With ‘Star Wars: The Last Jedi’ being released on home video this week, fans can now officially see all of those deleted scenes we have heard so much about, which come in at a whopping 14 total scenes. One scene, in particular, seems to be especially important and a lot of discussion is being had about why it was cut from the movie as it provided some much needed humanization for Luke Skywalker early on in the film.
The scene in question has Luke take a moment to quietly mourn the death of Han after he learns the news from Rey, a scene which we recently learned Mark Hamill himself was a little disappointed did not make it into the final theatrical cut. When asked directly about the matter during an interview by IGN in Ireland last month, here is what Hamill had to say:
“Yes, of course, because it shows Luke was putting on a facade in front of Rey and even Chewie, that he was embittered and sort of a broken man. And I think the fact that he could let his emotions out when he was by himself would have made an impact on the audience because it allowed them to grieve the loss of Han Solo just the way Luke felt it. But that always happens in films. You say, ‘Oh, what about this scene where this happens or that happens?” because you want to give the fullest experience that you can. And like you say, it was brief enough that I was — [chuckles] They had time for me to milk that big alien but to show any human emotion? Nah, we don’t have time for that. But again it’s not my call.”
IGN also discussed the Caretaker Villager sequence deleted scene with Hamill, which is already well known on the internet for being the scene where Luke gives Rey that third lesson that he speaks of in the theatrical cut but we never see. This was also something that seemed to bother Hamill as well:
“Well, it’s interesting because that’s one of the lessons. I think they mentioned there were three lessons and people were keeping count. ‘Wait a minute! We’re missing a lesson.’ I think Rian has lots of thought-provoking ideas in the film. It seems callous for (Luke) to just ignore it and not — the old Luke would be just like Rey. He’d be lightsaber-blazing. I liked it because it shows his kind of mean streak sense of humor, when she comes back and says, ‘Why did you just let me go off like that without telling me?’ And I laugh. ‘You ran so fast!’ Because, again, it shows another side of him. Because he’s pretty serious and dour so it shows that even though he has a mean streak he still has a sense of humor.”
Are you looking forward to checking out these deleted scenes and seeing things for yourself? How essential do you think these scenes and moments were to the film, or do you agree with cutting them? Feel free to share your thoughts and opinions in the comments below!
