Star Wars DVD's

[Spaceman Spiff 0]

Yeah, some good stuff, some great stuff (notably the original Han/Greedo scene), and some other stuff I'm not too crazy about.

 

It's gonna be weird hearing "The Death Star Plans are *not* in the main computer" and "Look, sir! Droids!" in Morrison's voice.

[Slayer 0]

Does Morrison have nude Lucas pics or something?

[Art Sandusky 0]

Here are the ones I have problems with (and why):

 

Episode IV: A New Hope

 

12. When the Death Star destroys Alderaan there's a new scene of Yoda's reaction to the disturbance in the Force that is created by all those deaths and then it cuts to Obi-Wan reacting to it as well.

 

This kills the mysterious nature of Yoda, since I'm sure that people will still watch the OT before the PT in future years.

 

17. Temuera Morrison's voice is being recorded for use with all the stormtroopers.

 

Unnecessary. It's been long enough for there to be non-clone soldiers. This doesn't take their different heights into account also.

 

20. The Death Star battle is much more epic with more Tie Fighters and more Rebels being blown to bits. We get to see old Naboo starfighters being used by the Rebels.

 

Unless they make the Naboo starfighters look like total shit or slightly modified to look less sleek, they'll stick out like sore thumbs.

 

No problems with the ESB alterations, except I wish they'd restore the original "Bring my shuttle" line and cut out that akward "alert my Star Destroyer to prepare for my arrival."

 

Episode VI: Return of the Jedi

 

05. The plan is to insert the love theme Across the Stars when Luke is talking with Leia about their mother.

 

The original "Luke and Leia" is just fine.

 

12. Sebastion Shaw who played Anakin when he was unmasked has been replaced with Hayden Christenson in make-up to make him look older. Anakin has much more dialogue. He apologizes for the destruction he caused, he thanks his son for turning him back to the light, he tells his son to rebuild the Jedi and he says he loves him and his sister. Just before he dies he says, "It is finished...".

 

NO NO NO, this is somewhat insulting to the audience's intelligence that Hayden couldn't look like Sebastian Shaw after being disfigured and living in a suit for years and years. Also, the original scene is good because of how little is really said. Just about all of this is understood in the tiny bit that Anakin says before he dies.

 

14. Anakin's spirit is now played by Hayden Christenson with make-up to make him look his age. He looks on proudly at his son Luke with the spirit of Padme by his side.

 

Have pre-disfigurement Anakin, sure. Still, there's no reason to have Padme there. It's meant to be the three great Jedi, not the three great Jedi and one of the Jedi's bitch.

[Guest Askewniverse]

13. We see more planets celebrating at the end of the movie. We see an aged Jar Jar, who is now the leader of the Gungans, on Naboo celebrating with the people of Naboo and the Gungans.

I guess that means Jar-Jar won't get killed in Episode III. Bummer.

[Slayer 0]

14. Anakin's spirit is now played by Hayden Christenson with make-up to make him look his age. He looks on proudly at his son Luke with the spirit of Padme by his side.

 

Have pre-disfigurement Anakin, sure. Still, there's no reason to have Padme there. It's meant to be the three great Jedi, not the three great Jedi and one of the Jedi's bitch.

Hrm, now that I think about it, the implication I received from the series is that only special people (i.e. good Jedi) could appear from beyond the dead... so, unless Padme is a Jedi, how the hell could she be there?

[Art Sandusky 0]

That was already confirmed (the Jar Jar non-death). Sad, yes.

 

There was actually another added shot considered that had Bail Organa and Jar Jar on Alderaan, watching the Death Star rise over the horizon and then watching it fire right before the planet goes up. It tied in with some expanded universe stuff I read where Jar Jar supposedly ends up becoming a big wheel in the formation of the Rebel Alliance.

 

EDIT: That was my point, AS. Only Jedi are allowed to appear all ghost-y. Episode III is also supposed to explain how that happens, as well as the vanishing body thing.

[starvenger 0]

To be honest, most of these changes sound okay. But to me the most significant thing is the return of "Greedo shoots first" since this can be taken to mean that Lucas in fact DOES listen to public opinion every once in a while.

