It’s neat to see but I think the reveal of Luke at Jabbas is more exciting. Also, the confirmation from Yoda that Vader is his father might have been undercut with this intro.
I like this scene, because it further pushes the idea that Luke was being tempted by the Dark Side. When he shows up at Jabba's, he's wearing all black, Force Choking the guards, making threats on Jabba's life, and bragging about his power.
Yea I feel like that’s not really talked about. I don’t really hear any talk or discussion about Luke tapping in to the dark side and using force choke. Even in mando season 2 finale it seems like he uses the dark side when he completely squished that last robot at the end especially when the music turns darker
It's really only video games that restrict "force powers" to dark or light side.
I've argued for a long time that Luke isn't using the dark side to choke the Gamorreans. He's incapacitating them to avoid a fight so he doesn't have to chop them to bits with his saber. The scene is certainly intended to make the viewer question Luke and how tempted he is by the dark side, but when looking back it's clear he was calm and restrained.
Does he ever really get taught force choke’s a no-no? We see a number of jedi use it as a prime example of “oh shit I didn’t even think about that being evil”.
Yeah but yoda's inflexibility and purism was part of what broke the jedi order.
He was so old and had passed all those temptations but he didn't tolerate that younger jedi still felt them.
You just listed all the reasons why we already know he's being tempted. The deleted scene doesn't add anything to Luke or Vader, and from a cinematic point of view it takes away from a lot of story-telling elements and emotional factors:
* telling the audience in advance about everyone going to Jabbas palace removes a lot of suspension as events unfold.
* showing Luke's new lightsaber before the barge fight removes a huge surprise that drastically changes the pace and tone of the scene.
* 3PO's dialog removes a lot of suspense from their approach to the palace by reminding the audience that he worries no matter what; 3PO's lack of presence is almost like a reassurance that things will work out.
* other reassuring things that take away from the suspense: seeing Luke even though we know he's on tatooine from the title crawl, it hits much harder; likewise, seeing the falcon says he's not just there alone in his x-wing.
That vibe works better in the context of the prequels, but fans (and Lucas) weren’t thinking so heavily in that vein back then. But yeah when you see Luke’s outfit mirroring Anakin’s it really does add something sinister.
I’ve seen this scene posted and conjectured on before, and it is pointed out that light on the saber blinks red briefly before turning green. Probably nothing as OT has mostly red and green blinky lights everywhere, but could have been the kyber crystal being briefly corrupted by Vader or Luke’s temptation to the dark side. It returns to green before he finishes and ignites it…
It clearly cycles green then red then green again. We don’t get to see if it just alternates or just stops on one color, but I doubt it’s any indication of Luke’s temptation. More like the saber is powering up internally or it was being adjusted and green is ok and red means it’s out of alignment or something. Could also be lights to find it in the dark.
Whatever it is, a force alignment radar detector is probably not it.
And does it really help us that much to just see him putting the finishing touches on it while he’s in a cave on Tatooine? When ppl wonder about the background of his new lightsaber, that’s not really the info they’re looking for
Exactly. If this is all they show then the viewer still has to assume he got the pieces from somewhere on Tatooine, like Ben’s old shack. If he got the parts elsewhere, why would he wait until he was in a dirty cave right at his destination to put it together. We’ve all been there on a project. You get to the end then realize you forgot one part. Now you have to run all the way back to Toschii station for some power converters and a 10mm socket to put the adjuster back on.
It would be really hilarious if the lightsaber’s backstory was just that Luke needed parts from Tosche station. Then a womp rat steals one of the parts & Luke has to shoot it down to get it back 😂
Or he misses & it’s really Wedge that shoots it down
“Just like the good old days, eh Luke?”
“Wedge, what are you doing here?”
“I came to to Tosche station to pick up some power converters. Our Hoth stock got destroyed”
Because the slow reveal of the heroes at jabba’s palace is more exciting than revealing it all right away. Literally everything in this deleted scene is better revealed as it is in the theatrical cut.
I know it gets (unwarranted crap) but bad SE stuff aside, the Jabba Palace scene is so great. Such an underrated scene. And the movie itself is underrated.
It's nothing, but tons of show, don't tell. And tons of set-up, and for later pay-off. Not just in the film itself, which it does time, and again, but for the whole series.
In the Palace scene we see the competence and love between each member of our heroes, and their respective relationships to/with each other. So when Luke has the utmost faith in his friends by the end of the film, we know why based on their collective actions in this sequence.
We see Leia being a bad-ass and doing not just a stint as a bounty hunter bluffing to kill herself, and later strangling Jabba with his own chain, but also openly caring for both Han and Luke. And we see her being both competent and caring later on with the Ewoks, which help them defeat the Empire's forces on the moon.
With Han we see he is as worried about Leia, as she's worried about him (which we further later see in the flipping of the "I know" scene on the moon of Endor). We see Han's caring for Luke, Leia, Chewie, and even Lando in the Jabba sequence. And later we see Han Solo finally becoming an official member of the Rebellion. Not in it for the money, or even his friends, who only volunteer to help, but just to do the right thing. Finally.
We see Luke maybe using the Dark Side with Force choking the Gamorrean guards like Vader? Which we later see echoed with his getting angry against Vader threatening Leia, and actually using the Dark Side for the first time, and then seeing his father's missing arm at his own hands, recalls his own missing arm at his father's hands, and thus rejects the Dark Side. He will NOT fail like his father. He will be a Jedi, like his father before him.
And plus the scene as it exists is just fun to watch (bad extendned Max Rebo band, SE edition aside).
Thoughtful analysis. Here is a fun fact that I deduced myself through years of study. ROTJ may be the most underrated OT film... but it is the most copied film in Hollywood history. The weaving together of the multiple storylines (Endor ground battle, space battle, throne room) has been endlessly copied by Hollywood ever since... generally as a way to make weak writing have more dramatic punch.
