Original Trilogy DVD Changes (spoilers)

[SOCL]

Okay, so like a loyal Star Wars fan, I purchased by original trilogy DVDs at midnight-oh-one at my local Hastings (people from all walks of geeky life were there, as well as a member of our local 501st TIE Fighter Wing chapter in full outfit). I spent the better part of the next day watching the first two movies and I came to realize something...there are more changes! Okay, maybe all of you know this, but I've been out of the loop for quite a while and so, as you can image, this came as quite a shock to me!

 

I know there are a few minor changes in ANH, but nothing to really scream over.

 

It wasn't until I started watching TESB that I really started to notice changes. For instance, what's with the change in the conversaiton between Vader and Palpatine aboard the Executor? I mean, did they really need to change it? Granted, it allows the two trilogies to flow better, it still kills some of the mystery the Emperor's blurring hologram gave one. Plus, the image is so clear that we see an obvious change in looks from TESB to ROTJ. What sucks even more is that whoever did Palpatine's part in TESB must be pretty damned pissed off at having been TOTALLY cut-out. My complaints about this change: A) Palpatine loses the mysticism he had a blurring hologram, B) Palpatine in TESB is very obviously not Palpatine from ROTJ, and C) the added lines have been repeated throughout the entire series ("Search your feelings...."), not to mention it looks a little stupid when Palpatine has to tell Vader who is son is (Vader couldn't recognize a Force signature of his own flesh and blood?). It's like:

Palpatine: "Hey, you big stupid breathing machine, your son is the one who blew up my planet-destorying toy!"

Vader: "Oh, was that my son?"

Palpatine: "Yeah, moron! Search your feelings, it obviously him!"

Vader: "Oh...."

 

Next problem I had with TESB, and probably my biggest beef out of all the changes is Boba Fett's voice. IT'S BEEN CHANGED! They changed Boba Fett's voice with a voice-over done by the guy who played Jango Fett (not to mention the other three and half billion clones of the Grand Army of the Republic)! Maybe this doesn't piss off some people, but the original Boba Fett voice was SO much better than this Jango Fett crap! I hated Lucas for making Boba Fett a clone and now I hate him even more for changing his voice! I mean, just because he's a clone does not mean his voice has to be the same as Jango's! I mean, he could have a bloody cold, or how about he somehow messed up his throat in childhood?! But, damn it, they took out the cool, gruff, whisper-of-a-voice he had before for Jango's precise-cut one! WHAT THE HELL?! Jeremy Bulloch (the original Boba Fett) I'm sure isn't too happy.

You see, this all has to do with a theory I had created about Boba Fett (my way of dealing with the whole clone crap). I said to myself, Boba Fett is a clone of Jango Fett in the prequels, but somewhere between Episode III and Episode V, Boba Fett is killed by a guy from Concord Dawn named Jaster Mereel (the ORIGINIAL Boba Fett), who then takes on the name and image of the infamous clone of Jango Fett, Boba Fett. How does that sound (yes, I was in denial)? But now, NO, Lucas f*cked all of that up(!), pardon my colorful language.

After hearing Jango Fett's voice saying "As you wish" to Vader aboard the Executor, I shut the DVD off and started to complain to anyone who would listen. Most of them agreed with me over this matter, but I suppose Lucas can do whatever he wants. I mean, who gives a damn what the fans think and what has already been established before? Let's just kill that particular storyline and do my own thing, and I don't care what anyone says! With the original voice still in the original trilogy, at least there was a way of incorporating both Lucas and the Expanded Universe's storylines, but no, he had to do his own thing!

 

I'll finish TESB and start ROTJ later today, so expect some more of my less than happy reviews/rants (I heard they changed the old Obi-Wan at the end of ROTJ with Ewan McGregor's Obi-Wan....).

 

 

By the way, feel free to post what you think of the DVDs here. It'll be fun to see what other people think concerning the new, DVD-exclusive changes.

[R2-Opus2]

I have to run out and buy this still, but from what I caught over there at theforce.net, I was happy about one change they talked about...They got rid of the silly cop-out copy/paste Emperor scream for Luke when he fell of that platform at Bespin (the same one used for the Emperor's death in ROTJ). I don't know though if they kept it like it had been before that, or added another dumb scream though

[TheUberNoober]

I never got the trilogy (yet) but dude... your kinda obsessing

[the_mask]

Hey SOCL, you found your way back here

 

I have only zapped through the dvds yesterday, so I don't know about many of the changes yet, but this is what I can say so far.

 

The '97 Jabba has been replaced by another CG version, although this new one looks more like the puppet in ROTJ (although, what's this green stuff on his back ?)

 

There are NO Naboo N1 fighters in the battle of Yavin, regardless of the rumors from TFN.

 

You don't see Watto at the end of ROTJ, although you see the street before the Naboo palace and hear a Gungan shout 'Wesa free'.

 

BUT: they replaced the ghost of Anakin with .... Hayden I'msuuuuchagoodactor Christensen and his posture is nowhere near the kindness expressed by Sebastian Shaw in the old version.

