List of changes in Star Wars re-releases

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"There will only be one. And it won't be what I would call the 'rough cut,' it'll be the 'final cut.' The other one will be some sort of interesting artifact that people will look at and say, 'There was an earlier draft of this.' The same thing happens with plays and earlier drafts of books. In essence, films never get finished, they get abandoned. At some point, you're dragged off the picture kicking and screaming while somebody says, 'Okay, it's done.' That isn't really the way it should work. Occasionally, [you can] go back and get your cut of the video out there, which I did on both American Graffiti and THX-1138; that's the place where it will live forever. So what ends up being important in my mind is what the DVD version is going to look like, because that's what everybody is going to remember. The other versions will disappear. Even the 35 million tapes of Star Wars out there won't last more than 30 or 40 years. A hundred years from now, the only version of the movie that anyone will remember will be the DVD version [of the Special Edition], and you'll be able to project it on a 20' by 40' screen with perfect quality. I think it's the director's prerogative, not the studio's to go back and reinvent a movie."[link]

— George Lucas on the Special Editions

The following are partial lists of changes in Star Wars re-releases. The commercial success of Star Wars has given George Lucas the opportunity to tinker with his original trilogy, which is composed of ', ', and . Many changes were motivated by George Lucas's desire to make the original films closer to his vision for them (though he did not direct all of the films).

The re-done versions made heavy use of CGI technology and other new production techniques that emerged in the two decades after the original trilogy was produced. Other changes enhanced the cohesiveness of the films and eliminated continuity errors between the original trilogy and the three prequels (produced in the late 1990s and early 2000s). The changes are controversial, with opponents claiming that these changes detract from the character arc of the films and tend to be more distracting than expedient.

In a September 2004 CNN article, Lucas points out that the original films were "25 or 30 percent" of what he intended. The original films succeeded despite this, and many of his changes have met with lukewarm reception. Along with obvious changes to various scenes, the re-releases improved the visual and audio quality of the films.

Changes to Star Wars films after the theatrical release aren't always limited to the original trilogy. In the release of DVD, two deleted portions were either partially or completely restored.

According to Lucasfilm Ltd., the 2004 Special Edition is the canonical version of the original trilogy, even though the original, unaltered theatrical editions are being released on DVD in Fall 2006.

A 3-D re-release of the saga is planned for 2007.[link]

Re-releases

VHS/Betamax/

Pan and Scan versions of the original theatrical releases of the original three films.

All of the original releases of A New Hope on VHS, Betamax, and RCA's CED did not contain the line uttered by C-3PO "The tractor beam is coupled to the main reactor in seven locations. A power loss at one of the terminals will allow the ship to leave." This line was not in the original Dolby Stereo mix, which was the soundtrack used on all early video releases. In 1985 Ben Burtt re-mixed the soundtrack and the line was heard for the first time on home video.

Due to technical and cost limitations, the CED editions of A New Hope are presented time-compressed (sped up by 3%) from its original 121-minute length to 118 minutes to fit one double-sided two-hour disc.

Laserdisc editions

Due to technical limitations, most pan and scan versions of A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back are presented time-compressed (sped up by 3%) from their respective 121- and 125-minute lengths to fit one double-sided 2-hour disc. Letterbox versions of the original theatrical releases of the original three films have also been released.

The initial 1989 North American widescreen release of "A New Hope" suffered from a shrinking aspect ratio. The master that was used was the Japanese subtitled Laserdisc, in which the image appeared higher in the screen to allow for subtitles. For the North American release, it was shifted down, and a black bar was put up to cover the unused parts. However, as the film progresses, the image creeps up on the screen moving underneath the top bar, causing the image to become increasingly wider. By the time the film reaches the Battle of Yavin scenes, the image has widened from 2.35:1 to 2.55:1. This problem was fixed in the 1992 re-issue of the disc. The original shrinking LD has the CBS/Fox logo on it, but the fixed edition has the newer "Fox Video" logo of the jacket. The 3PO line about the tractor beam can be heard on this laserdisc.

1997 Special Editions (Theatrical and VHS)

In 1997, Episodes IV, V, and VI were re-mastered and theatrically re-released as the "Special Editions". For the re-release, in addition to extensive clean-up and restoration work, Lucas also made a number of changes to the films in order to "finish the film the way it was meant to be" (as Lucas said in a September 2004 interview with the Associated Press).

Many of Lucas' changes for the Special Editions were cosmetic, generally adding special effects which weren't originally possible. Other changes, however, are considered to have affected plot or character development. These changes, such as the change referred to by fans as "Han shot first," have proven to be controversial. The "Han shot first" situation can be generally described as this: in the original release of Episode IV, the character Han Solo shoots and kills a bounty hunter named Greedo, after Greedo threatens to kill him in order to collect a bounty which had been placed on Solo's head by Jabba the Hutt. In the Special Edition of the film, however, Greedo shoots first at close range. Only after he misses does Solo return fire. George Lucas has been quoted in Entertainment Weekly as saying that this version of the scene was meant to be the original, as in the original storyboards (Greedo fires first at Han Solo).

Digital Disc Releases

2004 DVD Release

In 2004, in addition to an extensive and comprehensive hi-definition digital cleanup and restoration job by Lowry Digital, the original trilogy films were changed once again for their release on DVD. In these new versions of the films, a few changes which had been made for the 1997 Special Editions were removed. Even more changes were made to the films, however. With this release, Lucasfilm created a new high-definition master of the films, which will be used in future releases as well.

