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Detailed Changes In Star Wars DVD Release w/Pics
JSDopefish writes "DVD news site dvdanswers.com has written a pretty cool article on the changes in Star Wars: Episode IV. A list of changes is nothing new, but this version has detailed screenshots and comparisons between the 1977 original, the 1997 reissue, and the 2004 DVD version. He plans one for Empire Strikes Back & Return of the Jedi, but they're not out yet."
I bet his busy sex life is keeping him from having the other two finished for us.
"The market alone cannot provide sufficient constraints on corporation's penchant to cause harm." -- Joel Bakan
.. the Mos Eisley cantina bartender shoots first, killing Greedo instantly and rendering Solo a parapalegic. Watch for the CGI wheelchair!
Trolling is a art,
What is this "Star Wars" you speak of? This article is so 1st and 2nd world centric. What about us 3rd world countries with no TV and internet access? Before you ask, the answer is "carrier pidgeons."
The Force wasn't with him, or his server.
The link in the story seems to be dead for me already...but here is another one that I was reading a few weeks ago, similar content.
a nges.html
http://www.thedigitalbits.com/reviews3/starwarsch
Slashdot posts with title containing "w/Pics" scare the bejesus out of me.
George Lucas talks about this on the extras DVD. He says it was primarily to make them the movies they were supposed to be. So, I suppose you could say, it's for the art.
http://neokosmos.blogsome.com
In this version, slashdot shoots first.
Then nobody can see the rest of the movie.
"You've never heard of the DVD news site dvdanswers.com, its the site that got Slashdotted in under 12 parsects."
http://www.mcdermond.org/dylan/millenniumfalcon/si g.jpg
"TK-421, why aren't you at your post?"
In the new version, Alderaan shoots first.
"Destroy science and religion. Science would re-emerge exactly the same; but not religion." - Penn Jillette, paraphrased
1. Greedo now strangles a baby, sodomizes an Ewok, and then shoots at Han. First.
2. Several black stormtroopers added for racial balance.
3. Millineum Falcon is now totally riced
I'm sure there are others...
Do not taunt Happy Fun Ball(TM)
Sorry for a long rant... It will probably be modded down in no time, just because it is not a trendy thing to say here, but what the hell: I boycotted Star Wars DVD Release -- for an entire week.
Why? What's to boycott? Isn't "Star Wars" good old fashioned sci-fi? Harmless fun? Some people call it "eye candy" -- a chance to drop back into childhood and punt your adult cares away for two hours, dwelling in a lavish universe where good and evil are vividly drawn, without all the inconvenient counterpoint distinctions that clutter daily life.
Got a problem? Cleave it with a light saber! Wouldn't you love -- just once in your life -- to dive a fast little ship into your worst enemy's stronghold and set off a chain reaction, blowing up the whole megillah from within its rotten core while you streak away to safety at the speed of light? (It's such a nifty notion that it happens in three out of four "Star Wars" flicks.)
One of the problems with so-called light entertainment today is that somehow, amid all the gaudy special effects, people tend to lose track of simple things, like story and meaning. They stop noticing the moral lessons the director is trying to push. Yet these things matter.
By now it's grown clear that George Lucas has an agenda, one that he takes very seriously. After four "Star Wars" films, alarm bells should have gone off, even among those who don't look for morals in movies. When the chief feature distinguishing "good" from "evil" is how pretty the characters are, it's a clue that maybe the whole saga deserves a second look.
Just what bill of goods are we being sold, between the frames?
- Elites have an inherent right to arbitrary rule; common citizens needn't be consulted. They may only choose which elite to follow.
- "Good" elites should act on their subjective whims, without evidence, argument or accountability.
- Any amount of sin can be forgiven if you are important enough.
- True leaders are born. It's genetic. The right to rule is inherited.
- Justified human emotions can turn a good person evil.
That is just the beginning of a long list of "moral" lessons relentlessly pushed by "Star Wars." Lessons that starkly differentiate this saga from others that seem superficially similar, like "Star Trek." (We'll take a much closer look at some stark divergences between these two sci-fi universes below.)
