Return of the Jedi DVD Detailed Changes

JSDopefish writes "The DVD news site DVDanswers.com is back with its final installment (3 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. Chris has screen captures from the original, the 1997 remaster, and the 2004 DVD versions, plus some audio clips for you to check out. One of the best lists of changes, mostly because of the pictures. Some of the changes listed here are The Sarlacc monster, Lightsaber consistency (again), as well as new things like even more celebrations added to the end, and an appearance by Hayden Christensen. There is an existing Part 1 covering A New Hope, and a Part 2 that covers The Empire Strikes back as well."

Comments

RoTJ v2.0 ??

[Average_Joe_Sixpack]

Or is this still a sub-release?

Re:RoTJ v2.0 ??

[RangerRick98]

Knowing Lucas, this is probably still a beta. :)

To prempt all the "Who shot first" questions...

[Viceice]

From the article:

You'll note the use of quotation marks here, and this is because this scene stands alongside Greedo shooting first and Jabba's appearance in A New Hope as one of my hated alterations.

So there.

Re:To prempt all the "Who shot first" questions...

[Milo of Kroton]

I just await German dub. As English not good, I also dislike read movie rather hear.

Return of the Slashdotted Server

[castlec]

need i say more?????

Re:Return of the Slashdotted Server

[onion2k]

Not at all. I work with Mal who authors the DVDanswers site. The server is mighty busy at the moment, but hes cleverly made the code automatically switch over to the lower bandwidth, non-dynamic, advert laiden version when the traffic increases beyond a particular threshold.

When your site gets slashdotted 3 times in a couple of months you're prompted to take such measures.

Hated End Part

[Anonymous Coward]

The worst change by far is the adding of Hayden Christiansen to the 3 ghosts Luke sees at the end of the movie. Obi Wan didn't look like Ewan McGregor after he died, why did they make Anakin look like Hayden? Awful.

Re:Hated End Part

[astrokid]

I believe the official answer to this is because Lucas wanted to represent the Jedi Spirit as they where when they died. Since Christiansen was young when he went over to the Dark Side the younger version was put in. That's why Obi Wan isn't represented by Ewan McGregor.

Re:Hated End Part

[Zog The Undeniable]

The corollary to that is that Darth Vader redeemed himself before he died (by heaving the Emperor into a big hole) and therefore he *should* appear as the Sebastian Shaw version of Anakin.

Re:Hated End Part

[ALeavitt]

Supposedly, the logic behind Anakin looking like Hayden Christiansen rather than Sebastian Shaw (who played the unmasked Anakin) is that the Jedi ghosts would appear as a light Jedi did at death. When Anakin became Darth Vader, the good Jedi who was Anakin was destroyed. Therefore, from a certain point of view, when Anakin "died" he looked like Hayden Christiansen, hence the ghost of Hayden.

Re:Hated End Part

[Anonymous Coward]

But again, why would Luke even recognize the young Anakin as his father?

Chess_the_cat. Banned. Again.

Re:Hated End Part

[Minwee]

Shouldn't there be two ghosts then, one for the good young Anakin who dies in Episode III and one for the good older Anakin who died in Jedi?

Re:Hated End Part

[SharpTenor]

He has his eyes?

Re:Hated End Part

[blowdart]

I believe the official answer to this is because Lucas wanted to represent the Jedi Spirit as they where when they died.

That may be the official answer, but of course we all know that the real answer is "Well we changed it because we can, and when we release an 'original' DVD set in a couple of years everyone will rush out and buy it again. Then Lucas will finally have enough money to get a custom made real doll shaped like jar jar."

Re:Hated End Part

[aztektum]

But Vader was pulled back to the lightside before his death, hence his throwing the Emperor into the dark abyss.

It still stinks.

Re:Hated End Part

[Liselle]

I usually post this comment as AC whenever /. covers Lucas and his treatment of the original trilogy, but today the mods can spend some points elsewhere. It's a quote from the introduction of Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley:

"Chronic remorse, as all the moralists are agreed, is a most undesirable sentiment. If you have behaved badly, repent, make what amends you can and address youself to the task of behaving better next time. On no account brood over your wrongdoing. Rolling in the muck is not the best way of getting clean.

Art also has its morality, and many of the rules of this morality are the same as, or at least analogous to, the rules of ordinary ethics. Remorse, for example, is as undesirable in relation to our bad art as it is in relation to our bad behaviour. The badness should be hunted out, acknowledged and, if possible, avoided in the future. To pore over the literary shortcomings of twenty years ago, to attempt to patch a faulty work into the perfection it missed at its first execution, to spend one`s middle age in trying to mend the artistic sins committed and bequeathed by that different person who was oneself in youth - all this is surely vain and futile. And that is why this new `Brave New World` is the same as the old one. Its defects as a work of art are considerable; but in order to correct them I should have to rewrite the book - and in the process of rewriting, as an older, other person, I should probably get rid not only of some faults of the story, but also of such merits as it originally possessed. And so, resisting the temptation to wallow in artistic remorse, I prefer to leave both well and ill alone and to think about something else."

Honestly, it requires no further commentary.

Re:Hated End Part

[nine-times]

You know, I also find all the celebrations pretty retarded. I know, they're not new to these DVDs, but I think they were some of the worst "Special Edition" additions. The Emporer dies, and two seconds later, everyone in the universe is throwing a party? How do they even know so fast? And where are the Imperial generals and soldiers during all this? They're just like, "Oh, well, we're out of jobs and the entire power-structure we're used to which lets us enjoy an elite place in society has gone to hell. But hey, lets shoot off fireworks, yell 'weesa free!' and party down."

