Return of the Jedi: Remastered

Let me just say this real quick: OMFG THIS IS THE BEST DAMN EDIT OF ROTJ POSSIBLE AND I AM SO FRIGGIN HAPPY IT EXISTS!!!

Ahem... sorry about that. I just got ahead of myself. Alright, let's do this. darthrush has done the best damn fan edit of Return of the Jedi I've seen, and I've watched maybe 3 or 4 versions. While the Ewoks are still in the movie, they're cut down SIGNIFICANTLY. I mean, short of refilming a bunch of scenes or CGIing the hell out of every Ewok to make them into scary awesome wookies this is the best you can possibly do with it. Also, I really appreciate how darthrush 'fixed' much of Han's clunky dialogue, looks, and actions. I mean, either Harrison Ford was phoning it in or the director was telling Harrison to 'act worse' (or both?) but darthrush did the best he/she could to trim that stuff out, making Han seem much cooler and sharper like in the previous SW films. There are a few Special Edition CGI elements (the Sarlacc) I miss but I'll take losing that to get rid of the stupid Jabba's Palace musical number (FINALLY!!!).

Does this fan edit reach the level of Empire or A New Hope? HAHAHAHAHAHAHA uh still no. HOWEVER, it does make for a SIGNIFICANTLY better cut, the story flowing more smoothly, having less of the kiddie crap, and making Han not a dumbass anymore. Additional wishes wouldn't be possible short of refilming or creating custom CGI, so this makes for a solid deal for me! There's still a few lines that could have been trimmed or re-edited (mainly about Leia's memory of her mom. Did you see Episode III?), but on the whole I have found my new definitive cut of Return of the Jedi. Thanks darthrush!

I love the original trilogy. A lot. Those films are some of my all-time favorites. However, Return of the Jedi always seemed a bit…off… to me. Not bad, mind you, just off. [One reviewer mentions “cut scenes”. I think that’s a pretty good description of how some parts of ROTJ feel.]
As I thought about it, I came to realize that this “off balance” feeling the original version of the film has is due to three key distractions in Return of the Jedi:

1. Jabba’s palace silliness. The focus should be on Luke rescuing his friends, but instead we’re treated to a musical number and other cartoonish elements.
2. Han Solo seems jealous of Luke, which shouldn’t have been a focus of the film. His jealousy made his character arc move weirdly backwards. He seemed very immature and lame in Return of the Jedi, at times.
3. Obviously, the Ewoks. Nothing against them or their cuteness, it’s just that the battle as was presented in the original version of the film was unrealistic and thus distracted from the prime conflict of the film: Luke becoming a Jedi and confronting his father.

This edit takes care of all three. Lapti Nek/Jedi Rocks [and droid screaming] is excised, Han’s problematic lines are (sometimes quite brilliantly) removed.

The Endor ground battle was fantastic. It’s completely believable. Han and Leia get trapped in the bunker, C3PO and the Ewoks realize this and get help. They arrive as a distraction when the rebels are brought outside with their hands up. The Imperials go after them, and get a nasty surprise from the Ewok’s bow&arrows. From there on out, Han, Leia, Chewbacca, and the rebels fight the fight and get their job done. The Ewoks do their part and run around and distract the empire. They try to fight but their sticks and stones just can’t beat the imperials. Finally, Chewie breaks into an AT-AT, does some real damage, Han and Leia get into the base, and the rest is history.

The only place this lost points were some audio transitions that didn’t necessarily sound natural. Unfortunately, I think these kind of things are unavoidable when you are not the person who made the film—and thus you don’t have full access to all the audio resources used for the movie.

Anyway, the result of the edit is a version of Return of the Jedi that retains everything we love about the film. It is still a worthy conclusion to a great trilogy, but now it is also fantastic film in its own right. I would recommend this edit to anyone who has had the same feelings of Return of the Jedi as me.

Star Wars was the reason I discovered fanedits years ago. Unsurprisingly, it was because of the prequel trilogy. I lost count of how many fanedits I've watched over the years and unfortunately continue to look for, because of the God awful Episodes VIII and IX and their TV counterparts. I'm looking at you Obi-Wan Kenobi! For some reason I haven't found any Boba Fett fanedits, I'm guessing it isn't salvageable..

When it comes to the original trilogy I was pretty happy with the infamous despecialized editions, but, a little voice in my head reminded me that, although I grew up with the original trilogy etc etc, Episode VI was always like a wasted opportunity for me. I lament to the fact that instead of Wookies we got the Ewoks, plus all the other misfires like Palpatine's plan at the end and some other stuff. So, I started digging for fanedits, that also weren't DVD quality, hopping for the best. I was surprise to see that, on the contrary to the other trilogies, there weren't many choices for the original, at least none that were trying to alter the original in a serious way and not by adding metal score or just combining vfx from the special editions. I was actually down to 2-3 choices, barely, and I'm happy to say, Darthrush did it!

The Ewoks were trimmed considerably. Some reviews are saying it wasn't enough, I can't say that I agree. I mean, guys, the Ewoks are here, it is done. We cannot remove them completely or make them seem like being out of place by having them a couple of minutes. Maybe there is an edit out there that does that and I haven't seen it, but I was pretty happy with this one. And since I'm commenting on other people's reviews, Darthrush was pretty much vindicated by living the death scene of Boba Fett, because it was reminded to us, and in a ridiculous way I must add, in the Book of Boba Fett series. The thing is though, I do not understand why there is still an issue with this death scene, because the editor did an amazing job in this whole sequence with Jaba and the rescue of Han Solo. All the silliness and the stupid gags that were going on in the original were removed! Another common remark is the choice of the ending from the special edition, with the exception of Anakin's force ghost. Well, to each his own, you can't please everyone with this one. I personally like it because it makes perfect sense to see the whole galaxy celebrating this momentous victory over the Empire.

Technical wise, all the edits were seamless, picture quality was pretty good as was the sound. The editor did a really great job with this one. I was surprised to see this is the only edit he has done, or at least listed here.

I totally recommend this edit, as long as you accept that Ewoks are unavoidable, that Boba Fett falls inside Sarlacc's Pit and that the editor chose the special edition ending, I believe this is a superior version over the original!

Thanks to anyone who read my review and special thanks to Darthrush for all his hard work!

Probably the best edited version of ROTJ. Not every cringe moment is cut (kind of depends on how much you like Boba Fett) but enough of them to be a major improvement. This cut strikes a nice balance between purity and revisionism. If you want something more radical, go to Spence...but if you want a version of ROTJ that is both good and true to the original film, I recommend.

Great edit, took out many things that did not need to be in this film. Unfortunately Boba Fett is something that didn't need to be in this film so if you make another version I suggest you cut alot of him out. This was a smooth edit, I never noticed it was fan made even with the addition of your own special effects like Vader vanishing after death. Great work.