 

I also like that he's trying to tie the trilogies together a bit more, but it'd be nice to see him go that extra mile and throw in some EU stuff as well. Why not throw in some shots of Shannon McRandle as Mara Jade (as Jabba dancer Arica) in ROTJ, or maybe a quick shot of Thrawn? He's altering the trilogies anyways, so why not?

[Art Sandusky 0]

Because the post-Endor EU stuff generally sucks?

[Masked Man of Mystery 0]

Please forgive my ignorance, is the Expanded Universe stuff what happens in the novels? And personally I'd rather he not go and alter the films any more. I can live with the special editions, but for the love of God please stop screwing around with the movies. Shoot some new stuff instead. Maybe some of the later books where you can account for the actors looking older. Personally, I love the X Wing books, but I don't think you can do that part of the story as movies, there's just too much going on.

[Spaceman Spiff 0]

OK, here we go. I've rated how I feel about each of these on a +1, 0, -1 scale (with 2 exceptions). Apparently, I'm on board with them as a whole, but there certainly are unnecessary changes/additions.

 

Episode IV: A New Hope

 

01. The Imperial March has been added to Darth Vader's first appearance on Princess Leia's ship.

+1

 

02. When Obi-Wan is talking to Luke about his father Anakin's Theme plays in the background and then it turns into the Imperial March as he talks about Vader.

+1

 

03. The lightsaber effects have been redone and the frame jumps of lightsabers being turned on has been removed.

+1

 

04. There's a new scene which has been shot during the filming of Episode III in which the Emperor dissolves the Senate.

-1 - unnecessary

 

05. In the Cantina, the Duros(green aliens guys) have been replaced with Neimoidians and some aliens from the prequels have been added.

-1 - I like those guys. Just fix the one's hands (he has human hands in gloves)

 

06. The bleeding arm on the floor in the Cantina has been replaced with a non-bleeding arm because it's now canon that lightsabers cauterize wounds.

0 - makes sense, but the underlying reason is that George wants to clean up the blood. No big deal.

 

07. The original shooting scene between Han and Greedo has been restored.

+2 - yeah, it deserves a +2

 

08. Jabba the Hutt has been given a makeover and Han no longer steps on his tale.

+1

 

09. In place of R2 wobbling down the stairs to the Falcon's hangar, a CG R2 navigating the stairs like he does in Attack of the Clones was added.

0

 

10. The white boxes around space ships have been removed and new CG shots have been added.

+1 - cleaning up stuff like matte lines is always good

 

11. The scene of the Falcon being chased by the two Star Destroyers was modified. The Falcon now does spinning moves, avoiding the Star Destroyers' fire.

+1

 

12. When the Death Star destroys Alderaan there's a new scene of Yoda's reaction to the disturbance in the Force that is created by all those deaths and then it cuts to Obi-Wan reacting to it as well.

-1 - unnecessary

 

13. The Dianoga has gotten a CG makeover and were are now able to see more of the creature.

+1

 

14. The Death Star's paneling and computers have been slightly altered to show similar displays to those in the prequels.

+1

 

15. The words "Tractor Beam" with Aurebesh lettering.

0 - nice touch, but nothing special

 

16. More stormtroopers have been added to the Death Star.

0 - nice touch, but nothing special

 

17. Temuera Morrison's voice is being recorded for use with all the stormtroopers.

-1

 

18. The Obi-Wan/Vader duel has been spruced up. It is much more epic and there is much more movement. A modified version of Duel of the Fates is being considered for the scene.

+.5 - should look good, but not really needed

 

19. The Death Star plans that are taken from R2 have been updated. When the Rebels are reviewing the Death Star plans they look similar to the plans we see in Attack of the Clones.

0 - nothing special

 

20. The Death Star battle is much more epic with more Tie Fighters and more Rebels being blown to bits. We get to see old Naboo starfighters being used by the Rebels.

0 - +1 for more fighters, -1 for Naboo fighters

 

21. There's a new scene(shot during Episode III) where Darth Vader goes to Coruscant and lands his ship in the same building Count Dooku does at the end of Attack of the Clones. Except now the building is all fixed up and it is now Palpatine's palace. He meets with Palpatine to ask for forgiveness for his failure and inform him of a new potential who is strong in the Force.

