The same way Max and Amazon are creating a LOTR series, maybe someone should make a SW skywalker series. Reinvent the entire story as a 9 season episodic with these old ideas fleshed out

That's good. They could have changed the ewoks to wookiee slaves.

@@dannydelanoent. hope for better than the "same way" since the LOTR series sucks.

@@dannydelanoent. I don't know that I'd use Rings of Power as an example of what to do.

Yeah, take Leia and make her as unlikable as they made Galadriel!

I always said that would have made more sense.

⁠@@rumblehat4357No, revenge aligns more with the Sith, and the Jedi did return in the 6th movie through Luke (and Vader returning to the light, as well). Actually makes more sense how it is

@@DangLWangVader killed the emperor.

@@kevonarenas4367 return of the sith sounds way better then return of the jedi.

No, that would’ve been a horrible idea. Jedi don’t take revenge because it is associated with the dark side, and the Sith were already established and recognized as having returned since Episode 1.

Disney can have robotic beings constructed that look real.

Surprised he didnt already tbh 😂

CGI is partly to blame for the prequels looking stupid and for the Hobbit looking bad..its a cop out and takes away from realism in scenes..i personally like Return of the Jedi and its choices.

@@michaeledwards1644Ikr. They should’ve just hired half a million actors to play the clone army 🙃

@@T.N.C_HATNAN Wasn't an issue with the Empire and their stormtroopers in the OT....

Yeah and when you watch the scene the Ewoks get absolutely whooped after some initial creative (and conveniently already prepared) traps. It's pretty harrowing stuff hearing them get shot, scream and shake lifeless bodies. People talk like he made this unrealistic super effective army of cuddly toys.

Loo😂😂😂 shut up 😂😂😂

or it's just how Lucas wrote the characters

Ewoks were some type of VC, Viet Cong point Lucas wanted to make. Star Wars at its core was GL's feelings about Viet Nam, US politics.

Same reason Lucas wanted the prequels to "rhyme" with those similar themes by making "Darth Jar-Jar".

The climax of The Phantom Menace is also a Death Star basically

@@adanalyst6925 kinda

100%

Odd choice to want Verhoeven, Cronenberg, or Lynch, then.

@@Hoganply they'd be directing Lucas's story.

Yep. Personally, having watched this, I'm very happy we got the version of RotJ that we got. The second death Star is a bit weird but I think I actually prefer every other change Lucas made ha ha.

Imagine if David Lynch had directed it?? Trippy I bet! Lol

Same here

I would add Marcia Lucas as well for her expert film editing skills.

Oh no…Empire Strikes Back went over budget! Oh no we managed to make the greatest fantasy film of all time until The Fellowship of the Ring!!! Oh no the film made 10x its budget back in its initial run!!!!!!* I see only one solution…fire that hack Gary Kurtz!!!!!!!!!!! /s It will always baffle me. I could see firing Kurtz if The Empire Strikes Back bombed, but firing him would be like firing Kevin Feige after The Avengers. I believe George Lucas always disliked anyone that pushed back, and Kurtz was the artist voice that kept the negative economic voice of Lucas at bay. As much as I love Return of the Jedi as an action adventure film, it is not the grand finale that a Return of the King or even War for the Planet of the Apes is for their respective franchises, and I believe it’s because they cheaped out with the filmmaking and characters and emotions and originality. Why not make the film a three hour epic? The film could cost $100 million, and it would still be profitable (that budget would be excessive, but you get my point). Pay the fines to get Steven Spielberg or Ridley Scott. Go for broke with the third Star Wars. There was never a more sure fire hit in the history of cinema to that point. On the plus side, at least Kurtz made The Dark Crystal and Return to Oz before hitting financial ruin with Slipstream. It’s unfortunate that an artist like Kurtz never bounced back, but hey, money isn’t everything. Kurtz is still the man in my book! *The budget was $30.5 million. The data is a little fuzzy for the initial box office, the domestic box office was around $200 million, so I am being conservative and saying the international was around $100 million.

I would like to skip into another universe where copyright only lasts 50 years so we could get an even better take on the original concepts.

@@korakys50 years after the death of the creator. No reason why Paul McCartney should lose copyright over his Beatles and Wings songs just because 50 years have passed.

But why on earth would the Empire build their shield generator on the wookie homeworld, when they are so vicious? How does the audience know that these wookies are primitive and Chewie is not? The wookie costumes were still expensive and time consuming to make whether 7 foot or 6'3". This is more complex and nuanced than disgruntled fans want to pretend, hidden under the rather pathetic claim of 'muh toys'.

​@@Ruylopez778 later in the EU it was established that the Empire used enslaved Wookiees to build the first Death Star, so I don't think it's too much of a leap

@@ncapone87 You mean supplementary material that Lucas was barely involved in?

@@Ruylopez778 yes, yet still canon at the time

@@ncapone87 Yes, pedant, and do you want me to dig out the quote by Lucas where he calls the EU a sandbox that he has little to do with? Why are there some many people that behave like this? The EU has nothing to do with the comment I made, or the sentiment of my comment, or the sentiment of OP's comment. OP apparently doesn't understand that wookie costumes take time to build and that means expensive. And as I said, the audience has already seen a wookie who is technologically advanced, not primitive and quite powerful, meaning it would be both confusing for the audience, and not an example of an underdog helping to save the day, meaning someone that pretends they 'know better' hasn't thought it through, like most people in this comment section and the video itself.

Sorry, I got part way through that and realised it was the typical greasy bullshit, much like this video. And then it just deteriorated into sneery opinion. I feel bad for you if you found it convincing.

And to think that I couldn’t get any worse.. then we had the prequels. But can’t get any worse form there.. Disney: hold my beer

I also recommend SFDebris’ Hero’s Journey/Shadow’s Journey/Hermit’s Journey essays. Very thorough and constructed with great insight.

The laziest decision that Lucas made was making Luke and Leia siblings.

Many THOUSANDS of FANS TOTALLY disagree!!!@@johnnyd3158

This video is missing a VERY important part of the film. Only a line connected Luke's sister to the force? Leia was shown to be Force sensitive in Empire that's how Luke was able to reach out to here using only his mind.

