“Only What You Take With You” 

-Yoda to Luke before entering the Darkside Cave on Dagobah-

 

It’s hard to remember exactly when I first saw “Star Wars”, before actually seeing it. I do remember in mid-summer 1977, my family loaded up the car, ($4 a car load in those days!) went to the drive in. I do recall a promotional giveaway of Star Wars items, bubblegum cards perhaps, too early for the action figures just yet, but the first 50 cars got some sweet swag! Our car was 51. Just my luck. We pulled up to the window and I got a lollipop. Arrggg!
Once we settled in and the movie started, I remember being utterly blown away as the Star Destroyer crept across the screen. I don’t recall much of the experience except images, when R2-D2 was zapped by the Jawas and fell over, I heard a wave of laughter from the cars along side us or when the Millennium Falcon makes its first jump to light speed. And of course the Death Star assault and the awards ceremony, I distinctly recall people cheering when the Death Star blew up. As we left the drive-in, I was forever changed that night, Star Wars was imprinted on my brain and I’ve never looked back.
In between the movies, Christmases were stocked with action figures, ships and play sets, bedsheets, t-shirts, notebooks and stickers. I wore Star Wars underoos, (Vader was my favorite) like a model posing for Ralph Lauren. My cousin and I would use old broom sticks and cardboard paper wrapping tubes, which didn’t last long, for our light saber duels and fight over who got to be Han Solo. Long before VCR’s, I remember using my mom’s portable tape recorder to record the trailers of the ANH shown on television in between episodes of “Charlie’s Angels.” The less said about the horrible Holiday Special the better.
I became a member of the fan club, Bantha Tracks and waited anxiously for the release of “The Empire Strikes Back.”
Upon its release, one of the best movie experiences ever, was when Vader told Luke he was his father. An audible gasp was heard as no one could believe it. Long before movie spoilers and the internet would ruin everything for you, everyone, myself included, went in relatively cold. Knowing only it was the sequel to Star Wars, we all had no idea what we were in for.
Contrary to popular belief, Empire was not universally acclaimed, several mainstream critics dismissed it, Vincent Canby, of the New York Times said it was too dark, muddled plot and too intense.  Legendary critic Pauline Kael was dismissive,  just as she had with the first film calling it ‘a bright shiny, kids toy- nothing more.’

The kids down the street, two super dork brothers were forbidden to see it by their crazed religious mother who felt Vader was a ‘Satanic looking’ figure. I don’t think those poor bastards got to see the flick until at least 2 years later…

They hung on my every word as I described the incredible walking AT-ATs attacking the Rebels on Hoth, the thrilling asteroid field chase, Yoda, Luke and Vader dueling. I felt sorry for them on that day as I got the experience of a lifetime and they had to listen to some punk neighbor kid give them the gory details.
The coveting of new toy began, the AT-AT, possibly the single best toy ever created by Kenner. It had everything, guns, opened doors, grappling hook, rope, batteries to make noise awesome. Sadly, it eluded me, all those Christmases asking, pleading, begging, I would not get one until years later when I discovered ebay.
As Empire faded away, the anticipation was building for “Return of the Jedi.” I continued to read my monthly edition of Bantha Tracks and collect the figures like a fiend. Every time my mom made a grocery run, I’d cajole and twist her arm to take me to Wal-Mart or the defunct S. S. Kresge dime store. For the longest time it seemed the store only ever had three figures; one I already had, Lobot and the others I deemed lame at the time; Bespin Security Guard, (black and white one) Princess Leia in Bespin Gown. I was dilegent, if I found what I was looking for and didn’t have the dough, I’d hide the figure behind a bigger item I knew would stay put for while and come back for it later. This almost always worked, unless an employee saw me rearrange their stock and put it back in the shelf.
It was hard times for a lower class kid growing up wanting every Star Wars toy ever made, but Christmases were always great in those years up to at least 1985.
When JEDI debuted, it was one of the best crowd-pleasing moments I’ve ever experienced; Luke walks the plank and R2 shoots him his light saber, the house nearly collapsed from applause and cheers. Being caught up in the moment, I didn’t want it to end. I loved the Ewoks, the speeder bike chase, the emotional duel between father and son and the last gasp of the evil Emperor. I was glued to my seat despite being filled up with a gallon of cola.
It took awhile to sink in that this was the last one. So much so, I did not believe the stories beforehand that Vader was killed and unmasked. As I sat in the theater, at 11 y/o, I wept, not just for Anakin’s redemption, but for me as a fan and for Star Wars in general, as it would soon be over, the rituals, the figure hunting, the anticipation all done.
As the summer closed and the years passed, Star Wars faded away not only from my life, but from the national awareness as well with Lucas stepping away from his Universe for a time.
Much to my surprise, I was fine with that as I matured, got my Driver’s license, graduated high school and prepared for college, I had already discovered far more provocative things to obsess over.
As the 90’s dawned, something extraordinary happened. Star Wars made a comeback,
In 1991 Heir to the Empire was released to hungry fans everywhere. It was the first Star Wars novel to hit the New York Times best sellers list. It gave birth to the expanded universe line of books and comics. Two more sequels followed, “Dark Force Rising,” “The Last Command,” both best sellers. The weren’t the movies, but they were the original characters and they would do for the moment.
The Star Wars revival was in full gear when in 1995 Lucas announced the 20th anniversary re-release of all three films in 97 and then production would soon begin on the prequel trilogy. Fans were ecstatic to say the least.
“Star Wars: A New Hope” was released in 1997 to enthusiastic audiences all over again. No good deed goes unpunished, as it was here, that the tide was slowly turning against Lucas. Something I never thought I would ever see in my lifetime. Not in a significant way, but for some “fans” he was becoming a target of disdain for changing their beloved franchise with some additional changes to the films, the most controversial being “Greedo shooting at Han Solo.” Originally, Greedo talks crap, Han blows him away, the alien slumps over dead, a great scene right out of a Clint Eastwood spaghetti western. I don’t like it either, but I never made it an effort to hate Lucas for it or to waste bandwidth complaining about it.