0 - not really needed, but doesn't detract

 

22. Chewbacca now gets a medal.

+1 - END RACISM!

 

Total = 7.5

 

Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back

 

01. The taun-tauns are now CG.

-.5 - existing t-t's are fine, how will it look w/ Han & Luke riding them?

 

02. The battle of Hoth is much more epic. We see the Imperial ships land on Hoth and release AT-ATs. The AT-ATs have been sped up a bit. There's a ground battle between the Rebel soldiers and stormtroopers featuring new ships and vehicles.

+1 - sounds cool

 

03. Temuera Morrison's voice is being recorded for the older Boba Fett and all the stormtroopers.

-1 - Boba's voice is fine

 

04. The white boxes around space ships have been removed.

+1

 

05. The slug monster is CG.

+1

 

06. Ian McDiarmid has refilmed scenes as the Emperor. The conversations between Vader and Palpatine is now longer and features a few connections to the prequels.

+.5 - not needed, but could be neat

 

07. Yoda's face is now animated in CG allowing more _expression of emotions yet his movements remain the same. Also two deleted scenes featuring Yoda instructing Luke have been restored.

+1

 

08. A new scene was shot in which the stormtroopers, after they capture Han, Leia and Chewie, bring Vader the box containing C-3PO in pieces. Vader orders the stormtroopers to bring the broken droid to Chewbacca's cell so that he can fix him.

+1 - CONTINUITY~!

 

09. The lightsaber effects have been redone in certain parts.

+1

 

10. Luke's fall from Cloud City has been reshot against bluescreen using a stuntman.

0 - maybe take out Luke's pussy scream instead

 

Total = 5

 

Episode VI: Return of the Jedi

 

01. Jabba the Hutt is now a combination of the puppet and CG.

+.5

 

02. The Rancor is CG and looks disgusting as ever.

+1 - current Rancor looks bad in parts

 

03. Yoda is CG. Yoda disappears leaving his clothes behind like Obi-Wan now.

+1

 

04. The ewoks are now mostly CG and there are a lot more of them.

+.5

 

05. The plan is to insert the love theme Across the Stars when Luke is talking with Leia about their mother.

0 - eh

 

06. Temuera Morrison's like before is now the voice for Boba Fett and all the stormtroopers.

-1 - I likr Morrison as Jango, but I don't need his voice for Boba and the 'troopers

 

07. In the battle of Endor there are thousands of Ewoks and they are more vicious than there midgets-in-suits counterparts. More bite the dust now.

+1 - more vicious is good

 

08. White boxes around ships removed.

+1

 

09. The black blotches around Palpatine's face are gone.

+1

 

10. Some of the lightsaber effects have been redone. The shadows that the lightsabers made on the floor are gone.

+1

 

11. During Anakin's death scene it starts with a sad rendition of the Imperial March and slowly evolves into Anakin's Theme.

+.5

 

12. Sebastion Shaw who played Anakin when he was unmasked has been replaced with Hayden Christenson in make-up to make him look older. Anakin has much more dialogue. He apologizes for the destruction he caused, he thanks his son for turning him back to the light, he tells his son to rebuild the Jedi and he says he loves him and his sister. Just before he dies he says, "It is finished...".

0 - +1 for exposition, -1 for putting Hayden in there

 

13. We see more planets celebrating at the end of the movie. We see an aged Jar Jar, who is now the leader of the Gungans, on Naboo celebrating with the people of Naboo and the Gungans. We see an old Watto, who is now unable to fly, sitting in a hover chair cheering on Tatooine. During these scenes Across the Stars plays transitioning to the victory celebration music at the Ewok tree village.

-.5 - not needed, plus Jar-Jar is still alive

 

14. Anakin's spirit is now played by Hayden Christenson with make-up to make him look his age. He looks on proudly at his son Luke with the spirit of Padme by his side

-2 - 1 negative each for using Hayden and adding Padme's spirit

 

Total = 4

[Art Sandusky 0]

I look forward to more of the lightsaber duel from IV because of how much more important it is after everyone's seen the prequels. You're essentially seeing the resolution of a blood feud, but if you watch the duel, it's the least interesting of the entire saga.