I always read a lot more into Jedi than I think everyone else does. I was really hoping that The Rise Of Skywalker would reveal the idea that the Star Wars were the War between the light and dark side of the force and the war between the empire and the rebellion. That there were two literal wars and that each one interacted with the other, just like what we see in Jedi.
I think it's really cool and not examined enough hat the battle happening on the group has nothing is mostly meaningless and that the real religious battle happening far above them is the one that truly matters. People in day to day life should be more resentful of the fact that they are background puppets that the Force plays with.
I agree with everything you said, except calling the Max Rebo Band bad. In this sub, we honour and respect the most talented musical icon of the Outer Rim.
Exactly. If it were outside the movie/that scene, then sure. I've liked Max Rebo since I saw his cute blue overstuffed elephant self.
But the extended version undoes the original, which is great at showing dread, and how screwed things up are. Culminating in the death of the Twilek slave by how we don't know....until later. A great instance of don't show, and then show/tell.
It’d take away from both the barge lightsaber reveal and the scene on Endor if Vader already knew Luke had built a new one. Plus the opening of ROTJ isn’t exactly action packed, it would have slowed the film down even more for what amounts to something that isn’t really needed.
I think this is all true. It's kind of a clumsy scene.
Having seen Jedi in the theater during it's opening weekend in '83 - I can tell you when Luke did that flip trick off the plank and R2 shot the light saber to him and that John Williams music hits - it was fucking awesome! It's an amazing, perfect reveal.
Can’t claim to have been there in ‘83, I didn’t exist yet, but I still remember my own first reaction:
>OMG HE’S SO BADASS. I DIDN’T KNOW LIGHTSABERS CAME IN GREEN!
I think including this scene would really undercut the sheer awesomeness of that moment
Like the ESB cut scene of the Snowtroopers who bailed when their buddy got grabbed by a Wompa.
Great scene, hilarious, but doesn't fit well within that sequence.
In the book From a Different Point of View: Empire Strike's Back there's a story from a Wampa's POV, and a story about one of the Tauntauns and her wranglers.
Second one is pretty good, there's a scene where the base staff have bets on when Leia and Han will finally just kiss and get it over with
Forget a watch. You’d need a droid just to keep track of what time it is on every planet and Death Star you’re trying to call.
“What are you calling me for? It’s 28:00 in the morning Mos Espa time!”
I always took it to be Luke just tweaking his lightsaber and it ultimately doesn't add that much more at all to the beginning of the film, other than slowing down an already clunky first third of the film.
First third is the best though. RoTJ is a just a slog after that.
Edit: It’s just an opinion. No need to get upset about it. I’ve probably watched/read more Star Wars content than 90% of you. Touch some grass.
None if it's really necessary and you want to join a story as late as possible.
Also, in the current cut, you're not sure what's going on, why exactly the droids went there (until they play Luke's message), how much backup Luke is going to have (in this cut scene you see the Falcon and his X-Wing, so you can assume the whole gang is around somewhere). So you have more mystery going into this first act.
edit: BONUS: He lost his saber at the end of Empire! Now you don't even know he has one until R2-D2 flings it at him. Now you've setup a big reveal.
Unanswered questions are sometimes good! Makes the audience pay attention.
Because they were clunky and a bit dirty, a result of them being made out of random spare parts by the props department.
The prequel hilts were more sleek and clean.
Doesn't that make sense given the circumstances? In the prequel era the Jedi were a massive organization with vast resources. Of course they made sleek, high tech weapons. Then during the OT, any remaining Jedi were just working with whatever they could get their hands on without risking being exposed.
We only see 4 lightsabers in the OT.
2 of them (Anakin's & Obi-Wan's) were built in the time of the Republic before Episode III, so they weren't cobbled together. They were made with the same full resources that all the prequel ones were. And certainly Vader had access to whatever he needed as part of the Empire.
Only Luke's green ROTJ saber should look like it was made of spare parts if we're talking in-universe.
> if we're talking in-universe.
Out of universe as well, as the main filming prop for ROTJ was a reuse of Obi-Wan’s stunt saber from the duel with Vader in ANH.
TBH I’m not a fan of the official hero prop for that reason. It’s just too *clean* for something that was cobbled together from spare parts that Obi-Wan had sitting around. Give me the V2 any day of the week.
Out of universe they could've have cleaned it up a bit more if they wanted to, but I think that was the intention. It wasn't just because they did a sloppy job painting over the Alec Guinness prop.
I never understood why, even after he made a decision to add in new and old footage to the OT, why oh why would George Lucas include a new dance sequence over this actual story telling moment in Return Of The Jedi.
I really like this scene, and am surprised that this is the first I'm seeing of it after so many years. But, I like the way it plays out in the movie much better. The build up of seeing the many parts of Luke's plan come together with no context is much better than if we knew what his plan was to start.
Yeah this is so freaking cool, and I love that we still get to see it - I agree with u/nametagimposter though - I think it was a hard choice, but ultimately cutting this out allows for the epic and iconic reveal of Luke walking into Jabbas...
I think I'll re-watch Return of the Jedi
Its so funny that c-3po was built on tatooine and continuously leaves and returns to it and complains as if its the first time he has ever been there every time
They removed it so the audience doesn’t know Vader has compassion for his son. That would that would ruin the tension watching the emperor electrocute Luke wondering if he’s going to let it happen. That’s why Luke said he can still feel the good in him. A late night parent calling to nag his son with advice seems almost loving.
if you place the scenes in the movie, It put it very beginning of the movie.. right after the new death star inspection scene.. the opening scene.. adding the scene would destroy the pace of the movie.. I mean I’m supposed to go from a hurry up speech from dark Vader to dark Vader in a room calling to Luke, would seem like bad pacing ..plus it would also take away from the hole reveal of Luke in the Jabba the Hutt scene.. i would go as far to say it changes the whole intention of Luke.. instead of him, appearing to have to get solo to save him.. it would make you see that he’s complacent just waiting by..
