sync up better with when we see Anakin’s Force Ghost.

“Heroes come in all sizes, and you don’t have to be a giant hero. You can be a very small hero. It’s just as important to understand that accepting self-responsibility for the things you do, having good manners, caring about other people - these are heroic acts. Everybody has the choice of being a hero or not being a hero every day of their lives.” - George Lucas

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“Lapti Nek” and “Yub Nub” rulez, “Jedi Rocks” and “Victory Celebration” droolz.

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It’s goofy, but it’s a celebration of the victory of the characters in this film. The Special Editions have always been a mixed bag (this site wouldn’t exist if that opinion was so shockingly rare). I know, OT is itself a mixed community… of both preservation and revision efforts by fans. May that never change!

Most of us who “love” yub nub do so because of nostalgia, not because it’s some kind of objectively amazing thing. It’s kind of catchy, but if you’re not looking at it through nostalgia goggles, or as a child, sure, I guess it’s goofy.

But is the flute music created in 1997 really that much better?

I guess I’m looking at it as an overall presentation. If you were just listening to the music on its own, would you know what it was? One is in some unknown language and sounds like a party that turns into a hymn. The other sounds like some generic music that turns into a chant of some kind. Both very generic removed from their context.

Most of us think of the John Williams symphonic music when we think of Star Wars. It gives the themes of menace, of triumph, grandeur, mystery and so forth. Anything with lyrics (Lapti Nek and Yub Nub) jar from that.

But now that people love the Mandalorian which features Dub Step type music, I guess anything is fair game now, right?

I agree that the “SE” ending of ROTJ is a nice way to “end the saga” (perhaps even with the prequels in mind, at least with the 2004 insert of Naboo and the extra buildings on Coruscant that you miss if you blink), but back in 1983 there were only these three, and that’s why, for better or for worse, “we” “like” “it.”

It’s a more subtle discussion I guess than Lapti Nek vs. Jedi rocks, where one is a glorified work-out song vs. a stunningly cheesy bit of disneyfied (long before Disney actually got involved) nonsense.

The best thing about these songs is that they’re not in English (I know, I know “celebrate the love”… and an english version of Lapti Nek exists too, but if you were only watching the movie you’d never know that).

If ROTJ was something you always hated or was your least favorite, I can see wanting to change it. Maybe it should be changed to something else entirely? Has anybody tried to create a new song, maybe something more hip and with it?

For me, make mine the original, for old time’s sake.

<i>TCBOO</i>

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KurganX said:

Most of us who “love” yub nub do so because of nostalgia, not because it’s some kind of objectively amazing thing. It’s kind of catchy, but if you’re not looking at it through nostalgia goggles, or as a child, sure, I guess it’s goofy.

But is the flute music created in 1997 really that much better?

I don’t have nostalgia bias towards Yub Nub - I grew up with the 2004 SE’s (tRaItOr, I know) and didn’t find out about the original versions until I was 12 or 13, and after having seen both (or all 5) versions…I think Yub Nub is objectively better. It feels and sounds appropriate for a children’s fantasy film from the 1980s instead of, like, a 90s Disney Renaissance movie like The Lion King or something.

Also I don’t get why everyone is making a big deal out of the pan flute - it only appears briefly at the beginning.

I hate the Disney Channel Live Action Universe

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I prefer Yub Nub for a variety of reasons …it gives me the spine tingles that the special edition onwards do not . Part of that is the discordant sadness that underlies the music right after Luke sees the force ghosts and then it crescendos into a spirit uplifting chorus at the end and makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up .It also seems more " present " within the scene , as the rhythms match the movements of the characters on screen ( I don’t see the victory celebration music being conducive to dancing ) and the Ewoks using the stormtrooper helmets as drums works better as well . Sure , nostalgia is part of it , but only a very small part for me .

https://screamsinthevoid.deviantart.com/

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screams in the void said:

I prefer Yub Nub for a variety of reasons …it gives me the spine tingles that the special edition onwards do not . Part of that is the discordant sadness that underlies the music right after Luke sees the force ghosts and then it crescendos into a spirit uplifting chorus at the end and makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up .It also seems more " present " within the scene , as the rhythms match the movements of the characters on screen ( I don’t see the victory celebration music being conducive to dancing ) and the Ewoks using the stormtrooper helmets as drums works better as well . Sure , nostalgia is part of it , but only a very small part for me .

This.

“It is only through interaction, through decision and choice, through confrontation, physical or mental, that the Force can grow within you.”
-Kreia, Jedi Master and Sith Lord

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Also, I think that the original version of the celebration scene is edited better than the new version. The Special Edition cuts back and forth a lot more and doesn’t focus on the characters for as long, while the original version has more lingering shots that let you feel more present in the moment. On top of that, the way the shots of the ghosts are edited was made a lot more awkward and abrupt, in my opinion, while the original version takes its time more with that moment and doesn’t rush it.

But we can’t turn back. Fear is their greatest defense. I doubt if the actual security there is any greater than it was on Aquilae or Sullust. And what there is is most likely directed towards a large-scale assault.

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My bumper sticker reads: “Celebrate the Love…or die”

Yub Nub now. Yub Nub FOREVER!

“It is only through interaction, through decision and choice, through confrontation, physical or mental, that the Force can grow within you.”
-Kreia, Jedi Master and Sith Lord

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Yub Nub is 100% more better Than the Victory Celebration song at the end of ROTJ special edition. same goes with Lapti Nek over Jedi Rocks

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I enjoy both endings. Yub Nub is a great ending to the trilogy as a whole. The Victory Celebration is a great whole saga piece, I prefer the 97’ cut. Victory but with Sabastian Shaw.

One day we will have properly restored versions of the Original Unaltered Trilogy (OUT); or 1977, 1980, 1983 Theatrical released versions (Like 4K77,4K80 and 4K83); including Prequels. So that future generations can enjoy these historic films that changed cinema forever.

Yoda: Try not, do or do not, there is no try.