Return of the Jedi is the film that hurts George Lucas’ changes the most
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Return of the Jedi is the War of the galaxies the most painful film for George Lucas’ changes with the special editions. Originally published in 1983, Return of the Jedi it was reposted, along with the other two entries that make up the original War of the galaxies trilogy, in 1997, with a significant number of montages made into the film. The War of the galaxies The special editions were created not only to build hype for the upcoming prequel Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menacebut also to match the VFX-filled aesthetic of the new trilogy.
Most of Lucas’ changes to the original War of the galaxies The trilogy was largely aesthetic, including newly remastered visuals and sound. However, other more controversial edits affected the films’ story and characters. The most infamous of these changes, called “Han Shot First” by fans, alters Han Solo’s introduction of him shooting the bounty hunter Greedo first and him shooting Greedo in self-defense. Lucas made the change in order to give Han more justification for his shot at Greedo. Still, this decision was criticized for shortening Han’s story arc A New Hope by making him initially seem more heroic than he was in the original theatrical cut.
While this alteration of A New Hope may be the single most controversial change in George Lucas’s War of the galaxies special editions, changes made to Return of the Jedi it hurt more in the final entry of the trilogy. Many of the changes made are incredibly invasive to the film, especially the new CGI characters added that don’t mesh well with the practical puppets. Other Terrible Special Edition Changes a Return of the Jedi it further hurt the sequel by ignoring previously established characterizations and negatively altering the mood of certain scenes.
What Star Wars special editions changed in Return Of The Jedi
Many of the changes made to Return of the Jedi‘s special edition are comparable to the modifications made to the other two films in the trilogy. The Sarlacc, the pit monster that consumes Boba Fett, received CGI additions, including a beak and tentacles. The Jabba’s Palace sequence opened with a completely different performance by the Max Rebo Band. Instead of performing the song “Lapti Nek” as in the original theatrical release, a new song called “Jedi Rocks” was created for the scene, along with a CGI model of lead singer Sy Snootles. At one point, George Lucas considered showing Boba Fett’s escape from the Sarlacc pit, but left it out to focus on the death of Jabba the Hutt (Boba Fett’s escape from the Sarlacc would later be depicted in the first episode of The Boba Fett Book).
At the end of Return of the Jedi, during the celebrations following the destruction of the second Death Star, another song was replaced: the Ewok tune known as “Yub Nub” was replaced by a John Williams composition. The celebration scene was also extended to include shots of the planets Coruscant, Bespin, and Tatooine. The 2004 edition on DVD of Return of the Jedi extended the celebration scene even further, adding the planet Naboo to his repertoire, as well as depicting the Jedi Temple and Senate on Coruscant.
The 2004 updates to the Return of the Jedi The special edition also made a considerable number of changes to Darth Vader/Anakin Skywalker. The most significant of these follows Darth Vader’s redemption at the end of the film. Image of War of the galaxies Prequel actor Hayden Christensen was used instead of the original Sebastian Shaw to portray Anakin’s Force Ghost. Lucas later stated that this change was made to clearly indicate that Anakin had “return to the good side of the force.”
Why return of the jedi changes hurt the movie
Return of the JediThe special edition edits hurt the film because they were the most invasive of the entire original trilogy. The “Jedi Rocks” The scene brings the pace of Jabba’s palace sequence to a screeching halt and destroys its eerie atmosphere with a strikingly loud and abrasive song and dance sequence. Although this was more than Lucas had originally intended with the “Lapti Nek” scene in the theatrical cut, the CGI models of Sy Snootles and the new band members are distracting, and they don’t hold up compared to the CGI models of characters like the clones in the prequels or match the puppets and costumes of the original scene . The vocals on the new song are also hard to hear.
The 2011 Blu-ray release Return of the Jedi The special edition cut added Darth Vader muttering and then shouting “No!“ when the Emperor is electrocuting Luke Skywalker. This change removes all complexity from the scene and outwardly expresses Vader’s intentions, rather than relying on the audience to understand the moment from David Prowse’s physical performance. This change makes George Lucas seem to distrust the film’s audience to really understand the scene in the theatrical version, but Vader’s intentions against the Emperor were already clear enough.
Then there’s the added footage of Boba Fett flirting with one of the dancers in Jabba’s palace, which was not well received by the character’s original actor, Jeremy Bulloch. He felt it went completely against Boba Fett’s nature, and he’s right. This is supported by its representation a The Boba Fett Bookwhere Temuera Morrison plays him again with a more reserved demeanor, restoring his original characterization.
Were any of George Lucas’ changes good for Star Wars?
Some of George Lucas’ special editions change to Return of the Jedi facts were good for War of the galaxies, especially in terms of continuity. Sebastian Shaw’s eyes were digitally repainted blue in the scene when Vader’s mask was removed, to match Hayden Christensen’s. His eyebrows were also digitally removed to reflect the fate of Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader on Mustafar in Revenge of the Sith.
New footage was shot with actress Femi Taylor reprising her role as Jabba’s Palace dancer Oola more than a decade after the original principal photography of Return of the Jedi had wrapped This special edition added footage is pretty much perfect and adds an inside view of Rancor’s well, effectively teasing the monster that Luke Skywalker will have to face later in the film. In addition, the new images of the other planets presented during the celebrations at the end of Return of the Jedi it makes the rebel victory as powerful as possible, showing how deeply the destruction of the Death Star resonates.
While some of the changes made to the special editions were actually good for the franchise, it’s still incredibly disappointing that none of the theatrical versions of War of the galaxies‘ The original trilogy has been available to watch since its release on VHS nearly 30 years ago. This void is felt with George Lucas’ special edition editions A New Hope i The Empire Strikes Back too, but the issue is particularly bad with the radically altered Return of the Jedi.
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