Video: “Star Wars” nerds go nuts over missing scene from “Return of the Jedi”
posted at 8:43 pm on August 16, 2010 by Allahpundit
Effective yet cheesy: A perfect microcosm of the Lucas oeuvre. This is from the Star Wars Celebration V convention over the weekend, at which Zeus himself (along with Mark Hamill) showed up to give the assembled dweeb faithful the thrill of their lives — 55 seconds of the alternate beginning of “Return of the Jedi.” The effective part? Vader and Luke doing the Jedi mindmeld while the latter perfects his lightsaber, foreshadowing the battle to come. The ambiguity of the cloak, which creates a sinister possibility for Luke, is a nice touch too. The cheesy part? “Luuuuuuuuke, Luuuuuuuuuke” is at least as lame as the infamous “Nooooooo!” scene in “Revenge of the Sith,” if not more so. But hey, it’s “Star Wars,” buddy. You’ve got to take the bitter with the sweet.
I’m going to leave you with this, because I think you deserve to be as depressed as I am:
“We had an outline and George changed everything in it,” Kurtz said. “Instead of bittersweet and poignant he wanted a euphoric ending with everybody happy. The original idea was that they would recover [the kidnapped] Han Solo in the early part of the story and that he would then die in the middle part of the film in a raid on an Imperial base. George then decided he didn’t want any of the principals killed. By that time there were really big toy sales and that was a reason.”
The discussed ending of the film that Kurtz favored presented the rebel forces in tatters, Leia grappling with her new duties as queen and Luke walking off alone “like Clint Eastwood in the spaghetti westerns,” as Kurtz put it.
Kurtz said that ending would have been a more emotionally nuanced finale to an epic adventure than the forest celebration of the Ewoks that essentially ended the trilogy with a teddy bear luau.
Blowback
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Nothing juvenile about that…?
d1carter on August 16, 2010 at 8:47 PM
So sad…I outgrew SW in 1981…yet there are losers who live it every day. Treky’s got nothing on these freaks.
AUINSC on August 16, 2010 at 8:48 PM
So “art” becomes “follow the money”. Go figure.
GarandFan on August 16, 2010 at 8:48 PM
Uh hoh geez….
They got a little excited didn’t they….?
NeoKong on August 16, 2010 at 8:49 PM
“…I think you deserve to be as depressed as I am…”
How can you be depressed today??? Have you forgotten this already?!? Now even your eeyore world, this has to make it a good day!
cynccook on August 16, 2010 at 8:49 PM
Fake…! Probably another George Lucas ploy to take more Money out of the hands of the moroms-fanboys who weep for this cr–. Proof? We never see the face of what-his-name…
ujorge on August 16, 2010 at 8:49 PM
Neat, but adds nothing. The suspense and surprise comes when Luke is over the Sarlacc, Artoo has just opened the secret compartment, he flips, grabs the lightsaber…and it’s GREEN! Motherf**kin’ GREEN! HOLY BALLS!
MadisonConservative on August 16, 2010 at 8:50 PM
That was a cool scene, but I’m glad they left it out of the final cut. Luke’s intro where he Force chokes the guards(if you don’t count his first appearance as a hologram) and the debut of the green lightsaber being launched out of R2 were pretty sweet.
Oh, and screw you Lucas for refusing to restore the original theatrical versions of the Holy Trilogy for the Blu-ray release!
Doughboy on August 16, 2010 at 8:51 PM
Allah-this is just absolutely juvenile.
JUVENILE!
Badger40 on August 16, 2010 at 8:51 PM
Have they ever even…… kissed a girl?!
ThePrez on August 16, 2010 at 8:51 PM
What’s with the effing obsession over movies? No wonder America’s in the toilet. Yes, they were fun. So is tipping over a drunk friend trying to tie his shoe. But it’s temporary. Move on already.
Extrafishy on August 16, 2010 at 8:52 PM
Bwa ha ha haaaa!!!
shuzilla on August 16, 2010 at 8:52 PM
And after he screwed fans over with the “theatrical release” DVDs that were effectively Laserdisc rips with no cleanup, resulting in a low-quality ugly slap in the face, he can shove his latest milking of the series up his cave worm hole.
MadisonConservative on August 16, 2010 at 8:53 PM
May Womp Rats eat your tongue while you sleep, sir.
MadisonConservative on August 16, 2010 at 8:54 PM
That dude screaming for joy in the background? Yeah. He sings too.
