Detailed Empire Strikes Back DVD Change List

JSDopefish writes "The DVD news site DVDanswers.com is back with Part 2 (of 3) of the series by Chris Gould showing in detail the changes between some the various iterations of the Star Wars original trilogy movies. In Part 2, Chris covers The Empire Strikes Back, showing such important changes as the color of Han Solo's jacket before he's frozen in carbonite, as well as other things like the change in actor for the Emperor, and more on light saber colors. Chris has screen captures from the original, the 1997 remaster, and the 2004 DVD versions, plus some audio clips for you to check out. There is an existing Part 1 covering A New Hope, and a forthcoming Part 3 covering Return of the Jedi." Very detailed synopsis. Worth a read if... well, you're me.

Comments

It's a rainy day here...

[ackthpt]

Seems like nitpicking movie changes and details would require a string of bad weather, as I hope the authors/researchers don't sit in on a good day. Heck, I can even remember when I used to watch movies for enjoyment other than picking them apart.

I blame MST3K

Re:It's a rainy day here...

[ackthpt]

I watched Episode V/DVD, and I thoroughly enjoyed it from start to finish. The ham handed CGI changes in IV and VI now make the overall quality of V stand out in sharp relief. The movie flows.

Pretty much my sentiments and about as far as picking at the movie as I get. The CGI added to the earlier films is about as awkward looking a house that's been half painted -- the old peeling paint has some sort of character, while the new paint draws sharp contrast. I don't think the idea in film is to draw contrast in your sets, but I'm not a bazillionaire.

Not this time

[cryptochrome]

Empire was directed by Irvin Kirschner, not Lucas, so he'll take the blame, or rather credit. Actually in my opinion, Empire is the only one of the whole series that is actually good. Not coincidentally, it is also the least re-edited of the originals. The acting and dialogue didn't suck, the use of color and light was far more sophisticated, and the plot had many twists and turns without being overly cliched.

Re:Not this time

[Ubergrendle]

Don't forget Leigh Brackett's hands in scripting the dialogue portions of the screenplay. The movie works in my mind because it has a gritty, fatalistic feel similar to many film noir movies -- where Brackett cut her teeth.

Attack of the Clones proved to me that Lucas can't write dialogue to save his life. I think the mistake Lucas has made with the new trilogy is tryin to do too much. He's wealthy beyond imagination, and can make whatever movie he wants -- a bad combination for a director. Directing requires collaboration. Time and again great directors have made horrible, overbloated bombs when given carte blanche, even with proven track records. Look at Lucas' contemporaries....

Spielberg - 1941; Cimino - Heaven's Gate; Coppola - Apocalypse Now is a good film, but it 'broke' him as a director. Aside from maybe Dracula, he's never met the standards of Godfather or AN; Scorcese - Gangs of New York; Polanski - Pirates. I could list another 30 or 40, but you get the point...

Page 5.

[pablonhd]

Is it me or is page five incomplete?

The page ends like so:

In the original release, L

And there are no page menu at the bottom.

http://www.dvdanswers.com/esb5.html

Re:Not to put too fine a point on it.....

[Waffle Iron]

but, um, Get A Life. Really.

Yes, I think that the wisdom of William Shatner applies to this story (s/TV show/movie/g):

I'd just like to say... GET A LIFE, will you people? I mean, for crying out loud, it's just a TV show! I mean, look at you, look at the way you're dressed! You've turned an enjoyable little job, that I did as a lark for a few years, into a COLOSSAL WASTE OF TIME!

[ a crowd of shocked and dismayed Trekkies.... ]

I mean, how old are you people? What have you done with yourselves?

[ to "Ears" ] You, you must be almost 30... have you ever kissed a girl?

[ "Ears" hangs his head ]

I didn't think so! There's a whole world out there! When I was your age, I didn't watch television! I LIVED! So... move out of your parent's basements! And get your own apartments and GROW THE HELL UP! I mean, it's just a TV show dammit, IT'S JUST A TV SHOW!