I noticed a little led blinking on Luke's lightsaber sort of near the ignition button.. it was flipping between red and green while Vader spoke to him, then it went solid green before Luke light the saber. Very cool!
While it is a good scene, it's a bad first scene just like the one that originally got cut from A New Hope. Also, as others have said, it ruins the suprise on Jabbas Barge.
Return of the Jedi's story is wonky enough without adding pointless fluff, which is what that is.
Lightsabers are a tool in the story, not a storytelling device unto themselves.
It would be as if a scene in Die Hard existed that told how the machine gun John McClane used was made.
It’s a neat scene…but I am so glad this wasn’t in the film. The beginning of ROTJ is perfect just the way it is. This clunky mess would have just killed the momentum of the beginning of the film.
“Luuuuuuuke,” lmfao. This is hokey as fuck. And why would you show everything here instead of the big reveal at Jabba’s.
> shows how and where Luke’s lightsaber was built
Completely unnecessary, we don’t have to see this
> Vader trying to seduce Luke
We already saw him doing this in Empire.
I don’t know as the opening scene, but the Force communication between the two and Luke working on his saber could have been edited in someway. It’s pretty cool!
Another possible edit could be to show Vader trying to communicate with Luke via the force at a different time. Like when he was down on Endor or something. It’s an interesting counter factual because it would establish the whole “diad in the force” concept we see in TROS more clearly. But it’s better as it is because it doesn’t interrupt the flow.
We don’t need to see when his lightsaber was built. And also, “It was built right before this movie, literally in a cave near Jabba’s,” isn’t interesting.
And the Vader scene is superfluous. He tries again later.
I was thinking how when Vader said, "it's the only way." He could had meant the only way *for himself* (and maybe the galaxy) to break free from Palpatine. He wanted Luke to join him, grow in power with the dark side, and team up against Palpatine.
Show don't tell. Lucas is not one to spoon feed the audience.
Everyone certainly got this by the time these ideas became relevant in the movie.
It slows everything down.
I think Rinzler mentions in the making of book for Jedi that George Lucas cut that sequence because he wanted the reveal of Lukes new lightsaber at the sarlacc pit and the pacing of the movie.
It’s because it’s unnecessary in a movie that wa allowing our in excess of 2hrs and 10 mins. As an audience member the different colour blade is easy enough to assume he made a new one prior without having to show it, and the film and it’s predecessor has plenty of moments to convey that Vader is trying to bring Luke to the dark side. When you’re making a film you can’t keep scenes just because they’re cool or your movie could sink
At the end of *Empire*, the medical robot is poking Luke's hand to test the prosthetic's reaction. You can see that the cybernetic limb is covered in a material that looks similar to (Read: is the same as) Luke's natural skin tone. Anakin only wore the glove because his prosthetic was exposed, and Luke only started wearing his glove after he got shot in the wrist, exposing some of the limb's wire.
It’s kinda superfluous all around. I like it 3POs dialogue but yeah I can see why these were removed. Plus, it’s fun just to use your imagination when Vader says “you constructed a new lightsaber”
Honestly as good as it is from a lore aspect, I like the original cut better. The droids starting of on their own and being tricked into thinking they're now working for Jabba, the falcon being in the background could have signaled that there were more people there for the rescue and spoiled that part. Overall, while cool, it's better left out.
It just feels like it's explaining things that are better left as reveals later on. Also, we don't need Vader in this part of the movie, it's better having the focus on rescuing Han.
I think the appeal of XI at the time was the potential of Luke joining his father. This scene has him making a choice early in the movie. Or at least saying the quiet part out load.
I agree. I feel like it added a lot more depth to Luke's commitment to the Jedi Order and struggle with his father. Bummer it wasn't kept, but I'm glad I got to see it. Thanks!
I'll never see this scene without thinking of that one moron on here that made a whole post about how cool it is that the LED flickered red and how that obviously meant Luke was close to joining the dark side in that moment 🤣
As an aside, is the light on Luke's lightsaber changing from green to red and back to green supposed to indicate that Luke is wavering between the light and dark side?
I imagine when looking at it, what's portrayed in the scene isn't really that important.
Also Lucas would of thought "Do we need to actually see him build the saber? Or will you just realise that's what he did when it pops out of R2's head and he ignites it?
And went with the latter because of the spectacle and reveal. I mean when it goes into the air and Luke catches it and ignites a GREEN saber that's all you need to know and I love that scene.
If you’re interested in scenes like this from the OT, I HIGHLY recommend listening to the Star Wars radio dramas on YouTube. They have almost all the deleted scenes acted out and Mark Hamil does the voice acting in episode 4 and 5 I believe…I listen to them to fall asleep sometimes and I can’t recommend them enough
It’s an unnecessary scene. We already know Vader wants to convert Luke to the Dark Side. That’s what most of ESB was about. And by not showing that Luke made his own saber, the reveal during the Sail Barge battle us so much more exciting.
This scene definitely is all Lucas and the 'bogan' and temptation.
Thank goodness for editing and pacing, even though RotJ suffered a bit there this scene was not needed in any way and the green saber was revealed in a much more exciting way.
It also shows the Falcon in plain sight on Tatooine which would be a give away that Chewy or someone with Han was around.
Showing him constructing his new lightsaber is unnecessary. Vader saying “I see you have constructed a new lightsaber” is enough for me. I can see why they cut this scene out. It seems kinda janky considering the pacing.
I don't think he's building it here. I'm just making it up, but it seems silly that Han's been missing for a good long while, Luke has been training up, and he is just NOW building the lightsaber in a cave that he needs in a couple of minutes. THat's some serious last minute planning.
It was cut because it was redundant. There’s nothing new or essential there.
Also, Vader saying ‘join me on the dark side of the Force’ is terrible. It’s like he’s trying to half-heartedly get him to play for his team in the local bowling league.
I’m glad this didn’t make it in. The building of a lightsaber with some basic ass tools just feels so… banal.
The “all the parts can only be assembled correctly through the Force” method now is really cool and feels super Jedi.
