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Reasons that ROTJ is bad... ...that have nothing to do with Ewoks

#16 User is offline   Just your average movie goer Icon

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Posted 08 October 2004 - 08:37 PM

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...

STAR WARS

Episode IV

THE LAST STAND

The Rebellion is in ruins. Following the devasting attack by the Imperial Fleet at Hoth, the surviving members of the Rebel Alliance are gathering their strength near the remote world of Sullust.

With his final victory close at hand, the Emperor is using every resource at his disposal, scouring the entire galaxy to find and destroy the last remnants of the alliance.

Meanwhile Luke Skywalker, Lando Calrissian and the wookie Chewbacca race against time to rescue their friend Han Solo from Jabba the Hutt in his hideout on Nar Shaada and return to Sullust to prepare for the impending threat....






ONE

Nar Shaada - an artificial city suspended in deep space. The buildings are all connected to a central support axis and are joined by many suspended walkways. Landing platforms extend from many of the buildings and on one of these, a familiar ship can be seen - the Mellenium Falcon.

A small distance away Lando Calrissian walked along a gangplank towards a small bar. A scruffy looking man was waiting for him. "Good evening, Calrissian." he smirked. "I'm glad to see you came alone. You're a man of your word."

He showingly placed a blaster in a holster with a grin. "Won't have to use this then, will I?"

"Let's just get this over with." Lando growled.

"Alright." the man replied in a mock offended tone. With his sleazy grin, he led Lando inside to a small bar. They went past the actual counter where the drinks were sold and through a small door into a very short hall. Lando noticed that the ceiling was in fact the base of a heavy blastdoor. It would look very casual to the untrained observer but Jabba had some serious security in place.

They came out into a much larger, very elaborate room full of men and women, of quite a few species, drinking, gambling and generally having a good time.

"Your man, Jabba, is in the corner over there." Lando's guide pointed out, indicating a man in his late fifties playing some kind of card came with a few of his associates.

"Jabba." he said, introducing Lando to him. "This is Calrissian."

Jabba favoured Lando with a charming smile. "Sit down. Make yourself comfortable." he said, taking a little puff of a cigar in his hand. He indicated to his associates that the game was over and they went to one of the other tables, leaving them alone.

"I'm Jabba the Hutt." Jabba said, shaking Lando's hand.

"Nice to finally meet you." Lando replied. "I've heard a lot about you - best in the business, according to a lot of the guys I've met. This room here is pretty impressive too."

Jabba smiled. "Well, I make ends meet so I can't complain."

Lando nodded. "True. Tell me, why do they call you the 'Hutt'?"

"It comes from the Sillareon language. It means lord." Jabba told him, with just a hint of boasting. "I did their planet a big favour many years ago and they gave me that title. I've kind of kept it as a working name ever since. It seems to bring good luck."

Lando couldn't see why anyone would give Jabba such a title but maybe he wasn't always such a bad guy.

"So, you wanna negotiate Han's release then?"

"That's right." Lando told him.

"I don't know if you have the kind of money you'd need." Jabba replied. "The bounty I paid for him was 200, 000 alone."

"200, 000?" Lando asked in disbelief. "The money Han owed you wouldn't have been half that much."

"Look around you, Calrissian." Jabba told him. "Do you see all my associates? I've gotta a lot of guys working for me and I take a huge risk with every single one I hire. I never had any personal grudge with Han. He's a good guy and I like him a lot... but I can't have one of my best smugglers dump an expensive shipment of spice and do nothing. I have to set an example. When these other guys see Han decorating the wall downstairs, they know that they don't cross me."

Lando nodded. "I understand your position. But I'm sure we can make an arrangement that would be suitable to the both of us."

Jabba took another puff of his cigar. "I'm all for it. But if it's going to take a while, why don't we play a few rounds while we're at it? Are you a gambling man, Calrissian?"

"Occasionally." Lando replied.

Jabba then got out a new pack of cards and they got started. Lando won the first round and then let Jabba win a few. His remark that he was occasionally a gambling man was one of the great understatements. He was a pro gambler and if there were any tricks to a game, he knew them.

