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RotJ: The Kurtz Cut

Discussion in 'Fan Films, Fan Audio & SciFi 3D' started by WhenWorldsCollide2, May 10, 2018.

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Can, and should, there be a cut of RotJ that's closer to the original concept?

Poll closed May 24, 2018.
  1. Yes there can, and there should be!

    0 vote(s)
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  2. No, and there's no point in trying.

    0 vote(s)
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  3. I don't think it can be done but I'd like to see it tried!

    0 vote(s)
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  4. I think it's possible but it's not worth the effort.

    0 vote(s)
    0.0%
  1. WhenWorldsCollide2

    WhenWorldsCollide2 Jedi Youngling

    Registered:
    May 8, 2018
    Hi, I'm WhenWorldsCollide2. You don't know me yet. I'll fill out my bio later, I came here for a specific purpose which I hope the title of this thread conveys succinctly. In the event that it doesn't, allow me to elaborate: I propose to create a fan-edit of Return of the Jedi that is closer to the original intention of George Lucas before the money started to come before the story, the story that original producer Gary Kurtz would have been on board to make.
    • Luke's final allegiances are left ambiguous but it is implied that he has become the new Emperor/Darth Vader figure
    • Luke's sister is not Leia
    • Han dies about midway through the film
    • Boba Fett isn't killed off within the first twenty minutes like some disposable punk
    • There is no second Death Star
    • The Endor storyline is returned to Kashyyyk, replacing the Ewoks with the originally-planned Wookiees
    • The ending isn't a cheerful one; it's much more 'bittersweet', in Kurtz's own words
    • Possibly use the original title, Revenge of the Jedi, though I'm not completely sold on that one
    Now as can probably imagine, this is quite an ambitious project to undertake, and it's certainly no mean feat to make it. If it was, I imagine somebody would already have done it by now. Because the original story was rewritten well before shooting started, there's no deleted material of much of the above cut storylines, and I'm not keen on the idea of using footage from video games or TV specials or anything that's going to have a noticeably different look about it unless I have a very good reason to do so. Plus I'd need to completely restructure the second and third acts to explain what they're trying to do in the absence of the Death Star II to blow up, and what Lando and Boba are doing throughout.
    As is probably apparent I have not planned this out all the way, which is something I'll admit I'm not the best at. That's why I came here, in the hope that I might be able to acquire some help in planning it out, asking for opinions, should I be doing this? Can it even be done?
    I have got more ideas on ways of getting around the unfilmed footage, but I'm going to save that for a while until I've at least got some bare bones to work with. I'd like to know if this could work before I get invested in working on it. Hence the poll attached, which will close precisely 14 days from the posting of this thread. Majority rules.
     
  2. TCF-1138

    TCF-1138 Anthology/Fan Films/NSA Mod & Ewok Enthusiast star 6 Staff Member Manager

    Registered:
    Sep 20, 2002
    Hi, and welcome to the forum!

    I'm not convinced this could work. As you say, there's no deleted footage to reincorporate into the film to make it into "the story Gary Kurtz would have been on board to make" (even though Kurtz was fired for not being up to the job of keeping TESB on budget, not because of creative differences). But if you want to give it a go, best of luck to you.
     
    WhenWorldsCollide2 likes this.