@@thinkhector Fair point. Though at the time ESB was released, most folks I knew would have guessed that it was just because Luke was getting so strong with the force at this point.

@@thinkhector A development completely left behind in ROTJ.

@@mikesmovingimages Not sure what you mean. They used the same mind connection thing between Vader/Luke in Return. The idea wasn't abandoned.

@@thinkhector The idea that Leia herself has some connection to the force (is she the other one Yoda mentions?) . Completely abandoned as far as driving any development in Leia's character. When you stop and think about the Leia who was rescued from the Death Star, the Princess Leia who was three steps ahead of everyone else, who could look Vader and Tarkin in the eye and tell them where they could get off, resist the mind probe, and dismiss her own rescuers as a bunch of amateurs, it is tragic what she became by the time of ROTJ, reduced to prancing around in her slave outfit, sharing an Oreo with an Ewok, playing the straight man to Solo's clown, put in a series of ridiculous situations that had nothing to do with her as - supposedly - a princess (not elected) of a people who had lost their homeland and leader of a rebellion on the ropes. So many interesting story lines that could have been developed for her in ROTJ! Starting with her relationship with the Force.

Well at the very least George should have kept him.

Neither Marcia Lucas or Howard Kazanjian have anything positive to say about him. I think his involvement is inflated by people critical of Lucas and gullible enough to believe Kurtz's side of things. Lucasfilm (and ESB) was nearly ruined by Kurtz's incompetence, and arguably he was not much support on A New Hope, either.

Thank God he didnt.

​@@Rschr101Why not?

​​@@Ruylopez778Did you ever think people were inclined to believe him since a lot of people think ESB was the best movie in the series?

By all means specifically pinpoint (with evidence) what Kurtz did. Kazanjian, Marcia and Anthony Daniels don't have anything positive to say about him.

@@Ruylopez778 - I don't think it's out of order to say that the success of Star Wars, from the very beginning, was due to a most fortuitous line up of contributors, including Gary Kurtz, John Dykstra, Stewart Freeborn, Ben Burtt, Ralph McQuarrie, John Williams and many, many more. Lucas assembled quite a team of talent. Just as you have added many comments under this video recommending against criticising Lucas without considering the full story, that latitude should be granted to all the contributors.

@@RictusHolloweye "I don't think it's out of order to say that the success of Star Wars, from the very beginning, was due to a most fortuitous line up of contributors" And Lucas has never denied that he had a great team of people to help achieve his vision. John Barry (set designer) is one who is often forgotten, but regularly credited by Lucas. However, there exists a contingent of fans that not only exaggerate in order to complain, but also (through ignorance or intent) either downplay Lucas' contribution or make up accusations and narratives about how/why decisions were made that they can't prove. I can only presume they do this to make their subjective opinion have more validity. A classic example being the people claiming the uptick in quality in ESB is down to 'Lucas not being involved' and it being 'written by Brackett and Kasdan'. In their own ignorance, they apparently think they have 'proved' something. It shows how easily people chose to believe whatever they want. "that latitude should be granted to all the contributors" So when Anthony Daniels, Howard Kazanjian and Marcia Lucas don't say anything positive about Kurtz, in a documentary that is intentionally implying that Lucas was overwhelmed and needed more push back, what should we conclude? Kurtz spend a lot of effort making accusations about Lucas, which I can only presume was to try and save face for being fired. Perhaps if he hadn't been so blasé about burning through Lucas' *own money* while making ESB, and it hadn't nearly been a complete disaster (again) we might have seen episode VII, VIII and IX made in the 80s/90s? Perhaps Lucas' marriage might not have fallen apart. Certainly recent history has shown us that making Star Wars without Lucas (as many disgruntled fans wanted) is just as divisive, and killing off Han, and deconstructing Luke with 'bittersweet' ending is equally divisive. As you're probably read me say elsewhere, retrospectively ESB gets to have its cake and eat it, because fans know how the story ends, but get a cliff hanger at the same time. The implication by people determined to exaggerate or insult Lucas for not doing exactly what they wanted, is that Kurtz's own opinion on what it 'should have been' was automatically going to be better. Han got killed off in TFA, sacrificing himself for the rebels, just as so many apparently wanted. Was the actual reality as good as the idea of doing it? I'd say opinion is very split on that. When someone like Bowie says, 'don't play to the crowd' i.e. make your own art your way, he is lauded as someone with high integrity. When Lucas makes his movies the way he wants them, he is accused of being a greedy egotist, who compromises story for profit. Can't see the double standard there? People are free to criticise Lucas for what they don't want or don't like. Creating accusations about his motives in order to downplay his involvement or contribution is both disingenuous and pathetic. But it will continue, as long as sneery fans believe they understand 'writing' because they can nitpick or watch others exaggerate and nitpick things that don't matter, or otherwise misrepresent Lucas.

@@karlwithak. Whatever your opinion of the Star Wars films, denying they were a phenomenon just makes you seem a bit silly.

@@Ruylopez778 George's ex wife didn't like him, and nor did Anthony 'This is my sole acting gig' Daniels. That's not evidence, from these two, that is their opinion.

Holy shit, I was 6 at the time watching either Star Wars or Empire Strikes back in 1982/early 1983 and do remember those posters saying Revenge of the Jedi. Thanks for bringing up a good memory from a long long time ago!

Glad you liked it!

I accept what you are saying, but one of the primary responsibilities of a producer is to keep the move on schedule and budget (as much as possible). Lucas delegated a great deal to Kurtz on 'TESB' and supervised the ILM work & editing. You have to remember that Lucas entirely financed the budget (US$ 20 million). The production over-run forced Lucas to take out an additional US$ 10 million approx in bank loans, which potentially jeopardised Lucasfilm's viability/longer term goals. So there was a great deal at stake in case the first SW film had just been a fluke/a happy coincidence of timing when released. I regret many of the key decisions on 'ROTJ', but from Lucas' own p.o.v. it was far more understandable to both keep a tight reign on production and to wrap up a film series that had cost him a lot personally.

