More Star Wars on DVD news

Some interesting changes for the original trilogy. An excerpt from DVD review - possible spoiler material included.


As you may have heard, a number of new digital changes have been made to the Star Wars films for this DVD release. As with the 1997 special edition, A New Hope has received the majority of the attention. Many shots have been altered in very subtle ways, which only the most zealous fans will notice. There are, however, a number of more major changes. In A New Hope, these include a revised opening shot as Luke's landspeeder enters Mos Eisley Spaceport (the speeder model is more detailed and moves more naturally), an improved version of the Han/Greedo fight (Greedo still shoots first, but only just - the blasts are much closer together and Han's movement is smoother), a new CG model of Jabba the Hutt (it's a revised version of the Episode I model of the character and is much improved) and re-rotoscoped lightsaber blades throughout the film (blade color is more pronounced and the animation is more like the prequel films). Personally, I quite like most of these changes. The Han/Greedo fight is still less than perfect, but it does look more natural. Han's head doesn't jerk like it did before - instead his whole upper body shifts over slightly. And the blaster shots are VERY close together now, so the encounter is not as implausible as it was in 1997. I still wish George would just let Han shoot first as he did originally in 1977, but I can at least stomach watching this scene now.

The digital changes to Empire for this DVD release are fewer than they are in A New Hope. In fact, there are only three major changes. These include the use of Temuera Morrison as the voice of Boba Fett (which I suppose makes sense given that Boba is a clone of Jango from Episode II), the elimination of Luke's scream when he jumps to escape Vader on Cloud City (which had been a source of much debate among fans - why would he scream if he were jumping willingly?), and the use of actor Ian McDiarmid as the Emperor (replacing the old woman and voice actor Clive Revill who played the character originally). I should note that the Emperor alteration also involves a change in the scene's dialogue - one that is at first confusing. The Emperor now tells Vader that he has no doubt "the young rebel who destroyed the Death Star" is the offspring of Anakin Skywalker, to which Vader replies "How is that possible?" That doesn't seem to make sense, because we know that Vader is aware of who Luke is from dialogue earlier in the film ("That's it. The Rebels are there. And I'm sure Skywalker is with them."). I suspect, however, that we'll find out in Episode III that Anakin DOES learn of Luke's existence as an infant, and he hides this knowledge from the Emperor. What that would mean is that Vader's been waiting all these years to find Luke as an adult and turn him to the Dark Side so that they can overthrow the Emperor together - a plot Vader ultimately confesses to Luke at the end of Empire. We'll have to wait for Episode III to see how this new bit of dialogue fits in.

As with Empire, are three major digital changes to Jedi, all of which appear at the end of the film. When Luke removes Vader's mask to reveal his father's face, the eyebrows of actor Sebastian Shaw have been erased (presumably because Anakin's face will be badly burned in Episode III). Then, after the second Death Star is destroyed, when the film cuts to the various celebrations around the galaxy, Naboo is now included among the planets we see. Finally (and this is a big one), when the Force ghosts of Ben, Yoda and Anakin appear to Luke at the very end of the film, actor Sebastian Shaw has been replaced with Hayden Christensen (as he'll appear in Episode III). That's going to piss off a lot of fans, but it makes sense. Lucas' rational (as he actually explains briefly in the audio commentary - a rare instance where he comments on a change) is that when Vader joins the Force, he's able to retain his original identity as he was when he died as Anakin Skywalker (in Episode III). Since Yoda and Ben retained their good identities until they were old, that's how their Force ghosts appear. Yeah, maybe it's a stretch... but within the logic of the universe, it does make sense. Like it or not. There are also a couple minor changes - the shot of Coruscant now includes the Galactic Senate and Jedi Temple on the horizon (as seen in Episodes I & II). And for some reason, Luke and Darth's lightsaber blades now appear a little dimmer in a select few shots during their fight (particularly at the very beginning). Don't ask me why.

Ultimately, I've accepted that Lucas is entitled to change these films until he's happy with them. The fact is, he's been changing them since 1977 (for example, right after the first film was released and became a hit, Lucas quickly went back in and added the Episode IV - A New Hope tag). These new CG alterations are simply the logical continuation of his desire to overcome the technical challenges he faced when he originally made the films. I have to tell you, I'm as surprised as anyone to find myself actually appreciating most of these changes. With the sole exception of the Han/Greedo scene (which still bothers me, although less now than as it was in 1997), I think all of the changes are either genuine improvements or simply make sense given the ties to the prequel films. I still think Lucas has a responsibility to save the original versions of these films out of respect for the fans who have supported them all these years, the artists who creatively invested themselves in the original work, and as a way to remind us all just how far the films have come since they were first released. And I still have hope that we'll see those original versions released on disc... eventually... in a more elaborate box set of the entire saga. But more on that later.



http://www.thedigitalbits.com/reviews3/starwarstrilogy.html

 

Here are a few pics of the major differences between the 1997 Special Editions of the Star Wars films and the new 2004 DVD Editions.

http://www.thedigitalbits.com/reviews3/starwarschanges.html