Do you think that, in Germany, when they're losing the war, and then Hitler dies, all the little Nazis are screaming "weesa free!"? The idea's really childish and stupid.

Re:Hated End Part

[micromoog]

Yup. I reread Brave New World recently, and couldn't help but think "Greedo shoots first" when reading that introduction.

Re:Hated End Part

[tuffy]

The idea's really childish and stupid.

Yes, but Lucas did say that he was trying to bring the original films more in-line with the prequels. He's just adding consistency by making all of it really childish and stupid.

Re:Hated End Part

[koi88]

Let me first state: I am not a Star Wars specialist.
I think the reason for the quick destruction of the empire is that so many soldiers and high-ranking officers were on the Death Star, that the empire basically "lost its head".

BTW, do you think after WW2 there were any Nazis left in Germany? They just quickly hid their uniform and stated they had always been against the empire...

Re:Hated End Part

[bicho]

He played with what Obi Wan tells Luke in Dagobah in RotJ, when his spirit form tells Luke about his parent.

But like in the web page's comparisson, I liked the Father look much better that the creepy look of the new edition.

Re:Hated End Part

[Amorpheus_MMS]

from a certain point of view

There are those words again. No, Obi-Wan, it's not very convincing. ;)

Re:Hated End Part

[EvilBudMan]

--Therefore, from a certain point of view, when Anakin "died" he looked like Hayden Christiansen, hence the ghost of Hayden.--

It's just to get you ready for "Episode III The Return of Darth Vader" or is it "Episode III Revenge of the Sith".

Re:Hated End Part

[nine-times]

BTW, do you think after WW2 there were any Nazis left in Germany? They just quickly hid their uniform and stated they had always been against the empire...

If Hitler had been killed during a random battle, mid-war, when Germany was still generally doing well, do you think they would have been throwing a big party in Berlin with fireworks and yelling "Yea! We're free!"?

Re:Hated End Part

[FuzzyBad-Mofo]

The Anakin ghost replacement doesn't really bother me. What *does* bother me are the changes to Jabba's palace, especially the band. That music is awful and totally out of place.

Re:Hated End Part

[Vampyre_Dark]

Shouldn't there be two ghosts then, one for the good young Anakin who dies in Episode III and one for the good older Anakin who died in Jedi?

Nooooooooooo! We don't need another sequel. Star Wars 47: Attack of the Ghost of the Clone of the Aparition

Re:Hated End Part

[Minwee]

Anything that keeps Lucas occupied and not remaking his old films can't be all bad.

If it comes down to a choice between that and the "Special Edition" of Raiders, where Indy doesn't use a whip and the nazis shoot at the Ark first, I know which one I would prefer.

Re:Hated End Part

[hesiod]

> why would Luke even recognize the young Anakin as his father?

Dude... he's got the force. He just, like, knows, man!

Re:Hated End Part

[eMartin]

It's simple.

The midichlorians did it.

Re:Hated End Part

[Anonymous Coward]

starwars still mean to niggers and kikes

Re:Hated End Part

[Zangief]

Yes, but Lucas did say that he was trying to bring the original films more in-line with the prequels. He's just adding consistency by making all of it really childish and stupid.

We are lucky that he didn't dumb down the Ewoks!

Re:Hated End Part

[Zangief]

Good point. However, AFAIK, in the post Return of the Jedi books, the empire still exists as small armed groups. So, in fact, the death of the emperor destroyed most of the empire, but not all.

Re:Hated End Part

[Stephen H-B]

We are lucky that he didn't dumb down the Ewoks!

He did, it's just one of those diminshing return things. The difference between "So stupid your brain melts" and "So stupid your head explodes" is hard to notice after the fact.

Re:Hated End Part

[Vinnie_333]

Why would Luke recognize ANYONE as his father. He was never around. Face it, Anakin was a dead beat dad. Even when they did meet, he beat up his son and shot his daughter up with drugs. Sounds like a Springer family to me.

Re:Hated End Part

[nine-times]

Yes, and I think that shows that the writers of post-RotJ books are more sophisticated writers than Lucas. Lucas has every single person in the entire galaxy jumping for joy immediately following the death of the Emporer. Zahn has the war go on, and the battle of Endor is only the turning point in a war that continues. True, the death of the Emporer has an added effect of throwing his troops into a little bit of confusion, since he had been orchistrating things through the force, but a large portion of the Imperial army survives. (if I remember correctly)

Re:Hated End Part

[Zangief]

I'm afraid that, if he continues the saga after ROTJ, he will just ignore all the expanded universe, and write his own stuff, full of gungans, ewoks, and anything new and stupid he can come with.

After all, most of the expanded universe are books that wouldn't fit very well in a movie that Lucas likes.

But, that said, I'm not that fond of everything post ROTJ. Having the emperor resucited, Boba Fett escaping from sarlacc (and being eaten again, and escaping, and being eaten again, and escaping, etc) and Wookie Jedis, are just as stupid ideas as Phantom Menace and AOTC were.

who cares

[cwebb1977]

about all the details? Just enjoy the movie... Writing down all minor details of a movie is like commenting your code, but no one likes the latter.

Re:who cares

[aacool]

I wish Kevin Smith would do a DVD on the Star Wars DVD set - his riffs on Star Wars in his films are just marvelous

I know he's supposed to be making a Star Wars TV Series, but that still won't compare to thoughts on Contract Labor on the Death Star, Silent Bob trying to pick up the tape through the use of the force and so many other references.

Film-crit is a time-honored tradition - DVD-crit is more recent, and possibly debatable.