One of the most notable of these new changes includes new footage shot during the filming of Revenge of the Sith of Ian McDiarmid portraying Palpatine, which has been inserted into The Empire Strikes Back, which replaces the original performance (voiced by actor Clive Revill and portrayed by an old woman with a chimpanzee's eyes superimposed over her own) recorded for the film. Another notable and quite controversial change was to a scene at the end of Episode VI, when the spirits of Obi-Wan Kenobi, Yoda and Anakin Skywalker look upon the Rebels' celebration. The original actor who played Anakin in this scene (Sebastian Shaw) was replaced by Hayden Christensen, the actor who played Anakin in Episodes II and III.

In 2005, the 2004 Special Editions were again released on DVD; however, this time they were repackaged and sold as a three-disc set that did not include the bonus materials disc. This was done to provide a more affordable trilogy set.

This article or section contains information about scheduled or expected . It may contain information of a speculative nature and the content may change dramatically as the product release approaches and more information becomes available.

2006 DVD Releases

From 12 September to 31 December 2006, the original trilogy will be released for a limited time on DVD. For this particular DVD release, each episode (IV, V, and VI) will be sold individually and feature two discs: one which holds the 2004 Special Edition of the episode and a second "bonus material" disc which holds the original, unaltered theatrical release of the episode. This is an extremely surprising move, considering George Lucas has stated in the past that the original editions would not be released on video again after the Special Edition's release. Due to the great demand for the original editions on DVD, however, Lucasfilm is, for a limited time, finally releasing DVDs of the original editions of Episodes IV, V, and VI.

The original editions will be presented as they were first shown theatrically. For example, Star Wars will have the original opening scroll before "Episode IV: A New Hope" was added for the April 10, 1981 re-issue, the "R" in "rebel spies" was lower cased originally, and line spacing and form were altered to fit the revised title. Each original edition will feature Dolby 2.0 Surround audio, closed-captioning, and subtitles in English, French, and Spanish for the U.S. release; sound and subtitling for foreign releases will vary by territory. [link]

This article or section contains information about scheduled or expected . It may contain information of a speculative nature and the content may change dramatically as the product release approaches and more information becomes available.

2007 Definitive Editions (

The new CG Yoda in The Phantom Menace.

Lucas has hinted in the past, and it is most likely assumed, that he will release his definitive (often called "archival") editions of all six of his Star Wars films on a next-generation home-video format in 2007. This release would coincide with, and celebrate, the 30th anniversary of the Star Wars saga. It has been speculated that he will take this opportunity to make any final adjustments, changes, additions, and/or subtractions to his films for this final release. An altered clip from The Phantom Menace included in a featurette on the DVD release of Revenge of the Sith (in which a computer generated Yoda replaces the original puppet) appears to be a sign that the "archival" editions are indeed in the works.

It is said that this edition will be released in a "Grand Saga" box set, and the home video format will most likely be Blu-ray, as 20th Century Fox, as well as he himself, have said they prefer this format. Lucasfilm Vice President of marketing Jim Ward confirmed that in this final release, Lucasfilm is likely to return to John Lowry to do even more work on the films (possibly digital contemporization of the original trilogy). He says "As the technology evolves and we get into a high-definition platform that is easily consumable by our customers, the situation is much better, but there will always be work to be done."[link]

Producer Rick McCallum, as well as Ward, have also explained that they have been holding back a large amount of bonus material for this release, including deleted scenes, as well as numerous previous Star Wars "making-ofs," spin-offs, television specials, Documentaries etc.

2007 3-D edition

At a ShoWest convention in 2005, George Lucas demonstrated new technology and stated that he is planning to release all six films in a new 3-D film format, beginning with A New Hope in 2007.

Changes

Pre-Special Edition

Although not as obvious as the 1997 Special Edition re-release of the original trilogy, there were still some alterations made between versions.

However a version on USA Network has both versions, some things are changed and some are not.

The VHS reissue in 1995, which was the last available release of the Pre-Special Edition trilogy prior to the upcoming 2006 DVD release, utilizes THX digital remastering to enhance the picture and sound quality on all three films.

A Laserdisc version of the original trilogy was released that does not have the changes of the modified and renamed late 1990s version of the original trilogy. The DVD box set includes the modifications of the re-released films and not the original versions as included on the LaserDisc.

A New Hope

• The line "Episode IV: A NEW HOPE" was added to the opening crawl from 1981 onward. The new opening crawl also capitalized the word "rebel" in "rebel spies", which was not capitalized in the original 1977 crawl. In addition, a short scene where Chewbacca snarls at a Death Star mouse droid was added to this re-release.
• The film was originally released with Dolby Stereo and 70mm 6-track audio. A mono mix was produced later for exhibition in cinemas with no Dolby Stereo support, which contains some changes from the stereo version. Most video releases until the Special Edition were based on the stereo mix.
• Alternate takes of C-3PO's dialog are used in the mono sound version.
• The line "Close the blast doors!" was added to the mono release.
• C-3PO's tractor beam line was added to the mono version. (This line was also included in the 1997 special edition and 2004 DVD versions.)
• The line "Blast it, Biggs, where are you?" from the original stereo sound version was changed to "Blast it, Wedge, where are you?" for the mono sound releases.
• Beru Lars is voiced by a different actress in the mono version.
• The 1995 VHS release features a digitally remastered sound mix supervised by Ben Burtt, which contains C-3PO's tractor beam line. Another remix was produced for the 1993 Definitive Collection Laserdisc, which removes the line again.

