Return of the Jedi: original ending

iamtheoneneo · 15 Aug 2011 at 09:18

woot. why is everyone saying its bad (rotj that is?) it is nowhere near as bad as the 3 recent ones.

you have boba fett dieing (always a highlight)
leia in a sexy costume
the greatest lightsaber battle ever between vader and luke - and imo is the darkest scene in any of the star wars.

ok so the muppets are mental in it but skip past that and its a pretty good movie, much like ep1 really.

the ending before the dancing is epic, really great tone and very sad - its a shame lucas has destroyed it even more now then just dancing ewoks with all that crap going to all the new ep1-3 cities inserted aswell, which destroys the tone even more!

Lunatic Dreyfus · 15 Aug 2011 at 10:13

Normally I like a good 'dark ending' but I'll just stick with my carefully selective memory of Return of the Jedi. As long as I ignore the Ewoks, blot out traitorous Lando, have Wedge taking out Death Star Mk 2 on his own and sneer at the silly CGI tat Lucas added in the special edition, then it's not too bad.

Of course, compared to the prequels it's Citizen ******* Kane and without the masterpiece that is The Empire Strikes Back looming over it, RotJ might be more highly regarded... After all I do consider more in the spirit of A New Hope, than the harder edged middle film.

robgmun · 15 Aug 2011 at 11:05

Woha! 1 year bump to the day!

hola_adios · 15 Aug 2011 at 11:13

That will be the ending on the 2025 remake

Ben Cole · 15 Aug 2011 at 11:18

I'd question a depressing ending to this type of film.

IMHO if a film ends in a depressing manner then the art contained in the film has to be exceptional OR the film has to convey a really important message.

So in this case I think the right call was made. However, I think we all agree that RotJ actually damaged the legacy of the original trilogy....which of course was then trashed by Jar Jar Binks and co.

Grandmaster Fap! · 15 Aug 2011 at 12:48

I doubt anyone making the films would want another bleak ending after the one in TESB, seems logical to end on a high note even if the muppets sucked.

Helios1234 · 15 Aug 2011 at 13:44

jamie2497 said:
I'm glad, Han's a great character in the expanded universe

This!

Demoniser · 15 Aug 2011 at 14:12

iamtheoneneo said:
woot. why is everyone saying its bad (rotj that is?) it is nowhere near as bad as the 3 recent ones.

you have boba fett dieing (always a highlight)

SPOILERS

he didn't die in ROTJ

*see expanded universe novels*

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I'm glad they went with the original ending tbh, the expanded universe is really where the star wars story is at, not the films, which are jus the tip of the iceberg.

I wonder how the EU would have played out if they had gone for that original ending, and iirc, wasn't there also talk of Luke dying on the Death Star, but they also changed it.

------------------------------------------

Also, why don't they make a tv mini series of something like the Thrawn Trilogy, it would be epic. There is so much money making potential there that they haven't tapped into.

SourChipmunk · 15 Aug 2011 at 14:36

I don't understand why everyone knocks ROTJ so much, just because of teddy bears. The movie was great as a whole, especially with Luke demonstrating how much more powerful he has become since ESB. The battle scene near the end was spectacular, as was the story with the Emperor trying to get Luke to turn. The death of Yoda, the introduction of Leia as Luke's sister, learning that Vader still had some good left in him after all (especially since we grew up understanding that Vader was just the darkest, most sinister character in the Galaxy). Just a great story all around.

If they had killed off Solo in the movie, I don't think it would have made too much impact. But, as others have said, the Solo stories in the Expanded Universe are great, so we would be missing out on that. But we still wouldn't know the difference.

Grandmaster Fap! · 15 Aug 2011 at 14:56

It's not that Jedi is a bad movie, far from it, i just think that most fans are disappointed that Lucas didnt follow through with his plan of having wookies instead of teddy bears. He said it was because of cost but seriously, the guy had more money than god, i think he just wanted to appeal to kids more therefore selling more toys ect.

Squark · 15 Aug 2011 at 18:51

I still bare much enmity towards GL after he replaced Sebastian Shaw with Hay-wood-en Christensen.

Worst decision ever, it just makes no sense.

DazQ87 · 15 Aug 2011 at 21:50

The whole concept of the ewoks just infuriates me, why did they have to be so cute, at least wookies would have made more sense or any other species of alien...

Ben Cole · 15 Aug 2011 at 22:02

I don't understand.

Sebastian Shaw died in 1994 and Christensen was playing the character at a much younger age.

Or are you just criticising the choice of Christensen at all? If so why mention the dead actor?

Demoniser · 15 Aug 2011 at 22:40

I believe he has a problem with the fact that Sebastian Shaw who played the unmasked Vader in ROTJ, and appeared as the ghost of Anakin Skywalker at the end of ROTJ was removed, and replaced by Hayden Christiansen in the dvd release of the film.

Some would argue that it was completely unnecessary, and a bit insulting to Shaw.

Ben Cole · 15 Aug 2011 at 22:51

Ah that makes sense, I didn't know about that.
Yes, imho that is unnecessary and insulting.

I presume not all the dvds are like this though?

iamtheoneneo · 15 Aug 2011 at 22:52

think about it though i see what hes getting at, Luke always new his father as being old, he never knew the younger version at all much like Ben, so why would he suddenly see his father as the younger Anakin but somehow ben is still in non-ewan mcgregor form??
its completely retarded, it doesnt bridge any gap at all, its just Lucas messing for the sake of messing...and it looks lke unfortuantely we will be waiting until he dies to see SW in its original form again.

ps. sorry for the bump didnt even realise this thread was a year old lol! still good timing given its about a month until the bluray hits - cant wait!

Demoniser · 15 Aug 2011 at 23:04

IIRc the reason that was given was that.

When Vader sacrificed himself to save Luke and kill the Emperor, in that moment, Vader ceased to exist, and he returned to being the good Anakin Skywalker. Therefore, his force ghost would appear as the good version of himself i.e young Anakin Skywalker, and not old man Darth Vader.

panthro · 16 Aug 2011 at 04:50

I loved the ending of ROTJ, it just brought everything to a close. As it was the last film, it would have driven me mad if it had an open ending that left you constantly wondering what happened, but knowing that you'll never find out.

Also, this cracked me up

Then again, not every film should have a sad ending. Imagine if Field Of Dreams ended with Kevin Costner sitting in an empty baseball field for a week, realising that nobody was actually going to turn up, and killing himself. Or if Tim Robbins got stuck in the sewage pipe during his escape from Shawshank and ended up suffocating in human effluent. Or if Sleepless in Seattle ended with Meg Ryan being graphically mauled to death by an escaped tiger.

Squark · 16 Aug 2011 at 06:52

Demoniser said:
IIRc the reason that was given was that.

When Vader sacrificed himself to save Luke and kill the Emperor, in that moment, Vader ceased to exist, and he returned to being the good Anakin Skywalker. Therefore, his force ghost would appear as the good version of himself i.e young Anakin Skywalker, and not old man Darth Vader.

NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO

Efour · 16 Aug 2011 at 08:51

The thought of AT-STs shooting Ewoks turns me on tbh.

THere was a Starwars MMO where you could unlock a jedi Character by playing loads... Well i saddly did it and to level him up i would go to Endor and slaughter ewoks with a lightsabre.... Fantasy complete, childhood avenged.

I was 8 or 9 ?? when ROTJ first came out, to me as a child it is the prefect ending to the 3 movies, to me as an adult, sure a moody dark one makes more sense. Afterall there are a lot of loose ends to be tied or explored.