check out this exploration on the deep psychology and mythology behind empire (I wouldn't change a thing about that movie!) kzread.info/dash/bejne/no6Gscqjo9qwktI.html

No Leia in a gold bikini? Pass.

@PalleschitheWriter

Ай бұрын

someone in the comment section suggested Leia get caught right after she alerts chewy then we can get her in the gold bikini and strangle Jabba. we can have it all!

@belegcuthalion3751

Ай бұрын

He lost me there too :)

@lonjohnson5161

Ай бұрын

Think of Sigourney Weaver's character from Galaxy Quest. There is always a way.

Tolkien wrote The Hobbit for his young kids, and LOTR for when they were older.

@PalleschitheWriter

2 ай бұрын

that's cool. i know Lucas borrowed a lot from Tolkien, i wished he would have stuck to Tolkien's aging up

@36inc

Ай бұрын

@@PalleschitheWriter he did but everyone was so distracted by jarjar they couldnt respect the expert level set up the prequels did for palps.

@purefoldnz3070

Ай бұрын

@@PalleschitheWriter Lucas stole from everything not nailed down.

@white-dragon4424

Ай бұрын

@@purefoldnz3070 Ironic that his lawyers went after anyone who made anything even smelling like Star Wars.

@purefoldnz3070

Ай бұрын

@@white-dragon4424 yes exactly, when nothing Lucas made was really original.

Ngl if the Ewoks were wookies like he wanted it would have been more believable that a planet of bigfoots helped beat the empire instead of teddy bears.

@PalleschitheWriter

2 ай бұрын

agreed.

@purefoldnz3070

Ай бұрын

human eating Teddies

@user-xx6vy9ri8p

Ай бұрын

But it wouldn't be believable Palpatine overlooked them. Especially when Wookies already saved Yoda.

@PalleschitheWriter

Ай бұрын

@@user-xx6vy9ri8p but they only saved yoda retroactively (they wouldn't have had the wookiee army in ep III if they had already done it in jedi)

@user-xx6vy9ri8p

Ай бұрын

@@PalleschitheWriter Still, Wookies are way more advanced and strong than Ewoks and to put it slightly don't like the Empire.

Luke's not going back to Yoda earlier didn't make sense. It's also weird that he left getting chewed out about not completing his training, but he comes back and Yoda says, "No more training do you need." I guess because all the remaining training was preparation for facing Vader?

@PalleschitheWriter

2 ай бұрын

yeah, and i'm still confused how he got better without training

@PaulTobelmann

2 ай бұрын

@@PalleschitheWriter In Timothy Zahn's (by now, non-canon) Hand of Thrawn duology, there's a bit of talk about Jedi only unlocking their full powers after going through a transformative moment, one in which they have a decision to make, and it is strongly implied one in which they have to make a big sacrifice, or at least lose something very important to them. I like this idea: you can be force sensitive, you can be well-trained, but coming into your own still requires something special, a moment of truth, and choice. For instance (SPOILERS!), Mara Jade only unlocks Jedi mind reading powers after sacrificing her most prized possession, a spaceship that is also an obvious stand-in for her freedom from obligation and responsibility. Luke losing his innocence alongside his hand on Bespin and deciding not to join his father could have explained his growth in this line of thinking.

@user-xx6vy9ri8p

Ай бұрын

​@@PalleschitheWriter Self-practicing with what Yoda taught him

@PalleschitheWriter

Ай бұрын

@@PaulTobelmann i like that idea. I remember reading orson scott card somewhere saying all power should come with a price.

nah, the movie shouldve had her in bikinis the whole movie and it wouldve been 1000% better

You lost me at giving up Slave Leia tbh

@PalleschitheWriter

Ай бұрын

someone in the comments suggested Leia gets captured after she comlinks chewy. then we can get her in the slave outfit and she can still strangle Jabba.

@Blondie472

Ай бұрын

I want more of that! Rated R

@chrisa84

Ай бұрын

Yeah, anybody can throw a lightsaber at Luke, but only one character in that movie could wear that slave outfit

@PalleschitheWriter

Ай бұрын

@@chrisa84 you're selling Max Rebo short.

I like your version, but what I'd do is have Boba Fett catch Leia making the transmission to Chewy, so she gets caught, but manages to get the lightsabre to R2D2. That way we get to see Boba as an intelligent, formiddable foe. We also get more setbacks to build character for Leia. And we ALSO get slave Leia in her bikini which is frankly, iconic.

@PalleschitheWriter

2 ай бұрын

good plan. just as long as we don't kill off boba like they did

I hated the ewoks and always thought if Leia was Luke's sister that Vader should have sensed the force in her when they were standing next to each other if he could sense Luke in another space ship.

@PalleschitheWriter

2 ай бұрын

this is because they retconned it. if they had planned on her being the sister they would have written things differently. this is why the sequels bug me. Lucas didn't know what a monster he had on his hands so he aimed to make one great movie (the death star was originally planned for the third but he realized he needed that big ending for the original ) But with the sequels they knew they were going to have one of the most watched movies of all time. why they didn't plan out the entire trilogy before the even started shooting is beyond me.

@mem1701movies

Ай бұрын

@@PalleschitheWriterthat’s why I’ll always love the very first STAR WARS. EMPIRE was on the right direction but I hated the cliffhanger and 3 years was an eternity for a kid to be concluded in the disappointing JEDI

@biguy617

Ай бұрын

He didn’t know she existed. She didn’t know of her power at the time. That is why Vader couldn’t sense her.

@joeylodes

Ай бұрын

The whole thing was an afterthought And a terrible one at that

My improvement suggestions: Han & Leia boning with her in the slave outfit. Also, once the storm troopers recovered from the surprise of being attacked by the Ewoks, they regroup and slaughter the entire village.

@PalleschitheWriter

Ай бұрын

rule 34 would state that there must be alternative version with more slave outfit

Empire was about the story

@PalleschitheWriter

2 ай бұрын

I did a video on Empire and how George Lucas dug deep into mythology and psychology to make it work. The surprise hits on so many levels because Luke has to grapple with what Jung called "The Shadow" the dark part of our souls that we hide from the world.

Got to back up for a rewrite with the gold bikini….You can’t eliminate the best scenes of the first hour of the movie!!!

@PalleschitheWriter

2 ай бұрын

that is sacrilege on my part. how bout she gets capture before they find luke then lando gets to luke on dagobah.

Spectacular take! Your video is not just an Easter-egg hunt or hero worship. Instead, it’s quite a refreshing and well reasoned creative “what-if” thought experiment. The style, pace, meta-explanations, humor, creative thoughts, and critical thinking in your videos are all quite welcome. Keep ‘em coming, please and thank you!

@PalleschitheWriter

2 ай бұрын

thank you!

@GenX-RadRat

2 ай бұрын

His thoughts are stupid and now we know you are too

Certainly sounds like a better take. Especially with the Jabba scene despite loosing thirst trap Leia. The Yoda scene too with Luke throwing the father thing back at Yoda is more in his character than what we got.

@PalleschitheWriter

2 ай бұрын

thanks! (I know i pissed off some horny dudes suggesting i cut the slave girl)

Turning Princess Leia into Slave Leia was arguably the best and deepest character move in the history of the Star Wars franchise. Having her wear the metal bikini was also genius. It gave her character more depth -- Leia wasn't just a generic Action Girl after that. Now they didn't handle it as well as they could have, but they did about as well as they could within the constraints of a PG-13 family movie.

@PalleschitheWriter

2 ай бұрын

someone on here had a comment that did what I had pitched but have Leia get caught after she com links chewy so we still get the gold bikini and the strangulation. i think that was a great idea

You missed the biggest plot hole of all. Yoda tells Luke "size doesn't matter" when it comes to "using the force to move things". So, why not simply put Yoda within eyeball range of the "New Death Star" and have him "use the force" to crash the Death Star into the nearest planet? "Size matters not", after all!

Love the idea for your middle act. Having Leia and Han go on a mission for intel on the second Death Star, Leia discovering her past and Han having to face the hunter that turned him into a grisly wall decoration... this is good stuff.

@PalleschitheWriter

Ай бұрын

thank you! i appreciate it

7 and 13 here too. Lucas should have went with Wookies instead of Ewoks. I am glad they did not kill off Han Solo or any of the main characters. The humor just didn't work in Return of the Jedi where it did work in Empire. I agree with you on Boba Fett's death scene. I agree with you overall. The movie could have been so much better. I still remember the first night I saw the Empire Strikes Back in 1980. I thought Lando Calrissian was such a great new character. I'll never forget how the audience went wild when the Millennium Falcon's hyperdrive finally worked and our heroes got away. That's how much people loved those characters back then. Great video!!

@PalleschitheWriter

2 ай бұрын

thank you!

You had me at the thumbnail.

@PalleschitheWriter

Ай бұрын

i realize leia in the gold bikini is the secret to youtube success

@PalleschitheWriter

Ай бұрын

i just changed the thumbnail on my empire strikes back video to a woman's butt in an r2d2 bikini. apparently guys who like star wars also like hot women.