Above all, I never cared for the whole Nietzschian Übermensch thing: the notion -- pervading a great many myths and legends -- that a good yarn has to be about demigods who are bigger, badder and better than normal folk by several orders of magnitude. It's an ancient storytelling tradition based on abiding contempt for the masses -- one that I find odious in the works of A.E. Van Vogt, E.E. Smith, L. Ron Hubbard and wherever you witness slanlike super-beings deciding the fate of billions without ever pausing to consider their wishes.
Wow, you say. If I feel that strongly about this, why just a week-long boycott? Why see the latest "Star Wars" film at all?
Because I am forced to admit that demigod tales resonate deeply in the human heart.
In "The Hero With a Thousand Faces," Joseph Campbell showed how a particular, rhythmic storytelling technique was used in almost every ancient and pre-modern culture, depicting protagonists and antagonists with certain consistent motives and character traits, a pattern that transcended boundaries of language and culture. In these classic tales, the hero begins reluctant, yet signs and portents foretell his pre-ordained greatness. He receives dire warnings and sage wisdom from a mentor, acquires quirky-but-faithful companions, faces a series of steepening crises, explores the pit of his own fears and emerges triumphant to bring some boon/talisman/victory home to his admiring tribe/people/nation.
By offering valuable insights into this revered storytelling tradition, Joseph Campbell did indeed shed light on common spiritual traits that seem shared by all human bein
He managed to get screenshots of the 1977 release, since the one that ended up on video all those years ago wasn't the same as what I saw 50 times in the theatre. I know C3P0 had a tendency to babble, but he did have some great lines that got nixed. Unlike AOTC.
Unless of course, this was something recorded on Beta off of OnTV...go figure...oh, or Laserdisc.
So when is the Hawkeye movie coming out?
He found a few more things he missed...after he finishes updating the page, he's going to make another page detailing the differences between the first page he released and the second.
I thought I was a star wars fan till I found slashdot, now I realise I just thought they were entertaining movies. Its been so long since I have see the originals I doubt I would actually notice the changes or even be aware of them if I had not been forewarned.
Do not try to read the dupe, thats impossible. Instead, only try to realize the truth
What truth?
There is no dupe
Pray I don't alter it any further.
When you get to hell -- tell 'em Itchy sent ya!
The '77 Star Wars just did it for me. I can't stand artist who can't let go of their work ... imagine Picasso rushing into the museeum to add little bits here and there just because ...
Make new a better movies Mr. Lucas! You have the money and technology now.
For the upcoming Blu-Ray release of the trilogy I hear Lucas is planning a shower scene with Obi-wan and a bantha. "Ol' Ben gets lonely, then desperate" Pre-order now!
It's not for the art. George Lucas is all about the money and his ego. I submit two choice quotes from an AP/Yahoo! article mentioned previously on Slashdot:
Money:
Ego:
Episodes IV through VI were great because either somebody else directed them or George wasn't fat headed enough at that time to always get his way. Watch the behind-the-scenes making of the special editions and you will see a whole lot George-ass-kissing-yes-men.
One of the funniest changes couldn't really be seen in a screenshot. At the end of Return of the Jedi, the second death star is destroyed, and all the worlds rejoice in their freedom from the evil empire. We see scenes from Corusant, Endor, and a new shot of Naboo. With subtitles turned on, all the people of Naboo are in the streets partying, and the subtitles say "Weesa free!"
I laughed my assa offa!
What do expect? Everyone reads the articles before posting, right? Ahhh, who am I kidding.
Wanted: witty unique signature. Must be willing to relocate.
I don't see that these quotes strongly support the idea that its about money and ego. While, yes the money quote does list piracy as a readson to release sooner; to combat that all Lucas would have to do is a quick transfer to DVD and put it out. Rather than do that, he went back and did a lot of work cleaning up the quality (color, scratches, noise, etc.) of the film as well as adding/adjusting various special effects. That wasn't free, and likely was done because he wanted to best quality movie available.
As for ego, well, sure, it's his movie so he should have his way. If he couldn't so the effects he wanted in the 70s and 80s and can do them now and insert them, how is that just ego, and not an artist finally fulfilling his vision?
Yes, he may be greedy and very ego driven, but the amount of work that he's put into these movies over the years (even if many fans don't agree with it) indicates his degree of passion.
