Lucas changes around Star Wars movies yet again.

[DaveMMR]

Has any other movie been modified and re-released?  Other than upgrades to audio/video quality or colorized?

When ET was re-released a few years back, the guns the cops were holding were modified to be flashlights.  You might remember the South Park episode making fun of that decision where they changed all of the guns in Saving Private Ryan to flashlights.

I bought the limited edition, it came with both versions...

Yes, that's what I got too. Never watched the re-edited version. And that's what Lucas should do. Do whatever he wants to the movies, but keep the original intact and available.

BTW: I'm not a Star Wars fanatic, but in general I don't like when movies are changed around from what you remembered and enjoyed.

[popsicle]

Two kinds of people in the world - Star Wars and Star Trek.  Admittedly, since I saw the original Star Wars in the theater when I was in Kindergarten, I was a Star Wars fan.  Empire was by far the coolest, for sure (thank you Lawrence Kasdan). 

Nowadays, I enjoy the more cerebral Star Trek universe.  It presents often difficult social and ethical dilemmas and I like that the interaction between the various races on the same ship with each other as well as the new races they discover along their journeys. 

Star Wars just seems childish anymore.

 

[Donkbaca]

Don't get me wrong, I enjoy the Star Wars movies, but I don't get all pissed off when the dude that made it decides to erase a puppet.

[Howard_Casto]

Don't get me wrong, I enjoy the Star Wars movies, but I don't get all pissed off when the dude that made it decides to erase a puppet.

You are so dumb sometimes.  He didn't erase a puppet, he erased AN ACTORS PERFORMANCE.  Frank Oz, the voice of Yoda and Jim Henson's partner in crime back in the day worked that puppet during the scenes.  Because he is a premiere muppeteer, the acting he can get out of that "puppet" is astounding.  When you erase his scenes you are essentially pissing all over Frank Oz. 

It would be like if at some point they decide to re-release The Temple of Doom, but decide to digitally turn short-round into a cgi monkey. 


I'm not an obsessive fan of Star Wars by any means, I roll my eyes at people that say stupid things like "I only watch the laserdisc version" but there is a difference in digitally enhancing the special effects and removing/altering the actors performances. 

So to be blunt I'm a Star Trek fan, and even I'm pissed about it.

But just for the record, I'm not even that much of a Star Trek fan anymore.  As much as I liked the films and various tv shows, at some point the shows became so formualic that from the first 5 minutes of an episode you could go "oh this is a time paradox episode where they keep repeating the past until somebody fixes something" or "this is a show where they take something that was in the news and thinly disguise it as a conflict between the crew and an alien race". 

And the reboot movie.... don't get me started. 

[wp34]

I sense much anger in this thread...

[RetroACTIVE]

It's easy to like these movies when you are 7.

For the record, Yoda in TPM was a debacle.  His puppet maker f-d it up, not Frank Oz.  Stewart Freeborn was a big part of what made Yoda and Jabba work as puppets in ESB and RTOJ.

Like most I don't care anymore... I have copies of the versions I like.

[danny_galaga]

The books are dumb because the whole universe has this retarded notion that within 20 or so years a ruling, prominent, elite level of society would be completely forgotten.

The movies are dumb because nobody gives a ---steaming pile of meadow muffin--- about what darth vader was like when he was a pre-teen

The books are also dumb because Lucas pretty much made the story up as he went along for the very first movie. I don't think it wasn't even considered 'episode 4'.  Then he crossed his fingers and 'holy crap! We made so much money, we can make a sequel! I better write something...'. Which is no bad thing, since the second movie was even better...

[jimfath]

A few things to know about Lucas. His original cut of Star Wars (ep4) in '77 was flat out shot down by the studio. Their biggest complaint with Lucas's edit was that it looked like a soap opera. Lots of stagnate scenes of people standing around talking making the action sequences suffer from lack of momentum. The studio had a team of in house editors completely redo it to the version that you all know and love.

He's also not an actors director. Many actors, notably Harrison Ford, have often said Lucas is impatient with actors on the set and often doesn't look for emotion in scenes. Hayden Christiansen certainly blew on camera but so did Oscar winner Natalie Portman (debate aside for her Oscar) the dialog and the direction didn't help either of them. It might sound stupid but basic story telling should make an audience feel things. Lucas's obsession with special effects, science fantasy, and epic battle sequences fall short when you don't care or don't even know the characters or what the f*ck is going on. So you're left essentially watching a video game. Sh*t... even those make you feel things if you're playing a well done PC game with cut scenes and a story with characters you are even slightly invested in.

