A relatively last-minute addition to the film - though it did also manage to find partial inclusion into James Khan's novelisation published May, 1983 -
Return of the Jedi's opening in the post production editing phase included a moody scene where Vader reaches out from his meditation chamber (unused footage filmed for
The Empire Strikes Back) on the
Death Star II to a shrouded Luke Skywalker, now arrived on Tatooine and residing in a small cave, completing the build of his own unique lightsaber. His efforts are keenly watched by Artoo, whilst Threepio waits outside for order from his master. Though a fine sequence, it was ultimately cut. Instead, the filmmakers decided to make Luke look more mysterious and dangerous with his later cloaked arrival into Jabba's palace - ultimately a much better cinematic entrance for the character and more satisfying for the audience keenly awaiting his arrival at that point in the story.
More on the sequence, originally shot with an ILM crewman lookalike, which made its way onto 2011 Blu-ray, and which would have Mark Hamill's face likely (and cleverly) CGI doctored onto the footage:
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| November 22nd, 1982 storyboard for the additional scene filmed at ILM without Mark Hamill. |
The cave sequence interior was filmed at ILM at the end of 1982, at a time way beyond the original completed principal photography in London, and supervised specifically by the US crew end of the movie with director Richard Marquand and Lucas. Once the studio material was completed, a small crew travelled to Death Valley, Arizona in December, 1982, to capture exterior location photography of Artoo and Threepio outside Luke's cave and then heading on to their unique journey to Jabba's Palace, replacing the original version of their arrival that was to have been done with an alternate matte painting exterior...
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| Artoo emerges from the cave (with special instructions from Luke) to meet Threepio as they now journey to Jabba's palace on Tatooine. |
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| Lucas helps the small crew as they get ready to film the sequence. |
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| Lucas and Anthony Daniels for the extra scene filming. |
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| Filming the droids as they begin their journey to Jabba's palace. |
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| Deleted scene of the droids looking down into the valley housing Luke's X-wing and the Millennium Falcon. |
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| January 7th, 1983 storyboard for the extra scene, presumably by Joe Johnston. |
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| Anthony Daniels poses with Death Valley park ranger Rick McIntyre in December, 1982. |
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