For all my Star Wars homies...

Go here and watch Hayden Christensen and George Lucas interview each other using questions sent in by fans. It's only about 15 minutes, but a few of the questions are actually good ones, and it's fun to watch in general if you like Star Wars. (The only negative is that it's AOL-related...oh well)

Hm...

So maybe the whole thing's a rumor...

This is from the media Q&A session with Lucas at Celebration III (from TFN):

"Another box set is in the works: Looks like a 6 disc box set with all episodes 1-6. Possibly a 7th disc, maybe with deleted scenes from the original trilogy. He was asked if he would be changing things again in the movies, prequels or original. He replied that everything is the way he wants them now. As far as the rumored super archival edition due out in 2007 on super hi-def dvd, there is no truth to that."

So, Lucas himself says there will be no Archival Edition. He says a lot of things, though... Either way, I'll still post my thoughts on V and VI, for conversation purposes if nothing else. I wouldn't be surprised, though, if Lucas is full of it. Case in point: Indy 4. He's gone back and forth on that a few dozen times, and as of now, it's supposedly still on. So who knows? I don't know if he thinks he's being secretive when he says crap like this, or if he really thinks it's true, or if it really is true.

It would be lame for him to not do it. We (Netty, Aaron, and I) watched IV and V today and started noticing things that could really stand to be changed. Example: Ben tells Luke to go see Yoda, "the Jedi Master who instructed me." Um, no. "A Jedi Master who instructed me," maybe. Plus, characters like Yoda and the Emperor, who we're already familiar with by Episode IV don't show up now for a whole Episode. People watching the movies for the first time, in order, will be wondering what happened to these guys in A New Hope. And there are several other reasons to do it, which I'll discuss later. Because it's time to sleep now.

Episode IV

Ok. Now we're getting into territory where people will get pissed off. We grew up with these movies and people won't want 'em to be messed with. I'm personally fine with some tweaking, as long as they're very careful about it.


Episode IV: A New Hope

01. The Imperial March has been added to Darth Vader's first appearance on Princess Leia's ship.

[Like all the changes, this would be weird, but it makes good sense. People watching the movies in order are already familiar with the Imperial March and they'll be expecting it. And it seems appropriate.]


02. When Obi-Wan is talking to Luke about his father Anakin's Theme plays in the background and then it turns into the Imperial March as he talks about Vader.

[Same as 01]


03. The lightsaber effects have been redone and the frame jumps of lightsabers being turned on has been removed.

[Well, the rotoscoping is very 1970's. I'm generally ok with fixing that, as long as they don't make it too good--if it looks too much better than the film it's painted over, it'll look bad.]


04. There's a new scene which has been shot during the filming of Episode III in which the Emperor dissolves the Senate.

[This one's complicated. It would be fun to see this scene, but there are several things to consider. First, can they make the Emperor look right? They'll have to continue morphing him from his 'Chancellor look' to his 'Emperor look'--they did a good job in Episode III, but he'll have to be changed a little more to match the original trilogy. I think they'll handle it well (if this is more than a rumor), based on the job they did in the DVD release. In the scene (in Ep. V) with Vader talking to the hologram of the Emperor, they replaced the original with some newly-shot footage of Ian McDiarmid, and it looked great. (A little bit of trivia for you: the original emperor in this scene was an old woman doing the lines, with the eyes of either a monkey or a gorilla--I forget which--composited into the shot.) Another thing to consider here is that this would change the first appearance of the Emperor in the original trilogy. When you watch IV, V, and VI first, you look forward to first seeing the emperor, and you have to wait quite a while for it. This would take that aspect out of the movies. But looking at the movies in order, we've already seen the Emperor, so it's fine to see him here. It's just a fact you have to live with that the prequels change the original trilogy. There's no longer any surprise at finding out that Vader is Luke's father, for example. It's still an intense and very important scene, but it's different now. That's part of the reason they're making these changes.]


05. In the Cantina, the Duros(green aliens guys) have been replaced with Neimoidians and some aliens from the prequels have been added.

[Messing with the Cantina could get you shot if you do it wrong. I like the idea of seeing the same aliens, but I don't like the idea of anything being replaced. What I really don't want is to have prequel stuff shoved in my face. If it's in the background and you have to be paying attention to notice it, that's very cool. If it's all paraded in front of us, saying, "Look! Remember these guys!" then I'll hate it. So my advice is: add to the general alien-osity of the background, but don't replace anyone. Though I don't know that there's much room to add new aliens--the cantina's pretty crowded. So maybe they should just leave the Cantina alone and add more aliens out in the Mos Eisley streets. That'd be quite spiffy.]


