George Lucas: To feel the true force of ‘Star Wars,’ he had to learn to let it go

https://www.washingtonpost.com/life...52067a-8b1f-11e5-be8b-1ae2e4f50f76_story.html

There are a number of interesting tidbits in this article (some have been covered over the years) but I do find it interesting that George continues to defend the Han/Greedo switcheroo.

Piggybacking off his own analogy, the changes are like bolting a spoiler onto an already beautiful car where there was no spoiler option. What’s the point? If you are just shining it up and making it look as good as you can – great. But that’s not what this was.

Kill me.

Also of interest is this On Topic EW article: http://www.ew.com/article/2015/11/30/george-lucas-han-shoot-first. There’s a clip of someone from Sirius XM asking JJ Abrams if Han shot first. His answer should not surprise you.

Preach.

 

I don't know, I kinda agree with Lucas. Han is a good guy, and having him shoot after makes sense in the whole theme of the movies. But geez, is it really that big a deal??? People were furious when this change happened (and still are).

I've always liked Lucas and the hate he gets from fans is laughable to me. I mean, he created this whole film franchise, this whole other universe that we love so much, and is such a wonderful distraction from everyday life, and is something near and dear to all of us fans, and all he gets is crapped on. He gets crapped on for changing tiny little things in the movies that takes nothing away from the whole experience.

I don't blame him for selling the franchise and walking away. After a while, it's just not worth it.

 

Agreed. The way some of these super fans carry on about the whole Solo/Greedo thing is ridiculous. I just finished reading the Making of Star Wars, to say Lucas busted his ass to make the film is an understatement.

 

My thing is simply, why change it to begin with? Han's character is kind of skeevy when we first meet him. When he flips the coin to the bartender and says "sorry about the mess" we kind of know where he stands as a person. That way, by the end of the film when he comes full circle and helps Luke (in the Death Star attack) it makes it much more satisfying as a viewer.

Supposing you are correct (and you may be) it's not a big deal. Then why did Lucas continue to trim away at that particular scene over the years to the point where almost trimmed frames away back to where Greedo and Han shoot simultaneously. It's like he's making it up as he goes along. And each change is worse than the last.

It's other little things that just naw at me. Adding a rock in front of R2-D2 when the Jawas attack Luke. And then adding a bigger rock later. Like, how did R2 ever get back there?? And all of the needless prequelesque CGI when Ben & Luke go to Mos Eisley, that stuff is what annoys the crap out of me the most. It's like he was practicing for the TPM and just monkeyed with his classic films just...because. Mos Eisley went from a 'hive of scum and villainy' to Pee Wee's Playhouse.

The larger point I have always made about this is that if, in 1997 George felt like he could "get it right" why then did he continue to tinker and change things back and forth. Why add Luke screaming "ahhhh" as he fell in TESB while basically committing suicide and then removing the "ahhhh" later. There's no rhyme or reason to any of it.

If any of the updates felt logical or if maybe people could still see the theatrical versions they loved that made a Titanic's worth of cash in 1977, 1980 and 1983 then the grumbling would stop. Lucas' best buddy Steven Spielberg has released multiple versions of "Close Encounters". But, that's the point, the multiple versions ARE available. He hasn't kept the other versions locked away like they didn't happen.

Quite frankly, while I'm bitching, I don't even like the fake sunset at the beginning of "American Graffiti" that replaced the original beautiful Haskell Wexler dusk shot on DVD/Blu ray.

 

I think much of this would go away if people could have access to decent copies of the original theatrical versions.

I always ask this simple question to people that think it's not a big deal. If, Leonardo da Vinci had, 20 years after finishing the MONA LISA, wanted to add a mole to her chin because that was his final vision of the painting. Should he have been allowed to do so? And furthermore, should he have been allowed to do so to the ORIGINAL? Meaning, you would never get to see the original unaltered MONA LISA again?

 

I think the Han-Greedo thing is just a lightning rod for a larger point: that Lucas had long lost any sense of what made Star Wars such a compelling story, and what made Han an interesting character to begin with (he was a "scoundrel" after all).

 

The whole discussion would also be moot if he allowed the original versions to co-exist with his "improved" versions.

 

The special editions are like plastic surgery gone wrong. You start out with a beautiful woman and end up with Donatella Versace.

 

The original version of Han shooting Greedo didn't make him a cold-blooded killer. Greedo had a gun on him and just told him that he was going to kill him:

Han: "Over my dead body."
Greedo: "That's the whole point. I've been waiting a long time for this."
Han: "Yes, I'll bet you have."

It was self-defense, but Han still came off looking like a bad-ass.

Still, I agree with others in this thread who say the change, as it stands today, is not that big of a deal. It didn't need to be changed, but in the current version of that scene, they shoot almost simultaneaously, so Han's intention was the same. He was going to shoot whether or not Greedo took a shot at him. It just makes Greedo look like the worst shot in the galaxy, missing Han at point blank range.

