Silent Bob Posted September 18, 2004 Share Posted September 18, 2004 So, for those who haven't heard, it seems that George Lucas has yet again gotten ILM to go back into the original Star Wars trilogy and make even more changes for the upcoming DVD release (which comes out Tuesday, by the way). Many of the changes are pretty minor and some of the more major ones are actual improvements, but some...some are just unforgiveable. Here are some comparisons. A New Hope Luke's sandspeeder has been re-done to make it more dynamic and to animate C-3PO more realistically. 1997 Version 2004 Version Greedo still shoots first (sigh) but the shots are now much closer together and Han's entire upper body is animated instead of just his head in the horrible 1997 version. 1997 Version 2004 Version (PS - is it just me, or when you freeze an image like that don't the laser blasts look like they were done in Paint?) The scene with Jabba the Hutt that got added in the 1997 re-release has been re-animated and now uses the Jabba the Hutt model from Episode I. Thank god for that. 1997 Version 2004 Version The Empire Strikes Back The horribly done hologram of the Emperor has been re-shot with Ian McDiarmid (also thank god). 1997 Version 2004 Version Return of the Jedi For some strange reason, older Anakin's eyebrows have been erased for the new version. 1997 Version 2004 Version Naboo has been added into the 1997 Special Edition celebration scene. And probably most horrendously of all, in the final "ghost" scene, Sebastian Shaw who played older Anakin has been replaced with Hayden Christiansen. If they had replaced Alec Guinness with Ewan McGregor I would've boycotted. 1997 Version 2004 Version Also, there have been many minor changes. Many of the lightsaber blades have been re-done to give them a brighter, more colorful and more consistent look (especially in A New Hope). There are also a few unconfirmed ones that I've been unable to find screencaps for. In A New Hope the twin sun effect has been updated. The Death Star jail corridor has been augmented with cgi to make it appear much deeper. The garbage monster has been improved. "Power" and "Tractor Beam" labels on machinery have been digitally replaced with Imperial markings (I had a pic of this but it wasn't worth showing) In The Empire Strikes back, not only has the hologram scene been reshot, but supposedly a line of dialogue has been added in which the Emperor reveals to Vader Luke's true identity (please, no!). Boba Fett's dialogue has been re-recorded by Temuera Morrison (Jango Fett). Han Solo's black jacket has been erased to solve mistakes made in the original. Luke's scream - added in the 1997 edition - has been replaced again. In Return of the Jedi, edge transparency defects around the Rancor have been fixed (finally). The Galactic Senate and the Jedi Temple buildings have been added to the skyline of Coruscant in the final celebration scene (I also had a pic of this one but you can barely see the differences) By the way, this probably won't even be the last time. Lucasfilm film has confirmed to some news outlets that a huge box set is planned that will include all six films - probably for the 30th anniversary of Star Wars in 2007. Among other things, this is rumored to include the infamous deleted scenes from the original trilogy (a scene with Biggs and Luke on Tatooine in EpIV, a wampa attack in EpV and a sandstorm in EpVI to name a few). Though some have speculated these may be added back into the films, that isn't confirmed. At the very least they'll be included as extras. And chances are, Lucas won't be able to keep himself from meddling with the films again between now and then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MyLeakyBucket Posted September 18, 2004 Share Posted September 18, 2004 I'm sure Alec Guinness (R.I.P.) wouldn't have minded being replaced by Ewan. He severely regretted his association with Star Wars. The picture comparison changes look pretty cool, although can't say I would have known the films enough to notice most of the differences anyway. Missed the revamped versions when they were in the cinema so will have to rent the new DVDs some time to check out the new scenes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silent Bob Posted September 18, 2004 Author Share Posted September 18, 2004 Most of the new scenes and CG additions were beneficial, though it did become kinda weird when the movie would go from 1997 special effects to 1977 special effects in the next shot. Hopefully that transition won't be so harsh now that the whole thing has been cleaned up for the dvd release. Greedo still shoots first though, goddammit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The NZA Posted September 18, 2004 Share Posted September 18, 2004 Alright, i was outta the loop on that one: what was the deal with making Greedo shoot first? Was this part of the Lucas "ET cops now carry walkie-talkies" thing to cut down on violence, or just show Han was acting in self-defense or wha? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silent Bob Posted September 18, 2004 Author Share Posted September 18, 2004 Yeah he said he thought it hurt Han's character to make him kill Greedo in cold blood (though any fan of the movie will tell you it defined his character). When the special edition came out it was digitally changed to show Greedo shooting a half a second or so before Han does. Han moves his head slightly to the side to avoid the shot. The head move itself was badly done and looked more like a problem with the film rather than an actual movement. Basically, it just looked incredibly fake and it hurt a scene that many people liked as it was. So, yeah, it was kinda like the guns to walkie-talkies in ET, though I personally agreed with that decision. I never thought that cops would be chasing kids with their shotguns out either - even if one of them did have an alien in the basket of his bike. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
White Line Nightmare Posted September 19, 2004 Share Posted September 19, 2004 The Star Wars purists shit their pants, but people need to get the fuck over it already. It's been 7 years. The fanboys are going to swear up and down that the changes are bullshit, and that they're changing masterpieces, blah, blah blah, but then nobody really ends up catching them, anyway. Honestly speaking, how many of the changes would've been caught if we weren't told what they were and had screencaps to show us them? Who notices who has eyebrows and who doesn't, or the Imperial markings over equipment? Reading the laundry list of changes, I'M GLAD they made a lot of them. The lightsabers did need fixing, as did the matte lines, and the Emperor from Empire, and... Fact is, George Lucas isn't going to release the original theatrical versions of the films, and the fans need to reconcile with that. Why? Because Lucas was NEVER happy with the originals and has been wanting to make changes for some time. He believes that what he is doing is right for the filma and for their fans, and he's not going to back down while he's alive. I'm a Star Wars fan and have been since I first saw the films at 4. Life-long. I've gotten over Greedo shooting first, and the Jedi spirits, and Boba Fett's new voice... other people need to, too. To the fanboys: shove a tampon in your giant, gaping, bleeding vagina and shut the fuck up. There're more important things going on in the world than a few seconds of footage added to or subtracted from a movie. If these people lived in the fucking real world, they'd realize that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benz Posted September 20, 2004 Share Posted September 20, 2004 Here's some more screen shots from the new one... My personal fave... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reverend Jax Posted September 20, 2004 Share Posted September 20, 2004 Some of those are hard to make out. The one after the Jar Jar and before the Superman one is impossible. It just looks like the inside of the death star or an imperical crusier, can't make out anything else. Funny shit though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Signal08 Posted September 20, 2004 Share Posted September 20, 2004 robocop and bill and ted in 1 star wars clip...thats action packed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benz Posted September 20, 2004 Share Posted September 20, 2004 Some of those are hard to make out. The one after the Jar Jar and before the Superman one is impossible. It just looks like the inside of the death star or an imperical crusier, can't make out anything else. Funny shit though. ...if you look carefully, you'll see the Teenage Mutnant Ninja Turtles coming out of the Millenium Falcon's "smuggler section" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silent Bob Posted September 20, 2004 Author Share Posted September 20, 2004 Yeah, Jax, turn up the brightness on your screen or somethin', that TMNT one is my favorite. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jumbie Posted September 20, 2004 Share Posted September 20, 2004 WLN has a point. Most of the changes are positive or neutral. The making Greedo shoot first thing though, is messing with CHARACTERIZATION. It's plain enough from the dialogue that greedo was gonna shoot. Making Han wait for Greedo to fire makes him dumb in addition to a pussy. My personal plan is to buy the dvd and then when the tech is available reinsert the original scene. (From VHS if I have to) And I'm willing to bet I could make quite a few dollars selling that version on the black market too. Hear that every body? I'm gonna be a smugller type. Gotta go get me a nice ship....) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silent Bob Posted September 20, 2004 Author Share Posted September 20, 2004 And dammit, when green guys with blasters come around, you're gonna shirt first and ask questions later. I agree with WLN that a lotta people get way too up in arms about it - 'cept Greedo, that's for good reason. I liked pretty much all the changes he's done. I'd would just like it more if he stopped at some point. I mean, I wanna buy Star Wars, for cryin' out loud. I don't wanna hold off on it because I know in another few years he'll just put out a different version. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigChiefSlapaho Posted September 20, 2004 Share Posted September 20, 2004 [robocop] DROP IT! [/robocop] Sweet. Check this news out: http://breakingnews.iol.ie/entertainment/s...814&p=yy5xzy5zx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The NZA Posted September 20, 2004 Share Posted September 20, 2004 Jumbie's idea might not be so bad....you guys remember when episode 1.5 was goin around? Some fan version that stripped Jar-Jar and other elements from the movie, im told...anyway, i figure that guy made enough to make it worth his trouble. As for that news...havent you SW kids been dismissing that one for years? And im not sure how bad i wanna see twin jedis or whatever...now, Shadows of the Empire could be fun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silent Bob Posted September 21, 2004 Author Share Posted September 21, 2004 Nono, if you wanna see how another trilogy could be done right, read Timothy Zahn's "Heir to the Empire" series. It's not just good Star Wars, it's a great sci-fi read. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benz Posted September 21, 2004 Share Posted September 21, 2004 Yeah... I also heard they're doing the stormtroopers like ET... ...speaking of which... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigChiefSlapaho Posted September 21, 2004 Share Posted September 21, 2004 I have those books. They're really good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
White Line Nightmare Posted September 21, 2004 Share Posted September 21, 2004 The Thrawn trilogy (and its two sequels) would make AMAZING Star Wars films. ...And Lucas will never stop messing with Star Wars. He's never been happy with the movies, and he'll continue "re-envisioning" them until the day he dies. I'm sure that with every new format, Lucasfilm will release newly-tweaked versions, simply because GL can't leave well enough alone. Perhaps when Lucas passes, his children will be willing to release the original trilogy for "archive purposes," or something. ...Or money. Lots of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reverend Jax Posted September 21, 2004 Share Posted September 21, 2004 I agree that most of the changes don't bother me. Everyone mentions Greedo, and I agree, but I also hated the new celebration scene at the end fo Jedi. I didn't hate the new stuff added, just they cut out the ewoks and their song. Alot of the Ewok stuff in Jedi was goofy and silly, but the celebration of theirs should have stayed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MetalHeart Posted September 21, 2004 Share Posted September 21, 2004 I agree that most of the changes don't bother me. Everyone mentions Greedo, and I agree, but I also hated the new celebration scene at the end fo Jedi. I didn't hate the new stuff added, just they cut out the ewoks and their song. Alot of the Ewok stuff in Jedi was goofy and silly, but the celebration of theirs should have stayed. I smell a petition coming on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silent Bob Posted September 21, 2004 Author Share Posted September 21, 2004 I wouldn't sign any Ewok petition. The only good Ewok is a cut Ewok. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tangent Man Posted September 29, 2004 Share Posted September 29, 2004 i'm doing a pre-emptive tangent stoppage. My Tangent Detectors TM detected a several post long arguement coming about ewoks and i won't have it. "But Ewoks are cutsie pootsie!" "Ewoks are crap!" "Ewoks save the day!" "Ewoks are gay midgets" NO MORE! Back to talking about how Mr. Lucas ruined the originals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aartemys Posted September 29, 2004 Share Posted September 29, 2004 Ewoks are cutesie pootsie! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King of Snake Posted October 1, 2004 Share Posted October 1, 2004 Ewoks are crap! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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