I’m sure we all love Star Wars. But that doesn’t make it perfect, or the best it can be. And no movie is made by one person- George had a strong hand, but other writers re-wrote, other directors directed, and other editors edited, and each time, a variant movie than George’s original emerged. So why not faneditors?

And your interpretation is sound- there’s meaning in the original shape. But that doesn’t mean we can’t pick up that scene and scrutinise it, and see if it can be improved. Perhaps we’ll come to your conclusion, and put it back on the shelf, as we have with many ideas for many scenes before. But that shouldn’t mean we shouldn’t look at elements of the movies academically.

Your input on the idea is valuable, but I don’t think it’s sensible to dismiss the concept. This whole forum is a big bag of opinion and subjectivity, that’s been hugely productive and peaceful in spite of that. Sometimes you’ve just gotta live and let live, man.

I really like that. That way he’s left them to become a Jedi, as per their dogma, but also swung too far from the lesson in ESB that being too compassionate can be a trap, especially when you’re not ready. But here, when his training is complete, he finds a middle path- setting him up as part of the new Jedi paradigm.

With this, would you have him sense that the others have failed? I suppose it could work with or without- his arrival at Tattooine could just be a suprise without revealing him sensing it to the audience.

Haha, I agree with a lot of that, but replacing one Death Star with two makes me feel like Starbuck in Battlestar Galactica: “We’re going the wrong waaaaaay!”

A couple of thoughts to kick us off:

• This was the original end of Luke’s journey - and therefore, at the time of OT, the most clear picture we had for how the ideal Jedi could act and behave. We know he intended for the Prequel Jedi to be less perfect, so how can Luke’s character here inform one of the major themes of a saga edit?
• I don’t quite agree with the common criticism that Han’s character is weaker here. To me it reads that Han’s always had some anxiety and that his sass has often been a mask for that, and especially regarding Leia, he’s found someone he really loves so he’s genuinely concerned to lose her.
• Luke does acknowledge on the second Death Star that he expects to die (with the Emperor) as the rebels destroy it, and while this is a noble act, it’s only really touched on by the one line so it’s not delivered as powerfully as it could have been. To me, the tension that’s lost by having the rebels likely to passively kill three main characters is not worth the benefit, so I’ve always preferred Spence’s approach, which places the Emperor’s throne room on the Super Star Destroyer and has the death star float outside his window to make that very clear.

What’s going on here?

This is the second thread in a series of ‘Community Focus Threads’, intended to give the originaltrilogy.com community a central resource to collaboratively focus on a single Star Wars movie at roughly the same time, much like what was achieved for Hal’s Rise of Skywalker Ascendent. It does not necessarily have an output in mind, but by placing as much information as possible here from a ‘faneditor’s perspective’ it is designed to encourage:

• The generation of ideas, new approaches, and feedback
• Discussion of existing approaches and fixes that you particularly like, or that are particularly useful
• Revisiting and highlighting older ideas, editors looking for support, perhaps those we can achieve with modern tools
• The potential generation of new usable content.

RogueLeader (who I worked on this OP with) has a number of ideas he’d like to expand on, which might cohere into a new edit (no promises though!)

This is our second attempt at a community focus thread, so some of this content may not be useful, and there may be more that I can add. If you think the approach to the idea of monthly focus threads could be improved, please give feedback over at the Index and Overview thread.

Please try to keep this thread focused specifically on Return of the Jedi. For more information on the wider project and why I’m doing this, to give feedback on the approach taken in these monthly threads, and for thoughts on editing the franchise as a whole, please see the Index and Overview thread.

Want to Contribute?

Key decisions

• What source would be the best to use, in terms of audio and video, that will make it easiest for people to slot new scenes into their own edits? This’ll help make asset sharing much easier.
• How else can we keep sources and work produced consistent with each other?
• What larger/structural changes could be valuable?
  • A more interesting/engaging opening?
  • Restructuring the Jabba sequence?
  • Putting Dagobah to the front?
  • Restored deleted scenes (especially Luke’s new saber)
  • Increasing the stakes in the Battle of Endor
  • Making the Ewoks more equal to the Stormtroopers
  • A new/improved ending?

Other fixes

• Scenes
  • Luke and Leia mother conversation
  • Changes to various Ewok scenes.
  • Potentially have Leia be the one to help Luke and Han get free rather than Luke tricking the Ewoks with the Force?
• Audio
  • Adding Yoda’s deleted line, “Obi-Wan would’ve told you long ago, had I let him.” (Could be just an audio change or audio and video)
  • Giving the female Rebel pilot her voice back.
  • Giving Han new lines. (Ex. “You tell that son of bitch that he’ll get no such pleasure from us!)
  • Remove Boba Fett’s death scream.
• Video
  • Having Rebel ships crash into the Death Star shield. (Preferably make effects look accurate to the era and not too modern)
  • Have Boba Fett shoot Luke’s hand instead of random guard. (Would require at least 1 or 2 new shots)
  • Obi-Wan’s ghost fades into the shot rather than walking from out of the woods. Also, he could disappear and reappear sitting down rather than going over and sitting. Just to make him more ghostly rather than just a man walking around.
  • Have Vader fade out as he dies, like other characters who become force ghosts

Resources that could be helpful here if anyone can share

• An opening crawl template/generator
• The font, colour and size of alien subtitles

Other ways you can help

• Brainstorming! Share any ideas you have, but keeping it focused on smaller, impactful ideas could help.

Scene Overview

I’m trying to present this from an ‘editor’s perspective’, highlighting the key plot points, structure, character development and interactions, topics of dialogue, scene linkages, references, etc. It’s in as close to original order as possible, with cut scenes placed in roughly the right place. Let me know if there’s anything relevant that I’ve missed.

Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi
Released in cinemas 25th May 1983
Written by George Lucas and Lawrence Kasdan
Directed by Richard Marquand

Opening Crawl

• Luke’s returning to Tatooine to rescue Han from Jabba, and the Empire’s creating a second Death Star which’ll defeat the rebels.

Part 1: Jabba’s Palace

In space:

• A star Destroyer launches a lambda-class shuttle to the under-construction second Death Star, bearing Vader, who tells an officer that he and the Emperor are disappointed at the slow progress, and that the Emperor plans to visit.
• CUT SCENE: Vader continues to his meditation chamber, and tries to tell Luke through the force to join the dark side.

On Tattooine at daytime:

• CUT SCENE: Luke creates his new green lightsaber on Tattooine, whilst ignoring Vader’s force communication from the prior cut scene. He prepares for Han’s rescue.
• C-3PO and R2-D2 approach Jabba’s palace. They discuss the fact that Lando and Chewie haven’t returned, and that Jabba’s a bad dude. C-3PO thinks they’re just there to deliver Luke’s message, and looks for excuses to leave, but R2-D2 pushes on and they’re let in.
• Bib Fortuna questions them and R2-D2 tells him he brings both a message and a gift, which surprises C-3PO.
• Via R2-D2’s hologram, Luke greets Jabba as a friend of Han, seeking an audience to bargain for Solo’s life, and offers the droids as a gift. Jabba reveals Han in carbonite.
• The droids are taken under the palace, where droids are being tortured, and given jobs. C-3PO is given a restraining bolt.
• Above, Jabba’s slaves and performers dance and sing. Boba Fett can be seen. A slave dancer is dropped into a pit.
• Leia (in disguise) presents Chewie and claims his bounty from Jabba. They negotiate, and Leia’s grenade brings agreement. Boba watches, and Lando (in disguise) also watches. Chewie is imprisoned.

In the palace at night:

• Leia (in disguise) frees Han from carbonite. He’s temporarily blind, and Leia takes off her and they kiss.
• Jabba and a load of his party reveal themselves from behind curtains, capturing Leia and Han. Han is imprisoned with Chewie, and Chewie says Luke is a Jedi and has a plan.
• Luke enters and force chokes two guards. Leia (slave outfit) is chained to a sleeping Jabba’s throne slab. Luke mind tricks Bib Fortuna, who wakes Jabba, who’s frustrated that Bib Fortuna got tricked. Luke demands Han and Chewie, with threats of his power.
• As they talk, Luke force pulls a blaster to himself, but Jabba triggers the trapdoor, which C-3PO had tried to warn him about. He falls into the pit of the Rancor, which eats a guard who fell in with him.
• As Jabba’s posse cheer, Luke grabs a bone and, being grabbed by the Rancor, puts it into its mouth. Hiding in rocks, he spots an exit, and hits the Rancor’s reaching hand with a rock, which distracts it. Running to the exit, he finds it blocked. As the Rancor bears down, he spots a switch and throws a rock at it, which causes a door to fall on the Rancor, killing it. Everyone is shocked, and the Rancor trainer cries.
• Han and Chewie are brought before Jabba, and C-3PO translates that they’ll be taken to the pit of Carkoon and digested by the Sarlacc.

On the dune sea at daytime:

• Jabba’s Barge travels at speed, as Jabba’s posse revel and enjoy drinks served by R2, and Leia remains enslaved. On a smaller ship, cuffed Han, Chewie, and Luke follow, with Lando still in disguise with them. Han’s eyesight is improving. C-3PO and R2-D2 discuss their worries.
• Luke walks the plank above the Sarlacc pit. C-3PO translates threats for Jabba. Han is sassy, and Luke threatens ‘free us or die’. He’s nudged along the plank. Luke nods to Lando and R2, who prepares a lightsaber. Luke jumps, grabs the plank, flips, and grabs the lightsaber launched by R2. He fucks up the guards on their small ship.
• (Luke’s lightsaber is new, and green.)
• They begin to free themselves as Jabba’s posse panic and prepare a laser cannon. Lando, scuffling, ends up hanging from a rope. Boba Fett flies over, but Luke cuts his blaster and knocks him over. Half-blind Han, flailing, hits Boba’s jetpack, sending him falling into the pit.
• In the distraction, Leia gets her chain around Jabba and chokes him to death, as Han uses a staff and blaster to rescue dangling Lando from the sarlacc’s tentacles. Luke jumps over to the main barge and easily fucks up Jabba’s defenders. R2 zaps Leia’s cuffs off, and at Luke’s instruction she turns the cannon on the deck. Luke gets lightly shot in his artificial hand, revealing some mechanics. R2 guides 3PO off the barge, and Luke and Leia swing off to safety as the barge explodes. R2 and 3PO are lifted out of the sand.
• CUT SCENE: In a sandstorm, Luke says his goodbyes to the rest of the team in person, then tends to his wounded hand.
• The millennium falcon and Luke’s X-Wing go to orbit. Han’s grateful, and Luke and R2 are heading to Dagobah. Luke puts on a leather glove to cover his wounded hand.

Part 2: Dagobah

On the second Death Star:

• A lambda-class shuttle disembarks the Emperor to a bowing Vader. The Emperor is pleased with Vader getting the progress back on track, and though Vader wants to search for Luke, but the Emperor cautions patience and says that Luke will seek out Vader in time. When that happens, Vader is to bring Luke before the Emperor, as Luke is strong, and only both of them can turn Luke to the dark side. Everything is as the Emperor has foreseen.