Hey, awesome vid and excellent points! I like the way you think so I'll have to check out your other videos. Here's some other stuff that bothers me about this film which I'd want to fix (off the top of my head)… • The light-hearted Ewok section feels very small and "mid movie" - Ewoks shouldn't get ANYWHERE near the dramatic final act. • The movie fails to introduce even one new human character, making it feel like a stale re-hash. • There are nowhere near enough scenes with Luke/Han/Leia together (in an intimate setting) and nonwhere near enough romantic banter. • What's the point in having Leia in disguise when you're not going to use it to surprise the audience? The bounty hunter is quite obviously one of our heroes in disguise, rescuing Han. Lots could have done to make Leia's reveal a total shock. Present the "bounty hunter" as an established, trusted member of Jabba's team at the start, instead of a visiting stranger. Have "him" being somewhat antagonistic to the heroes to win Jabba's trust. Place the reveal at a pivotal moment of crisis - like the "bounty hunter" is about to execute Chewie and there's nothing anyone can do to stop it. • Going from the mighty AT-ATs in the previous film to the scout walkers is a clear demotion and they're "downing the stakes". If you're going to have tinier machines, they need to be scarier in other ways, particularly in how they move and sound. • Ben's ghost appears too frequently and too casually, without anyone ever acknowledging how big a deal it is that ghosts exist and that Ben isn't really "dead". And what's up with his vanishing death anyway? Where are the answers? • We needed way more of Han flying his iconic ship. Him loaning the Falcon to Lando serves no narrative purpose and tells us nothing about either Han or Lando. • Really? They're flying into another death star and blowing it up just like in the first film? Yawn. Having a second death star robs the first film of its identity. We needed a brand new threat, perhaps with a new iconic and distinctive set piece. Maybe something red this time instead of grey, to tie in with the "red guys" in this movie. A super-powerful new ship with so much firepower the whole ship glows red with flames? SOMETHING that's new and different. • For the climax of a "space movie" trilogy, we spend way too much time in a small earthlike forest, and NOT in the vastness of space! It leaves you coming away from the movie with a sense of "small", "cheap" and "ordinary" instead of fantasy and escapism. • Luke gives us no real indication he would ever defect to the dark side. We should have been teased with this prospect, with Luke showing the audience it's something he's seriously considering, and a moment when we think he's defected because he seems to betray his friends. • I wish the final battle had drawn more on the verbal interchange between Luke and The Emperor, with a true battles of wits showing how strong they both are, the Emperor as the ultimate cunning puppetmaster and Luke cutting all his strings. • At the end of the movie, the Ewoks are just a huge gang of interchangeable minions with no character. Wicket should have been more of a character who forms a bond with Leia, with this bond affirmed at the end, perhaps with him hugging her or giving her something. • The end of the movie is highly disjointed, with three "stories" taking place simultaneously. I'd like the climax of this trilogy to be more focused, with everything else put to bed to show that Luke's confrontation with the Emperor is "what matters most". • During the final confrontation with the Emperor, all of Luke's buddies are still alive, free, and flying around in space. This makes it feel like Luke has backup and it's not all on his shoulders. This robs the story of Luke's importance. I would have had all his buddies imprisoned and facing death, so it was all down to Luke. • Killing the emperor by throwing him over some random railing has three problems, for me. One is that it hardly seems like a way to destroy such a super-powerful being. Secondly, we saw Luke face the exact same threat in the previous movie and he survived no problem. And thirdly, the Emperor is such an iconic character that he should have a more iconic and elaborate means of death, more like what happens to the villains in Indiana Jones, but with a big, impressive set. • The guy inside Vader looked horrible and we should never have seen him as it spoils the character. • The final action scene should have taken place with all the heroes escaping together, barely making it out alive. • Han and Leia never meet Vader once in this film. That just seems wrong. We need some sense of "closure" and "full circle". I appreciate that Han is a light-hearted character who could undermine the menace of Vader, but there should have been SOME kind of meeting, even if it was just for Han and Leia to see Vader's body. SOME kind of reaction from Leia upon seeing Vader dead would have been extremely gratifying to the audience and helped everyone come to terms with what's happened. • I've always found "Return of the Jedi" quite a bland title and I think "return" is a weak word. A few better titles off the top of my head: "The Final Confrontation", "Destiny Fulfilled", "Journey to the Father", "Into the Dark Side", "Son and Moon", or my personal favourite: "Skywalker's Redemption". • With that last title in mind, I would have also done this… When Luke meets Yoda, Yoda should call him "Skywalker" a lot. Yoda should also spend time pushing Luke to get to his true feelings which Luke has been bottled up. Luke breaks down and cries about how bad he feels that he wasn't there to help his aunt and auncle, and how he lost Ben. The last thing Luke should say to Yoda is that he wants to redeem himself. Then Yoda's final words should be "Skywalker WILL redeem himself". I think that would be perfect! :-)

@PalleschitheWriter

Ай бұрын

all great points! thanks for taking the time for such a thought-out response.and yeah, i never thought how falling into the chasm killed the emperor when luke survived the same thing one movie ago. i think all of your ideas lead to a more grown up ending which i agree would have been better. i know what he did worked for little kids but i wish he had gone the JK Rowling route and aged up the finale for the audience who were growing up with the work.

@Scripture-Man

Ай бұрын

@@PalleschitheWriter Pleasure talking to you :-)

*Vadar: "Luke I am your father" ===> "I am yo daddy fool" 😊*

Empire Strikes Back and the original Star Wars(in my time it wasn’t named a new hope, way before the prequels) were always my favorite SW movies of all time , specially ESB . ROTJ has its merits , but the ewoks messed it a bit and tuned down the movie too much . Yeah there was Leia with that kinky bikini , never gonna forget that and a few other gems .

I agree with everything you said EXCEPT losing Leia in the gold bikini - that is WAY too important to the success of Star Wars. Instead of posing as a bounty hunter, Leia could easily replace one of Jabba's veiled exotic dancers and accomplish everything you suggested. Where does she hide the light sabre? That just adds to the legend.

@PalleschitheWriter

Ай бұрын

this seems to be the consensus. i need to rewrite the rewrite

@WowbaggerTheInfinitelyProlonge

Ай бұрын

@@PalleschitheWriter It's only a tweak ... You can't destroy 40 years of adolescent fantasies and an entire industry of Halloween and cosplay costumes just because it makes sense.

@PalleschitheWriter

Ай бұрын

@@WowbaggerTheInfinitelyProlonge i've retroactively killed a lot of boners.

@WowbaggerTheInfinitelyProlonge

Ай бұрын

@@PalleschitheWriter In some number of alternate timelines, you've made a lot of people less happy. Some "spectacles" far outweigh their literary unworthiness.

Leia choking Jabba to death with his own chain - a symbol of her subjugation - is not only a character moment, but her most personally triumphant moment in the entire trilogy - and you robbed her of it, while complaining she doesn't have enough to do. I have also rewritten ROTJ, but I don't think you've thought this one through. The entire Jabba sequence is structured like a heist, and the enjoyment comes from seeing our heroes operating as a formidable team for the first time and no longer flailing around to survive. This then sets up Yoda's line that Luke no longer needs any more training. For starters, just removing "Jedi Rocks" alone would be a massive improvement. Opening on Dagobah would have been a mistake. For one, they had always known where Han was, and Star Wars almost never used echoed call-back lines. More importantly, it would have slowed down the opening considerably by pushing back the action, ruined all the slow one-by-one surprise reveals of all the characters, and messed with the positioning of the exposition, which would have been overly front-heavy. The exposition scenes intentionally slow things down after the skiff battle, and allow you to get further sucked into the story. Returning to Dagobah in the same movie would have slowed things down even more, not sped things up. And that would have been a much bigger break in story structure than having the rather early Mon Mothma exposition scene. All you want to accomplish is to avoid making it feel like things are too easy on the heroes. All of that could be accomplished with one line of dialog: "We all barely made it out of there alive, things didn't exactly go to plan..." Which would perfectly set up Luke deciding that now is the time to return to Dagobah to complete his training. Logically, this scene would take place on the Falcon after the skiff battle, which for a long time I've referred to as *THE* missing scene in ROJT. For one, we never actually see the interior of the Falcon set in the entirety of ROTJ. And more importantly, this would logically be where we bring up all the relevant dramatic questions that would create the much needed tension and suspense that is lacking: 1) Han would question Lando's loyalty; 2) Leia's romantic intentions should be up in the air; and 3) They should question if Han will ever grow up someday. These dramatic questions then all pay off at the climax we are all familiar with. This added scene would also help make the film feel much less rushed, as on subsequent viewings it becomes more noticeable that the story wraps up a bit too quickly, easily and nicely. This should also be where Leia says that the Rebellion is broke and losing support quickly, and that Mon Mothma has gathered the fleet for one final attempt to save the galaxy, and if it fails...all hope is lost. This should fix your issue with the middle of the movie, the fact that you just find the Ewoks scenes to be boring. If a story drags, it is because of a lack of tension, drama and suspense. To that end, it would help if our heroes would have kept checking their watches, cluing the audience into the fact that time is running out before the fleet arrives. In addition, I would make the standard expected changes: 1. Give Boba Fett a big final fight on the deck of the sail barge with Luke. 2. Replace most of the Ewoks with Wookiees. 3. The Death Star II should have been a new space station with a different design instead of just another Death Star.