Guardian on August 16, 2010 at 8:55 PM
How can you be depressed in a Star Wars thread? Think of it, there is poor Luke, battered, burned, maimed, in torment and pain because the love of his life would rather die than partner with the monster Luke has become.
What could be more inspiring than that?
Skandia Recluse on August 16, 2010 at 8:56 PM
You know, actually I totally get this obsession over Star Wars. We have some of that going on in our house right now. By my 10 year old.
cynccook on August 16, 2010 at 8:56 PM
I agree. And don’t forget that about .5 seconds after getting the lightsaber from Artoo, Luke starts indiscriminately swinging it like crazy. Heh. I always laugh my ass off at that part. A much better scene than this moaning intro to the lightsaber that was wisely deleted.
Sydney Carton on August 16, 2010 at 8:58 PM
Yeah. That really does about sum up the ending.
Lucas was right not kill of Solo.
e could have killed Luke. That was OK with me.
But SOLO?
Since Force 10 of Navarone, & American Grafitti, I as a girl of 9, nursed a crush on Harrison Ford.
Killing Solo would have ruined my young girlhood.
Badger40 on August 16, 2010 at 8:58 PM
Bring em! My T-16 is warmed up and ready.
Extrafishy on August 16, 2010 at 8:58 PM
Where’s Triumph the Insult Comic Dog when you need him?
Tennman on August 16, 2010 at 9:01 PM
Good grief. That scene was less than a minute. Not exactly what I expected given the hype about this over the weekend!
rockmom on August 16, 2010 at 9:01 PM
Yeah he kinda screwed it all up, didn’t he?
Am I the only one who remembers the scene in the 1st move (Episode III) in the beginning where Solo is talking with a human Jabba?
I believe the comics represented him that way early on, too.
Badger40 on August 16, 2010 at 9:01 PM
That would have been a pretty good start.
rob verdi on August 16, 2010 at 9:01 PM
These threads are an excellent way to find out who the dorks are and that they should not be taken seriously on any topic.
darwin-t on August 16, 2010 at 9:02 PM
BTW, isn’t George looking more like Jabba the Hut every day? Check out that 10 city block waddle under the dude’s neck:
George Lucas
AUINSC on August 16, 2010 at 9:04 PM
Not a fan of this fiveology or whatever. I think I watched movie one and two, once or twice when they first came out. I do like the 2 one-hour critiques of the the films or the last ones, I only watch them once.
I got a promotional video game of flying a Luke-ship through an asteroid field which I played off and on for a week.
This is my contribution to AP’s effort to get hits and comments for this thread.
Dusty on August 16, 2010 at 9:07 PM
Rumors of the dark version of ‘Revenge of the Jedi’ (what ROTJ was initially called) have long been known…but this video just shows how Lucas lost his touch, going all the way back to 1983.
neoavatara on August 16, 2010 at 9:09 PM
Where’s all this excitement over missing scenes from Howard the Duck?
Electrongod on August 16, 2010 at 9:10 PM
Easily amused, aren’t they?
SouthernGent on August 16, 2010 at 9:10 PM
That was a major disappointment. Apparently when they restored the original trilogy, they edited the negative into what became the 1997 Special Editions. So unless Lucas goes back and does another restoration of the original elements(assuming they still exist), those laserdisc rips are the best we’re gonna get.
It’s doubly frustrating when we’ve been given multiple cuts of other classic films on Blu-ray like Close Encounters, Blade Runner, Gladiator, even Conquest of the Planet of the Apes.
Doughboy on August 16, 2010 at 9:10 PM
Maybe one or 2 generations from now, we’ll be a laughing stock…for 1) Electing Obama and 2) Thinking Star Wars had any meaning at all except to give a bunch of cash to an untalented, lefty, Hollywood hack like George Lucas.
AUINSC on August 16, 2010 at 9:11 PM
Glad that wasn’t in it.
Tim Burton on August 16, 2010 at 9:12 PM
I feel bad that now days it is virtually impossible to go to a movie and know incredible plot twists before you get there.
For instance, back in the day, when I was sitting in the packed theater and Darth said “I AM your father”, there was absolute pandemonium. No one knew before hand, no one saw it coming, no one had tweeted it to all their friends standing in line for the movie. It was a moment of pure shock such as you cannot get now.
But maybe that’s just me.
Lily on August 16, 2010 at 9:13 PM
Not only have we, but some of us have four children, too.
jedijson on August 16, 2010 at 9:14 PM
Really? I guessed right off that plot point. It was so obvious to me at the time.
SouthernGent on August 16, 2010 at 9:15 PM
Nope, you are not alone on that matter.