06. The bleeding arm on the floor in the Cantina has been replaced with a non-bleeding arm because it's now canon that lightsabers cauterize wounds.

[I have to approve. This is something we've all noticed forever. It's not that big a deal, but it'd be easy to change, so I say go for it.]


07. The original shooting scene between Han and Greedo has been restored.

[A resounding HELL YES! I don't think there's anything more I need to say.]


08. Jabba the Hutt has been given a makeover and Han no longer steps on his tail.

[Good call. It's a good scene to have, but they didn't do a very good job in the Special Editions. The CG wasn't great, and the part with Han stepping over him looks particularly bad. Change it. I'm guessing, though, that this rumor isn't true. Lucas just added this scene a few years ago, and he's already changing it? He does change his mind a lot, though. Take the long-rumored Episodes VII, VIII, and IX, for example...]

09. In place of R2 wobbling down the stairs to the Falcon's hangar, a CG R2 navigating the stairs like he does in Attack of the Clones was added.

[Yes. They had all kinds of trouble shooting the R2 scenes--he couldn't roll straight for more than a few feet, for example. Getting Kenny Baker in a trash can to climb stairs would have been impossible back then. So yes, CG it, but only where it's needed.]

10. The white boxes around space ships have been removed and new CG shots have been added.

[Not sure what this refers to. I checked the DVD version and didn't notice any white boxes. So if it ever was a problem, it seems to have already been fixed. As for new CG shots, that's probably ok as well--the magically-appearing TIE fighters in the Death Star escape, for example, could be fixed.]


11. The scene of the Falcon being chased by the two Star Destroyers was modified. The Falcon now does spinning moves, avoiding the Star Destroyers' fire.

[Um...ok. I guess. Probably not needed, but would no doubt look cool.]


12. When the Death Star destroys Alderaan there's a new scene of Yoda's reaction to the disturbance in the Force that is created by all those deaths and then it cuts to Obi-Wan reacting to it as well.

[This I like. We already know Yoda at this point from the prequels, and by this time we might be wondering what he's doing during all this (or if he's even still alive).]


13. The Dianoga has gotten a CG makeover and were are now able to see more of the creature.

[Ok, the little eye-on-a-stick puppet was somewhat lame, but I liked not seeing the rest of the dianoga. Leave this scene alone.]


14. The Death Star's paneling and computers have been slightly altered to show similar displays to those in the prequels.

[An unfortunately necessary change. 1970's technology = Christmas lights, 2005 technology = much better. The prequels have computers and such that look much more sophisticated than the original movies. This difference can be covered for to a certain extent by the fact that the war has been going on for so long and everything's beat up, and it'd be hard for the rebels to acquire any good technology since they're constantly being hunted. Still, the Empire's technology should have improved, if anything. They have to be very careful about what they change and how they do it, but I'd approve of this kind of change, in general.]


15. The words "Tractor Beam" with Aurebesh lettering.

[Aurebesh = Star Wars Alphabet, for those who don't know. I don't know where they'd put this (I'd guess on the tractor beam controls that Ben shuts down) but it doesn't sound like a change most would notice anyway. Whatever floats your boat, Lucas.]


16. More stormtroopers have been added to the Death Star.

[I don't know that this is necessary, but I'm not opposed to it.]


17. Temuera Morrison's voice is being recorded for use with all the stormtroopers.

[This is a load of crap. Jango Fett was cloned to make the original army, and I'm sure some of those clones are still alive, but many more would have died in the war. After that, the Empire started recruiting instead of cloning a new army, at least according to established canon. In the books, there's never even a hint that stormies are clones, and there are several stories about non-clone stormies who are recruited to join the Empire. This is a bad change to make, and I hope it's just a bad rumor. I mean, can you even imagine Fett's voice saying "Open the blast doors! Open the blast doors!" or "Look sir, droids." It wouldn't work at all.


18. The Obi-Wan/Vader duel has been spruced up. It is much more epic and there is much more movement. A modified version of Duel of the Fates is being considered for the scene.

[Nope. Vader's easy to replace--just put a big guy in the suit--but Ben would be impossible. Unless, of course, they just cut to new shots of a new Ben from behind, which would most likely look stupid. I mean, I want this change to happen--Ben's saber skills shouldn't have degraded as much as they appear to have. This fight is a big deal, and it seems like even more of a big deal after having seen Episode III, but I just don't see how it can be changed without looking stupid. If Lucas can perform a miracle (and who knows? maybe he can...) then I'd approve of the change. If not...leave it alone (but do fix the rotoscoping on the sabers--at one point you can still see the stick).