This young Anakin is of course against all continuity, since they show Shaw in the scene, where Vader's helmet comes off.

 

More to come.

[SOCL]

BUT: they replaced the ghost of Anakin with .... Hayden I'msuuuuchagoodactor Christensen and his posture is nowhere near the kindness expressed by Sebastian Shaw in the old version.

This young Anakin is of course against all continuity, since they show Shaw in the scene, where Vader's helmet comes off.

I feared this. Why would they put in Christensen? His he now the holy symbol of pre-Vader Anakin? I mean, he looks like a f*cking 10 year-old! Shouldn't they have gone with the original idea and simply but the old Anakin in, I mean, wouldn't be become the last form of Anakin before death (i.e. not before Vader but before death aboard Death Star II)? And Obi-Wan, wouldn't the same apply?

 

Foolish Lucas, Star Wars is for the fans (NOT for George It's-Mine-Not-Yours Lucas)!

[Grand_Admiral_Thrawn]

Ok a few things:

 

1. SOCL, the same person did Palpy in ESB as in all of the other movies. I'm not sure why he was so different in ESB, but it's him.

 

2. I thought that they were going to replace Shaw after Vader's helm was removed with HC? If they haven't, I'm glad. But having a youn Anaking is very wrong since Obi-Wan is old... maybe he's been eating Becel margerine and has stayed young-at-heart? Unless they changed Obi-Wan too...

 

3. No N1 fighters = good.

 

4. Fett's voice change = very bad. I was pissed when I heard about it. I liked the old one better. They could have said he had some sort of accident and kept the clone story, but noooooo. The same goes for the Stormtroopers. Very distressing.

 

All of this is just in responce to what every one has said. I'm broke until tomorow, and even then I still have books to buy for school, so it may be *GASP* two more weeks before I can actually buy the DVDs.

[Trejiuvanat]

Ok a few things:

 

1. SOCL, the same person did Palpy in ESB as in all of the other movies. I'm not sure why he was so different in ESB, but it's him.

Actually Ian McDiarmid wasn't inESB, instead it was a 'she', that's why they blurred the holo.

 

2. I thought that they were going to replace Shaw after Vader's helm was removed with HC? If they haven't, I'm glad. But having a youn Anaking is very wrong since Obi-Wan is old... maybe he's been eating Becel margerine and has stayed young-at-heart? Unless they changed Obi-Wan too...

No Hayden will only appear after the celebration, it's a brow-less Shaw in the other one.

 

3. No N1 fighters = good.

 

Agreed.

 

 

4. Fett's voice change = very bad. I was pissed when I heard about it. I liked the old one better. They could have said he had some sort of accident and kept the clone story, but noooooo. The same goes for the Stormtroopers. Very distressing.

 

Same here.

 

 

All of this is just in responce to what every one has said. I'm broke until tomorow, and even then I still have books to buy for school, so it may be *GASP* two more weeks before I can actually buy the DVDs.

 

I'll have them (hopefully) in one or two weeks.

[Jahled]

Spoiler

[SOCL]

1. SOCL, the same person did Palpy in ESB as in all of the other movies. I'm not sure why he was so different in ESB, but it's him.

In point of fact, no, it is not the same person...read the ESB credits. There you'll find out that in ESB it's only a voice...which leads me to my next point...

 

Actually Ian McDiarmid wasn't inESB, instead it was a 'she', that's why they blurred the holo.

I'm not sure about Palpatine's voice being done by a female in ESB, but I do know it wasn't the same guy as in ROTJ or the prequels. I also came to find out today why the reason the original holo in ESB is so blurry; as it turns out, it was a very primitive form of CGI, just like the little Vader holo in Veer's AT-AT or the person walking on Jabba's sailbarge (after the Bantha herd scene) in ROTJ. Interesting, ehh?

 

 

EDIT/ADD-ON

 

By the way, I finished watching the DVD of ESB and in retorspect, I don't really hate the new Boba Fett voice, I just liked the original FAR more. I mean, at least here in the USA, Australians or anyone with an Australian accent is sterotyped as a badass (too much Crocodile Dundee, I imagine) and so putting an Australian accent on Boba Fett still keeps the badass feel, it just gives him too much of a Jango Fett feel and not enough individuality.

 

Additionally, I may seem weird, but I miss the screaming Luke falling in Cloud City. I know, it sounded whimpy and all, but I don't know about you, if I was falling that many stories, that quickly after having fought Darth Vader, gotten my hand cut-off, and found out Vader wasmy father, I would screaming like a little girl too , not to mention pissing my pants.

 

Today I shall watch ROTJ and report back.

[R2-Opus2]

Yea, I know we'd all be screaming if we'd fallen, I just think it was a cop out to have blatantly borrowed the Emperor's dying scream rather than have someone rerecord it. In any case, I don't think anyone would even hear someone screaming with the amount of the rushing torrent of air coming up through that city column.

[Trejiuvanat]

Actually Ian McDiarmid wasn't inESB, instead it was a 'she', that's why they blurred the holo.

