RETURN OF THE JEDI
SPACE BATTLE 		PAGE 8
 
Intro Jabba's
Palace		 Skiff Battle Death Star Biker Chase
Ewok Village		 Space Battle
Ewok Battle		 Jedi's
Duel		 Finale

Updated: February 20, 2000

   
Quick Reflexes 1h 29m 20s
1h 30m 04s SE
 		  
   
 
    SCENE:   The rebel crew storm the shield bunker on Endor and engage in combat with the Imperials inside.
 
EVENT:   An imperial in black appears from the right of the screen in front of the ledge with the railing. Han throws the container in his hands at the imperial. If you notice, the imperial actually begins to jump over the railing before the box even hits him.
  		   
   
 
     

 
 
   
Magically Appearing TIEs 1h 30m 37s
1h 31m 21s SE
 		  
   
 
    SCENE:   The space battle over Endor is just beginning, and the rebels advance towards the Death Star.
 
EVENT:   We see the view out of the Millennium Falcon as they approach the Imperial Fleet. If you pause the film and watch the advance of the TIE fighters frame by frame, take note of the area in the centre of your screen, about a third of the way up. Moments into the scene, four TIE fighters appear out of nowhere.
  		   
   
 
     

 
 
   
More Disappearing TIEs 1h 30m 40s
1h 31m 24s SE
 		  
   
 
    SCENE:   Right after the rebels arrive at the Death Star, and figure out that the shields are still up. Admiral Ackbar says, "It's a Trap!" followed by Lando saying, "Enemy fighters coming in."
 
EVENT:   As the Millennium Falcon flies directly at the screen, and leaves the screen (upper right), pause the picture. You will see two little white "H" shapes on the Falcon's underside, where space was reserved for two TIE fighters. The two TIEs are in the picture until the Falcon flies "over top of them." Then you can see the white places reserved for the fighters, and then as the Falcon leaves the shot, all trace of the fighters is gone.
 
NOTES:   If you don't notice it at first, rewind the shot watching the area where the TIE shapes are. The TIEs are in the deep background of the scene and are pretty much motionless. The fact that they appear on the FX element of the Falcon is a result of a forgotten black "blocking" matte in the optical printing stage.

What had happened was that the Falcon had been exposed into an area of the film where the TIE's had already been exposed (or vice-versa) resulting in an overexposure in the shape of the TIE elements. This is why the area on the Falcon's belly is WHITE. If the area had been left for two fighters to be matted in, the "H" shapes would have appeared BLACK.
 

   
   
 
     

 
 
   
The Emperor's Slugs 1h 31m 06s
1h 31m 50s SE
 		  
   
 
    SCENE:   Most scenes with the Emperor.
 
EVENT:   The "slugs" to which I am referring to are dark areas in the picture that just don't look quite right. They are a result of poor colour or picture in a certain area, and the optical effects crew would have to actually draw in the right colour overtop of the picture to make it look better.

These "slugs" can be found twice in this movie. The first is with Artoo Deetoo on Tatooine during the opening scenes of the movie, the second is with the Emperor onboard the Death Star. Since the Emperor's slugs are easier to find and explain I'll deal with them first.

These can be seen is a few scenes, however the most prominent is when Luke is watching the Rebel fleet being led into a trap. During this time, small black spots are seen on the Emperors head, primarily on the left side. These are known as the "Emperor's slugs", due to their slug-like appearance.

What follows is only speculation as to their existence.

You will notice that the Emperor's eyes are lit by a soft sickly-green spotlight in that scene. The problem with normal spots, is that when you try to get them that tight, there is always a little spillover, which gets even worse if the subject is moving. Probably, the green light was lighting things that should not have been lit, like the back of the hood, or a part of him that had not been made up (ears or hair, perhaps). The optics crew then manually blacked out the "overflowing" areas.

Artoo's slugs can be found on his main photoreceptor "eye" during the opening shots of the movie. It is believed that you could see through the eye and see the actor inside much like you could during the sandcrawler scene in Star Wars IV: A New Hope. If you look closely, you'll see that during some angles and shots it is coloured a colour that just doesn't look quite right and resembles the slugs found on the Emperor later on in the movie.
 

   
   
 
     

 
 
   
Space Walk ?
? SE
 		  
   
 
    SCENE:   Exact scene unknown, if it even exists at all, but somewhere in the space battle over Endor.
 
EVENT:   There have been several reports saying that during the long and tedious shooting of the tremendously complex space battles that to help "relieve the tension", that special effects persons put a tennis shoe in the rebel fleet. No one seems to have found the shoe in any of the scenes of the movie, and it's very possible that the scene with the shoe may have been cut and never saw the silver screen.
  		   
   
 
     

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