George Lucas Makes More Changes to Original Trilogy

Nooo!
By Michael Krumboltz | Movie Talk

Photo: Lucas Films/20th Century Fox

Some would argue that the original Star Wars films were just short of being masterpieces when they were first released (the prequels not so much). However George Lucas just can't stop futzing around with his creations. The billionaire filmmaker's latest change can be seen in the upcoming Blu-ray release of the original trilogy. In the battle between Luke Skywalker and the Emperor in "Return of the Jedi," Lucas has given Darth Vader a new bit of dialogue.

Originally, Darth Vader just stood and watched the Emperor electrocute Luke with lightning bolts before coming to his son's rescue. Not anymore. Now, right before Darth Vader comes out of his daze, lifts up the Emperor, and tosses him to his death, the Dark Lord of the Sith yells a helpless "Noooo!"

If you're having having flashbacks to the awkward moment in "Revenge of the Sith" when the newly created Darth Vader screams "Noooo!" after the Emperor lies to him about Padme's death (awesome parody here), you're not alone. Star Wars fans far and wide have voiced their displeasure. Among the disappointed is filmmaker Simon Pegg, who wrote on Twitter that he "always loved Vader's wordless self sacrifice." Pegg then goes on to use salty language to bring home his point.

Commenters at Entertainment Weekly are equally displeased. One person writes, "WHY? WHY? WHY? Mr Lucas — do you have sooo much time on your hands that all you want to do is to simply keep tinkering with the movies? Leave them alone and go fishing!" Another jokingly posts, "Oh, now I get it. Vader threw the Emperor down the shaft because he was saying "NOOOOO…." to what the Emperor was doing to his kid. And here I always thought it was just a big ol' bear hug that went wrong..."

Still, for all the outrage, Lucas has been unapologetic about his desire to alter his movies, probably because he truly believes he's improving them. In the past, he's made Greedo shoot at Han Solo first (Han Shot First!), added Hayden Christensen to the end of Return of the Jedi, and given Jabba the Hutt an ill-advised cameo in A New Hope. None of those changes have gone over well with the fans who have made him a billionaire. Perhaps one day he'll digitally remove Jar Jar Binks from The Phantom Menace. Would anyone complain about that? Anyone?

George Lucas may be planning new “Star Wars” trilogy

October 25, 2010 - hOTaIR.COM

My instinct is to shudder; most of you, I suspect, will react the same way. And let’s pause here to appreciate how amazing that is. So reviled are the prequels that news of new entries in the greatest sci-fi franchise in movie history now cause most of us to recoil rather than bleat with joy. It’s as if the Beatles had reunited in the late 70s, put out a bunch of horrible disco records, broken up again, then announced that they were reuniting again. Imagine how bad those disco LPs would have had to have been to make you respond to the news with, “Oh no — not another Beatles reunion.”

They’re that bad.

George Lucas is plotting to create new Star Wars movies at the ultra top-secret Skywalker Ranch. This is deja vu of the mid ’90s when Uncle George start[ed] tweaking the Holy Trilogy to gear up for the Special Editions. [...] These new films will have nothing to do with the live action television series currently in development. That show already has over 50 scripts ready to go and plenty of pre-production time and money has been spent on artwork and storyboards. Once that show goes into production, Lucasfilm hopes to be able to produce at least 100 episodes since that is the threshold for syndication in the United States [...Fans] can expect the new trilogy after the entire saga is released in 3D which is expected to be complete around 2015 or 2016.

Lucasfilm denies it, natch, but word on the street is that the wizard will get cracking on the prequels just as soon as he’s done converting all the original movies to 3-D. Because, after all, “The Empire Strikes Back” just won’t be complete until that Tauntaun’s guts pop right out of the screen. Meanwhile, Wired looks on the bright side with five reasons why Lucas should do another trilogy. Actual quote:

4. The last trilogy wasn’t great. Lucasfilm’s second Star Wars trilogy simply didn’t meet the mammoth expectations created by the first one. Another cycle of three films, done well, might give fanboys some closure. Although the second trilogy finished strong with the dark and dystopian Revenge of the Sith, the movie just couldn’t wash away the stain of Jar Jar Binks or Anakin and Padme’s roll in the hay. Third time’s a charm!

Exit question: Is the third time a charm? There’s a small chance that the venom unleashed at the prequels could convince Lucas to go back to basics — fewer characters, less convoluted storylines, no absurd Ewok/Jar Jar concoctions whom you want to kill on sight. And yet, and yet. Maybe the Beatles analogy is the wrong one here; maybe a better analogy would be … the Stones. Every time a new Stones album comes out, there’s at least a small chance that it’ll be as good as “Let It Bleed.” And yet, and yet…