I never had a problem with the Jabba sequence. After all, his name was plugged into the first two movies - I really wanted to see this infamous Jabba. Could 10 -15 minutes have been trimmed off the first act??? Probably so... this lends to my biggest complaint with Jedi is pacing issues. The main culprit is the middle act. For the swan song of the trilogy and everything needs closure, this movie drags in parts. The whole beginning of the Endor sequence till the intro of the Ewoks is soooo slow. Even as a 11 yr old seeing this in the theatre multiple times at this point; this area of the movie was the time for a bathroom break or grabbing more food at the lobby.

@@karlwithak. Pretty sad.

You can hear from Anthony Daniels, Howard Kazanjian and Marcia Lucas criticising Marquand in the Icons Unearthed documentary. Buying into the Kurtz myth that Lucas compromised the story for toy sales is lazy and naive, but people who the saga to be something different as quite keen to believe anything that validates their opinion. It's what makes people so gullible. Easy for Kurtz and Kasdan to criticise what already exists, but much harder to actually conceive of something as influential or with as much scope as Lucas did, which neither man ever did in their careers.

@@Ruylopez778 All that being said, ROTJ still has the feeling of having been hijacked by a different story, not to mention a different sensibility, than what characterized the first two films. For better or worse, it singularly changed the flavor of Star Wars from what it was before, and set the path for everything to follow. In my opinion, it was not for the better.

Well said Barefoot. And I agree with most of what you said, however, I am of the viewpoint that ROTS was a excellent film and followed in the traditional of New Hope and Empire. Although, the thing that kind of threw me on ROTS was how young Anakin turned out to be because I was under the impression from Ep 4, 5, & 6, that Anakin was a bit older. Especially after casting a 78 year old actor to portray him unmasked in ROTJ.

ROTJ not having the cinematic panache of ETB is an understatement because ROTJ had always looked fast and cheap to me.

@@BarefootPeasant It really doesn't no matter how often people exaggerate about it. Subjectively disliking elements of ROTJ or the prequels doesn't mean that the story was 'compromised' as claimed by Kurtz. Kurtz was quite happy to be cavalier with the budget of ESB, knowing that, 'the movie would turn a profit anyway'. Of course, it wasn't his reputation, home, business or employees that would suffer if the shoot collapsed before it even got finished. Now, he claims that giving the director time was necessary to make the movie, but that certainly isn't the way other people on set tell it. And if his 'no rush' approach was so great, why did Kershner turn down the chance to make another movie? Because it was too much for him, much like Lucas felt on ANH. Had they both had a better producer, that got shit done and kept the crew and creatives on good terms, would they have both had better experiences as directors? Probably. But each Star Wars movie made under Lucas (as producer or director and uncredited editor/writer) was hugely ambitious both on a technical level and in terms of scale and depth on screen. To claim otherwise is ignorant - but most likely based on a narrative that that person wants to buy into to - 'I don't want it to be like this, so it should **should have been** what I wanted'. And this has nothing to do with making art or movies, and is purely about entitlement and expectation. And of course, Kurtz wanted to save face by claiming that his ideas and his vision were somehow more sophisticated and character/story focused, which is 'why' he got fired - although does he ever admit he got fired? Kazanjian and Marcia are pretty clear that he did. Although it happened in a very awkward way, because Lucas didn't want to tell him outright, but certainly didn't want him ruining his trilogy or company. The accusation in this video and its previous iteration is that Lucas was a 'businessman' and more concerned with profits than story. 1. this can't be proved, it can only be speculation, based on Kurtz's narrative, and by making further unsubstantiated claims that "prove" this narrative. 2. given that THX flopped commercially and put American Zoetrope in trouble, it's not particularly surprising that Lucas wanted to avoid this. The video, tries to imply that Kurtz is claiming that Lucas tried to be cheap on ESB. However, AFTER Kurtz was fired, and Lucas and Kazanjian did their best to save the production and the movie overall, and after it was released in theaters, Lucas made some small changes to ending, to make it clearer for audiences. So the idea that Lucas has a 'that'll do' approach to Star Wars is simply a reductive claim. Lucas doesn't want to waste time and money on things that don't matter. There is a difference, unless trying to construct a bullshit narrative by misrepresenting the past. Each of Lucas' 6 movies is intentionally different. The accusation that ROTJ 'changed' what came before it, is both an exaggeration and entirely subjective. It was Lucas' decision to make the second movie more character focused and murky - since he wrote both the treatment for Brackett, and rewrote her first draft (that he didn't like) and a further two or three drafts after that. Kasdan was brought in to polish what already existed, and Lucas, Kershner, Kurtz and Kasdan were all part of the story consultation group. You can see photos of how Carrie Fisher rewrote her dialogue, and we know Han improvised his 'I know' out of frustration. And by all accounts it was not a particularly happy set under Kershner and Kurtz. Reportedly Kurtz was scared to say anything to Kershner. But that doesn't stop fans from claiming 'Empire is so much better because Lucas wasn't involved' and 'It was written by Brackett and Kasdan' being the reason for the 'jump in quality'. Lucas was also an uncredited editor as on ANH - confirmed by Paul Hirsch, who was there. Now, ANH and ESB are very different, despite having Lucas as writer/co-writer, co-editor, producer, Hirsch returning as co-editor, Marcia as co-editor, not to mention Kurtz and all the crew and actors that were carried over. So it's fairly easy to conclude that continuity isn't the defining factor in 'what characterized' ANH or ESB. All people are doing is jumping to the conclusion they want to believe, based on which perspective they want to believe, exaggerating, and ignoring anything that contradicts their narrative. People like JJ Abrams feel that 1980 was the pinnacle of Star Wars and the first two should be revered and frozen in time, and Star Wars shouldn't be anything other than those two movies. And when he rehashed it, with all his talk of 'practical effects and sets', and killed off Han, the fans who hate ewoks still weren't happy. And when Rian made Luke disillusioned and gave him his 'bittersweet end', the fans still weren't happy. And neither Marcia Lucas, Howard Kazanjian or Paul Hirsch liked what happened to Han and Luke in the sequels. So I guess we could safely presume that none of them would have been in favour of killing them off in ROTJ, or ending with TLJ's downbeat deconstructionism. The video, like Kurtz, tries to downplay the plot and climax of ROTJ as being derivative or lazy (while apparently failing to understand the psychology or symbolism of it). And what of the mastermind Kurtz and his great ideas...? Dark Crystal? What did he ever make without the 'focus on toys' from Lucas holding him back..?

