The Superior Version of Return of the Jedi

I give you fair warning: there are SPOILERS AHEAD. MASSIVE ONES.

George Lucas likes to make changes, there can be no argument about that. The reveal the Darth Vader was in fact once Anakin Skywalker was not planned when the original Star Wars came out, nor was the fact that Luke and Leia were twins. So yeah. George Lucas loves changing things.

Plot changes like what have been listed above, though, were not the sort of alterations that have been made to Return of the Jedi since its release in 1983, which really would probably be better described as tweaks. One of these, apparently, consists of some minor improvements to the film’s special effects. About these I know little and have no interest in finding out more. Knowing how the film was made will add nothing to it for me, so I don’t care.

There have been, however, three noticeable changes.

The Rebels and Ewoks celebrate their victory over the Empire

The first to the Ewok and Rebel celebration scene at the end of the film. In the original version the Yub Nub soundtrack was used, but this was later changed to the uncreatively named Ewok Celebration, as apparently George had decided that the original was too childish. Strange, considering that this was also the man who would go on to give us Jar-Jar Binks, but anyway.

That change, though, like my next offering, is really a matter of preference. I like both, but if I had to pick I’m going with the new one. Maybe because it’s the first one I heard, who knows.

Anyway, for the next change (which can, by the way, also be seen in the linked videos) George replaced Sebastian Shaw (who played Anakin/Vader in the Original Trilogy) with Hayden Christensen (who played him in the Prequels). To some this was apparently controversial, I think it’s understandable – we only saw Sebastian Shaw’s actual face once in three films, and he was no oil painting at the time.

Pick your favourite Anakin

But now for the last change, the big one, the one that nobody can stand: adding in a yelled NOOOOOOOOOO as Vader chooses his son over his master and throws the Emperor down the Death Star’s reactor shaft to his death. It’s just not a good addition – it’s cringeworthy and bordering on comical.

Now to be fair, this wasn’t done for no reason. The aim was to give a perfect symmetry to the story of Darth Vader by matching his similarly exaggerated NOOOOOOOOOO when (Prequel spoiler incoming here) his wife’s death is revealed to him at the end of Revenge of the Sith. The trouble is, well, it just wasn’t needed in Return of the Jedi. Watching Vader make his choice in absolute silence is just … better. There’s no other word for it. It’s better.

Darth Vader turns on the Emperor, picking him up to throw to his death

Anyway, I’m only bringing this up at all because I recently saw an unchanged (except for the special effects maybe – couldn’t tell on that front) version of Return of the Jedi and so suddenly became actually qualified to say something about the changes. One you don’t notice, two don’t really matter, but the third is a major drag.

Great film by the way.