I'm not sure about Palpatine's voice being done by a female in ESB, but I do know it wasn't the same guy as in ROTJ or the prequels. I also came to find out today why the reason the original holo in ESB is so blurry; as it turns out, it was a very primitive form of CGI

 

It was an old woman, IIRC.

[the_mask]

IIRC, the old woman's name wasn't mentioned anywhere, not even sw.com.

 

But thanks to Jahled, I can show you what I meant with Anakin's force ghost. Here you can see, what I meant. Christensen looks more sinister, than kind and at peace.

Ok, perhaps he can only do so much acting, but ...

 

Why they erased the eyebrows of Sebastian Shaw is anyone's guess though. Perhaps it adds more to the Humpty-dumpty image

[Grand_Admiral_Thrawn]

I thought that they were going to change Yoda's death so that his cloths didn't dissapear too. I watch ROTJ toady, and it's the same as the old version. What give? I guess it just adds to the incontiunuity of that aspect of the films.

[Trejiuvanat]

IIRC, the old woman's name wasn't mentioned anywhere, not even sw.com.

 

But thanks to Jahled, I can show you what I meant with Anakin's force ghost. Here you can see, what I meant. Christensen looks more sinister, than kind and at peace.

Ok, perhaps he can only do so much acting, but ...

 

Why they erased the eyebrows of Sebastian Shaw is anyone's guess though. Perhaps it adds more to the Humpty-dumpty image

 

Found the woman's name, it was on amazon.com.

Ian McDiarmid (the Emperor) replaces Clive Revill with slightly revised lines in Empire

.

 

They erased the eyebrows, so that young children could see part of the Humpty-Dumpty personality in Vader. Because Lucas had originally conceived him as a man that couldn't be saved nor by all the king's men nor all the king's horses... That or a lava bath would burn them away.

[Paul]

Just to let you guys know Clive Revill is a man. The original CGI was of a womans face with chimpanzee eyes. It talked about it in a Star Wars insider a couple of years ago.-Grand Moff Conway

[SOCL]

I watched ROTJ and, in retrospect, the DVD changes aren't that bad. I mean, Jabba didn't need to be made more CGI-looking, but that's okay. It would be better to keep Boba Fett's original voice, but that's okayish. The conversation between Vader and the Emperor gives away Luke being Vader's son, but when people like us who watched the movies from IV-VI and then I-III are gone, everyone will watch them I-VI and the secret won't be a secret--so it's okay. Luke's lack of scream as he falls in Cloud City is okay. BUT Hayden Christensen in the end of scene of ROTJ?! NO WAY IN HELL WILL I SAY THAT'S OKAY! As a matter of fact, it's down-right EVIL! I mean, what I understand is that when you die like Obi-Wan or Yoda, and become a ghost, you revert to the last good form of yourself. Had Anakin died as Darth Vader, then I understand why the young, pre-Vader Anakin was put in, but he didn't! No, Anakin died as post-Darth Vader Anakin Skywalker; he rebecame Anakin Skywalker when he killed Palpatine (or at least, that's how I see it), so the older Anakin should have been left in! Besides, Christensen looks out of place and evil next to jolly ol' Yoda and Ben! I understand that in the future, people will recognize the Christensen Anakin far more than the post-Vader Anakin, but still!

 

My biggest beef with the DVDs: Hayden Christensen stuck in at the end of ROTJ!

 

Regardless, I'm glad to see most people believe the original Boba Fett voice was superior to the Jango Fett voice.

[Krytos]

Well it's official. I now want be able to comment on the DVDs until after my exams. The DVDs were bought as a present/bribe for me to do my work and go good in exams - so, until my final exam on the 11th of November they'll be danglying above my head

[SOCL]

Well it's official. I now want be able to comment on the DVDs until after my exams. The DVDs were bought as a present/bribe for me to do my work and go good in exams - so, until my final exam on the 11th of November they'll be danglying above my head

Ouch, how funny--I mean, sad.

 

 

 

[Mad78]

I have watched the trilogy and frankly... i didn't not much difference on the Boba Fett side. But i quite liked most of the little scenes they added in the first film. And i would say that the overall mark would be very positive.

[Guest Scathane]

Good luck on your exams, Krytos!

[Krytos]

Good luck on your exams, Krytos!

 

Thanks! !

[dmfitz29]

I personally prefer the old voice, I thought the original Boba Fett voice was just great at some times. I thought the "And no disintigrations." "As you wish" was delivered wonderfully and in quite an intimidating voice. I dont think that should have been changed

[Mad78]

I frankly find the new version of A New Hope better. I have never seen such a starfighter battle before

[Grand_Admiral_Thrawn]

I'll actually have to watch the DVDs all the way through. I always get interrupted while I'm watching them.

 

If anyone wants to see the Boba Fett scenes with all of the digital rendering and what not, just watch the extended version of "Empire of Dreams". For some reason they included the original boice in it.

[Mad78]

Maybe the guy who pruduced the documentary was a fan of the original.