19. The Death Star plans that are taken from R2 have been updated. When the Rebels are reviewing the Death Star plans they look similar to the plans we see in Attack of the Clones.

[My opinion on this is the same as 14 was--you basically have to do it. The holographic projection of the Death Star can't be made of little dots after we've already seen it look so good in AotC. Good change.]


20. The Death Star battle is much more epic with more Tie Fighters and more Rebels being blown to bits. We get to see old Naboo starfighters being used by the Rebels.

[Nope. The idea of a few little starfighters taking on the Death Star was cool--it showed the desperation of the Rebellion. This battle was a long-shot; adding more Rebels would take that away. As for the Naboo starfighters, I say save that for the Battle of Endor, and keep them in the background. It's the same as my opinion on the Cantina aliens--I want to see old stuff, but I don't want to have it forced down my throat. Leave it out of this battle, though--it just wouldn't make sense.]


21. There's a new scene(shot during Episode III) where Darth Vader goes to Coruscant and lands his ship in the same building Count Dooku does at the end of Attack of the Clones. Except now the
building is all fixed up and it is now Palpatine's palace. He meets with Palpatine to ask for forgiveness for his failure and inform him of a new potential who is strong in the Force.

[Don't know. Could be ok, could suck. I did always kind of wish Vader's last scene wasn't him in his ship getting shot out of the way by the Falcon. I mean, what does he do after that? So this would probably be a good scene to add.]


22. Chewbacca now gets a medal.

[Awesome. He deserves one as much as Han does. You obviously can't have Leia putting it on him, but as long as he's wearing one in the final shot, that would be cool.]


So there ya go. Look for V and VI in the next day or two. For now, I'm tired of typing. :)

Episode II

I guess I should say at this point that when I say I approve of a change, it's with an implied 'if they do it right.' With that in mind, let's continue.

Episode II: Attack of the Clones
01. The Senate cut scene has been added to the beginning of the movie.

[I wasn't quite sure what this was referring to, so I went to the DVD and watched the deleted scenes. Padme gives a speech about her being attacked and tries to use it as an example of what happens when they use violence against the Seperatists--they get violence in return (remember she's been the leader of the anti-war, anti-army movement). It's a decent speech, but it was cut because it slowed down the beginning of the movie, and I don't think we need it.]


02. The cut scene in which Padme witnesses Anakin having a nightmare about his mother aboard the refugee cruiser has been added.

[This one isn't in the deleted scenes, so I can't really say one way or the other. I'm not seeing any reason to add it, though.]


03. The complete conversation between Anakin and Padme while on route to the Naboo palace has been restored.

[Another deleted scene. We get some history of Padme's political service and such--interesting, but not necessary. It was a good cut; I say leave it out.]


04. The cut scenes featuring Padme's parents has been added.

[Another deleted scene. This one I think they should put back in. She brings him home in sort of a meet-my-boyfriend kind of way, while denying the whole time that he is her boyfriend. It's a fun scene, and it shows their relationship developing instead of them just suddenly being in love.]


05. Additional cut footage has been restored to the love pledge scene between Anakin and Padme. They kiss more and Anakin makes his own pledge.

[Don't know about this one. In general, though, cuts were made for a reason...]


06. More cut footage of the duel has been restored.

[If it's the part where Yoda fights, yes! If not, leave it out.]


07. Jar Jar Binks has been added to the group of leaders witnessing the stormtroopers leaving for battle on Coruscant. Jar Jar has a sad look on his face after realizing the ramifications of his actions.

[More Jar Jar is bad. Unless, of course, they do as I've suggested and change his voice. But if he says nothing at all it'll be alright. And it'd be good for him to know what he's done and feel bad about it. I could go either way on this change, though.]


08. The necklace that Anakin made for Padme in The Phantom Menace has been added to Padme's neck during the wedding scene.

[Interesting thing about that: I'd completely forgotten about that thing until we watched I and II before going to see III last night, but when I saw it this time, I knew it'd show up in III, which it did. Since it seems to be important to the two of them, it makes sense for her to wear it here. And I can't see any disadvantages, so go for it.]


So that's I and II. I'll keep an eye out for III in the coming months.

Episode I

Any changes you make to this one can only be an improvement, right? Well, maybe. Let's go through the list of rumors (again, from http://www.thetrukstop.com/starwars/archival.html), with my comments in [brackets].