Nope, although many people think that.

This guy made a few errors

that implies that she has the force, everyone could born like this, that is not necessary related to the (stupid and unnecessary) luke's sister thing

@@Bulletsandblockbusters Happy coincidences filling up plot holes

Luke just reaches out to her with the force.

Do you think your unit would have lost a battle to the Ewoks?

@@cvz8849 well the movies are just that…movies. I could write a thesis pointing out all of the flaws in the tactics used on the army side. No idea about naval doctrine, but I’m sure they screwed that up too. I mean look at the Jedi when fighting, who would let the enemy have a clear shot of their back? It’s all just art and not reality. *But* the point that George was making in this film, you can find an interview of him explaining this, was just his interpretation of the US in Vietnam. And it truly is a lesson that needs to be reiterated a lot.

Yes you can find Lucas explaining Vietnam in the documentary "From Star Wars to Jedi". To your point about Jedi's not covering their backs is true. Maybe they were just poorly trained or over-stressed thus a lack of concentration on the battlefield. Could you have won against those peski EwoKs, my guess...no. You're in "their" environment. @@pqsk

Comparing Star Wars to War. Americans sure do love violence.

My problem wasnt that rhe Ewoks were small, cute and primitive, it's that they were played mostly for jokes, even during battle scenes. The one who twirls the bolo and wraps it around his head. The two trying to pilot the AT-ST while Chewie (who had just done a Tarzan yell while swinging from a vine) barks orders at them. The one who steals a speeder bike and cant get his feet on the pedals. If they had taken them seriously during the battle it would have really enphasized how the Empire had underestimated them. Instead I was just left, as an 11-yr old, with my suspension of disbelief stretched past the breaking point. The only scene that tried to drive the seriousness home was when one Ewok is killed and the other tries to wake it up, realizes his friend is dead, and sits down beside him, saddened.

George Lucas' greatest work is his own mythology, but anybody who's really followed what he does knows you're right about him flying by the seat of his pants and pretending to have ultimate control (then when he DID have ultimate control, he made tepid movies and then sold the franchise). He has crafted the narrative of himself being a mastermind with the implication that 'without me there wouldn't have been any advances in special effects or fun sci-fi movies'. He distracts from his real inspirations to avoid copyright infringement and to pretend he's got higher-art motives for everything. The whole 'Joseph Campbell' thing, he didn't know anything about that until AFTER he started making movies. It wasn't an inspiration to him, it was an observation about his work by somebody else.

That's always been Star Wars in a nutshell. Especially when you go back to interviews and materials from of the time that the original trilogy was being made or even before that time. Lucas has always given conflicting information and the crew members and actors on the films even give different information than what Lucas would say. It seems like he wrote a shit ton of lore, but was constantly always trying to figure out how to make sense of it while telling a story. It's always wild to me when people these days talk about George like he had this all masterfully planned out when in reality the original Star Wars was a huge gamble that just so happened to pay off for him big time. He had to keep the ball rolling when the success came.

They were able to find enough for the crhistmas special.

@@jamescarter3196 Looks like it is that, pretty much. I was a teenager when the first movie came out, and while I live in Europe we could get at least some of the American and UK magazines specializing in things like science fiction and movies here, and I remember reading a few interviews before the last movie which rather gushed about the role of Marcia Lucas when it came to the creation of those movies, but then after the divorce it looked like her part had been completely memory holed for years. And how Lucas made Star Wars because he could not get the rights to make Flash Gordon, which is what he had originally wanted to make. No mention of Campbell, as far as I remember, until years later. And a lot of conflicting information, like the fact that after the success of the first movie Lucas seemed determined to make a 9 movie series but then it was just 6, and then he decided for a while that 3 was enough. I never kept any of those magazines I used to buy, something I have later regretted, might be fun to now compare what was in those articles to what got told later. I haven't been able to find much online, but then I don't really even remember what I read where, or what the names of the more obscure or shorter lived magazines were. Lucas's impression of himself probably wasn't much helped by the more adoring part of Star Wars fandom, there still seem to be a lot who are about ready to attack anything that might implicate that he actually had help from others (maybe especially that ex-wife - whose potential importance I do find quite plausible simply based on the fact that he made pretty damn good movies while they were together, but the quality of what he has made after that, especially when he was fully in charge, with the prequels, is nowhere close to those) creating those movies. No, to those fans he is the genius, the ultimate genius, maybe even better than somebody like Shakespeare...

You say that, but in the end, Lucas backseat directed the two episodes formally directed by other people anyway. He didn't need a creative voice, he needed a reliable employee who could be trusted to bring his vision to life while he's busy elsewhere.

@@thecandlemaker1329 You give too much credit to lucas. Star Wars was just a side project to him, he was very surprised it became so big. He never had a Star Wars vision. And the last thing lucas needed is an other yes men.

@@Zodroo_Tint Where did you read this disingenuous slander? Lucas has been trying and failing to make the movie for eight years. He was writing for eight hours, five days a week. The movie is assembled from every element he liked in world cinema, it's his ultimate auteur project. And all of that for a bunch of dumb nerds to slander him forty years later. Disgraceful.

@@karlwithak. Spielberg directed Duel

@@karlwithak. I think American Graffiti is pretty good. Had Lucas made more those kind of films he might have been known for more than just "the Star Wars tycoon". Then again he sort of tried making "other films" and we got crud like "Howard the Duck" (which Lucas produced and pinned his hopes on).

Many thanks!

Disney's Light & Magic series touched on a few of these points.

I have heard it but not from a Jedi.

@@Bulletsandblockbusters well I think J.J was going to him be Snoke the whole time until you know who screwed it up

@@srstriker6420 and who was it that screwed it up?

