Did they actually get the same actress to return? She looks no different in the added scene. That's crazy. I always felt sad for the green alien girl (Oola). That must have been an awful way to go.
It definitely reminds you you’re still on earth, but that abomination is absolutely a product of the mid 90s…. Though I cringed even as a kid watching the rerelease in theatres!
As a kid I was into it, but watching it as an adult you realize it was overkill. Just adding the little alien on the harmonica thing would've been fine.
I totally prefer Lapti Nek than Jedi Rocks. Seriously, why couldn't they have just replaced the Sy Snootles puppet with CG, but kept the original song? Although, I like the additional sequence of Oola in the Rancor pit.
@ANGRY WRARRL The original scene is dated as well. It's stiff the puppet looks horrid. In the end critique lies down on want and taste rather actual practicality.
I basically grew up with the special editions, so I had no idea about the original versions until I got Harmy’s despecialised editions. And that was a triumphant moment because for years I had been waiting to see the unaltered versions. Whenever I would watch return of the Jedi on dvd, I would always skip this scene, it’s so cringe, and lapti nek was so catchy!
Everybody: this scene adds nothing it’s a random fun and goofy song in what’s meant to be a dark and scary location you’re meant to be uncomfortable in George Lucas: it truly shows the different musical genres of this universe and the different standards of beauty for each species
AGREED. One was an actual edit that improved the movie by doing things they didn’t have the budget or time for originally, like George wanted. Jedi Rocks though? Disgusting. It added the alien singer sticking her lips on the camera and that dude spitting everywhere, seemingly only for some 3D showing of Return of the Jedi in a movie theater. Sigh....
The added CGI in the original trilogy is a slap in the face of all the practical effect artists that worked on this movie. The only thing good about this change was showing her in the pit. They could have added that and nothing else.
If I like "Lapti Nek" more than "Jedi Rocks," that's likely outside opinion influencing me. I'm kind of indifferent when it comes to the music. "Lapti Nek" is definitely a more memorable song and has an easier beat to dance to, but "Jedi Rocks" has a harmonica solo, horns, and vocal harmonies. However, I like how in the original, the scene is more focused on Oola. She's the character who is about to be fed to the rancor. With the special edition, I definitely like how we get to see her in the pit, reacting to the rancor. That adds suspense on the beast. It doesn't hurt that in the film, the rancor ends up being pretty damn scary.
It boggles my mind that no one told Lucas that inserting a cartoon into the middle of RotJ was a terrible idea. Who Framed Roger Rabbit was more realistic.
This change is so freaking awful that I can’t even put my hatred of it into words. Dear god, why the heck would George Lucas think this was a good idea? Was he drunk while making this? Though, If I’m completely honest the new scenes in the rancor pit aren’t bad. They also do a good job of keeping the rancor a. mystery compared to those added wampa scenes in Empire.
It's a key scene, because it's funnier than any of the scenes he's ever had before. Now some of the humor is real and some of the humor is not so real... Okay but seriously this should have warned Lucas about Jar Jar... But he took the negative reception to Jedi Rocks as "Okay, so they didn't like it in a house, they didn't like it with a mouse... Will they like here? There? Would they like it anywhere?"
@@TheNerdDojo God I know it's so confusing how people label it, but all the "special editions" are usually the 1998 rerelease on dvd (2004) and blu-ray (2011) even if they have minor changes I believe everyone is referring to this one CGI 1998 version when they say Special Edition, unless it's something like Luke screaming while falling that was changed over and over for no reason.
Classic case of an "improvement" actually making things worse. The reason the original was great was because it was less than perfect. It sounded like what a band and singer might sound like in some desolate part of the world......decent, sort of out of tune and not totally pro, but the band is putting the heart and soul into it. The new one sounds like some kind of music school project
Now, I know everyone despises Jedi Rocks, and I hate it too. BUT I love the little number they do in the 2011 special editon blu Ray BEFORE Jedi Rocks. It would have been a fun addition if they had just added that and left the rest the same as the OG. I mean, not a needed or necessary change, but it sounds so cool
Look on the dark side, now we get a worse song with bad CGI, AND we get to sweep the hard work of many puppeteers and musicians under the rug! It's a lose lose!
Yep i don't get Lucas sometimes. i still wondering what went through his head when deciding to sell the rights for the franchise, among other questionable things he did with his projects.
Unpopular opinion. But I like the special edition better because the CGI version of the alien with the long mouth isn't creepy and doesn't take me out of the film. It's not the best CGI but it looks better than that fake looking puppet. But all the other puppets look perfect it's just that one.
@@nickm5419 yea it's a real physical object but it does not pass as a living thing. It looks awful and robotically jerks around. The CGI, while not the absolute best, still does a better job at presenting a living thing than the puppet.
The new scene had to have been released before 2011. I have an Episode 6 dvd from when I was a kid with the same scene and I know I had it way before 2011.
The first version of the Special Editions came out in 1997. We had the box set growing up. More changes were added with the DVD release, then more changes with blu-ray, etc.
I've always thought the original "Lapti Nek" was a more fitting song. It feels more "alien", like you're listening to a form of music that never really existed before. The new "Jedi Rocks" musical number, though it has some catchy elements, certainly feels more like contemporary music spoken in gibberish tongue.