The Empire Strikes Back

The 70mm version of the film was substantially different from the 35mm version that was more widely seen.

• After the Probot lands and moves left, there is an optical wipe to the overhead shot of Luke on his Tauntaun.
• After Luke wanders through the snow and falls face down, there is an optical wipe to Han instead of a straight cut.
• The bacta tank scene starts on a close-up of Two-One-Bee and pans right to a close-up of Luke in the tank. It then cuts to FX-7 extending its arm to the tank. There is no cut to Leia, Han and Threepio observing.
• In the snow battle scene, when Luke drops into the snow after throwing a charge into the Imperial walker, the AT-ST in the background has no atmospheric depth. It looks too close and small.
• In the Emperor scene, the hologram of the Emperor is already present in the first shot - it does not "tune in" gradually.
• The Imperial fleet establishing shot after the magic tree scene has a different TIE fighter sound effect.
• When Luke falls from Cloud City into the Millennium Falcon, the Falcon's radar dish is not added to the shot.
• The telepathy between Luke and Vader during the "Hyperspace" cue has straight cuts instead of quick dissolves.
• On Hoth, right after C-3PO tells R2 to "Switch off," R2 gives out a little 'blurp.'
• When Luke finally collapses in the snow, he lets out a grunt as he lands on his face.
• Han says "until I can get the shelter up" instead of "until I can get the shelter built."
• Luke says an additional "Ben... Dagobah..." just before Han says "and I thought they smelled bad on the outside."
• When C-3PO tells Luke "It's so good to see you fully functional again," Luke replies "Thanks, Threepio."
• The line "Headquarters personnel report to Command Center" is repeated three times instead of two.
• The line "The first transport is away!" is said in a different voice altogether.
• When R2 is being loaded into Luke's X-Wing, C-3PO says the word "and" before saying "do take good care of yourself."
• Han's line "Transport, this is Solo. Better take off, I can't get to you. I'll get her out on the Falcon" is followed by, "Come on!"
• In the asteroid field, after C-3PO says "Oh, this is suicide," he says, "There's no where to go."
• Luke says "You were lucky to get out of there" instead of "You're lucky you don't taste very good."
• Yoda makes a frightened "Ehhhhh!" sound just before Luke says "Like we're being watched" and points his blaster at him.
• Yoda says the word "Run!" before "Yes. A Jedi's strength flows from the force." The following lines "But beware the dark side. Anger, fear, aggression. The dark side of the force are they. Easily they flow, quick to join you in a fight" are also much louder and clearer.
• In Cloud City, after C-3PO says "That sounds like an R2 unit in there. I wonder if it..." he says "Hello?" only once instead of twice.
• Before C-3PO gets shot, a different voice says "Who are you?"
• While C-3PO is on Chewie's back when they enter the carbon freezing chamber, the line "Now remember, Chewbacca, you have a responsibility to me, so don't do anything foolish" is louder and heard more clearly.
• During the duel, when Luke knocks Vader off of the platform, Vader lets out an "ooooh!" instead of an "aaargh!"
• Lando's line at the end, "Luke, we're ready for takeoff." is a different take.
• In the final scene, there is no tracked music from "Yoda and the Force".

1997 Star Wars Trilogy Special Edition

Special coverage on CNN in 1997 notes that Lucas spent $10 million to rework his original 1977 film, which was roughly what it cost to film it originally. $3 million of that was spent on the audio track for the special edition. Lucas also spent $2.5 million each on Episodes V and VI.

The following is a partial list of changes:

