The Holy Trilogy

Although I had already written my first monthly classic movie review this month, I had failed to realize that the Star Wars trilogy, henceforth to be named The Holy Trilogy, was being released at the end of the month. This will not be a review, per se, but a discussion of my likes and dislikes of the DVD versions, including the 1997 special edition and the prequel DVD releases of The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones. (Next blog entry)

Like the majority of my generation, I grew up revering the Holy Trilogy as a major instrument in the shaping of my imagination. One of the defining events we all reenacted as kids was not Cowboys and Indians, it was Luke and Vader, swinging and clashing our lightsabers, shouting "I am your Father!" "NOOOOOOOO!!!!!!" Just watch that little scene in Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure with the medieval armor and you'll see what I mean. This is the reason we must bestow the name The Holy Trilogy upon it. We will never forget the feeling of awe and amazement that carried us through our early, impressionable years. It is with these memories, I pass on my caveats with said trilogy.

Now, there are definitely some good additions. The clean up of the source, and the added animations to the ship fly-bys are impressive. I'm sure that all the added celebration scenes at the end of the trilogy will feel more important once the prequels are finished. My single favorite addition is in A New Hope, when Han and Chewie are chasing a small group of Stormtroopers. They reach a dead end: this time around it is what looks like an entire garrison of Troops in a huge hangar! The crowd went wild when we saw that one!!! The look on Solo's face!! Brilliant!!

Unfortunately, the good is far outweighed by the bad. Very first on the list, and certainly one of the most notorious, is Greedo shooting first. The first sight of this change was in 1997, when many many Americans stood in line, some for the second time, to see the almighty trilogy in theaters, to experience the spectacle first hand the way it was meant to be experienced. When I saw this change, I literally laughed out loud at the absurdity of it. Han's head looked shrunken, the sound of the blasters was totally quiet and limp, and the mythos of Han's ultimate coolness was totally thrown out the window. Most fortunately, this travesty is very slightly made almost bearable, by the re-animation of Han's head to include more of his body which makes it more believeable, and the time between Han and Greedo's shots has been shortened to be more visceral, along with a louder, more pronounced blast. I think it has improved much from the 1997 change, even though it should not have been changed from the original in the first place. With that out of the way, I can include a quicker description of the subsequent bad changes.
The scene with Han and Jabba is still in, but Jabba's computer generated model and animation is much better, and it looks more like the Jabba we will meet later on. It is an unnecessary scene, because Jabba basically repeats the exact same speech that Greedo gives Han before he is blasted into oblivion. At the end of the scene, Boba Fett comes into view, and looks at the camera, completely unconvincingly, almost walking toward the audience and saying "Hey, remember me? I'm an important character!" as if we have no idea who this is. Another bad change is the inclusion of a large size blast when Chewie shoots his blaster rifle in the Princess rescue scene. Even though he is continually blasting cameras and troops and such, we only hear his gun when we are right in front of him. As large as that gun is and as powerful its blast is compared to the small blasters Han and Luke used, I think we would hear it more than just a few times. It just seemed out of place and not very well done.
Sometimes I wonder why Lucas approved some changes, seeing as how he is usually very selective and critical with his effects. I guess he is slipping in his old age.
In The Empire Strikes Back, we are treated to an extra bit of Snow monster sightings, that look rather goofy, like an actor in a suit. Personally, I like the original, which mostly hides the monster but allows us to hear its frightful screams and growls, letting us get tense and making us wish for a quick escape! Much more convincing that way, meesatinks. The single worst change in the middle movie is a quip from Luke to R2-D2. When they land on Dagobah to search for Yoda, R2 falls off of the X-wing into the mire, eventually getting swallowed by an unknown beast, only to be spit out at high velocity and sent tumbling some 30 feet away. Luke helps him up, and in the original version says "You're lucky you don't taste very good!", but in the changed version says "You were lucky to get out of there!". WHY??? Why change that line?!?!?! It was so funny! I thought this script change was completely unnecessary! Why? Why? Why?? Why George? Why? Sheesh. The big change in this edition from the earlier versions is the inclusion of Ian McDairmid's Emperor Palpatine which replaces the non McDiarmid incarnation. A welcome change, though his face looked a little odd compared to his final form in Return of the Jedi.
I can live with that change. It seems fitting. Also, in the 1997 version, as Luke allows himself to fall, choosing to die rather than join Vader, he utters a scream as he falls. This scream is the EXACT same one the Emperor utters in Return of the Jedi as he falls to his death at the hands of his most faithful servant, Darth Vader. The audacity of Lucas and company thinking this stolen scream would NOT be noticed by any observant fan is obscene. The DVD release has this scream removed, and me thanking my lucky stars of its removal. Now it is right, back to the way it should be.
The most notable change in Return of the Jedi is the abysmal "Jedi Rocks" sequence in Jabba's Palace. The original song was shorter, as the dancing chained woman is dropped into the Rancor pit. This piece of stupid trash is almost a complete musical piece that is so stupid it made me not want to acknowledge the fact that I was a Star Wars fan. No attempt is made to make the music sound even remotely interstellar, as it is complete with saxaphones and trumpets, as if it was lifted directly from a jazz club. Another absurdly laughable addition. BAH!
The final important change comes at the very end during the big celebration. Luke sees his mentors and teachers' Force projections: the ghosts of their former selves. Originally, Anakin Skywalker appeared as an old man, now it is the young Anakin Skywalker: Hayden Christensen. I believe, the idea is that Luke sees his dad the way he was before he turned to the dark side and became Darth Vader. It makes sense, but I don't like the goofy face he's projecting.

All in all, there were lots of little changes that made a difference for the most part, yet some were permanent blotches in the greatest trilogy of all time. The Holy Trilogy

Click here for a great review of the trilogy: DVD Verdict

p.s. I don't think I made this blog long enough, do you?