But, CELEBRATION V may have kicked over the hornet's nest in a new series of interviews with Gary Kurtz. Kurtz directed the most beloved of the Star Wars films - THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK - and left the films during the early stages of RETURN OF THE JEDI. He has remained silent over the details for decades. But he has finally broken his silence.
“We had an outline and George changed everything in it," Kurtz said. “Instead of bittersweet and poignant he wanted a euphoric ending with everybody happy. The original idea was that they would recover [the kidnapped] Han Solo in the early part of the story and that he would then die in the middle part of the film in a raid on an Imperial base. George then decided he didn’t want any of the principals killed. By that time there were really big toy sales and that was a reason.”This new story vindicates conspiracy theorists who have speculated for years that Kurtz had a "better" story in mind for the film than the final version produced. And this ending sounds a lot more satisfying to the adults that most fans are today. Although, I can't help wondering if the children who first watched JEDI would have agreed.
The discussed ending of the film that Kurtz favored presented the rebel forces in tatters, Leia grappling with her new duties as queen and Luke walking off alone “like Clint Eastwood in the spaghetti westerns,” as Kurtz put it.
Kurtz said that ending would have been a more emotionally nuanced finale to an epic adventure than the forest celebration of the Ewoks that essentially ended the trilogy with a teddy bear luau.