@PalleschitheWriter

2 ай бұрын

all good takes! I'd still like to have their plan in the palace be a little more thought out, Leia pulling the thermal detonator makes no sense. it gives you a quick moment of tension but the logic unravels once you realize it's her in disguise. and i think in your missing scene they could have mention that luke had been training and the vader being his father. it still seems weird that he wouldn't have mentioned it to leia.

@BenjaminWhitley

2 ай бұрын

@@PalleschitheWriter Thanks! In the Boushh scene, I think you're forgetting that they can't shoot her, because she would drop the grenade and everyone would die. She was betting that Jabba would respect her ruthlessness, and she was right. Her goal was simply to infiltrate the palace, and she accomplished that. Leia has always taken gutsy risks, so I don't find it out of character that she would take rather big risks to save the man she loves. You wanted more character moments - well there you go: she's willing to risk her life for the one she loves. It's been popular in recent years to interrogate the logic of their rescue plan, but I have never had any issue with the fact that they were clearly improvising and rolling with the punches, especially since Lando's cover was never blown. Lando was there to act at any moment if things went poodoo. As for Luke, he wasn't totally sure Vader was actually his father until Yoda confirmed it. Then right after that, he also learned that Leia is his sister. So now he's gonna rush to drop all of that on her at once in the middle of that briefing room? "I'm your lost twin brother and oh by the way our Dad is space hitler! Anyway, good luck on your mission!" I think it's completely and utterly believable that Luke was reluctant to dump all of that drama on her. He even says "this won't be easy to hear..." The only chance he had to tell her was while she was preparing for the most important mission of their lives, and he only told her before he left when he thought he was going to die and it was his last chance. I agree that the movie has room for improvement, but I don't think these are real problems with the story. I'm glad I get to discuss this with another writer, as I'm currently working on my own rewrite of Shadows of the Empire as well, and I'm looking for as many opportunities to improve the setup for ROTJ as possible. Improving the lead up to the Jabba's Palace rescue mission is definitely one of the things I'm working on. I also 100% agree that Leia should be involved in the Bothan spy mission, and I'm writing that into my story as well. I'm also working on my own sequel trilogy, and one of the major plot points is Leia's entire political career being destroyed when word gets out that she's Darth Vader's secret daughter.

@PalleschitheWriter

2 ай бұрын

@@BenjaminWhitley very cool. it's fun to discuss this stuff if only for a thought experiment that makes us better writers. i know some people get annoyed we're even tinkering with classic movies but this is how we improve. good luck with your writing!

@BenjaminWhitley

2 ай бұрын

@@PalleschitheWriter Totally. I would have considered ROTJ a sacred cow until I became a writer and had to admit that it could indeed be better. I still love it, though. Thanks!

@gtmippey

Ай бұрын

The Death Star throne room scene should have been the Imperial Palace.

Oh hell! If I had the chance, I'd retcon the entire prequel trilogy! I'd make the Death Star's origins into some kind of utopian Dyson sphere that evil forces seize hold of and twist into their own twisted agenda to control the galaxy. The whole trilogy would be about that

Great video. And surprising that KZread would recommend me a channel of this size.

@PalleschitheWriter

2 ай бұрын

thank you!

The special effects in the old star wars films were so good. And then the later ones come along and look like ps2 graphics. Why? Expense? Or were they just excited to use the new technology and got a bit ahead of themselves?

@PalleschitheWriter

2 ай бұрын

I think they got excited for their new toys. it looked dated immediately (and most changes were unnecessary)

My changes would go like this In place of the Death Star II and Endor, this is how I would change things. The Rebels would be staging a Coup D'état on Coruscant. The battle on the ground would now take place in the Imperial City and the area surrounding the Imperial Palace. The dogfights between X-Wings and TIE Fighters would take place in the skies above instead of in space. The confrontation between Luke, Vader and The Emperor would take place in the Imperial Palace in The Emperor’s Throne Room. These changes accomplish twofold. We get to see a new type of planet. One completely covered in cityscape and we get a story involving The Rebellion that isn’t a plot of repetition, yet is thematic repetition. Our heroes are charging into a David versus Goliath battle like they did in the finale of A New Hope, will give us that sense of familiarity we need without doing a complete Death Star retread and wouldn’t it have been just awesome to see the very heart of the Empire? We never got to see it’s capital, only various Star Destroyers and the Death Star. Imagine the production design for a Nazi Germany as dystopian Coruscant with a memorial for those who died when the Death Star was destroyed, as well as extravagant Imperial Propaganda like statues of Palpatine, Tarkin and Darth Vader. Big missed opportunities in my opinion. Also for the big rescue of Han. It needs act as a natural part of the story. It should open how ESB ended. Our main characters and the remaining Rebels floating out in the galaxy somewhere. We really need to start by catching up with them at the onset of the film instead of almost an hour into it. So The Rebel Alliance is currently debating about how to proceed and fighting The Empire and after realizing the level of their desperation, they decide to lan the coup that I talked about earlier. In enacting this plan, they need to find somebody who can seek them onto Coruscant. To which Luke, Leia, Lando and Chewie, particularly Leia see this as an opportunity to pitch rescuing Han Solo since he is a galaxy famous Smuggler. They wanted to rescue Han for sometime, however the other leaders of the Rebellion view such an operation as a distraction and a unnecessary use of resources that are already scarce. But now here’s their chance to save their friend, in which they also be servicing the overall goal of the Rebellion to bring down the Empire, but their pitch is denied. The other Rebel Leaders they can find a great smuggler without having to partake in such a risky rescue mission. Distraught and after some brief contemplation. Our heroes decide to go rescue Han anyway and fly off to Jabba’s palace. The rescue Han act would remain the same but with two slight changes. Instead of Tatooine, Jabba’s palace should be on Nal Hutta. Because it’s the homeworld of The Hutts and we’ve already seen Tatooine and we should see new planets. The other change is prior to leaving for The Falcon. Our heroes would be stopped by Boba Fett. Han Solo has a debt to pay to Fett. This isn’t about the bounty anymore. This is personal. Fett would reveal that the famous tale of Han Solo dropping a cargo at the sight of an Imperial Star Destroyer, Boba would say they worked that job together and Han left him for dead. And ever since then, Boba has had it out for Solo. Of course, the Imperials did not survive, hence Vader’s “NO DISINTIGRATIONS!” Command in ESB. So Han and Boba must duel to death on Nal Hutta. Boba basically giving the vibe that Boba will always be there to find Han and his friends. And give Boba’s classic line to Han, “You can run, but you’ll only die tired” So this is something Han has to do himself. This is an old Western styled duel. Since Lucas was a fan of these western movies, I can see this being how Han and Boba settles things. Han and Boba fighting to the bitter death and to an old spaghetti western styled duel. As the fight between Boba reaches his end, as Han gets the drop on him and has Boba at his mercy, Han chooses not to kill Boba. Han and Boba Fett finally bury their rivalry and leave it in the past and shake hands. Boba would declare that Han’s bounty will no longer exists and he won’t chased by him and exits the story. This would work because it would show that Han has grown from the rogue who would shot a man dead without question in ANH to someone who is willing to find an alternate solution to his problems. It’d also give some layers to Boba Fett of being a man of honor. The last big change is in regards to Luke’s character. I mean the Luke we got in George’s version was great, but definitely could’ve been better right away at the start of the film. Luke appears to have already gone through the bulk of his character arc, suddenly he’s gotten this huge boost in confidence and wisdom within only the supposed six months that occurs between ESB and ROTJ. When we last saw him, he had endured a terrible defeat. So how did that character growth happen? That’s something we as the audience would want to have seen in this hypothetical version. Luke could be quite despondent since his duel with Vader. Specifically tormented over or not the whole “I am your father” reveal was true. This would without a doubt make him feel uncertain and question if he were indeed worthy of being a Jedi Knight. So that’s what we would craft the story of the film around. Luke placed in situations which he has to overcome his uncertainties and learn what it does in fact take to be a worthy Jedi. One example could be Luke is initially unable to bring himself to keep his promises to Yoda that he had returned to complete his training due to the shame he feels for laving left his training in the first place to fight a battle Yoda warned and he’d lose, which he then did end up losing and quite badly. Now Luke must learn to swallow his pride and humble himself before his master as a worthy Jedi. It takes ownerships of their failures. By including beats such as that and many others like it, we would be presented with the Luke Skywalker that has the potential for a much more emotional depth and much more defined character arc, of course said arc would also mirrored in what I believe is a neat alteration to Return Of The Jedi. Which takes a page from The Godfather Part II and parallel the story of the son with that of the father. In this scenario there would be no need for the prequels to exist. We would instead have Anakin’s fall to the dark side be portrayed in flashbacks. These flashbacks would run alongside the beats of Luke’s arc in Return Of The Jedi. Sebastian Shaw would play Anakin. These flashbacks won’t be included into the movie just for the sake of telling Vader’s backstory, they would be included in order to add a huge layer of tension to Luke’s character as with each flashback, we’d see the eerie similarities between Luke’s and Anakin’s journeys. From small things like their planet of origin and the older age in which they began their Jedi training, to the bigger things suck as their lack of control over their emotions and a shared internal struggle with their own self-worth. We would also see Anakin’s love for his mother and brother Owen(also Owen’s irritation that he left) and his love for Luke’s mother Padme. Anakin and Obi-Wan’s friendship and see Sebastian and Alec together as Anakin and Obi-Wan. As for the fall of the Jedi and ANakin’s fall to the dark side. The fall of The Jedi would be more like George Lucas’ original plan “Anakin has been going off doing his Jedi thing and a lot of Jedi have been getting killed-and it’s because they turn their back on him and he cuts them down” and we see a younger Chancellor Palpatine giving the order as he rises to become Emperor. I think with this change we’re left with a much stronger edge of the seat scenario in which the audience believes Luke could indeed fall to the dark side in the end. A Final note on these flashbacks. They’d more than likely appear as a vision in Luke’s mind, this would create a cleaner editing between the past and present as well as allow Luke to actually see his father’s history and in turn give him more of a reason to believe it’s possible for Vader to become Anakin again.

