The Making of Star Wars: Return of the Jedi (Enhanced Edition)
Page 21
VADER
(after a pause)
I am sure that you know, Master. It is young Skywalker. Because I have failed you, he remains a dangerous threat to the Empire. It is my responsibility to eliminate that threat, but I do not know where he is.
The Emperor looks at Vader a moment and walks in silence. Finally—
A production maquette by the UK Art Department of the Dagobah set, made for planning purposes, with paper X-wing and cut-out characters, fall 1981.
EMPEROR
It is not necessary for you to know, Lord Vader. I will deal with young Skywalker in my own way.
A new scene on Dagobah has Luke talking with a frail Yoda, who confirms that Vader is Luke’s father and that his real name is Anakin. When Yoda sleeps, Luke wanders outside and meets a shimmering Ben.
BEN
I was going to tell you when you had completed your training. But as you may recall, my young friend, you couldn’t wait. You found it necessary to rush off unprepared. We warned you about impatience […]
LUKE
[…] You lied to me. You told me Darth Vader betrayed and murdered my father.
BEN
Your father was seduced by the dark side of the Force and became Darth Vader. When that happened, he betrayed everything that Anakin Skywalker believed in and destroyed that good man forever. What I told you was true … from a certain point of view.
LUKE
(turning away, derisive)
A certain point of view!
BEN
Luke, you’re going to find that a great many of the truths we cling to depend greatly on our point of view.
Luke is unresponsive. Ben studies him in silence for a moment.
BEN
I don’t blame you for being angry. If I was wrong, it certainly wasn’t the first time. You see, what happened to your father was my fault …
Luke turns with interest at this.
BEN
… from a certain point of view.
As Ben speaks, Luke settles on a stump, mesmerized. Artoo comes over to offer his comforting presence.
BEN
When I first encountered your father he was already a great pilot. But what amazed me was how strongly the Force was with him. I had never seen anything like it and did not again … until you. With foolish pride, I took it upon myself to train Anakin in the ways of the Jedi. My mistake was thinking I could be as good a teacher as Yoda. I was not. And so, when the Emperor sensed Anakin’s power, he was able to gradually lure him to the dark side. Your father began betraying his fellow Jedi Knights. (pause, sadly)
My mistake has had dire consequences for the galaxy.
Luke is entranced, his hostility turning to compassion.
Undated “Scene Breakdown” distribution sheet, signed by Jim Bloom, Richard Marquand, George Jenson, Duwayne Dunham, et al., and often by proxies (Lawrence Kasdan’s copy is marked as “sent express”).
A Freeborn sketch of Jabba divides the animatronic puppet into more manageable sections for planning and construction (a note at the top of the page suggests that potential Ewoks “wear a mask for 30 minutes,” while doing physical exercise to test their stamina, and so on).
LUKE
You couldn’t have known …
BEN
(negative)
If I had trained him better …
(a rueful glance at Luke)
… If I had been more patient …
(continuing his story)
I knew that I must try to stop the evil I had unleashed. We fought, your father and I, and he was badly wounded. Destroyed, I thought. But the Emperor was able to save him. He made it possible for Vader to go on living as he is now—half man and half machine.
This is very painful for Luke. Artoo beeps some comfort.
BEN
The Emperor knew, as I did, how strongly the Force ran in the Skywalker line. He began to search for Anakin’s offspring. I went to your mother and told her that we must hide you in order to protect you—both of you.
Luke’s head snaps up.
LUKE
Both of us?
BEN (nods)
Yes. You and your twin.
LUKE
My sister!
BEN
Yes. She, too, was strong with the Force.
LUKE
What happened to her?
BEN
We thought you two would be less vulnerable if you were separated. I took you to stay with my brother Owen on Tatooine.
LUKE
(to himself)
Your brother.
BEN
(nods)
I sent your mother and sister to the protection of friends on a distant system. Unfortunately your mother died soon after that. Your sister was adopted by my friends—the Governor of Alderaan and his wife.
LUKE
Leia! Leia is my sister.
Ben acknowledges this. Luke is in shock. Artoo is a little flabbergasted as well.
BEN
I’ve made quite a mess of things. And I’m afraid it’s fallen upon you to correct the situation. You are the last Jedi. And now that Yoda is … Well, he’ll train no more.
Luke takes his meaning. He glances back in the direction of Yoda’s cottage.
LUKE
It’s true then … How awful.
BEN
Oh, no. Quite the contrary. It’s very nice actually. And quite a relief … from a certain point of view.
(he smiles at Luke)
And especially for Yoda. He’ll have a fine time. All his former students are waiting.
Now Ben moves close and puts a shimmering hand on Luke’s shoulder.