On Dagobah:

• In some of the shots here (and onwards), Luke now appears with one bare hand and one gloved hand.
• Luke’s ship is parked by Yoda’s hut, and Luke is inside talking to Yoda. Yoda is old, sick, and weak. Yoda’s strong with the force, but not strong enough to stave off death. He embraces death. Luke wants his training completed, but Yoda says no more is needed - though he’s not a Jedi until he confronts Vader, who Yoda confirms is Luke’s father.
• Yoda regrets Luke facing Vader previously when he wasn’t ready, and cautions against the path of the dark side and the Emperor’s seduction. He believes Luke will be the last Jedi, and should pass on what he’s learned. “There is another Skywalker.” He dies.
• Returning to the X-Wing, Luke expresses doubts to R2. Obi-Wan (ghost) interrupts and says Yoda will remain with him. He explains that when Anakin was seduced by the dark side, he ceased to be Anakin and became Vader. Anakin was Obi-Wan’s friend. When Obi-Wan met Anakin, he was a great pilot and strong in the force, and Obi-Wan “took it upon [himself]” to train him as a Jedi, believing he could train him as well as Yoda could, but he was wrong. Vader is evil now, and Obi-Wan thinks Luke must kill him, or the Emperor has already won.
• Luke brings up the other, and Obi-Wan confirms its his twin sister, separated at birth to hide them from the Emperor, who knew Anakin’s children would be a threat. Luke knows it’s Leia immediately, but Obi-Wan knows those feelings could serve the Emperor.

At the rebel fleet in space:

• Han admires Lando’s promotion to general. Mon Mothma addresses the room - Bothan spies have learned that the underprotected second Death Star has no primary weapon and that the Emperor is onboard. The Imperial fleet is spread across the galaxy, engaging the rebellion.
• Ackbar shows them that the second Death Star is orbiting Endor’s forest moon, which is protecting it with an energy shield. The plan is to take down the shield, then move in cruisers, to cover fighters flying into the Death Star to knock out the main reactor.
• A rebel leader explains that their stolen lambda-class shuttle can land a strike team, which Han will lead, and Chewie, Leia and Luke volunteer. They’re pleased to see Luke, and he hints at his new knowledge about Leia.
• In the hangar, Han gives Lando the Falcon. The others launch in their shuttle.

In the Emperor’s throne room:

• The Emperor instructs Vader to send the fleet to the other side of Endor. Rumours of rebels elsewhere are dismissed - “soon the rebellion will be crushed”. And soon, Luke will be turned to the dark side. Vader is dismissed.
• CUT SCENE: Somewhere round this time, Vader and Jerjerrod clash, but Vader comes out looking less badass.

Part 3: Endor

In space above the forest moon of Endor, in sight of the second Death Star and super star destroyer:

• Han negotiates with the imperials for passage to the surface. Luke senses Vader on the super star destroyer, and is worried he’s endangered the mission. Vader is suspicious of the shuttle but permits passage: “I will deal with them myself.”

On the forest moon at daytime:

• The shuttle lands. Sneaking through the forest, the rebels spot two scouts, and Han and Chewie get seen by them but take them out. Two unseen scouts (and a couple more later) escape by bike to report their position, but Luke and Leia take a bike and take them all out. Leia falls, far from the group. Luke returns to the group, and the main characters go to find her as the other rebels continue on.
• Leia is found by an Ewok, and despite some hesitation, they chill. They overcome a sniper and other scouts, so the Ewok leads her away.

In the Emperor’s throne room:

• Vader returns, and reports that the rebels have landed on Endor. The Emperor already knows. Vader felt Skywalker with them, but the Emperor hasn’t. He instructs Vader to wait for Luke on the forest moon, but Vader is surprised Luke will come to him. The Emperor says Luke’s compassion for Vader will be his undoing, and that Vader must bring Luke to him.

On the forest moon at daytime:

• Luke’s party find the remains of Leia and the Ewok’s scuffle. Chewie spots some raw food, but it’s a trap and all of them get caught in a net. R2’s sawblade cuts them down. They’re surrounded at spearpoint by Ewoks, and Luke tells them to yield, before C-3PO appears, and the Ewoks start worshipping him because they recognise the British as colonisers. Han wants C-3PO to impersonate a deity, but that’s against C-3PO’s programming.

On the forest moon at dusk:

• They’re taken, bound, to the Ewok tree city, where the Ewoks prepare to cook and eat them, whilst venerating C-3PO. Leia (in Ewok garb, and not imprisoned) appears. Luke finds a loophole to get C-3PO to threaten the Ewoks, and uses the force to freak them out. The party are released and the Ewoks start treating them well. Han and Leia kiss.

On the forest moon at night:

• C-3PO is playing a Star Wars double feature to an enraptured audience, with voices and SFX (even though in an earlier movie he said he’s not much of a storyteller), and the party are accepted as part of the tribe. Han and C-3PO get the Ewoks to help them out and they’ll get led to the shield generator later.
• Luke steps outside, and Leia joins him. He asks about her mother, who he doesn’t remember, but she totally does, even though (1) her mother died in childbirth and (2) Obi-Wan even said earlier that “to protect you both from the Emperor, you [both??] were hidden from your father when you were born”.
• Leia knows Luke’s troubled. He knows Vader’s come for him and can feel him, so he must leave and face him. “He’s my father”, and Leia’s the only hope for the alliance, because she has the force too, since she’s his sister. She says she always knew (even though they totally kissed a while back). She entreats Luke to leave, but he won’t, because he believes Vader is good enough to be saved. He leaves.
• Han approaches Leia, and is suspicious for a while, but she’s upset and he chills out.
• Vader’s shuttle arrives on a docking platform flanked by AT-ATs. Luke emerges from a lift, having surrendered to Imperials. The officer gives Vader Luke’s saber, and Vader tells him to search for the other rebels.
• Vader acknowledges Luke’s skills as complete. Luke tells Vader that he knows there’s good in him, and Vader tells him that Obi-Wan once thought that, but the dark side is powerful, and he must obey his master. Luke says he won’t turn, and Vader will be forced to kill him - but he won’t be able to. Vader tells Luke it’s too late for him, and that the Emperor is Luke’s master now too. “Then my father is truly dead.” Vader takes a beat to think.

