Return of the Jedi Deleted Scene...Luke building his lightsaber!

[davejames]

Well count me among the ones who thought that was freakin AWESOME. Seeing Jedi Luke again, and R2, 3PO and Vader... And of course Luke's green lightsaber, which has always been my favorite.

Hell, it's the first time in years that I've felt that tingle of excitement about anything SW.

I agree it didn't need to be in the movie itself, but it's still really cool to see.

ROTJ is so badly focused as it is. It has many problems. 'Thrilling the audience' or 'not thrilling them' in the opening is the least of the film's problems because, well the first quarter of the film is just padding and has so little to do with the rest of the film (save for the fact they got Han back) that in defending it just reinforces everything that's wrong with this film. Even Lucas admits that he had to come up with padding/ I think the re-emergence of the Jedi, and the pathos between Vader and Luke is far more important and interesting than a single action scene depicting a largely-botched rescue attempt. Luke should be ashamed of himself for not being able to get Han out easier. Also, the deleted scene gives a visual glimpse - through imagery- of how close the dark side of the force and the light side are.

For me the only problem with the beginning of ROTJ is that Jabba and his palace don't come off nearly as scary and intimidating as they did when I was a kid. That kind of deflates a LOT of the tension in that first act now.

But that said, there's still a lot of fun stuff there, and the final rescue is still as exciting and thrilling as ever.

Besides, after the dramatic freezing of Han in ESB, you got to make it a LITTLE difficult for our heroes to get him back in the next movie.

 

[wildstar]

The book "Empire Building" describes a lot of how these movies were made. Including that the director of ROTJ was basically a yes man for Lucas, while the director of Empire kind of did his own thing and directed it as a real movie.

 

[Timby]

Next time post the embedded youtube video instead of just the link.

is that a board rule? Why not be more polite about it.

I wasn't trying to be rude about it. I was just pointing out that the youtube tag was there. Might as well use it so people don't have to click as much.

Some people don't like embedded videos in forum threads. Some people might not realize that there is a YouTube tag, since there's no button to use it in the message creation window. Some people just might not feel like doing it and would rather just copy-and-paste the URL.

Settle down. One extra click isn't the end of the world.

 

[davejames]

The book "Empire Building" describes a lot of how these movies were made. Including that the director of ROTJ was basically a yes man for Lucas, while the director of Empire kind of did his own thing and directed it as a real movie.

The directing for ROTJ does look pretty generic and uninspired, but I still think most of the blame has to go to the screenwriting.

Even Kershner would have had a hard time making the Ewoks work. lol

 

[Mr. Adventure]

ROTJ is so badly focused as it is.

Will the Criterion Edition laserdisc include the deleted footage of Statler and Waldorf cracking wise from the balcony?

How old is that article?

 

[Defcon]

ROTJ is so badly focused as it is.

Will the Criterion Edition laserdisc include the deleted footage of Statler and Waldorf cracking wise from the balcony?

How old is that article?

A bit over nine years:

Posted on May 15, 2001 in Features by Dan Vebber

 

[Mr. Adventure]

^^ I actually looked for the date and missed that somehow.

 

[davejames]

Looks like the same list as in that old Scifi Universe magazine.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

ROTJ is so badly focused as it is.

Will the Criterion Edition laserdisc include the deleted footage of Statler and Waldorf cracking wise from the balcony?

How old is that article?

A bit over nine years:

Posted on May 15, 2001 in Features by Dan Vebber

I figured it had to be ancient when they bitched about what a let-down Sebastian Shaw was as Darth Vader. All that would be later buried in a tsunami of disappointment named "Hayden Christensen."

Which leads to an interesting question: just who do we envision being under that mask? I guess I still instinctively visualize James Earl Jones, since nobody has ever embodied Vader to nearly the degree he has.

 

[shivkala]

^
It's the voice too. Hearing James Earl Jones give life to Vader instantly associates him with the character for me.

 

[MeanJoePhaser]

Which leads to an interesting question: just who do we envision being under that mask? I guess

Something more hideous than what we got. Something like DARKMAN, which oddly enough starred Liam Neeson, mixed with a Borg.

"More machine than man".

Or a quadruple amputee (three of them thanks to Obi-Wan) with a breathing problem and scars that apparently even bacta won't heal.

 

[Holdfast]

This was shown too at Celebration V...I wish this had been included in the film.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UdJ0E7HbTKc&feature=player_embedded

WOOOHOOOO!

YEAAAHHH!

<whisper> Umm, wait, so... was that it? </whisper>

 

[davejames]

Something more hideous than what we got. Something like DARKMAN, which oddly enough starred Liam Neeson, mixed with a Borg.

"More machine than man".

Or a quadruple amputee (three of them thanks to Obi-Wan) with a breathing problem and scars that apparently even bacta won't heal.

I would definitely have had him look a bit younger (and less doughy), but I thought the scarring and makeup we got was just fine. We're meant to see the underlying humanity of Anakin at that point in the story, and a really hideous, borgy looking face would have distracted from that I think.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

I would definitely have had him look a bit younger (and less doughy), but I thought the scarring and makeup we got was just fine.

When I first saw ROTJ, I didn't think it was odd that a guy in his 50s or even 60s would have a son in his early to mid 20s. I assumed that Anakin went all Dark Side after a long career as a noble, heroic Jedi and was in his 30s or early 40s when the twins were born. Anakin (I don't think he was given a name in ROTJ, was he?) looked about the right age to me.

My one quibble is that he didn't look like a guy who ever would have been the big, buff, square-jawed noble Jedi warrior. Sebastian Shaw would never have looked the type, even when younger. They needed someone who would look more like Bruce Willis does now. I certainly was never envisioning Hayden Christenen in the least.

 

[ManOnTheWave]

The next time I see a dude screwing a battery holder together, I'm going to jump up screaming, "Woo hoo!!! Yeah!!!"

 

[JonathonWally]

Anakin (I don't think he was given a name in ROTJ, was he?) looked about the right age to me.

Right after Yoda "joins the force" and Luke talks to ghost Obi-Wan, he refers to him as Anakin Skywalker during their "certain point of view" discussion.

 

[Tom]

The original link was taken down, here is another:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oaU1yu4PyZ0

Even lucasfilm can't stop the Internet! LOL

 

[Set Harth]

You can't stop the signal, Mal.

 

[davejames]

The next time I see a dude screwing a battery holder together, I'm going to jump up screaming, "Woo hoo!!! Yeah!!!"

Yeah I have to admit, it probably would have been cooler if we saw Luke in the middle of constructing his lightsaber, and not just screwing in the very last screw.

 

[Stone_Cold_Sisko]

Man seeing new OT footage..... just reminds me how much cooler the OT is than the PT. I'd be whooping too. You're the first one seeing... a real piece of history.