Can you elaborate on this angle I have embolded? I must be too old, I was at best a fair-weather SW fan and have no idea what Gary's input into the series was (something to do with science or religion?). I barely remember his name in the credits. As for Oatsdad's analysis above, Luke would not be the first guy attracted to a long lost sister he never knew existed, and whose identity has yet to be revealed. Oedipus did not know at first that he was marrying his own mother, and there have been many instances in literature and film since.
Disclaimer: I'm not a huge Star Wars fan. But, I did see the first 3 films as soon as they were released in movie theaters, and enjoyed them. My question is: Is the only way to see the these 3 films digitally as I saw them when they were first released, on Laser Disc? Luckily, I do have a LD player and the LD Star Wars box set. But all DVD versions have been "tampered with" by Lucas, correct?
The 2006 limited edition DVDs included the original films - IIRC, they're duplicates of the old laserdiscs...
There was a DVD release of the "pre-SE" versions of the films, but it used the old laser disc masters. These version appeared as bonus discs to the re-release of the SE DVDs. Mind you, Lucas was tinkering with these films long before the Special Editions. So those laserdiscs masters don't reflect the films as they were first seen in theaters 100%.
Changes started long, long ago. For example, when you saw Star Wars in the theater in its original run, it was not labeled "Episode IV" in the opening crawl. That was added in 1981 for its re-release, after Empire came out.
If I'm remembering properly, Mark Hamill once mentioned his amazement when shortly after Star Wars premiered (well before any "New Hope" or "Episode IV" business), George called him to come in for dialog overdubs or something(I think for the stereo mix). "Um, George. The movie is already playing down the street!" If I have this right, this might be the first documented case of incredulousness over Star Wars revisionism.
They did keep working on mixes for quite a while. That's one reason I give the first movie a pass in terms of "accurate" audio - it never had one "real" soundtrack...
Oatsdad's reading of a potential romantic undercurrent contradicts every fanboy argument that George Lucas has "NOOOOOOO!" concept of subtlety.
Sigh. My parents couldn't afford the 'Star Wars' larger vehicles and ships, and so I had to make do with a single Landspeeder throughout my entire childhood. It doubled for the Millennium Falcon, X-Wings, Tie-Fighters, etc. Indeed, any number of emotional issues for me today can be traced back to my lack of a Millennium Falcon in childhood... I've looked at this $400 gigantic Falcon on Ebay countless times, but have never had the courage to lay down the money. I'm somewhat scared that, even after buying it, the wounds will never heal...
Kurtz was the producer -but not a "yes-man"/buttkisser to Lucas (in other words, he would tell him when he thought an idea was not good)- for Star Wars and Empire. This article is long but gives more details: http://movies.ign.com/articles/376/376873p1.html I don't agree with all Kurtz has to say or what plans he had in mind for Return of The Jedi, but I do think a lot of the changes after Empire that many don't like came about were at least partly because he was no longer involved.
It would be simple to not have the problems I see. Don't have Leia say she always knew. Don't have Obi-wan see Leia taken. And has far as the Chinese having different phrasing, it was more about Lucas keeping Luke's Father hidden instead of any galactic grammer.
After 20 or so yrs of watching empire this only occured to me recently,if vader has chewie and leia in custody,han is in carbonite and luke is on his way to cloud city,why would he command his men to deacctivate the hyperdrive on the falcon?Did he expect them to escape?if so why not blow up the ship?put 1000 stormtroopers surounding it?rip out the engine?anything !but why deactivate the hyperdrive so you could just capture them again in space?
It's pretty obvious Vader knew he was dealing with elements that were going to try and screw him over. It can be inferred that Vader pretty much expected them to get out at some point. His bigger concern was getting Luke to come there. What I never got about that was how little he cared for keeping the Princess around. She was the one primarily responsible for the Death Star plans reaching the rebels after all.
By that point, Vader's obsessed with finding and converting Luke - he didn't give a rat's butt about Leia or anyone else at that point. It remains a bigger mystery why Vader never sensed the Force within Leia, especially given how much time he spent with her in close proximity. Maybe she needed to be more conscious of her potential Force abilities before they'd be easily discernible by others...
