From: g-martin1@uiuc.edu (Gregory A. Martin)
Subject: Info about Return of the Jedi script
Originator: gamg6900@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu
Reply-To: g-martin1@uiuc.edu (Gregory A. Martin)
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana
Date: Fri, 11 Sep 1992 21:52:05 GMT

This post gives information about the Return of the Jedi script that will
be posted to this group.

The complete process to arrive at the final version took over twenty-two
hours of time (all in three days). Two hours were spent scanning in the
105 pages of the script, then twenty hours were spent in Microsoft Word
reformatting into screenplay form and correcting the spelling averred by
the optical character recognition (OCR) software.

The only person in NetLand who I feel DESERVES to get a copy of this
script is Scott Streeter, who typed in the Star Wars script manually.
Dude, I can't even begin to imagine how long that must have taken you.
Enjoy this one.

There are several notes of interest related to the scripts:

One thing I discovered about the scripts, which is either annoying or cool
depending on how you look at it, is that there are multiple versions
for each movie since script writing is an evolutionary process. This means
that multiple versions will eventually appear on the network, so people
should be aware of which version they are dealing with. Below are the
details that I have been able to gather:

Star Wars: Scott Streeter typed in the version from _The Art of Star Wars_
which is labeled "Revised Fourth Draft, January 15, 1976." The version I
have is labeled "Revised Fourth Draft, March 15, 1976." My version contains
several obvious differences, such as Luke Skywalker is named Luke Starkiller,
"A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away..." reads "A long, long time
ago in a galaxy far, far away an incredible adventure took place...", and
the opening ROLLUP of exposition is different. I believe January 15 was
the fourth draft, March 15 was the revised fourth draft, and _The Art of
Star Wars_ updated the January 15 draft to be more (although not totally)
consistent with the final movie.

Empire Strikes Back: I have two versions of this script, one undated from
_The Empire Strikes Back Notebook_ that closely matches the movie, and one
labeled "Fifth Draft, February 20, 1979." The fifth draft is very
interesting because it contains LOTS of scenes and dialogue that were cut,
including the attack of the Wampa creatures and a scene where Luke and Leia
attempt to profess their love for each other. Revisions on this draft go
until August 24, 1979, which was one week before the end of principal
photography!

Return of the Jedi: One version of this script appears in _The Return of
the Jedi Notebook_, though I don't have this book so I can't say anything
about it. The version I am posting to the network is labeled "Second draft,
December 19, 1982," though this label is obviously misleading. The Jedi
script was finalized on November 13, 1981, several months later than hoped,
and minor changes were made even after this date. December 19, 1982 also
contradicts the line at the bottom of each script page that says
"ROJ + 019 + Dec 81". I was tempted to just decide that 1982 was a typo and
change it to 1981, but I will wait for more information before doing so.

There are several notes that are of interest to the Star Wars newsgroup
readers of the script:

The title of this draft is "Revenge of the Jedi," later changed to "Return
of the Jedi," of course.

There is no scene with Luke making a new lightsaber.

In scene 18 in the Rancor pit there is no description of Luke jumping up
to the grating and then falling back down.

Scene 44, the sandstorm on Tatooine, was cut for the final movie.

Scene 51, Luke's long discussion with Ben, contains extra dialogue that did
not make the final movie.

Scene 68, Vader abusing the Emperor's Guards, was cut from the final movie.

Scene 125 makes clear exactly what kills Darth Vader - a combination of
the injuries inflicted by Luke, the Emperor's Lightning striking him,
and the tremendous physical effort needed to throw the Emperor into the
shaft. More than the old Dark Lord could take.

There are two extra pages near the end - page 101 REVISION and
101A REVISION - where scenes 134, 135, and 136 are repeated. These two
extra pages contain the old version where Lando and the Falcon die. It
is somewhat confusing to find these scenes repeated, so just understand
that these two extra pages are thrown in at that point.

So anyway, I hope people enjoy the script. In return for my posting it,
please keep me informed of any errors that still exist. If people don't
like the script format (for example all the page breaks), reach a consensus
and I will reformat it (I still have the Microsoft Word file).

					Greg Martin
					g-martin1@uiuc.edu