Remove Vader's "Noooo"

Why: Up until the BluRay version, Vader was seen as having an internal struggle with himself on whether to help out his son, or whether to be loyal to the Emperor and watch his son die a painful death. Now, that internal struggle isn't so internal anymore because we hear Vader say "No. Nooo!" as he makes his decision to kill the Emperor. The problem with this is that, not only does the new voice sound really corny, it also devalues the meaning of that scene by making it too "in-your-face" and eliminates all traces of intrigue. And for such an important event in the Star Wars saga, it's really a shame to destroy something that everyone has watched and loved up till now. Final decision: get rid of it!

Return of the Jedi intro

And finally, Return of the Jedi, the final act in the super-saga. I loved this movie when I was little; I thought it was the bomb! The little ewoks, the lush forest, Luke becoming a Jedi; it’s all stuff that really gets to younger kids and lives in their minds forever, like it did with me.

However, the older I got and the more I understood…and the more movies I watched and analyzed, I noticed that ROTJ had some problems, and was not as strong a film as the preceding two. The things I’ve mentioned in my ROTJ list are things I think will significantly improve the film with the least amount of effort or money spent, as usual, except that there are things in this one that are probably going to be a bit more tricky to make than the other two movies in the OT because they may need some additional shooting, which I think is very costly, and in some cases, impossible. Anyways just read on and you’ll see what I mean.

Frame jumps and other graphics issues

Why: Here is a list of the graphics issues for ROTJ:

• I didn’t notice any frame jumps in this movie, but if there are any, they should be fixed with CGI.
• There are some matte lines and boxes, especially in the sail barge scenes and in the space battle, so those should be taken care of.
• The rancor, although some people say should be CGI, I think should just be fixed up a bit to actually blend in with his surroundings. Maybe a few CGI touch-ups can be done.
• The explosions should be fixed to match the prequels’ standards. Again, big emphasis on the space battle, especially the destruction of Executor.

Lightsabers

Why: The sabers looked really bad in the 2004 DVD version. They were really dark, too thick, and looked like toys. They should be made to match the color, brightness, length, and width of the sabers in all the other movies.

The star destroyer

Why: The shuttle carrying Vader in the opening scene departs from a star destroyer rather than Vader’s own ship, the Executor. Although this is a small detail which could be explained for several reasons, for example Vader carrying out an inspection on the star destroyer, it would be “cool” to see his shuttle departing from the Executor, whereas in the previous films we’ve seen the opening scenes with regular star destroyers.

CGI Jabba

Why: Although I don’t think Jabba should be completely replaced with CGI, because well, it’s gonna be really hard to do that, I do think that parts of him can be improved with CGI. These improvements can include his mouth, tongue, eyes, etc. to make him look less like a puppet and give him a bit more life.

Max Rebo's new band

Why: I really hated the 1997 Special Edition version of Max Rebo’s band and all the events that happen in Jabba’s palace during that scene. I haven’t seen anybody that appreciates what was done with that scene. It’s just too cartoony and goofy, not something that you would find in the lair of a gangster. But, to be perfectly honest, the old song and band weren’t that great either, but they were definitely better than the new one. I think this scene needs major work.

How: First get rid of the drumming Weequay. That just looks and feels plain wrong.

Second, get rid of Boba flirting. That’s not the image anyone would like to have of Boba. He’s always been cool and mysterious, and most importantly, he’s a warrior. The babe-chaser side of him doesn’t really work.

Now that we got those two over with, we can proceed with the big changes.

I think a whole new song is needed. The old one was strange, yet it somehow fit into the scene a whole lot better than the new one. The new one is just a total disaster. It starts off like a Broadway musical which suddenly takes a wrong turn toward African tribal music.

I think the new song needs to capture the atmosphere of a gangster’s lair, along with it having a fast enough beat for the dancers to dance to the way they do.

Another idea is to remove the song completely. There's already a part of another song shown just before that, and Star Wars, as far as I know, is not a musical.

Next we have the creatures and the actions performed by those creatures. I have no problem with diversity among Star Wars species. But that DOG!? Come on. He has to go. He’s just too cartoony and badly misplaced for Jabba’s palace. As for the singer, she’s alright. Just get rid of the part where she puts her lips on the camera, that’s just disgusting. I also liked to backup singers, they looked and sounded cool and felt like they belonged there. If there is any way to save them, that would be great.

The dancers I think were better the second time around. I just never understood the need for having a new scene showing what happened to the dancer after she fell into the Rancor den.

Mara Jade cameo

Why: I think it would be really cool for us to see a short Mara Jade cameo appearance in Jabba’s palace, just like Aurra Sing’s cameo appearance in TPM. I would make it more subtle though by putting her in the background of some scene, not the main center of attention. This would make the fans go wild.