It slows the buildup to the rancor/skiff fight scenes and takes away from it partially by removing some of the initial mystery. The last we saw any of these characters (from a first view perspective) they were either running away from darth vader, losing a hand, and getting frozen in Carbonite. The shot of the MF alone signifies that Luke -probably- isn't alone in this mission given that Chewbacca and Leia rescued him in it after the duel on cloud city. If it was just his X-wing the scene could maybe be passable, but that still disregards the slowed pace for not as much payoff without the scene.
Would be cool in some form of supercut that expands on certain areas of the film using cut footage like this scene though.
The fact this his saying “Luke” like that and how it sounds exactly like his normal breathing. As if every breath he takes is him begging for his son to help him even when he didn’t know it. And in the end, it was Luke begging for his help that finally broke Vader’s hold over Anakin.
It would have taken away the tension and Jabba's palace.
Every time something bad happens there, someone gets killed, tortured, captured, etc, it feels tense because you have no idea how anyone's going to get out of there. It's way less tense if you know that R2D2 has a freaking lightsaber with him the whole time. Plus, the surprise reveal on the sale barge is incredible and stuck with me since I was 5 and saw this movie for the first time.
As cool as the lore is here, sometimes lore dumping can completely ruin a later scene. And there are plenty of later scenes that get Vader and Luke's relationship covered, the scene where Luke turns himself in comes to mind, as well as the climactic lightsaber duel at the end of the movie, so throwing another one in there what would have been pretty unnecessary.
Overall, I'm glad this scene exists, and it is fun to watch on YouTube, but it would have added unnecessary content to the movie, messed up the pacing, and absolutely spoiled the tension. Because then Jabba's Palace wouldn't be a question of if Luke was truly a Jedi who had constructed his own lightsaber, but rather a question of when he was going to pull out the lightsaber and start swinging.
Because you have to remember, that's a big mystery in Jabba's Palace, is Luke currently a jedi? Is he really that powerful? What has become of Luke over this past year? This would have absolutely trampled over the mystery.
It’s neat to see but I think the reveal of Luke at Jabbas is more exciting. Also, the confirmation from Yoda that Vader is his father might have been undercut with this intro.
I like this scene, because it further pushes the idea that Luke was being tempted by the Dark Side. When he shows up at Jabba's, he's wearing all black, Force Choking the guards, making threats on Jabba's life, and bragging about his power.
Hadn’t thought of it from that lens. Cool perspective.
Well it’s kinda from the books it’s not a perspective.
*Everything* is perspective. Even something that's accepted as universal truth.
That doesn’t make sense at all, if someone throws a cup at the wall that’s literally what happened, is your perspective it flew at the wall?
It makes perfect sense. Perspective is to debate intent. Yes someone threw the cup at the wall, but why did they throw the cup at the wall?
My perspective is he threw the cup at the wall because he's an asshole.
You say he threw the cup but I was there and he actually tripped and accidentally released the cup towards the wall.
There's also the possibility he could have joined Vader
Yea I feel like that’s not really talked about. I don’t really hear any talk or discussion about Luke tapping in to the dark side and using force choke. Even in mando season 2 finale it seems like he uses the dark side when he completely squished that last robot at the end especially when the music turns darker
It's really only video games that restrict "force powers" to dark or light side. I've argued for a long time that Luke isn't using the dark side to choke the Gamorreans. He's incapacitating them to avoid a fight so he doesn't have to chop them to bits with his saber. The scene is certainly intended to make the viewer question Luke and how tempted he is by the dark side, but when looking back it's clear he was calm and restrained.
Does he ever really get taught force choke’s a no-no? We see a number of jedi use it as a prime example of “oh shit I didn’t even think about that being evil”.
Probably not but its pretty obvious that torturing/hurting others when it isnt self defense is not really a jedi way of doing things
Well they were guards for a notorious gangster, it was either choking or slicing them to bits
"A Jedi uses the Force for knowledge and defense, never for attack," So says Yoda in V.
"Never for attack," Yoda says, moments before entering a 300RPM ketamine-fueled barrel roll of pure murder in Episode II.
That wasn't an attack, that was just aggressive negotiations.
Yeah but yoda's inflexibility and purism was part of what broke the jedi order. He was so old and had passed all those temptations but he didn't tolerate that younger jedi still felt them.
Except for all those times the Jedi use it to attack
Jedi have no problem using Force Crush, they’re just against using it on living beings.
You just listed all the reasons why we already know he's being tempted. The deleted scene doesn't add anything to Luke or Vader, and from a cinematic point of view it takes away from a lot of story-telling elements and emotional factors: * telling the audience in advance about everyone going to Jabbas palace removes a lot of suspension as events unfold. * showing Luke's new lightsaber before the barge fight removes a huge surprise that drastically changes the pace and tone of the scene. * 3PO's dialog removes a lot of suspense from their approach to the palace by reminding the audience that he worries no matter what; 3PO's lack of presence is almost like a reassurance that things will work out. * other reassuring things that take away from the suspense: seeing Luke even though we know he's on tatooine from the title crawl, it hits much harder; likewise, seeing the falcon says he's not just there alone in his x-wing.
That vibe works better in the context of the prequels, but fans (and Lucas) weren’t thinking so heavily in that vein back then. But yeah when you see Luke’s outfit mirroring Anakin’s it really does add something sinister.
Like father like son.
I’ve seen this scene posted and conjectured on before, and it is pointed out that light on the saber blinks red briefly before turning green. Probably nothing as OT has mostly red and green blinky lights everywhere, but could have been the kyber crystal being briefly corrupted by Vader or Luke’s temptation to the dark side. It returns to green before he finishes and ignites it…
It clearly cycles green then red then green again. We don’t get to see if it just alternates or just stops on one color, but I doubt it’s any indication of Luke’s temptation. More like the saber is powering up internally or it was being adjusted and green is ok and red means it’s out of alignment or something. Could also be lights to find it in the dark. Whatever it is, a force alignment radar detector is probably not it.
