Jabba the Hutt scene in ANH?

also, jabba shouldn't be here anyway. He would send greedo or dengar or something. I have never seen a hutt outside his palace except for in this movie, excluding ziro

 

Not keen on it at all as part of ANH, it takes away from the reveal in ROTJ. It should have just been left as an extra with the OT releases.

 

Good points here. I agree with them all. I feel like this cgi feels off from the rest of the movie as well. Also, Jaba’s final appearance in ROTJ should have been his only physical appearance in the 9 films rather than his forced appearances in TPH and ANH. I would never expect Jaba to personally meet with a smuggler who owes him money and still give him another chance to pay him. It really does feel beyond Jabba’s character.

 

I hate it on principle.

It erases the history of art.

With paintings, restorationists take considerable effort to recreate the original materials used by the artists so that the original image as firstly presented by the artist at that time is preserved in the restoration.

In film, we effectively scan the painting in, photoshop it, print it out on modern signage canvas, cut out the original from the frame and replace it with the photoshop version, and then turn around and demand that film be seen as fine art.

Well...maybe first try treating it like it is!

Cheers,
Jayson

 

“People who alter or destroy works of art and our cultural heritage for profit or as an exercise of power are barbarians...Our cultural history must not be allowed to be rewritten…Attention should be paid to the interest of those who are yet unborn, who should be able to see this generation as it saw itself, and the past generation as it saw itself.” - George Lucas

 

Yeah...that's what makes it so infuriating. He's one of the biggest advocates for film preservation, while at the same time the biggest offenders of cinematic history erasure.
And I think that is just so in line with Lucas as a whole - very self-contradictory, though in his mind it's not.

Cheers,
Jayson

 

"I’m sorry you saw half a completed film and fell in love with it. But I want it to be the way I want it to be." source

George, can you have a word with George please. He's acting like George again. Thanks, George

 

I get why Lucas wanted to include this scene in the 1997 version. It was a great way to experiment and demonstrate the capabilities of digital effects, and it provided some intriguing new content that justified a grand theatrical re-release. I just don't think that this scene has withstood the test of time, though, for the variety of reasons people have articulated on this thread.

For anyone who hasn't seen this scene the way it was originally shot, it's fascinating to see. Contrary to the narrative that Lucas has since put forth, he didn't film this scene envisioning a creature to be added in post-production. He filmed it with a seasoned professional actor (Declan Mulholland) in full costume as a human character. Lucas made a great decision to ultimately change the character to the version we came to know and loathe in Episode VI, but there is no evidence that he envisioned Jabba as anything other than human while shooting Episode IV.

As I said, I don't feel this added scene has withstood the test of time. Fortunately, whenever it bothers me, I can just skip right through it.

 

Whether it was his original intent or not, we know he was considering the tweak as far back as 1981 during pre-pro on ROTJ.

So, it's 'feasible' he was flirting with the idea from the start. Regardless, I agree with your post. The scene really only operates as a proof-of-concept for digital imagery. He basically used ANH as his sketchpad for TPM.

 

The original unused filmed scene, Jabba was an overweight human crime boss and at one point Han walks around him.
Jabba being a Hut was much larger and the only way to keep the scene was for Han to "Step" on Jabba's tail.

 

Ah, a very good point. You know, I never thought of it that way before, about them being rushed because Han killed Greedo, but that is a very good point. As Obi5Kenobi said:

Anyway, I've never hated this scene or anything. The one thing I will say is that Han's "wonderful human being" line is pretty funny and a great demonstration of his delightful snarkiness. But, for almost every other reason, I'm not a big fan of the scene. As Jaxxon said earlier, it subtracts more than it adds.

Even as a kid, back when I wasn't as analytical with movies as I am now, it still seemed strange to me that Jabba was much more submissive and chummy with Han than what we later see in ROTJ. Almost complete reversal of their dyanmic between those two movies.

And, as others have stated, the whole situation just feels more tense and atmospheric for Jabba to not directly appear in ANH, but rather to linger above Han as this foreboding presence. Definitely a case where less is more. Which in turn gives his eventual reveal in ROTJ more "oompf". Granted, that aspect of it is undermined a little when you're watching Star Wars chronologically and Jabba already appeared in TPM and TCW. But even then, A New Hope and by extension the Original Trilogy as a whole still flows better without this scene, imo.

Haha, wow! So that's the real reason for the tail-stepping gag.

 

Ehhhhhhhhhh, not exactly. I mean the tail was just a wireframe animation. They could have easily had it out of the way if they’d wanted to. Lifting Han up, and having Jabba react like Bugs Bunny, was a choice. They were being cute.

 

To my mind, the main problem with this scene, isn't that it's bad CGI or the attitude towards Jabba or anything else. It's that the scene is redundant, we don't get any new info from it. That's why it was cut from the original film IMO, you don't really get any more useful info from it, then you did from the earlier scene with Greedo.

A bunch of similar stuff was cut like that, Tosche Station where Luke talks to Biggs before he leaves I think was also cut for the same reason.

I hate to say it but that other scene they added, the super cheesy scene with Biggs before they take off for the final battle, though yeah it super awkwardly acted, I think was worth adding because it added some context for why Luke is calling out to Biggs in the final battle. It's like oh cool he knows him, unlike originally that was a little disconnected, at least for me.

 

Actually, the scene with Greedo was deliberately lengthened in order to include the detail that was lost by cutting the Jabba scene. But, yeah, it’s totally redundant for exactly that reason.

Personally, I absolutely love the Biggs scene. It has no place in the movie, so I’m glad it was cut, but it so directly spells out Luke’s motivation. That’s why he’s so excited to hear 3PO mention the Rebellion. That’s why he’s pressing Owen so hard to let him go the “academy”. That’s why he’s staring so pensive and longingly at the horizon.

People he knows, people he cares about and respects, are out there, right now, fighting and possibly dying for things they believe in. They’re leading lives of purpose while he’s stuck there jerking around on some farm, leading a life of inconsequence. It totally unlocked the character for me the first time I saw it.

 

@eeprom I can see that. I liked seeing it as additional info after the fact, but yeah doesn't work in the movie.

 

I’ve personally loved that scene, because it meant getting an additional 1 or 2 minutes of Star Wars movie! In addition, it also meant more Han Solo, another Boba Fett appearance, and it made me understand even more why Han is running away from his problems: a monster mob-boss is after him (which before, you never really saw until Episode 9.)
The only thing I did not like was the technology which wasn’t up to par, but the 2011 version was much better.

 

I think the biggest crime of this scene that isn't being mentioned is that it was originally cut from the movie, and the Greedo/Han scene was designed to replace it in order to carry across the same information. Adding this scene back repeats lines that were already formatted into the movie and barely adds any new information. Not a fan.

 

Jabba in TPM at the podraces?

 

Jabba is a wonderful human being.