CT Why George Lucas Added the Noooo to Darth Vader Scene in Return of the Jedi

Warning, this post does not make this addition cool, maybe just less lame. To fully understand the reasoning behind adding Darth Vader's Nooooooo, in the scene just before he kills the Emperor in Return of the Jedi, we have to go back and look at the first Nooooo in Episode III. In Episode III, after just learning from the Emperor that Darth Vader killed Padme, he screams Noooooo, but this exclamation actually signifies something. Having acknowledged his sacrifice it is in this moment that Darth Vader actually becomes a Sith Lord. So by adding the Nooooo in the Return of the Jedi it is kind of Book ending Vader's time as a Sith Lord.

When you watch again, adding this Noooo exclamation actually serves an interesting purpose in the movie. As I indicated above not only does it indicate the end of Vader's Sith hood, it indicates the moment he returned to the light side. Now with the Sequel trilogy concluded and we know that the Emperor is looking to use essence transfer into a Sith Lord, when Vader returns back to the light, is important in that it explains why the Emperor kills Darth Vader, because Vader can no longer serve his purpose as essence transfer host, because he is no longer a Sith. If they hadn't brought the Emperor back in Episode 9, then it would be have been the reason for the Emperor's defeat.

 

I think it was precisely because it made the scene worse that it was added.

 

That sounds very far fetched to me. There isn't really anything that supports that theory when looking at the movies. The reason why it doesn't fit, is that this change was made years ago, by Lucas, and Lucas had no intention of bringing back Palpatine. For him, Palpatine was dead and gone. Essence transfer is not something that came up with at any point. I don't see any reason to assume that the first nooo somehow represents his time of becoming a Sith Lord. That happened when he agreed to join Palpatine and murdered a ton of people.

The nooo is a reference to his personal loss. He wanted to protect Padme, and now she was dead. The second one really doesn't have much of a reason to it beyond Anakin not wanting to see his son die as well. He failed to save his mother, he failed to save Padme, he wouldn't let his son die as well. The noooo accompanies the visual reaction to make his thought-process more clear. Not everything requires some deep meaning behind it.

I don't think adding the nooo in ROTJ was necessary, the visuals already said everything you needed to know, but it's not like it is some big change that impacts the movie.

 

Poetry. It's supposed to rhyme.

 

I don't interpret it that way. However, as one of the few people who seems to actively prefer the ROTJ scene with the big no as opposed to without, I see it as somewhat more consistent characterization - by that, I mean Anakin was also an impulsive and yet emotionally expressive individual. As Vader (particularly emphasized in ANH), he seems for the most part apathetic, with occasional outbursts of anger. It was only after learning that his son still lived that any real emotion returned to him

I like this added "big no" because, in a way, it signifies Anakin's true return. It's an outburst of compassion that he can no longer stand by as Vader and lose someone he loves - and going from there, I don't see it as a parallel to the more notorious "big no" around the end of ROTS - rather, to the lesser known/memed one he shouts out before severing Mace Windu's hand. Both scenes are already essentially the inverse of one another (Palpatine seemingly in a vulnerable position blasting lightning vs. Palpatine in control of the situation blasting lightning), but the real inverse here is that in one case, Anakin's fear of losing someone he loved prompted him to act rashly and make the wrong choice, deciding his destiny for most of the rest of his life. The other time, motivated again by the fear of losing someone he loves, prompts him to act just as quickly, but he makes the right choice this time. And again, it has lasting repercussions for the rest of his life - all ten minutes of it

 

Within the films, no.....but early versions of ROTJ had Kenobi returning to his corporeal form to help Luke battle Vader and Palps (and I'm not saying that had anything to do with adding the No.)

 

@Seagoat - I like the ‘no’ as well.

 

Forget "Santa Claus is coming to town." "Darth Vader is coming to town!"

 

It destroys the suspense of the scene. Show, don't tell. Let the moment breathe like Luke moments before looking from his hand to Vader's. The visual spoke more than the added line ever could.

Besides, it makes Palpatine look like a bigger dumba$$ for not hearing Vader.

 

I know this topic has been done 1000 times here by now... but I still just can't with this change. It's honestly one of the worst changes to a movie I've ever seen.

It's like Lucas didn't even understand why people liked the scene from the original movie.

The Noooo honestly feels like a fart in a quiet movie theater.

 

I don't think Palpatine wanted a hobbled cyborg Vader as his host body. Anakin prior to Mustafar? Possibly.

 

The Reason Why George Lucas Added the Noooo to Darth Vader Scene in Return of the Jedi.

Because nobody had the balls to tell him it was a ridiculous idea.

 

I can't stand the "Noooooooooooooo" in Episode III It was pitiful and a shock to my system. I cringe every time.

 

Show - dont tell. Thats the ticket and good film making takes advantage of that whenever possible. Visuals when done correctly usually "tell" more than a bunch of dialog can. George has done well with visuals too so I dont want to knock him here too much. But, the "Nooooooo" is just bad.

 

GL's vision was to have it in there, but they just didn't have the technology back then.

 

Yeah, this was the first SE change that I really drew the line on. The rest, I could at least see where GL was coming from, but not so much here...

 

I can't tell if this is sarcasm or not...

 

Both ''Nooooooos'' are cringe and badly placed, IMO, but RotS is at least a bit more believable. Anakin's in this new body with this new voice, and he's just letting out his turmoil. It's just not turmoil that sounds... fitting, for the drama and the weight of the scene. I think I saw the Japanese dub that had him just growling aloud in agony, and that was much more fitting.

In a way, the RotJ "Noooooo" is worse to me because, not only is just reusing the same dumb-sounding line that fans hated, but it's totally unwarranted. Vader's actions are what's important here, and they speak volumes. No words are needed.

 

i think he just wanted to give more insight into Vader by having him speak. I'm not sure it's wrong or right. Most people hate it and the one in ROTS because they still have it in the back of their mind that Vader is an emotionless robot. That also touches on why they don't like Anakin in the prequels. "No no no he couldn't have been a kid who did silly or awkward things."

 

^I don't think I buy that. I liked the prequels and I liked the portrayal of Anakin.I can believe he's emotional in this scene. I thinks it's more so that the "Nooooooooo" just sounded silly.

 

This is quite amuse, the "Noooo" in many languages.

 

The "Nooooooooo" in Episode III gets the wrong reaction from me. I laughed but I was supposed to feel a complex of guilt/shame/and remorse for Anakin.