Another STAR WARS release, another controversy over altered scenes. With only a couple weeks to go until the release of the STAR WARS saga on Blu-ray, several scenes have been leaked on the internet and have ignited a furor. There are actually several major alterations, but one major change has fans once again calling for George Lucas' head on a spike.
Included in the new scenes are major CGI alterations, like CGI Yoda replacing the puppet from Episode I, Or the CGI embellishments to the Ewoks eyes in Return of the Jedi. Also included is a new edit of the infamous "Greedo Shoots First" scene. here the entire scenario proceeds at a much quicker pace. Which actually helps this much maligned addition to the 1997 Star Wars Special Edition. The final two alterations are considerably more outrageous to hard core fans.
It seems that every time there is a new release of the Star Wars films, Obi Wan Kenobi has some different version of the Kryat Dragon Call. In Episode IV, A New Hope when the Tusken Raiders drag an unconscious Luke to his landspeeder Kenobi screams in a strange and chilling way that scares of the dreaded sand people. Now the scream is just plain bizarre. It sounds like something straight out of the Harry Potter movies. It is actually a little hard to accept.
In every previous version of Return Of The Jedi, Darth Vader silently contemplates and then SILENTLY acts upon picking up the Emperor and throwing down the reactor shaft. On the all new Blu-ray, he says "No." to himself then suddenly shouts "NO!" as he lifts the Emperor over his head. Most casual fans would probably never notice the alterations, but hard core fans are up in arms. One reason is because the change is yet another example of Lucas' seeming disregard for fan opinion. However, the larger outrage comes from the fact this one change alters the entire meaning of this scene by giving it a stronger connection to the Star Wars prequels.
In the end, Star Wars fans can complain all they want. Because what George Lucas knows, is that they may complain, but they will be complaining all while they pay for these new versions. Because in the end this is about one person, and what one person wants. George Lucas may be completely changing what we knew about Star Wars, but it's hard to deny that there does seem to be a method behind his persistence. In that sense, it seems that GL is more of an artist that he's generally given credit for. He has a vision and he is seeing it through. Every alteration that he has made to the classic films has been made to make the prequels and the original trilogy blend more seamlessly. You may hate it, but it seems to be the culmination in nearly a decade and a half of reinterpreting the saga for the next generation.
-Admiral Duke
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