Re:who cares

[cjpez]

I know he's supposed to be making a Star Wars TV Series

Unless you've got some info that I don't, that's all just rumor with no basis in fact. Additionally, after Episode I came out Kevin Smith apparently said that he wouldn't touch Star Wars with a 10-foot pole because he doesn't want to be in the position of millions of rabid fans screaming that he's "raped their childhood," as many have claimed Lucas to be doing.

So yeah, unless you've got some actual bit of news (which I'd like to hear about, 'cause yes, Kevin Smith would be great for a SW show), it's highly unlikely to happen.

Re:who cares

[MikeHunt69]

Leia: "36"
Han: "Including me?"
Leia: "37"
Han: "37? YOU SUCKED 37 DICKS?"

Re:who cares

[hchaos]

about all the details? Just enjoy the movie...

Generally speaking, it's the details that make movies distinctive and enjoyable.

Re:who cares

[Raptor CK]

... In a row?

Can you still get the original trilogy?

[ValourX]

Anyone know if the original un-fucked trilogy will be available on DVD? I don't want George Lucas' afterthoughts and lifelong committment to neverending editing. I don't want to see Hayden whatshisname, I don't want to see Ewan MacGregor. I want the original movies the way they were without the post-release meddling.

Or at least VHS?

-Jem

Re:Can you still get the original trilogy?

[Zog The Undeniable]

I believe there is a .torrent floating around that was ripped from the original laserdiscs, all ready for burning to DVD.

Re:Can you still get the original trilogy?

[nearlygod]

That's a great idea. How come no one else has asked for this? Does any one have Lucas' number?

Re:Can you still get the original trilogy?

[alman]

you can't get the original brand new anymore. Check ebay for the VHS.
In many interviews, the "fucked" versions are what George wanted the movie to be, but couldn't do it given the time/money constraints.

Re:Can you still get the original trilogy?

[TopShelf]

Just give these latest editions a few years to run through the sales cycle, and we'll see a "Mega-Diamond Director's Special Blend Extra Virgin Original Version" wherein you not only get the original films but also the ability to insert your own face on top of characters in the movie, including the family dog as Chewie.

Re:Can you still get the original trilogy?

[hal2814]

The original VHS version will be out on DVD (or whatever the popular format is at that point) when Lucas dies and his estate cashes in by making money anywhere they can (see the estate of Charles Atkins or Philip K Dick for examples).

Re:Can you still get the original trilogy?

[castlec]

ep6
ep5
ep4

Re:Can you still get the original trilogy?

[Anonymous Coward]

And people say piracy is a bad thing...

Re:Can you still get the original trilogy?

[SamSeaborn]

> Or at least VHS?

Here you go: ebay item

Re:Can you still get the original trilogy?

[fr2asbury]

One question about those. Were the movies touched up at all for the laserdisc? I've seen those and in my old VHS copy I could see through parts of the speeders on Hoth, as in looking from the cockpit if it flew by a walker you could see the legs of the walker right through the bar at the side of the window. Also in space I could usually see colored boxes around the Tie Fighters and probably other space ships. In the rips from the laserdiscs I don't see any of that.
Contentwise it is original though.

Re:Can you still get the original trilogy?

[geminidomino]

In many interviews, the "fucked" versions are what George wanted the movie to be, but couldn't do it given the time/money constraints.

Then he's less of a genius than thousands of SciFi fanboys have made him out to be these last 20-odd years...

Re:Can you still get the original trilogy?

[dosius]

There's a few of them. Dr. Gonzo, Quality Broth, Farsight, TR47, with MeBeJedi and Zion rips on the way.

Moll.

Re:Can you still get the original trilogy?

[jfp51]

Video and audio were remastered to THX standards (of the day) for the Laserdisc editions. These Laserdisc versions are, IMHO, the definitive versions of the movies.

Re:Can you still get the original trilogy?

[dschuetz]

I believe there is a .torrent floating around that was ripped from the original laserdiscs, all ready for burning to DVD.

Okay, maybe I'm just stupid, but I've tried torrents on a few different occasions, and have simply never been able to get it to work well. Just now, I tried one of the links posted elsewhere on this discussion, and maxed out at about 4 KB/s download. 138 hours to complete. And I'm on a fairly speedy connection (4MB down, 512K up), so it's not my network.

Am I missing something stupid? Do I need to punch holes in my firewall? If so, how does one do that while still remaining secure (that is, what do I need to open, and how dangeroud is it)?

I've had similar issues with Kazaa and Gnutella. And I'm on a business class connection (Cox Business Cable), so I don't think there's any protocol-specific throttling going on at the ISP (though I could be wrong).

Re:Can you still get the original trilogy?

[fr2asbury]

Thank you. I thought that must be the case.
Now waiting 8 seconds to get past the filter. . . . . . . .

Re:Can you still get the original trilogy?

[Anonymous Coward]

Not everyone has 512 kbit/s up mind you. And you shoudn't give up too fast, some of these things need a while to catch up speed.

Re:Can you still get the original trilogy?

[WWWWolf]

... see through parts of the speeders ... see the legs of the walker right through the bar ... colored boxes around the Tie Fighters ...

Sounds like OpenGL and video overlay glitches. Your VHS player probably has a buggy graphics driver. I recommend upgrading the firmware.

Oh, wait, wrong era of technology...

Re:Can you still get the original trilogy?

[Richard W.M. Jones]

I have downloaded some torrents for, ahem, experimental purposes - mainly BBC programs which are fair game because I live in the UK and pay my license fee. [IANAL]

Bittorrent downloads get faster when you allow others to upload. So you do need to punch some controlled holes in your firewall to make it work.