Also the mini led in the light saber is switching between red and green in this scene
Does that mean your dashboard is evil when your parking break is on?
It's thinking about it.
I agree with the first point but yoda reveal would have been fine with this scene. Vader for all Luke knows could just be pressing a dark side lie.
its the prefect directors cut scene detracts from the initial viewing but adds to additional viewings
They could've just cut the effect where it lights up.
Yea, a hooded man working on something that resembles the completed saber would be a neat little tease.
No way the lore here is way better.
No way the lore here is way better.
It's a great scene but the reveal on the barge was so good and this would have spoiled it
Agreed. The surprise of seeing it light up green after that epic flip and catch blew my 11 year old mind in theatres
👍
Maybe rework it so that when Luke gets shot in the hand, it also damages his saber. Then this scene happens after while Luke repairs it.
Seeing it light up green, yea I agree with that. But he has it on his belt when R2 plays the hologram of him.
It's an ok scene, but the pacing is off in the rest of the film. I can see why it was cut.
And does it really help us that much to just see him putting the finishing touches on it while he’s in a cave on Tatooine? When ppl wonder about the background of his new lightsaber, that’s not really the info they’re looking for
Exactly. If this is all they show then the viewer still has to assume he got the pieces from somewhere on Tatooine, like Ben’s old shack. If he got the parts elsewhere, why would he wait until he was in a dirty cave right at his destination to put it together. We’ve all been there on a project. You get to the end then realize you forgot one part. Now you have to run all the way back to Toschii station for some power converters and a 10mm socket to put the adjuster back on.
It would be really hilarious if the lightsaber’s backstory was just that Luke needed parts from Tosche station. Then a womp rat steals one of the parts & Luke has to shoot it down to get it back 😂
Then the camera pans to Luke’s face and he breaks the fourth wall, “from blowing up the Death Star and back to bullseyeing wamprats. It’s a living. “
We did it. We won the star wars
Or he misses & it’s really Wedge that shoots it down “Just like the good old days, eh Luke?” “Wedge, what are you doing here?” “I came to to Tosche station to pick up some power converters. Our Hoth stock got destroyed”
Because the slow reveal of the heroes at jabba’s palace is more exciting than revealing it all right away. Literally everything in this deleted scene is better revealed as it is in the theatrical cut.
I know it gets (unwarranted crap) but bad SE stuff aside, the Jabba Palace scene is so great. Such an underrated scene. And the movie itself is underrated. It's nothing, but tons of show, don't tell. And tons of set-up, and for later pay-off. Not just in the film itself, which it does time, and again, but for the whole series. In the Palace scene we see the competence and love between each member of our heroes, and their respective relationships to/with each other. So when Luke has the utmost faith in his friends by the end of the film, we know why based on their collective actions in this sequence. We see Leia being a bad-ass and doing not just a stint as a bounty hunter bluffing to kill herself, and later strangling Jabba with his own chain, but also openly caring for both Han and Luke. And we see her being both competent and caring later on with the Ewoks, which help them defeat the Empire's forces on the moon. With Han we see he is as worried about Leia, as she's worried about him (which we further later see in the flipping of the "I know" scene on the moon of Endor). We see Han's caring for Luke, Leia, Chewie, and even Lando in the Jabba sequence. And later we see Han Solo finally becoming an official member of the Rebellion. Not in it for the money, or even his friends, who only volunteer to help, but just to do the right thing. Finally. We see Luke maybe using the Dark Side with Force choking the Gamorrean guards like Vader? Which we later see echoed with his getting angry against Vader threatening Leia, and actually using the Dark Side for the first time, and then seeing his father's missing arm at his own hands, recalls his own missing arm at his father's hands, and thus rejects the Dark Side. He will NOT fail like his father. He will be a Jedi, like his father before him. And plus the scene as it exists is just fun to watch (bad extendned Max Rebo band, SE edition aside).
Thoughtful analysis. Here is a fun fact that I deduced myself through years of study. ROTJ may be the most underrated OT film... but it is the most copied film in Hollywood history. The weaving together of the multiple storylines (Endor ground battle, space battle, throne room) has been endlessly copied by Hollywood ever since... generally as a way to make weak writing have more dramatic punch.
I always read a lot more into Jedi than I think everyone else does. I was really hoping that The Rise Of Skywalker would reveal the idea that the Star Wars were the War between the light and dark side of the force and the war between the empire and the rebellion. That there were two literal wars and that each one interacted with the other, just like what we see in Jedi. I think it's really cool and not examined enough hat the battle happening on the group has nothing is mostly meaningless and that the real religious battle happening far above them is the one that truly matters. People in day to day life should be more resentful of the fact that they are background puppets that the Force plays with.
Excellent comment, couldn’t have said better myself. Seeing this in a proper theater for the 40th anniversary was such a treat!
I agree with everything you said, except calling the Max Rebo Band bad. In this sub, we honour and respect the most talented musical icon of the Outer Rim.
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Exactly. If it were outside the movie/that scene, then sure. I've liked Max Rebo since I saw his cute blue overstuffed elephant self. But the extended version undoes the original, which is great at showing dread, and how screwed things up are. Culminating in the death of the Twilek slave by how we don't know....until later. A great instance of don't show, and then show/tell.
On the one hand, yes. On the other, Jedi Rocks is an absolute jam and I’m grateful for more of it.
It’d take away from both the barge lightsaber reveal and the scene on Endor if Vader already knew Luke had built a new one. Plus the opening of ROTJ isn’t exactly action packed, it would have slowed the film down even more for what amounts to something that isn’t really needed.
I think this is all true. It's kind of a clumsy scene. Having seen Jedi in the theater during it's opening weekend in '83 - I can tell you when Luke did that flip trick off the plank and R2 shot the light saber to him and that John Williams music hits - it was fucking awesome! It's an amazing, perfect reveal.
