The STAR WARS: RETURN OF THE JEDI SPECIAL EDITION FAQ v. 2.1 May 3, 1997 Started by Mark Lanio or Expanded by Jay Pennington WHERE ELSE TO FIND IT: In addition to my own Web page, loaded with lots of before & after pictures... Treadwell's Techdome: http://www.jax-inter.net/users/datalore/starwars/swindex.htm ...the Web sites below have honored me by featuring my SW SE FAQs. Deluxe HTML version, courtesy of Lost Scenes guru Ryan Silva: The Star Wars Cutting Room Floor: http://www.usticke.org/lost_sw/ Text versions: Dr. Daniel's Movie Emergency: http://www.stairwell.com/doc/ The Star Wars Home Page at UPENN: http://stwing.resnet.upenn.edu:80/starwars/index.html Rod's Star Wars Page: http://members.tripod.com/~RodneyT/index.html The Star Wars Archives at BGNETT : http://www.bgnett.no/~mwold/sw/index.htm Dave's Star Wars Page: http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Corridor/3315/starwars.html Docking Bay 94: http://www.sound.net/~mlanio Belgian Star Wars Page: http://studwww.rug.ac.be/~ndgraeve/ Some of these sites are still displaying older versions, however. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ PURPOSE: To compare the differences between the Special Edition of Return of the Jedi and its previous incarnations. Naturally, bias is toward home video versions, which may or may not be identical to the original release. At the time of this writing, the Special Editions are a recent memory in America, and have only just been released in Europe, so the page serves as a guide to what we haven't seen before. As the SE's gradually take their place as the definitive versions of the Trilogy in the mass consciousness, (and this will happen whether or not you think it's a good thing), this page will be just as useful for those who are curious about what the films used to look and sound like. Several of my comments are just new observations about the film, and thus aren't strictly about SE changes, but it's my FAQ and I'll ramble if I wanna! ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The official Star Wars web site has posted an authoritative list of changes to the Trilogy. Since I want to be as thorough as possible, I've encorporated that information into this FAQ. Besides, who knows how long the official site will be up? ------------------------------------------------------------------------ SPOILER WARNING: If you haven't seen the film yet, don't read on if you want to be surprised. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ GENERAL COMMENTS: •Once again, I'm one lucky bastard! I got to see a preview screening of the Return of the Jedi Special Edition on Tuesday, March 11. But the preceding week I received a detailed email from Mark Lanio, who got to see it even earlier, on March 4! (I guess that makes two lucky bastards....) I kept myself from reading it until I saw the film, but once I saw how much work he'd saved me, I used his material as a starting point. His entries start with ML, mine with JP. Material from the Official Star Wars Web Site is designated as WWW. No designation means it was by me (JP). •Sound is very nice, with good use of surrounds. I noticed here and in the other SEs that sometimes a surround effect would continue after, and, more rarely, before, the shot it was supporting. •Print quality is about the same as any other movie, but since this is Star Wars, I'm picky. Therefore I would've liked it a little crisper (and brigher, but that's more the fault of the theatre.) There are still some shots that look fairly bad, just as they did in 1983. Two examples: the shot of the boarding ramp of Vader's shuttle before it lowers, and the shot of Jabba's tail fluttering in his death throes. My limited experience with film suggests to me that this footage was improperly developed by the lab. (It's hard to explain, but it looks like someone spilled a Coke on the film.) It would be much harder to digitally fix this kind of damage than, say, a scratch or a bit of dirt. •With the exception of "Jedi Rocks" and the celebration sequence, there is no use of new or previously unused music. •No, they didn't digitally remove the Ewoks! ;) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ AND NOW, IN MOVIE ORDER: Two trailers were part of American prints (most theatres added more, and some might have even cut these out): Speed II, and Volcano again. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Again, the Fox logo used is the new one, but it doesn't rotate. The Fanfare is the one that John Williams recorded just for ROTJ, not the newly recorded performance Fox has used recently. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The Lucasfilm logo is the new design used since, oh, _Willow_, I guess, but augmented. It starts out green, as before, then the "surface" of the letters sorta morph to a metallic, reflective surface (silver, then gold). ------------------------------------------------------------------------ WWW: Opening Sequence: A Sabre recomposite. JP: I learned on the web page that the "Sabre Group" is the team of artists that worked on the digital fixes. (NOT a non-linear editing system as I once reported.) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ML: Luke's lightsabre building scene is not in the SE. I was disappointed, but oh well. JP: Me, too. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ML: Jabba's band has been definately enhanced well. The Scene starts with some new creature blowing on some sort of electric harmonica or something. JP: I also liked the scene. The new Yuzzem is a fun personality, and his deep voice counterbalances Sy's well. I read that there was at least one shot where the old Sy puppet could be seen, but I didn't notice. (Behind Oola during her struggle, perhaps.) The lyrics are all in Huttese or something, of course. One of the Weequays bangs two huge drums in the back, right in front of the Hansickle. The old closeups of Max Rebo and co. remain. Somewhere is an additional shot of Oola and the fat (six-breasted?) dancer, which appears to be previously unseen. There are several such "new" shots in the scene, and they all mix well, so it's hard to tell between original, original/outtake, and newly shot material. (Well, if you don't have it all memorized like most of us do!) WWW: The Sy Snootles puppet was replaced with a CG figure and a CG Joh Yowza was added. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ML: The song ends and Jabba hollers, "DO THAT AGAIN". JP: Appears to be a previously unused shot of Jabba. New subtitle, and the voice is perfect; it doesn't sound like the SW SE Jabba. Some or all of the dialogue seems to be reused from other scenes. WWW: New live-action shots have repopulated Jabba's sanctum with a number of new aliens partaking in the raucous party, culminating in the feeding of the dancer Oola to the rancor. ML: Then the band really wales. Sy Snootles looks great and puts her lips a hairsbreadth from the camera lens a la the From Star Wars to Jedi documentary where the puppeteer had her say "Keeessss Me!". JP: I thought the backup singers were sorta going through the motions and not putting their all into their performance, but perhaps Jabba doesn't pay that well! ML: Then there is the fight with Oola and Jabba. They Cg'd in the new footage of Oola pulling on her chain so she could be in front of the band, but to me it looked obvious. JP: Yes, Oola still pops out of her top! Some of her dialogue has been removed or altered, and some of Jabba's, um, "requests" of her are gone (as well as his lip-licking.) They kept cutting away to the band during her struggle with Jabba, which makes it less clear what's going on. I also could've done without Sy saying "Uh-oh" when Oola falls. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ML: Then she fell in the pit. The show her sliding in the pit and then looking around. The door begins to open, she hears a growl, and then it cuts back to the normal scene we all know. JP: The door opening is the same shot, slowed down, that's used when Luke is there. I think it would've been more effective if they swapped that shot with the one in Luke's scene where we see the Rancor's claws under the door. (Seems more suspenseful ta me.) The recreated dungeon floor set flawlessly matches the original, right down to the bones in the sand. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ML: There is also a scene with Boba Fett holding the chin of one of the new dancers and crossing over from near the band to where he is when he pulls his gun up real quick when it is revealed Boushh is holding a thermal detonator. Makes the scene a bit more seamless. JP: Fett crosses during the song, and flirts with the dancers in a new cutaway during Jabba's burp. Another new cutaway of Boba touching the dancer's chin and walking toward the camera comes after Jabba knocks Threepio off the platform. The new footage is less grainy than the original shots of Fett standing there, but otherwise matches quite well. His reaction shots to Boushh are all original, which means they're still flops: all his gear is backwards. Un-flopping wouldn't work, since he'd be looking in the wrong direction (which is why the shots were flopped to begin with). I wish they'd reshot those two cutaways while they were at it, although I guess Jeremy Bulloch wouldn't be too pleased. :) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ JP: No other changes to the band's songs. They still play the same music at all other occasions. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ML: The big disappointment: the Rancor scene with Luke does not only NOT include the scene where he is hanging from the grate, IT DOESN'T EVEN LOOK TOUCHED UP! If anything it looked worse in contrast to all the new stuff around it...It mystifies my why it doesn't look better, especially when they made a mention of it in the FOX special on special effects of Star Wars shown a few week back. I'd would love to hear other opinions of this. JP: A dissapointment to me as well. The King Kong hand is still bone dry, not matching the slimy Rancor puppet it's superimposed over. There are still black matte lines around the Rancor's limbs in composite shots. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ML: The camera shows a herd of banthas and in the distance, Jabba's sail barge and skiffs heading to the sarlacc. Great looking scene. Also, the usual scene looks much better then it did. Cleaner. JP: The Banthas were a complete surprise to me, and I was quite pleased! Two new shots: we see six or seven Banthas trotting along, and then there's a much wider, "helicopter" shot of the herd, with the barge coming into view in the background, over a large dune. They then cut to the pre-existing shot of it approaching the camera. The jiggly silhouette of a guy walking on deck has been replaced with a much better-looking one. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ML: The Sarlacc. Mixed emotions on this. Overall I liked the addition of a Beak and more tentacles. But it did not make near as much impact as I thought it would. Maybe because no new footage was actually added, they simply used the existing footage and CG'd around it. So when a guard would take a dive, the beak would open wider so he would go right down the gullet. Pretty good effect. JP: I think the new elements add a great deal to Sarlaac's menace. When Luke peers over the side and sees that maw waiting for him, it is much more effective. Likewise to the shot of the mouth rising behind Lando as it drags him in. In some shots the beak has apparently retreated back inside the orifice we're used to seeing, but there are still new SG tentacles waving about. WWW: A CG beak and CG tentacles have been added to the Sarlacc in the pit of Carkoon. Color improvements and matte fixes were made to the barge itself. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ JP: YAY! We no longer have to assume Han has the strongest ankles in the galaxy. A rope is now entangled around the skiff railing and coiled around his feet. This CGI looked so real I had to check the LD to make sure it wasn't there before! ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ML: When Han tries to shoot the Sarlacc tentacle, Lando shouts "I thought you were blind!" to which Han now replies "It all right. I can see a lot better!". This got a big laugh out of the audience, although "Trust me!" was just as funny to me. But I liked it. JP: This is how the dialogue goes on the "Story Of" record. There is also an extra/different line of Han's when he asks Chewie to grab him. These sound changes to ROTJ and ESB are interesting, because in Star Wars Galaxy Magazine #9, Ben Burtt states that there have been no changes to the sounds of either film (other than the extra footage). Huh? ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ML: The sandstorm scene is NOT included. It cuts right from the skiff to the two ships splitting off in space, X-wing one way, Falcon the other. Nothing new, but looks nice on the big screen. Oh well. JP: I very much wish this had been put back in. I don't buy the rumor that the image was too obscured by the blowing sand. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ WWW: A recomposite was created to improve the B-side of the wipe from the Dune Sea. JP: Artoo's panels are now appropriately blue in outer space. WWW: Original elements, mattes fixed, color adjusted in this shot of R2-D2 in an X-wing in space. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ JP: The first group of TIEs no longer pop out of existence toward the end of the shot before we cut to the Emperor's shuttle in the docking bay, although I don't know if it ends a few frames earlier. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ML: Luke and Obi-Wan's conversation is NOT expanded. JP: *Sigh*, which was proabably filmed. That extra dialogue didn't even make it into the radio drama! (Check out Ryan Silva's Cutting Room Floor for details.) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ML: Nothing new in the hanger that I could detect, or in the Rebel Briefing. JP: I forgot to check if this is fixed, but originally there was a noticible matte line running horizontally near the bottom of the frame. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ JP: For the record, a couple shots of Lando when he's saying goodbye to Han in the hangar are flops. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ML: The Speeder bike scene looks much crisper. But the big surprise (to me) was the extensive use or surround effects during it. Very very nice. I actually found myself leaning, and my wife actually semi-cheered when one of the bike hit the tree. It was well done. JP: Yes, very nice use of the surrounds here (and in the dogfight scenes). But you can still see trees through Luke when he throws the trooper off his speeder. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ WWW: Matte changes in scene with Darth Vader and Emperor Palpatine in the Emperor's throne room. JP: Damn, I wish they'd be more specific. Maybe they recomposited the "stars out the window" element. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ JP: The footage of Vader brutally choking the Emperor's Guards to gain access to the throne room has not been restored. Lucas & co. figured the choking thing had been done to death, but I'd like to see how well it would work in the film. Vader doesn't get much "bad-ass" stuff to do in Jedi, (to the point of having a much more casual relationship with Admiral Piett), and this would be an opportunity to establish that he is *still* a very dangerous dude! ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Darth Vader: "His lightsaber." Emperor Palpatine: "Ah, yes. A Jedi's weapon. Much like your father's." Luke's ROTJ saber is nothing like Vader's, nor the one passed down from Anakin that he used previously. It actually looks much like Obi-Wan's. Not an SE change, I just had to get that off my chest! ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ML: There was very little new from here on out, the Matte lines were for the most part gone in the space battle except in the Death Star shaft, when four Ties come screaming down, they still have the green matte around them, you probably know which I mean. It's the worst sign of matting in all three movies, in my opinion, and it's still there. JP: Yeah, I spotted that, too. Also, the TIE on the far left still seems to swing too wide to reasonably make it alive when the group of them enter the shaft. WWW: Color and matte changes made to original elements of space battle scene over Endor. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ JP: The "ghost TIEs" that appear out of nowhere in the view out the Falcon's cockpit have NOT been fixed. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ JP: It appears the faraway TIEs that can be seen through the Falcon's underbelly HAVE been eliminated, though. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ML: The Emperor's slugs are still there! You have to look hard with film stock, but they are definately there. Someone not familar with this might not notice, and I couldn't tell you whether they have been toned down or color matched, but they are definately still there! JP: Clarification for those who don't know: the "slugs" are black blobs animated onto the outer edges of the Emperor's hood. His eyes were lit with a key light, and apparently it spilled over his face onto his cloak, which would look stupid, so they tried to cover it up. It looked worse on video than on the movie screen, but it was still something that should have been corrected. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Michael Kubecka adds: The (animated) explosion/destruction of one of the AT-ST's is still there. (There's a cloud to signal an explosion, then the cloud is gone and so is the head of the AT-ST. But no actual explosion. You don't see pieces of the AT-ST fly off, and it feels like they filmed a headless AT-ST to begin with). JP: I read somewhere that the composite was the last shot finished for the original release, and that they accidentally left out a smoke element they had shot. Too bad they didn't fix what's arguably the worst shot in the film. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ JP: The closeup shots of Luke out of breath and looking horrified rightafter he cuts off Vader's hand still look grainy and awful. I suspect it is because the original plate was accidentally shot on regular 35mm rather than VistaVision like all the other plates, so that when they processed it to add stars outside the window the image of Luke degraded badly. Perhaps a bit *too* badly for the above explanation? ------------------------------------------------------------------------ JP: Sorry, the Executor explosion is unchanged. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ JP: The Alliance fleet the Falcon flies toward upon exiting the Death Star has been replaced with closer, moving ships. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ JP: The scaffolding that crashes in front of the shuttle Luke uses to escape is still matted improperly. You don't see it pass in front; it just appears on the floor. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ JP: Another "Praxis Moon" ring surges out of the Death Star explosion. WWW: Shock wave added in a recomposite...[of] original elements and CG shock wave element. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ML: Yes when Luke burns his Father the camera pans up and then back down to reveal cloud city, same scene I think as what was used in Empire when Lando told everyone to get out of the city, but it is now teeming with people cheering, a few cloud cars whizzing around. Then pan up, back down, and there is Mos Eisley. Looks good! Pan-- There's coruscant. WOW. That's all I can say. WOW! A statue falls, but it is a bit in the background, so look for it. JP: As the X-Wings pass over the bonfire, the fireworks they leave remain the same, but the sky changes to Bespin. The camera tilts down to the scene described above. A pan across something in the foreground covers a wipe to Tatooine, with a T-16 Skyhopper flying overhead the cheering crowds. A similar effect brings us back to the Endor fireworks. WWW: Original elements. A night sky with fireworks above an Endor valley, live action Ewoks added to painting. WWW: The film's original final scene, in which the Rebels celebrate their defeat of the Emperor and his evil Empire on Endor has been digitally expanded to include galas at three new locations. The new scenes show celebrations on Cloud City, with fireworks as a cloud car zooms by; on Mos Eisley a skyhopper weaves around buildings; and on the Imperial capital, Coruscant, citizens revel under full moons as confetti falls. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ML: The new song that replaces "LO WAH" is a very nice instumental. I never had anything against the old song, but now that I heard the new one, I will never like the old one again. Very fantasy like. Good rhythm. Michael Kubecka adds: The celebration music is _completely new!_ No more lame Ewok pa-nub-nub music. It's very good -- it's hard to describe, but it's like Deep Forrest meets Peruvian pan flutes. It's up-beat, has an ethnic rhythm to it, and sounds kind of rain-forresty; kinda Nature Company but more danceable. It's very loud, and I'm fairly sure there's some (non-essential, congratulatory) dialog which is covered up by the music. Some of Artoo's puh-weeps are barely audible. JP: I also like the music. It still has a faintly Ewok percussive sound, but goes way beyond what they would be playing. It's catchy and does a better job than "Yub Nub" at creating a happy atmosphere. Michael Kubecka adds: In the additional celebration scenes, a cloud car takes you through the exterior of Cloud City with thousands of cheering people and fireworks; on the Coruscant, there's confetti, fireworks, thousands and thousands of cheering people (there's so much that's moving that it's hard to focus) and a large statue -- of what appears to be the Emperor -- is toppled. The Coruscant footage is lengthier than the Bespin footage. The Coruscant footage ends with what is depicted at http://www.jedinet.com/prequels/preq1.jpg, though from a more straight-on angle (the scene is claimed to be a part of the Prequel, and that could be true, but it's definitely shown in ROTJ:SE). JP: That picture can also be found at Rod's Star Wars Page. There appears to be new footage of celebrants on Endor scattered among original shots. In one wide shot looking down on the crowd, there's someone in a red flight suit that I guess is supposed to be Wedge, but he doesn't look much like him. The same shot has Threepio doing that little dance with an Ewok, but again I think it's newly shot. There is also previously unseen footage of Luke embracing Wedge. WWW: A new digital matte painting of the Ewok ending celebration is combined with new Ewok elements. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Part of the Ewok Theme is repeated to make room for Special Edition credits. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The PHONE-THX statement is included. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ OVERVIEW: Overall, I really liked the changes they *did* make, but, once again, there should have been more. We all need to lobby Fox to make a laserdisc box set that's *really* definitive this time, will all the "lost" footage featured in supplemental sections. As always, thanks to everyone for their contributions, and I welcome further input. -Jay Pennington (datatlore@jax-inter.net) FAQ HISTORY: v. 1.0: Dashed out on March 12, 1997 and emailed to my SE list. v. 1.01: A couple of midnight "oh, yeahs!" were bothering me, so I added them and mailed it out again a couple of hours later. Also posted on Usenet. v. 1.011: Minor additions, sent only to The Ultimate Star Wars Page on March 14. v. 2.0: This document, expanded after two more viewings of the film. Incorporates the list of changes posted on the Official Star Wars Web Site. Emailed to my list of 91 fans (including the seven webmasters) and posted on Usenet on March 17. v. 2.01: Minor changes, emailed to a few folks. v. 2.1: This document, edited from my more up-to-date HTML version.