I allow ports 6881 - 6889 back through my firewall to my local computer, allowing up to 9 other bittorrent clients to connect back to me for uploads. Unfortunately I have yet to find a firewall which understands the bittorrent protocol enough to actually create these ports on the fly (with sufficient IP-based access controls).

http://btfaq.com/serve/cache/25.html explains this in a bit more detail.

Rich.

Re:Can you still get the original trilogy?

[silicon not in the v]

Also in space I could usually see colored boxes around the Tie Fighters and probably other space ships. In the rips from the laserdiscs I don't see any of that.

Funny you mention that because I noticed it on the DVD versions that there were horrible colored boxes around the TIE fighters--especially in the scene where Luke and Han are manning the gun turrets on the Falcon. I haven't checked my VHS spec. edition version to see how bad they are there. I think the added clarity of the DVDs may have shown up these boxes more than they appeared before. It is actually really distracting on the DVD.

Re:Can you still get the original trilogy?

[Geoff-with-a-G]

Yeah, but that won't happen until the widespread market acceptance of PR-UD-DVD2 (Purple-Ray UltraDisc, DVD version 2)

Re:Can you still get the original trilogy?

[badasscat]

Okay, maybe I'm just stupid, but I've tried torrents on a few different occasions, and have simply never been able to get it to work well. Just now, I tried one of the links posted elsewhere on this discussion, and maxed out at about 4 KB/s download. 138 hours to complete. And I'm on a fairly speedy connection (4MB down, 512K up), so it's not my network.

Well, it is your "network", just not in the way you mean.

Bittorrent is a peer-to-peer application. So you're a) not going to be able to download anything faster than other people who have the file can upload it, and b) it's going to take a while for your upload speeds to max out, based on your ability to establish connections with others who have the file fragments you need.

Typically bittorrent downloads start slow but then zoom up very quickly once you're 1% or so into the download. That's assuming there are enough seeds and peers, of course - on older or less popular files there may only be a few and your download will be slow all the way through. BT is much better to use for newer files than older files for this reason - though that's true to an extent for all P2P apps.

The first file I ever downloaded as a torrent was one of the Red Hat Linux distros - I remember getting about 2k/sec for about the first hour, then around 220k/sec consistently after that (which was my maximum bandwidth at the time).

I'm currently getting around 100k/sec each on the three Star Wars torrents. Which again, is around my max bandwidth. But it's fluctuating, because there aren't many seeds or peers for these files (they're big, and hosting a file requires you to leave your BT client open, which a lot of people don't do after their downloads are done).

Am I missing something stupid? Do I need to punch holes in my firewall? If so, how does one do that while still remaining secure (that is, what do I need to open, and how dangeroud is it)?

You need to open ports 6881-6889 at least. I'm no expert on network security but I do know that simply having open ports is not in itself a security risk. It's also what ports you have open that determine the level of risk. There's nothing that typically uses these ports other than bittorrent so if you don't have bittorrent running you can either a) close the ports again, or b) just not worry about it.

What I do is leave the ports open on my router to this specific PC on my network (using port forwarding) - they're open all the time - but then I also have the Windows Firewall set to keep the ports closed but make an exception for Azureus (my BT client). So, basically, the ports are closed to all my PC's but this one through my router, and they're only really open on this PC when I'm using Azureus.

Re:Can you still get the original trilogy?

[badasscat]

b) it's going to take a while for your upload speeds to max out,

Er, I meant download speeds, obviously. And I even used the preview button!

Re:Can you still get the original trilogy?

[Zangief]

I remember that, after Isaac Asimov died, his widow allowed three science fiction author to write sequels to the Foundations books.

Those sequels are horrible. They make Phantom Menace look like the new Empire Strikes Back. The 3 B's should be shoot on sight.

(Dune fans can express their love for Kevin Anderson and Bryan Herbert here)

Maybe when Lucas dies, we will get Star Wars remakes, or sequels or whatever. I predict it will be even uglier.

Re:Can you still get the original trilogy?

[NaDrew]

These links seem dead, but I found the same .torrents here.

Re:Can you still get the original trilogy?

[castlec]

i downloaded the torrent files last month. i pulled 5 and 6 and waited on 4 to make sure i didn't pass my bandwidth allocation. i just started 4 yesterday. all is good with the torrent. maybe they are dead.

Ooh, it's so exciting!

[Anonymous Coward]

Some of the changes listed here are The Sarlacc monster, Lightsaber consistency (again)...

It's like a geek's wet dream! Seriously, who gives a crap about this sucky movie?!!

Re:Ooh, it's so exciting!

[Technician]

Lightsaber consistency (again)...

I keep reading this.. Then I keep wondering to what they are comparing the DVD to? Do they have a copy of the 3mm print? If they are comparing to a VHS tape that hasn't been compared to the print, then they are comparing the very limited bandwidth of VHS color to NTSC bandwidth color. NTSC has about a half meg color bandwidth. The color signal on VHS is about 600KHZ. That's the carrier, not the bandwidth. Just try putting lots of small colored objects on a VHS recording. The light saber in most scenes is a small colored object. VHS does a poor job with the color of small objects.

An excelent example of this is Walt Disney's Mary Poppins. When it's time for the kids to take the medicine, on the big screen, each flavor is a bright color matching the flavor. On VHS, all three look pretty much alike because they are small areas of color and the VHS color bandwidth doesn't support the high bandwidth of small items hence the medicine looks bland, not brightly colored.

The lightsaber has the same aliment on VHS. Comparing it to DVD is like comparing streaming radio stations on dialup and broadband. It's true that NTSC has it's own limitations on color bandwidth, but consumer broadband doesn't support full uncompressed CD stereo audio either. Neither DVD or VHS has the color bandwidth of the original 35mm print just as dial up and home broadband doesn't support uncompressed CD sound.