The special effects are what made lucas what he is. That opening shot of a giant Star destroyer was the first of it's kind and it amazed and inspired. No one is arguing that. Unfortunately, when he's at the helm, he tends to have lots of people standing around and talking. If you watch THX-1138 (and I don't suggest you do) you'll see his style has been pretty consistent over the years. It's even present in American Graffiti though I personally enjoy the way that makes the movie feel in certain respects.

As far as updating the films, that's his prerogative. Broadway remounts old shows and updates them all the time. There are always people complaining that the original was better and they are probably right. There was no predecessor to compare it to.  It's the same thing I say to people that say The Clash or the Beatles suck. You're looking at them with a line of things that came after them.

It's nice that you can watch the originals while Old George tries to reboot and change something people already like. It think it's foolish but, at this point, he's never going to do anything else. This is ALL he has.

Since we're all NERDING out I HIGHLY suggest you watch the Red Letter Media reviews of the Phantom menace. They're kinda long BUT are funny and totally On point.


Then of course there's this.

[RayB]

I'm not a fanatic but I'd like to watch the original trilogy some time, without any BS additions or "enhancements". What's frustrating is not having both available. Yeah he can do whatever he wants with his movies, but let us buy the originals if we want. They are part of geek and sci-fi history.

I have to wonder though if this is just his way of extending copyright of the work.

 

[cgrisamore]

The comment earlier in this thread that observed that Lucas has been tinkering with Star Wars all along is correct.  I was 18 years old in 1977 and was a die hard Star Wars fan, seeing it 13 times in the theater during its original release.  Later in the 80's when I was able to rent a VHS copy I spotted that the voice of Luke's aunt Beru had been redubbed during the kitchen conversation with Uncle Owen (although interestingly enough the original actresses voice remains in other places even now).

At that time, pre Internet, there was no easy way to verify this difference but it always bugged me as I clearly remembered the line "I think so" being said with a tired world weary delivery and the replaced line is said in a bright and cheery manner with a rising inflection.  It's been subsequently confirmed that this replacement was made circa 1978.  No question this is very minor tinkering compared to what's followed but it seems that Lucas is never finished with this film.

[hypernova]

....but it seems that Lucas is never finished ---smurfing--- up this film.

fixt

[wp34]

Seems like he added the scene with the "toad" eating something outside Jabba's palace in Jedi for the 1985 re-release.  I don't remember seeing that in the theater originally.

[AtomSmasher]

Geez, looks like he's added even more audio then the initial leak showed:
http://videosift.com/video/George-Lucas-Adds-More-Darth-Vader-Dialogue

[Donkbaca]

That ---smurf---, hasn't the billions of dollars he's made off of this junk taught him anything?  Oh yeah, it taught him that if he tweaks things a little bit he will make millions and all the press he gets from pissed off fanboys that will buy anything star wars means he doesn't even have to market it....  that ---smurf---....

[garnerb350]

Do you guys remember this?

http://www.iwatchstuff.com/2011/09/george-lucass-1988-speech-about-preservi.php


Nowadays--especially with the upcoming, unnecessarily-updated release of Star Wars on a new format--George Lucas is rightfully seen as the ultimate money-grubbing revisionist, a man able to add CGI Ewok eyelids with the push of a button and willing to wield that power all too liberally, tossing around "NOOOO!!!"s with the cavalier attitude of bored retiree perpetually watering his yard.

But it wasn't always so. Back in 1988, Lucas delivered a speech to Congress--as dug up and recounted by Peter Lopez and SaveStarWars (via)--declaring the need to federally protect films from being altered, because, as he saw it, "People who alter or destroy works of art and our cultural heritage for profit or as an exercise of power are barbarians." Ut oh, George, I think you might have altered art at some point! In the statement--spoken before any of his Special Edition revisions, back when Lucas could still comfortably button his shirts--Lucas, I should note, was specifically referring to outside parties being granted the right to make alterations, like adding an add for Zookeeper to a series, for example; he makes it clear that those rights should still be reserved for the artists themselves. But considering how Lucas isn't even the screenwriter nor director for two of "his" films, and looking at the way he passionately speaks of preserving films, as-is, for future generations, his words still hold a nice little irony swamp for you to soak in with CGI Yoda. Here's a transcript of the full, sad speech:

My name is George Lucas. I am a writer, director, and producer of motion pictures and Chairman of the Board of Lucasfilm Ltd., a multi-faceted entertainment corporation.
I am not here today as a writer-director, or as a producer, or as the chairman of a corporation. I've come as a citizen of what I believe to be a great society that is in need of a moral anchor to help define and protect its intellectual and cultural heritage. It is not being protected.