I will however comment on the positive changes Lucas has made over the years in hopes of gaining some perspective and illuminating a few who may still be in the dark.

With the exception of one change, I happen the dig the rest and I hope whoever reads this will learn to appreciate “Star Wars” for either the first time or in a new light. I will stick to the original trilogy as where that is the majority of the changes. The addition of digital Yoda to The  Phantom Menace  is of course, a wise choice and long overdue, so we can leave it at that.

For those reacting, or should I say, over reacting to these latest blu-ray changes, I ask why? What did you expect? Ever since 1977, with each introduction to a new media format and with re-releases, the films have always had a few tweaks and additions. The misconception though is that it started in 1997, which is just not true. It has been going on practically ever since the first film’s release. Lucas was pressured constantly during production of “Star Wars” and never felt it was completely finished. His penchant for tweaking and adding was evident even in those days in 1977, but it was mostly audio changes at first; alternate dialogue takes and sound effects were added, tweaked, or eliminated. The first visual change at least as far as I can remember, was in 1981, he added “Episode IV: A New Hope” to the re-release prints of Star Wars to connect with, ret-con “Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back,” in 1980.

The original title to episode 6 was “Revenge of the Jedi” there were trailers made, even posters. This was done mainly to smoke out bogus merchandisers; also, George realized there was no revenge angle to the story. Still the tinkering and the tweaking have ALWAYS been there.

1997 saw the most significant changes occur once technology caught up Lucas’s imagination with the re-release of the original trilogy to theaters. A constant ire to him, he explained his need to re-do some glaring effects, punch up the audio and add ‘a few new surprises.’

STAR WARS EPISODE IV: A NEW HOPE

Most of the changes were positive and met with enthusiasm, except for one:

* Tattooine’s Mos Eisley now looks busier and a bigger hive of scum and villainy.

* During the Stormtroopers search for the droids, they now ride moving, more realistic looking Dewbacks instead of sitting atop a stationary prop.

*  Ben Kenobi’s Krayt Dragon  call to scare away the Sand People assaulting Luke is given a higher pitch (blu-ray). Who cares?

* Han Solo and Jabba the Hutt, a much slimmer version, have a face to face that many liked but just many did not. The 97 version looks terrible; Jabba has big bulbous eyes and looks like something from N64. The 2004 version corrected it and now the scene is much better. Many have said it is redundant, but I like it. It puts Solo in control and has a nice pay off in JEDI when he’s Jabba’s prisoner.

* Luke’s land speeder effect was made to look less obvious and the X-Wings approaching the Death Star Assault look far more impressive.

* And here it is, the biggest change, the one that still all these years later is the cause of many fat fanboys consternation is the Han/Greedo showdown. Originally, Greedo corners Solo, talks guff, threatens to kill him, Solo gets him under the table, the alien slumps over dead. It was quick, tight and superbly edited. The redo has a wide establishing shoot of Greedo shooting first, Han dodging it, firing back and killing him.

I understand his reasons for changing Solo’s MO, I guess; to tone down the cold-blooded vibe Solo gives off by killing Greedo in a somewhat sneaky fashion. I do not like it, unnecessary. The 2004 DVDs and now the blu-rays have corrected it somewhat, they both now shoot simultaneously, but it still looks awkward. Of all the changes Lucas made this is the only one that I truly dislike. It is intrusive and makes a once great scene now look like a patch job, haphazardly slapped together. However, hey, it’s his baby.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

STAR WARS: EPISODE V: THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK

The second installment had a few changes, mostly cosmetic, but the two significant tweaks were a brand new Wampa creature and Ian MacDiarmid added in as Emperor Palpatine.

