Let's discuss the 1997 release of Return of the Jedi

[Demodex 557]

*I did a search on this but didn't find anything, so apologies if it's been discussed before*

I just noticed that "Victory Celebration" is basically "Luke and Leia" with a flat here and there.    I think I've been on this forum too much haha.  Pretty sweet.  I always liked that track since hearing it in the theater.  Can't believe I never picked up on it.

Shit. That's cool. I've never noticed that before.

[Goldsmithfan 6]

I was going to make a post about this score when I showed up, but luckily I found this thread here already!

Anyway, I just listened to the 2004 rerelease again yesterday (Didn't get the 1997 versions when they were still everywhere, but that's another story) and in track two there are about two minutes of music that I don't recognize as being in the film at all.

In the movie, Vader leaves the shuttle bay with a fairly strong rendition of the Imperial March, which then leads to the droids and a light theme for them. I remember watching the film when I was about ten and thinking that the transition sounded a little choppy. Anyway, on the album, there is about two minutes of music between the music heard for Vader's exit and the droids on Tatooine.

I was wondering what the SE booklets say about this cue. Anything about the difference between the music recorded and the music as heard in the film? Was it another slice n' dice job of tracking?

[Mr. Breathmask 555]

Here's what the 1997 liner notes have to say about that segment:

AFter a bold resolution of Vader's theme, the music continues with TATOOINE RENDEZVOUS (2), most of which accompanies a sequence eliminated from the film.  In it, Vader uses the Force to contact his son, Luke Skywalker.  The tone of the music changes with the appearance of a synthesizer and dissonant strings, which Williams uses to gracefully transform the setting to the desert planet Tatooine.  The next thirty minutes of music are imbued with dark complexity as Luke and his companions embark on the rescue of Han Solo from the notorious gangster, Jabba the Hutt.  Eerie tonalities of wailing woodwinds and abrasive brass seem to emerge directly from the dingy, cavernous environment as the heroes encounter a repulsive den of bizarre alien creatures.  The sequence begins with the brief telepathic exchange between Luke and Vader, which is broken by the appearance of droids Artoo-Detoo and See-Threepio, accompanied by Luke's theme and a playful bouncing wind melody as Luke places a newly constructed lightsaber inside Artoo's domed head. This motif continues as heard in the film with the arrival of the droids at Jabba's imposing desert fortress.  The track concludes with unused short phrases for the opening of the palace door and the droids' encounter with Bib Fortuna, Jabba's majordomo.

Incidentally, if I'm not mistaken, this is the only known source that mentions the telepathy scene between Vader and Luke.

You can read the entire contents of the booklet at Markus Hable's excellent site right here.

[LongTallJodie 59]

What confuses me about that scene in particular is that, insofar as I know, it was never actually FILMED, so how did Williams actually score it? From what I can recall, I thought that Williams didn't like writing scores with just a script.

[Vaderbait1 1]

How can someone say the difference is miniscule? The SE sounds like it's been muted when compared to the Anthology.

[Genius_Gone_Insane 5]

What confuses me about that scene in particular is that, insofar as I know, it was never actually FILMED,

According to TBone's Star Wars Universe, Anthony Daniels has spoken of filming this scene.

[Lurker 5]

Read all about it here.

Neil

[LongTallJodie 59]

Ooh, thanks!

[tpigeon 3]

I have never heard about this scene. Now that I play back that track on the soundtrack, it does seem to make sense. I'm glad they didn't use the scene though, since part of what I like so much about the first forty minutes of the film is that it's a slow piecing together process. I like that Luke has an ominous introduction long after the Jabba plot is rolling. Overall, I prefer the darker, slightly disorienting feeling of the film's first act. After the finale of Empire, you would expect quick resolutions and for the story to jump right in, but it takes its time. I wish Revenge of the Sith resembled it more, rather than starting amid the space battle, then after ten minutes slowing the entire narrative down for forty five minutes.

