Luke’s Lightsaber Cut from the Beginning of ROTJ

My buddy Mark just sent me a link [posted to Youtube by Theforcenet] to this deleted scene from Star Wars: Return of the Jedi shown at Celebration V. Above, you can see Luke tinkering with his new lightsaber after Vader makes one more attempt to telepathically lure him to the Dark Side. Then, Luke tests it before giving it to R2-D2 for his special mission to see Jabba the Hut:

Yeah, I think its a good idea that it was cut from the final film–it would have given too much away at the beginning. Nevertheless, it makes for a nice addition to the ROTJ totality.

Published by Jason W. Ellis

I am an Associate Professor of English at the New York City College of Technology, CUNY whose teaching includes composition and technical communication, and research focuses on science fiction, neuroscience, and digital technology. Also, I coordinate the City Tech Science Fiction Collection, which holds more than 600 linear feet of magazines, anthologies, novels, and research publications.