Star Wars DVD box

[malatesta1137]

I am a buff and won't deny it. I am definitely buying the new DVD set (out in 2 weeks) even though I have not only the special edition tapes but the original releases on VHS. I am a little disturbed at the changes made though, I think George Lucas thought he wouldn't make as much money (does he need more?) if the movies, sorry, films were left intact.

Here are the changes:

A New Hope

The animation of Luke's landspeeder entering Mos Eisley has been redone. Now the speeder swoops in from the side rather than appearing from overhead. C-3PO is also more realistically animated and reacts to the movement.

The blaster fight between Han and Greedo has also been revised slightly. In the 1997 version, Greedo's shot has hit the wall, while Han hasn't fired yet. In the new 2004 edition, Han fires much sooner, so that the shots are much closer together. Also, Han's whole upper body shifts over slightly in reaction to Greedo's shot rather than just his head.

The biggest change in A New Hope is that the CG animation of Jabba the Hutt has been redone using a slightly altered version of the Episode I character model. Jabba's expressions and movements are now much more natural, and he blends with Han's performance better.

Here's a more minor alteration - the lettering on the tractor beam display has been changed from English in the 1997 version to a stylized Imperial font (reportedly called 'Aurebesh') in the 2004 DVD version.

The other major change in A New Hope - all of the lightsaber blades have been re-rotoscoped to have more color and be more consistent in appearance with their look in the other films.


The Empire Strikes Back

The old woman who played the Emperor in Empire has been replaced by Ian McDiarmid (who played the character in Jedi and the recent prequels).


Return of the Jedi

Luke and Vader's lightsaber blades are now more muted in a select few shots at the start of their fight in Jedi for the new 2004 DVD Edition. Not for the whole fight, but just at the start.

The eyebrows of actor Sebastian Shaw have been erased in the new version.

Naboo is now included among the worlds where celebrations are shown at the end of the film.

On Coruscant, the Galactic Senate and Jedi Temple have been added on the horizon for the new DVD edition.

Anakin's Force ghost is now played by Hayden Christensen instead of Sebastian Shaw.

[bluestateguy]

1. I heard there were no changes?

Where did you find this? I own the VHS tapes, and I'd probably be snookered into buying the DVD's if they were improved.

[malatesta1137]

2. here

http://www.thedigitalbits.com/reviews3/starwarschanges.html