On the forest moon at daytime:

• The rebels and Ewoks observe a shuttle taking off from the landing platform. Via 3PO, the Ewoks tell Han that there’s a secret entrance nearby.

Part 4: Strike on the Second Death Star

In space:

• The rebel fleet and Falcon prepare for battle, and jump into hyperspace.

On the forest moon:

• The forest rebels arrive at the secret entrance. An Ewok steals a scout bike to draw the other scouts away. The rebels (and the one who’s semi-canonically Captain Rex) sneak in.

In the Emperor’s throne room:

• Luke is brought by Vader before the Emperor, who removes Luke’s cuffs and dismisses his guards. He’s going to be Luke’s master, but Luke won’t be converted. Vader hands him Luke’s lightsaber, “a Jedi’s weapon”. The Emperor says Vader’s fully dark side, as Luke will soon be. But Luke says that both he and the Emperor will soon be dead. The Emperor’s aware that the rebel fleet will soon attack, and is unconcerned. It’s all a trap - he leaked the information.

On the forest moon:

• Han breaks into the shield generator and they overcome the Imperials, setting bombs.
• CUT SCENE: During the prior scene, Han’s attack on the Imperials is longer and more herioc.
  More Imperials pile in and capture Han’s team. “Rebel Scum.”
• CUT SCENE: Han reacts to “Rebel Scum.”

In space:

• The Falcon and rebel fleet exit hyperspace near the forest moon and second Death Star. Callsigns and battle prep. Lando realises they’re jammed, so this must be a trap. The enemy fleet appears behind them and the rebels scramble as they’re overrun.
• Watching this from his window, the Emperor gloats. He knows Luke wants his lightsaber, and goads him to strike him with anger, becoming his servant. “It is your destiny. You, like your father, are now mine.”

On the forest moon:

• Rebels are rounded up outside the shield generator by a large force of Imperials including AT-STs. The droids are captured. Ewoks jump out, and a battle horn triggers their attack with bows. The rebels start fighting back, and Han and Leia get back to the shield generator door. Ewoks fight Imperials using simple tools, to some (mostly comical) success, with some goofy moments. R2 makes his way to the door.

In space:

• Lando and the rebel fleet are dogfighting, but only the Imperial fighters are attacking. The capital ships aren’t fighting-only blocking them in.
• Watching this from his window, the Emperor tells Luke that the primary weapon is operational. It fires, destroying a rebel capital ship.
• Lando is surprised, but Ackbar is worried. Lando demands they give Han more time.

On the forest moon:

• R2 makes it to the shield generator door, followed by 3PO. R2 gets shot and freaks out, so Han tries to hotwire the door. Ewok and rebel casualties are rising.

In space:

• The death star laser fires again. Lando argues with Ackbar that they need to try to force their escape via the Imperial fleet.
• Watching this, the Emperor tells Luke it’s all futile. The alliance will die, as will his friends. He can feel Luke’s anger and wants him to strike him down and complete his journey to the dark side. Luke grabs his lightsaber and tries to strike, but is blocked by Vader’s saber.

On the forest moon:

• An AT-ST is chasing Ewoks, but Chewie and some Ewoks take it over. Ewoks are fleeing AT-STs, though some are still successfully fighting back. Chewie’s AT-ST starts firing on Imperials.
• Han locks a second door and Leia gets shot, but it’s just a graze. Imperials approach them, but she’s got a hidden gun. “I love you.” “I know.” She shoots the Imperials, but an AT-ST approaches. They surrender, but it’s Chewie. Han has an idea.

In space:

• Luke’s fighting Vader. The Emperor wants him to use anger and hate. “Obi-Wan has taught you well”, says Vader, but Luke won’t fight his father. Vader continues the fight. Luke gets acrobatic, and tells Vader he feels his goodness, and conflict.
• The fleet and Lando are still fighting, waiting on the shield to drop.

On the forest moon:

• Han fakes a call to the Imperials in the shield generator, so they run out into an ambush. He sets charges.

In space:

• Luke’s hiding, and they talk. Vader feels his thoughts, and detects his twin sister. “Obi-Wan was wise to hide her from me, and now his failure is complete.” He threatens turning Leia to the dark side instead, and Luke lashes out in anger, forcing Vader back and down, disarming him in both senses of the word.
• The Emperor approaches, goading Luke to kill Vader and take his place at the Emperor’s side. Luke looks at his own gloved hand, takes a beat, and discards his lightsaber. “I’ll never turn to the darkside… I am a Jedi, like my father before me.” “So be it, Jedi.”

On the forest moon:

• Han’s rebels flee the shield generator, and it explodes.

