Topic: Five major changes in the 'Star Wars' DVD

[Gambler]

CNN.com

LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- George Lucas made several changes in "Star Wars" when the film was re-released in 1997. With the "Star Wars" trilogy on DVD, he's tinkered a little more. Here are five changes Lucas made:

5. Jedis don't scream

The 1997 special edition version of "The Empire Strikes Back" was changed so Luke wails as he jumps off the platform in Cloud City. In the only instance of Lucas undoing a later alteration (sadly, Greedo still shoots first on the DVD of "A New Hope"), he's taken it off the DVD edition. Maybe he realized Jedis (even ones in training) don't scream.

4. Boba Fett has a new voice

Since Boba Fett is a clone of Jango Fett, and Jango Fett is played by Temura Morrison, doesn't it make sense that he should sound like him, too? That's exactly what George Lucas thought, so Morrison was brought in to revoice the four lines of dialogue (yes, believe it or not there are only four!) Boba spoke in the original trilogy.

3. A new and improved Jabba

Remember that dodgy-looking computer-generated Jabba they inserted into the 1997 re-release of "A New Hope"? Well, he looks a little less dodgy this time around thanks to some improved CGI.

2. The emperor's new clothes

In the original version of "The Empire Strikes Back," the emperor Darth Vader speaks to via hologram was played by a woman in a mask (!) and voiced by Clive Revill. Again, in the interests of consistency, Ian McDiarmid -- who portrays the emperor in "Return of the Jedi" and the prequel trilogy -- now appears in that scene with an added line or two of dialogue.

1. The big finale

The 1997 special edition of "Return of the Jedi" added a few "Star Wars" worlds joining the celebration of the Empire's demise at the end of the film. For the DVD, they've added Naboo, a planet that figures prominently in the prequel trilogy. Also, Anakin Skywalker is noticeably different this time around. When he removes his Darth Vader helmet, he now has no eyebrows! It's probably safe to assume he singes them off in his battle with Obi-Wan Kenobi in next summer's "Return of the Sith" and a change had to be made.

But the most noticeable change -- and perhaps one some "Star Wars" diehards will have a tough time stomaching -- is Hayden Christensen (who plays young Anakin in the prequel trilogy) now appearing in the scene where the "force ghosts" of Anakin, Obi Wan, and Yoda smile at Luke. One thing's for sure, there's plenty for fans to debate -- that is, until the trilogy comes out yet again on another format in the future and Mr. Lucas makes his inevitable changes ...

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I can handle most everything except for the last one.  Hayden Christensen shouldn't be at the end of Return of the Jedi.

(The typo in episode 3's title is not mine but the original story author.)

[Dash Jones]

Well, at least this time round all the changes seem for the better overall.  It makes the series mesh better with Hayden there, and I always thought Luke screaming when he fell was strange...almost as if he meant to say yes to Vader...but slipped!!!

I'm excited to see what they did to Jabba, and hope it looks a heck of a lot better!  Also, perhaps the emperor will be recognizeable this time in ESB.  At least Lucas didn't add any new musical numbers to ESB or any of the other numbers which seem way out of place.

[Sirgod]

Not too mention, Who Shot first Solo or Greedo.

Stephen offering Change # 6.

[Just plain old Punisher]

Who cares?

Punishers rules of engagement: If it doesn't have eyelids fry it!

[Rat Boy]

Lucas will never get another dollar out of me for anything he produces.  His tampering with the classic trilogy and dreadful prequel trilogy have killed Star Wars.

Say what you will about TPTB at Trek, but they at least don't take episodes of TOS and completely re-edit them to unrecognizability while destroying every copy of the originals.

[jualdeaux]

Here is an interview with Lucas about the new DVDs.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,132871,00.html

The part that really gets me is this part.

AP: Why not release both the originals and special editions on DVD?

Lucas: The special edition, that's the one I wanted out there. The other movie, it's on VHS, if anybody wants it. ... I'm not going to spend the, we're talking millions of dollars here, the money and the time to refurbish that, because to me, it doesn't really exist anymore. It's like this is the movie I wanted it to be, and I'm sorry you saw half a completed film and fell in love with it. But I want it to be the way I want it to be. I'm the one who has to take responsibility for it. I'm the one who has to have everybody throw rocks at me all the time, so at least if they're going to throw rocks at me, they're going to throw rocks at me for something I love rather than something I think is not very good, or at least something I think is not finished.

