RotJ as two separate episodes

[Falconer]

I have really come to consider RotJ as two separate episodes in the Adventures of Luke Skywalker. The first 35 minutes — the Jabba/Tatooine business — albeit short is a self-contained adventure with a very different feel from the rest of the movie, and therefore is better off quarantined (watched on a separate night). For me that improves the enjoyability of both bits. My question is, what would you name the two episodes? My instinct is to name the first bit something else and to keep RotJ as the name for the rest. Or just give both parts different names. Thoughts?

[Finarvyn]

Neat idea. How about this:

Episode IVa: Rogue One
Episode IVb: A New Hope
Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
Episode VIa: The Downfall of the Hutt (OR) The Carbonite Caper
Episode VIb: The Redemption of Vader (OR) Return of the Jedi

[Starbeard]

Ooh, I do like The Carbonite Caper.

Of course, you could plausibly use Return of the Jedi for either adventure. The Jabba adventure is Luke's first big entrance as a knight, marking the return of the Order. In that case, the second half could be The Revenge of the Jedi (to get both titles in there), or The Final Battle, or The Battle of Endor, or The Emperor's Trap ( ).

If Return of the Jedi is the Endor adventure, then the first half could be The Carbonite Caper (that's really good), or The Hutt Caper (less good), or The Rescue of Han Solo, or A Second Chance (to alternate with A New Hope).



Or maybe, if using both original titles, VIa The Revenge of the Jedi / VIb The Return of the Jedi is the better pairing.

[Falconer]

The Carbonite Caper is a good one, Finarvyn!

The original soundtrack of RotJ features a track named “The Return of the Jedi” which is the music for Jabba’s Sail Barge Battle. So that’s a point in favor of it being the title for “Ep.6a”. Here in fact are all the tracks of the original LP album (the list gets much longer for later, fuller soundtrack releases, of course), in chronological order:

1. Main Title (The Story Continues)
2. Lapti Nek (Jabba’s Palace Band)
3. Han Solo Returns (At the Court of Jabba the Hutt)
4. The Return of the Jedi
5. Parade of the Ewoks
6. Luke and Leia
7. Into the Trap
8. The Forest Battle
9. The Emperor
10. Rebel Briefing
11. Ewok Celebration and Finale

The comic book adaptation of RotJ was in four parts, and these were its titles:

1. In the Hands of Jabba the Hutt
2. The Emperor Commands
3. Mission to Endor
4. The Final Duel

The radio drama adaptation was in six parts, and these were the titles:

1. Tatooine Haunts
2. Fast Friends
3. Prophecies and Destinies
4. Pattern and Web
5. So Turns a Galaxy, So Turns a Wheel
6. Blood of a Jedi

I think my preference right now for the two parts would be “In the Hands of Jabba the Hutt” and “Return of the Jedi”. I think the “Jabba part” is an unpretentious episode which deserves an uncomplicated title, something catchy that tells you just what it is (similar to “Rebel Mission to Ord Mantell”). I think of the rest of the film as the “main” RotJ, and I think it deserves to retain the title. Remember, he’s not really a Jedi till the end — Yoda tells him so — and I like the ambiguity that the title may in fact refer to Anakin Skywalker.

But I’d still like to hear other views!

[Finarvyn]

What I like about "The Carbonite Caper" is that it doesn't tell a viewer the outcome, whereas potential titles like "Rescue of Han Solo" are clear spoilers. One thing I dislike about Edgar Rice Burroughs is that some of his chapter titles are spoilers if you bother to think about them in advance.

[Starbeard]

I like the titles given to book chapters prior to the Victorian novel. The ones that go, "Chapter V: In Which [describes the exact plot twist and outcome]."

"Episode VI: In which Han Solo is Saved from Jabba the Hutt, and the Death Star is Again Destroyed"

[Finarvyn]

Jun 14, 2018 14:13:33 GMT -6 Starbeard said:

I like the titles given to book chapters prior to the Victorian novel. The ones that go, "Chapter V: In Which [describes the exact plot twist and outcome]."

"Episode VI: In which Han Solo is Saved from Jabba the Hutt, and the Death Star is Again Destroyed"

I do, too, but you have to admit that they sort of give the plot away.