CT Special Editions: Replace Luke & Leia Smooch With a Deleted Scene?

If the special editions changed things like Han shooting first and completely changed other scenes (like Jedi Rocks) then why didn't Lucas remove the Luke & Leia smooch? Thoughts?

He could have replaced it with a deleted scene. There are several options here:



If it was replaced by a deleted scene, which deleted scene would you add?

 

Lucas not removing the kiss is one of the most baffling things ever about his filmmaking and tinkering. As you've shown, Empire had tons of deleted scenes to work with.
You could edit out the kiss of the scene and try to transition it away in another way.
I would've liked for Lucas and the crew to go back to the deleted scene of the metal bar and Luke using a saber on Dagobah and find a way to put it back in the film.

 

I agree it should have been replaced.

 

I wouldn't mind seeing Chewie physically fighting a Wampa.

 

Chewie could pull the Wampa's other arm off.

 

Wow that would have been cool. I suppose it's possible to shoot that scene prior to the special editions coming out because everyone is in costume. But knowing Lucas at the time it probably would have been wonky CGI.

 

There is a scene of Luke using a saber on Dagobah? Cool.And yeah Lucas should have removed the kiss scene.

 

On the other hand, removing the scene would require acknowledging that Lucas didn't have everything planned from the beginning - that Leia and Luke weren't siblings until ROTJ was written. And Lucas was determined to present the public with a myth that he had every major detail of the story planned way before the first film came out.

Which is utter nonsense, as Leigh Brackett's ESB rough draft with Vader and Luke's father as separate people shows. But admitting that the story of SW grew and evolved and changed over the years was anathema to the narrative Lucas was spinning for public consumption.

 

I doubt it had anything to do with that @BlackRanger . Regardless of what people think, the Special Edition changes were mostly cosmetic. No scene was removed, and no deleted scene was added - except for Jabba's scene (which Lucas had wanted back in the film since 1981 at least) and the reunion with Biggs.
Except for those two particular cases, the editing of the films was hardly altered. Lucas had no interest in adding back deleted scene at all -which were deleted for a reason anyway. And he had definitely no interested in removing scenes either.

I think too many people think about the Special Edition as something similar to the Extended Cuts of The Lord of the Rings - and they are completely different things!

Do I want that kiss removed? Not at all! Honestly, I don't understand what the problem is with that kiss. It's possible, and funny (and hardly erotic), and it's justified within the story (Luke is infatuated with Leia since he met her). There are far more extreme examples of morally questionable things in classical mythology.

 

I'm having a hard time imagining a satisfactory way to end the scene if the kiss doesn't end it. You can't just cut out the entire scene, it's the only one in ESB with all of them together. And even if a different ending was written, how would they film it? The only possibilities are deepfakes, or the wonky Greedo-shot-first Han-head-tilt kind of thing.

 

When Leia goes in for the kiss Luke's head snaps to the side dodging it. Also, Leia says "maclunkey" for some reason.

 

Indeed, removing the kiss would ruin the scene and removing the scene would ruin the first act of the film. So, twins be forever smooching!

 

I think people get so hung up on the fact that Luke and Leia (unbeknownst to them) are brothers that they miss the entire point of the scene. The scene is just about Han and Leia and their relationship. Leia kissed Luke in the spur of the moment just to get to Han, but it could have been anybody. Luke just happened to be there. Luke enjoyed it, but only in a superficial way. By the time of TESB, he's not after Leia's feelings; and Leia isn't after Luke either. Han doesn't know that, of course. All he knows is that Luke had feelings for Leia back in ANH, that's why he's fooled right to the very end of ROTJ. This scene ties it all together.

 

What...this is a classic scene, you can't get rid of it. If anything, they should get rid of the brother/sister thing in ROTJ.

 

They should get rid of all the changes made on the SE's.

 

It’s not like they had intercourse on the screen. It was basically a peck on the cheek. If anything cut away faster.

 

It was?

 

Which Luke/Leia kiss were you referring to?

 

Yet another Skywalker secret revealed! I approve of this message

 

My bad.

I meant siblings.

 

I don't understand why people thinks it's a mistake to have Leia kiss Luke after Lucas knows they're siblings. It makes theIr kiss cringe-larious, and adds a perfect touch to the story.

 

no wonder his dad castrated him.

 

Here's the deal: While it is retconned incest yuckiness, I do like the banter between Han, Luke, Leia. It's a rare scene with all 3 in the film. What? We are going to lose "Laugh it up, fuzzball" and "scruffy looking nerfherder?" Is there a way to edit the kiss out without losing the rest of it?

 

it's best not to think about it too much.

 

I’m going to have to think more about this. But something tells me that the transition would be awkward.

I do recall the original deleted scene showing Luke and Leia interacting more prior to Han’s entrance, and it was pretty darn romantic. I mean, my position is that they didn’t know they were related. Leia has a subconscious Force bubble around her thoughts in my head canon, and I believe the old EU implied as much. I don’t see how she couldn’t. Bail took Leia to Coruscant once in the EU, and neither Sidious nor Vader sensed Leia’s relation to Vader. Leia was freaked out by Sidious. She obviously became more resilient later. Vader was not able to get any information out of her through torture or the Force in ANH. Therefore, it stands to reason that Luke would not know that Leia was his sister in TESB. It was only with Obi-Wan’s encouragement that Luke was able to figure it out in ROTJ. So, I don’t blame them for not knowing.