Re:Ooh, it's so exciting!

[GTRacer]

The light saber in most scenes is a small colored object. VHS does a poor job with the color of small objects.

I think you've got it backwards. While most of the other scenes benefited from the VHS-to-DVD transition, the lightsabers somehow got worse on the DVD.

The SE VHS sabers are quite bright and vibrant, unlike the DVD renditions shown.

GTRacer
- Well, I *was* going to buy the DVDs...

Good job

[smooth wombat]

A very good job going over each scene, describing the differences and a short opinion as to like/dislike.

His review should be the first place people go to when deciding whether to buy the 2004 release.

Of course, I still haven't seen the second prequel but then the ads didn't impress me that much so maybe I'm not missing anything.

Re:Good job

[badasscat]

His review should be the first place people go to when deciding whether to buy the 2004 release.

Well, the annoying thing to me is that even as a die-hard Star Wars fan who saw all of these movies in the theater when they were first released, the real improvements to the DVD's still make them no-brainers to pick up, even with the awful changes that come along with them. I mean are you really going to give up that obvious and drastic improvement in image quality (apparent in every single screenshot posted in these comparisons) because one or two questionable choices were made for each DVD?

Lucas is an idiot for butchering his own films but he's also a shrewd businessman, apparently. He didn't only make changes he knew nobody would like. He made changes he knew would be controversial but then he more than balanced them out with changes he knew most people wouldn't want to live without. Technically, these DVD's are the best Star Wars has ever looked, without question, and even most of the creative changes, though unnecessary, could be called improvements. The extra establishing shots of Bespin in Empire, for example - I mean that doesn't hurt the film at all, it gives it a better sense of scale. That's the kind of thing that I can believe Lucas did probably want to do originally but didn't have the budget for (unlike the changes to the ghosts at the end of Jedi, or Greedo shooting first).

But that's what makes these DVD's so frustrating. Because it's not a question of "do I buy them or not?" If you really like Star Wars you basically have to buy them; I mean it's almost stupid not to. But you've gotta be force-fed the bad with the good.

I'd have no real problem with these releases if only Lucas made the theatrical ones available also. I think a lot of people feel the same way. That's what Spielberg did with ET and while a lot of people made fun of his changes for the DVD release, there weren't the same howls as with Star Wars because you could just buy the set with the original version included if you wanted it. Lucas wouldn't have even need to make the same restorations as he did for what's on the DVDs as they are now - just dump the LD versions onto DVD as an "extra" and call it a day. We'd have been happy. I don't understand what his beef is with actually giving his fans what they want and that's mostly what pisses off so many people.

Re:Good job

[Carnildo]

I mean are you really going to give up that obvious and drastic improvement in image quality (apparent in every single screenshot posted in these comparisons) because one or two questionable choices were made for each DVD?

Yes.

Another Site...

[jmcmunn]

In case of Slashdotting, here is another site with all three of the movies and their changes.

http://www.thedigitalbits.com/reviews3/starwarscha nges02.html

Want a free Xbox or Slim PS2? Click below.

Re:Another Site...

[Anonymous Coward]

So? Where's my Xbox?

What he doesn't notice.

[gowen]

That's quite a good run through but theres one thing he's missed. The reason all the vibrancy has been removed from the lightsabres is for added consistency ... with the dialogue.

re-re mastering

[PyraX]

let me guess, they made some errors or some bad special effects so in 10 years time they can again remaster it

Re:re-re mastering

[AndroidCat]

"George Lucas is your re-master now, he will show you the true meaning of the edit."

The biggest change is...

[Xpilot]

...this time, Endor shoots first. Making the whole Rebel attack unnecessary. So to fill in for the gap, Lucas decided to put in an hour of digital dancing Ewoks, to make the film "more in line with the prequels"

Re:The biggest change is...

[Anonymous Coward]

And the DVD extra is an extra special "Ewok v. Gungan" episode of Celebrity Deathmatch

Steal them...

[wickedj]

Seriously, I have half a mind to buy some bootleg DVDs of the original trilogy out of Hong Kong. If Lucas is intent on stealing my childhood, I might as well steal them back.

I understand his need for perfection. I like to go back and tweak old code I've written. But not if millions of people are already adore the originals. If I were him, I would have at least left the option to have the original cuts on the DVDs.

Re:Steal them...

[tuffy]

Seriously, I have half a mind to buy some bootleg DVDs of the original trilogy out of Hong Kong. If Lucas is intent on stealing my childhood, I might as well steal them back.

If you must get the original films, please support the preservationists and download the free Laserdisc rips. That way the HK bootleggers don't get your money either.

Re:Steal them...

[pruss]

Why not go the more legit route: buy the laserdiscs, a laserdisc player (one should be able to get one shipped for less than $35 on ebay), and make a personal-use copy on DVD?

The Sarlacc

[10Ghz]

"Here we have a shot of Luke Skywalker standing over the Great Pit of Carkoon, nesting place of the all-powerful Sarlacc. The creature is basically a gigantic mouth, with rows of inwardly facing teeth and a number of sticky tentacles that it uses to snare unsuspecting prey."

Oh come on! It looks like an anus! You know it, and I know it!

Re:The Sarlacc

[Anonymous Coward]

... rows of inwardly facing teeth and a number of sticky tentacles that it uses to snare unsuspecting prey.

It looks like an anus! You know it, and I know it!

You might want to get that looked at.

Re:The Sarlacc

[Anonymous Coward]

You have teeth and sticky tentacles in your dropzone?