Electrongod on August 16, 2010 at 9:15 PM
Hilarious! I don’t know jack about Star Wars, but those “dweebs” sure were a good-natured crowd.
Gang-of-One on August 16, 2010 at 9:18 PM
I hate Jedi.
exception on August 16, 2010 at 9:21 PM
I missed all the scenes from Howard the Duck……… And I`m o.k. with it.
ThePrez on August 16, 2010 at 9:22 PM
My brother bought one of the Hasbro Force FX light sabers at that Star Wars con,(The light saber is frakkin’ epic!)and he didn’t even bring me back a Stormtrooper thermos. Bastard.
I gots to get me one of them light sabers…
Battlecruiser-operational on August 16, 2010 at 9:22 PM
I meant no offense if any was taken. I was doing my William Shatner from that famous SNL convention sketch.
ThePrez on August 16, 2010 at 9:23 PM
When was the last time that something being “nuanced” was actually a good thing?
malclave on August 16, 2010 at 9:24 PM
I’m one of the rare people who’ve never seen ANY Star Wars movie all the way through. I thought they were boring as hell.
ddrintn on August 16, 2010 at 9:24 PM
I don`t know why, but that made me chuckle so happily, ty. :)
ThePrez on August 16, 2010 at 9:25 PM
Only Sith speak in absolutes!
So, Kenobi was a Sith, I presume.
lorien1973 on August 16, 2010 at 9:28 PM
Only in a Star Wars world, could a dude who murders a bunch of kids, blows up a planet and kills millions of others become a redeemed hero at the end.
lorien1973 on August 16, 2010 at 9:29 PM
A Sith? Theriously?
ThePrez on August 16, 2010 at 9:32 PM
I much prefer this missing scene:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5blbv4WFriM
Sharke on August 16, 2010 at 9:33 PM
You didn’t. I recognized the quote–I think that’s one of the few SNL episodes from the last decade that I actually watched. I just felt this overwhelming need to be a smarta$$ for all the Jedi-haters on the board, so I used your post to do it.
jedijson on August 16, 2010 at 9:37 PM
Well in his defense, he didn’t murder, murder them.
Lily on August 16, 2010 at 9:38 PM
Wow, all this angst over some flickering images!
OldEnglish on August 16, 2010 at 9:44 PM
And the redemption was not only cheap, but only questionably redemptive. He protected his own son? Big deal. Lots of evil people stick with family.
exception on August 16, 2010 at 9:45 PM
Luke wasn’t whining? Wow. I can see why they cut it.
rogerb on August 16, 2010 at 9:47 PM
The Jedi were an evil order of evil. Not many problems that they weren’t the cause of.
exception on August 16, 2010 at 9:48 PM
Ewww…. I got nerd on me.
The Ugly American on August 16, 2010 at 9:50 PM
I told my cousin who is a HUGE Star Wars fan (nerd/dork/whatever) that by the end of seeing all 2034870 of the movies (okay, it just FELT that long), I was cheering for the Empire to just win already.
He almost had a stroke. Man, that was fun.
mjk on August 16, 2010 at 9:53 PM
The only actor I totally loved in those movies was Liam Neeson. But that has more to do with the fact that he is a fine, fine specimen of a man than the movies. (heck, I watched frigging “Gangs of New York” for his 15 minutes of work and I f***ing hate Leo DiCaprio).
I’m sure he thanks his lucky stars that he got killed off by the end of the first prequel or whatever it was called.
mjk on August 16, 2010 at 9:56 PM
There really wasn’t much ‘bitter’ until the three piece-of-garbage ‘prequels.’
Good Lt on August 16, 2010 at 9:58 PM
An actual deleted scene that I really wish Lucas hadn’t cut
Also a slightly LONGER version here that was apparently sent to some theaters in the film rolls by mistake in 1977.
SgtSVJones on August 16, 2010 at 9:59 PM
This is why you can’t get girls.
Ronnie on August 16, 2010 at 9:59 PM
Youz right bout thaat.
Yooz gotta stick wit yer kin.
Badger40 on August 16, 2010 at 9:59 PM
Force with Lucas it is no more…..the dark side he has joined….hhmmm?
PappyD61 on August 16, 2010 at 10:01 PM
There’s hope for AP yet.
Perhaps he linked it to HA cuz he thought he’d get a few hits.
Badger40 on August 16, 2010 at 10:01 PM
In SoCal as a kid when I watched it opening night there, this scence was included. And when I kept watching it over & over later on, I never saw it again.
