Blu-ray Versions of Star Wars

Sometimes you can watch a movie over and over again and it will still surprise you. This is especially true for the Star Wars Original Trilogy, which has been tinkered with so many times that it is hard to keep track of what scenes are original and what scenes have been altered. The most famous changes to the films were made for its 1997 20^thanniversary Special Edition release, but the truth is that Lucas has been making minor changes ever since 1977, and with each new release, we find that the films differ more and more from the ones we watched as children.

The last edits that Lucas made to the Trilogy before selling Lucasfilm to Disney was with the 2011 Blu-ray release. Since I had never seen these versions of the film, I thought I would take a look, see what I thought. Since the many alterations can be confusing I have created this key to help out:

Red: 1997 Special Edition

Green: 2004 DVD release
Blue: 2011 Blu-ray release

A New Hope

Seeing Star Wars in Blu-ray quality is amazing. I loved seeing my favorite characters in HD. I love seeing the film in widescreen (which differs considerably from the VHS tapes I had as a kid). The film looks beautiful. I did, however, shout at the screen a few times. The alterations can be a bit jarring. Here is a list of some of the most jarring changes:

CGI Dewbacks were added for the 1997 release, including a longer establishment shot with many more stormtroopers. 1997 CGI is obviously not up to snuff with current CGI (and even modern day CGI is dicey at time). So needless to say this scene is unnecessary and ugly. (And this is coming from someone who really likes Dewbacks.)

The Blu-Ray edition of the film has placed CGI rocks in front of R2-D2 when he is “hiding” from the Sand People. What the film does not explain is how R2 got behind the rocks in the first place or why this is a necessary alteration. Ben Kenobi’s Krayt Dragon call has also been altered over the years and the latest iteration is quite complicated and bizarre.

The most noticeable change to “A New Hope” is entering the Mos Eisley space port. A tall giraffe-like creature called a Ronto has been added to many of the shots, which begs the question “Why so many Rontos?” What good are giraffe-creatures in a space port? Wouldn’t they actually be a hindrance for the various space craft trying to land?

Who shoots first? That’s easy- In the original version of “Star Wars”, Han was the only one who shot. Greedo shoots first in the 1997 version, although the scene has been altered with each subsequent release so that now Greedo and Han shoot almost simultaneously.

Jabba the Hutt was famously added to the film for the 1997 Special Edition, but the original CGI model was horrific. The 2004 DVD release cleaned up the CGI model quite a bit and he now more resembles the Jabba we see in “The Phantom Menace”. The frustrating part of this whole sequence is that it reiterates all the dialogue from the previous Greedo Scene and just seems redundant. That is probably why is was cut from the original film in the first place.

Boba Fett is also shown during the new Jabba scene. He even looks right at the camera as if to say “I made it into the movie!”

I was flabbergasted to hear that an echo effect had been added to the scene where Luke and Leia are standing on the bridge over the Death Star shaft. This is certainly not the Star Wars that I remember.

A deleted  scene where Luke talks to Biggs before the Battle of Yavin was added to the film in 1977. This one is less jarring for me because there is no CGI and the scene has been in the film for over 20 years now. I guess some things you can get used to, if exposed to them long enough.

Lucasfilm spent millions of dollars upgrading this film and most of the budget was probably spent on the Battle of Yavin. The Falcon and other ships are now CGI and the dogfight scene shows more diving and swooping. Overall the changes are subdued and certainly not as crazy as they could have been.

The Empire Strikes Back

Much of the Wampa scene was re-filmed for the 1997 edition. We now see a bulkier Wampa and new shots of the Wampa in its cave chowing down on Luke’s tauntaun. This is one of the changes that I don’t mind too much. It doesn’t alter the story and it doesn’t rely on CGI.

Luke’s line “You’re lucky you don’t taste very good” has been replaced with “You were lucky to get out of there”. Why? Who knows? But I miss the original line.

The DVD release has erased the original Palpatine (voiced by Clive Revill) from the film. Palpatine is now portrayed by Ian McDiarmid and some extra lines of dialogue has been added. My only complaint here is that they made the hologram really (really) big and Palpatine is no longer shrouded and mysterious-looking.

Boba Fett’s dialogue has been changed from the original voice actor (Jason Wingreen) to Temuera Morrison’s voice. Morrison portrayed Jango Fett in “Attack of the Clones”. I generally disagree with this alteration, though it is not as jarring as I thought it would be. However, this change will be pointless if the rumored Boba Fett movie happens because Fett will be recast anyway. 