For the record, I would have loved for Lucas to release the original theatrical versions with a few visual cleanups (matte lines around the TIE fighters, for instance). Just playing devil's advocate here, no flames.
But in 1977, there was no movie ratings, but now we do have them.
ummm... the ratings system was introduced in November 1, 1968. That's 9 years before Star Wars came out. At the time of Star Wars, however, there was no PG-13. Perhaps that is what you are thinking of.
...is insignificant next to the power of a Slashdotting.
Vos teneo officium eram periculosus ut vos recipero is.
Looks like google has cached the page for us.
Transript. It is indeed revealing for people who might not have been paying attention:
And it goes on. Lucas's writing is definitely going downhill as he revises these films.
I've been thinking.. and this is the 5th instance of this.. why can't Slashdot auto-Coralize the links that they use in the articles?
If $ARTICLE_SUMMARY has a URL in it, split the domain off, append .nyud.net:8090 to it, and then post it publically. Thats exactly what the NYU Distribution Network was designed for.
In this case, this would be:
http://www.dvdanswers.com.nyud.net:8090/index.php? r=0&s=8&c=28
So it is about the art.
The whole point of being an artist/creator is to shape something the way you want it to be made. If that's "ego", it's simply the sort of ego that leads one to create stuff in the first place.
Whether other people also like it, or whether it's commercially successful is entirely separate questions.
http://alternatives.rzero.com/
trust me, it's not.
Episode IV
Episode V
Episode VI
Davey, repeat afer me, "Star Wars is not real. Darth Vader is not Hitler."
A couple of years ago I was in Morocco. Not quite Third World, yet i was with a large group of 17-22 year olds and none had heard of Star Wars.
The looks we got whilst trying to demonstrate light sabres were priceless.
The most egregious in my opinion is Greedo shooting first. That could have easily been done in 1977, however, that wasn't the story as presented then. If it really is about the rating of the movie, I wish he'd just say that from the horse's mouth. I'd at least accept that, and then be angry with silly movie ratings board (along with the fact that I know Lucas would know how to schmooze his way past that if he tried).
The musical number and dance sequence in ROTJ could have easily been added then. No problem. It wasn't, probably for two reasons, one time was probably running out, and two nobody really likes it except for George.
You have to remember several things. First off, Lucas is famous for changing his tune on Star Wars movies. He's changed how many movies their were supposed to be. I've seen interviews where he claims it's supposed to be 6, and I've seen interviews where it's supposed to be 9. Both of them with Lucas being the one describing the original history. I trust George about as far as I think George can throw himself.
Second, this is the George Lucas who when DivX was still a viable option, said the original Star Wars trilogy would never ever be released to a standard DVD. It would only be released on the "pay per play" DivX system that was still around in 1995 and 1996 primarily supported by Circuit City. I decided on the day I found that out, I'd never ever pay for a Star Wars movie. I'd never pirate a copy. I'm still looking for a LaserDisc or VHS widescreen copy that I can use to create a new DVD from even if it's a home brew setup that uses a TV Tuner card. George Lucas uses Star Wars fans to make money, there's no other reason to decide to relase it on DivX and only on DivX. That ain't about art. It's my understanding that the movies we're pretty close to being released back then, but DivX collapsed as a collosal failure. Now he's bringing out the movies. The timing I'm not so sure why now. He's dumb as rocks if he things the DVD market is going to dry up.
I'd really like a widescreen copy of the original movies, as shown in the theatres. It was one of the greatest movies every made, and now it'll be lost to the sands of times. The movies that are out, aren't the movies that made it famous. This is what people lament about copyright. Lucas will probably successfully destroy all the known copies of the original movie. That's like losing the original manuscripts to Shakespear. They are part of the culture of a generation of people. I'd like to see them released if only to preserve them. It's not like we destroyed the original "King Kong" movies just because they look horrible. They are what they are. They should be preserved if only for historical purposes.
It's one thing to clean up the frames, and make the images look sharper. It's a whole different thing to add and remove scenes. To change scenes that defined charaters. I really don't care about the stuff that involves linking the original trilogy with the new episodes. I suppose if Lucas wants to act like they are all one big original coherent story that's his business. However, they weren't and aren't. For the most part, that stuff is in portions of the movie I really don't care about.