The destruction of our film heritage, which is the focus of concern today, is only the tip of the iceberg. American law does not protect our painters, sculptors, recording artists, authors, or filmmakers from having their lifework distorted, and their reputation ruined. If something is not done now to clearly state the moral rights of artists, current and future technologies will alter, mutilate, and destroy for future generations the subtle human truths and highest human feeling that talented individuals within our society have created.

A copyright is held in trust by its owner until it ultimately reverts to public domain. American works of art belong to the American public; they are part of our cultural history.
People who alter or destroy works of art and our cultural heritage for profit or as an exercise of power are barbarians, and if the laws of the United States continue to condone this behavior, history will surely classify us as a barbaric society. The preservation of our cultural heritage may not seem to be as politically sensitive an issue as "when life begins" or "when it should be appropriately terminated," but it is important because it goes to the heart of what sets mankind apart. Creative expression is at the core of our humanness. Art is a distinctly human endeavor. We must have respect for it if we are to have any respect for the human race.

These current defacements are just the beginning. Today, engineers with their computers can add color to black-and-white movies, change the soundtrack, speed up the pace, and add or subtract material to the philosophical tastes of the copyright holder. Tommorrow, more advanced technology will be able to replace actors with "fresher faces," or alter dialogue and change the movement of the actor's lips to match. It will soon be possible to create a new "original" negative with whatever changes or alterations the copyright holder of the moment desires. The copyright holders, so far, have not been completely diligent in preserving the original negatives of films they control. In order to reconstruct old negatives, many archivists have had to go to Eastern bloc countries where American films have been better preserved.

In the future it will become even easier for old negatives to become lost and be "replaced" by new altered negatives. This would be a great loss to our society. Our cultural history must not be allowed to be rewritten.

There is nothing to stop American films, records, books, and paintings from being sold to a foreign entity or egotistical gangsters and having them change our cultural heritage to suit their personal taste.

I accuse the companies and groups, who say that American law is sufficient, of misleading the Congress and the People for their own economic self-interest.
I accuse the corporations, who oppose the moral rights of the artist, of being dishonest and insensitive to American cultural heritage and of being interested only in their quarterly bottom line, and not in the long-term interest of the Nation.

The public's interest is ultimately dominant over all other interests. And the proof of that is that even a copyright law only permits the creators and their estate a limited amount of time to enjoy the economic fruits of that work.

There are those who say American law is sufficient. That's an outrage! It's not sufficient! If it were sufficient, why would I be here? Why would John Houston have been so studiously ignored when he protested the colorization of "The Maltese Falcon?" Why are films cut up and butchered?

Attention should be paid to this question of our soul, and not simply to accounting procedures. Attention should be paid to the interest of those who are yet unborn, who should be able to see this generation as it saw itself, and the past generation as it saw itself.

I hope you have the courage to lead America in acknowledging the importance of American art to the human race, and accord the proper protection for the creators of that art--NOOOOOOOO!!!, as it is accorded them in much of the rest of the world communities.

Sorry, I made a slight amendment at the end there, but all indications are he would have wanted it that way in the first place had the technologies allowed it.

[RayB]

The speech might sound hypocritical on the surface (especially with all the hyperbole), but its purpose was to support a revision to copyright law, ensuring that the only people who COULD alter works were the copyright owners and their licensees. Typical corporate ---That which is odiferous and causeth plants to grow---. Nothing to see here...

[pinballwizard79]

There is only one trilogy.

[Cakemeister]

James Earl Jones should have said, "Noooooooooo!!!" to doing any more voice work for Lucas.

[DaveMMR]

I will always miss the original, corny crappy Ewok song.



Funnier is that it was actually put out as a single. The 80's sure were strange...

[Rick]

I enjoyed the original three movies (Hope, Empire and Jedi) when I was a kid, and didn't enjoy a bit of the prequels. My Wife likes the podracing scene, but I can't stand it.  I enjoyed Trek (Classic, that is) as a kid, and loved the hell out of the reboot movie.  (Thank you, JJ.)  Then, a couple of months ago, I watched "Firefly" for the first time ever, and now, I don't give a ---steaming pile of meadow muffin--- about Star Wars, Trek or anything else sci-fi.