George didn’t invent the chosen one concept until he did the phantom menace. Jedi was more about Anakin’s redemption, the son saving the father and the father saving the son. He wanted a Christian mythical ending. Evil destroys itself. Nothing against the prophecy idea. I kinda liked it. But so many fans upset about palpatine coming back is a waste of hot air. Lucas was gonna change it with the Disney treatments anyway.

That's what prequel hate is all about, though; the problem isn't whether it 'works', it's whether it's satisfying, which SW isn't for many with alternative universes in their heads. However much you love them.

BLEH

ABSOLUTELY. The other hope is that there is still some Anakin left in Vader.

Lucas has also said that worked to make the audience think that he could kill Luke off in the end of ESB.

I was 19 when RotJ came out and my friends and I straight up hated it. It failed to honor the offers raised in Empire, which we were very invested in and had talked about and anticipated for 3 years. So many things were just ignored or thrown out, and Yoda just dies from complications of movie disease. "Help them you can, but you will destroy all for which they have fought and suffered", he said, but there literally were no consequences for Luke's actions. Han's brain turned into mush, rendering him a complete idiot, and we got to see the terrible Ewoks and their equally disastrous costumes. Luke stands around for over a half an hour in scenes with Palpatine in which NOTHING HAPPENS. RotJ just plain sucks and it set the table for the even worse prequel trilogy.

@@BrBill Totally agree buddy, Jedi felt like a prototype for the disastrous prequels ...for me it felt (and looked) like a sickeningly safe, corny Disney film - what a monumental disappointment after the epic, classy, beautifully-shot, mature Empire Strikes Back.

@@Optimus18 You're speaking my language now!

@@BrBill I'm still mad that all Han and Leia did was stand in front of a bunker the last act

@@pierreo33 Hey now, they made a weak joke callback to ESB too

💯

TY for making referencial comparisons.

Haha it's mostly the same, just added some additional context and removed a lot of my own bias.

@@Bulletsandblockbusters Nice! Its good to see that you care about the quality of your content! 👏

@@Bulletsandblockbusters You worded things differently and added more details, but the bias is mostly still there, it's just slightly more implied than before.

nonsense it was even announced to the public when the first film came out that that it was the first of three trilogies and that 8 more would follow

It’s on the to do list and thanks!!!

Would love to see a Batman Beyond movie. Would be cool to have Christian Bale in it

I thought the same, it's a replay attack on the DEATStar 2 but with amazing looking effects.

No character drama either. Han and Lando share one brief moment on screen and they pick up as if nothing from Empire even happened

@@ArcanumAscent .........You mean apart from the entire rescue from Jabba which makes up the first third of the film?

@@airfixx_8952 That’s plot, not character drama.

@@ArcanumAscent - Seriously..... You don't think the whole rescue effort wouldn't have healed old 'wounds' (they both saved each other's lives in the process); nor that they had a reconciliatory chat on their way back to rebel HQ in the Falcon? (Having some big on-screen dialogue would have been entirely un-necessary). It's not that deep; fella.

Glad you enjoyed it!

😂

Lucas blamed Gary Kurtz for not reigning in Irvin Kerschner. Kerschner was the reason why Empire was running late and over budget. He kept wanting to refilm things that Lucas deemed “good enough.” He wanted to keep refilming Luke’s ex-wing rising out of the swamp over and over for reasons such as “the water didn’t trickle off the ship the way he wanted.” Really Irvin was the problem, but Lucas didn’t want to confront him, apparently. It wound up being the best made Star Wars film. In hindsight Lucas should have just let the same team work on Jedi...

Agreed

Except that Predator didn't come out until 3-4 years after RotJ. So it would be Predator copying Star Wars.

Endor was a mistake, Endor with Fett could be just as a bad mistake.

Yep, when Jabba’s sail barge blew up and they flew off into space, I was like “good, now we can start the real movie.”

Funny... because I think the Jabba sequences are my favorite...

It was not as bas as the "Somehow, I've always known" line after that.

Same was with me - something didn't seem to fit well in that somehow artificial plot twist. I remember wondering then how is it possible for a couple of twins to be born on two different planets. And just recently I came across the first draft of the script for The Empire Strikes Back by Leigh Brackett and found out that indeed it wasn't originally meant to be this way.

​@@emilkolarov5561 "Born on two different planets" is not the same as 'raised on two different planets.' Obi-Wan made this plain and clear when he said "to protect you both from the Emperor you were hidden from your father when you were born." This is, in both cases, 'being hidden in plain sight' - Tatooine, Anakin's birthplace, a place he had no personal reason or desire to return to; and Alderaan, from whom hailed Senator Organa, which Star Wars Rebels established was an early covert backer of the Rebellion against Imperial rule, and apparently also took the opportunity to make Leia his protegé.

​@@RockBrentwood I am told by a Star Wars fan franchise historian, that one of its critical points of failure was having no "canon bible"; a master plot, character, and technical reference from which to say "no you can't have that character do that because 'X' ", so there was endemic chaos amongst the books. Maybe if Lucas didn't have so many interpersonal issues he could have hired someone to do that long-term...

Agreed!

To OP. "No, there is another." is pretty obvious because that's exactly how it turned out: Anakin Skywalker was the other hope." Really? That's a really hard sell when both Obi-Wan and Yoda believe Anakin/Darth Vader is beyond saving and both tell Luke that Anakin is long gone and that he's more machine than man now. Luke is the only one who actually believes there is still good in Vader, and Vader himself dismisses this several times during their talks and their final fight. The emperor himself beliefs Anakin is forever doomed to serve him. Yoda even gives Luke a warning not to underestimate the powers of the emperor or he will suffer his father's fate. Fate is final. There is no going back. This too clearly says Anakin/Vader is doomed and was turned into the dark side by the emperor. Leia being Luke's sister is clunky and obviously shoehorned in but it works. Leia is a force for good and has been ardent supporter of the rebellion since before the original film. Betting your hopes on the most evil man in the galaxy, the man who hunted down and killed all the remaining jedi and is the emperor's obedient servant/slave? Great idea...

