On David Lynch's Revenge of the Jedi (2018)

Original Article ↗ Hacker News Discussion ↗

Reactions to the essay

  • Several readers found the piece “painfully long,” obtuse, and full of misdirection without payoff; seen as self-indulgent literary style rather than clear expository writing.
  • Others enjoyed the script-like structure, scene switches, and imagined “Revenge” scenes that sharply diverge from the actual film, but felt the ending fizzled.
  • Some were unsure which parts were factual, and noted that the supposed Lynch ROTJ script is really a collage: bits of Dune, Return of the Jedi, and mostly the author’s own invention.

Lynch, Star Wars, and creative control

  • Commenters highlight Lynch’s own account of having “next to zero interest” in Star Wars and literally getting a headache during Lucas’s pitch, reading that as his body rejecting a heavily pre-defined project.
  • Multiple posts stress how central sound, music, and hand-built props are to Lynch; being forced to use established Star Wars collaborators is seen as fundamentally incompatible.
  • There’s skepticism toward the essay’s attempt to deeply speculate about a hypothetical Lynch ROTJ, which some see as a mismatched premise from the start.

AI-generated cinema and auteur style

  • One thread imagines feeding the fake “Revenge” script to AI to generate a Lynchian Star Wars, framing this as the likely future of film and fan culture.
  • Some argue Lynch’s style is so singular that AI, which excels at broad-style pastiche, will struggle to convincingly reproduce it; others counter that his work has repeatable patterns (dream logic, ambiguity) that models can learn.
  • A middle view: near-term AI might produce clips that feel “Lynch-like” to casual viewers, but full-length works that satisfy serious fans are unlikely for a long time, if ever.
  • The prospect of AI-driven “edits” or light fixes to existing films (e.g., smoothing stop-motion in Terminator) feels more plausible and even desirable to some.

Dune, Cronenberg, and alternate histories

  • The thread notes that Cronenberg was also offered ROTJ, and muses about his near-miss with other big projects, while appreciating his later non–body-horror work.
  • Many express affection for Lynch’s Dune: flawed, often messy, but visually alien and hugely influential on later Dune imagery.
  • Comparisons to recent big-budget sci-fi emphasize a perceived modern visual homogeneity driven by franchise IP management, VFX workflows, and risk-averse studios.

Influence, nostalgia, and fandom minutiae

  • Jodorowsky’s unmade Dune and Moebius’s designs are credited with shaping a vast swath of sci-fi cinema and art; some would rather see those original storyboards than any AI recreation.
  • Side threads cover title nostalgia (“Revenge” vs “Return,” “Star Wars” vs “A New Hope”) and small personal memories (old VHS tapes, early ads) as part of the franchise’s cultural sediment.