Quote:
Originally Posted by MrMastodonFarm
When I got home last night, I flicked on the TV and that exact scene was playing... so if I come across as peeved about the additions that's why.
|
What Return of the Jedi should have been according to Gary Kurtz, who was basically Lucas' partner on the first two films before they had a falling out - Lucas wanted the movies to sell toys and be for kids and to have a happy ending.
http://io9.com/5611489/original-star...e-strikes-back
Quote:
I could see where things were headed,” Kurtz said. “The toy business began to drive the [Lucasfilm] empire. It’s a shame. They make three times as much on toys as they do on films. It’s natural to make decisions that protect the toy business, but that’s not the best thing for making quality films.
Kurtz also explains how Return Of The Jedi would have ended originally, in the outline that Lucas and he had come up with before Lucas decided to change everything to make it more of an upbeat toy-selling vehicle. Luke and Leia would have rescued Han Solo from Jabba the Hutt, but then Han would have died halfway through the film, during a raid on an Imperial base. (This is something that Harrison Ford has mentioned before as well.) The film would have ended with the rebel forces in tatters, Leia struggling with her new duties as queen, and Luke walking off into the sunset alone, like Clint Eastwood at the end of a spaghetti Western. It would have been a more nuanced, muted ending to the saga, instead of the Ewoks dancing in the forest like a "teddy-bear luau." (Apparently that genius phrase is the work of the L.A. Times' Geoff Boucher.)
|
Full interview and LA Times article:
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/hero...kurtz-wer.html