The reason for her being in Jabba’s palace is so that it flows with Timothy Zahn’s book, “Heir to the Empire,” where she was supposedly stationed in order to assassinate Luke Skywalker.

Sail barge battle and Boba Fett's demise

Why: The sail barge battle was nice but it could have been choreographed much more professionally and more dynamically to be more in line with the fights in the prequels. Also, Boba’s death by a mere simple comedic accident is no way for a legendary bounty hunter to go. It should be more glorious. From what we’ve seen in AOTC, he hates the Jedi for killing his father, and now that he’s within reach of killing the last one, I think he would be trying extra hard while fighting him.

How: Re-arranging the order of some of the scenes could make the whole battle more dynamic and powerful, along with some CGI modifications.

There is also a great need for longer fight scenes between cuts. The more cuts there are, the harder it is for the viewer to follow, but the longer the action stays without cutting, the more impressive it is. Like the Obi-Wan and Darth Maul duel at the end of TPM, which lasted a good few seconds without cutting, and that’s what blew a lot of people away. If there is more footage in between the shots that we see, they could be added to make the fight more impressive.

Here are my ideas:

• Luke hits one of Jabba’s henchmen with his lightsaber and he falls into the pit unwounded; this should be changed by having his left arm cut off and have him and the arm fall down into the pit separately, showing more of what a saber can do.

• When Boba Fett takes off from the barge, most of the goons on the transport that Luke is on are already gone, so like this we can add a new segment of Boba Fett attacking Luke while flying around in his jetpack. We can have a shot of Boba firing a few shots at Luke, who deflects them with his lightsaber. A stunt double can be used for Luke and it can be shot from a distance. After firing a few shots, Boba realizes that it’s no use and that he has to try to get him with his grappling hook.
• Before Boba lands on the transport, have the gunner hit it with a few shots, making Han and Chewie fall and distracting Luke. Add an additional blast hitting it because there’s a long delay between the impact of the blast and Han and Chewie falling to the ground. This blast can be shown in the background of the shot where Han and Chewie fall. This will also justify why Boba thinks it safe to land.

• Cut in a shot of Boba landing on the transport while Han and Chewie are on the floor, and as soon as he lands, show him grappling Luke, who is momentarily distracted.
• Make it more obvious that Boba fell to the floor because of the continuous bombardment of laser blasts and not from Luke cutting the line he shot at him. Add a loud boom in the background to show it more clearly.
• When Luke jumps to the other transport, make him have his lightsaber on, because it would make more sense to have it on when guns are shooting at him, instead of continuously switching it on and off.
• After Boba looks up, quickly add a close-up of Chewie growling (warning about Boba) and when Han realizes that Boba is there make him say, “Boba Fett?” just once instead of twice. Then show Boba taking aim (but not firing), followed closely by Han saying “Where?” and swinging the staff. This shot of Boba should also be removed to quicken the pace a bit.

• The side-shot of Luke fighting and Boba flying in the background could also be used somewhere in this part, but with Boba removed. Also, Luke does this really cheesy kick that doesn’t even hit one of the goons, yet he drops his gun, his head tilts back, and a second later he’s jumping off the transport. It think it’s CGI time. A new character could be digitally rendered beside that goofy character and have Luke kick him square in the face. This new CGI character can bump into the goofy character and make him do all the goofy stuff that he does, except this time with a reason.

• After Han hits Boba, do not make him go flying. Instead, make Boba drop his gun and grab the metal rod as Han is swinging it and take a long deep angry look at Han (bring the camera very close to his helmet). Then have Chewie (who is standing next to Han) do the first useful thing in the fight and push the rod into Boba, making it go under his arm, then use his Wookiee strength to bend the rod so that it wraps around Boba, then throw him into the pit. Idunno, it’s just an idea. Like this, the same shot of him rolling can be used except the first few frames should be modified to show that he’s got a metal thing around him, and the shot might be mirrored to make it easy for the audience to see that he fell off of the small transport instead of the barge. I would also remove his scream because it’s too goofy.
• When Luke gets on the sail barge, there’s really no room for decapitations, but there are a few shots where he slashes at the henchmen with his lightsaber and those could use some burn marks like what we see with the separatists on Mustafar in ROTS. This was already done very nicely by some fans.

Stormtrooper feet

Why: This is a minor, picky thing that I doubt anybody noticed. When the Emperor is walking with Vader when he first enters the Death Star, you see a bunch of stormtroopers standing behind them in perfect formation…except for one thing: their feet are not the same. You see each trooper standing differently than the next. I don’t know, but I think they would all be taught to stand the same way, especially in the presence of the Emperor.

How: Just copy and paste one of the troopers’ feet onto the others…idunno, that’s what I would do!

Rebels entering the meeting room

Why: The camera following the rebels shown below is constantly shifting like something out of the “Blair Witch Project”, making the shot look very unprofessional.