I'm an adamant defender and devil's advocate for many of the controversial changes that have been made to the series, but this is the one that breaks me. I can't, even on my first watch, I couldn't.
The thing is, im actually FOR remastered editions as long as you can see the original somewhere. But instead of redoing stuff that needs to be redone like space battles or cool fight scenes with modern vfx and stuntsmen, why in the world would you extend the musical number of Jabba's palace ?!
You wouldn't have thought so, since the actress Femi Taylor doesn't look like she's aged a day. But yes, it was in fact a new scene, and the only part of the change I like.
Long ago in a time far far away, I had the fortune of seeing Star Wars on vhs for the first time as a kid before the special editions. “Jedi Rocks” was the first time I cringed as a kid before I understood what cringe was
Very interesting that the 2011 and Harmy versions have similar color tones and richness. But the Harmy version allows the white levels to get too hot, especially on the floor grate. A lot of detail gets lost.😑 On a separate note, it's thoroughly amazing that Femi Taylor still looks the same years later in the added pit scene!👏
I can take both. I kind of like the new song, and the intro with the pan in, the little lizard playing the mouth organ, etc. I know a lot of people hate it but I think it's far from the most egregious changes in the special editions
I'm surprisingly easy on the special editions compared to most fans, but this is one change I will totally side with them on 100% the old one was better imo.
Well... technically speaking Han never shot first. Think about this for a second... Han. Shot. First. One of those words doesn't fit in there... It's "First". He shot. He's the only guy who shot. So he never shot "First". He just shot.
I showed my mom the original version of this. She was quite surprised by it. When she saw the puppet version of the alien singer, she was like "OMG!! That is horrible..."
I was watching it with my mum and her boyfriend and when this scene came up he just shook his head and we started a conversation about how much it sucks
This is another change that proves George Lucas has no idea what’s going on in the scene. Jabba’s Palace is supposed to be a dark, dank, scary, and unpleasant place. Adding in such goofy CGI characters singing such an upbeat melody for like 3 minutes suddenly turns it into a wacky cartoon and deflates all the tension.
It's amazing how most of Star Wars is basically George Lucas accidentaly making awesome stuff and when he actually gets the freedom to do what he wants it falls flat
I think we're all missing the BIG question.... ...what was that song right before jedi rocks? It fades so smoothly from the scream of the Gonk droid into the instrument that they could have just used that small bit of music and then straight to Leia.
NinjaBluefyre it’s just the end of Jedi Rocks. It’s included as a bonus track on the ROTJ CD and it plays as “Jedi Rocks” until the blues section ends. It’s a nice song at the end. Just not literally anytime else.
I definitely saw the originals on VHS first as a kid, but then saw the special editions in theaters and then got the SE on VHS. I always liked elements of both versions -- I've always known that the hairy dude coming into Jedi Rocks brings it to ultimate cheese zone and is for me the single most undesirable part of the song. (I also still do not want to see the stuff dripping in his mouth). Had they not gone to that extreme I don't think it would be so undesirable--if Sy got to sing the whole thing it would be better!
The special edition should have kept the first part, then cut back to Lapti Nek at :23 with maybe a few of the new shots edited in. That would have been a respectable change.
I absolutely love how you can hear the humanesque speech patterns in the voices of the alien singers. Ex: The flat-nosed abomination, who mugs the camera, reaching an obvious high note before letting his voice slowly drift off in the following secounds. These tiny, yet simultaneously significant details make the aliens sound human in a sense, in spite of the fact that their singing might as well be gibberish.
The change where they show her falling into the cage and her reaction was a good change but everything before her falling into the whole is so cgi lol. They should have kept the OG performance and just have added the part of her falling and seeing her reaction. I like how they got the original actor from the 1980s to do the acting again for this performance. She seemed to not have aged a bit over those years black don't crack for sure
If I had to change the scene i’d shorten it, keep some of the cgi from the special edition but replace the songs with the Taris lowercity cantina music from Kotor.
I still have the original 1980s release of the movie on VHS. Not only it has the original Jabba dance scene, it also has the original Anakin Skywalker actor right at the end of the movie with Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda.
Ive seen so many comments saying they prefer the original song. I grew up with the original version, but i u9bestly prefer the new song. Other than the camera angles (because i do agree, that does make it feel like a musical number in the movie rather than just a song that adds to the scene) i would say its better in every way than the original. I do like the makeover they gave the original song in some of the games though.
Well, Alan Dean Foster really is the one that made the original Star Wars amazing. It doesn’t surprise me that George Lucas, a dude born in Modesto and lived in San Francisco during the 60’s screwed it up years later.
Imagine if David Lynch released a remaster of Eraserhead where there's added CGI creatures running around and a full blown musical number... Actually.... Damn. I kinda want to see that now.
I understand why they replaced Sny Snootles with cgi as her puppet looks lifeless compared to the likes of yoda, and I'd keep Oola's extended death, but Jedi Rocks? Really?
I am a weird case, gen Z that saw the OG first then special editions. This change did not really bother me, i just remember being a bit surprised about the music change and MUCH MORE surprised when i saw how long Sy's mouth was.
![ORIGINAL Jabba's Dance Number | Return of the Jedi (1983) [DeEd, Blu-ray, GOUT, LPP]](/img/logo.svg){kind=logo}