But he also knew how to not make an opponent get suspicious or hostile. As the rounds went on, he began to increase the bets and he could see that Jabba was becoming a little uncomfortable. Most people wouldn't notice but Lando knew what to look for. And as they played, he saw that Jabba's guards were slowly filling the room.

They didn't look different from the other people around him but they would occasionally look his way and he could see that they were carrying concealed weapons. He knew what to look for - a slight crease in a boot or an unusually folded sleeve, concealing a blaster.

But that was okay. It was afterall exactly what he wanted to do - to draw these guys into the room. He only hoped Luke would be quick.

* * *

Luke abseiled down the outer face of the building, using a motorised retractable grappling hook, attached to a harness that he wore. The building was very exposed and all around, he could see the bright lights of the other buildings. But they were far away and he was too small to be seen. The lightsaber would be a different matter altogether so he knew he had to be quick.

He had flown past the building with Chewbacca and Lando and he could sense exactly where Han was in the building. He was now outside the room where he needed to be. He pressed a button on his retracting grappling hook, stopping his descent, and unhooked his lightsaber - he had constructed it himself after losing his old lightsaber at cloud city. But it worked just as well.

He stretched out with the force to see if the room was still guarded or not. But the guards had gone, presumably upstairs to keep an eye on Lando.

Very quickly, he ignited his lightsaber and cut a section out of the wall. Once he had finished, he threw the piece into the dark emptiness beneath him, shut down his lightsaber and climbed inside. He unhooked the harness and had a look around. This was one of Jabba's rooms for discussing his operations and planning the more difficult ones. Right now, it was dark and unnoccupied - save for a sleeping figure on the wall... trapped in carbonite, in perfect hibernation. And Jabba was using him as a wall decoration, intending to leave him in suspended animation indefinitely.

It was fortunate that Chewbacca and Lando had found Jabba's hideout so quickly. Han had only been frozen for about a month so he shouldn't have any serious side effects.

Luke set the controls on the side of the carbonite block to thaw the carbon. The process was almost instaneous - one moment the case was filled with hardened carbon, the next moment, all the carbon was floating around the room and Han was free. Luke lifted his friend down carefully and released the shackles from his arms. If only he had reached Cloud City sooner....

Luke shook the thought out of his head. If he had reached Cloud City sooner, anything could have happened. And things could have even turned out worse. A lot worse.

Han was coming around now. Luke used the force to calm his friend. As far as Han could tell, only a few moments had passed since the stormtroopers had pulled him away from Leia and he had been lowered into the carbon freezing facility. Within moments, he would realise that it was really much longer than that but he'd be feeling pretty confused.

"Easy, old buddy." Luke said and when Han heard his voice, opened his eyes and looked at him, he smiled with relief.

"Luke."

"Here's one of ones I owe you." Luke told him.

Han laughed a little but he could sense that they were not out of danger yet. "Where's Leia?"

"She's safe." Luke told him. "Everyone got out of Cloud City safely, thanks to Lando."

"Lando?" Han said uneasily and through the force, Luke could sense the deep anger that Han felt when Luke mentioned his old friend's name.

"He did everything he could to help you and the others out." Luke told him. "He lost control of his whole operation at Cloud City to the Empire, so he could get Leia and Chewbacca out of there. He didn't betray you."

Han looked at him in disbelief. "He did that? He got Leia and Chewbacca out of there?"

Luke nodded. "And with Chewbacca's help, he found you too. And right now, he's upstairs, keeping Jabba busy for me."

Suddenly Han realised where they were. In fact, he'd been in this same room with his old 'friend' Jabba many times before.

"You mean he's drawing out all of Jabba's henchmen to keep them away from here?"

"Don't worry. It's all under control. But we should get out of here."


* * *

Meanwhile Jabba watched Lando uneasily. He didn't like the fact that this guy knew where his lair was and that he could have some other friends that might know about it as well. For a moment, he thought about signalling his guards to shoot Lando but he couldn't - not with so many of his associates in the room watching. If they saw his guards shoot Lando when they guy hadn't even done anything, that would not look good at all.

Lando knew exactly what Jabba was thinking and he deliberately lost the next few hands to put the gangster at ease. And then he stopped the game.