@PalleschitheWriter

2 ай бұрын

love your thoughts! thank you for taking the time to write them. I love the attack on coruscant idea and giving boba feet much more to do. he was such a bad ass i think everybody wanted more of him.

@PalleschitheWriter

2 ай бұрын

Knowing that George and Coppola were such good friends I wonder if a Godfather part 2 style of juxtaposition ever crossed his mind. thanks again for the comment!

I was 3 when Return came out. Ironically, when i watched them on vhs, it was always my favourite of the original trilogy.

I grew up in the 90s with the VHS boxed set: "For those who remember, for those who will never forget, and for those who will experience it for the very first time." "Hi, I'm Leonard Maltin." As a result, spectacle is the main thing that I'm looking for from Star Wars, which is why I always loved RotJ and never cared much for Empire.

@PalleschitheWriter

24 күн бұрын

to each his own... but i am surprised to hear so many people saying they don't care for empire. you're not the first! that surprised me because i though that was the 'dark side of the moon' of star wars movies (and yes, i know there are pink floyd fans who don't care for dark side of the moon) it's fun to discuss and get different people's takes.

87%? That’s pretty specific. 🤔

@PalleschitheWriter

2 ай бұрын

twas being silly

I like your alternate... but one complaint about your complaints; Fett couldn't shoot Leia in the back because the thermal detonator is a dead man switch. If she dies, they all die.

@PalleschitheWriter

Ай бұрын

i meant after jabba praises her and gets her to turn it off.

I was also seven. Perfect age for these films

@PalleschitheWriter

2 ай бұрын

they were such a part of my childhood and when my son got into them i got to relieve them through his eyes. it's amazing how well the OT holds up.

Well done, sir. - Chris

@PalleschitheWriter

Ай бұрын

thank you, Chris! (and hopefully mike agrees.)

I don't think Luke would actually do that at the beginning. Seems a bit random and I don't generally think of the Jedi as being that cocky

@PalleschitheWriter

2 ай бұрын

my feeling is he would do that and then realized it was not very jedi-like of him

@diogeneslaertes

2 ай бұрын

The first thing in Jedi that Luke does is force choke the Gamorrean Guards. Jedi don't force choke.

@PalleschitheWriter

2 ай бұрын

@@diogeneslaertes they tried to retcon that and say he just pushed them and they held their throats in shock, but c'mon, that's a force choke

@Finn_MacCool

2 ай бұрын

@@diogeneslaertes Who says Jedi don't Force choke? Disney?

@diogeneslaertes

2 ай бұрын

@@Finn_MacCool No, the Jedi say they don't force choke. Name one actual Jedi that has force choked anyone, ever. If Jedi were down with force choking, Mace Windu would be force choking mfs left and right.

Endor should have instead been Kashyyk. Lucas rejected that idea because "the wookies were too technological" and he wanted the people who defeat the Empire to be primitive. But canonically, all we know is that Chewbacca comes from Kashyyk, and the only time we were shown Kashyyk was in a TV special that Lucas pretends never happened. I always thought Chewbacca was a "My Man Friday" type who was removed from his primitive people, so it says nothing about where they are technologically. If ROTJ had had Wookies? Way better.

@PalleschitheWriter

2 ай бұрын

agreed. and they could have made it a different tribe of wookiees that weren't as advanced as his

RotJ would have been the best Star Wars movie ever if it was just a 2 hour movie of Carrie Fisher in that bikini

The Ewoks I hated. Everything else was cool. I think Jabba might of been why Leela was in a bikini.

The thing is, Lucas wanted to keep the 'Flash Gordon - Saturday morning TV' spirit & that's why the Jabba Palace sequence. However there's room to improve later on with Leia & Luke dialogue & their connection.

@PalleschitheWriter

2 ай бұрын

Agreed. i just think the palace sequence could have been a little better. and i wish they gave leia more to do, like i had mentioned. i think they could have set her up as a force wielder.

@sherrattpemberton6089

Ай бұрын

The issue is that everything in the Jabbas Palace sequence had so much goofiness that it completely destroyed the seriousness of the situation

@yw1971

Ай бұрын

@@PalleschitheWriter First there's awareness (as seen in TESB). Then with training comes ability. Otherwise we may as well let KK have it her way...

Just seemed like he was looking to sell more toys.

@PalleschitheWriter

5 күн бұрын

i know that's been said but i bought tons of toys long before ewoks were a thing.

I feel like the only real problem Jedi had was that it followed Empire. Empire was such a masterpiece that it made any following act look troubled by comparison. That said, I disagree with a few points. Luke wanting to go into Jabba's palace alone because of hubris would not have made sense. Leading up to the lightsaber fight on Bespin, Luke having a growing sense of arrogance would've been justified, but Vader reinforced his humility just as Yoda did with the X-Wing. Any overconfidence that Luke could've developed would've had to have grown off screen between movies. Also expecting him to hop straight into an X-Wing and talk to Yoda at the end of Empire implies he wouldn't have felt any obligation to aid the rebellion after his training. Luke could've justified leaving the rebellion on Hoth to visit Yoda because he had to become better. Aiding the rebellion was his original goal and being a Jedi was secondary. By bringing them all together in Jabba's palace on an insane plan was representative of their time between movies spent fighting together against outlandish odds as a close group of allies. Only after his duty to his friend was over, he could justify the visit to Yoda because he had time until the final battle. That comradery is more believable as a between movie development than a personality shift and mirrors the implied sense of growing comradery implied in conversations early in Empire when Han and Leia are discussing previous places they've been evading bounty hunters and such.

I agree, the Jedi could have been a much better film. I actually find the whole Act I (Jabba) a bit boring, and Ewoks quite annoying. There are also lots of recycled ideas from the New hope. Having said that, I honestly think that the final duel is one of the great moments in movie history. Amazing visuals, music, characters and build-up, and what an ending with Anakin/Vader finally fulfilling the prophesy in a most surprising way (of course we only find out about the prophecy afterwards, but it only makes the ending better and is one of the things they didn't screw up in the follow-up trilogy). And nobody dare to disagree, I have the high ground!

@PalleschitheWriter

2 ай бұрын

the final duel is great. i know some don't like Darth turning good but i think it works great and Lucas was going for a more family friendly tone. Dune is one of my favorite novels and as much as Lucas took from that I think he was wise to end on an upbeat note.

Marcia Lucas DID work on Return of the Jedi. She pretty much took over the editing process due to George being emotionally estranged. They even called her "The Queen of Death" because she was always editing the emotional and major death scenes, and the Sarlac pit scene took her two months to edit (meaning yes, she edited Boba Fett's defeat too). In fact, the Emperor exploding in blue fire was her idea.

@PalleschitheWriter

Ай бұрын

Thank you! I added text correcting that in the video and gave you credit for catching the mistake. i'm new to youtube so i had to figure out how to do that. i'm not sure if it shows up for everybody or only shows up if you have cc on. if it's the latter i'll edit that section about marcia not being there out. i know these are just videos about movies but i want them to be accurate.

@lloydshanahan154

Ай бұрын

@@PalleschitheWriter ok, glad you took that well. I'm use to getting my comments erased whenever I bring stuff like this up. There's loads of Star Wars history I have learned that fans don't talk about.

although it doesn't take away from your good points, as the Jahba's palace scheme is chock full of silliness that even a child can see, but what is conveyed to the audience and to Han, it's worth noting that these characters are willing to do even the craziest things, willing to put themselves at any disadvantage if it's the service of saving those they love. I'm not suggesting it couldn't have been done better; it could have. I'm saying that as is, the sequence, although clumsy, very much hits its target with respect to the films' primary theme:. that in order for a family to exist, both sons and their fathers must be willing to sacrifice themselves. I believe Lucas hamfisted this sequence because he was worked backward from the reveal that he wanted. And literarily speaking, what a beautiful reveal that it was, and, for my money, contains one of the most underrated lines of dialogue in the trilogy. **Han blind, scared, confused, being spoken to and touched (presumably being helped... but why? and by whom?) where am i? Jahba's Palace who are you? **takes off voice transmogrifier helmet** ...someone who loves you but maybe im just getting more sentimental and sappy these days

@PalleschitheWriter

2 ай бұрын

it was a good moment and you make great points.