[Vigo]

I will always miss the original, corny crappy Ewok song.

Funnier is that it was actually put out as a single. The 80's sure were strange...

+1
As campy as it all was, I feel a bit nostalgic about it.  Replacing it with elevator music was 

[ark_ader]

Here's what I think.

1) If he wants to change the movie, he can.  Its HIS movie, he can do whatever he wants about it.
2) Just about EVERYONE of you nerds that I know that saw episode one on opening night thought it was freaking awesome.  Only later did they come back to earth and that piece of garbage ruined more things about the first 3 films than someone adding in blinking eyes to the Ewoks, who themselves were kind of stupid and a waste to begin with.
3) Why are you bitching about effects?  That is what made that whole movie popular and interesting in the first place.  Hell the whole franchise is more or less on giant infomercial for Industrial Light and Magic.
4) This whole "books are better" blah blah blah.  The whole thing is kind of dumb.  In the original trilogy, they make the Jedi out to be some sort of mythical, underground sect.  Its almost like they are a legend and they didn't exist.  Then you find out later that only 20 years prior they were part of the ruling class.  Its stupid to think that they would go from pre-eminent decision makers to hermit, loaner "nobody believes they exist" type mythological creatures within 20 years.  Books, or movies, that whole premise is retarded.
5) The whole Jedi thing was really lame.  Luke Skywalker is a little ---smurfette--- throughout the whole movie.  Han Solo made that whole thing interesting.  That's why episodes one through three sucked.  Nobody watched the first three movies and and thought, "you know what?  I wonder what Darth Vader was like as a kid and young man? You know what else?  I want to know more about Luke Skywalkers mom "  No, nobody gives a ---steaming pile of meadow muffin--- about that.  It would have been better if they focused on Han and Chewie and the intergalactic boozing and tail chasing they did before they had to babysit Luke.

+1

A movie like Han Solo at Stars End would be great.

Actually Lucas should make all the movies again with his animation studio, and remove Hayden Christensen, as the Anakin character played in the recent Clone Wars shows is more believable. 

ESB was the best movie.  Must have seen that about 60 times in the cinema (saw it at the $2 cinema on summer break) and recently last week on DVD (Special Edition)!

It always makes me power up the Game Cube to play Rouge Squadron(s).   

[Donkbaca]

Hell yes!  Rogue squadron was pretty cool!~

[ChadTower]

Not to mention Carrie Fisher looks like the 15 miles of bad road she actually is.

[whammoed]

Can 100% guarantee you're never going to see Harrison Ford reprising that role.  He's getting that glassed over 'early alzheimer's' look.

Funny you say that.  I've felt that Harrison has dabbled in the "duhhhh face" since his role in Regarding Henry.  I'm not sure if he just stayed in character after that or his role just made me notice he's kinda like that in real life?  Maybe he likes to appear a little out of it?  Hell, he shouldn't have came back as Indy either, but truth be told he was by far not the worst thing in that flick.

[Rick]

Hell, he shouldn't have came back as Indy either, but truth be told he was by far not the worst thing in that flick.

You don't say.

[Vigo]

Ow! My eyes! I'd be willing to bet that photo was what was really in the lost ark that killed the all the nazis.

[wp34]

A movie like Han Solo at Stars End would be great.

+1  - That is an awesome trilogy.   You wouldn't even need Harrison Ford at this point.

I'd love to see some younger director that grew up on Star Wars take a crack at it.  How about Tarantino making a "A Fist Full of Dollars" or "High Plains Drifter" type movie with Boba Fett as the lead? You would think Lucas would be open to it at some point.   Especially if people stop purchasing his re-issues and he needs money.

[Donkbaca]

He gave 175 million bucks to USC, so I don't think he's hurting for money.

[yotsuya]

A movie like Han Solo at Stars End would be great.

+1  - That is an awesome trilogy.   You wouldn't even need Harrison Ford at this point.

I'd love to see some younger director that grew up on Star Wars take a crack at it.  How about Tarantino making a "A Fist Full of Dollars" or "High Plains Drifter" type movie with Boba Fett as the lead? You would think Lucas would be open to it at some point.   Especially if people stop purchasing his re-issues and he needs money.

Although I like Tarantino, the thought of him tackling a Star Wars movie makes me cringe.

[Xiaou2]

Although I like Tarantino, the thought of him tackling a Star Wars movie makes me cringe.

 Well, all I can say is that Kill Bill, is greater than the Prequels combined.

Theres nothing that makes me cringe more than Lucus being able to ruin SW and everything else hes involved with.