"Well, I'll leave you with this offer then." he said, getting up. "If you'd like, I'll pay you triple the amount of money Han owed you plus the 200, 000 you paid to that bounty hunter. I'll come back here in a few weeks - give you some time to think it over."
Jabba stood up and shook Lando's hand. "Alright. You're a good man, Calrissian. I'll think about your offer. Take it easy, won't you?"


Lando then returned to the Falcon, where Han and Luke where waiting with Chewbacca.

He and Han stood facing each other quietly for a few moments on the gangplank.

"I'm sorry." Lando said. Han nodded slowly. There wasn't much to be said - he understood his friend. It had been a rough time on both of them. "I'm sorry too." Han replied.

"Come on." Lando said. "Let's get out of here."

* * *

Meanwhile, Jabba had been brought downstairs by one of his guards to see the empty case on the wall where Han had been. He then turned to look at the large hole in the wall that the intruder and Han had escaped through.

"How the hell did someone blast a hole that big without making a sound?" one of the guards muttered in disbelief.

"That hole was cut." Jabba told him. "Solo's friend Skywalker must have slipped him out, while Calrissian was drawing attention to himself upstairs."

He turned to his guards. "You know what to do."

* * *

As the Mellenium Falcon launched from the landing platform, Lando looked at the sensors in alarm. "We've got company. Looks like we didn't get away as clean as I thought."

"I wonder how Jabba got ships out that fast." Luke commented.

"I wonder how he didn't get them out sooner." Han replied sourly. "Jabba's always got at least a dozen ships circling Nar Shaada at any given time, with another dozen standing by for immediate launch. He doesn't mess around."

The Falcon was hit by a blast to the side. Chewie growled something and hit the fire controls. It was unlikely that they'd hit any of their pursuers but hopefully a few random laser shots would make them ease up a bit.

"We've gotta clear this place's grav pull." Lando muttered. "And fast."

Suddenly more ships tried to cut the Falcon off.

"There must be over fifty of them out there!" Lando complained.

"Take us back into the city." Han advised him. "We can try to knock them off."

"We're gonna have to." Lando told him. "But I don't know what good it will do. We're badly outnumbered."

Suddenly, they heard a voice on the communicator. "Hailing vessel. This is the Imperial Star Destroyer Executor. Do you require assistance?"

Everyone was silenced in dreaded disbelief. Ahead, a Super-class Imperial Star Destroyer had pulled out of hyperspace and was launching Tie Fighters. Several more Star Destroyers closed in on the floating city sphere.

"Hailing vessel. This is the Imperial Star Destroyer Executor. Do you require assistance?" the voice came again.

Everyone looked at each other, unsure of what to make of this. The Tie Fighters were getting closer and Jabba's pilots were still trying to blast them out of the sky.

"We'll never be able to fight our way out of this place." Luke said.

"Luke's right." Han agreed. "I say we don't have a choice."

Lando nodded and reluctantly spoke into the communicator. "Star Destroyer Executor. This is the Mellenium Falcon. Any assistance you could provide us would be most appreciated."

Moments later, the Tie Fighters engaged Jabba's ships and destroyed them swiftly. Several Imperial assault shuttles landed outside Jabba' headquarters and hundreds of heavily armed stormtroopers stormed the building.

Watching it all through the cockpit screen, Lando, Chewbacca, Luke and Han could not believe what they were seeing.

"Hailing Mellenium Falcon." the Imperial voice came again. "Please shut down your power and we will bring your vessel aboard."

"Copy, Executor." Lando replied.

And that was it. His and Luke's plan to rescue Han Solo had gone perfectly.

But Lord Vader's plan to trap them had gone perfectly as well.

* * *

On the bridge of the Executor, Lord Vader turned to Boba Fett.

"The Empire will pay you in full for your services." he told him. "You may leave now."