​@@McLarenMercedes i think Yodas really just saying we can still hope for plan B ~ Luke's idea, if all else fails

@@McLarenMercedes I was mainly speaking from the perspective of The Empire Strikes Back, before Jedi was even written. Lucas had toyed with the idea of a sibling relationship in early drafts of a new hope but I think it's pretty obvious that he had sidelined the idea until the last second (maybe at the recommendation of someone else?). In fact I believe there are interviews where "the other" was discussed and multiple options were explored. Don't get me wrong, I love Leia, but by the time of the prequels good Lord everybody in the galaxy is related to this one family. ALABAMA... IN... SPACE!!!!

Ha! Dueling banjos instead of lightsabers between Luke and Pa Vader.

Thanks! Yup! George Miller’s Justice League, then I think Edgar Wright’s Ant-Man

@@Bulletsandblockbusters Cool!

Also, according to this video, the side who always said that originally, Luke and Leia weren't supposed to be siblings were right.

@@trentmonaghan179Of course they were right. Yoda didn't want Luke to face Vader because he didn't have enough training, but it's ok, we have another hope, Leia, who has ZERO training and is ALREADY captured by Vader. That makes no sense.

@@JadePR33 Yeah, myself along with one of my friends were disappointed with the Leia answer, and personally, it seemed like it was shoehorned into the story. But this video helps make sense of what I perceived back then. Also, I hate to say this, but *the best part of the movie, which redeemed the movie and which is what the movie was all about* was spoiled for me by apparently, a magazine writer who didn't like the movie and blabbed out that Vader returned back to the light side in a magazine article that I was browsing through before the movie came out, just to get a taste of some photographs of this upcoming movie. 😕 And that kind of ruined the movie for me. Plus, once something is spoiled for you, it is always spoiled. 😕

@@BrandonLovesTheMovies Well, yeah... I agree that it had the best model work of the original trilogy because from a hardware standpoint, one could see where the technology had advanced with the spaceships and the internal segments of the Death Star, etc. However, what I was talking about was the writing and the poor way that the movie was put together and edited (with the exception of hardware scenes of the spaceships twirling around in space, etc.). Along with the cheap looking teddy bears which didn't even looked like real creatures, but looked like short people in bear suits. 🙄 But the only good part of the movie, which I think redeemed the movie, which unfortunately was spoiled for me was Vader coming back to the light side. 😕 Also, even though this movie was a big hit, it fell short of the domestic box office take of TESB.

Maybe LeiA had those unexplainable powers that ReY has & eventually kick his father's butt into the sand.😄, all in the span of a very short time.🤔@@JadePR33

😂

Interesting cuz as good as Raiders is, it’s the film that convinced Lucas that filmgoers don’t care about story as much as spectacle.

@@adanalyst6925 it’s a shame Luke character development was sacrificed for this rollercoaster discovery. I remember thinking did I skip a movie when I first saw ROTJ. Having all his development happen off screen was a disappointment. and don’t even get me started on Han and Leia. I remember Mark Hamill complained that they didn’t have much to do in the film.

@@jeremyfields9009 yeah they totally skipped the cool stuff with Luke’s growth. How did he become a cool dude in a black cloak? I always thought it would have made more sense to show him training with Yoda at the start then go to rescue Han. Instead it’s like, wow he left his training, and then showed up for Yoda to die. He is not a real Jedi lol

@@adanalyst6925 it’s crazy I loved ROTJ as a kid and then when you get older you’re like “wait a minute, this shit doesn’t make any sense. Lol folks like to crap on the Ewoks but that’s the least of ROTJ problems. seeing Luke complete the training with yoda, succeeding in the cave, and probably seeing Sebastian Shaw Anakin in the cave to let Luke know there’s still good in him would’ve been great.

@@adanalyst6925 Ya know, I hadn't really thought about it and have always just accepted that in the time following Bespin, Luke somehow managed while training himself to exponentially increase his powers and abilities in the Force; my head canon was probably under Kenobi's guidance. But what you suggest makes way more sense; Luke goes back to Yoda to continue his training (Yoda's passing fits better here too), then puts into action the rescue on Tatooine.

It has the best space battle of any SW movie though. The one in TPM and Jango and Obi Wans dogfight rival it though

@@crispy_338 I go back and forth between the Battle of endor and the Battle of scarif in Rogue one.... The one thing I thought was missing in Return of the Jedi is I got height to see the b-wing actually do something.... I don't remember any scenes of it actually in combat lol

@@ianbrewster8934 I do like the RO fight but there’s something so nostalgic about real models composited onto a space background that just does it for me

@@crispy_338 true dat my friend.

all films are made in the editing room all

I hate that, too. It's perfectly okay to admit that the story developed/evolved. It happens with characters in books as they are being written. Ask JK Rowling - she envisioned different endings for her characters, but they went other directions.

The final irony is that the sequels are so bad in part because of too much brainstorming and all input considered equal and rolled together by committee. It's a lesson in how to create greatness; there has to be one creative visionary who encourages dissent, incorporates the input, but ultimately makes the final creative decisions with all input carefully considered. Skew in either direction from that balance and you get mediocrity, or worse.

I completely agree. I was also 12 and the excitement was all about the forest speeders, the Falcon as always, Jabba, the Rancor, the Emperor etc. I even remember wanting a 2-legged AT and Admiral Ackbar figure. The Ewoks were a disappointment even at that age; it was obvious they didn't spend much effort on the costumes.

And don't forget the second one was WAY bigger.

Well they had cellphones by then so it was a lot easier to order parts

​@@jamescarter3196😂

Firstly it was never stated to be 19 years when the originals were made, secondly the death star was barely built and had millennium falcon sized holes in it, thirdly they'd done it before so knew what they were doing

@@zaczac744 Seethe and Copium.

Thanks!

"who expected a deep universe of characters and stories, and instead got a couple of good-looking entries" That would explain why it was one of the biggest franchises ever for decades I guess? Nope. "confused the narrative" Well, which was it, harmless fluff, or confusing? "repetitive plot elements" For example? Surely you have a really bad example to go with your sweeping dismissive claims. "and left the audience feeling like they didn't get much" I guess that explains why they weren't the biggest or second biggest movies of the year they were released... "Good analysis here - I enjoyed it a lot!" So, just regurgitate hollow claims of the guy that got fired for being incompetent and a liar? Answer me this about this 'good analysis'. Kurtz having ONE example of Lucas not fussed about ONE shot from ESB, when the movie is about to collapse and cost him his company and reputation shows that Lucas didn't care about quality? Except that by the end of the production, Kurtz had already been replaced by Kazanjian. 1. Lucas did change a shot after they'd already released the movie (before wide release). 2. He was so disappointed with the sound reproduction of Jedi in a regular theater, that he pushed for the THX system to be a standard. But sure, he just didn't care about anything but toys, right? How can people be so gullible and cynical, and at the same time so condescending? It really is baffling.