The powers Luke gets in Return of the Jedi is from himself. He is learning it in his own from becoming one with the Force. Remember he constructed his own Lightsaber on his own.

OMG, Finally someone who notices the "Who trained Luke?" plot hole! Thank you for acknowledging and addressing it. It has bothered me ever since I saw it when I was 13. The one major area for improvement you neglected to address: After Luke rescued Han and they go their separate ways, Han thanks Luke and says to him "I owe you one." No, Luke still owes Han one. That line needs to get fixed.

@PalleschitheWriter

Ай бұрын

thank you! and yeah you don't go from 'that's two you owe me' to 'now i owe you one'

7, 13, now 54. you nailed this across the board. super illuminating for an aging fan. thank you.

@PalleschitheWriter

2 ай бұрын

thanks! my son is just as into star wars as i am so it was a blast reliving these movies through his eyes. we used to make light sabers out of wrapping paper rolls before he could handle the real ones. then i got so many hurt knuckles from him smacking me!

@MrChickennugget360

2 ай бұрын

@@PalleschitheWriter I don't agree with some of your changes. One thing i think would have been a great improvement is not having Yoda train Luke after Empire, but instead have Luke return after the Jaba scene and have Yoda joke about his apparencies absence, Luke then says that he had to learn the force on his own and learn about the Jedi without a master. Yoda would in fact agree and pronounce his training complete - but only after he faces Vader. Luke would have asked if Yoda was upset that he was gone for so long (in this case over a year of indeterminate time) Luke would also admit that he did not return right away became he was struggling with trust regarding Yoda, Ben and the Jedi. He needed to seek out knowledge, both from Obi-Wans residence as well as other Jedi knowledge and a greater understanding of the force. Luke would then confront Yoda about Vader being his father and ask why he did not tell him the truth, just like in the movie. Also, he would question Ben just like in the movie. Part of this as well as the opening sequence would stress that Luke is now more mature and independent. He is also hinted at struggling with being a Jedi and even hinting that he is tempted by the Darkside. the Jaba scene works fine other than the plan being dumb. The key change though would be that Luke's arrival was not apart of the plan- rather Leia, Chewbacca, Lando, and the Droids were all captured, and it seems they are all doomed. Luke sensed the situation (and also learned through some sources in the Rebel Alliance) that his friends were planning something. He would arrive and save the day. Key part is that this would be Luke's "bad ass" scene for the entire trilogy. After this in the final confrontation he is struggling with the Darkside, until his final victory when he abandons violence against his father. The important part of Luke rescuing all of his friends is that up to this point each character has regularly rescued each other, With Luke having to be rescued the most. By having Luke be the rescuer for everyone and saving the others this would elevate Luke while also isolating him further as he struggles with the Darkside.

@MrChickennugget360

2 ай бұрын

@@PalleschitheWriter One important aspect of Return of the Jedi is that Luke is very much alone in this movie. Him not relying on his friends is a critical part of the film as it represents that 1. he has matured as a person 2. he as developed his powers and understanding of the force that it both makes him powerful and a threat to himself falling to the Darkside due to temptation. 3. Luke is VERY much alone. He shows up at the end of the Jabba scene to rescue everyone, behaving very strang wearing all black. He leaves on his X-wing rather than the Falcon (this deleted scene did not make sense, but the concept is that he is distancing himself) He is frustrated with both Yoda and Ben and argues with them. He is late to the Rebel meeting. He is distant and "not there" during the pre-Endor prep. He even says he is endangering the mission and must leave. He is stressed out in the Ewok Village. Finally, he confronts Vader. and events unfold. But what is critical is the sequence where he burns Vader's body and then afterwords arrive at the party and reunites with his friends. This symbolizes him being reunited having faced his demons- by burning the body of Vader he is removing his fear that he will end up like his father, and by seeing the Force Ghost He is not just freeing Vader but, in a way, exorcising his own personal demons.

@MrChickennugget360

2 ай бұрын

one reason why Luke does not need to be helped or rescued in Return is how many times each character has rescued or attempted to rescue each other. Starwars: Ben Rescues Luke from Sand people Ben Rescues Luke from Bar thugs Luke and Han Rescue Leia from Detention facility Leia Rescues Luke and Han from Detention Facility (via finding Garbage shoot) C-3P0 saves Luke, Han and Leia from Garbage masher. Luke rescues Leia from Stormtroopers via bridge. Ben Rescues Luke and company from trying to Rescue him. Luke Rescues Biggs from Tie Fighter Wedge Rescues Luke from Tie fighter Han Rescues Luke from Vader's Tie Luke Rescues Leia and Rebel Alliance from Deathstar. Empire: Han Rescues Luke from Storm Wedge Rescues Luke and Han Han Rescues Leia from Empire Chewie rescues C-3P0 from scrapping Leia tries but fails to warn Luke of Trap Lando Rescues Leia, C-3P0 and Chewie Leia, C-3P0, Chewie, and Lando try to rescue Han but fail. Leia, Lando and Chewie rescue Luke from bottom of Cloud City R-2D2 rescues EVERYONE from Empire Return of the Jedi Lando, Chewie, Leia, C-3P0, and R2D2 try but fail to Rescue Han Luke Rescues Han, Leia, Lando, Chewie, C-3P0 and R2D2 Luke Rescues Han from being eaten by Ewoks Darth Vader Rescues Luke from Emperor. One of the most important reasons why Starwars character are so iconic is how much the relationship is built up by constant reciprocity of their rescues. It's really builds up a relationship between all the characters.

I don’t know if this counts since it was from the special edition, but removing “Jedi rocks” would make the movie much better. I dread watching that scene every time😂

@PalleschitheWriter

2 ай бұрын

oh, in my mind that doesn't exist

I was five when I saw ROTJ. I loved it, but my sister who really liked Empire hated it. Ewoks ruined it for her. I will say even though I never saw him before Boba Fett was supremely hyped in my household for those 3 years and seeing him die did make me angry. Even as a kid, I thought he died like a punk.

@PalleschitheWriter

Ай бұрын

i just did a video on why Book of Boba Fett wasn't good. such a great character and they could have done so much with him

ROTJ is not only my favorite Star Wars movie, but it is my number one favorite movie of all time. But I actually agree with you. It is the weakest in the original trilogy. I like return of the jedi more, but I admit empire strikes back is the better made movie. The Jabba stuff is all kind of long filler, and the movie is saved by, and really powerful in my mind purely on the throne room scene, the redemption of Anakin and rescue of Luke. It's just gut-wrenching every time. A son saves his father, and a father saves his son. It's the most amazing climax in cinema history. But 75% of the rest of the movie could have been done better. Honestly, yoda is my favorite character, and I would have liked to see more of him other than Luke just going back because he's dying on his birthday or whatever.

@PalleschitheWriter

12 күн бұрын

it's funny because these kind of movies usually mess up the ending, this one stuck the landing but could have been better up to that point. vader turning good to protect his son was such a great moment and one that made sense (they say the best endings surprise you but as you think about it they make total sense)

Yeah, i agree. This is a pretty good change. I do think they made a choice, and hindsight is 20/20, so no harm no foul. Its not a JJ Johnson nightmare, so its not that bad.

@PalleschitheWriter

2 ай бұрын

thank you. and yeah, the sequels. ugh

As a writer I spun this in my head a thousand times over the decades and I have to say.......your idea is right on! As for the Ewoks..... Genocide maybe? (ducking!)

@PalleschitheWriter

2 ай бұрын

thank you! and no one will fault you for pitching ewok genocide

@merrycaviller8145

2 ай бұрын

as long as the justification isn't about cleansing endor of ewoks; rather it's about destroying the terror tunnels the ewoks are building, it should be an easy sell

@purefoldnz3070

Ай бұрын

as a writer of two novels leave Return of the Jedi alone, its a classic. If you want to fix something try the god awful sequels.

@PalleschitheWriter

Ай бұрын

@@purefoldnz3070 the sequels are an easy target and need a page one rewrite, not a simple fix.

@skeletorthepublicnuisance6707

Ай бұрын

I actually quite like the Ewoks. The Wookiees would’ve been cooler to see, but Ewoks get the theme across better, that being a commentary on the Vietnam war showing the little guys with more “primitive” technology defeating the strong military

In the immortal words of Luke in HISHE's Return of the Jedi episode, "I wanted to make the plan all stupid elaborate!"

@PalleschitheWriter

2 ай бұрын

and stupid elaborate it was!

While i agree with everything you said in the first few minutes, i don't think your plan is much better.

@Hai_hosen

2 ай бұрын

Same too convoluted

@PalleschitheWriter

2 ай бұрын

@@Hai_hosen oh well. i tried

this videos title screen is wild

@PalleschitheWriter

27 күн бұрын

as much as i want to believe that people were interested in what i had to say, i know it's leia in the bikini that got them to click.

The ewoks ate the storm troopers and used their armour as instruments, the thing is scary and tense but theres no cannibalisim ewoks are cute the hairy little hannibal lecters😂😂😂😂

@PalleschitheWriter

2 ай бұрын

did they eat them with fave beans and a nice chianti?