BEN
But for you, my friend, the future may be more difficult.
Suddenly, Luke jumps up and faces Ben, angry once more. He draws his lazer sword and ignites it as if to attack the ghost. He holds it before him, defiantly.
LUKE
I don’t like this. Any of it!
With that, he hurls the lightsaber into the woods. After a moment, Ben laughs.
BEN
I don’t blame you. I’d be worried if you did.
(pause)
But Luke Skywalker … Jedi Knight … There is no way to avoid it. For whatever reasons, no matter whose fault, it has been left for you to resolve.
LUKE
Will you help me?
BEN
I can’t. But I will be with you always.
LUKE
(unimpressed)
Thanks a lot.
Back with the rebel fleet, MON MOTHMA joins General Madine and Ackbar. She informs the gathering that the Emperor himself is on board the unarmed Death Star. Madine notes that if the shield is not down when the fleet emerges from hyperspace, “our lead ships will be crushed against it.” When Ackbar speaks, a computer translates his unusual language. When Leia needs pilots, Chewbacca volunteers, obliging Han to join him; then Luke arrives to complete the team. Han says, “Well, this is it, gang … We’ve all chosen to die young.”
Before leaving, Han warns Lando, who will fly the Falcon, not to get a scratch on her. When trying to fly past the Imperial sentinels on their way to the moon, he instructs Chewbacca to “fly casual.” The rocket bike chase is much like the final film.
On the Death Star Vader enters the Emperor’s Tower, via elevator. Instead of a long dialogue scene about Luke and their motivations, Kasdan has brilliantly condensed the tension between the evil men into a brief exchange:
EMPEROR
I wonder if your feelings on this matter are clear, Lord Vader.
Vader knows what is being asked.
VADER
They are clear, my Master.
Once the whole team is in the Ewok camp, a new scene has the golden droid recounting the story of the first two films to the forest denizens, mimicking the sound effects as well. Most of the Ewok sequences are similar to those in the final film, though the scene where Luke tells Leia she is his sister is longer, with the
former saying:
LUKE
You’ve never faltered. When Han and I and the others have doubted, you’ve always been strong. You’ve never turned away from your responsibility. I can’t say the same.
(a beat)
Well, now we’re both going to fulfill our responsibilities.
When Luke surrenders to Vader, their conversation is also longer:
Costume concept by Rodis-Jamero for a new character introduced in the second draft, Mon Mothma, fall 1981.
LUKE
There is good in you. You have never driven it fully from you. That is why you could not make me come over to the dark side … Why you could not destroy me when you had the chance. You are torn by the memory of your true nature.
Luke steps closer to Vader, then stops. Vader is still.
LUKE
Come, father, come with me. Throw off the chains of the Emperor. I know it is possible for you.
Vader looks down from Luke to the lightsaber in his own black-gloved hand. He seems to ponder Luke’s words.
VADER
(indicating the lightsaber)
You have constructed another.
Vader ignites the lightsaber and holds it to examine its humming, brilliant blade.
VADER
Your skills are complete. Indeed, you are powerful. They stand for a moment with the blade between them.
VADER
Now your power must be properly focused. It is time for you to embrace your destiny.
Vader signals to some distant stormtroopers.
VADER
The Emperor will welcome you to the dark side. I’ll take you to him now.
Excerpts from storyboards by Roy Carnon, who was working with Marquand in the UK on the climactic duel between father and son, fall 1981. In a series of boards, Marquand and Carnon tried out several ideas that would not make it to the final film: Luke using karate, Vader with two lightsabers, Luke hiding beneath the floor, and so on. (Photo courtesy of Christian Short and Prop Store).
On this page, when the various big battles begin, Kasdan notes that his script is only going to summarize the action, with details to be determined later. During the aerial escapades, Lando has a new “weird copilot” who speaks in alien tones. When Luke is brought before the Emperor, the latter remarks, “I have waited a long time for this moment. You have come to join us, at last.” Then the Emperor tempts Luke, for the first time: “Take your Jedi weapon. Use it. You wish to strike me down with it. Good. Give in to your anger. With each passing moment you make yourself more my servant […] It is unavoidable. It is your destiny. Luke Skywalker, you, like your father, are now … mine.”
As Madine predicted, when Red Squadron hits the invisible shield, they explode against it—and Ackbar exclaims, translated: “It’s a trap!” Ackbar wants to surrender, but Lando prefers to duke it out with the Star Destroyers and avoid getting picked off by the Death Star. When Luke tries to cut down the Emperor, Vader blocks his blow—but Luke is able to beat down his father. When he refuses to kill Vader, the Emperor unleashes his lightning.