In space:

• The shield drops, so the fleet attack.
• CUT SCENE: Somewhere around this time, Jerjerrod orders turning the death star laser on the planet below.
• In the throne room, the Emperor uses lightning on Luke, displaying the true power of the dark side, tormenting Luke. Vader stands, and Luke, in agony, begs Vader. As the Emperor attacks again, Vader takes a beat, then grabs the Emperor and drops him directly into the Pit of Somehow Return.
• Lando and rebel fighters dive into the Death Star’s inner trenches, pursued by TIEs. It’s tight. Some get picked off. To give them more time, Ackbar has them fire on the super star destroyer. A kamikaze strike on the bridge sends it into the death star’s body.
• In the hangar, Luke drags a weak Vader to a shuttle’s entrance. Vader takes off his mask. He tells Luke that he’s been saved, and to leave him. “You were right about me.” He dies.
• Rebel pilots reach the reactor and destroy it, then flee. Ackbar has the fleet pull back, as Luke and the other rebels escape the exploding death star.
  CUT SCENE: Just before the explosion, we cut to Jerjerrod counting down to the death star firing on the forest moon.

On the forest moon at daytime:

• The explosion is seen, to cheering. Leia can feel that Luke wasn’t onboard. Han’s confused, so Leia explains Luke’s her brother. The Ewoks blow celebration horns.

On the forest moon at night:

• Luke burns Vader’s body, then pan up to fireworks.

Across the galaxy:

• On Cloud City, Tattooine, Naboo and Coruscant, there’s celebrating in the streets and fireworks. A statue is toppled on Coruscant.

On the forest moon at night:

• Panning down from fireworks, Ewoks are partying, and our main characters are dancing with them. Everyone hugs. Luke sees the ghosts of Anakin, Yoda, and Obi-Wan smiling over him. One last shot of the main characters, happy.

Fan Editing

Commonly Mentioned Issues and Changes

These are subjective, and not necessarily the opinion of the OP, but are collected here as a list for convenience. Please feel free to add to this list.

• Aesthetically, there’re many versions of different qualities, and those who prefer the classic theatrical look versus those who prefer a more recent polished look.
• The second death star is just the death star from the first movie, again. And with Starkiller, it’s the second of three very similar threats. Could this just be the remains of the first death star, being repaired? It’s even a bit muddied by the Sequel Trilogy, which almost treats DS1 and DS2 as the same.
• The plan for Jabba’s palace is overly convoluted, a lot of the good guys make silly decisions, and some of the victory comes through luck
• Both Jedi Rocks and Lapti Nek are unpopular to some
• Torturing droids? Do they even have pain receptors, or can’t they turn them off?
• The pacing within Jabba’s palace is slow, and the sail barge scene isn’t particularly exciting
• Boba Fett “dies” too easily for his implied repute
• The lambda-class shuttle is used for both cargo and dignitaries
• Han has less ‘swagger’, and Leia doesn’t have as much to do as prior movies
• The Ewoks are unthreatening and unserious as an opposing force to the Imperials
• Luke is on the second Death Star whilst his allies are actively trying to destroy it, taking some of the tension out of those scenes
• There’s a lot of switching between three locations in the finale, and the highs and lows of the finale could be improved with other orderings
• Vader’s body doesn’t fade away when he dies, as Obi-Wan’s and Yoda’s do
• The celebration endings feel a little artificial / tacked on
• Tone and pacing feels a little different to episodes 4 and 5
• Some moments of silly humour, including Salacious Crumb and Ewok goofiness
• Some of the tense scenes don’t have appropriately tense musical score
• As with all OT episodes, it has some imperfect VFX and some weaker puppetry
• Special edition additions (see versions, below)

Notable Edits and Unique Approaches

The main purpose of this section is to highlight the unique approaches taken by some edits which you may wish to explore further. As one guy I can’t review every indexed edit, so I’ve tried to just highlight popular (on IFDB) and recent ones on these forums. I personally haven’t reviewed any three-in-one edits. Please forgive any unintentional omissions - and please suggest any other edits and unique approaches you think are worth discussing.

Edits after the in-progress ones are ordered by date of last update on IFDB or these forums at time of posting. Descriptions are based on goals highlighted in the editor’s IFDB listing.

• ADYWAN’S RETURN OF THE JEDI (not yet released): A highly anticipated edit, part of his original trilogy series imagining “what the special editions should have been”. He meticulously creates models, digital matte paintings and props, and even films new shots with new actors. He also uses CG to improve VFX, fix errors, and add new shots, and more. One to watch, though it’s probably a long way off.
• ILFANEDITORE’S SAGA EDIT (v1 2019, v2 coming soon): A robust edit with a lot of additions and improvements.
• POSESSED’S EDIT (2022): Tightens up the pacing heavily during Jabba’s palace and sail barge, and makes many trims for humour and pacing throughout, plus some enhanced VFX
• DARTHRUSH’S REMASTERED (2021): Heavily trims the Ewoks and rearranges the ordering of the finale, improves Han, removes goofy/distracting moments, and improves the score
• HAL9000’S CUSTOM SPECIAL EDITION (2021): A hybrid original/special edition that balances both, with colour correction
• YADS’ DAN EDIT (2021): A lot of tightening, especially to Tattooine scenes and the Ewoks
• SPENCE’S FINAL CUT (2021): Improves the plan for Han’s rescue, and adds much more tension to the ending by cutting Han’s group’s humour and moving the Emperor’s throne room to the Super Star Destroyer
• ZIGGYONICE’S ZIGGY EDIT (2019): A “conceptual” edit moving Dagobah earlier, incorporating some deleted scenes and making many other changes.
• Q2’S EDIT (2018): A hybrid despecialised/special edition