I have mixed feelings on the Special Editions. There are changes I love and changes I despise. There are more that I despise than love. Love the cosmetic changes, updated special effects for the sandcrawler and the Death Star battle in A New Hope. The changes that I despise...ugh, there are so many. Hayden Christensen in Jedi, Jedi Rocks, squeezing Jar Jar Binks into the celebration scene at the end of Jedi. This last one I hadn't noticed until I read it on a forum. For those who missed it, Jar Jar can be seen and heard on the Naboo at the end of Jedi saying, "Weesa free!" Some of the changes that don't get mentioned as often but are some of the worst in my opinion are the dialogue changes in Empire. The Emperor/Vader dialogue change in Empire, the alteration of Luke's dialogue from "You're lucky you don't taste very good" to "You were lucky to get out of there" and, perhaps worst of all the dialogue changes, "Bring my shuttle" to "Alert my star destroyer to prepare for my arrival."

 

Lucas is bothered by Han shooting first because it runs counter to the principles of the mythology he was creating. Fine, I can go along with that. But why is it okay for Luke to go on a murderous, bloody rampage at the Sarlacc pit, hacking and slashing with his lightsaber at anyone who comes near, before blowing up the Sail Barge and every single being on board? Seem rather Dark Side-ish in retrospect.

 

Han isn't John Wayne. He is Clint Eastwood.

 

This. Han is completely justified by shooting first. He's at the wrong end of a weapon, his life is already being threatened. In that moment it is kill or be killed. In this way, STAR WARS is very must a western fantasy type of film.

1976 George Lucas hung around the likes of John Milius. It's no wonder some of that seeped into STAR WARS – all for the better. Unfortunately, somewhere along the way he lost that edge.

 

I'm old and saw a film called Star Wars in the theater in the first run, and Lucas changed things during that run. For instance, Aunt Beru's voice was re-dubbed by a different actress. My wife saw it in the theater more than 100 times, and complains about a lot of these things that happened long before the Special Editions. So if you're talking about "the original theatrical version" you have to specify which original theatrical version.

 

Han was going to be shot pretty much at point blank range. He did what he needed to do...

 

Let's face it. The changes George made were stupid.

If you want to fix the Matte lines? Fine. If you want to fix the Wampa Arm? Fine. I actually welcome those changes in the age of high definition. But to change the look, feel and important plot points is just plain stupid.

My top - 5 worst offenders:

5. Luke screams - I put this at 5th, because even Lucas changed his mind on it. But to think to do it in the first place sums up the problem. Luke willingly commits suicide rather than join Vader. Why make him scream like a 10-year-old girl?

4. Vader yelling NOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! in Jedi. Learn the power of silence George. Actually, you did originally, but 1990's George forgot it. In Jedi, you can read the turmoil in Vader's expressionless mask as he looks from the Emperor to Luke. All of the emotional punch is ruined by having him yell no.

3. Farting CGI characters at Mos Eisley - To make this iconic film a cartoon CGI fest is bad enough. But to do it with laughable CGI characters that fart is unforgivable.

2. Jedi Rocks - Absolutely cringeworthy. My "favorite" part is when the CG characters sing right into the camera. Ugh.

1. Han Shoots first - He is an unlikely hero who is redeemed in the end. Han Solo early in the film is not a good guy. That comes later, and is more emotional because of it. Not to mention the "fix" looks absolutely terrible.

Dishonorable mentions: X-wings that look like a video game cut scene in Star Wars, Hayden Christenson placed in Jedi, Jar Jar Binks placed in Jedi!?

 

I know George has been changing SW77 since it debuted. The example you mention and in 1981 of course he added the 'Episode IV — A New Hope' to the opening crawl of SW77. I'm certain the first time I saw the first one was when I was 6 during a re-release (I suppose in 1982). So I always was stuck with the 'Episode IV — A New Hope'.

I would say that anything that pre-dates the 1997 "Special Editions" is fair game. The last VHS release of the OT from like 1995 or 1996 has what amounts to a warning that says in essence 'this is the last time you will be able to purchase the original version of these movies'.

So when I say Original Theatrical Versions, I mean pre-SE versions. Even though those might include a tweak here or there.

 

Nope, this was before A New Hope. This was during the first year of release when they sent out replacement prints to theaters that had worn theirs out.

 

I have to confess that my give-a-**** level on this type of stuff normally is pretty low. But despite that, I absolutely, positively agree with you on every point here. I feel Lucas got caught up in his own nostalgia and forgot that art - especially commercial art - is not merely the expression of the artist but also a communicative act. It's like he wanted to go back to his childhood or something, where everything is cartoonishly simplistic and there are no contradictions or loose ends.

 

I knew what you meant and was agreeing with you. I've heard that those changes (the dubbing) were made shortly after the premiere I think? And even the Dolby Mono soundtrack differs (in some places significantly) from the Dolby Stereo soundtrack.

 

My wife also complains about the re-edit of the whole "Close the blast door!" "Open the blast door!" thing.

 

The fact that Lucas believes it's acceptable to constantly be revising his films makes me happy that he didn't make a whole bunch of great films.

He's been completely out of control.

I'm a fan of the movies from the early days, but I've long since lost track of when every single change was made. I want copies available for purchase from when I remember them, pre 1997, freely understanding there's been a lot of changes at a lot of different times.

I'll buy those if they're ever released, if it ever happens; it's not something I think about very much.

Sometimes the artist has the least understanding of what he's created. I think Lucas is a prime example.

 

*Nod* *Golf clap*

 

Well I would learn the true meaning of the Force if I was paid as much as he was for "giving up" Star Wars.

 

Well they are Lucas' films but once he releases them and they are seen by millions of people, they become the audience's as well. The lesst he could do is allow both to stay in print.