Re:The Sarlacc

[SoTuA]

Oh come on! It looks like an anus! You know it, and I know it!

It's like the goatse guy with intestinal parasites. And with reduced aperture, of course ;)

Re:The Sarlacc

[Gaewyn L Knight]

Anyone with an anus that looks like that needs to see the doctor ASAP!

Re:The Sarlacc

[NanoGator]

"Oh come on! It looks like an anus! You know it, and I know it!" ...and my partner knows it!

Re:The Sarlacc

[Gurp]

"Here we have a shot of Luke Skywalker standing over the Great Pit of Carkoon, nesting place of the all-powerful Sarlacc. The creature is basically a gigantic mouth, with rows of inwardly facing teeth and a number of sticky tentacles that it uses to snare unsuspecting prey."

Oh come on! It looks like an anus! You know it, and I know it!

Anus?

Teeth??

Tentacles???

And you think it looks like an anus?! Dude, seek medical help. Like, now.

Re:The Sarlacc

[10Ghz]

judge for yourself

Re:The Sarlacc

[FurryFeet]

>> ...is basically a gigantic mouth, with rows of inwardly facing teeth and a number of sticky tentacles that it uses to snare unsuspecting prey."

> Oh come on! It looks like an anus! You know it, and I know it!

Dude, I don't know who you hang out with, but they have scary ass anuses. That's not natural.

Slashdot version?

[lukewarmfusion]

Slashdot Version
Please note this is a heavily cut down version due to heavy load from Slashdot traffic. We have also added extra adverts to cover bandwidth charges. To visit the standard site click HERE.

Ok.. so you took away some of the content and added more advertisements? That's a great way to STILL GET SLASHDOTTED.

If your site's dead, you don't get ad revenue.

Re:Slashdot version?

[RangerRick98]

Not to mention that probably most /.ers are using something with adblocking included. :)

Bush has returned...

[Anonymous Coward]

and now he's a powerful Jedi!

Re:Bush has returned...

[g1yhe]

I thought he was with the Sith !! Remember from the story. "With the Sith there is always two, a master and an aprentice" Bush and Blair ??

People with too much time on their hands...

[Anonymous Coward]

Who cares? It's not as if these films were ever artistic classics.

WHAT???

[julesh]

Here it is in all it's glory, complete with Gungans shouting 'Wesa free!'...

I could just about tolerate everything else he's done to it, but that's the limit.

who cares?

[Onewheel]

I will not buy those crapy DVDs, unless Han shoots first.

Those DVDs are not the ones you want to sell me.

So if no one is happy about the changes

[leav]

...lucas just adds in his own celebartions? :P

tilt your head to the left...

[serjinn]

... and tell me what you think the sarlacc looks like.

Lucas has some serious, uh, issues.

Re:tilt your head to the left...

[macpulse]

LOL... looks like human female genitalia, complete with clit! I wonder if that was intentional?

What rumors I have heard say

[Anonymous Coward]

The problem, as I have heard it, is that his ex-wife who did some writing and editing for the original three, got as part of their divorse royalites for this work. Lucas, being who he is, was not happy about this. So just as a guess, in all probability we will not see the real orginial triology until she dies, not him. Unless of course, all of those free tacobell and pizzahut meals catch up with him.

And, as before...

[sootman]

...the server which once hosted the site resembles the Death Star at the ends of Episodes IV & VI. Doesn't anyone who reads slashdot read slashdot? Who the fuck submitted and approved this story? Didn't *either* of them think this might happen, just like it did the last two times?

I mean, slashdotting any random server is one thing; slashdotting the same one three times in as many months is just plain dumb. You aren't doing anyone any favors here. You're gonna nuke his server and waste everyone's time here who tries to visit it and can't see it. What's the fucking point? Anyone could have guessed this would happen. How hard is it to contact the owner and let him know what's coming, or arrange a mirror, before submitting? (Or approving? I know caching is covered in the FAQ but c'mon eds, no one didn't know this would happen.) This is just stupid.

you know you're cool when...

[torrents]

you participate in the slashdotting of a star wars site...

what's even worse is if you use that achievement as a pickup line...

Re:you know you're cool when...

[kin_korn_karn]

no, what's worse is making the same goddamn slashdotting comment for every fucking story that gets posted.

What is this fascination with sites getting a lot of traffic and servers collapsing under the load? why does this fill you assholes with so much glee? are you so morally bankrupt that you have to resort to laughing at hardware failure?? jesus christ..

forking Lucas!

[gosand]

Or is this still a sub-release?

I think it is clearly a fork.

Re:forking Lucas!

[crash24601]

Actually, you'll have to install it, and every time you launch it, it will go out and search for updates before it plays. That way you can be assured that you always have the most up to date version of the movie.

A fork all right...

[BJH]

As in "Stick a fork in Lucas's ass and turn him over; he's well and truly done."

What about the emperors face?

[starbuck8968]

On the deathstar when the emperor's trying to make Luke get angry, whenever it shows his face it has a weird effect. Like the areas around his eyes are clear, but the other places is a little fuzzy, is this fixed in the DVD? Or was that his original vision?

Are you a hentai star?

[Anonymous Coward]

Your anus has a beak with tentacles coming out of it?

Close to reality....

[gosand]

and now he's a powerful Jedi!

So Cheney is the emperor, Rumsfeld is JarJar, and in a few years one of Bush's twins will rise up and eventually destroy him. Uncanny.

Ewoks...

[Malc]

... I don't suppose Lucas got rid of them did he? They ruin RotJ! Childish crap! :P

Re:Ewoks...

[Flibz]

Yeah, but ultimately isn't it a kids film?