Episode I: The Phantom Menace

01. The cut scene of Obi-Wan emerging, Apocolypse Now style, from the swamp after hiding from droids has been restored. He tries to navigate the forest without being noticed when a battle droid spots him. Obi-Wan ignites his lightsaber cutting the droid in two. Then two STAPs spot him and as he raises his lightsaber to deflect the attacks it shorts out forcing him to flee. Qui-Gon takes care of them and then scolds Obi-Wan for leaving his lightsaber power on and forgetting to recharge it.

[First change on the list, and it's fairly useless. I can't see a downside to it, though, so it only means more lightsabers. And that's fine, I suppose.]


02. A new scene was shot with extras during Episode III showing the people of Naboo in concentration camps.

[I like this one. It would make the war on Naboo seem more threatening--as it is, it feels like all the citizens of Theed just disappeared when the droid army showed up.]


03. The cut scene of Qui-Gon discovering the probe droid has been restored and a second CG probe droid has been added in the background to witness the attack and report it to Darth Maul.

[I don't see any reason for this. And besides, wouldn't this take out the element of surprise for Maul when he first attacks Qui-Gon?]


04. A version of Across the Stars has been added to the scene between Anakin and Padme on the Naboo ship.

[Also called the Love Theme, we hear it several times in II and III. If you're not familiar with the soundtracks, go here and listen to a sample. I approve of the change.]


05. Yoda is CG.

[A definite yes. Yoda looked like crap in this movie, and the CG Yoda in II was done very well, in my opinion.]


06. Jimmy Smits shot a new Senate scene as Bail Organa during the filming of Episode III.

[Oh, I suppose. It's hard to have an opinion one way or the other without knowing what the scene is.


07. There's a new scene featuring Count Dooku talking to Qui-Gon via hologram.

[Yes. Dooku just randomly shows up in Episode II. Padme, talking about the attack on her ship, says, "I think Count Dooku is behind it," and we all say "Who the crap?" It makes sense for us to know about him earlier, especially if Qui-Gon was his apprentice.]


08. Count Dooku now shows up at Qui-Gon's funeral. Chris Lee shot the new scene against bluescreen. He walks up to Yoda and Mace and says, "This is the final straw!" and starts to walk away. Yoda follows him and tries to talk some sense into him. Dooku then tells Yoda he will no longer serve a corrupt Senate and that he is quiting the Jedi Order. Yoda goes back to the funeral. Then he says his line, "Always two there are. No more, no less. A master and an apprentice."

[It doesn't seem very likely that this one would happen, but if it does...eh. I could go either way on this.]


So those are the rumors for Episode I. The prequels haven't been around long enough for anyone to care too much about changes. The thing I wanted to see but didn't was, obviously, a change in Jar-Jar Binks. As much fun as it would be, we don't need to see him killed, or have him removed entirely--which would be impossible anyway. It would make the movie so much better, though, if they'd simply redo his voice. I don't even mind the bad English (or Basic, for all the die-hards out there). That's just a quirk of Gungans in general, and it doesn't bother me. Just get rid of annoying voice. Please, Lucas? I'll be your friend forever...

The Archival Edition

With the Star Wars saga finally complete, now Lucas can release all six movies in one collection. It's being called the Archival Edition, and it's due out sometime in 2007. The big deal (besides just the general coolness of it) is that he's making some more changes to all of the movies, similar to what we saw with the Special Editions in '97 and the DVD release of the original trilogy last year, but probably more extensive. I'm sure a lot of people will be just as (or more) upset about this than they were with the previous changes, but I've decided that I generally approve. Lucas is going for consistency throughout the saga, trying to make the whole thing more coherent. Overall, I think it's a good move--it'll ensure the immortality of Star Wars (as always, disagree if you like). What it means, though, is that some of our favorite scenes from Episodes IV-VI might look/sound slightly different that what we grew up with. I'm predicting that our generation won't like it (except me) but it'll make a better saga for future generations.
Now, though I generally approve of the plan, we don't know what exactly the plan is. Thetrukstop.com has compiled a list of the changes that are rumored to be planned for the movies (though there's no word on Episode III yet). Keep in mind that these are RUMORS at this point. Some of them come from credible sources (Rick McCallum, for instance) but some of them are likely just made up fanboy crap. Either way, I have /decreed that I shall go through them all and tell you what I think, with the hopes that you'll comment and tell me what you think. Let us begin.

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