 

And Boba Fett's voice has to be re-done, because we know he's a clone.

[Slayer 0]

I look forward to more of the lightsaber duel from IV because of how much more important it is after everyone's seen the prequels. You're essentially seeing the resolution of a blood feud, but if you watch the duel, it's the least interesting of the entire saga.

Obi-Wan failed to tap into his OLD MAN POWER~!

[Art Sandusky 0]

The way I see it, if Yoda could do his shit at 860 years old, Obi-Wan can do his shit at 70-something.

 

EDIT: I found this on some site, looks like Hayden in the suit:

[Lil' Bitch 0]

08. Jabba the Hutt has been given a makeover and Han no longer steps on his tale.

+1

 

Damn, I liked the scene too.

 

Bravo to the brand new and restored scenes being added to the original movies. Hopefully Lucas can't stop with all the Special Special Special Special Special Edition crap after this is rerererereleased.

[The Metal Maniac 0]

I heard rumours a little while ago that they were going to add some flashbacks for Vader when the Emperor was attacking Luke at he end of RotJ. This stuff here doesn't list them.

 

Can anyone confirm/deny this?

[Spaceman Spiff 0]

Flashbacks? I hope not.

 

About Kotz's possible Hayden picture - he's gotta be bald. "More machine now than man" with a full head of hair would seem odd. Plus, he wears a helmet practically 24-7. If I did that, I'd shave my head bald.

[pochorenella 0]

I seem to remember an old thread that listed most (if not all) of this supposed changes and tweaks, but they were quickly dismissed as purely speculation and rumors. I guess we'll have to wait for the official Lucas spokeperson or watch starwars.com for confirmed news.

[starvenger 0]

Please forgive my ignorance, is the Expanded Universe stuff what happens in the novels? And personally I'd rather he not go and alter the films any more. I can live with the special editions, but for the love of God please stop screwing around with the movies. Shoot some new stuff instead. Maybe some of the later books where you can account for the actors looking older. Personally, I love the X Wing books, but I don't think you can do that part of the story as movies, there's just too much going on.

The EU is basically anything that doesn't happen in the movies but is considered "official" Star Wars canon (unless Lucas decides on something else). So that includes the Marvel/Dark Horse comics, videogames, novels, RPGs etc. but not fanfilms/fanfic like "Troops".

 

There are exceptions, of course. Dark Horse has a series called "Infinities" which is their version of What If/Elseworlds, and I don't think the (rather bad) game "Knights of Tera Kersi" is official either.

 

Because the post-Endor EU stuff generally sucks?

For quite a few of the novels that's true - K.W. Jeter's "Bounty Hunter Wars" trilogy is a real cure for insomnia - but the X-Wing series is pretty cool (and check out the thread here for more about that) and Timothy Zahn's 5 novels kick all sorts of ass - it's more or less the standard that the other books are held up against.

 

And actually some of the PRE-Endor EU stuff is crap. Shadows of the Empire was probably one of the bigger offenders, as it was a huge multimedia event that, in my mind, didn't pay off. Splinter of the Mind's Eye actually isn't bad, but because it was made before ESB there's a lot of contradictions. And, of course, there's the Star Wars Holiday Special. 'Nuff said there.

[Damaramu 0]

So all of this crap is being added to the DVD release?

Some of it is cool.......and some of it sucks. Like adding Hayden and Padme in there. Ugh.

 

See I liked the Special Editions. I didn't freak out b/c the changes didn't really do much IMO. They seemed to keep the same feel just with some added cool stuff. So there wasn't a problem.

But now these changes.......they actually change a lot of stuff.

Wheras before you could watch and original and then a Special Edition and it basically be the same movie with some visual changes. This one is going to be like watching a different movie.

I can't decide if this sucks or not.........

 

Hopefully one day they'll release a DVD set with EVERY single Star Wars version on it.

[Art Sandusky 0]

I LOVED Shadows of the Empire. Call me narrow-minded, but once you've perverted the characters from the films so much, it just isn't entertaining anymore. You can't connect with the characters nearly as much anymore. Anything set during the OT has much more strict guidelines to follow. I look at it like total fantasy booking as compared to filling in holes between PPVs that are un-changeable. It's also gotten pretty silly with how many times the Emperor was resurrected or took over someone's body or dumb shit like that. I read the EU databank at starwars.com and audibly groan at how stupid some of it is.