Bro you’ve been commenting on this video for over a month go touch grass.

Episodes IV-VI have something neither the prequel nor the sequel trilogy has: *Characters you can relate to* Luke is the down on his luck, good-hearted guy who is stuck in a life where he is going nowhere, but then suddenly ends up in the adventure of his life. Han is a wise-cracking, disillusioned space-pirate who knows his only skill is being a great smuggler and a pilot. He's in the adventure for money and since he owes Jabba a debt. Leia is spunky, young woman who occasionally let's her aristocratic, high life personality come through to the annoyance of others. Obi-Wan is the old sage who introduces Luke (and the audience) to an ancient art and knows he must sacrifice himself to let the others escape and live. The prequels have: Padme: Who in the first movie is just dull and devoid of both headstrong character or wisdom beyond her years which should be expected if she's a queen of a planet. She later falls for Anakin for seemingly arbitrary reasons and accepts him in little time despite his obvious inner struggles and flaws. Anakin: Who is too perfect as a kid, being too kind, too friendly and can fix or build anything. As an adult he wants more power but doesn't himself know why. In Revenge of the Sith he sounds like a brainwashed cult-member who doesn't understand how foolish and silly he sounds. Real power-hungry people are cunning and can sway a lot of people to follow them. Obi-Wan: A hothead who loses his composure and temper and rushes into fights by exposing himself. How is that character the same, level-headed sage we saw in the original films? Qui-Gon: He wants to defy the Jedi council because...?? Who knows. Jar-Jar: Supposedly the comical character but just comes across as hopelessly clumsy and annoying. The sequels have: Slightly better and more relatable characters than the prequels. However they all run out of steam in the second film already. At least Poe Dameron shows both bouts of humor and genuine disappointment and anger when he learns the rebel commander has no plan (or so he believed). Rey already knows the ways of the force and can defeat Kylo Ren at the end of the first film. If you don't relate to the characters or at least understand their motivations then you don't care about them. Characters whose choices and actions seem arbitrary and exist without any believable traits just feel artificial and alien.

Four reasons the OG trilogy worked: 1) amazing practical effects 2) great characters including Harrison Ford 3) clear fight between good and evil. Obi-Wan Kenobi acting almost like Jesus. 4) John Williams ground breaking soundtrack based on Holst's planets. Future generations may even think John Williams' work eclipses the films.

​@@McLarenMercedes Did you seriously say the prequels have unrelatable characters? Did you also claim that the characters in the sequels are more RELATABLE!? How ignorant are you? When the heck was Obi-Wan EVER a hothead!? If anything, he has always been incredibly cautious in every movie. His fighting still is DEFENSIVE, hotheads don't rush to people to attack defensively. Obi-Wan has never shown a moment of anger nor did he ever lose his temper. He tries to stay composed and even at the death if his master, he didn't show any rage. Did you even watch the movies? Do you even know who Obi-Wan was? Anakin Skywalker was a SLAVE who tried to be optimistic as a child and dreamt of being a jedi. Once he became a Jedi, he wanted to become stronger to protect the ones he loved. His mother dying traumatized him and he started developing feelings for Padme but was told that he coulnd't pursue it because it goes against the jedi order. Anakin also NEVER wanted to rule the galaxy, he only wanted enough power to save the ones he loved. He's not power hungry for the sake of it. Qui Gon wants to defy the jedi council because he saw the corruption of the jedi. Their zealousy and arrogance brought them down a path that he was strictly opposed to, just like his master Tyranus. The sequels have dumb hotheads like Poe Damareon who makes "yo mama" jokes and some stormtrooper whose entire personality is screaming "REEEY" and the granddaughter of darth sidious who is automatically good at everything from piloting a spce ship she never touched in her life to being a jedi. How on earth did you seriously think the prequels have no "relatable" characters while believing that the clowns from the sequels are "relatable"? It's clear that you have NEVER seen the prequels and are nothing more that a proud sequel consoomer

@@tron23058 I truly believe Star Wars wouldn't be the phenomenon it is without Williams. I'm not saying it wouldn't still be amazing, but it definitely wouldn't be what it is without him.

Thanks! It’s on the to do list if there’s enough info out there to make a whole video.

Yes! Best direction- best dialogue. Easily the best.

Idk, a new hope and empire strikes back were great. Yeah empire strikes back was probably better but a new hope was great for its time.

You could tell adolescent me that and I'd throw a tantrum. But I go back to ESB as an adult, understand the themes, the repercussions, etc. As a kid, it was my least-favorite because there's slower, melancholy beats like the Millennium Falcon hiding from Imperial forces, or Luke's training. Other parts made me sad. It's arguably the darkest movie out of the 1 through 6 movies, and as me who just wanted swing swing lightsaber and vroom vrooom Xwing, I just didn't watch it as much. So FF to adult me, a maturer, critical and dynamic thinker. Yup, ESB is hands-down the best SW.

Return of the Jedi was our favorite as kids. Ewoks were cute and we loved that Ewok Movie with the green giant and light sprite. As a teen it became Empire Strikes Back because of the romance and romantic music.

I like Empire but I think it's just the critics favorite. Star Wars and Return had better elements but the surprise of Vader's identity and Han's capture just turns people into critics too. The prequel trilogy also were incredible and finally getting the love they deserve. Star Wars ends with the Lucas films. Nothing else matters to me although Rogue One and Mandalorian seasons 1&2 gets some love.

Yup

The original movie was going to be three movies. Stretching the material out too much can be just as bad as cramming too much of it together.

I saw it a few times in theaters, always a crowd pleaser. The 1997 re mastered version was good too.