Resources

Sources and Versions

• Official Theatrical/VHS/Betamax/CED/LaserDisk
• Official 1997 Special Edition VHS
• Jedi Rocks replaces Lapti Nek
• New shots in Jabba’s palace, including Oola’s scream and Boba flirting
• Banthas on Tattooine
• Sarlacc has a beak and extra tentacles
• Death Star explosion ring
• Across the galaxy celebrations
• Shots of the force ghosts are different
• Some fixed shots and alternate lines
• Official 2004 Star Wars Trilogy DVD
• Many fixed FX
• Vader’s lightsaber looks pinkish
• Sebastian Shaw’s eyebrows removed (due to lava)
• Naboo added to the galaxy celebrations (“wesa free!”)
• During Coruscant’s celebration, the Jedi Temple is clearly seen
• Anakin’s ghost is played by Hayden instead of Sebastian Shaw
• Official 2006 DVD
• No changes
• Official 2011 Blu-Ray
• Jabba’s palace door made larger
• Brighter beams as the carbonite heats
• A CG Dug in Jabba’s palace
• CG eyelids for Ewoks
• When R2 gets shot, he reveals a lot of tools
• White cores added to lightsabers
• No slugs on the Emperor’s face
• Nooooooooo
• Official 2019 Disney+ 4K Restoration
• No changes
• A huge number of restorations on the Preservation subforum. (I’m quite unfamiliar with preservation so please highlight any key fan restorations, upscales, regrades, and more!)

Resources shared in this thread or on these forums

• 4throck’s VFX fixes
• daneditor’s restructured opening putting Dagobah to the start, and having some creative early scenes on Coruscant.

Other Resources and Options

• Opening text can always be rewritten
• Jabba’s subtitles can be rewritten
• C-3PO in particular has a million lines of dialogue from a huge array of sources that could be used as alternatives
• Shots of Dagobah could be borrowed from/lent to ROTJ and ESB
• Shots of Tattooine could be borrowed from/lent to ROTJ and ANH
• Boba Fett lines could be taken from the Book of Boba Fett/Mandalorian

Context and Considerations

• This movie is part of the wider Star Wars saga and franchise. Does it feel consistent with the whole, and like it belongs in the same universe? Does each element in it add to or subtract from the whole? Does it depend on or add to elements seen in other canon media?
• This is also the final episode within the original trilogy. Does it conclude the characters and plot for this story arc? Does it behave as act three of a wider story, paying off hooks or other elements which were set up before? Does it deliver on anticipation from the following film?
• Chronologically, it is preceded by the prequel trilogy and followed by the sequel trilogy. Does it follow naturally from the PT’s plot, characters, and themes? Does it set up the ST’s plot, characters, and themes?
• In release order, and some popular watching orders, this movie might be watched before the Prequel Trilogy. Does it set up interesting new interpretations when viewed this way? Do the elements of it add value and context to the viewer’s existing knowledge when watched in this order?
• It is also followed by The Mandalorian and the current live-action TV Filoniverse. Does it lead into that nicely? Does it set up the state of the world immediately following it?
• It is also a stand-alone movie. Does it tell a complete, coherent, end-to-end story that works in isolation from wider context? Is it too dependent on other content? Could you watch only this Star Wars movie and enjoy it?

That’s really interesting. I imagine AOTC to feel really short, because I feel like it has very little “meat”.

SpenceEdit said:

Pacing is more important than length.

Exactly this. How it feels when you watch it, the peaks and troughs of emotion, and natural flow, are what make the movie work.

My feeling from this recent review pass is that the majority of TPM could stay, so long as it’s shaped right. I think the ending can lose about ten minutes, but that’s the most in a single area. Small cuts in aggregate might give you another ten minutes off, and reshaping the content before Theed might take another five minutes out. But that’d leave you with 1h50, which I don’t think would feel too abnormal.

There might be a rearrangement where you end up on Padmé staring, while covering the same beats, but yeah, that’s all she does in that scene.

And here’s an attempt to blend the two scenes of Padmé captured into one.

Best option seems to be to bridge them with a reaction shot of Gunray looking at the door, as an SFX of the door opening plays, then cut to Padmé being marched in. There’s less available footage than I thought, so I cropped this bridging shot from a later longer shot of her marching in from another angle. This bridging shot is cropped from a quarter of that shot’s frame, but you could get it to 1080p since there’s a 2160p source available.

Failing that, you could maybe use an upscaled and colour corrected shot from a cut scene - there’s one with Gunray and the other Neimoidian staring, which is useful.

But ideally, I think a better shot of Nute and the other guy standing in another location, would be composited onto a suitable background plate.

The music here I think is fine? But it’d probably be nice to find a smoother single track to carry you through this whole section.

Anyway, what this would achieve if it works would be removing the main criticism of this attempt at the ending sequence, which was that the two short Padmé scenes both felt too brief.

I’ve just been watching ROTJ as I do the prep for that movie’s focus thread, and like TPM its ending cuts between many different locations - three compared to TPM’s four. Notably it cycles between all three settings pretty quickly at times, and personally, I didn’t feel like it felt too ‘choppy’ or that it had high cognitive load like the original TPM ending does. Sometimes it only spent as little as 30 seconds on a single scene. Both of the Padmé being captured scenes total about 30 seconds, and while they don’t naturally flow back to back, I think there may be a possible reordering of shots which makes them flow into each other nicely, which might make them work as a single short (but not TOO short) scene.

Eyepainter, your regrades are all getting really nice. You’ve got a real talent for this. Are they each a single universal regrade that you apply to the entire film, or are you doing it scene by scene?

Vladius said:

fanediting was a mistake

I blame Mike Nichols.

That’s perfect. I’ve got time tonight to start working on the ROTJ thread.

Well, I’m excited that you guys think it’s a decent enough idea!