Ted

[Luke Skywalker 1,798]

I have never heard about this scene. Now that I play back that track on the soundtrack, it does seem to make sense. I'm glad they didn't use the scene though, since part of what I like so much about the first forty minutes of the film is that it's a slow piecing together process. I like that Luke has an ominous introduction long after the Jabba plot is rolling. Overall, I like the darker, slightly disorienting feeling of the film's first act. After the finale of Empire, you would expect quick resolutions and for the story to jump right in, but I like how it takes its time. I wish Revenge of the Sith resembled it more, rather than starting amid the space battle, then after ten minutes slowing the entire narrative down for forty five minutes.

Ted

Well with Star wars (ANH) one cannot say the Tatooine scenes are as engaging as the opening sequence, so it suffers from the same.

[tpigeon 3]

I have never heard about this scene. Now that I play back that track on the soundtrack, it does seem to make sense. I'm glad they didn't use the scene though, since part of what I like so much about the first forty minutes of the film is that it's a slow piecing together process. I like that Luke has an ominous introduction long after the Jabba plot is rolling. Overall, I like the darker, slightly disorienting feeling of the film's first act. After the finale of Empire, you would expect quick resolutions and for the story to jump right in, but I like how it takes its time. I wish Revenge of the Sith resembled it more, rather than starting amid the space battle, then after ten minutes slowing the entire narrative down for forty five minutes.

Ted

Well with Star wars (ANH) one cannot say the Tatooine scenes are as engaging as the opening sequence, so it suffers from the same.

But when the original Star Wars did that, it was for the sake of bold, strong storytelling, not simply getting to all the loose ends of the plot. Lucas started Star Wars with a bang, thrusting the viewer into the center of this intergallactic conflict, and then he dared to follow two seemingly arbitrary characters and allowed the story and characters to eventually make their way to the conflict as established in the opening scenes.

Ted

[Luke Skywalker 1,798]

he dared to follow two seemingly arbitrary characters, then allowing the story and characters to eventually make their way to the conflict as established in the opening scenes.  

Ted

Well thats what the Grievous plot does more or less.

Anyway, i wasnt really serious.

[Mr. Breathmask 555]

Read all about it here.

Neil

Ack, the new layout of that site sucks. It looks just like another blog.

[Ollie 1,059]

Yep.

[Goldsmithfan 6]

Here's what the 1997 liner notes have to say about that segment:

AFter a bold resolution of Vader's theme, the music continues with TATOOINE RENDEZVOUS (2), most of which accompanies a sequence eliminated from the film.  In it, Vader uses the Force to contact his son, Luke Skywalker.  The tone of the music changes with the appearance of a synthesizer and dissonant strings, which Williams uses to gracefully transform the setting to the desert planet Tatooine.  The next thirty minutes of music are imbued with dark complexity as Luke and his companions embark on the rescue of Han Solo from the notorious gangster, Jabba the Hutt.  Eerie tonalities of wailing woodwinds and abrasive brass seem to emerge directly from the dingy, cavernous environment as the heroes encounter a repulsive den of bizarre alien creatures.  The sequence begins with the brief telepathic exchange between Luke and Vader, which is broken by the appearance of droids Artoo-Detoo and See-Threepio, accompanied by Luke's theme and a playful bouncing wind melody as Luke places a newly constructed lightsaber inside Artoo's domed head. This motif continues as heard in the film with the arrival of the droids at Jabba's imposing desert fortress.  The track concludes with unused short phrases for the opening of the palace door and the droids' encounter with Bib Fortuna, Jabba's majordomo.

Incidentally, if I'm not mistaken, this is the only known source that mentions the telepathy scene between Vader and Luke.

You can read the entire contents of the booklet at Markus Hable's excellent site right here.

Thanks to everyone for the info. I didn't know these scenes even existed and I used to be a huge Star Wars fan. I always wondered about possible cut scenes at the beginning of the film. For some reason, it never felt 100% there, but I like the idea of building it up and making Luke seem ominous when he first appears.