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Maybe Lucas really wanted in 77 to have this scene like it is now in the altered version of Star Wars. I mean, the new angle shot, where we see Han and Greedo firing at each other, existed in the first place! It's an unused shot from 77, if it was filmed, it was to be used in the movie? Maybe back then they didn't find the time (or money) to finish the scene (it has to go to the special effects animation departement to add the laser bolts), so they left it out. Or maybe it was a wise decision of the film's editor, against Lucas will? Just trying to guess of course...
If you look at the scene in the original version of the movie, you don't actually see Han firing at Greedo. There is a close-up of Han saying "Yes, I bet you have", then cut to a close-up of poor Greedo exploding head! (if you go through the scene frame by frame, the last frame of the close-up on Han shows a huge sparks of white ligth surroundig Han's blaster. This one frame isn't in the special edition).
But, do we really need, in the SE, to see Han and Greedo firing at each other? Imagine, in the special edition, this new shot added to the scene, but with Han still shooting first (and Greedo not shooting back at all). Is this really needed? I think it's pretty bad in terms of editing: we go from a close-up of Han, to a wide angle shot of Han and Greedo in the booth, then again a close-up on Greedo. It ruins the pacing of the scene, the big surprise to the audience that is Han's shooting! In the original version we don't actually see Han firing, we only see the result, but our imagination fill in the blank. We have the tension build up, Han has a blaster pointed at him, he prepares his own blaster, but we don't know when he's gonna use it, and he use it when we don't expect it. We don't expect to see Greedo's head exploding, it's a big shocker to the audience! If we see Han's firing, like in the SE, Greedo's fate is expected and much less of a schocker...
So what we have now, in the special edition (and upcoming DVD), is a one second shot (yes, go check it out, it's not any longer) that totally ruins a scene (and what a scene!) and totally ruins a character (and what a character!)
And, sadly, that's not the only example of poor editing in the special editions...