CT The Jabba Rescue- exciting, ridiculous, or just too long?

There are many possible stances to be taken regarding the rescue of Han from Jabba's palace in Return of the Jedi. Personally, I think the Sail Barge fight is one of the most exciting scenes in the original trilogy. With that said, I don't see how necessary the rescue is for it to take up 25% of the Star Wars saga's finale with it being something of a "break" from the entire Jedi/Sith, Rebel/Empire storyline.

 

I'm fine with it as long as it is. If Han is rescued in ten minutes, that makes things seem too bang-bang.

 

I enjoyed it for what it is. It does seem to be a bit of a diversion from what's been going on the last 5 episodes, but it's a good bridge thematically from TESB, where it focuses moreso on the characters than the galaxy at wide, then returns its focus to the big picture

 

It honestly didn't seem too long to me; the later events easily overshadowed what happened at the beginning.

I think the problem at this point was the question of how to make Jabba's wrath seem threatening. Luke could already square off against a Sith Lord, and he had grown even more powerful at this point. The many pitfalls of Jabba's palace seemed to help the notion that Jabba was a dangerous crime lord, and not just an obese slug. But for all the confusing events that happened earlier, the Sail Barge Assault more than makes up for it.

By taking up the amount of time it did, and putting all our heroes in danger, it did create a sense of urgency and suspense. Plus, the makeup and models were absolutely phenomenal.

 

Been awhile since I've seen the scene in its entirety but I don't mind it. Some of it could have been sped up but it still works.

 

Take out the "droid torture" scene with Threepio and the "Jedi Rocks" and I'm totally fine with it. Even if the "rescue plan" still makes no sense to me, it's still definitely one of the better parts in ROTJ, IMO. But I'm a huge Han fan, so his rescue was pretty important to me, even if it wasn't to the "galaxy/storyline at large".

And yeah, I love that sand barge scene. One of the best scenes in the entire movie.

 

The plan is a little bit nonsensical and the scene is too long, but it's ok.

 

I like it just fine. I've always liked the thermal detonator part. As a kid I thought the rancor was totally awesome. Slave Leia is nice to look at. Han and Luke have some nice banter. I've always thought the weakest part was the action.

Of course I'm referring to the pre-SE version, Jedi Rocks is total garbage and I don't care for the new sarlacc, either.

I guess the best part of the SE was that whoever played Oola showed that she still got it. Good for her.

 

The Rancor is the best alien/creature in the saga.

 

This is my opinion as well.

 

I would have been happier with fewer images of ugly aliens that served no purpose but to show off ILM's hard work. Sure, most of them were done very well, but they added nothing to the story. In the immortal words of Monty Python, "Get on with it!"

And it should go without saying that the SE made things worse.

 

There are a few choice character bits--primarily with Jabba himself--but I much prefer the breezy yet dramatically hefty "rescue" mission that constitutes the first act to Revenge of the Sith. Those twenty or so minutes practically play like a triumphant do-over.

 

I have mixed feelings about the Jabba Palace sequence. I really liked the sequence aboard Jabba's barge. But the palace sequence . . . eh . . . I don't know. What was the point of Leia turning Chewie in to Jabba, when she tried to free Han on her own, later on? After freeing Han, did she plan to free Chewie as well? What about Lando? Did she planned to tell him? Did he know about her plan?

 

I've always loved the whole Palace sequence; as a kid it was probably my favorite part. I still think Jabba is some fantastic puppetry.

Which makes it painful now when I'm confronted with Jedi Rocks and the whole movie stops as the fourth wall shatters into oblivion. I'm not, as a rule, an SE hater, but Jedi Rocks makes me embarrassed about a scene I used to adore. *end rant*

But no, Jabba's Palace is exciting and does not go on too long. Except when Joh Yowza is on screen.

 

The stuff on Tatooine is actually my favorite part of ROTJ. That said, there are several things I would have done differently:

1. I never would have done any of the SE changes.

2. I would have given Boba Fett some lines, a more pronounced role, and a better death.

3. I wouldn't have lost the phone number of Declan Mulholland.

4. Jabba's band has got to go.

5. The droid torture scene was silly.

6. They could have worked harder on the Rancor.

I actually think it would have been cool to expand this section of the film, showing Luke and Leia and etc. searching for Han, running into other bounty hunters (Bossk, IG-88, Dengar, etc.) along the way, etc. Then discovering where Han was and going to rescue him. This could have practically been its own movie. Forget the Ewoks and Yoda dying and ghost Ben and the Death Star II. Give me more of this stuff.

 

That is basically just Shadows of the Empire: The Book: The Movie

 

No way. I adore that whole first act. It's like a Star Wars version of pulp oriental pirate adventures, and one of the more indulgently mischievous detours of the saga, what with Jabba and his seedy palace denizens. Some of the staging during the actual Sarlacc pitt escape is a tad on the clunky side but there's still a lotta verve and swashbuckling fun to the whole sequence, and I love the way it finishes the with our heroes flying free from the exploding sail barge before cutting to the Falcon and Luke's X-Wing blasting off into space coupled with Williams' triumphant music. That was always a such an exciting closer for me as a little kid.

 

Luke came up with this plan. Everyone had their parts. The point was to get everyone into Jabba's palace so that Jabba would get angry enough to take them out to the Sarlacc, for aggressive negotiations. To do that, Luke needed Lando in there for reconnaissance. The droids to get the Lightsaber past security. Leia and Chewie to allow Leia the opportunity to try and get Han out, but failing that, Luke had good reason to get Jabba riled up. If Leia had succeeded, Lando would smuggle the droids and Chewie out.

 

Scroll down to reply #24 in this thread for my analysis:
http://boards.theforce.net/threads/jabbas-palace.50014938/#post-50999333

 

I loved it and one of my favorite parts of the saga. Get rid of the Jedi Rocks scene and I think it's near perfect fun.

 

Was this in the novelization? Or is this something you came up with?

 

I don't even think any familiarity with the novelization is required. It makes sense on its own (as much as anything makes sense in Star Wars) and can be inferred well enough strictly within the context of the film.

 

I liked it if only because it opened the door for a lot of cool EU stories about the weird criminal underworld in the SW universe.

 

I think it should have been a bit shorter, so the time could be better spent dealing with the Empire. It just seemed to be a bit of a digression from the overall story. But, we got new locales, species, and ideas, which was great.