A New Hope

• Additional dewbacks and search teams are visible as the Stormtroopers look for the missing droids. An Imperial transport can be seen taking off in the background.
• A revised Jawa sandcrawler. The sunset progression has been enhanced, having the sky darkened, and at the end, adding stars to the newly darkened sky. The scene where R2-D2 is captured has been tinted red to resemble a sunset.
• A new digital matte painting of the sandcrawler and extended sky were added when the Jawas are setting up shop in front of the Lars farm. Artificial zooming in is also present. More vaporators have been added but they disappear in subsequent shots.
• A new look at Ben Kenobi's hut.
• Mos Eisley is bigger and busier.
• A short pause of the camera features a Jawa being bucked from its Ronto mount.
• New aliens are seen in the Cantina.
• In Han’s last line to Greedo, “Yes, I’ll bet you have”, the word “yes” is excised from the audio track, though Han’s mouth is still seen forming the word.
• Greedo now fires a very badly aimed shot at Han before being shot in the cantina (Refer to Greedo v Han weapon draw controversy for further information).
• A scene (with no dialogue) had Luke selling his landspeeder to a giant insectoid (who looks an awful lot like a giant yoda). Afterwards, Luke tells Obi-wan that "He only paid the bare minimum (or something of that sort) because they are not in high demand any more". This scene is rarely mentioned, and is not present on most "changes" lists. (Probably due to the fact that the scene is only 30 seconds, and you only see the "insectoid" for 4 of those 30 seconds).
• A CGI version of Jabba the Hutt confronts Han Solo in the Millennium Falcon's launch bay, and new dialogue was recorded in the Huttese language.
• A new Mos Eisley scene of the Falcon taking off.
• The Death Star docking bay is revised to be more consistent with the one seen in Return of the Jedi, most notably in the overhead shot when the Millennium Falcon has landed.
• The aforementioned line uttered by C-3PO, where he describes the tractor beam's power systems, is put back in. (It was deleted in the previous stereo sound versions.)
• New superimposed shots of the Stormtroopers in the Death Star.
• When Han Solo and Chewbacca are chasing a squad of Stormtroopers on the Death Star, instead of running to a dead end with more Stormtroopers, the pair end up at a hangar bay with seemingly hundreds of Stormtroopers and officers. Laser fire was increased in the next scene where Chewbacca approaches the corner.
• The flashes of blaster impacts on the Imperial officers were removed.
• "Close the blast doors!" is put back into the scene where Han and Chewbacca, pursued by Stormtroopers, jump through the doors as they close.
• A scene between Luke Skywalker and Biggs Darklighter, just before the Battle of Yavin, has been inserted.
• New digital shots of the X-wings and Y-wings taking off from Yavin (in the original version, they just appeared as white flashes).
• New, additional, and revised dog fighting and attack run scenes during the battle at the Death Star.
• After Red Leader's unsuccessful trench run, the line "He's on your tail!" was added to the film.
• When the proton torpedoes enter the exhaust port, a scorch mark where the previous shots hit is present.
• The shot of the Rebel fighters flying away from the Death Star has been revised.
• The Praxis effect shockwave (so named for a similar effect seen in ) was added to the destruction of planet Alderaan and the Death Star.
• The matte paintings (or cardboard cutouts) of the members of the assembly on the left and right sides of the Throne Room at the end of the film, when Luke, Han, and Chewie approach the throne, have been digitally replaced by real humans.
• James Earl Jones is now credited.
• "Luke's Theme" is partially repeated in the ending credits music to make room for the Special Edition release credits.

The Empire Strikes Back

• The opening battle sequence was cleaned up.
• New scenes on Hoth with a fiercer-looking wampa ice creature. Two close-up shots of the original wampa mask are still noticeable.
• The blaster bolts of the TIE fighters have been made more green.
• The scene where the Slave I follows the Falcon out of the Star Destroyer's floating garbage was redone with CGI, resulting in smoother action. There is also a newly created CG shot of it pursuing the Falcon.
• At the entrance shot of Cloud City, the Cloud Car was replaced by a Tibanna refinery. (The Tibanna refinery is almost panned and scanned out of the full screen DVD version. The right side of the refinnery can be seen briefly in the full screen DVD version if played on a PC.)
• New and additional shots of Cloud City
• Several wall panels have been digitally replaced with windows to show more of Cloud City.
• Luke's line, "You're lucky you don't taste very good," after R2-D2 is spit out by a Dagobah dragonsnake, is changed back to the original "You were lucky to get out of there."
• Lando Calrissian says "Attention" twice when he speaks on the Cloud City PA.
• Shots of people listening to Lando on the PA ordering the evacuation of the city are added.
• Luke screams as he jumps off the platform in Cloud City (the scream is actually lifted from the Emperor's death scream from )
• Darth Vader's line, "Bring my shuttle," is changed to "Alert my Star Destroyer to prepare for my arrival," a line originally recorded for A New Hope.
• A digital hatch has been added to replace the white light that appears when Lando opens the outer hatch to rescue Luke.
• A new scene with Darth Vader landing in the docking bay of his Star Destroyer, based on an outtake from Return of the Jedi
• "The Imperial March" is partially repeated in the ending credits music to make room for the Special Edition release credits.

Return Of The Jedi

• A new Jabba's Palace Band musical number, "Jedi Rocks" replaces "Lapti Nek"; Oola is now accompanied by three back-up dancers.
• Additional scene of Oola in the Rancor pit.
• Boba Fett is briefly shown flirting with a dancer at Jabba's palace.
• Additional scenes on Tatooine of the Banthas before heading to the Pit of Carkoon.
• A revised version of the Sarlacc at the base of the Pit of Carkoon. Though the original release of seems to imply that Boba Fett loses his life to the creature, many Expanded Universe sources state that Boba Fett actually escaped from the Sarlacc. In the Special Edition, the Sarlacc is shown actually swallowing Fett.
• CGI rope has been added around Han's ankles as he dangles from Jabba's skiff above the Sarlacc.
• In the original version, a flight of four TIE fighters appear from behind the camera flying towards the Death Star and disappear a second before the scene changes to the Emperor's arrival. This is corrected and the fighters continue heading toward the Death Star.
• As with the destruction of the first Death Star, the second has a more pronounced explosion.
• At the end of the trilogy after the Empire is defeated, scenes of celebration on Endor, Bespin, Tatooine, and Coruscant are shown. The musical theme "Ewok Celebration" (often referred to as "Yub Nub") during this sequence has been replaced with an entirely new John Williams composition, "Victory Celebration".
• During the end celebration, a brief shot of Luke hugging Wedge Antilles was inserted.
• "Parade of the Ewoks" is partially repeated in the ending credits music to make room for the new Special Edition release credits.

2001 Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace DVD

• Podrace grid sequence is extended
• Watto's celebratory cry of "Sebulba!" is removed
• The Podrace race sequence is also extended
• Air taxi sequence is reincorporated
• Orn Free Taa's human aides are replaced by Twi'leks.