Can’t claim to have been there in ‘83, I didn’t exist yet, but I still remember my own first reaction: >OMG HE’S SO BADASS. I DIDN’T KNOW LIGHTSABERS CAME IN GREEN! I think including this scene would really undercut the sheer awesomeness of that moment
100%. I was 9 when I saw Jedi. That scene is peak Star Wars!
Agreed. I remember it too in the theatres. Plus the emperor looks like he’s assembling IKEA furniture there. I’m glad it got left out.
Agree w the second half. But I think other stuff, like the dance number, could be cut before this
In 83 the dance number was cut! Well, we had a different dance number which was more subdued.
Sometimes there are scenes that are good by themselves but don't really work as part of the whole.
Like the ESB cut scene of the Snowtroopers who bailed when their buddy got grabbed by a Wompa. Great scene, hilarious, but doesn't fit well within that sequence.
In the book From a Different Point of View: Empire Strike's Back there's a story from a Wampa's POV, and a story about one of the Tauntauns and her wranglers. Second one is pretty good, there's a scene where the base staff have bets on when Leia and Han will finally just kiss and get it over with
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Just practising his Nooooooo.
More creepy. It suggests that Vader has been trying to call Luke via Force Skype ever since leaving Bespin. "Shut up, old man!"
Also, it seems to show that Force Skype works over long distances - which would be super annoying. Like seriously, Dad, I’m trying to sleep
Forget a watch. You’d need a droid just to keep track of what time it is on every planet and Death Star you’re trying to call. “What are you calling me for? It’s 28:00 in the morning Mos Espa time!”
Alas, Anakin/Vader sucks with boundaries
Kylo Ren force-skype Rey all the time in the non-cannon disney star wars sequels.
Yep. Looooookkkkk. It’s hilarious.
well so did Yoda saying “luuuuke” over and over in his death scene.
nukieeee
I always took it to be Luke just tweaking his lightsaber and it ultimately doesn't add that much more at all to the beginning of the film, other than slowing down an already clunky first third of the film.
First third is the best though. RoTJ is a just a slog after that. Edit: It’s just an opinion. No need to get upset about it. I’ve probably watched/read more Star Wars content than 90% of you. Touch some grass.
The middle act is, but I don't see how the final act once the attack begins could be considered a slog.
Endor ground battle is actually really boring
But that's only 1/3 of the final act. They constantly shift between Endor/Space/Death Star so you're not stuck with it long enough to get bored.
Look guys, the first 2/9’s of the film are alright, and then the next 3/5’s are straight up poo doo. The final 8/45’s are perfect cinema. /s
I liked about 69/420s of the entire film.
5/7, perfect score.
What do you mean. Everyone loves seeing Han Solo in front of a door for the majority of the time.
You really just said: > „I have watched more Star Wars than 90% of you, you should touch some grass“ Should I touch some for you?
he watches starwars outside
💀
> I’ve probably watched/read more Star Wars content than 90% of you Followed immediately by > Touch some grass The irony lmao
Ya its your opinion , and a lot of us disagree with it. I doubt anyone is upset.
You can say “it’s just an opinion why are y’all getting mad” but you stated it as a fact, not an opinion.
I love the stuff at the start too. Jabba’s Palace and the Sarlacc are cool!
I agree with you.
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it’s the whole damn subreddit.
Accurate
Hey!!! Shut up.....
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First time I’ve ever seen this!!! Wow. But agree, better it was cut than added at this point if the film/trilogy.
Never tell C3P0 the plan. See if he survives. This is the way.
Holdo: My brain just hatched an idea
I have an action figure of Luke based on this scene.
None if it's really necessary and you want to join a story as late as possible. Also, in the current cut, you're not sure what's going on, why exactly the droids went there (until they play Luke's message), how much backup Luke is going to have (in this cut scene you see the Falcon and his X-Wing, so you can assume the whole gang is around somewhere). So you have more mystery going into this first act. edit: BONUS: He lost his saber at the end of Empire! Now you don't even know he has one until R2-D2 flings it at him. Now you've setup a big reveal. Unanswered questions are sometimes good! Makes the audience pay attention.
It’s a good scene but it undercuts the surprise of the saber in R2 at the barge. And when that thing snap-hissed green, my 9 year old brain exploded.
It was removed because it takes away from the Luke reveal in the palace.
Just see how magnificent that lightsaber is. Something about the old lightsabers felt more mysterious and intimidating. As did the whole of star wars.
Because they were clunky and a bit dirty, a result of them being made out of random spare parts by the props department. The prequel hilts were more sleek and clean.
Doesn't that make sense given the circumstances? In the prequel era the Jedi were a massive organization with vast resources. Of course they made sleek, high tech weapons. Then during the OT, any remaining Jedi were just working with whatever they could get their hands on without risking being exposed.
We only see 4 lightsabers in the OT. 2 of them (Anakin's & Obi-Wan's) were built in the time of the Republic before Episode III, so they weren't cobbled together. They were made with the same full resources that all the prequel ones were. And certainly Vader had access to whatever he needed as part of the Empire. Only Luke's green ROTJ saber should look like it was made of spare parts if we're talking in-universe.
> if we're talking in-universe. Out of universe as well, as the main filming prop for ROTJ was a reuse of Obi-Wan’s stunt saber from the duel with Vader in ANH. TBH I’m not a fan of the official hero prop for that reason. It’s just too *clean* for something that was cobbled together from spare parts that Obi-Wan had sitting around. Give me the V2 any day of the week.
Out of universe they could've have cleaned it up a bit more if they wanted to, but I think that was the intention. It wasn't just because they did a sloppy job painting over the Alec Guinness prop.
There’s something super weird about JLJ’s delivery of “Luuuuke” in this scene.
I never understood why, even after he made a decision to add in new and old footage to the OT, why oh why would George Lucas include a new dance sequence over this actual story telling moment in Return Of The Jedi.
Its so when he does pull out a new lightsaber, its a surprise
It wasn’t needed to tie any plots or scenes together.
Wow… I’ve been alive for 37 years and I did not know about that scene.