I don’t think I have the right credentials to deserve the same authority as the rest of the council, but I’m happy to serve in this administrative capacity. (A seat on the council without the rank of master, which I’m sure has never gone badly before.)

Ultimately, I imagine that the purpose of a council would be to make decisions on behalf of the community that the community would ultimately collectively accept, even if they disagreed personally with the odd individual decision. Therefore, I’d suggest that the most qualified people would be those who have experience, tenure, and trust amongst the community. Authority would be granted in service to the community, rather than over it.

Rogue, Hal, Nev, Spence - all of you have created multiple well-regarded edits, have been members of this community for a long time, and importantly, have been heavily involved in the more collaborative elements of editing rather than purely personal edits. (GMatias, I’m sure you have too, I’m just less personally familiar with your work.) I can’t claim the same, but like many others here I’d be more than happy to be part of the democratic process beneath your ultimate decisions. It feels important that the community trust that all voices will be heard whether on the council or not.

If high-end goals were established, perhaps edits which fit within those goals can be marked as something like “Part of the OriginalTrilogy.com Saga Edit™” to make it easier to identify those edits which’re internally consistent. (Since it’s always hard to cherrypick a personal set of edits when one you like is perfect except for the fact that Obi-Wan’s lightsaber is green with purple polka dots.)

As always, I’m happy to create a thread with a detailed OP to help organise things, present resources, and get people on the same page, but as usual I’m wary of overdoing it, which I’m prone to. I’m more than happy for anyone else to take the lead on that.

Rogue, I’ll shortly be putting together the community ROTJ thread, which I know you’ll be a major contributor to - do you see your theoretical ROTJ edit as a part of this larger collaborative initiative, or more of a personal standalone edit?

On Nev’s/Hal’s idea, Obi-Wan doesn’t even necessarily need to lie to Padmé. It could just be something like “I saw a security hologram. Of him… kneeling before the Sith Lord” or “fighting Master Windu”.

I would really, really like to see an attempt at a communitywide saga edit, where we consider the franchise holistically.

It’s too big for one person - everything would hinge on the collaborative approach. You’ll always have the bottom-up approach, where people generate ideas for scenes, then test them with an audience and tweak them to make them work. But like RogueLeader says, for a project like this you’d need to have a really heavy top-down approach too, establishing the thesis statement/objectives first. The order things were tackled would be vital, and I don’t mean like ‘which movie first?’, but things like how those goals are established, how they are validated, how changes are judged against them?

I’d suggest putting some serious time into polling and discussion there to establish those objectives. For example:

1. Open discussion of what needs to be discussed, all of the possible considerations, questions that need to be asked
2. A mammoth (non-binding) poll to cover everything that a consensus feeling is needed for: What should be canon? How far should can canon be deviated from? Aesthetic concerns? Sources? Themes?
3. On those results, more open discussion, treating them as a guide but not final. Was anything missed that needs to be asked again? Are there any valid challenges to the consensus? Points should be justified, preferences should be argued for.
4. Some form of locking-in of ideas. I’d suggest approval by a council of veterans - you three above would certainly not be a bad starting point.
5. Present those goals. Justify them in writing, so others can get on board. Leave room for challenge and refinement.
6. Then, granularity. Against those goals, probably another poll (again via open discussion of what questions belong), outlining character arcs (Anakin lied to by Obi-Wan?), key elements (Midichlorians? Chosen one?), overall flow of the saga (Palpatine returned?), etc etc. Again, discussion of results, approval by some authority that can thumb-up or thumb-down ideas (Like Hal’s role in Ascendent).

Essentially, democracy beneath some benevolent dictators!

THEN, the bottom-up approach can begin in earnest. Ideation. Realisation of those ideas. Testing against the goals. Impact for the wider saga.

And to support those who will inevitably prefer to deviate from that core, it’d be relatively straightforward to maintain a library of edited individual scenes, LUTs, etc, so that people could pick and choose. It’s always made sense to me that resources like this should be made available to the community as a whole.

Anyway, maybe that’s me taking it too far, but that’s how I’d approach it. I don’t do anything (Star Wars or work-related - I’m a business analyst/change consultant) without ideation, audience polling, approval groups, or a massive fucking spreadsheet.

Great idea, Rogue.

Spence, which elements are you intending to incorporate from Hal’s?

There’s merit to that idea, but you’d need footage to play it over too.

Is there anything currently that people would like to see more iteration on? Any specific ideas you’d like to see developed? This thread will continue, but we might be approaching time to spin up the next one (for ROTJ). Should we use this time to bring anything in particular into focus?

Burbin said:

I think a big issue with pushing the gungan battle scenes forward is that this plot line can’t be resolved until the control ship is destroyed, so even if you push most of the battle forward it’ll still feel like a hanging thread all the way through to the end anyway. If anything I feel it puts a bigger strain on the audience to keep the captive gungans in mind while they’re watching the other three plots unfold.

The gungan battle also has a clear function in giving a sense of urgency to the other plots, they need to either capture the Viceroy or destroy the control ship before the gungans are wiped out, you lose that if the battle is already over by the time you get to those scenes. Yeah the gungans have been captured, but they’re no longer in any immediate threat, so there’s no real urgency. It’d be like if the Death Star was no longer looming over the Rebel base during the climax in ANH.

Yeah, I feel like if you were to pull the Gungan scenes earlier, you’d risk the film feeling like ‘save the Gungans’ was the backbone, which I think most would find pretty unpalatable. And especially if we don’t have equivalent footage of the humans of Naboo also being oppressed, I think that’d feel weird for Padmé. You’d also have the issue that the Gungans appeared captured throughout the entire movie, without moving, even though it’s over a few days.

