Will George Lucas authorize yet more changes to the Original Star Wars Trilogy?
(Updated: May 11, 2022)
Whether it’s changes to the original trilogy or changes to the look and feel of the Star Wars saga with the advent of the Prequel Trilogy, many Star Wars fans have been vocally opposed to change over the years. George Lucas, however, is very open to change—and why shouldn’t he be? When he was making the original Star Wars film, he was basically flying by the seat of his pants, hoping it would all come together in the end and he’d be laughed out of the industry as a failure. Fortunately, this was not the case and Star Wars endured, becoming so embedded in the popular culture that the word “Wookiee” could be spoken at an insurance seminar and everyone in the room would know what it meant.
I remember following all of the news in the latter half of the 1990s about the Special Editions of the films. I remember being really excited that they were coming back to theaters in enhanced versions. I was thrilled that they were putting back a deleted Jabba scene in A New Hope. I wasn’t thinking of the re-release in a negative way and I don’t think too many other fans were at the time, but this is where it all seemed to snowball. From the Special Editions spawned this new breed of purist fan who saw tinkering with these films as some sort of crime. There were few at first but the number grew exponentially as the years progressed and news of The Phantom Menace started to leak. All of the sudden it seemed as if there were more fans bashing George Lucas than singing his praises.
My stance at the time was that I accepted the changes. I didn’t mind at all. However, I always thought we’d have the old versions around to fall back on if we wanted to get nostalgic. I suppose that if you count VHS, we still do, as much as it pains me to put a VHS tape in and watch it. As of this writing, it’s not looking like we’ll ever have those original versions on DVD. This made me resort to buying bootlegs. The whole situation isn’t too bad, really, but there is a part of me that is sad that the original versions won’t ever be officially available on DVD. There’s talk of the Special Editions coming out in 2004 which is great. I really did like most of the changes to the films, especially the new ending of Return of the Jedi, however there are a few decisions I don’t agree with and change the experience.
One big change that just about everyone (except George Lucas) disagrees with is the one that falls prey to more jokes, references, and online petitions than any other: Greedo shoots first. I won’t even try to defend this one. I completely understand why Lucas wants it this way and I comprehend the reasoning behind it. At the same time, I can’t see it working in that scenario. It’s close quarters. There’s just no way that Greedo would have missed. I feel that even though Han originally shot first, it was clearly in self defense. When I was a seven-year-old kid in a darkened theater, it never crossed my mind that Han Solo was a bad person. In fact, he was (and still is) my favorite character in the whole saga because he always did his own thing. He had the coolest ship, the best lines, a hairy co-pilot, and a cowboy swagger that was second to none. Han Solo was the embodiment of cool to me and there’s no way he would have let Greedo get a first shot in.
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Lucas was asked about this decision:
Lucas: Well, it’s not a religious event. I hate to tell people that. It’s a movie, just a movie. The controversy over who shot first, Greedo or Han Solo, in Episode IV, what I did was try to clean up the confusion, but obviously it upset people because they wanted Solo [who seemed to be the one who shot first in the original] to be a cold-blooded killer, but he actually isn’t. It had been done in all close-ups and it was confusing about who did what to whom. I put a little wider shot in there that made it clear that Greedo is the one who shot first, but everyone wanted to think that Han shot first, because they wanted to think that he actually just gunned him down.
Lucas implies that it was just a big shooting/editing error and that Greedo was always supposed to have shot first. In my mind, this doesn’t make much sense. I can’t begin to tell you how little sense to me this makes to me. It would not have been very hard to do exactly what was done in the Special Edition back in the late 1970s. It’s basically one extra laser beam. If Greedo was supposed to shoot first, I really think it could have been shot that way. It wasn’t some expensive special effect. Lucas doesn’t strike me as a flat out liar so I tend to believe him if he says Greedo was originally going to shoot first, but I think I need a better explanation as to why it wasn’t just shot that way in the first place.
I don’t want to go on and on about all the changes to the films. The real question at hand is this: Will George Lucas decide to make even more changes to the original trilogy?
Here’s my personal opinion on the matter. George is pretty much done with Star Wars. I feel that in a way, and he might not admit this to the media, he’s sick of the whole thing. He wants to finish it and get it out of his system. He wants to put it behind him and move on to other things, whatever they may be. A very good portion of his life has been sucked up by this thing he created in the 1970s and it grew like a fungus to immense proportions. I’m sure he’s thankful that it was successful and all that, but I’m thinking he’s ready to let it go. To him, they’re just movies and he probably goes to bed every night flabbergasted that people see them as anything but entertainment.
That said, I don’t think he even wants to see the Original Trilogy again, never mind make even more changes to it. He’s already done this with the Special Editions. He’s had time to do what he wanted; made his list, checked it twice, gave it to ILM and the deed was done. It was a nice revival for the saga. It certainly brought in some more cash and pushed the films up the “Top 50” list a little more. It even generated some extra enthusiasm for the then-upcoming Prequels. Does he really want to tweak these films yet again? I personally don’t think he has the time, energy, or enthusiasm to do so, especially after the way many of the fans reacted so negatively towards the Special Editions and the Prequels. Why give bitter fans more ammo?
At some point, you have to just let it go and say you’re done and I think Lucas has reached that point with Star Wars. After Episode III is out and the DVDs are all out there, I think he might put out the occasional repackaged DVDs in different sets, and that’s fine. It’s all part of the fun. However, I think we’ll see Lucas doing other, completely unrelated things . He’s said as much in recent interviews, and to tell you the truth, I’m looking forward to it. Star Wars and Indiana Jones are the two series he’ll always be known for, but I’m really curious to see if he can eek out a third iconic masterpiece of some sort. If not, I’ll certainly enjoy Lucas making independent-style films on a lower budget. I think it’ll be really interesting, especially if they’re non-fantasy related. I’d love to see how Lucas directs new actors in a film set in our time.
Lucas isn’t above changing his mind about certain things, but he’s a practical guy. Lucas is quoted as saying that the rumors of his plans to change the Original Trilogy again after the release of Episode III are false. This is from his own mouth, but then again it’s the same mouth that said you wouldn’t see the Original Trilogy on DVD until after Episode III. Does this mean he won’t change his mind? Only he knows for sure and only he can make that choice to change the Lucas-laws, so it’s all in his hands. TV shows may come and go, books and such as well. The legacy will continue via other media outlets but as far as direct involvement, I think Lucas will be done and to him I say, “Good for you.” I can only imagine the feeling of relief he’s going to have when that last film is released. I’m happy for him.
Say what you want about Lucas but the man’s a genius and I’m thankful for his contributions to modern era filmmaking. If he turns his back on Star Wars after Episode III, then it’s well deserved and I wish him even more success in his latter years. Maybe this Thanksgiving, instead of complaining about Jar Jar or the Prequels or Greedo shooting first, you should say thank you to Lucas for creating these films that we love so much.
There’s been no official announcement as of yet, but word on the street is that the Special Edition DVDs will be out in September, 2004. Will there be more changes? We’ll have to wait and see.