Which is dumb bcs when Biggs meets Luke before the end battle, you’ve got some continuity there.
And when Biggs gets vaporized, you know why Luke looks ral bummed bcs they set up how they were buds.
Badger40 on August 16, 2010 at 10:04 PM
Yeah, I liked the first three. The later ones got worse. That Jar Jar Binky was pathetic.
sharrukin on August 16, 2010 at 10:10 PM
Have to say, that’s one of many reasons I loved Return of the Jedi. Green is such a better lightsaber color than blue any day.
Rightwingguy on August 16, 2010 at 10:14 PM
slightly off-topic, but just barely: Star Wars Speed Dating at CV. Nothankyou. I’ll take my Star Wars-hating wife every time.
jedijson on August 16, 2010 at 10:25 PM
It is hard to believe that they sat on that this all these years.
They are waiting until the 50th anniversary to put all the deleted scenes together and re-release it all over again in the next format after blue-ray. Some 60′s year olds will be standing in line, for themselves not there kids or grandkids they never had.
tjexcite on August 16, 2010 at 10:27 PM
You know… I agree with Lucas over Kurtz.
Now I like a good tragedy, but I think Star Wars is more effective with a happy triumphant ending instead of a downer.
Also, I disagree that toys drove the decision. Would killing Han Solo somehow have made his figures less attractive to purchase?
I think George just decided he wanted a happy ending instead of bittersweet. And I agree with him.
Sackett on August 16, 2010 at 10:46 PM
l
I don’t know.
If you’re a Leftist, your probably a big fan of actual ‘heros’ like Che, Stalin, Castro, Arafat, Mao…
catmman on August 16, 2010 at 10:50 PM
Can someone explain that clip.
keep the change on August 16, 2010 at 10:58 PM
The Kurtz ending would’ve been so much better with Luke doing the whole ‘Shane’ bit minus the exsanguination. I identified the most with Han Solo, so I like that he survived; but completing the circle from anti-hero to hero and taking a leadership role would’ve been cool too…
liquidflorian on August 16, 2010 at 11:18 PM
The ending is weak (the whole second half of the movie is weak and the Ewoks sooo boring), but I’m glad Han didn’t die.
Some cable channel ran a SW marathon yesterday and I happened to catch the very end of “Jedi.” You know the scene where Yoda, Obi-wan and Anakin appear together to Luke? Well, Lucas has changed Anakin’s image from the original to one of Hayden Christensen. Arrrrgh.
SukieTawdry on August 16, 2010 at 11:19 PM
Long live the Empire!
OldEnglish on August 17, 2010 at 12:05 AM
I got to admit…
THAT WAS FREAKIN COOL!
MechEng5by5 on August 17, 2010 at 12:11 AM
1. Quit smoking dope.
2. Move out of Mom’s basement.
3. Get a job.
4. Get a life.
Mojave Mark on August 17, 2010 at 12:45 AM
What’s wrong with hating the what the Jedi had become? They took command of a slave army; clones, yes, but they were human, and they were given no choice at all; you’re in the army now. No choice, no vote, just put under the command of inexperienced Jedi generals and sent to die. Now the Jedi are supposed to be the ultimate force for good, the grand moral arbiters of the galaxy, and what did they do to address the plight of the slave army? D*ck. Just let them die. The Jedi were institutionally corrupt; it’s just as well the Emporer destroyed them; they were in massive need of a reorganization and redemption, starting with that little green snake eating muppet.
austinnelly on August 17, 2010 at 12:59 AM
That’s just the climax. They were evil long before that. Is there ever any case made that they are moral in general at any point?
exception on August 17, 2010 at 1:11 AM
I think a little of both would have been the best. Kurtz was right that a second death star was a stupid idea. Lucas was right that none of the principles should have died, but I could have seen Luke going off alone to restart the Jedi, and Luke and Leia could kiss in a not creepy way.
Regarding the Jedi, they really jumped the shark when in Episode 3, they say that the Jedi don’t believe in absolutes. It was supposed to be a slam against Bush (because you aren’t supposed to say you are for me or against me), but it made the Jedi into moral relativists. So then to the Jedi, what Anakin did wasn’t wrong but could be defended. Except it wasn’t. Which made no sense and for a movie series made increasingly for kids, what kind of morals was it espousing?
More than making the movie for toy sales, the movies suffered when they became liberal propaganda.
redeye on August 17, 2010 at 1:58 AM
Yeah but, the guy wore a freaking cape. A Cape! I could understand if it was a cloak, to shield his head from the desert Suns, but a cape?
