CT Boba Fett's Malfunctioning Rocket Pack

Boba Fett's performance in Return of the Jedi is a point of contention for fans of the character, and it's honestly hard to tell what's going on in the scene to begin with.

Spoiler: Mandalorian Season 2 spoiler

Boba Fett's armor in the Mandalorian got me back on the subject of what happened that lead him to fall into the pit. The rocket pack now has a visible metal patch soldiered over where it was damaged in Return of the Jedi.

The thing is, I wasn't even aware the rocket pack was damaged the film; the old expanded universe says that Han triggered a manual ignition function. This in itself made sense because the first time Boba Fett used the rocket pack in the Holiday Special, he activated a switch on the rocket pack itself. But something I never noticed in the film is that the prop did indeed reflect the pack had been damaged.


It seems intuitive to think that Han's axe dished out this damage. That may be true, but curiously the prop rocket pack that had a gaping hole in it was used in multiple different shots before the hit. Ironically, the actual scene where Boba Fett falls into the Sarlaac pit shows him with an undamaged rocket pack.

So what am I getting at? I don't think it's ever been pointed out that the hole was blown into it by the cannon on the deck that knocked Boba over. After that, the little knock that Han gave with the axe went directly into the exposed innards of the rocket pack, which then malfunctioned and sent him flying.

The shot with the rocket pack explosive is done with the pack that's already damaged as well. We never see a clean prop rigged to explode, whereas the impact of the cannon shot was away from the viewer.

I could be wrong and the axe could've done all of that, but it seems more believable that the cannon made the hole than just the axe. The inconsistent use of props makes it impossible to discern without some kind of input from the filmmakers. This also seems to fly in the face of the Mandalorian's canon that a Mandalorian's armor is nearly indestructible.

 

Now I want a Monty Python skit where John Cleese brings his Mandalorian rocket pack back to the store where he bought it. Eric Idle attempts to persuade him that it is functional.

 

it's not dead, it's just resting.

 

Caught on the Sarlaac's teeth or stomach acid?

 

Are we supposed to think that we have seen this rocket pack recently?

 

New development (well, new for me at least). Apparently that damage is from a lightsaber.
https://www.bobafettfanclub.com/costume/variant/jedi/
I'm having trouble finding additional sources, but Boba Fett Fanclub says the damage comes from a lightsaber slash from Luke in a deleted scene. Now it LOOKS like it came from a lightsaber, but I'm having trouble placing it in the final film, unless a significant portion of the scene was reshot. Remember, it's damaged when he initially uses it to jet from the sail barge to the skiff.

But from this lead, there's another theory for why Boba's rocket pack is messed up; it's simply a recycled prop and we weren't supposed to notice. There's a case of an unused prop hand from the Sail Barge fight that was made for production but never used
https://www.starwars.com/news/star-wars-mysteries-lets-give-luke-a-hand
So if true, this brings us back to the first point; neither a cannon nor axe damaged the rocket pack, it was just accidentally manually triggered and the whole situation was just as embarrassing as we initially thought.

 

Minor spoilers from the Mandalorian:

Apparently Boba Fett's armor is beskar based on deflecting a blaster bolt with no damage in the Mandalorian. But yet the blast he receives at the tail end of Clone Wars takes out a sizeable chunk of his helmet. Also, Boba Fett Fan Club has some of the storyboards showing the lightsaber damage, as well as Luke lopping off his hand through the gauntlet.
https://www.bobafettfanclub.com/new...ost-shots-of-boba-fett-in-return-of-the-jedi/
Of course this is at odds with what we're now shown in the Mandalorian with beskar being able to repel a lightsaber with minimal to no damage. There could very well be an explanation for why parts of Boba's armor isn't as strong as the chestpiece. Though since they acknowledged the damaged jetpack, that most certainly can't be beskar. Which I'd imagine was mass-produced anyways since it's nearly identical to the one Jango had that was destroyed.

 

Paint covers a lot of sins.

 

Well now I want a sketch where the late Graham Chapman applies for a job in the bounty hunting business, but his interviewer, John Cleese, keeps trolling him the entire time.

"Goooood NiiiiiiDING DING DING DING DING 5...4....3....2....1....ZERO"

 

Sigh...
It's going to be a sad world when Graham Chapman goes...

Boba Fett's armor might have been aluminum.

 

Is it? What damage?

Maybe the blast from the portable deck canon caused some damage to the jet pack, and the later direct blow to it, causing it to ignite, but I don’t remember any damage to his jet pack, prior to the battle.

 

This DentedHelmet reference thread proved helpful in determining which jetpack was used in which scene.
https://www.thedentedhelmet.com/forums/threads/rotj-damaged-jetpack-build.33354/


But to be fair, the usage of the damaged jetpack in that particular scene seems like an error: it's broken when he jets out the skiff, and then it's clean in the shot where he lands.

While I still agree with your theory, get ready for retcons to come probably.

 

The way the fight scene is edited, it looks like it was battle damaged on the skiff - by either the deck gunner or Solo.
Even then the continuity error (no damage on the rubber stunt jet pack) makes it almost impossible to see.

The clearest shot of the damage comes from the new added shot from the 2011 SE version of Return of the Jedi.

 

That would be Michael Palin.