I feel like the title change makes sense though, as Lucas explained how a Jedi wouldnt seek revenge. Obviously revenge of the jedi sounds cooler, but it doesnt make too much sense in my opinion

This is true, but what we got with Anakin's return to the Light side and 'at the time' destroying the Emperor, was pretty amazing.

That's a pretty fire idea. If only...

They weren't supposed to be Wookies. Or at least not in Return of the Jedi. This video misled you. Lucas wanted a bunch of Wookies flying ships at the end of A New Hope (in part cause he really like the word 'Wookie', in fact it shows up in his earlier sci fi film THX). That was the plan. But it was too pricey so he settled for one: Chewy. Then he wanted another hairy alien species but one that was more primitive, so he designed one for that role.

@@SamSaxtonArt I honestly can’t keep track of the urban legends versus the half-truths versus the historically accurate anecdotes anymore. I know his early drafts had the Wookiees helping with the assault on the Death Star. But since they didn’t, introducing them en masse in the third film would’ve been cool, and I stand by my dream of seeing Chewie heaving Wicket into a group of unsuspecting Stormtroopers standing below them in the woods.

@samsaxtonart That’s incorrect. From George’s mouth he says it was originally a Wookie planet and he changed it.

Post the source for that claim then. Cause you're putting words in his mouth if that's your interpretation just from the clip you posted. He never even implies that that was an intention. He's gone on record as saying that he wanted to do lots of wookies and he's explaining here why he didn't just do them for the natives in ROTJ. @@Bulletsandblockbusters

It's not like the Death Star was the only thing they copied outright from the first movie. Then, to cap it all off, once their Emperor rip-off villain gets killed they're so bereft of creativity that they just... well... you know. *edit: By "they" I am referring, of course, to Disney and their sequel trilogy.

The escalation of superweapons started with the then-canon (now Legends) novels of the 1990s, culminating in the ridiculously overpowered Sun Crusher. If memory serves there may even have been a superlaser-equipped Star Destroyer in there somewhere, albeit in a sourcebook rather than a narrative. Starkiller Base was the inevitable and disappointing result of that escalation. So many big franchises have fallen into this trap in the last couple of decades. It's as though writers think the audience won't buy into jeopardy unless the macguffin poses a direct threat to the entire world / galaxy / universe / multiverse / fabric of reality. It's all so tiresome. I mostly liked _TFA,_ but Starkiller Base stretched my suspension of disbelief to the limit.

Kathline Kennedy cough cough 🤧

​@KevReillyUK I liked the Galaxy Gun weapon concept. It was creative & harder for the Rebels to really wipe out. The Marvel Comics run had a few creative WMDs, bases too. The extended "Tarkin" plot wraps up around 2mo prior to Jedi's May 1983 release!

LMAO, Lucas sold the franchise to Disney, who according to you doesn't have any imagination... so what does that tell us about Lucas then eh??

Yet the Emperor called it "an entire legion" of his best troops.

@@knowsomething9384 Flowery purple prose

Haha thanks

Pixar’s earlier work was pretty great at making films that appealed to both kids and adults.

han solo being killed in carbonite wouldve meant something tho for the story also if they keep him alive why waste his time by having him do basically nothing

@supercringeteam6666 the often told story is that Harrison Ford wasn't signed on for a third film and they did it just in case. However, the original 1974 draft has Leia's two little brothers being put into stasis so they can pass undetected by the Empire's scanners. They are revived upon landing on the Wookiee planet. The way it's left at the end of TESB -- "He's alive and in perfect hibernation -- would have caused a problem in part three had they killed him offscreen. It's completely anti-climactic. The death of a main character can never just be some random event. It almost never actually means anything all by itself. Rather the narrative has to be constructed in such a way to give it meaning.

My friend in school always said Leia used her unused Force powers, strength to choke out Jabba.

Also, history is fully of less sophisticated armies beating more powerful armies. The Ewoks weren't exactly on their own, they had Rebel troops taking the lead.

The Viet Cong won the Vietnam War over the American military, the mightiest in the world. It’s not implausible. The Battle of Endor was won through guerrilla tactics, after all.

@@rootbeer_666 : Off topic, but that’s an oversimplification of the Vietnam War. How do you “win” a war when politicians will not let you go on the offensive? Not once did American troop set foot en masse in North Vietnam- it was not allowed. Also, how do you fight a force that moves its men and machines over the borders of two neighboring countries and drops them off in your country, and you are not allowed to cross those same borders to stop them? The Vietnam War was no WWII- it was a highly complex theater where American forces fought on an uneven field, the Cold War and politics played a very heavy hand while the American home front was extremely divided, all of which put an real strain on the American soldier. Guerrilla tactics were just one part of the equation. Somehow, I don’t think Ewoks were as fierce or evasive as the Viet Cong, and as far as I know Hanoi Jane never visited them.

How so? it makes perfect sense. The empire had gambled on the death star being around to smack around any rebelling systems; with the first one gone, there was something of a power vacuum. So they construct a new one. The emperor then uses the death star to draw the rebels in..

@@timewarpdrive77 this is a movie man! Audiences want to see something different! Laziness from George lucas

@@donsharma6136 It's also a story and it works perfectly in the story

2 large Death Stars would have been soundly blasted! 🗣 The "galaxy" gun or a slick WMD plot would of been ok but a super huge "improved" DS with a moon based shield device was not super original.

Yeah but Luke would never turn evil. His growth proves it. The whole theme in return of the jedi is not knowing if Luke is turning evil or not. First thing he does in the movie is murder 2 guards

Agree. The best thing that happened was that Disney got the franchise.

Another reason that they changed it from Revenge to Return us that Star Trek 2: The Wrath of Khan came out that same year. The original title was Star Trek 2: The Vengeance of Khan. Sounding too similar, they both ended changing their titles.

yes please lmao

​@@johnaraya3761 #AviAradOut

Haha I'll add it to the list, although I cover some of his meddling in the Spider-Man videos already made.

​@@BulletsandblockbustersI know, but people need to know about him And how Laura Ziskin was the real hero behind the original Spiderman movies, and how TASM2 was lost without her

He already did bro