@tvmaniac78

2 ай бұрын

@@PalleschitheWriter amore they prefered the novel version 😀😀😀😀

@PalleschitheWriter

2 ай бұрын

@@tvmaniac78 i didn't know ewoks were so literate

@tvmaniac78

2 ай бұрын

​@@PalleschitheWriter famously voratious readers

The art of making an eye-catching thumbnail...

@PalleschitheWriter

Ай бұрын

in my short time as a KZreadr I've realized how important boobs and butts are in a thumbnail.

@shiptj01

Ай бұрын

@@PalleschitheWriter 😂😂😂

I think seven year olds would have loved it too.

@PalleschitheWriter

2 ай бұрын

i think you're right

Glad you talked about how Han should have died at the end of Empire in some self-sacrificial act and thus redeeming himself.

@PalleschitheWriter

2 ай бұрын

i always think it makes a story stronger where someone of the main crew dies.

@cjhickspe1399

2 ай бұрын

@@PalleschitheWriter While we are on that, I REALLY hate that in 'A New Hope' they changed it so Han doesn't shoot first. I thought that was a real betrayal of the character. He could have had his own arc over the two films where goes from pirate/smuggler to sacrificing himself for a greater cause (or just Leia). WTF

@PalleschitheWriter

2 ай бұрын

@@cjhickspe1399 yeah that was a bizarre change that i don't know why they even considered

@PalleschitheWriter

2 ай бұрын

"macclunkey"

Going from Empire, where Luke chooses to not complete his training and gets his butt kicked by Vader, to Luke being a skilled Jedi in ROTJ never made any sense. Especially when he returned to Yoda and there was no hint Yoda ever continued his training. The way Luke apparently manifests Jedi powers for nothing has always irked me.

@PalleschitheWriter

Ай бұрын

i know i'm not the first to point this out but, yeah, it always seemed weird to me

Budget considerations allegedly caused George Lucas to scale down his originally-planned Wookiees to become the Ewoks. Before he died, Yoda should have done a Force Bond with Luke (a Jedi form of Vulcan Mind Meld) during which he might have implanted a certain amount of hard-learned wisdom. Luke might then have been inspired to duplicate it with Leia to convey to her more subtly and profoundly that she was Darth Vader/Anakin Skywalker's daughter and that Luke was her brother.

@PalleschitheWriter

Ай бұрын

ooh i like that. there was a matt smith era dr who where they didn't want to have to bring james corden's character up to speed and the doctor just zapped him. that was more comedic effect but if it were played for drama could have been cool

Many good points, but among some minor critiques I want to say call back lines like “we found him” for other characters to say are reminders that the story is inauthentic. When Leia repeats Han’s line “I have a bad feeling about this” her character is revealing that Han is rubbing off on her, when someone new says it in each movie it’s winking at the audience. It’s a story teller saying: don’t worry, this is all made up.

@PalleschitheWriter

2 ай бұрын

fair point. it's like anakin saying 'this is where the fun begins' in the prequel. like wait, that's han's line?

Great video. I grew up on ont the original trilogy and I love story writing critiques. I didn't realize that the story was structured in this way and what ould be done to improve it. Very interesting and bold to take on such a classic but I have to agree in the end. Impressive!

@PalleschitheWriter

2 ай бұрын

thank you!

Must be a generational thing. I was 1 when ROTJ came out, and was introduced to the trilogy (which was all of Star Wars at the time, excluding the holiday special) via home video at around age 8. I didn't see any part of the trilogy as the "weak link", and always thought complaining about ROTJ was weird. The prequels seemed to be more fancy CGI and less story depth, but I still enjoyed them. The moment Disney bought the rights, though, I immediately and preemptively disowned anything "Star Wars" made by them, which seems to have been the right choice...

@PalleschitheWriter

2 ай бұрын

there's a scene in the sitcom 'how i met your mother' where barney does a presentation about 'the ewok line' he says that everyone born before may 25 1973 hates the ewoks because they were ten when jedi came out and would find them too cloyingly cute, anyone born after loved them. he's dating a girl who hates the ewoks and is afraid she's older than he thought.

@66_ed_Hawkenson

Ай бұрын

Must have some merit.. I was august of 73 and didn't mind the ewoks lol...

Dang- thanks for reminding me how old I am. I was also 7 when the first Star Wars movie came out.

@PalleschitheWriter

2 ай бұрын

getting old sucks!

The creatures in Jabba’s lair and the Ewoks should have been more like Harryhausen creatures and less like Muppets and Teddy Bears. And he shouldn’t have punked Boba Fett like that.

@PalleschitheWriter

Ай бұрын

yes! tauntauns are very Harryhausen and look awesome.

9:39 Nope not worth losing this.

The Emporer's plan never made sense to me. Ive never understood why Luke getting enraged at seeing his friends losing would make him then betray said friends and side with the Emporer. He'd be effectively turning evil due to rage against evil people. Palpatine had to manipulate Anakin with lies to get his loyalty and get him to turn to the dark side.

@PalleschitheWriter

2 ай бұрын

i hear you. and whenever you're dealing with the emperor being able to "Foresee" things, everything gets complicated.

Overall I agree with your suggestions. It would.had the movie even better. But we needed to see more footage of Princess Leia in a gold bikini not less

@PalleschitheWriter

15 күн бұрын

that's the consensus people have come up with. some people pitched ideas where she gets caught trying to help luke so we still get the gold bikini--the best of both worlds.

OMG, exact same age and thoughts here. By the time Jedi came out, I was also into The Thing, Aliens, and Bladerunner.

@PalleschitheWriter

Ай бұрын

tastes change a lot from age ten to age thirteen!

Thank you for your interesting ideas. I've never really understood why Episode VI didn't really work for me until you describe it. Interestingly I was nine when watching it first time and story felt not sticking, but as you said, spectacle is great. Personally I hate war room scene with its dialogue. Until today my favorites are V and III. Thank you again for sharing your interesting views 👍

@PalleschitheWriter

2 ай бұрын

Thank you! I'm having fun already.

Pretty good ideas but 10 minutes and you haven't mentioned Lando. Definitely great points on character, story, and structure though.

I feel that Lucas should have made 4 films. The third film would have been about the repercussions about Vader's reveal to Luke and the beat up Rebellion trying to find a way to survive. the 4th film would have been Return Of The Jedi with a deeper understanding of what is at stake for the galaxy. Technically, "Shadows Of The Empire" fills that slot, but it was never made into a film. With a 4 film plan, Lucas could have had more foresight about if it was a good idea to make Leia and Luke siblings after they kissed in Empire. Return Of The Jedi feels like a "Just wrap this up so we can go home and call it a win" approach. Lucas altering the script to work around whether Harrison Ford felt like being in a Star Wars movie is not really practical. Write several scripts in just in case an actor is not interested. Life is about adapting.

@PalleschitheWriter

Ай бұрын

i never thought about it like that (i think trilogies are so ingrained in our brains partially because of star wars)

I disagree about the Jabba Palace sequence, and here is why: Luke actually had multiple plans set in motion: First, he was bargaining with the droids, with the intention that Lando sneaks out with them as soon as they've got Han back. That didn't work, so the second one (though it was more like Leia's plan, though it isn't as clear in the movie), is to disguise as a bounty hunter, free Han and all of them sneak out together. That also didn't work, so that's when Luke showed up, because it was clear that the only course of action is to force the issue with Jabba, reasoning with him was pointless. BUT, Luke also knew that Jabba thinks he's untouchable, and has hubris. Luke had the sense Jabba wouldn't destroy the droids or kill Leia, because keeping them as their playthings was a sign of his pride/dominance over Luke. Jabba's overconfidence in his status was his downfall. And this is precisely why Luke's plan worked: it was so risky that it was unbelievable for Jabba that it would be even attempted, and even if he thought of that: he was surrounded by crimelords and "dancers" for so long; Jabba really believed himself to be invincible.

@PalleschitheWriter

Ай бұрын

but if leia's plan was to free Han and sneak out with everyone, she'd then have to free chewy who they would have locked up and chained--and probably heavily guarded. it would have made more sense for her to sneak in without sacrificing chewy. I get that turning him in gave her 'street cred' but it was in reality the movie-makers pulling a fast one on the audience so we could have the a-ha moment of her taking off the mask. I agree that luke is using Jabba's hubris against him, i just think it would have been better to have luke overestimate his own ability to remind him that he's not a jedi yet (as darth said at the end of empire)

George has said that he made Leia Luke's sister when writing Jedi to make the final confrontation vs Vader more impactful. "You have a sister" triggered much more anger in Luke that pushed him towards the dark side. I think it works though it's clunky considering what happened in the first two movies. And to me, it had a "been there done that" feeling after Vader was revealed as Luke's father. That was what I liked 2nd least, my least favorite thing was the whole "2nd Death Star" thing. The first two movies always came up with original ideas. This was the start of SW going downhill for me. I also didn't like Vader being redeemed after all the pain he caused but I like that better now that I'm older (I saw the original movies when they came out and was 19 when Jedi came out). I like your ideas I think they would have tweaked the movie but the 2nd Death Star and Leia/Luke connection to me were much bigger flaws. Still a great movie, but not as perfect as the first two. Thank you for a thoughtful video.

