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What Would've Gary Kurtz's Version of ROTJ looked like?

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Here are some of my headcannon ideas of a possible version of the unhappy ending “Return of the Jedi” version if Gary Kurtz had stayed on as a producer.

Jabba the Hutt is a human and the Galactic Godfather of the Galaxy with Boba Fett as his right-hand man; he also owns a Galactic Casino Ship that travels from planet to planet

Lando and Chewie were captured by the Empire and used as bait to bring Luke and the Rebels to Jabba and to Kashyyyk

Boba Fett has more dialogue than in Empire Strikes Back and shows to be a posing threat against our heroes

Jabba has a scene with a hologram of The Emperor discussing their plans with the Rebels, Luke and Han Solo

The Empire and Jabba’s Criminal Mafia build a base and a palace on the forest planet of Kashyyyk and enslave the Wookiees

Luke Skywalker has trouble with his right mechanical hand and he discovers his own dark side in the film but overcomes both of them

Obi-Wan explains that Vader’s claim that he’s Luke’s father was a lie and he and his sister are somewhere in the galaxy in hiding and he’s cut all ties to the Force

Luke’s been on Dagobah for a while to complete his training and builds a new lightsaber in a crystal cave near Yoda’s hut and Yoda reveals that when Luke returned he was getting really sick and passes away and fades away like Obi-Wan and he’s seen as a ghost with Obi-Wan at the ending

Leia becomes the Queen of the remaining Alderaanians who are part of the Rebellion; Mon Mothma is their head leader and helps Leia become a better woman which leads to her finally accepting the title as Queen

Han Solo is still in Carbonite but he was freed by Leia who disguises herself as one of Jabba’s Guards and he’s blind for most of the movie

Han’s backstory is revealed: his family were Gardeners and he wanted a better life and went to the Imperial Academy and dropped out due to his insecurities and took on a life of crime and met Chewbacca by saving him from Space Gypsies

Jabba carries an ancient lightsaber, a Darksaber to fight Luke Skywalker with

The final battle takes place at Kashyyyk’s Sloth Pit of the Sarlacc

Han self sacrifices himself to save Leia and Chewbacca

Leia and Luke have a tender moment together at Han’s Funeral

General Veers returns in this movie and leads the AT-ATs on Kashyyyk

The Empire is crippled along with most of the Rebellion

Luke wanders off at the end on his own

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I think all of that is good and possible but I still think Vader would be Luke’s father but he would not be redeemed
Also Luke would fall to the dark side temporarily.

Everything after Empire Strikes Back is shit.

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I don’t think they would’ve gone back on the Vader reveal. That was never the intention, nor does it really make a whole lot of sense in the movie itself.

Reading R + L ≠ J theories

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Mostly I just figure the Endor stuff would have been a lot cleaner and less cute, I guess maybe Han would die but who cares, and Luke would struggle with the dark side more while Leia has to save him from himself. With a Vader redemption I imagine a Luke moral tug of war could be fun but a little too packed for a wishy washy side conflict for Luke just like the actual ROTJ, it just isn’t believable Luke would go to the dark side, Vader’s redemption is more impactful anyway. I agree maybe more time spent with Luke training, specifically building his new lightsaber onscreen, but I would need to know more of Kurtz’s thoughts, now I’m just going into my own wishful thinking.

“The ability to destroy a planet is insignificant next to the power of the Force.” - DV

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I remember reading about it online and even seeing some rough drafts, and watching the Justice League Snyder Cut brought this back into my mind, and I hope to one day make a radical fanedit of RoTJ that’s a “Kurtz Cut” (It would be called Revenge of the Jedi, its original title). Here are some of the changes:

