You’d think George had learned his lesson after all the changes he made to the Star Wars Trilogy’s “Special Editions,” and then again with the DVD releases. But it seems that Lucas still wasn’t satisfied, and had to go and change some small-but-significant things for the upcoming Blu-ray releases.
I should preface this by pointing out that several dozen or even hundred tiny tweaks have been made that will actually enhance your Original Trilogy viewing experience. These are mostly audio/video fixes, such as extensive color correction, removing matte lines, fixing problematic audio issues, and that sort of thing. The nitpickers will find these changes most welcome, because it looks like every last glitch has been meticulously and carefully addressed. They’ve even fixed whatever few technical issues the Prequel Trilogy had.
If Lucas had stopped there, I think we’d all be pretty happy. But of course he did not.
We’ll start with the least offensive changes and work our way down to “George Lucas has defecated on my immaculate geekhood.”
The first one, I don’t think most people will have a problem with: that godawful Yoda puppet from The Phantom Menace has been replaced with the CGI Yoda used in Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith. Check it out:
Big improvement, right? Next, for utterly unfathomable reasons, George felt the need to make the Ewoks’ eyes blink. So blinking lids have been CGI-ed in to Return of the Jedi.
Seriously, George. What the nerfherder? Okay, now we’re getting to the weird stuff. Remember the scene in Star Wars (aka, A New Hope) where Obi-Wan makes his first appearance by scaring off the Jawas with a Krayt Dragon call? That sound he made has been replaced with a bizarre new one:
No idea what that’s all about. Alright, brace yourself, my geeky friend. This is the big one. The climactic scene of Return of the Jedi — and in fact, the entire saga, since the whole shebang is Anakin Skywalker’s story — comes when the Emperor is electrocuting Luke Skywalker, while Vader looks on. Inside, he’s feeling horribly conflicted, because he wants to obey his master, but his son is dying. Finally, at the last moment, he grabs Palpatine and throws him to his death, absorbing all of that Force lightning and saving the life of his son. In the Blu-ray version of Jedi, Vader croaks out a moaned “No…” while watching his son suffer, and then belts out a big “NOOOOOOOOO!!!” as he intervenes. See for yourself:
And before you cry “fan-made fakery,” the New York Times has confirmed these changes as legitimate. (And for all we know, there could be even more. These are just the changes that have been leaked so far.)
Ready…
Set…
Backlash!
I could have sworn Wicket’s eyes blinked before. Maybe it wasn’t as pronounced, maybe it was a trick of the light, or maybe it simply didn’t look right to George.
I’m glad for the Yoda replacement. I can take or leave the eye blink and Obi-Wan’s dragon. The “No, NOOOO” thing, though, is… wrong.
However, for me, this is a non-issue. I don’t plan on getting the Blu-Ray edition anytime soon for the simple fact that I don’t have a Blu-Ray player. Besides, I already paid for Episodes 1, 4, 5 and 6 twice (once on VHS, once on DVD… Episodes 2 and 3 were just purchased on DVD). I don’t feel like paying for them a third time.
On a side note, I was watching some Star Wars trailers on YouTube the other day. When the DVD version was announced, the trailer/commercial for those talked about how the original trilogy was being released in “the ultimate format.” I guess they lied.
I don’t think saying that the DVD release was the ultimate format was inaccurate at the time, given that BD did not even exist. Hopefully, that comment was tongue-in-cheek. If not…I think you need to look up the definition of “lie.”
Sigh. I’m an empathetic person. I usually try to give people, even George Lucas, the benefit of the doubt. But I just can’t imagine the motivation behind this stuff. What, did Star Wars feel like a failure to George and now that he has the means he is scrambling to lessen his old embarrassment? Did he feel like his original artistic vision wasn’t met and now he can realize his vision? Is it a ploy to make money with re-releases? None of those motivations sound very likely. I really just don’t get it. Also, I wonder if his army of yes-men (and yes-women) are insulating him from the fan backlash, or if he is well aware of the situation and just feels like he knows best. In any case, it looks now as if he’s never going to stop twisting the knife.
My response…big deal? He did not change the story, eliminate key characters or plot points, etc. I figure you are right, that some folks will be have a huge backlash. And I would suggest that if they do…get over it. Sounds like they need something bigger in their life to focus on rather than minor tweaks in a movie. And I would note…these are George Lucas’s films. He created them, he made them. It is his privilege to change them. If someone does not like that, they can simply not buy the BD versions. For me, especially having just completely redone my home theater, I will most definitely buy the new version on Blu-ray and I anxiously look forward to seeing them in on my new setup. Hmm…maybe he can provide a 3D version. ;)
Umm, yeah. Seems like just another ploy to get you to spend your hard earned money but saying they changed all these things to give you a better experience. Luckily to watch a near hd version all you have to do is watch spike tv. Seriously do they show anything else on that channel anymore?