@PalleschitheWriter

2 ай бұрын

thanks. one thing i always thought was dumb about the second death star is that they had the shield generator on the moon. if the shield was on the moon, wouldn't the death star have to stay nearby which defeats the purpose of having a planet killing space station!

@happyron

2 ай бұрын

@@PalleschitheWriter yeah that too, but really just having another Death Star (the original plan was to have two more Death Stars) was just really disappointing.

@MrWhipple42

2 ай бұрын

Vader's redemption is a bit of a letdown. He was the ultimate badass, force choking people who disappointed him and laying waste to entire planets. And he goes to Jedi heaven because he changes his mind at the last second before he dies? Jedi should have dropped the Emperor and had Luke take out Vader instead.

@happyron

2 ай бұрын

@@MrWhipple42 yeah and on the other end his fall, IE I'm gonna kill kids cause I didn't get a promotion, wasn't handled great either. In 1977 when the story was he fought Obi-Wan, fell into lava and turned to the dark side I always assumed that he was teetering on the edge and the whole "burnt to a crisp" thing is what really drove him over. When he did burn it was such a dramatic moment, but I didn't buy him turning so bad before that. Still: I love EPIII through VI

@PalleschitheWriter

2 ай бұрын

@@happyron and not really needed. it could have been that they know where the emperor was. it could have just been his star destroyer. they didn't even use the ticking clock element of the moon they're on about to be destroyed

Why would anyone tell ANYBODY that they were Space Putin’s kid unless they absolutely had to?

@PalleschitheWriter

2 ай бұрын

i mean, if she were my sister i would

8:23 - He'll always be Kirk Matunas from Highlander to me.... "I got a trunk full of shotguns, 3 big-bore battle rifles, and ammo out the @$$, and I ain't safe! I can't protect myself!" 😆

@PalleschitheWriter

Ай бұрын

the first time i saw Clancy Brown was in a prison movie called "bad boys" with Sean Penn. He was such a bad ass!

this is a terrific essay, and the Simpsons/SNL cutaways are perfect. this was my favorite of the trilogy as a kid, for obvious reasons. as an adult, i can barely watch it. - a fellow Rush fan

@PalleschitheWriter

Ай бұрын

i was lucky enough to be at Rush's last ever show. i can't believe it's almost nine years ago!

I think your pretty spot on, but in my head canon Luke had used the force to look into the future and possible futures, and designed the heist based on these force future projections. So, he knew that R2D2 would be serving drinks, everyone just needed to be there, etc.

@PalleschitheWriter

2 ай бұрын

fair point. whenever you have magic (which is kind of what the force is) a lot of things could be explained like that.

@MrWhipple42

2 ай бұрын

*canon

Agree with most of it. Don't kill Han, let him and Leia be lol. I do totally think there would be room in the film for them to show that there were wookiee slaves on the planet mining the raw materials, like have Mon Mothma explain they move the incomplete Death Star 2 to new planets and moons and mine them to near destruction and plan to test fire the weapon on the wookiee planet once they finish this next stage of construction or something. Really turn it up to 11. Blam instant wookiee uprising that makes sense and cool scenes of stormtroopers being overpowered by unarmed stunt doubles in bear suits.

@PalleschitheWriter

2 ай бұрын

yes! and i know they said they would have had trouble finding so many 7 foot tall actors/extras but 6 foot wookiees would have been fine

Good video. It's an ongoing joke in my household that I've been re-writing Revenge of the Jedi in my head for over 40 years now. Mine is similar to yours actually. Start off on Dagobah, Luke has been training but it's not the Falcon that shows up, it's Darth Vader with a squad of troops. Vader tells Luke he knows where Han is and his troops will aid him in Han's rescue if Luke agrees to go with Vader to meet the Emperor afterward. We also show Vader having to pilot the shuttle down to Dagobah, clearly showing only a force wielder can land safely on the planet. So NOT on Tatooine but another planet we see Luke and the elite team of stormtroopers in a great action scene and free Han. We also get a little humanizing peek behind the curtain at Stormtroopers. The rest plays out similar except Wookies instead of Ewoks and Luke is on the second death star longer, not on Endor. We'd also see Luke being dangerously swayed by the Emperor instead of Palpatine just pissing Luke off. Leia isn't Luke's sister in this one and Luke is secretly in love with her, creating a love triangle that the dark side can exploit. I'd also have Luke wearing a beard and long hair on Dagobah, another show of the passing of time, only to reveal when the elevator doors open with Darth and Luke on the Death Star that he's now clean shaven and wearing a black imperial pilots uniform. Big gasp from the audience. Luke is going pretty dark when R2 plays a secret message that Leia had recorded for him. His resolve returns and we see a hidden lightsaber rise out of R2, Luke grabbing it, igniting it and we cut to the rebel fleet taking off. Cut back and Luke is tearing through Stormtroopers to get the the Emperor. Fight ensues, Vader steps in and saves him. But Vader isn't so much turned to the light as he is loyal to his son. Some fixes in there will have to be applied but I do want to keep the second death star battle even though it's really too similar to ANH death star battle. But it looks great.

@PalleschitheWriter

Ай бұрын

i like your ideas. and this is what's great about star wars--there's so much to work with. there was a meme going around with two kids playing with star wars toys in the 70s and it was captioned "filoni and favreau writing the next season." A lot of writers my age are just the kids who played with star wars toys in the 70s,

Return of the Jedi is my all-time favorite film. Granted it wouldn't have been as impactful without the first two films being as solid as they were, but this film capped off the trilogy perfectly.

I watched another analysis that said there was real anxiety in the movie going public between Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi as to whether Luke being the son of Darth Vader meant that he was somehow going to consider going over to the dark side - we had him becoming robotized with the hand surgery, his dad inviting him over ... was there going to be a fight for Luke's soul? So withholding that "yes he's a good guy" and showing him in black and such, kind of let that tension persist a bit. I dunno, I think we're the same age, and I never doubted Luke was a good guy hero, did you? But I point it out because it seems like it may have influenced the movie in a way - kind of to your point, "specatacle" being more important than "story" ... we can put things in that are "fun" even if when you step back they seem like plot holes.

@PalleschitheWriter

Ай бұрын

i never really believed luke would turn evil just like i didn't think the death star would blow up the rebel base in the original. but they could have made it seem more possible especially since empire had gotten darker.

The only problem with the movie was the Ewoks and the way they overcame a Galactic Empire using forest tactics.

@PalleschitheWriter

2 ай бұрын

I know Lucas wanted to do a parallel to the vietnam war but yeah, Ewoks were too cutesy. A wookiee army could've kicked ass.

@ryanstanford1382

2 ай бұрын

@@PalleschitheWriter There still would have been a problem even with a Wookie army. There is a misconception of what really happened in the Vietnam War. The communists had SAM missiles, AK-47s, tanks and MiG aircraft, not just primitive tactics. Also, the Vietnamese were fighting each other and it was difficult to know who was the enemy and who was not. This is why this allegory of primitives defeating a technologically advanced enemy tends not to work well in film. The same problem shows up in a movie like Avatar.