  • Two Death Stars under construction
  • A key setting is the Imperial city world of Had Abbadon (would later become Coruscant). Had Abbadon’s moon is known as Endor, and it has a shield generator on it that protects Had Abbadon from invasion.
  • Wookies live on Endor, and have been imprisoned and enslaved by the Empire to build settlements on Endor for residents of the overpopulated Had Abbadon.
  • There are two sail barges over the Sarlaac pit, and Leia never goes to Jabba’s palace. She’s headed to Endor from the beginning.
  • The final space battle takes place over Had Abbadon, and Lando is in command of a Mon Cal cruiser instead of piloting the Falcon. The two Death Stars aren’t destroyed by fighters flying into them, but by blasts from Rebel capital ships.
  • The Emperor’s throne room is in an underground chamber full of lava.
  • The Wookies are freed and help the Rebels fight stormtroopers on Endor.
  • Han dies in Leia’s arms after being shot in the final raid on the Imperial shield generator base on Endor.
  • The Force ghosts of Obi-Wan and Yoda appear to protect Luke from the Emperor’s force lightning.
  • Darth Vader kills the Emperor by grabbing him and diving into one of the pools of lava.
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If everything outlined in the first post is what Gary Kurtz’s intentions were for ROTJ, then the only thing I would change about it is Vader being Luke’s father not being a lie.

These are some of the things that I would like to see incorporated into adywans ROTJ:R in some way, like the film ending with the funeral pyre scene showing Luke being alone, but he’s stated that only the space and ground battles will be changed like this.

It’s a shame that Lucas got disillusioned with the film industry after Raiders of the Lost Ark, believing that the audience only cared about thrills and entertainment and not about the story. This is just one of the many things that led ROTJ to become what it is now.

Analog Releases of Films That Contain Deleted, Extended, & Alternate Footage That’ve Never Been Released on DVD/BluRay

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EditModd said:

I remember reading about it online and even seeing some rough drafts, and watching the Justice League Snyder Cut brought this back into my mind, and I hope to one day make a radical fanedit of RoTJ that’s a “Kurtz Cut” (It would be called Revenge of the Jedi, its original title). Here are some of the changes:

  • Two Death Stars under construction
  • A key setting is the Imperial city world of Had Abbadon (would later become Coruscant). Had Abbadon’s moon is known as Endor, and it has a shield generator on it that protects Had Abbadon from invasion.
  • Wookies live on Endor, and have been imprisoned and enslaved by the Empire to build settlements on Endor for residents of the overpopulated Had Abbadon.
  • There are two sail barges over the Sarlaac pit, and Leia never goes to Jabba’s palace. She’s headed to Endor from the beginning.
  • The final space battle takes place over Had Abbadon, and Lando is in command of a Mon Cal cruiser instead of piloting the Falcon. The two Death Stars aren’t destroyed by fighters flying into them, but by blasts from Rebel capital ships.
  • The Emperor’s throne room is in an underground chamber full of lava.
  • The Wookies are freed and help the Rebels fight stormtroopers on Endor.
  • Han dies in Leia’s arms after being shot in the final raid on the Imperial shield generator base on Endor.
  • The Force ghosts of Obi-Wan and Yoda appear to protect Luke from the Emperor’s force lightning.
  • Darth Vader kills the Emperor by grabbing him and diving into one of the pools of lava.

I can see most of this playing out in Kurtz’s ROTJ. All except the twin Death Stars. I’m pretty sure Kurtz went on record that he wasn’t keen on the Death Star’s reuse.

“The Anarchists are right in everything; in the negation of the existing order and in the assertion that, without Authority there could not be worse violence than that of Authority under existing conditions. They are mistaken only in thinking that anarchy can be instituted by a violent revolution… There can be only one permanent revolution — a moral one: the regeneration of the inner man. How is this revolution to take place? Nobody knows how it will take place in humanity, but every man feels it clearly in himself. And yet in our world everybody thinks of changing humanity, and nobody thinks of changing himself.”

― Leo Tolstoy

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I think Luke would have been visibly more haunted and traumatized by the events of Empire in Kurtz’s version, and this would partly justify his “going off into the sunset” alone at the end.

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.