Eyepainter said:

And I agree, sirlegion. If I had to pick a favorite Jar Jar scene (although that’s saying very little), that conversation with Amidala would be my top choice, too!

Exactly. He shows he cares about something. And there are a lot of lines from the Clone Wars where he does more of this, talking about how much he likes the Queen, how much he respects Padmé, etc. Plenty of movies have goofballs for comic relief (arguably C-3PO in the OT has this role), but they’re far more palatable if they have things they feel strongly about.

That example (the Padmé/Jar Jar scene) can definitely be added too, quite easily:
“Yousa thinking yousa people gonna die?”
“I don’t know.”
“Gungans get wasted too, eh?”
“I hope not.”
“Mesa no dying without a fight, Gungans are warriors. Wesa got a grand army. [+ anything else because he speaks offscreen]”

“Mesa no dying without a fight” adds a lot with just the simple change, because it tells us that, for all his cowardice and goofiness, he’ll still stand and fight to protect his people.

And Jar Jar’s last sentence, rather than just “you don’t like us”, could be something proactive from the Clone Wars options, like:
“If those droids attacking us, mesa think yousa have to deal.”
"But thesa Gungans are proud. With thisa mood at the moment, mesa the last person they listen to now.
“Mesa knowing mesa be big help with negotiations, and wesa good guys will triumph.”

Anakin Starkiller, regarding the final battle, I think the key point here is the difference between story and narrative. The story of the ending - all four concurrent plotlines - makes perfect logical sense, as you say. But narrative is how a given story is told, and it’s about guiding the audience through the story via its presentation. And that’s about managing more nebulous things like cognitive load, information delivery ordering, emotional response, and high and low energy levels. A story can be conveyed by a wikipedia article, but narrative is how the production team convey feeling as you watch the movie.

The issue with the ending that these recent attempts sought to address was primarily that of cognitive load. While it’s easy for us that have watched the movie a dozen times to understand that each storyline makes sense, the hypothetical first-time viewer would be having to hold the ‘present state’ of each plotline in their head at the same time, and wouldn’t necessarily have room to focus on things like where the tension and hope were, which characters were our emotional investment characters, and so on. It sounds like something a brain should have no trouble with, but when in motion, it can have a real impact on how a movie feels. These recent explorations weren’t an attempt to clarify a confusing plotline so much as present the story in a narrative that burdened the viewer the least, and then within that, to try to find a natural flow of energy peaks and troughs.

–

Anyway, I feel I should clarify a couple of things regarding my intentions for Jar Jar:

I have no intentions for Jar Jar.

The purpose of creating those clips was not to present any new ideas that I sincerely thought might be included in future edits; it was only to illustrate to participants in this thread that I’ve made a tool which I think makes editing Jar Jar as easy as it can be, so that anyone can explore changing Jar Jar. Some of the concepts I introduced in those clips were even mutually exclusive with each other.

Regarding your point about Jar Jar’s character growth: I don’t think he has any, at least any that you could reasonably expect an audience to invest in. Other than light confidence boosting and perhaps a small growth in respect over the movie, I don’t think anyone would really argue that he has a character arc. But he doesn’t need an arc! I think it’s almost certain that he’ll always remain some degree of idiot and that that can’t be changed, but I do think that the new voice lines in the tool afford us the possibility to give him agency, as Starkiller AG says, which is something that all active characters need in film, and that Jar Jar is sorely lacking. I have a feeling that, if Jar Jar can be shown to actually care about events, it could really improve his character, even if he remains a buffoon.

I don’t currently have any plans for Jar Jar. I think some of the possibilities in the new lines have potential - especially his many lines about Queens, and being able to replace some of his more annoying speech traits with less annoying ones. Making him already a Junior Representative is an idea that really appeals to me too, but that’s something that’s much more radical and not something I’d fold in with regular improvement.

That said, I would love it if we here could iterate on Jar Jar together. I’d really like to see people play with the tool and for us to collectively test some explorations. Or even just suggest some ideas for how we could improve Jar Jar beyond trimming his more offensive scenes. But that’s up to the community, and the direction people want to take this thread!

I suppose, by way of encouraging discussion, I’ll leave us with a question: Is making Jar Jar a representative, and/or their deliberate contact, a step too far?

Hal 9000 said:

I feel the crawl currently being considered has way too much exposition, and would benefit from being more focused.

Also, here’s a few thoughts on reordering the climax:

• Kerr gave me feedback when I was working on V1 of my TPM edit, that being that you’ve gotta show Jar Jar each time you cut back to the Gungan battle thread, since he’s the only one the audience has any connection to. You certainly could do that and keep the structure you’re going for.
• It feels weird to cut to the Gungans being rounded up by the droids so long after the last time we saw them.
• There are at least three instances of cutting to Padme and Panaka for only several seconds, making her thread feel choppy. If two of these could be combined that may help, or reinstating the “make sure everybody has zimas” sequence (and giving up on the idea that Anakin saved the day).

That point on Jar Jar is a good one. I’m not sure how necessary it feels to me personally, but I can see that it’s probably conventional editing wisdom. I’ll see what the least offensive Jar Jar shots are, for reinsertion. You could definitely extend the retreat a little, which features him, but maybe open the cavalry scene on a Jar Jar shot too. I don’t know if it’s needed in the scene of combat beginning, which already have him saying “steady, steady”?

What’s the collective feeling on the Gungan surrender? In this ordering, it felt like the earliest option based on energy levels of the surrounding scenes, but if it’s egregious I’ll see what other options exist.

I tried merging two Padmé scenes (capture and being brought to Nute) but didn’t feel it worked. I’ll remake that and present it here for review.