lazypadawan | ROTJ SE 10th anniversary

Actually, the 10th anniversary of ROTJ: SE was two days ago (March 14, 1997...delayed from March 7), but I didn't actually see it the day it was unleashed. You see, I had taken several weeks off from working to study and I was b-r-o-k-e. So no day off to see ROTJ. I went on Saturday night instead with my mom and my brother at the same theater where I saw the previous two SE releases. The part I was anxious to see was the altered ending, with a new tune John Williams wrote for it. Sure, there was the altered part with the "Jedi Rocks" number in Jabba's palace too (any of you remember the big el stinko over *that* change?), but the new ending sequence was going to have a quick snapshot of a new planet, Coruscant. Before 1997, Coruscant was only described in the EU and only seen through some Ralph McQuarrie paintings that were never used, back when Lucas considered the Empire's capital world as a location in early drafts of ROTJ. We heard rumblings it was going to be an important locale in the upcoming new set of movies. So this was exciting stuff.

Sure enough, there it was with the collapsing Emperor statue and the crowd surfing stormtrooper. The voice you can hear yelling "the son of the sons" was repeated again during the parade at the end of TPM. Even though I never had a problem with "Yub Nub" (as I call it) on the original track, I really liked "Victory Celebration." I figured back then that in light of the prequels, it would better match the bittersweet tone of the saga overall. I also liked how the different locations were brought in. It showed that the struggle against the Empire wasn't just about Luke and his friends.

The ROTJ: SE DVD version though, is even better, with Naboo in the end sequence and the changes made to Anakin so that it fits in better with the saga overall.

Whew, it all went by so fast. But it was an awesome time to be a SW fan.