Per the 1997, Special Edition, we now see Vader leave cloud city using an Imperial Shuttle (the transport ship first seen in the 1983 film “Return of the Jedi”). There are now extensive shots of the shuttle flying from Cloud City to the Executor and shots of Vader deboarding in front of an armada of Imperial officers.

Return of the Jedi

Per the Blu-Ray release the door to Jabba’s palace has been altered to appear much larger and also battle scarred.

The 1997 special edition now includes a brand new song from Max Reebo’s Band (and the band has quadrupled in size). In addition to the original three band members we now see a large-mouthed furball on vocals, a stout green alien on harmonica, three female back-up singers, two drummers, and even a Bith. Sy Snootles is now mostly animated. A controversial song called “Jedi Rocks” has been added which features a close-up shot of Sy Snootles lips and a close-up shot of the furball singer’s mouth. This seems to be some kind of fetish for Lucas and a precursor to all the CGI tongues seen in “The Phantom Menace”.

Oola, the dancing girl, gets some extra scenes during the dance number and also when she is dropped into the Rancor pit. It is notable that the original Oola actress, Femi Taylor, returned 14 years later to film the new scenes and she was apparently was in the same shape that she was in her twenties (she actually fit into her original costume).

Boba Fett gets more action in this film in that he is constantly flirting with the backup singers.

Per the Blu-ray release, a CGI Dug can be seen walking down the steps inside Jabba’s palace. The Blu-ray version also adds new CGI effects to the scene where the Carbonite melts away. Not that we needed it.

Some CGI Banthas have been added into a new establishment shot before the sail barge scene. The Pit of Carkoon also gets a makeover including a CGI beak. CGI ropes now tie Han to the Skiff when he is hanging upside down (Was Lucas worried that Han would fall into the pit without the CGI ropes?)

Wicket and other Ewoks blink in the Blu-ray versions of “Return of the Jedi” to add a sense of realism to the creatures. If you didn’t like Ewoks before, chances are you are not going to like blinking Ewoks any better.

Per the Blu-Ray, Vader now says “No” when as he watches Palpatine zap Luke with Force Lightning. He then screams “Noooooooo!” as he chucks Palpy into the Death Star shaft.

The elderly Anakin Skywalker (played by Sebastian Shaw) has been altered to look more like Hayden Christianson. This includes the removal of his eyebrows (since Hayden’s were burned off on Mustafar) and a change in eye color. His skin tone is now ghost-white. When the force ghost of Anakin, Obi-Wan and Yoda appear to Luke, Hayden Christianson’s whole head has been pasted over the head of Sebastian Shaw.

The 20^th anniversary version of the film comes with a new Celebration Song to replace “Yub Nub”. We now see celebrations over Tatooine, Cloud City, and Coruscant as well as Endor. Luke also hugs Wedge in this version of the film.

The DVD release adds Naboo to the mix and there is a shot of a Gungan (presumedly Jar Jar Binks) yelling “Weeesa Free!” The Jedi Council building has been added to Corusant, as well as a CGI stormtrooper who is being crowd surfed against his will over the masses.

The Phantom Menace

“The Phantom Menace” was only a decade old when the Blu-ray version of the saga was released, so Lucas didn’t have very many years to toy with the film, but he did make a few changes:


Lucas added a new effect to the “Force Speed” scene to make it look more realistic

The terrible puppet version of Yoda was replaced with the CGI model of Yoda as seen in “Attack of the Clones” and “Revenge of the Sith”.

In the Senate scene, senators no longer can be heard chanting “Vote Now” (although you can still lip read this line from the puppets). This one is genuinely perplexing. Without the “Vote Now” lines, there isn’t really any indication that will be a new vote. Why Lucas would remove the “Vote Now” line but leave in the many antics of Jar Jar convinces me that Lucas lost his sanity long ago.

I have listed most of the major changes to these films, but there are many, many more subtle ones. My final verdict is that these films look beautiful in Blu-ray quality, but it is sad that so many of these changes are distracting. Many viewers say that these alterations cause the films to be less enjoyable.

Since many fans do not enjoy the constant changes, “despecialized” versions of the original trilogy have been available on shadier parts of the internet. There was also an official “unaltered” DVD release in 2006.

That’s all for now, Star Wars fans. Happy watching!