The biggest mistakes that Lucas made with JEDI was actually having Vader be the father of Luke AND of Leia, too. In EMPIRE we only know that Vader CLAIMED to be Luke's father . . . but unless he were to take off his helmet and show Luke his true face -- showing a family resemblance (like Martin Sheen to Charlie Sheen or Emilio Esteves) -- there's no way Luke could really be sure that Vader's telling the truth, and there'd be every reason for Vader to be LYING to Luke, to trick him into joining him in the Dark Side, under the mistaken notion that he was finally able to do what every lonely orphan yearns to do, to know the father he'd been deprived of. By having Vader NOT be his father -- but only lyingly CLAIM to be -- they could have had a better dramatic final showdown between Luke and Vader, where he finally gets not revenge but JUSTICE for his betrayed-and-murdered father, but also for all those other Jedi who'd been hunted down by Vader on behalf of the Emperor. As for that "another" whom Yoda alluded to -- which Lucas eventually decided to make into Leia-as-Luke's-sister -- here's where Lucas royally screwed up, because his original preview edit of JEDI was to have Han Solo, seated in the Imperial Shuttle looking at the Millennium Falcon, state the feeling that he was never gonna see that iconic ship ever again . . . because, as originally filmed, Lando Calrissian, piloting the Falcon during the Battle of Endor, DIES while destroying the 2nd Death Star, the Falcon being destroyed when the DS explodes. Preview audiences didn't like that the Falcon was destroyed -- and blacks in the audience didn't like that the only black character was killed off -- so Lucas re-shot the ending, having Lando & the Falcon just barely squeak out and survive, and show Lando at the Ewok party on Endor etc. But in the original edit of the film, Han Solo's 'funny feeling', seeing the Falcon and feeling he'll never see it again, THAT was a precognitive moment emblematic of the Force having begun to work its magic on him -- just as Yoda in EMPIRE mentioned to Luke, during his Jedi training, that the Force can give a Jedi the ability to see into the Future (remember, Vader tells Luke that the Emperor had FORESEEN that Luke has the power to destroy him, with Vader suggesting that Luke join him [Vader] so that they as (supposed) Father and Son can together overthrow the Emperor and then rule the Galaxy . . . all Vader's attempt to lure Luke to the Dark Side. But imagine if Yoda's "another" were a reference to HAN SOLO becoming a Jedi, instead of Leia being revealed as Luke's sister -- with all that icky incestuous retconning we were forced to endure when re-watching STAR WARS and EMPIRE, where Leia kisses Luke TWICE. Imagine that jaded skeptic, the space pirate with a heart of gold, discovering that the Force wielded by Luke was starting to rub off on him, too . . . now THAT would have represented a new direction for Lucas to have Han Solo to embark upon. I dare say that Harrison Ford -- who had thought it would have been best for them to kill off his character, so that they could focus on "The Adventures of Luke Skywalker" (as the blurb on the cover of the STAR WARS novelization had billed it) -- might very well have thought better of it, and might very well have been interested in portraying the character again -- but with this new character-arc to explore . . . Han Solo realizing that there is, indeed, more to the Universe than what his cynical blaster-toting smuggler's mindset had ever realized. There's this 'Force' thing, this energy field which the Jedi Knights of old had used, and which his friend Luke was becoming adept at using. Imagine if instead of the crappy Prequel Trilogy, Lucas had killed off Lando & the Falcon, then explored the idea of Han Solo pursuing a new chapter in his life as a Jedi Knight, an apprentice to the younger Luke Skywalker! And then imagine, in a different Sequel Trilogy, Han Solo being lured to the Dark Side . . . with Luke having to face the terrible prospect of his friend possibly being forever corrupted by it, as Yoda had said in EMPIRE. If Luke had managed to kill Vader -- i.e. Vader who was NOT his father, but had been LYING to him etc. -- and was then the de facto Top Jedi after the fall of Palpatine, imagine him having to confront Han, trying to see if Yoda might have been wrong . . . hoping to redeem his friend from the Dark Side. I remember being disappointed with JEDI, for a whole host of reasons. I was especially irked that Lucas CHANGED it in order to appease a preview audience, abandoning a promising new phase that Han was to go on with, that brief bit of precognitive insight hinting at a future for him as a fledgling Jedi himself. All of that was pissed away because Lucas caved to the preview audience not liking the destruction of the Falcon and the death of the only black character -- even though THAT fate for Lando was more fitting, as he'd become an unwitting betrayer of his 'old buddy' in EMPIRE. Having Lando redeem himself by sacrificing himself -- and the Falcon -- would have been a fitting end to his character arc . . . but blacks in the preview audience didn't want the only black character to be killed off, so Lucas wussed out and re-shot the ending. Ruining it. Wasting a golden opportunity to set the stage for a far better Sequel Trilogy than the one we eventually got, after that shoddy Prequel Trilogy detour. We could've had more adventures of Luke Skywalker -- what the STAR WARS series was originally supposed to be -- with a major twist involving Han Solo becoming a fledgling Jedi, and perhaps a tragic descent into the Dark Side, with Luke trying to save him (etc.) . . . but, alas, we'll never get to see it, because Lucas botched it.

@PalleschitheWriter

Ай бұрын

I never thought of Han getting the force, that's a fun thing to think about. but i think making darth luke's father added a level of complexity that kicked the series up a notch. i did a video on empire where i talk about the Jungian archetype of the shadow and how we perceive evil as something so foreign from us--making vader his father forces luke to confront the reality that good and evil aren't black and white and we're all one push away from losing our way.

The kids of the time, particularly those younger than you and me, needed the sit down chat between Luke and Ben about Vader. Many, if not most of the kids my age or younger believed Vader was lying because bad people lie. It was the topic of conversation after Empire came out. I found myself having to defend the Dark Lord's word over and over again until Jedi came out. That means Lucas had to have a direct scene in which Luke called out Yoda and Ben on their lies, showing kids that sometimes bad people tell the truth and good people lie for their own reasons. Doing this in passing was not strong enough. Otherwise, I completely agree with your take. You've given me something to think about for a while. Thanks!

@PalleschitheWriter

Ай бұрын

i remember we thought of the possibility that he was lying all those years in between, so yes, they needed confirmation. i just think luke would have dealt with that immediately.

George should have gone with the army of wookies concept in Return of the Jedi.

@PalleschitheWriter

2 ай бұрын

agreed

George Lucas became a Merchandise Salesman 👨‍💼 💰 🧸

@PalleschitheWriter

Ай бұрын

i hope it's not true that he made ewoks just for the toys. i really want to give him the benefit of the doubt

I swear Gary Kurtz got a mention in the credits - just saw again at the cinema Saturday.

@PalleschitheWriter

Ай бұрын

i just looked on IMDB and he's not listed on Jedi. Maybe they put his name in the credits because some of the work he had done during Empire was technically pre-production for ROTJ.

If its not broken dont fix it lol.

My best friend and I were 17 when this came out. We saw it together and were equally enraged at how awful the movie was.

@PalleschitheWriter

Ай бұрын

I was young enough to like it but old enough to know something was missing.

Jedi is a certified classic even with the Ewoks.

@PalleschitheWriter

Ай бұрын

classic. but could have been better

@purefoldnz3070

Ай бұрын

@@PalleschitheWriter that's the thing with classics we love them warts and all.

I skipped school to see ROTJ opening day first showing. The Ewoks aren’t the problem. It’s just boring especially after Han’s rescue.

@PalleschitheWriter

Ай бұрын

yup. it's still has so many fun parts, but could have been so much better

@drugaddicter

Ай бұрын

I wish Vader/Anakin would have lived through and reunited with Luke to get to know each other and possibly start a new jedi order or something.

I love Luke's terrible plan. It's like he intentional gives up four touchdowns in the first half just to make the game interesting.

@PalleschitheWriter

2 ай бұрын

as a recovering Jets fan, giving up four touchdowns in the first half usually doesn't result in a win. but i like your analogy!

The reason the Star Wars movies are so great is because they make everybody have fun rewriting them in their mind.

@PalleschitheWriter

Ай бұрын

Lucas built an incredible universe. it's fun to play in his imagination playground

Your version is much more than 87% better. Now if you just make the Ewoks fighting make sense, we’d have a movie. That battle depends completely on unlikely coincidences and not on any characters.

@PalleschitheWriter

Ай бұрын

thank you. and exactly. the idea of primitives turning the tide was good it was just so poorly executed and cutesy in tone.

Thanks for posting! I was the same age as you when I saw the films. And had just about outgrown Star Wars when Jedi came out. Still loved it, but I knew when we hear Chewie swinging on a vine like Tarzan that I was outside the main target audience. :-) Why didn't the Rebel Alliance send a much bigger force, including capital ships in orbit, to Tatooine and negotiate with Jabba for Solo from a position of strength? Or not even mess around with negotiations and assault Jabba's palace? While on the topic of plot holes, have you talked about the big one in Empire - how did the Falcon fly to Bespin from Hoth without a functioning hyperdrive?

@PalleschitheWriter

Ай бұрын

i thought the reason they went to bespin was because they didn't have hyperdrive and it was the only place nearby the could get to. ("there's not a lot there" "Lando!" "Lando system?") and yeah, it seems the rebels could have just showed up at jabba's palace in full force and paid off whatever has owed him.

@RobertWF42

Ай бұрын

@PalleschitheWriter Right, but Bespin is in another star system light years away. It'd take decades or centuries to get there at sublight speeds. I recall reading a retcon explanation that the Falcon had a backup hyperdrive which was much slower. Maybe it was offline and had to be manually installed when they weren't getting chased around by the Imperials? Anyways, there should have been an extra line of dialogue in the movie to explain this. Otherwise it's like your car's engine isn't working but you can still drive to Chicago from New York.

@PalleschitheWriter

Ай бұрын

@@RobertWF42 if we start really thinking about it, every time they go into hyperdrive everyone around them will age faster than them. but i hear what you're saying (they sure do retcon a lot of stuff!)

@RobertWF42

Ай бұрын

@PalleschitheWriter Yea, it's not a huge deal - I think George Lucas assumed stars are a lot closer to each other than in reality. BTW one of my favorite scenes in Empire is where we see Boba Fett in his cockpit after the Falcon after they escape in the Star Destroyer's garbage. What exactly was he doing? I like to think he was eyeballing their course to Bespin with his telescope, rather than use active radar or whatever to ping the Falcon and broadcast his presence.

15:01- Was. Remember he Cosher-stamped TFA (ep. 7). He had his chance, as they say. His son is even worse.

@PalleschitheWriter

2 ай бұрын

I still gotta tip the hat to the man.

@yw1971

2 ай бұрын

@@PalleschitheWriter Sure, just in past-tense.

Is exactly my age. Says he was too old for Return of the Jedi; lists 3 rated R movies that you can't see when you're 12-13. For the record, I love Return of the Jedi, but more and more it's ONLY the scenes with Luke Skywalker that hold up.

@PalleschitheWriter

2 ай бұрын

i had HBO so i probably wasn't supposed to watch them, but i did

would be even better to have Leia infiltrate as one of Jabas slave dancers then we could get the gold bikini and, she could still do all the thing she did in your version and the original :) also George should have used Wookies instead of Ewoks

@PalleschitheWriter

2 ай бұрын

good idea! someone else had the idea to start like i had said but have her get caught calling chewy so we still get the slave leia/choke jabba