That's not a criticism. I've heard some newer films slated for not meeting expectations lately: -

Alien V Predator - Fun film, no content, no oscar winning performances. Who cares? I, for one, wasn't expecting Shakespearean quality acting and depth of plot.

Van Helsing - Disappointing because I expected something with more calibre and got appalling dialogue. If I'd been expecting it I wouldn't care. But I wasn't.

Scooby Doo - appalling film, based on a fairly bad (totally out of ideas) cartoon. Both enjoyable.

My advice, know your movie. Don't go to watch "Cat in the Hat", whilst expecting to see "Last Passion of the Christ". You're only ever going to be disappointed...

Re:Ewoks...

[Malc]

"Yeah, but ultimately isn't it a kids film?"

Big kids film? Some of us never grow up!

There's definitely a downward spiral when it comes to the age that Lucas was obviously trying to target. Its two predecessor's weren't as bad.

I haven't seen any of those other films you mentioned, probably never will. The film I've enjoyed most in the cinema recently was "Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring".

Re:Ewoks...

[Anonymous Coward]

Don't go to watch "Cat in the Hat", whilst expecting to see "Last Passion of the Christ". You're only ever going to be disappointed...

Only if Mike Myers and company where whipped for hours and then crucified!

Re:Ewoks...

[Flibz]

*applause* God yes! I wouldn't definitely pay for that...

Re:WTF!!!

[dosius]

And Oceania has always been at war with Eurasia.

Moll.

The shadows are wrong

[Jim Hall]

I wish when they re-did ROTJ for the DVD release, someone at ILM noticed that the shadows are completely wrong on the Tatooine segment where Jabba's sail barge moves flys across the dunes.

Look at this photo

Note that on the sail barge, the light source is somewhere forward and to the left.

Look at the dunes in the background. The light source is clearly somewhere behind and to the left.

Well, I suppose Tattooine does have two suns. They're special - one sun only illuminates ships, the other only illuminates natural landscapes. :-)

Re:The shadows are wrong

[FlopEJoe]

"The light source is clearly somewhere behind and to the left."

That's behind... and to the left.

Behind... and to the left.

Behind... and to the left.

Behind... and to the left.

...

Re:The shadows are wrong

[Richard W.M. Jones]

Look at this photo

Note that on the sail barge, the light source is somewhere forward and to the left.

Look at the dunes in the background. The light source is clearly somewhere behind and to the left.

Yeah, I don't think they really went to Tatooine at all. It was all filmed in a studio in the Nevada desert.

Comment removed

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

And once again...

[wertarbyte]

http://www.schnittberichte.com/sw.php As I already pointed out during the last story about that, this page got it all (it's german though).

I see what you're getting at...

[jaraxle]

but really, if that's what they've looked like in your experience, you are SERIOUSLY going to the wrong bars to pick up chicks.

Either that, or you need to get your woman some serious antibiotics! ;)

~jaraxle

Re:I see what you're getting at...

[Anonymous Coward]

I also suggest the box of carbon-fibre condoms while you're at the drug-store.

Yub Yub

[DrugCheese]

I prefer the Yub Yub celebration song at the end of Jedi, as I prefer most of the movies as they were untouched.

I'm sure Lucas will pander to me and sell an Original theatrical realease of Star Wars on DVD reasonably priced. Bringing the total to what ... 17 releases of the same movie?

Re:Yub Yub

[thaigan]

The new song made it look like Lando had no rhythm either. It was sickening.

Re:Yub Yub

[emjoi_gently]

Yes! The Yub Yub Song! You know the replacement ending is really bad when it makes you nostalgic for the Yub Yub song.

Re:WTF!!!

[Pants75]

ha ha

You know what?

[trezor]

I really couldn't care less about that han-thingy. I was as a teenager fooled into buying the speciel edition-vhs box w/dinosours included. Yes. It's stupid, rediciolous and probably just crummy CGI for the sake of CGI.

I'll agree that Lucas has lost it, but I still claim the right to call you no-lifes if you think the "han shot first" thing is worth all the fuzz. That being said, I hate jar-jar. I hate him so badly. And adding him anything like him to Return of the Jedi... Well, not even I would buy anything like that. Not ever.

Damnit I hate Lucas. Can't he just leave Starwars alone and go do something nasty with Indiana Jones instead?

/not a very big Indiana Jones fan

Re:You know what?

[Anonymous Coward]

Get SW:Battlefront.

Shoot Jar Jar in the face. Repeatedly. Howl with laughter at his screams of pain. Listen to (imagine) to protests of the Gungans...

"Me-sah not Jar Jar! Me-sah not know Jar Jar!"

*bang* Eat laser death! Bwahahaaa!

It's probably intentional, as that is the

[Anonymous Coward]

closest thing to pussy that a hardcore Star Wars fan will get.

Did everyone forget the old Jedi Mantra

[R.Caley]

``Don't think, feel!!!!''

What you're supposed to feel is an iresistable desire to run and get your parents to buy you some merchandising.

If only Lucas hadn't made the mistake of getting a real director to make the second/fifth one, no one would be confused into thinking these were movies rather than adverts.

Re:Did everyone forget the old Jedi Mantra

[Anonymous Coward]

i "feel" that Lucas is ripping us off with this sh!+

According to that reasoning...

[artemis67]

That would make Teresa Heinz-Kerry the Princess prancing around in Jar-Jar's abode in a thong bikini.

Uhhh... sorry, not only can I not buy that, but I've got to go take a bath and scrub my brain clean of that image... bleh.

Re:According to that reasoning...

[Anonymous Coward]

Turn in your /. sci-fi geek membership card. If the one who defeats Bush is one of the twins then the other twin would be the princess.