Boba Fett bowed and left the room. This had been very profitable for him - he had been paid handsomely by the Empire for tracking the Mellenium Falcon to Bespin, he had been paid another large sum of money for bringing Captain Solo to Jabba the Hutt and he had now been paid even more for revealing Jabba's location to the Empire. This had been a very profitable experience indeed.
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#17 User is offline   Vwing Icon

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Posted 08 October 2004 - 10:36 PM

JYAMG, excellently written. That would make a great opening for the novelization of Episode VI. But I sincerely don't think it's a movie. You cannot neglect Leia, first of all. She was dominant in all the others, she has to be part of the rescue. You must make Jabba evil, or if not evil, just clearly a bad man. I don't know if the idea of making him a human is good or bad (though you certainly do not ask why he is called a hut, that is getting into LOTR territory, and it is exactly for the reasons that you do NOT ask why everything is the way it is in the SW universe that makes us so enthralled with that universe), but I think he must be bad. We've been set up with the first 2 movies about how Han has to pay Jabba back, we already DON'T LIKE Jabba, and you have to follow through with that.

The subtle exchanges between Lando and Han certainly add something to the story, and I like them. I like the plan how Vader traps them, but you also have to find a way (an entertaining and logical way, I might add) to get them out of there. Also, I don't think it's a good idea to have Luke with Han and Lando when he faces Vader, and right now it will be hard to separate them without something hackneyed. This is now personal for Luke, and Han and Lando should not be involved. And again, if almost all our heroes are on Executor (oh also, there's no way Lando would say the ship was the Faclon, because I'm sure it's a wanted ship, but that's minor), it's going to be incredibly hard to include the other very important characters. You will either have to include the characters in cuts that take away from the main action as much as any cuts you complain were made in ROTJ do, or you have to leave them out for the majority of the movie, which makes no sense at all.

So again, it makes for an extremely entertaining read (and I'm not kidding when I say this, one of the better reads I've had in a while, including professional authors), and I commend on a great job, but I think it would be fairly slow as a film, and I don't think it really suits the demands of a film, specifically ROTJ.

Dammit I said I wasn't going to argue anything about ROTJ until after I watched ESB and ROTJ back-to-back, but you just HAD to get into it again. smile.gif That's alright though, at the very least it gave me a chance to read excellent writing.
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#18 User is offline   Just your average movie goer Icon

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Posted 09 October 2004 - 07:37 AM

Thank you for the nice review, Vwing. I'm sorry it's not your cup of tea (what a quaint exp​ression) but I'd rather something like that over what we got in the film any day.

I'd just like to respond to a few of your points -

QUOTE
You cannot neglect Leia, first of all. She was dominant in all the others, she has to be part of the rescue.


I'm not neglecting her. I'm merely not using her in this sequence. My reasoning was that I don't think it makes sense to put anyone else in danger than necessary. And from the dialogue at the end of The Empire Strikes Back, it sounded as though the boys were going to handle it.

QUOTE
You must make Jabba evil, or if not evil, just clearly a bad man.


I don't get understand your obsession with this notion that Jabba should be evil. Must everything be so black and white?

QUOTE
I don't know if the idea of making him a human is good or bad


I guess he didn't have to be human... I just couldn't stand him being the slug that he was for the simple impracticality of the issue. In the movie, Jabba the Hutt couldn't move!

QUOTE
though you certainly do not ask why he is called a hut, that is getting into LOTR territory, and it is exactly for the reasons that you do NOT ask why everything is the way it is in the SW universe that makes us so enthralled with that universe


Good point. I'll give you that one.

QUOTE
oh also, there's no way Lando would say the ship was the Faclon, because I'm sure it's a wanted ship, but that's minor


Another fine point. Yeah, that was negligence on my part, I have to admit. I didn't bother to proofread this thing. I wrote it ages ago and just felt that now was a great opportunity to post it. Unfortunately, that's all I've got so far... as I abandoned the project because it was so demanding on my time... er... at the time.

Maybe I'll try to write some more later. I don't plan on Han, Lando and Chewie facing Vader. They'd get out of there... I was just using this to demonstrate an alternative to the rescue we got in the movie.

QUOTE
but I think it would be fairly slow as a film, and I don't think it really suits the demands of a film, specifically ROTJ.