 

The only books I was ever able to really get into was the Jedi Academy Trilogy and Darksaber. Maybe I just really like the Admiral Daala character.

[Slayer 0]

EDIT: I found this on some site, looks like Hayden in the suit:

Yes, I can totally believe that that is supposed to be Luke's father, already 20-25 years older than him, along with the aging/physical effects that come from 20 years of corrupting the force...

 

</sarcasm>

 

They couldn't have at least whitened his hair or stuck a bald cap on him or something?

[Art Sandusky 0]

I think that's meant to be him soon after he has to wear it or something, or maybe before they put the bald cap on.

 

Why am I making excuses for something I don't even want to see?

[starvenger 0]

I LOVED Shadows of the Empire. Call me narrow-minded, but once you've perverted the characters from the films so much, it just isn't entertaining anymore. You can't connect with the characters nearly as much anymore. Anything set during the OT has much more strict guidelines to follow. I look at it like total fantasy booking as compared to filling in holes between PPVs that are un-changeable. It's also gotten pretty silly with how many times the Emperor was resurrected or took over someone's body or dumb shit like that. I read the EU databank at starwars.com and audibly groan at how stupid some of it is.

 

The only books I was ever able to really get into was the Jedi Academy Trilogy and Darksaber. Maybe I just really like the Admiral Daala character.

Can I call someone on this board who openly enjoys pop music (and occasionally has ass shots of Kylie in his sig) narrow minded?

 

Nope, can't do it.

 

My main issues with Shadows is that the Dash Rendar character is basically a Han Solo clone, and that other parts of the "event" aside from the novel simply weren't that good.

 

I agree with your point about resurrected emperors being a bad thing. And that's not even getting into the "dark/fallen/evil Force user" plots. Del Rey (so far) hasn't fallen into the trap that Bantam did though, and is putting out some pretty good books. Tattoine Ghost is actually a very good novel that serves as a "bridge" of sorts between the new Trilogy, OT and post-OT EU. Give it a shot.

[Art Sandusky 0]

I think that what I liked about Shadows was the insight you got into Vader's character. Internal monologue from the best character in the entire Star Wars universe = teh win. When he finally got to open the Imperial fleet up on the... whatever Xixor's big ship was, I marked out.

 

I should check that Tatooine Ghost book out though, sounds good.

 

What I want to know is how the EU novelists and comic artists and game makers keep managing to come up with new character names that sound Star Wars-y.

[starvenger 0]

I think that what I liked about Shadows was the insight you got into Vader's character. Internal monologue from the best character in the entire Star Wars universe = teh win. When he finally got to open the Imperial fleet up on the... whatever Xixor's big ship was, I marked out.

Wasn't that his floating suite?

[Art Sandusky 0]

I thought it was either that or his orbiting castle.

[pochorenella 0]

My main issues with Shadows is that the Dash Rendar character is basically a Han Solo clone, and that other parts of the "event" aside from the novel simply weren't that good

 

That's a valid point. I also didn't like the Dash Rendar character, I thought he was a throwaway and a bad attempt to recreate Solo.

 

I think that what I liked about Shadows was the insight you got into Vader's character. Internal monologue from the best character in the entire Star Wars universe = teh win. When he finally got to open the Imperial fleet up on the... whatever Xixor's big ship was, I marked out

 

My only knowledge of the Shadows story comes from the comic book version, so I'm not sure if you got to peek inside Vader's mind a bit more in the novelization. But on the comics I found that an interesting development, since you can see that Vader's got a different agenda than what the Emperor asks of him.

[Art Sandusky 0]

Oh, trust me, the novel goes into it pretty deep. I never checked out the comics other than what was printed in Nintendo Power.

[Kahran Ramsus 0]

Xizor vs. Vader made Shadows of the Empire.

[Art Sandusky 0]

All that was really left was for Vader to call Xixor a "punk-ass bitch," but sadly, such profanities don't exist in the Star Wars universe...

 

... even though they've maintained the rest of the English vocabulary.