I am glad those scenes weren’t included, I liked how we first met Luke, as an unassuming kid being ordered around by his uncle, instead of as some wimpy dork laughed at by the cool kids and friends with some guy in a cape.
Daemonocracy on August 17, 2010 at 3:47 AM
I actually don’t hate it. It could have fit. No real need for it, but it wouldn’t have hurt.
XWing5 on August 17, 2010 at 7:03 AM
Every time I go into the garage, the tiny original Luke and Han action figures are sitting there with their legs swinging off a shelf, just hanging out with the dust, slug bait and 18 inch Darth Maul still in his box.
Ebola’s 28 now, but I still wish Keesler had better internet so I could shoot him this thread. He’d have something to say.
Shame about Hamill’s face though. I never quite got over that.
tree hugging sister on August 17, 2010 at 8:20 AM
Well I guess I never liked Luke much.
He acted like an impetuous weenie.
Han Solo has always rocked way more.
And of course Ford was way hotter than Hamil.
But handsome, swaggering space pirates with a sensitive side always do get more girls.
Badger40 on August 17, 2010 at 8:33 AM
It’s just funny that Lucas waited so long to release the two trilogies on blu-ray, but certainly rushed his Clone Wars series on blu-ray. Yes, that’s what the fanboys crave, cartoons in HD.
I’m glad I’m just a passing fan and therefore not just another Lucas revenue stream. That being said, I’ll likely buy the series on blu-ray when the price drops.
ynot4tony2 on August 17, 2010 at 9:24 AM
I have yet to find a cut of Bladrunner that I consider to be watchable. I have officially given up. It’s a bad movie, beyond redemption in my opinion.
But speaking of new cuts to classic movies, I for one am happy that they released extended cuts of the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Unfortunately, those cuts won’t be available on blu-ray for quite some time. But thanks to Jolly Roger, I managed to get my hands on 720p versions of the extended cuts.
ynot4tony2 on August 17, 2010 at 9:31 AM
The original theatrical ending wasn’t so bad — the celebration with the Ewoks was short and looked fairly unforced — but the Special Edition ending was just silly.
Count to 10 on August 17, 2010 at 10:21 AM
Lucas apparently didn’t like Mark’s take on Luke until Mark started making it a sarcastic imitation of Lucas.
Count to 10 on August 17, 2010 at 10:23 AM
Vader, in his meditation chamber, is using the Force to try to call out to Luke. Luke hears him, but ignores him while he finishes his new lightsaber. All of this should be before the Droids are sent off as a “gift” to Jaba.
Incidentally, Luke is waring the same cloak in the clip that we was waring as he walked into Jaba’s palace. It isn’t a cape.
Count to 10 on August 17, 2010 at 10:28 AM
Hmmm, compromise his artistic integrity for action figure sales?
I bet he sweats, tosses and turns every night thinking about it. Or he sleeps like a baby in his $$$million home.
JayJay123 on August 17, 2010 at 10:49 AM
Burn the heretic!
pseudonominus on August 17, 2010 at 10:56 AM
The more I see the less I like. When all six movies are considered it is a wonder Lucas is seen as much more than an average story teller. Should have just left the whole thing alone after Jedi. Worse my kid is watching all the films and they get worse with every viewing.
jcrue on August 17, 2010 at 11:14 AM
I’m probably guilty of several counts of heresy, as I really, really do not like sci-fi in general. Rare exceptions include Star Wars (I was the right age to be sucked in), Terminator series (I have a soft spot for stories that involve altering time), and medieval fantasy (a separate genre in my opinion).
I’m a physics geek who despises Star Trek. Can’t stand Bladerunner. Don’t see the big deal about the Aliens movies. Transformers are nothing to me but toys I never played with.
I know…I’ll get the wood pile ready and start tying myself to the stake.
ynot4tony2 on August 17, 2010 at 11:19 AM
You remember that from a making-of TV special.
YYZ on August 17, 2010 at 11:30 AM
burn baby burn
pseudonominus on August 17, 2010 at 11:31 AM
DO NOT WANT
Ryan Anthony on August 17, 2010 at 12:23 PM
My perceptive fifteen-year-old (a HUGE SW fan when he was in 3rd & 4th grade) recently noted that while Lucas created a world around his story and then painted himself into several corners trying to make an expanded version of the story coherent, Tolkien created a coherent world, and then told one of the stories that took place in it.
skydaddy on August 17, 2010 at 2:32 PM
A room full of Chris Matthews thrill up the leg fanatics?
dthorny on August 17, 2010 at 2:56 PM
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