As campy as it all was, I feel a bit nostalgic about it.  Replacing it with elevator music was lame

 Agree.  
I especially hate how he ruined the Jabba puppet band with that corny cartoony cgi act.

I watched "Firefly" for the first time ever, and now, I don't give a ---steaming pile of meadow muffin--- about Star Wars, Trek or anything else sci-fi.

 I saw a bunch of them, and they are great.  I saw the movie "Serenity" first however, and that blew me away with how good it was (I expected a cheezy B flick).  Wow, LOVE it.

[wp34]

He gave 175 million bucks to USC, so I don't think he's hurting for money.

Probably not by our standards but you need a lot of juice to keep up with his payroll.  He also does not like to borrow money The "Special Editions" were originally created to fund EP1. 

[Donkbaca]

You don't give away 175 million bucks if you are hurting for money, granted that was 5 years ago, but something tells me he didn't go bust in the housing boom like a bunch of folks I know.  He has so much other crap that he has produced, plus ILM.  Maybe you know something I don't 

I highly doubt they will ever remake star wars, they would make more money and take less risk by just releasing a new special version.  Why dump 200+ million on a remake when you can dump a few million in post production and make the same amount of money?

[wp34]

Although I like Tarantino, the thought of him tackling a Star Wars movie makes me cringe.

I'll grant you that.  I was going to go with Kevin Smith originally because he is a big fan but that makes me cringe.  How about Peter Jackson?

[wp34]

You don't give away 175 million bucks if you are hurting for money, granted that was 5 years ago, but something tells me he didn't go bust in the housing boom like a bunch of folks I know.  He has so much other crap that he has produced, plus ILM.  Maybe you know something I don't 

I highly doubt they will ever remake star wars, they would make more money and take less risk by just releasing a new special version.  Why dump 200+ million on a remake when you can dump a few million in post production and make the same amount of money?

I don't pretend to understand Lucas. I just know that he does not like to be beholden to anyone and has a history of doing "easy" project to fund the next project. 

I agree we won't see Star Wars remakes until Lucas is dead and buried.  But I do think we could see some big budget spinoffs at some point.

[Donkbaca]

He does easy projects because, basically, he's lazy and likes dealing with special effects more than he likes making movies.  I took a class on Lucas when I was in college, it was an auteur class, and normally they do Hitchcock or Capra, but the semester I took it, they did Lucas.  

Basically he's lazy.  He did the first start wars movie, and just consulted on ESB and ROJ.  The stories for those movies aren't even his, they were written by someone else.  That being said, he does like to be in control, he just doesn't like the day to day ---That which is odiferous and causeth plants to grow--- of directing and writing and all that other stuff.

I don't think he would ever let anyone remake or do a spinoff for 2 reasons:

1) There is no way he would let someone else's vision threaten his idea of the Star Wars universe
2) No good director would touch that project.  No matter how good it was, it will never be as good as the original in the eyes of the fan boys and the director would get so much ---steaming pile of meadow muffin--- it wouldn't be worth it.  Not to mention that Lucas is greedy, and wouldn't want to share in any of the licensing or merchandising revenue, or any other profit participation.

That being said, if a remake ever WERE to be made, I think the most interesting choices would be Tim Burton.  He loves campy sci fi and has his own distinctive style that would definitely set him apart from Lucas.  It might be incredibly horrible, but it would definitely be different and interesting.  I also think Aranofsky would be good, he's good at relating characters to the aduience, and would breath life into the incredibly shallow relationships all the Star Wars cahracters have with each other.

[wp34]

1) There is no way he would let someone else's vision threaten his idea of the Star Wars universe

Lucas certainly has that rep for anything having to do with EP1-6.  But he has shown a surprising amount of leeway for the authors of the books where it does not pertain to the movies.  I'd like to think that now that the original movies are done he would be open to letting another directory take a crack at a side-story unrelated to his movies.  Although in his mind the movies will never be done so who knows?

I also think Aranofsky would be good, he's good at relating characters to the aduience, and would breath life into the incredibly shallow relationships all the Star Wars cahracters have with each other.

Agreed. Acknowledging all the other shortcomings that have been brought up adnausum what really hurts the new trilogy IMHO is the lack of emotion from and between the actors.  Aronofsky could pull that off.

[RayB]

Thats because most people dont read books.

[ChadTower]

We all know it would end up being that ---uvula--- who made the terrible Transformers movies.

[Cakemeister]

Or that Uwe Boll guy.