Kirby
In the fight scene between Vader and Luke in the Carbonite Chamber, after Luke turns of his saber and jumps off the platform to follow Vader he lands on a trampoline (since the set platform was ~10 ft high) and when he rebounds his head reappears in the shot. Surprisingly Lucas missed editing out Luke's head as he bounces back into frame.
I find it hard to believe Lucas didn't have a check list of fixes for the re-remastering; both personal, and culled from the endless fan forums that at this point have probably documented every mistake there is.
Oversight? Or perhaps a little piece of nostalgia left in there on purpose?
-- I'm not a pessimist, I'm a realist. It's not my fault that life sucks so much. --
C3PO line you think was dropped?
On the regular VHS version that I have, when R2 pulls up the directions that obiwan will take to the tractor beam thing and the camera zooms to the video screen, C3PO explains what obiwan has to do. "the beam is powered by these three things, and if you take out one the beam will be disabled." But in the widescreen VHS version, that line isn't present.
Not a C3PO line, but in the scene where Adm Tark is told that there is a security alert in the detention area, Darth Vader is there and he says a couple of lines, but then stops talking and continues shaking his finger. It's clear there was more dialog there. This is easily explained though by the fact that all of vader's lines were dubbed.
What I want to know is why Jabba didn't turn Han into a grease spot when he stepped on him. Well, actually, I know the answer: Because Lucas is what, in my teenage years, I would have referred to as a "fucktard". If you stepped on scarface's shoes, you'd have an extra hole in your head in less time than it takes to say "Is that a gun?" Jabba has been known to laugh when his guards are eaten by the Rancor. You think you'd live long if you stepped on him?
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
You know, normally I pay for my movies. I spent good money on the movies I like..."The Big Lebowski". The entire B5 series. "Bladerunner". A number of others. I've probablygt 40-50 DVDs all told. I also bought the original series on VHS way back when.
I wanted "Star Wars" on DVD. But I don't want the "fixed" crap. I want the "Star Wars" I fell in love with. I'd pay good money for it even though I've already paid Lucas once for the original version on tape and once (to my regret) for the "Special Edition" on DVD.
But Lucas won't sell it to him. So screw 'em. I pulled it off of bittorrent and made my own DVDs of the first three films. I'm not going to pay the bastard for further fucked up versions.
The cake is a pie
And I can't believe he didn't mention the changes to the musical score.
In some of the most dramatic moments (such as the Death Star run), the music is ramped down so it's barely audiable, in favour of the sound effects. This is due to the sound effect guy doing the final mix.
Also, all the music in ANH has the rear channels swapped. It's fine in ESB and ROTJ, but it's definitely wrong in ANH. Not a problem unless you're listening to it on your 5/7.1 system with some sense of where the instruments are on the sound stage. Then it just gives you a headache. There's no point in just swapping your rear channels over, since then all your sound effects are the wrong way round.
The worst thing is that although the channels are clearly wrong, Lucasfilm have stated this is a "deliberate creative decision".
"Nine times out of ten, starting a fire is not the best way to solve the problem." - my wife
While Captain Solo is known to make boastful claims that seem to defy the basic laws of space-time physics, in this particular case, an understanding of the mechanics of the Kessel Run illuminates this statistic.
The Kessel Run is a contest of speed and endurance for smugglers. Those who undertake it must deliver specified cargos (usually illicit in nature) to a series of divergently moving transport vessels. The smuggler must deliver the cargo before the transports wander out of the free trade lanes into restricted Imperial space.
Solo's record is impressive, since the transport vessels covered less than 12 parsecs of distance during his hurried run between them, a testament to his piloting and the speed of the Millennium Falcon.
There is more than one way to smuggle spice out of Kessel. According to one tale, Solo left out the middleman and ferried the stolen goods himself, skirting dangerously close to the Maw Cluster, a baffling congregation of black holes. In doing so, he shortened the distance for the run, achieving an impressive record of under 12 parsecs.
Using either methodology allows Solo's claim to stand, but there are many, including the Jedi Obi-Wan Kenobi, who felt that the Corellian captain was just blowing hot air.