For the upcoming Blu-Ray release of the Star Wars films, George Lucas has shat upon his own work – again.
If I learned anything from watching Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back, it’s that Darth Vader is corrupt. He is evil all the way to his mechanized core. Despite Vader’s son entreating him to see the good inside him in Return of the Jedi, it is too late for him. That is, until Darth Vader, Lord of the Sith, is forced to watch his only son be tortured to death by the Emperor who corrupted him. There is no audible reaction, but Lord Vader is overcome by the man he used to be and suddenly rebels against his former master, tossing the frail body still emitting lightning into the Death Star core where it finally explodes. The silent, stoic, selfless act is Anakin Skywalker’s last, all the more potent because of it required no dialogue.
Until now.
For the Blu-Ray release of all six films of bearing the name Star Wars coming out on September 15th, Mr. George Lucas has once again changed a few things. Loyal fans may remember the addition of plot and character changing images such as Greedo shooting first and young Hayden Christensen appearing as a ghost at the end of Jedi when Lucas reissued the Special Edition of his films.
The Blu-Rays change even more, the most egregious being Vader uttering, “No. NOOOOOO!” right before he betrays Emperor Palpatine. The video above shows the change, which was confirmed by a representative at LucasArts via email to the New York Times: “Yes – Darth says NO.”
I get it. I get that Lucas can’t help tinkering with his films. He must hate the backlash that the “NOOOOOOOO!” received from the end of Revenge of the Sith and he wants to make it work thematically by calling it back (forward?) in Jedi.
But come the fuck on, George. Please stop. You obviously don’t understand how you made great films in the 70s & 80s if you keep making these changes. What’s next? You add Jar Jar Binks to the cantina scene, or re-record Alec Guinness’s dialogue in Star Wars to include midi-chlorians?
This further proves that Lucas only made the original Star Wars films by accident. I now officially regret pre-ordering the blu-ray sex-ology back in January. I was going to give the prequels another shot … maybe they weren’t as bad as I had thought … well, screw that.
Source: New York Times
Published: Aug 31, 2011 08:59 pm