2002 Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones DVD

• Dialogue between Anakin and Count Dooku is removed from their duel scene.
• New dialogue added to the scene where Anakin confesses to the Tusken slaughter.
• Additional sparks and smoke have been added to Jango Fett's jetpack shortly before his death to better present its malfunction.
• After Padmé falls out of the gunship on Geonosis, a clone trooper asks if she is all right. Her response of "Yes" has been changed to a more realistic groggy "Uh-huh."
• Anakin's mechanical hand now holds Padmé's hand during the closing wedding sequence (this was originally included in the DLP theater release of the film).

2004 Star Wars Trilogy DVD

The 2004 DVD changes were made to make a better connection between the old and new trilogies. The 2004 DVD releases also received [John D. Lowry's digital restoration] visual enhancement treatment. The following is a partial list of changes:

A New Hope

• The Star Destroyer's pursuit of the Corellian Corvette in the very beginning was sped up to make it look more like a real chase.
• When the Jawa Sandcrawler stops outside the Lars Homestead, C-3PO says "We're stopped" before telling R2-D2 to wake up.
• The Long shot of Luke's Landspeeder in the canyon, with the 2 Sandpeople taking aim has been improved upon. Now instead of being merely a moving white "blob" the landspeeder is actually seen in minute detail.
• Obi-Wan Kenobi's scream to scare off the Sand People has been changed to a higher-pitched wail. The old version of Kenobi's scream in the original and 1997 versions sounded similar to a dewback. The new version of Kenobi's scream in the 2004 version sounds similar to a krayt dragon (first seen in ).
• More debris has been digitally added to the scene at the destroyed Jawa sandcrawler.
• A brief shot of Luke's landspeeder as it enters Mos Eisley carrying Luke, Ben Kenobi, and the droids has been redone. The pink tint is removed from the Mos Eisley entrance scene.
• The Mos Eisley/Greedo scene is redone yet again, so that Greedo and Han shoot at almost the exact same moment, but Greedo is still fractionally ahead. Han also dodges Greedo's shot more convincingly. In addition, Han now says "Yes, I'll bet you have" - in the Special Edition, the "yes" was removed.
• An improved CGI version of Jabba the Hutt now confronts Han Solo in the scene added to the 1997 re-release.
• When the two stormtroopers exit the Millennium Falcon, one of them now says "There's no one here."
• When the docking bay controller tries to contact TK-421, slightly audible static can be heard over the communicator.
• The Matte painting in the detention block has been extended, making the corridor seem longer. The painting's perspective has been edited to make it appear more realistic.
• The writing in the Death Star tractor beam control panel ("POWER - TRACTOR BEAM 12 (SEC. N6)" and "INOPERATIVE") is changed from the Latin alphabet to the standard Star Wars "foreign" (Aurebesh) alphabet. The word "INOPERATIVE" is panned and scanned out of the full screen DVD version.
• An audible bump was added to the infamous gaffe where a screen-right stormtrooper bumps his head on the door-frame when the stormtroopers break into the control room. This mistake had been hinted at in (When Jango Fett - escaping from Obi-Wan on Kamino - bangs his helmet on the closing door of the Slave I.)
• Luke and Leia's echo when they are trapped in the Death Star chasm is more convincing.
• The glow of the lightsabers has been slightly improved to look more like other episodes, though still not near their quality. For example, in Luke's training on the Millennium Falcon, the lightsaber is pale green instead of blue.
• John Williams' score has been flipped in the left and right rear channels and has been quieted or eliminated from some portions of the Battle of Yavin scene.
• The "He's on your tail!" that was added for the 1997 Special Edition was removed.
• The Code Cylinders in Grand Moff Tarkin's uniform jacket no longer move up and down between shots.
• The shot of the Y-Wings descending to make the first attack run has been fixed. Originally, the two lead Y-Wings disappear when their leading edges touch the bottom of the screen but the third one smoothly moves out of frame like it should. Now all three move smoothly out of frame.
• The colors of some spaceship explosions have been changed.
• The colors depicting the destruction of the planet Alderaan and the Death Star were changed.

The Empire Strikes Back

• In a scene just after Luke Skywalker recovers from an injury by a wampa, he says "Thanks, 3PO", between C-3PO's lines, "Master Luke, Sir, it's so good to see you fully functional again", and "R2 expresses his relief also."
• In a scene where Darth Vader speaks to the Emperor via hologram, the Emperor is now portrayed by Ian McDiarmid (in the original film and the Special Edition, an actress with chimpanzee's eyes superimposed over her own portrayed the Emperor, whose voice was dubbed in by Clive Revill.) A few lines of new dialogue have been added to this scene as well, in which Palpatine informs Vader that their new enemy is "the offspring of Anakin Skywalker." McDiarmid actually filmed this scene during principal photography of .
• The four lines spoken by Boba Fett are now in the voice of Temuera Morrison, the actor who played Jango Fett (Boba Fett's clone "father"). They were originally in the voice of Jason Wingreen.
• The pink tint is removed from the entrance scene of Cloud City, where the Cloud Car is replaced by the Tibanna refinery for the 1997 version.
• In both the original and 1997 versions, during the scene in which Han is lowered into the carbon-freezing chamber, an apparent wardrobe blooper has him wearing his blue jacket during one shot. The jacket has been digitally erased in this release. The "jacket" was actually the result of coincidental shadowing, however, and not a wardrobe miscue.
• The tracked Emperor death scream by Luke Skywalker introduced in the 1997 re-release, which is heard during Luke's voluntary fall from the Cloud City platform after his fight with Vader, was removed.
• In the original and 1997 versions, when Darth Vader asks if the Falcon's hyperdrive is deactivated, Admiral Piett's rank plaque and code cylinders are on the wrong side of his uniform (the plaque is supposed to be on the left side of his tunic, but it was on his right side). This is corrected and Piett has the correct rank placement on his uniform.