Millions of dollars to to get the original version on DVD? Please! All they had to do is take out all the extras and change just a couple of scenes back. I mean how many DVDs out there have the option of playing the theatrical or extended version of the movie. I don't think it would have been that hard to do, and it would have created even more sales as those who want the original version would actually buy it.

[Dash Jones]

I admire Lucas.  There is only one items that really bothers me about all this stuff he says about Star Wars being his...

Look at the credits sometime...for some reason, several hundred people behind the creation and production of the Movie Star Wars seems to say that there was a lot more input from a lot more people than just Lucas, whether it was in the creation of effects, to muppetry, to just pure design...

And when Lucas says things like that, though he has every right to in his creation, he is spitting on a lot of others and their ideas that were put into place many years ago. 

On the otherhand, I admire Lucas for his intelligence and the way he got the movies as his...as well as how he is almost a self made man and has a keen business sense...at least thus far...as far as money is concerned.

[Just plain old Punisher]

Yea like that brilliant guy who used those egg-shell panty hose cases for the star destroyer thruster nozels!

Thank god for crossdressers!

(Outside of a eddy murphy, don't think I was ever gonna say that)

[Iceman]

Not too mention, Who Shot first Solo or Greedo.

Stephen offering Change # 6.

Han did. It ruins the character from the beginning if he didn't.

[Don Karnage]

Lucas he's a moron who only for the money, he's the creator of starwars but he did not do it alone, the change he speak of are stupid and there not what he wanted in the first place because there would have Ben in the first version of the movie, the fact that greedo shout first his because of 9/11, the USA are the good guy and never shoot first, sure the remake from 1997 are only the image Ben recolored and put the music with Dolby, but to release on DVD the original trilogy would have Ben good for the fan, but he want to change the story to what he want just so he can make more money out of the starwars name that very stupid of him, sure we will trow rock at him for doing that to the starwars trilogy, Lukas you don't care fine but take a look at your next starwars movie, you might see that your fan will boo your movie and you will loose money, if you think that the fan will swallow your stupid idea because you suddenly wanted the movies to be like that?, i doubt it cause you would have made it like that long before, when the starwars name loose interest in the fan perhaps you will realise that it was a bad idea to change the story to your biding.

[Hstaphath_XC]

Not too mention, Who Shot first Solo or Greedo.  Stephen offering Change # 6.

As I heard it, in "A New Hope," they have now rewritten it so that Alderaan shoots first. 

[Gambler]

Would we think any less of Han if he fired first?  He knows that Greedo is after him dead or alive.  It's stupid to think that he cannot fire first.  Does it make him any better of a person if Greedo took the first shot?

[Don Karnage]

tell that to lukas, he seem to think so, he's the dark side 

[GDA-S'Cipio]

Does it make him any better of a person if Greedo took the first shot?

No, it makes him stupid.  Greedo is less than three feet away with a pistol pointed right at his head.  HOW CAN HE MISS??!!  You don't give someone in that position the first shot.

Besides, Han wasn't exactly a "good guy" at the beginning of the first movie.  I rather thought his evolution was the point of his character being in the story.  (As much as any character can evolve in a Space Opera.)

-S'Cipio

[J. Carney]

Would we think any less of Han if he fired first?  He knows that Greedo is after him dead or alive.  It's stupid to think that he cannot fire first.  Does it make him any better of a person if Greedo took the first shot?

Why would we? At this point, Han is a scoundrel who would sell his own parents- if he knew them- to make a profit. He really thinks nothing of a little bloodshed... them ain't pop-guns on top of the Falcon. I seriously think that his character would would be averse to shooting preemptively in self-defense.

That was part of the appeal of the character, he was an Old West gunfighter/gambler come to life in space. Gunning people down was his stock and trade, as was anything else that turned a profit.

[Aldaron_Nirantani]

I think the fact that Han tip's the bartender like nothing serious happened and says "Sorry about the mess" says a lot about his character. He just killed someone in a crowded bar to save his life and he acts like it happens every day. Do you seriously think he would hesitate to shoot first?

[Don Karnage]

lukas wanted the character to be llooking less evil buy shooting after greedo shoot and miss him, (peraps greedo is a bad shooter that why he miss han).

[Iceman]

the fact that greedo shout first his because of 9/11,

Are you insane?

