Though women fighter pilots were witnessed amongst the heroic crowd within the Rebel Cruiser briefing room earlier in RETURN OF THE JEDI, it was believed that none were seen in the actual final battle above Endor...until now, with the Blu-ray revealing that one of the brave A-wing pilots was indeed female (as seen in the above image, played by UK actress
Poppy Hands) but, for reasons unknown (probably an accident made during the Post Production dialogue re-dubbing phase in the US) replaced with a male actors voice instead (with one line:
"Got it"). Her character was seemingly killed mere seconds later by a TIE fighter.
The full undubbed footage of Miss Hands pilot, and a previously unseen older A-wing colleague (pictured above, played by Ann Murray), both speaking classic STAR WARS combat and technical dialogue, can be found on the new Blu-ray release. Hopefully, someone like fan entrepreneur Jason Joiner will eventually find these actresses for his lucrative signings, with more behind the scenes filming info to follow.
In further unknown reasoning, the footage of the two lady X-wing pilots (including actress Vivienne Chandler (pictured below)), filmed at Elstree Studios during March/April 1982, were not made available for this release. Perhaps they'll show up in the future, too...
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Continuity Polaroid of Vivienne Chandler as an X-wing pilot at Elstree- filming her scenes with other separate X-wing pilots (including Denis Lawson) on Tuesday March 9th, 1982.
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With thanks to Chris Baker and Adywan for selected images.
UPDATE: 8/2014 Scenes of Vivienne Chandler as the X-wing pilot would be included on the e-book version of J.W. Rinzler's MAKING OF RETURN OF THE JEDI. The footage shows her character about to die in the Endor space battle, after heavy damage and stabiliser failure to her craft.
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| On the Home One rebel cruiser, two female X-wing pilot (one on left played by Lynn Hazelden) confer with their seated male colleagues, prior to the commencement of an important mission briefing. Image: Ben Ageros Collection. |
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| Lynn Hazelden's Rebel X-wing pilot, front right seated, confers with her colleagues in an image from alternate shot footage. |
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| A female X-wing pilot (Lynn Hazelden) joins in with the Ewok celebrations on Endor. |
▶ Rare Return of the Jedi unedited scene | Star Wars Celebration Europe 2 - YouTube
Return of the Jedi: Battle of Endor: The Lost Rebels - YouTube
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| B/W deleted footage of Miss Chandler from ROTJ. With thanks to ADYWAN for the image. |
Get hold of the e-book here: The Making of Star Wars: Return of the Jedi (Enhanced Edition) eBook: J. W. Rinzler, Brad Bird: Amazon.co.uk: Kindle Store