Return of the Jedi

• The matte lines on the rancor have been further altered and the effect is now more realistic.
• Boba Fett now laughs along with Jabba the Hutt while Luke fights the rancor, matching his fathers laugh from Attack of the Clones.
• In Darth Vader's final scene, when he is not wearing his helmet, the eyebrows of actor Sebastian Shaw have been digitally removed, indicating what happens to Anakin's eyebrows when he gets burned on Mustafar (shortly after a duel with Obi-Wan) in Revenge of the Sith. His eyes have also been changed to blue and minor cosmetic alterations have been made to his face to better resemble the Anakin portrayed by Hayden Christensen in the prequel trilogy.
• Another scene of celebration, this one on Naboo, is shown after the Empire is defeated. A Gungan, can be heard saying "Wesa free!"

• In the final scene where the spirits of Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Yoda appear to Luke, Anakin is now played by Hayden Christensen rather than Sebastian Shaw. Lucas has said that the reason he made this change was because after redemption, Anakin returned to his "inner persona", once one with the Force, and appeared the way he was before he turned to the dark side of the Force.
• In the Coruscant celebration scene, the Galactic Senate and Jedi Temple have been added in the background. That is to indicate that the Jedi Temple was not destroyed during the Great Jedi Purge.

Note that in each of the three films, the ending credits have remained unchanged from the Special Edition releases in 1997. Thus, they do not reflect such changes as Ian McDiarmid's Emperor in The Empire Strikes Back or Hayden Christensen's Anakin in Return of the Jedi. The font used in the credits and the introduction phrase "A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away" was changed to the font used in the prequel trilogy. In the case of pan-and-scan versions of the re-releases, the 2004 DVD release was panned and scanned differently from the 1997 theatrical release.

2005 Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith DVD

• Despite Lucasfilm's official statement that there were absolutely no changes made to the theatrical version of the film, some have reported that the November 1, 2005 DVD release of Revenge of the Sith had one slight change from the theatrical cut. In the scene where a shot transitions to Vader crawling up the lava bank, a wipe from the shot of Obi-Wan and Threepio in the cockpit of Padmé's ship leaving Mustafar to Vader's mechanical hand grasping at the volcanic soil has been replaced with a straight cut to this shot from the cockpit of Padmé's ship on the DVD.

Illegal versions, fan edits, etc.

In addition to official and authorized versions, there is a black market for other versions. These include versions of the film that are no longer available, or versions of the original films in different formats (such as compressed with DivX). "Theatre Rips" are the only source for comparing an actual original theater release of films to changes in DVD releases (aside from personal memory). The majority of these illegal versions are sourced from the "original" versions from the pre-1997 VHS/Laserdisc releases. This is certain to change with the "official" release of the original, unaltered theatrical versions on DVD in Fall 2006.

Illegal versions also include fan modified/edited versions. One of this type to attain notoriety was a version of Episode I (known as The Phantom Edit), with certain elements removed, such as scenes deemed unnecessary of Jar Jar Binks. Bootleg versions of the little-known 1970s TV special The Star Wars Holiday Special remain the only source for consumers seeking it, ranging in quality from excellent to poor.

Deleted scenes from Star Wars

This is a partial list of scenes that weren't in a film version of the original trilogy or prequels. There are also changes made to deleted scenes as well in some cases. Theses are included in some home video versions, such as a specific DVD version. Some scenes deleted from the Original Editions of the original trilogy were modified and added back for later versions. For example, a scene where Han Solo talks to Jabba the Hutt was not included in the original theater, laser disc, or home video versions of Star Wars (Later renamed Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope), but was modified with CGI (Jabba the Hutt was replaced with a CGI version) and included in the 1997 Special Edition.

The Phantom Menace

• Extended Podrace grid sequence, introducing nearly all of the racers. (Partially added into film on DVD)
• Extended Lap 2 (Partially added into film on DVD)
• *Clieg Holdfast's racer crashes after Sebulba flashes his fire vents.
• *Jawas try to salvage parts of Teemto Pagalies' racer and are shot at by Tusken Raiders.
• *Ark "Bumpy" Roose pulls into the pit stop.
• Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan, and Jar Jar escape their sub before it goes over a waterfall.
• Anakin says good-bye to Jira. Shortly afterwards, Qui-Gon and Anakin break into a run after Qui-Gon slices one of Darth Maul's probe droids which was following them.
• Anakin fights with a child Greedo
• The dawn before the podrace.
• The Coruscant Sky Taxi Ride (Added into film on DVD)