Re:Come on people

[Anonymous Coward]

If it was open source we could fork a better version when the original maintainer started taking the project in the wrong direction

Lucas' Stilted Script Dialog

[MooseByte]

"the line change for Vader from "Bring my shuttle" to "Alert my star destroyer to prepare for my arrival" was a bad idea."

Agreed, for the reasons you mention. Also, he's freakin' DARTH VADER! "Alert my star destroyer for my arrival"? Yeah right. His entire staff would be like terrified meerkats passing the alarm, constantly alerting each and every station sector whenever Vader was about to even pass by, much less arrive at his destination.

You think Patton ever said, "Alert my carrier for my arrival"? You think Genghis Khan ever said "Alert my Horde for my arrival"?

Lucas has the dialog skills of the Zero Wing translation team.

Re:Come on people

[Lisandro]

Oh, c'mon. No one is overlooking the huge impact he made on moviemaking, and particularly in SFX, but the fanboys are right. Just because it's "his story" doesn't make it right that he changes it at will - minor details, given, but if you want to see what dazzled you as a kid in DVD, why can't you get it instead of "the original vision of the creator"? I'm not sure, but i'm pretty positive you can't even find the original, unedited trilogy in DVD.

I mean, c'mon, Star Wars is what, 30, 35 years old now? He is woking on EP3, is it really necesary to go back and rework what came before just because it doesn't connect as well with the new trilogy? Simply having a quality digitalization of the original film would've been enough.

Re:Come on people

[Anonymous Coward]

"...so why shouldn't he be able to release version 1.2?"

I don't care if he releases version 1.2, version 2.0.1, even "Star Wars XP 2010" if he likes..... as long as I can still get version 1.0, cuz it was good enough for me.

Re:...been there, done that.

[lommer]

I applaud what both these articles have, it really opened my eyes to what they can do these days. On that note was anyone slightly scared by how realistic and subtle these changes were? If not die-hard fanatics watching it repeatedly and comparing it to the original, they would never be noticed. Imagine what can be done these days with video feeds for press releases and publicity stunts. It certainly helped open my eyes to the fact that that the age where even video is completely untrustworthy is upon us, and has probably been here for longer than I thought.

Boba Fett changes are the worst

[Glendale2x]

I'd say the worst change pointed out there is the re-dubbing of Boba Fett. The new voice sounds horrible; it's weak and delivered badly. Shit, I could do a better job. The accent doesn't work, either. With the original voice, he didn't have to say too much because when he did speak, it had the tone of "F with me and you'll regret it before you know it." The voice was the main thing, it made you feel the character, and it got bastardized.

The new voice makes me think "WTF is Vader listening to this wimp for?" whereas before Boba Fett sounded like someone who was as equally badass as Vader.

Re:Come on people

[mike3411]

NO it is NOT his. Besides the fact that he was not the sole creator of these movies (lets not forget the original editors, script writers, actors, or the fact that Lucas didn't even direct all 3 original movies) once he releases the film he has given it to the public. WE went to see it, we sang its praises, we told our friends to check it out. We have all been made party to the success of the films, and that gives us claim. Lucas absolutely does not have the right (artistically, not legally) to change these movies. It is outrageous and unacceptable that I cannot purchase the movie I saw because some fuckhead producer wanted to change things. I enjoyed the original version, part and parcel, and as far as I'm concerned any changes are wrong and should not be included.

The worst part is that these altered editions are not offered as options, but as the sole succesors to the originals. The "Special Edition" was not a special edition, sold next to the regular edition, it was the "New Edition" that replaced the old versions. The recently released DVD versions are even worse, as they simply call themselves Star Wars. BUT THEY ARENT. They are new movies made out of old ones. If people want to watch them, by all means go ahead, and if Lucas wants to make them, whatever, but they ARE NOT the real movies.

Accordingly, I do not plan on buying any of this shit. Does anyone have a suggestion for how I could get the original movies in a good format? It's unbefuckinglievable that a popular movie will not be released in an unaltered form on DVD. Lucas, what a motherfucker.