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Lucas's Explanations

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Hi,

I'm new here, but I read through the back postings and I don't think this has already been covered.

Has George Lucas ever gone into detail on why he made certain changes to the Special Editions?

Like:

What has his reason for making Greedo shoot first?

Why did he remove Luke's "You're lucky droids don't taste good" line?

etc.

What was his reasoning?

I'm not looking for speculation as to why he made the changes, nor am I looking for complaints and/or praises, preferences, nor flames. We all have those.

But I'm curious, and seeking factual information, about what his reasons were. What was his thought process? Has he ever gone on record about this stuff? If he hasn't, then perhaps some objective deductions?
"... and in the time of greatest despair there shall come a savior, and he shall be known as The Son of The Suns."
- Journal of the Whills, 3:127
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Has George Lucas ever gone into detail on why he made certain changes to the Special Editions?


When aperson is high on crack, they don't realize what they are doing....like in Georges case

Naw...but seriously.....he claims that the special editions are the versions that he wanted to make, but is just now getting the technology to make them.....but I porefer the originals

BTW- Welcome to the forum.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v433/Obi_Skywalker/lukevader.jpg
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GL seems to have always given the 'technology line' as a reason for the changes - though I don't ever recall hearing of anyone pressing him on the dialogue changes in interviews etc... a shame.

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I was about to say that. The dialogue changes? Not sure about those, but I heard in some cases the audio had degraded on the original print, so they replaced it (in the case of "You're lucky droids don't taste good").
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That still doesn't explain why he couldn't have gotten Hamill to simply re-record the line.

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Originally posted by: OB1-KNOB
Why did he remove Luke's "You're lucky droids don't taste good" line?

Things like this are very easy to explain. This line was not actually removed or changed. If you would have seen ESB in 70mm in 1980 you would have heard Luke say "You're lucky to get out of there." But in the 35mm version he said "You're lucky you don't taste very good."

SW, ESB, and ROTJ were all originally released in both 35mm and 70mm. Many people don't know or realize that different sound mixes had to be created for both the Dolby 35mm and 6-track 70mm versions. By chance, or on purpose, these sound mixes contained many subtle differences.

We've become accustomed to the Dolby Stereo sound mix that has been in all of the home video versions. However, the special edition of ESB was created using the 6-track 70mm sound mix because it was easier to transfer to 5.1. So these differences just crept in.

Another example of this is when Han finds Luke on Hoth and starts to build the shelter. Han says "...until I can get the shelter built." But in the SE Han says "...until I can get the shelter up."

There are MANY differences like this in the sound, but I don't think GL should be blamed for doing something wrong in this case. Here he has actually given us sounds and dialogue that were missing for years.
Greedo shoots first? Not in my DVD player.
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WELCOME TO THE BOARDS OB1-KNOB!!!

the only explanation that can be given for Greedo shooting first (which im not sure if this is actually said or confirmed by Lucas) is that he did not find it in Han's character to kill someone in cold blood...
he felt it made Han a bad guy and therefore decided he should shoot Greedo in self defense...

i personally find that to be the worst reason due to the fact that Han is that way at the beginning...
which is why its such a surprise to fans when he comes to the rescue at the end of ANH and helps out the rebellion...
"Never. I'll never turn to the darkside. You've failed your highness. I am a jedi, like my father before me."
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it's funny, but with the exception of inserting Jabba into A New Hope, all the major changes that the fans hated had nothing to do with the limitations of technology at the time. Greedo shooting first, dialogue switches, Jedi Rocks!,Boba Fett picking up chicks in Jabbas palace, Audrey 2 in the sarlaac pit, the ewok celebration, the recycled footage from Jedi of Vader returning in his shuttle from bespin, were all cases of Lucas simply changing his mind.

To be honest I can quite happily live with the changes that were made to genuinely improve previous effects shots, like the dewbacks,the windows in cloud city, the tentacles in the sarlaac, space battles etc.
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i can live with effects changes just as long as their not distracting to the story/dialogue (ie. luke and obi wan being interrogated by the stormtroopers on tatooine) and they have to look like they fit with the look of the film...

so i dont mind the space battles... i can even live with the small eye candy like the batha's walking across the dune sea in ROTJ...

but i still despise the entrance into Mos Eisely, Cloud City windows, jedi rocks, end celebration and so on...

but dialogue changes are just not necessary whatsoever!!!
"Never. I'll never turn to the darkside. You've failed your highness. I am a jedi, like my father before me."
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Thanks for the welcome, guys

Yes, I've heard about the "technical limitations" justification for the new FX shots and CGI transition scenes. And I can believe that.

But I was really more curious about the dialogue changes (and Greedo, which is a sort-of dialogue change. Certainly a change in meaning.)

Regarding the removal of the ESB "taste good" line - I don't know that I agree with the 35mm/70mm difference that Obi-Wan Spicoli gives. Is this an established fact, or a post-SE rumor? I saw ESB countless times when it came out, usually on a 70mm screen, sometimes on a 35mm, and I distinctly remember that line. Without it, the scene makes no sense as there's no explanation for R2's good fortune. Further, I remember when GL was working on the Special Editions reading an article which mentioned that Mark Hamill was recording new lines for the Special Edition of ESB. "lines" (plural) could only mean 1 - the scream, and 2 - the new "lucky to get out of there" line - which I never heard until I saw the SE. My speculation was that GL didn't want kids to be afraid that R2 could be eaten? It didn't make sense to me, but was all that I could come up with.