Attack of the Clones

• Padmé addresses the Senate an hour after the attempt on her life.
• Obi-Wan brings the toxic dart to the analysis droids in the Jedi Temple, who cannot identify it. He then decides to take it to his friend, Dexter.
• Obi-Wan and Mace talk about the mystery of the missing data on Kamino and about Anakin being able to protect Padmé while Obi-Wan boards his Jedi starfighter.
• Extended arrival of Anakin and Padmé on Naboo.
• On Naboo, Padmé introduces Anakin to her family.
• Padmé shows Anakin her bedroom, which has holographic images of her humanitarian work.
• Anakin and Padmé are brought before Count Dooku, requesting Obi-Wan's release. Dooku says he cannot do so unless Naboo joins the Confederacy, giving reasons for why he is forming the new government.
• Padmé and Anakin are put on trial by Poggle the Lesser, who finds them guilty. (NOTE: after the scene where they go before Count Dooku was dropped, this scene didn't make much sense and was dropped as well)
• A group of Jedi lead by Ki-Adi Mundi attempt to take over the Droid Command Centre on Geonosis.
• A shot of Jedi starfighters approaching Geonosis.
• Additional scenes at the Battle of Geonosis. These include CIS Tank Droids running over clone troopers and clones on speeder bikes planting grenades on Homing Spiders.

Revenge of the Sith

• The scene in which Bai Ling appears as Senator Bana Breemu.
• Qui-Gon Jinn tells Yoda about the secret of immortality and Yoda becomes his padawan.
• A group of senators including Mon Mothma meet to discuss the Chancellor's growing power. In the scene Bail Organa expresses fear that the Republic is becoming corrupt.
• General Grievous kills Shaak Ti who was originally sent to rescue the Chancellor. Obi-Wan and Anakin then cut through the floor and fall into a fuel line.
• Shaak Ti is killed by Anakin (her death is clearly changed a few times)
• Yoda acts crazily on Kashyyyk to escape from some clones
• Yoda landing on Dagobah and saying goodbye to Obi-Wan and Bail Organa.
• Luminara Unduli, Barriss Offee, and Quinlan Vos's deaths are all cut as well as Aayla Secura and Plo Koon's last lines. The deaths of Luminara Unduli, Barriss Offee, and Quinlan Vos were never filmed.
• Lieutenant Commander Lorth Needa offers General Grievous an opportunity to surrender.
• Palpatine's shuttle approaches Coruscant accompanied by three V-wings.
• Padmé and the Loyalists present the Petition of the 2000 to Palpatine. He then assures the group he will discontinue his new reorganization once the war is over.
• Additional scenes of the Separatist leaders pleading with Vader to spare their lives.
• A scene where Obi-Wan meets with Padmé in her apartment to express his concern about Anakin.
• During the Mustafar fight scene, there was originally a sequence when Obi-Wan and Vader are on the Separatist control room's table. Obi-Wan manages to grab Vader's lightsaber momentarily. Lucas explains in the DVD that that particular scene accounts for why Vader is seen taking his lightsaber from Obi-Wan and trying to choke him.

A New Hope

• Luke is working on a machine at the Lars homestead, and uses a set of binoculars to look up into the sky. He sees two starships exchanging laser fire in space, but goes back to work.
• Luke visits his friends at Anchorhead. He says he saw a space battle (between the Devastator and the blockade runner Tantive IV) with a set of binoculars to his friends. However, the battle is already over and his friends do not believe him.
• Biggs tells Luke he wants to defect to the Rebels. This and the preceding two scenes listed above can be viewed on the CD-ROM .
• Darth Vader and Chief Bast discuss Grand Moff Tarkin and his ambitions (this scene was later redubbed and used in The Star Wars Holiday Special).
• Grand Moff Tarkin, General Tagge, and General Motti view a schematic of the Death Star and discuss the threat the Rebel incursion aboard holds (the scene features one of the few wire-frame CGI effects created for the film).
• Han and a mysterious woman are seen carousing and kissing in the Cantina before the meeting with Obi Wan and Luke. It was to give him a man-liked-by-the-ladies feel.
• After Tarkin destroys Alderaan, Princess Leia says "And you call yourselves humans." (A similar line was included in the NPR radio play, "If there was any shred of humanity in you or these twisted creatures of yours, it's dead now.")
• Extended dialogue for Obi-Wan during the duel. This and the precedent scene can be seen in the documentary Empire of Dreams: The Story of the Star Wars Trilogy.
• Han and Luke are seen congratulating each other after their successful fight against the TIE fighters while escaping the Death Star.

The Empire Strikes Back

• A number of wampas infiltrate the Rebel base and kill at least one tauntaun. An image exists of a medical droid inspecting a tauntaun carcass. The wampa attack is mentioned and shown in the Marvel Comics adaptation of the movie.
• While strolling through Echo Base's corridors, R2-D2 is attacked by a wampa. He is rescued and the wampa is killed by Rebel troops.
• General Veers is seriously injured when a snowspeeder piloted by Derek "Hobbie" Klivian crashes into his AT-AT Walker.
• While fleeing Imperial troops, Han suggests they take a shortcut through a room that has a sign on it. Leia tells him "that's where they keep those creatures" (the wampas, which have been confined to the room). They run off and C-3PO tears off the warning sign, hoping the troops will mistake it for another room. (Though never seen in any version of the film, shots of this scene were used in Television ads and trailers for the movie, also the door itself is visible in the movie.) The game includes two rooms in the second level, each containing three caged wampas. There is also a reference in the Star Wars: Trilogy arcade game, where the player, while fleeing Snowtroopers from Echo Base, opens the door to reveal a room full of Wampas, one of which must be killed to continue with the game.
• In the carbon-freezing sequence, C-3PO's complete line would have been "I'm not ready to die in the back of a demented wookie!" (the italicized words were deleted from all versions of the film, but were heard in their entirety on the Story of The Empire Strikes Back LP).