Star Wars DVD changes

[Anonymous Coward]

"But nerds are my mortal enemies"
-Homer J. Simpson
Local Boob

"I specifically requested no geeks"
-C. Montgomery Burns
Autocrat

sad attempt

[fribhey]

sad attempt to show off your Simpsons knowledge.

Sy Snootles controversy!

[minotaurcomputing]

At the beginning of Jedi Rocks you can clearly hear Sy Snootles' voice while her microphone is still being heald at her side! Clearly evidence that she is jaggarm-synching.
-m

some inconsistency i noticed

[LiquidMind]

i watched the RotJ DVD the other night, i noticed something odd:
in that scene where luke reaches for his saber to strike down the emperor, and vader blocks it, you can see that the red line goes over the green one. meaning that vader's saber must have been the one furthest away from the emperor, and luke's must have been the nearer one. If Luke's blade was closer, why was it blocked? If i had a screenshot, i'd post it for clarity, but i think i got the point across. Anyone else notice this?

Re:some inconsistency i noticed

[Anonymous Coward]

There's a screen shot of this moment in the article. It's because the sabers are fucked on the DVDs.

Re:some inconsistency i noticed

[TheRaven64]

The article includes this shot. Looking at it carefully, you can only see a portion of the red light sabre through the green one, so it is possible that it is intentional and that light sabres travel partially through each other when they connect. On the other hand, it could just be bad image cleaning.

THX1138 anyone?

[TheAwfulTruth]

Having just watched the newly released "directors cut" of that movie, I was surprised, though I don't know why, that it was also jam-packed with useless additions.

Mostly completely unwarrented and out of place of course. Little "future" animal scenes added here and there and several obvious added computer graphic scenes that stand out strikingly from the grittier original footage.

In only one spot did I notice that there was an actual improvement. The second motorcycle crash scene had a strong discontinuity with background debris that was fixed. Of course then entire previous car crash scene was also needlessly enhanced as well.

I /was/ impressed by the quality of the film grain removal though, nothing short of stunning. It makes the film look like it was shot on 70mm. Too bad it didn't just stop there.

Lou Zher

[Anonymous Coward]

dude, your childhood was watching Star Wars?
you "adore" star wars?

you should have done something with your life.

On the so-called "audio change"...

[mark-t]

During the scene where Han shoots the Sarlacc's tentacle away from Lando, I think there musta been multiple releases of this or something...

The first time I saw it in the theatre, I most distinctly remember Han saying "trust me" to Lando when he was about to shoot (as Han was recovering from hibernation sickness and was blind up until this point). I remember this because by this time in Harrison Ford's career, that line had become something of a trademark for him (sorta like Schwartzenegger's "I'll be back" line).

The second time I saw it in the theatre, and in fact every time I saw it in the theatre after that, the line was changed to a not entirely confidence inducing line of "It's all right, I can see a lot better now." Again, this struck me distinctly because of the association I had made with Harrison for to the "Trust me" line.

When I bought Jedi on VHS, Han said the "I can see a lot better now" line. Yet when I bought the remastered version on VHS (still original), several years later, the line was back to "Trust me".

Then when I saw saw the "Special edition" in the theatre, the line was again, "Trust me". It was "Trust me" every time I saw it in the theatre.

When I bought the VHS of the special edition, the line was again, suddenly back to the "I can see a lot better now" version.

So... I dunno what the heck is going on, and I probably never will... I'll just sit back and enjoy the story anyways.

Re:On the so-called "audio change"...

[falcon5768]

I never saw ROTJ in the theater, but when I saw it on HBO and on the 2 versions of the VHS I have had prior to the DVD It was always... "I can see better now..... Trust me"

original trilogy petition

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm sure this is already in this topic somewhere, but there is a petition at http://www.originaltrilogy.com/ to rerelease the original non-special edition on dvd. there are only 66,000 signatures last time I looked. I wonder how many they need? How many Ewoks are there? How many centimeters of circuits in a C-3PO? How many pennies will Lucas make off the "special" DVD set?

What freakin' statue?!

[CamelToes]

On page 6, the caption reads under the Courascant scene:
Here we see another shot from the celebrations on Courascant. If you look very closely at the right hand side of the frame you may notice Emperor Palpatine's statue being toppled.

Does anyone else here have problems finding this detail in the frameshot?

Revenge of the Jedi - Title Change Unnoticed

[billstewart]

Sure, it's nice that the guy notice the scenes where they've photoshopped in a few extra Ewoks or fixed the gamma correction, but the article doesn't mention that they're still going with the revisionist title. Back when I first watched Revenge of the Jedi, it was still named Revenge of the Jedi...

Re:Revenge of the Jedi - Title Change Unnoticed

[Anonymous Coward]

It was never released as Revenge of the Jedi. The was the original name, which was featured in promotional material, but it was released theatrically as Return of the Jedi.

head slugs

[Trogre]

"The Emperor's infamous 'head slugs'are all the more noticeable for this increase."

Okay I've read a lot about these Emperors slugs, but I've never seen them. Where are they? Somebody got a pic with little arrows?

Re:head slugs

[shogun]

Head slug explanation here. (Scroll down to the orange box).

Not to worry!

[kjots]

Don't despair, folks! If you really hate the changes made to these movies, you have plenty of time before the 2010, 2016 and 2023 (etc) re-releases to make your opinions heard!

lando dies 1st?

[UltimaL337Star]

I swear in the original rotj that lando and the falcon fail attempting to escape the death star's explosion.

Re:lando dies 1st?

[g1yhe]

Swear all you like, but they escape in every version of ROTJ that I have seen.