[Strafer]

the fact that greedo shout first his because of 9/11,

Are you insane?

Seeing how Greedo shot first as of 1997, arguing 9/11 was caused by Greedo would make more sense.... (it'd still be senseless but)

[GDA-S'Cipio]

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Ahhhh....... screw it.  I've got the originals.  What do I need to buy them again for, anyway?  I did like the fact that the re-release added in the Han/Jabba scene, but it was better in the novel anyway.

-S'Cipio

[Nemesis]

No, it makes him stupid.  Greedo is less than three feet away with a pistol pointed right at his head.  HOW CAN HE MISS??!!  You don't give someone in that position the first shot.
-S'Cipio

How can Greedo miss?  Easy, that scoundrel Han Solo sold him the gun.  Would you sell a functional gun to a Greedo? 

[TheJudge]

I went and bough the DVD on Tuesday morning and have watched all four of them (including the bonus material which I'll get to at the end).

Now, I'm a die-hard Star Wars fan.  I fell in love with Luke Skywalker when I was young, and while being a decided geek and never wanting to miss school, I ditched school to see ESB and ROTJ.  In fact, we used my quadripeligic aunt to get to the front of the line isntead of having to wait outside.  I lept with joy at hearing about the prequel, went to see the special edition when it came out, and felt slightly sour after Episode 1.  Looking back, I see now why it wasn't made first, and appreciate the political manuevering and seeing just how the Republic became the Empire. I enjoyed AOTC, and have to say that Hayden was whiny, irritating, and almost insufferable, in other words perfectly done to see how Anakin became Dath Vader eventually.  Ewan McGregor, in my opinion, does great work as Obi-Wan, and makes seeing Alec Guinness as Obi-Wan in the original trilogy even more enjoyable.

Now, watching these on the big-screen televisions both grandmothers own has been extremely nice, and yes, I've watched each of them at least twice again.  Some of the changes were subtle enough I didn't catch them the first time around, others less subtle.  Frankly, I like the 'final' SE versions slightly better than the originals, although the originals are always going to be special because they are what I grew up on.  The second time I watched them with my second cousin Whitney and some of her friends aged 15-19.  For them, I think the things added with the SE made them more enjoyable to watch than if they'd just seen the originals. 

By the way, the reason it cost millions was that nearly every frame of the original films had to be re-mastered for DVD quality.  The original films are now dirty, aged, and worn, and if you want some idea of what they'd look like un-touched, go back and watch a video tape you recorded twenty years ago and see how crystal-clear it is now.  That's where millions of dollars went.

Now, as for the changes I really, really noticed:

1)  The Jabba/Han scene in Ep. 4 is MUCH better looking.  Yeah, the scene ain't really necessary, but it's nice because it tells us exactly WHY Jabba is so hot after Han's ass in Ep. 5, and why in Ep. 6 he ain't willing to bargain about letting Han go. 

Um, that's what a 15 year old guy said at that point in ROTJ.  His words were like "D'oh, Jabba ain't gonna let him go after Han broke the promise he made in the first movie."

2)  Boba's new voice - Yep, got to like the change.  It makes a LOT of sense. 

3)  Woot!  They changed the Emperor for the Holocam scene.  Much more in-line with everything else now.

4)  Vader/Kenobi Death Star Lightsaber Duel - The blades are a lot better looking now and the frames where you could see the actual sticks the actors used has been touched up.  I said it before, I'll say it again...Ben's death here is even more poignant after getting to know Kenobi through the prequels.

5)  Hayden appears with Yoda and Ben at the finale - (First...yeah, thought that was Naboo and shuddered at the gungan voice but oh well.)  Hayden's appearance is NOT Anakin from AOTC, it is Anakin from Episode III.  His hair is different and he does look older, though far younger than he would have been if he'd not become darth vader.  My bet is we're seeing Anakin at the last moment before he fell to the dark side, when Luke and Leia are just a month old and he does not know of their birth.  (woops, minor spoilage for Episode III). 

The 'Bonus' disk I have not fully explored yet, but it's just as good as the rest of the movies.  Hell, it's almost worth buying the whole dvd set for...

Why?

There's a teaser in there...an Episode III teaser that had me in tears because I got to see what I've been dreaming of ever since ROTJ ended.  All Star Wars fans know Anakin fell to the dark side and fought Obi-wan Kenobi.  During that fight, he was pushed or fell into a lava pit, lava shower, or something like that, and badly burned so that he had to have special life support and bionic implants in order to live.  Thus, his black suit, his helmet, and the final transformation from Anakin Skywalker into Darth Vader.  The episode III teaser is about that transformation. 