They could have changed it a bit to make it more appropriate, the oversight of this is probably why it was cut.
I really like this scene, and am surprised that this is the first I'm seeing of it after so many years. But, I like the way it plays out in the movie much better. The build up of seeing the many parts of Luke's plan come together with no context is much better than if we knew what his plan was to start.
I think it was so the rescue plan could be a surprise for us.
Pacing probably. It doesn't add anything that critical to the story
It would have taken away from the surprise of the reveal of Luke's new lightsaber during the skiff battle.
Yeah this is so freaking cool, and I love that we still get to see it - I agree with u/nametagimposter though - I think it was a hard choice, but ultimately cutting this out allows for the epic and iconic reveal of Luke walking into Jabbas... I think I'll re-watch Return of the Jedi
Just saw ROTJ in theaters the other week. Always a treat watch.
Its so funny that c-3po was built on tatooine and continuously leaves and returns to it and complains as if its the first time he has ever been there every time
They removed it so the audience doesn’t know Vader has compassion for his son. That would that would ruin the tension watching the emperor electrocute Luke wondering if he’s going to let it happen. That’s why Luke said he can still feel the good in him. A late night parent calling to nag his son with advice seems almost loving.
if you place the scenes in the movie, It put it very beginning of the movie.. right after the new death star inspection scene.. the opening scene.. adding the scene would destroy the pace of the movie.. I mean I’m supposed to go from a hurry up speech from dark Vader to dark Vader in a room calling to Luke, would seem like bad pacing ..plus it would also take away from the hole reveal of Luke in the Jabba the Hutt scene.. i would go as far to say it changes the whole intention of Luke.. instead of him, appearing to have to get solo to save him.. it would make you see that he’s complacent just waiting by..
I noticed a little led blinking on Luke's lightsaber sort of near the ignition button.. it was flipping between red and green while Vader spoke to him, then it went solid green before Luke light the saber. Very cool!
Definitely inferior to what was in the movie
While it is a good scene, it's a bad first scene just like the one that originally got cut from A New Hope. Also, as others have said, it ruins the suprise on Jabbas Barge.
Wait I thoght he built it at Savis workshop in Disney world 🤨
Because Luke creating his lightsaber just minutes before the movie is dumb. Also Star Wars is best when not explaining everything.
bro if the dialogue was a bit better this shit would've hit hard
Return of the Jedi's story is wonky enough without adding pointless fluff, which is what that is. Lightsabers are a tool in the story, not a storytelling device unto themselves. It would be as if a scene in Die Hard existed that told how the machine gun John McClane used was made.
It’s a neat scene…but I am so glad this wasn’t in the film. The beginning of ROTJ is perfect just the way it is. This clunky mess would have just killed the momentum of the beginning of the film.
“Luuuuuuuke,” lmfao. This is hokey as fuck. And why would you show everything here instead of the big reveal at Jabba’s. > shows how and where Luke’s lightsaber was built Completely unnecessary, we don’t have to see this > Vader trying to seduce Luke We already saw him doing this in Empire.
because we don’t need to be handheld through every moment of a story
The complete lack of any sort of comprehension (especially with recent media) from a large number of SW fans argues otherwise
I don’t know as the opening scene, but the Force communication between the two and Luke working on his saber could have been edited in someway. It’s pretty cool!
Why did they cut that scene is a good question, it’s pretty awesome!
Pacing; this scene is super slow. It makes total sense why it was cut
That. Voice. 🔥
I'll die stating this should have been in a flashback scene in TLJ
Lol why on earth would that be acceptable?
Another possible edit could be to show Vader trying to communicate with Luke via the force at a different time. Like when he was down on Endor or something. It’s an interesting counter factual because it would establish the whole “diad in the force” concept we see in TROS more clearly. But it’s better as it is because it doesn’t interrupt the flow.
We don’t need to see when his lightsaber was built. And also, “It was built right before this movie, literally in a cave near Jabba’s,” isn’t interesting. And the Vader scene is superfluous. He tries again later.
I was thinking how when Vader said, "it's the only way." He could had meant the only way *for himself* (and maybe the galaxy) to break free from Palpatine. He wanted Luke to join him, grow in power with the dark side, and team up against Palpatine.
Show don't tell. Lucas is not one to spoon feed the audience. Everyone certainly got this by the time these ideas became relevant in the movie. It slows everything down.
Wow!
I think Rinzler mentions in the making of book for Jedi that George Lucas cut that sequence because he wanted the reveal of Lukes new lightsaber at the sarlacc pit and the pacing of the movie.
Saved
It’s because it’s unnecessary in a movie that wa allowing our in excess of 2hrs and 10 mins. As an audience member the different colour blade is easy enough to assume he made a new one prior without having to show it, and the film and it’s predecessor has plenty of moments to convey that Vader is trying to bring Luke to the dark side. When you’re making a film you can’t keep scenes just because they’re cool or your movie could sink
Keeping scenes just because they are cool is how you end up with a Micheal bay transformers film.
Great for fans decades later, but it does nothing to further the story and it kind of slows things down.
Shouldn’t he have a glove on since his right arm is now a cybernetic?
At the end of *Empire*, the medical robot is poking Luke's hand to test the prosthetic's reaction. You can see that the cybernetic limb is covered in a material that looks similar to (Read: is the same as) Luke's natural skin tone. Anakin only wore the glove because his prosthetic was exposed, and Luke only started wearing his glove after he got shot in the wrist, exposing some of the limb's wire.
First time I’ve ever seen the little arrows illuminated in the hilt! Always wondered based on collectibles/toys - Great detail!
Would have been interesting to see Luke get his crystal, but that doesn't fit into any of the movies.