The Greedo shooting first thing bugged me because it changed Han's character. GL was taking what Han had evolved to in ROTJ and shoe-horning that new Han back into the original movie. I agree with Luke Skywalker's post that this change is detrimental to the flow of the story and to illustrating Han's growth as a person. My speculation at the time was that when GL originally wrote the scene, he had Han shoot first because it was a slick scene, like from a western. But then for the SE he went back to downplay it for the kiddies. My post-prequel-trilogy-speculation was that he actually wanted to have Greedo shoot first and then get killed for it as a sort of morality play sequel to the cut scene from Phantom Menace where a young Greedo gets warned by one of his playmates about staying out of trouble. That's why I was curious if GL had ever gone on record.

In general, I don't mind most of the new SE scenes (like the "eye candy" that Luke also posts about), but I really dislike it when stupid things are added. Like having a work droid outside Mos Eisley bap another droid, or having the Jawa fall off his animal when a cycle speeder drives by him. That stuff is inane. The only reason I can think that GL added such stuff was to make the film consistent with ROTJ, which brought us such stupid things as a droid torturing another droid's feet I guess that means we can thank Richard Marquand for all the bad stuff in ANH-SE, not just in ROTJ?
"... and in the time of greatest despair there shall come a savior, and he shall be known as The Son of The Suns."
- Journal of the Whills, 3:127
http://whills.nu/
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There´s this really good movie that came out in 1997 and is being re-issued this year (appearantly with some "enhancements"), it has George Lucas in the lead role and he gives a very credible performance indeed. There´s a bunch of supporting extras ("yes men") that usually agree with him on all subjects; bad, good or insane - the flick is called "Clueless" if you are interested,... and it has no Alicia Silverstone in it!

peace,

Rebelscum
peace,

Rebelscum
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I am under the impression that he looked at the Trilogy in '94 when he started on the SE and thought to himself "Hmm... how could I make this absolutley suck?"

I never had the nerve to make the final cut.

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and it has no Alicia Silverstone in it!


damn and that was the main reason why i wanted to see it


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I am under the impression that he looked at the Trilogy in '94 when he started on the SE and thought to himself "Hmm... how could I make this absolutley suck?"


maybe it was an experiment... he thought he movie was flawless and then he said one day... "i have all these fans tied around my finger... are they gonna hate anything i do? Lets find out shall we.."

and the SE was born!
"Never. I'll never turn to the darkside. You've failed your highness. I am a jedi, like my father before me."
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Originally posted by: OB1-KNOB
Regarding the removal of the ESB "taste good" line - I don't know that I agree with the 35mm/70mm difference that Obi-Wan Spicoli gives. Is this an established fact, or a post-SE rumor? I saw ESB countless times when it came out, usually on a 70mm screen, sometimes on a 35mm, and I distinctly remember that line. Without it, the scene makes no sense as there's no explanation for R2's good fortune. Further, I remember when GL was working on the Special Editions reading an article which mentioned that Mark Hamill was recording new lines for the Special Edition of ESB. "lines" (plural) could only mean 1 - the scream, and 2 - the new "lucky to get out of there" line - which I never heard until I saw the SE. My speculation was that GL didn't want kids to be afraid that R2 could be eaten? It didn't make sense to me, but was all that I could come up with.

You asked for factual information and that's what I gave. No speculation, this is an established fact. I've done extensive research regarding the sound of Star Wars.

But if you won't take my word for it, fine. The "Story of" albums for ESB and ROTJ were made with the 70mm sound mixes. Listen to the album or cassette of ESB from 1980. You will hear Luke say "You're lucky to get out of there." And you will hear Han say "shelter up."
Greedo shoots first? Not in my DVD player.
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Originally posted by: Luke Skywalker
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and it has no Alicia Silverstone in it!


damn and that was the main reason why i wanted to see it


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I am under the impression that he looked at the Trilogy in '94 when he started on the SE and thought to himself "Hmm... how could I make this absolutley suck?"


maybe it was an experiment... he thought he movie was flawless and then he said one day... "i have all these fans tied around my finger... are they gonna hate anything i do? Lets find out shall we.."

and the SE was born!


Probably not too far off the mark. You know, I know that artists of different sorts include one thing in their works, and then spot something they'd like to do differently, but the problem is the thing they feel is a mistake is already out in the open and in the hands of the public. It happens, but I don't buy Lucas's spiel about originally intending Greedo shooting first or so on for the sole reason that his original intentions change almost yearly. Most of the time, when an artist notices something they'd like to change, they simply chalk it up for the DVD commentary or newspaper interview, and in years to come they laugh about it. We Lucas isn't like that, I don't know. It's sad, really. I'd like to believe that he had original intentions that he's reverting to, and then I wouldn't mind it, but it would seem that the only original intentions of Lucas's that we can find rest in the original cuts of the Trilogy.
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That's why I like Kubrick's take on it. He feels that mistakes are simply part of the movie, and leaves them in.

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Yes, truly sad.

I've made a note to stop browsing the OS and TF.N boards quite to often; I'm sick of the Lucas ass-kissing.

I never had the nerve to make the final cut.

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Me, too. About all I do on TFN is the occasional post in the film music forum and the Mara Jade fan thread.
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I go to the Fan Film's section but everything else is scary.

Gentlemen, you can’t fight in here, this is the war room!

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finally a place we can call our own eh?

so this is what it sounds like.... when doves cry...


lol
"Never. I'll never turn to the darkside. You've failed your highness. I am a jedi, like my father before me."