Originally posted by: Adamwankenobi

Originally posted by: Gaffer Tape
Right there with you, Warbler. It's a completely different situation than The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe is the given title of the book, and Star Wars was the given title of the movie. The front of Lucas's scripts even said Star Wars or The Starwars.

"The Star Wars" referred to the entire six-part movie. OK, now we shall move this to the general thread.

Look, I am going to give this debate a big fat 'Whatever'. Adam, what you are saying is correct - as part of a saga, the original movie is subtitled A New Hope, and Lucas made this change very early on and probably intended it all along but wasn't allowed because the distributer thought it would confuse viewers. This is one piece of Lucas history telling that I actually believe. However, I have a number of VHS releases at home that clearly say 'Star Wars' on the front cover, with absolutely no mention of Episode 4 or A New Hope, including, Adam, the '97 special editions that introduced you to the original trilogy. The film was released in theatres in '77 under the name 'Star Wars'. It was rereleased a number of times throughout the late 70s and 80s under the name 'Star Wars'. It was released on home video and leaserdisc countless times throughout the 80s and 90s under the name 'Star Wars'. It was released cinematically with new special effects in 1997 under the name 'Star War'. This special edition was then released on VHS and laserdisc under the name 'Star Wars' in 1998. It wasn't until 1999, the year TPM came out, that lucasfilm really started to tout this' new hope' thing, and the 2004 DVD is the first official release that has carried the 'ANH' moniker on the packaging. Lucas may be able to alter his movies and deny the originals. but unless he plans on coming into my home and burning my store bought Star Wars VHS, there is no denying that the film was, in fact, called 'Star Wars'.