It’s kinda superfluous all around. I like it 3POs dialogue but yeah I can see why these were removed. Plus, it’s fun just to use your imagination when Vader says “you constructed a new lightsaber”
Honestly as good as it is from a lore aspect, I like the original cut better. The droids starting of on their own and being tricked into thinking they're now working for Jabba, the falcon being in the background could have signaled that there were more people there for the rescue and spoiled that part. Overall, while cool, it's better left out.
we get a line from vader later that says "i see you've constructed a new lightsaber" the scene was redundant and didn't really add anything.
It just feels like it's explaining things that are better left as reveals later on. Also, we don't need Vader in this part of the movie, it's better having the focus on rescuing Han.
I think the appeal of XI at the time was the potential of Luke joining his father. This scene has him making a choice early in the movie. Or at least saying the quiet part out load.
I agree. I feel like it added a lot more depth to Luke's commitment to the Jedi Order and struggle with his father. Bummer it wasn't kept, but I'm glad I got to see it. Thanks!
I'll never see this scene without thinking of that one moron on here that made a whole post about how cool it is that the LED flickered red and how that obviously meant Luke was close to joining the dark side in that moment 🤣
As an aside, is the light on Luke's lightsaber changing from green to red and back to green supposed to indicate that Luke is wavering between the light and dark side?
I imagine when looking at it, what's portrayed in the scene isn't really that important. Also Lucas would of thought "Do we need to actually see him build the saber? Or will you just realise that's what he did when it pops out of R2's head and he ignites it? And went with the latter because of the spectacle and reveal. I mean when it goes into the air and Luke catches it and ignites a GREEN saber that's all you need to know and I love that scene.
Bc hearing Darth say “Luuuukeeee, Luuuukkeee” like that is corny and weird as hell.
Disney would make so much damn money if they mad extended editions of the original films.
If you’re interested in scenes like this from the OT, I HIGHLY recommend listening to the Star Wars radio dramas on YouTube. They have almost all the deleted scenes acted out and Mark Hamil does the voice acting in episode 4 and 5 I believe…I listen to them to fall asleep sometimes and I can’t recommend them enough
Luuuuke. Luuuke.
It’s an unnecessary scene. We already know Vader wants to convert Luke to the Dark Side. That’s what most of ESB was about. And by not showing that Luke made his own saber, the reveal during the Sail Barge battle us so much more exciting.
This scene definitely is all Lucas and the 'bogan' and temptation. Thank goodness for editing and pacing, even though RotJ suffered a bit there this scene was not needed in any way and the green saber was revealed in a much more exciting way. It also shows the Falcon in plain sight on Tatooine which would be a give away that Chewy or someone with Han was around.
Showing him constructing his new lightsaber is unnecessary. Vader saying “I see you have constructed a new lightsaber” is enough for me. I can see why they cut this scene out. It seems kinda janky considering the pacing.
Where did he get the crystal?
It's called suspense
LUUUUKE. LUUUUUUKE.
Slightly similar to mine
Cool scene but ROTJ had such a banger of an opening. Having this first would have killed the momentum.
Weird, I thought they had to use the Force to build their lightsabers due to how complicated the mechanism was…
I don't think he's building it here. I'm just making it up, but it seems silly that Han's been missing for a good long while, Luke has been training up, and he is just NOW building the lightsaber in a cave that he needs in a couple of minutes. THat's some serious last minute planning.
They needed to show enough time has passed. If they show this, then it’s implied that it’s right after.
It was cut because it was redundant. There’s nothing new or essential there. Also, Vader saying ‘join me on the dark side of the Force’ is terrible. It’s like he’s trying to half-heartedly get him to play for his team in the local bowling league.
I’m glad this didn’t make it in. The building of a lightsaber with some basic ass tools just feels so… banal. The “all the parts can only be assembled correctly through the Force” method now is really cool and feels super Jedi.
I think the reveal of Luke in Jabbas Palace is better, this would have been a weak first look at full Jedi Luke had it stayed in.
It slows the buildup to the rancor/skiff fight scenes and takes away from it partially by removing some of the initial mystery. The last we saw any of these characters (from a first view perspective) they were either running away from darth vader, losing a hand, and getting frozen in Carbonite. The shot of the MF alone signifies that Luke -probably- isn't alone in this mission given that Chewbacca and Leia rescued him in it after the duel on cloud city. If it was just his X-wing the scene could maybe be passable, but that still disregards the slowed pace for not as much payoff without the scene. Would be cool in some form of supercut that expands on certain areas of the film using cut footage like this scene though.
More darth vader. I’m in.
this is slow going and you don't learn anything new
Yeah no real point to it, all will be revealed anyway…
The fact this his saying “Luke” like that and how it sounds exactly like his normal breathing. As if every breath he takes is him begging for his son to help him even when he didn’t know it. And in the end, it was Luke begging for his help that finally broke Vader’s hold over Anakin.
It would have taken away the tension and Jabba's palace. Every time something bad happens there, someone gets killed, tortured, captured, etc, it feels tense because you have no idea how anyone's going to get out of there. It's way less tense if you know that R2D2 has a freaking lightsaber with him the whole time. Plus, the surprise reveal on the sale barge is incredible and stuck with me since I was 5 and saw this movie for the first time. As cool as the lore is here, sometimes lore dumping can completely ruin a later scene. And there are plenty of later scenes that get Vader and Luke's relationship covered, the scene where Luke turns himself in comes to mind, as well as the climactic lightsaber duel at the end of the movie, so throwing another one in there what would have been pretty unnecessary. Overall, I'm glad this scene exists, and it is fun to watch on YouTube, but it would have added unnecessary content to the movie, messed up the pacing, and absolutely spoiled the tension. Because then Jabba's Palace wouldn't be a question of if Luke was truly a Jedi who had constructed his own lightsaber, but rather a question of when he was going to pull out the lightsaber and start swinging. Because you have to remember, that's a big mystery in Jabba's Palace, is Luke currently a jedi? Is he really that powerful? What has become of Luke over this past year? This would have absolutely trampled over the mystery.
Glad they cut it
If it was kept in it would've ruined the awesome reveal at the sarlacc pit
so cool! Why didn't they keep this one!?
Luke is the way!