Some of the major questions about inconsistencies in the movies are addressed in the book that Vidiot cited in Post #21 of this thread. People have perpetuated this myth that the entire Star Wars saga was plotted out before Star Wars (Episode IV) began shooting. And Lucas has been revising the movies to make this myth so. For example, the idea of making Darth Vader Luke's father came about while Empire Strikes Back was developed. The idea of Luke and Leia as twins came about after Empire Strikes Back. People have analyzed early drafts of these movie scripts to chart what was developed and when. Wait a minute!! Watching Empire Strikes Back on Blu-ray, I noticed something different in a scene. In the current version Empire Strikes Back, there have been changes to the dialogue in the early scene where Darth Vader contacts the Emperor. In the original version, the Emperor warns of a disturbance in the Force and at one point refers to Luke the "son of Skywalker". In the current version, the Emperor now says (all of this is new dialogue): "I have no doubt this boy is the offspring of Anakin Skywalker". Darth Vader expresses doubt: "How is that possible?" The Emperor says, "Search your feelings, Lord Vader. You will know it to be true." These alterations change the tone of the scene between the Emperor and Darth Vader -- e.g., the purpose behind Darth's line, "He's just a boy". The changes also tell us how Darth Vader came to figure out that Luke was his son. One website notes these changes as being done in 2004. Original dialogue: http://www.dvdactive.com/misc/chris/sounds/articles/starwars/tesb/emperorold.mp3 Revised dialogue (rerecorded by actor Ian McDiarmid): http://www.dvdactive.com/misc/chris/sounds/articles/starwars/tesb/emperornew.mp3
I am certain that every version of Star Wars I have seen (on VHS, Laserdisc and DVD) with exception of the 2006 original versions started off the opening scroll with Episode IV A New Hope. But in the 2006 original cut, there is no Episode IV A New Hope at the top of the scroll. Can someone verify this for sure? Is there any version of Star Wars Prior to the 2006 DVD that did not have Episode IV A New Hope at the top of the opening scroll?
'cause she's a GIRL! ...Seriously that was probably an unintended but significant factor. Hm. My hunches were right. Just seemed that way from a writing pov. Well, with that unnecessary change went subtlety and a lot of the strength in what I posted about earlier.
I'm tempted to say I, just to feel that disturbance in the Force. Really, start with Star Wars, what's now known as Episode IV: A New Hope. It really is where it all began.
A person not using the force does not just exude it. Force users can usually detect force usage coming from others (unless it's usage is being masked like the sith) but not when it isn't active. When Vader says in Episode IV "the force is strong with this one", he is detecting Luke tapping into the ability. Leia, not even aware of her force power, was never consciously using it.
Like BeatleJWOL, I suggest you see the original first: Star Wars. Preferably in original form (it's included as a "bonus" on the old 2006 DVD set). Then see the original two sequels, Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back and Star Wars: Return of the Jedi (same note about original form applies to them). Those three are the original Star Wars movies which made the whole deal. Then if you want to, try the "prequels" and other stuff.
Like a lot of people, I became a Star Wars fan as a kid... and although I grew up with the original, unaltered versions, this was back in the days when the only real options for repeated home viewings of your favourite movies was either to tape a TV airing (which were edited, full of commercials, and full-screen), or to buy a "proper" VHS copy (which were uncut but still full-screen). I nearly wore out my copies from watching them so much, but I still longed for the day when I could own a widescreen edition and finally see my favourite trilogy the way it was meant to be seen. So several years later, when the trilogy was finally released on VHS in widescreen, it was a momentous occasion for me... it almost felt like I was watching a whole new trilogy. My eyes were glued to the edges of the screen, taking in all the extra details and scenery that I had missed during my years of being stuck with full-screen copies. Here are a couple little moments that were relevatory for me: - In A New Hope, when Luke is using his electrobinoculars to look for Tusken Raiders, he says "well, there are two Banthas down there, but I don't see any.... wait a second, there are Sand People alright, I can see one of them now." This line always baffled me as a kid, because the Tusken Raider that enters the frame at that moment is completely out-of-frame in the full-screen version. What the heck was Luke talking about, I always wondered? But in the proper widescreen format, the Tusken is clearly visible and everything makes sense. - In A New Hope, during the scene where Luke sits down to eat with Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru, there's a moment during Luke's "I want to transmit my application to the Academy this year" dialogue where he turns his head briefly away from Owen. When I was a kid and watched the film in full-screen, I always assumed Luke was turning away due to being slightly uncomfortable about revealing his plan to his Uncle, the same way any of us might avert our eyes when having a nervous conversation with someone. But watching the film in widescreen, I discovered that Luke is actually just looking over towards Aunt Beru at that moment. (It was hard to judge where Beru was sitting if you saw the film in full-screen... I always thought it seemed like she was sitting directly across from Luke, rather than at the opposite end of the table from Owen). Not a major revelation, obviously, but it was still fascinating to me!) Anyone else have any full-screen to widescreen discoveries/revelations?
I heard someone here (?) say that he likes to view "Star Wars" and then "Empire" before he then jumps back to the prequels and finishes the whole set with "Jedi". When I went through all six on Blu-ray, I did them in number order I-VI, but that was due to the demands of reviewing: I wanted to crank through them in the order I'd post my reviews. If it hadn't been for that, I would've tried the IV-V-I-II-III-VI idea...