There's a lot of Lucas babbling on, a lot of background, we see Jake Lloyd's childish Anakin, we see the AOTC Anakin, we see the Original Trilogy's Darth Vader.  What really got me though, was the shots of Hayden in his new Darth Vader outfit (yeah, they made the new one for him to wear).  Also, the fight scenes between him and Obi-Wan, against the blue and green screens was very wonderful to see...Overall...that was worth half the cost of the set right there...

[GDA-S'Cipio]

No, it makes him stupid.  Greedo is less than three feet away with a pistol pointed right at his head.  HOW CAN HE MISS??!!  You don't give someone in that position the first shot.
-S'Cipio

How can Greedo miss?  Easy, that scoundrel Han Solo sold him the gun.  Would you sell a functional gun to a Greedo? 

 

Oh, geez, that's got to be worth more karma.

-S'Cipio

[TheJudge]

Oh, and my favorite reaction to ESB was "No effing way that's his father!"

Seems some things don't change despite all the years...

[Nemesis]

No, it makes him stupid.  Greedo is less than three feet away with a pistol pointed right at his head.  HOW CAN HE MISS??!!  You don't give someone in that position the first shot.
-S'Cipio

How can Greedo miss?  Easy, that scoundrel Han Solo sold him the gun.  Would you sell a functional gun to a Greedo? 

 

Oh, geez, that's got to be worth more karma.

-S'Cipio

Han may have been a scoundrel in the beginning but he was never STUPID. 

[Iceman]

Did anyone else catch the GREEN lightsaber in Lukes hands the first time you see him holding it in the Millennium Falcon? Yeah, who the hell edited that section?

[Just plain old Punisher]

Bob the color-blind editing director.

And we'll thank you not to stare.

[Iceman]

One would hope more than one person reviewed the darn thing. Its so disappointing to see lack of attention like that.

[Harlax]

One would hope more than one person reviewed the darn thing. Its so disappointing to see lack of attention like that.

No, no, no.  Its not lack of attention to detail, its an insidious plot.  You see in 10 years they can rerelease it all again to clean up the "errata."  Kind of like SFB.......

[Iceman]

One would hope more than one person reviewed the darn thing. Its so disappointing to see lack of attention like that.

No, no, no.  Its not lack of attention to detail, its an insidious plot.  You see in 10 years they can rerelease it all again to clean up the "errata."  Kind of like SFB.......

Bastards.



Also, I watched the entire 150 minutes documentary on the 'bonus' material DVD. It's pretty cool, but they dedicated about and hour each to "A New Hope" and "The Empire Strikes Back" and divy up the rest between Ep 1-3 and Return of the Jedi. I would have liked to see more on ALL of those.

[Harlax]

I'm waiting for these lines to appear in a new or reedited Star Wars movie.

Vader "I sense a great distrubance in the Force.  Send the fleet to Tatooine immediately!"
Admiral "Tatooine, why Tatooine?"
Vader "Admiral, a careful study of history show that during ANY crisis, something is always happening on Tatooine.  Send the fleet NOW!"

[Soreyes]

I'm waiting for these lines to appear in a new or reedited Star Wars movie.

Vader "I sense a great distrubance in the Force.  Send the fleet to Tatooine immediately!"
Admiral "Tatooine, why Tatooine?"
Vader "Admiral, a careful study of history show that during ANY crisis, something is always happening on Tatooine.  Send the fleet NOW!"

 

[TheJudge]

Vader:  I sense a great disturbance in the force.

Admiral:  Sir, are you sure it wasn't the chili we had for dinner?  I'm feeling a little discombobulated.

Snap!  Hiss!  Thump.

Captain:  Lord Vader?

Vader:  You are in command now, Admiral.

New Admiral:  Yes sir.

Vader:  Remember, Admiral, never ask to be disemboweled.

New Admiral:  Sir, he said 'discombobulated'.

Snap!  Hiss!  Thump!

Vader: *sigh*, it's so hard to find good help these days.  The Admiral was right though, now that I think about it, it was the chili. 

Stormtrooper over secure radio headset:  This is why the emperor makes sure our helmets have built-in gas masks.