On the contrary, this would get the film rolling much faster. Having Luke and co. ambushed by Vader at the very start of the film would up the stakes, which is what I feel we should be doing with the third installment of any trilogy... not lowering them as Return of the Jedi did. Also, rather than being an interruption to the flow of the film as the Jabba the Hutt sequence was in the film, this doubles as a plot device to advance the film.

Perhaps I should write more to show you how this would play out. I hope that you're not one of those people (ie. Rory and Mic Mac) who believe that Return of the Jedi was as good a possibility as we could get and no alternative version could ever be better. Don't worry, I know you're not one of them... but that argument just annoyed the living shit out of me. It's completely invalid and ludicrous.


QUOTE
Dammit I said I wasn't going to argue anything about ROTJ until after I watched ESB and ROTJ back-to-back, but you just HAD to get into it again. 


Under a thread titled "Reasons that ROTJ is bad" ? How could I resist? cool.gif



However, I'm glad that you found it an enjoyable read. And I appreciate the constructive feedback. It was very encouraging. I hope the reasoning for my decisions make sense to you, even if you would do things differently.

Cheers.

- Movie Goer
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Posted 09 October 2004 - 10:59 AM

I like a lot of that. I think it might happen too quickly, mind you. It's a bit of a quick fix for the big song and dance set up at the end of EMPIRE. All the same, it's better than what went down in JEDI. And you addressed the relevant question: why hadn't Vader stationed a garrison of his best troops - his REAL best troops - to get Luke when he inevitably went to rescue Han? The whole "he'll help his friends if they're in trouble" plan had worked once before ... For all that, why hadn't Luke gone to Jabba only to learn that Vader had taken him back? Vader could have secured Han away on his own, or thawed him out and tossed him in the brig, to draw Luke out.

etc.
"I had a lot of different ideas. At one point, Luke, Leia and Ben were all going to be little people, and we did screen tests to see if we could do that." -George Lucas, in STAR WARS: the Annotated Screenplays (p197).
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#20 User is offline   Just your average movie goer Icon

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Posted 09 October 2004 - 11:16 AM

I'm glad you liked it, Civilian. As for it being too quick, I guess I could draw it out a little bit. Perhaps the getaway could get messier earlier on... perhaps some of Jabba's boys could have a shoot out with our heroes on the way to the landing platform or something like that.

As for the questions about Vader and Luke, I'd add -

What happened to Vader's ambition to destroy the Emperor and take control of the Empire for himself?

His suggestion to Luke sounded pretty genuine.
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#21 User is offline   Emlyn Icon

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Posted 13 October 2004 - 07:39 PM

RotJ was my favorite movie of all time when I was 9 years old. But when I watched it recently, I noticed most of the faults you pointed out. Much of the plot was too obviously fabricated for the sake of action which, as I mentioned, entertains little kids. (Ewoks are soooooo kewt!!!! dry.gif )

Needless to say, I don't enjoy it that much anymore . . . ANH is my new favorite of the trilogy.

Also needless to say, RotJ is still better than any of the prequels.
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Posted 14 October 2004 - 03:35 AM

Yeah, it is great when you're a little kid. But unfortunately, while Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back grows up with you, Return of the Jedi doesn't.

Nice new signature, by the way. I like it. cool.gif

This post has been edited by Just your average movie goer: 14 October 2004 - 03:38 AM

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#23 User is offline   Give Me The Originals Dammit Icon

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Posted 16 October 2004 - 08:50 PM

Great stuff JYAMG! I'm not sure if it would translate well on film or not, but as far as a novelization goes, it truly is a great read. I think my favorite part was the simple exchange between Luke and Han.
QUOTE
"He did everything he could to help you and the others out." Luke told him. "He lost control of his whole operation at Cloud City to the Empire, so he could get Leia and Chewbacca out of there. He didn't betray you."


With a couple simple lines, you resolve the tension which should have occured when Han and Lando would meet again. Something ROTJ completely forget about. I also like Boba Fett's appearance, it seems more with his character, than just being some employee of Jabba.

Great Work!
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#24 User is offline   Just your average movie goer Icon

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Posted 16 October 2004 - 09:10 PM

Thanks smile.gif I'm glad you enjoyed it. I may continue it sometime in the future after I finish some other things I'm working on. If/when I do, I'll let you all know.
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