How: Either cut the whole entry or somehow smooth out the camera movement, or possibly re-shoot the sequence with new actors.

Admiral Ackbar's speech

Why: Admiral Ackbar repeats the phrase, “the forest moon of Endor,” one too many times during his speech. One explanation of it is enough.

How: Instead of him saying “It is protected by an energy shield which is generated from the nearby forest moon of Endor,” have him say something like “…which is generated from the forest moon.” This should be an easy modification because his lip movements don’t match what he’s saying in the first place.

Luke enters the meeting

Why: As soon as Luke enters the briefing on Endor, everyone in the background starts talking without any kind of formal conclusion to the meeting.

How: After Luke has finished telling Leia, “Ask me again sometime,” have someone give a concluding statement to end the meeting. This can be something along the lines of, “Well now that you have a command crew, best of luck to the strike team…and may the Force be with us all.”

Shuttle Tydirium coming out of hyperspace

Why: It would be nice to see a shot of the shuttle coming out of hyperspace right in front of the Executor, because in the movie, all we see is the shuttle slowly moving towards the Executor and it gives you the feeling that something’s missing.

Leia passing out

Why: After Leia falls off her speeder bike on Endor, she looks up to see the biker scout smash into a log and explode, after which she passes out very unrealistically.

How: Instead of showing Leia passing out, re-film a part with a Carrie Fisher look-alike just lying on the forest floor unconscious.

Leia wakes and finds an Ewok

Why: When Leia is unconscious after falling from the speeder, she wakes up and sees a strange creature standing next to her holding a pointed spear and the only thing she could think to say is, “Cut it out!” and is immediately back to her senses somehow. This can be slightly altered to make more sense.

How: After Wicket pokes her a couple times, have her wake up and look at him for a second in curiosity, looking a bit sleepy, then have Wicket poke her again after she’s already awake (adding a little humor) and after that she can really come to her senses and tell him, “Hey, cut it out!”

Leia knocks over a stormtrooper

Why: It seems really hard to believe that Leia hitting the scout trooper with a stick could knock him over, and moreover, knock him out. The troopers supposedly have the finest armor in the galaxy, so they should repel a hit from a girl holding a stick.

How: Make the stick have a big spike at the end, or if that’s too gruesome, the part with Wicket tapping the trooper’s foot can be cut and replaced with Wicket swinging from a vine and hitting the trooper, making him either fly off the screen, or smash into the log beside them. Leia can then pick up his blaster and start blasting. This can work because Wicket suddenly disappears when the trooper comes and could have easily gone and found himself a vine somewhere.

Space battle

Why: The space battle in my opinion is great as it is. I just feel like it needs a tiny bit more to make it fit into the other films better.

How: There are several things that could be done:

• Make better explosions with more debris.
• Add more ships here and there with CGI (not too many so it’s not as crowded as in ROTS, which made it impossible to know what was going on).
• Maybe add something like what we see in ROTS, a pilot floating in space but in a different way, like for example have a new scene with a cockpit shot of a pilot just flying around and all of a sudden a floating corpse of dead pilot hits the cockpit window.
• Maybe add more scenes of cameras following fighters doing loops, etc.

Legion of best troops

Why: Since the Emperor himself identifies the stormtroopers on Endor to be a “legion of his best troops,” they should have special markings on their armor to differentiate them from the rest of the regular stormtroopers.

How: They could have colored stripes like the clones in ROTS, or any other kind of modification. Some of them could also have camouflage, as many people suggested, but I think that would be a bit tricky to do. There could also be a shot of a special trooper standing in front of the bunker door, commanding the rest to move in.

Ewoks overpowering the stormtroopers

Why: It’s really unbelievable that a bunch of teddy-bear sized creatures with primitive, medieval weapons could take out the Emperor’s best troops with all the latest hi-tech weaponry. The way it happens in the movie is not very believable, for example seeing an Ewok throwing a rock at a stormtrooper and making him fall over. This could be significantly improved to at least look more believable to the viewer. This I think is the main thing that would improve the movie, as it is the most thing people complain about.

How: Here are a few ideas:

• Take out scenes with stormtroopers getting bumped on the head by rocks and falling over. This will cause a drastic change in the believability of the battle.
• Digitally increase the number of Ewoks running around in the forest.
• Make a group of stormtroopers fall into a huge pit dug up by the Ewoks. When did they have time to dig it up? An explanation is in the cartoon, the Ewoks are constantly at war with some other forest aliens, which explains their use of catapults, logs, and bows and arrows.
• Add more boulders being launched from catapults, as they do cause a lot of damage, except make them hit stormtroopers instead of walkers.
• Have some stormtroopers fall into traps which catch their feet and leave them hanging upside-down from a tree, similar to the trap the heroes fell into earlier.
• Add shots of rebels attacking troopers and/or co-operating with the Ewoks.