Return of the Jedi

• Moff Jerjerrod and two Royal Guards refuse to let Darth Vader in to see the Emperor, so Vader uses his Force-chokehold on Jerjerrod, but doesn't kill him.
• Just after Jabba tells Leia that she will learn to appreciate him he pulls her closer and makes her drink from his cup.
• Right after Jabba's Sail Barge blows up, Luke, Han, Leia, Lando, and the droids go back to the Millennium Falcon and Luke's X-Wing (both of which are in the middle of a sand storm).
• Darth Vader lands in the Death Star docking bay with Luke, taking him to the Emperor. (This scene was partially restored and placed in the special edition of The Empire Strikes Back, having Vader land in the Executor. Moff Jerjerrod can be seen in the new footage and is mouthing his dialogue from Return of the Jedi.)

Controversy

Many fans were displeased by some of the changes Lucas has made. It is the most evergreen topic for fan criticism of George Lucas and is the most broadly accepted as inspiring legitimate objections. Re-release changes were also the first major cause of the reactionary criticism phenomenon that takes a vehemently anti-Lucas stance, known as "Lucas bashing".

Greedo shooting at Han is particularly contentious. In the 2004 Special Edition DVD set the shots are timed to occur almost simultaneously, with Greedo's shot being just a hair faster and with Solo now effectively dodging his head out of the way from the blast. However, many argue that not only should Greedo not have made his shot, but that the scene undermines Solo's character. Originally Han's action marked him as a tough, independent-minded character; having him respond to Greedo makes him appear weaker, though he is still nonchalant about killing him.

There was also controversy over Lucas's decision to place Hayden Christensen in the end scene of Return of the Jedi in favor of Sebastian Shaw, as well as replacing the heavy fan favorite "Boba Fett's" voice with Temuera Morrison's (Jango Fett). Many longtime fans feel it disrespectful to the original trilogy, although some increasingly feel that it helps the two trilogies flow together better.

The altering of the dialogue between the Emperor and Vader has also been criticized as creating a contradiction, since it implies Vader does not realize Luke is his son until this moment, despite his being "obsessed" with finding Skywalker, mentioning him by name and pursuing him for the rest of the movie until this point. Others have argued that the scene is an improvement because it provides another blatant example of Vader plotting against his master by playing dumb in the face of this revelation.

Other fans especially missed the "songs" that were altered in Return of the Jedi ("Lapti Nek" and "Yub Nub"). They point out that the new music makes the Ewok's dancing and antics seem out of place (for example the "Stormtrooper Helmet drums" were beat in sync with the original music in the theatrical version). Others have argued that the new flute music and pan over shots of the planets being liberated makes a more effective end to the entire saga, rather than just a celebration of the single battle. The alteration of "Lapti Nek" into the new "Jedi Rocks" to many critics helps to undermine the serious nature and threat of Jabba the Hutt and his evil henchmen. They characterize the new sequence as "cartoonish," with overt pandering to Boba Fett "fanboys" by introducing superfluous shots of a new actor in the bounty hunter suit.

A final alteration, unique to the 2004 DVD release, is that of lightsaber discoloration. In the scene in Episode IV where Luke trains against the practice droid aboard the Millennium Falcon, his lightsaber blade is inexplicably given a faint (but distinct) green color. Also, Vader's blade, in particular, is given a "pink" hue throughout the original trilogy. Perhaps the largest infraction is a scene in which two blades are seen to pass "through" one another during the final climax of Episode VI.

Many fans hoped that Lucas would release the original versions of the original Star Wars Trilogy on DVD, alongside his newly re-edited versions. Lucasfilm have announced that these releases will finally be made available as "Limited Edition" 2-disc sets between September and December 2006.

On December 9, 2005, a new set of Star Wars original trilogy DVDs were released, also with the label "Limited Edition". However many fans were disappointed to discover that it was merely a repackaged and discounted version of the 2004 set with no changes, and no original versions (despite packaging that some felt was misleading in that it used the original theatrical film posters, as if to imply that these were the original versions). The set was discounted, and had the fourth (bonus) disc from the previously released 2004 set removed.

Fans and critics alike continue to speculate that Lucas will make further changes to his films (both trilogies) for inevitable subsequent releases on next generation formats like HD DVD and Blu-Ray, and a generation-after-next format whatever this may be, but this remains speculation.

Reportedly, nostalgia for the original versions of the original Star Wars Trilogy on a high quality format has driven up the demand for the Laser Disc editions of the movies released prior to 1997, as well as the proliferation of fan made DVD's, often encoded from the Laser Disc originals. How far the demand will go depends upon the upcoming "official" releases of the original trilogy on DVD in Fall 2006.

External links

• [DVD Active - A New Hope] Differences between versions of A New Hope
• [DVD Active - The Empire Strikes Back] Differences between versions of The Empire Strikes Back
• [DVD Active - Return of the Jedi] Differences between versions of Return of the Jedi
• [Special Edition changes] Changes in the Star Wars: Special Edition Trilogy.
• [Censored Star Wars] QuickTime movie illustrating the laser blast removal on the Special Editions. (1.3MB)
• [OriginalTrilogy.com] Online petition for the original, unedited version of the trilogy to be released on DVD.

 

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