EMPEROR
Fool! Only now, at the end, do you understand. Your feeble skills are no match for the power of the dark side. Now you pay the price for your lack of vision. Now, Skywalker, you die!
But Vader saves his son, lifting up the Emperor and hurling him “through the wide window into the void of space.” Luke and Vader avoid being sucked out and son drags father to the huge docking bay. When his mask is removed, Vader is an elderly man with a white beard. “His eyes do not focus. But the dying man smiles at the sight before him.”
Meanwhile the Falcon goes on a bombing run through the Death Star superstructure. At the end, in the Ewok village square, Ben Kenobi and Yoda appear shimmering to Luke, but Luke is thinking of “someone else.”
* * *
SETUP ON SPACE STREET
SEPTEMBER 1981 TO JANUARY 1982
CHAPTER FIVE
The day after the Lucasfilm/Fox showdown, Fisher and Ford signed their contracts, as did nearly all the principals. David Prowse (Darth Vader), Kenny Baker (R2-D2), and Peter Mayhew (Chewbacca) were compensated at roughly equal rates, though Prowse would later complain: “There is no negotiation. They make the offer and there is nothing to discuss. If you don’t like the offer, they’ll just find somebody else.” Relations between the actor and Lucasfilm had been strained for years, with Prowse often playing up his “ownership” of Vader and the company just as often asserting legal rights to its character. But the real problem was that Prowse had inadvertently leaked story points early on while making Empire and was therefore an ongoing security risk.
A few weeks later there was fallout with a different actor, this time due to Raider’s release in Japan. Not only did the film perform poorly in that country (apparently, for an adventure film, it moved too quickly for their tastes), but a letter from Harrison Ford’s attorneys to Kazanjian pointed out that much of the publicity campaign there had a notable absence. “You’d think someone would have noticed when the star’s name was never mentioned,” Kazanjian complained in a memo to marketing executives. “Now we are faced with another situation entirely, which, as far as I know, is unprecedented in the history of the motion picture business: a poster in Japan featuring the director and the producer, but not the star of the film.”
Kazanjian also wrote a private note to Sid Ganis: “This letter is a reminder, in addition to our previous conversations, about the need to communicate, placate, involve, etc., Harrison Ford in all publicity early enough so as not to upset his artistic behavior.” They had helped create a star, but now they should be treating him like a star. “If we don’t, all our jobs will be more difficult, especially mine, working with him daily over the next full year.”
Less diplomatic issues concerned the rest of production in England. In addition to set building, it was time to match up actors with creatures. Marquand cast Mike Carter, a six-foot-tall mime, as Bib Fortuna, who was then equipped with arm and finger extensions; although not reflected in Kasdan’s draft, Fortuna had been transformed into one of a new alien species. Claire Davenport was cast as the heavy dancing lady, who would later be named Gargan, and had a cast taken of her head.
“Because Stuart Freeborn wanted to get on with Bib Fortuna’s whole look as quickly as possible, we selected Mike early on,” says Marquand. “I wanted him to have pink eyes. His whole sort of head-tentacle had been designed and I wanted him to be as tall as possible. In fact, Mike will wear lifts. He’s a terrific actor who I had seen working in the London theater. I selected the fat lady, because I think fat ladies are wonderful. And this lady had actually been in Birth of the Beatles. She had been a nude model in that, so I thought I’d bring her back and she could be Jabba’s daughter. In my mind she is Jabba’s daughter.”
By mid-October, Burtt, Bloom, Aggie Rodgers, and Kazanjian, with his wife and baby, were all in the UK. Burtt went off to the London Zoo to record sounds. At a creature meeting, occupants of the two skiffs and Jabba’s barge were chosen—various Wooofs, Baradas, Niktos, and Queequegs—including two arguing aliens on the barge: “Three Eyes” and “Elephant Man,” the latter to have a companion, “Soolacious,” all of whom would speak an alien language. The latter puppet was becoming a hit behind the scenes. “He was so fantastic,” Kazanjian says.
“That character was just a cast-off, a little hand-puppet that Tony McVey did,” says Tippett. “George asked us to come up with a name. We went out to lunch and had a couple pitchers of beer and we couldn’t think of it. We were getting up to go and my tennis shoes had come undone, so I said, ‘Wait a minute guys while I tie my soolacious,’ instead of shoelaces, because I’d had a couple of pints. We all said, ‘That’s a great name!’ I pitched it to George and he said, ‘No, it ain’t gonna be that.’ ” But later Lucas had a change of heart, refining it to Salacious Crumb (in homage to the underground adult comic book artist Robert Crumb, known for drawing well-proportioned women).