Seanification

The dilemma of the Star Wars blu-rays

With the release of the Star Wars trilogy/saga on blu-ray, George Lucas has had yet another fiddle with the masterpiece. And once again I face the quandary that is repurchasing my favourite movies again.

While in the past I’d humoured Lucas’s “enhancements”, and maybe even supported some of them, I definitely think he’s crossed the line now. Making Greedo shoot first was awful, but it didn’t make the movie unwatchable to non-geeks. Adding the ghost of Hayden Christensen was even more awful, and certainly disrespectful. But with Vader now screaming “NOOOOO!” as he turns on the Emperor, the climax of the whole trilogy is completely ruined for everyone watching it, not just those who remember how it once was.

I currently own two sets of the Star Wars trilogy: the Special Edition VHS versions, and the 2004-release DVD versions. Yes, shamefully I don’t own any versions of Star Wars pre-Special Edition, but such a thing is getting increasingly rare to locate, especially in a decent format. Neither of these versions is particularly good: VHS is a sub-standard format, even without all the Special Edition changes, and although the DVDs are an improvement from that standpoint, they have poor colour and sound-editing, and they still contain all the Special Edition changes, and even more heinous ones like Hayden Christensen’s ghost.

The move from VHS to DVD was an obvious transition despite the drawbacks of the edits. However, the move to blu-ray is less so, particularly since I have been putting off buying a blu-ray player until Star Wars is released. Yet now, a new factor has entered into the equation: the birth of my first child next year. How am I to introduce this new young person to my favourite movies of all time? Are there any versions that decently represent the films?

None of the versions of Star Wars widely-available today are good enough. The closest thing is the untouched versions available on the bonus discs of the 2008-release DVDs. I was hoping (in vain) that they might also be included on the blu-rays. Yet from all reports, the prints of these versions is terrible and not cleaned up in any way. It’s as though George Lucas wants you to appreciate how much better the movies are with his alterations by not cleaning up the originals, thereby making them less-watchable.

So, perhaps the blu-ray versions aren’t so bad. Or at least, there’s a good chance they’re better than the versions I already own. I had a look at Wikipedia’s list of changes in Star Wars re-releases. Yes, there is an entire Wikipedia page about this shit. So let’s have a look at the changes to the trilogy, film by film.

Episode IV: A New Hope

• After Aunt Beru calls Luke to remind him about the translator droid, she says “Tell your uncle if he gets a translator, be sure it speaks Bocce.” In prior releases, this line began with “Tell Uncle.” [meh]
• Obi-Wan’s Krayt Dragon call has once again been changed. [meh]
• In the scene where Obi-Wan discovers R2-D2 hiding in an alcove, rocks have been digitally inserted into the frame to hide the droid, though no explanation for him getting behind them or out from behind them is added (in fact, they disappear altogether.). [worse]
• The shot of Han and Greedo firing at each other has been shortened by several frames from the 2004 DVD version so they shoot at nearly the same time. [better]
• Luke’s green lightsaber blade during the training scene aboard the Millennium Falcon from the 2004 DVD has been corrected, though the blade still appears more white than blue for the rest of the scene. [better]
• Just before Han blasts the final TIE Fighter during the Millennium Falcon attack, the missing part of the laser at the edge of frame has been fixed. [better]
• The audio errors during the Battle of Yavin in the 2004 DVD have been corrected. [much better]
• Sparks are added to certain moments of the lightsabers clashing during the battle between Obi-Wan and Darth Vader aboard the Death Star. [meh]

With the exception of adding disappearing CG rocks, most of the changes are not too offensive. Though if they’re changing Greedo and Han to fire simultaneously, what’s the point? Han should just fire first if they’re going to go that far. All of the changes I’ve marked as “better” are fixing things that were made worse in previous re-releases, so wouldn’t be in the original versions anyway. Verdict: the blu-ray is a noticable improvement on both the Special Edition and 2004 DVDs.

Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back

• In the shot when the Wampa mauls Luke’s Tauntaun, the puppeteer pole can no longer be seen. [better]
• In an exterior shot of Cloud City featuring Leia waiting for Han in her apartment, a reflection can now be seen in Leia’s window. [meh]
• The scene when Chewie is retrieving C-3PO from the Ugnaughts has the blue light from the furnace recoloured orange and sparks added in the background. [meh]

Fortunately nothing too offensive at all, especially since The Empire Strikes Back is my favourite of the three. It was already the movie with the least changes anyway. Verdict: the blu-ray is not significantly better than 2004 DVDs edit-wise, though both are better than the Special Edition. The high definition of blu-ray gives it the edge, I suppose.

Episode VI: Return of the Jedi

• A static long shot of R2-D2 and C-3PO approaching the door to Jabba’s palace has been replaced with an extreme long shot revealing more of the door, as the camera zooms in on the droids. [meh]
• There are now brighter flashes of light when Han is released from the carbonite. [meh]
• A CG Dug has been added to the scene in Jabba’s palace which features sleeping partygoers. [worse]
• A new closeup shot of Han striking Boba Fett’s jetpack has been added. [meh]
• The Ewoks’ eyes now have CG eyelids, allowing them to blink. [worse]
• When R2-D2 is shot by a stormtrooper, additional CG gadgets fly out of his body as he malfunctions. [worse]
• Some of the lightsaber errors from the 2004 DVD have been corrected and Luke and Darth Vader’s lightsabers now have white cores. The saber cross in front of the Emperor is now completely fixed from the 2004 release. [better]
• Darth Vader now says “No” while Luke is tortured by the Emperor’s Force Lightning attack, and then immediately screams “Nooooo!” as he picks Palpatine up and hurls him into the Death Star’s reactor core. [much, much worse]

Most of the changes here are inexcusable. Again, the only part that’s better is a fix to a problem they introduced in a previous re-release. Unfortunately, Return of the Jedi was already the most hacked of the three, what with Jabba’s palace getting silly, Hayden Christensen making a cameo, and the extended ending (which, if I’m honest, I do prefer). So the motivation to go out of my way to get a better version of it is already low, especially if the other two are passable. Verdict: the blu-ray is worse than 2004 DVD, which in turn is worse than the Special Edition.

Perhaps in a few years the original, unaltered but restored versions of the Star Wars Trilogy will at long last become available. Should I wait for them? They may never come. For the moment, at least, it looks like the blu-ray edition is, sadly, the best version available to me.

Or perhaps I should more thoroughly investigate the Star Wars Revisited fan edits, and just stop giving George Lucas my money….