* The original Wampa creature always looked off to me. We see the creature twice and he looks terrible in each shot. When he attacks Luke, we see a pathetic close-up of a stiff prop and when he comes at Luke in the cave, it looks like it is on a dolly track with teamsters pushing it. Both shots are stiff and immobile.

* The redo is a vast improvement. The creature is now walking, moving and looks like a real threat to Luke a real character now, no longer the crappy prop puppet.

* The Best redo is the addition of Ian MacDiarmid as Emperor Palpatine. The scene is mostly the same, except instead of a female actor with Monkey eyes and the voice of actor Clive Revell as Palpatine; we have MacDiarmid back for the sake of continuity. The scene plays the same and makes a much better fit.

* The cosmetic changes were welcomed for the most part; Cloud City was opened up with windows and a bigger skyline.

* The speeder ships during the AT-AT assault were corrected so you now do not see through their cockpits.

STAR WARS EPISODE VI: RETURN OF THE JEDI

Of the original trilogy changes, this is the one with the most and the most controversial, not so much for the changes, but the reasons why.

* The infamous Jabba musical sequence was always there; now Sy Snootles and the Max Rebo Band, no longer looks like marionettes. Take it or leave it, by no means does it brings the film down. It is fun, nothing more. Although, the original song was a bit catchier. Not sure why this causes much of a stir since it was always there. Again, something to bitch about is the fanboy way.

* The Sarlaac pit, the nasty critter Jabba decides to through our heroes in, gets a make over. Originally, it was a weird looking hole with teeth and some limp tentacles. Now it is a creature with snapping tentacles and a creepy beak mouth that gobbles the bad guys. It is a neat change that does not interfere with the main action on-screen of Luke hacking and chopping bad guys.

* For the blu-ray edition, the Ewoks now blink those creepy doll eyes.

* The best and my favorite is the change of the rousing finale with the Ewok yub nub song in their treehouse replaced with an epic, elegant finish. John Williams created a new piece of music that shows the entire galaxy; Coruscant, Tatooine, Naboo, Bespin/Cloud City, celebrating the Empires’ defeat. It is a wonderful improvement and adds weight to our heroes’ accomplishments.

Then of course, there are those who want Lucas’s head on a pike for adding ghost Hayden Christiansen to the ending of JEDI for the 2004 DVDs. Originally, actor Sebastian Shaw was in the Vader suit, dies in Luke’s arms, and becomes one with the Force as the ghost of Anakin who appears alongside Yoda and Ben Kenobi.

 * In the change up, Hayden Christiansen replaces Shaw as Ghost Anakin.

It makes sense. If you spend, hours watching the saga from start to finish its immensely satisfying to see the kid redeemed. Sebastian Shaw would be fine if the prequels were never made since that would have been the only version of Anakin we knew, but since we have now have seen Anakin in his Jedi glory as Hayden. Shaw’s appearance, barely on screen for a couple of minutes, makes little sense now compared to Hayden’s six hours and provides no dramatic power whatsoever.

The Force was inspired by elements of Christian religion; Lucas is doing a vintage change up and using some of those elements to define the Force and why young Anakin returned to his pristine self. He lost his soul when he turned to the Dark side, (the shot in ROTS with Anakin arriving on Mustafar and looks into the camera shows this) Lucas has said it is akin to being possessed by a demonic spirit, squelching all humanity from his soul. This is where he truly died, not years later on the Death Star.

He died young and Vader was mostly machine- he died young in the Force as Anakin, not Vader. He didn’t live to be an old man in the Force as Obi Wan or Yoda, (which is why they are old when their ghosts appear) he lived to be an old man in a burnt, destroyed body as Vader a Sith. When he died, his ghost represents when he was a Jedi… returning… and not a Sith. Most theories of the afterlife depict people returning to their prime selves, not as some withered, ugly old man.

Make sense? Sure does…thought so.

At this point, the addition of Hayden is not based on anything concrete and sound like making zero sense, (which it does) or contradictory, (which it’s not), it’s based on the cynical jerks who don’t dig the prequels and have really nothing against it other than petty and pathetic sour grapes and its all on you.

Get over it.

With the blu- rays,  a new controversy has arisen with the addition of NOOO to the climax of the trilogy. Originally, The Emperor is electrocuting Luke with Force power, he pauses, cackles, and announces; “Now young Skywalker…you will die!” Vader looks on. He looks at the Emperor, then at Luke and back at the Emperor, grabs him, and chucks him down the reactor core to his death, all done without Vader saying a word, nice and dramatic like, right?

Now, right before he makes the fateful decision, Vader says “NOOOO!”

My initial reaction to this was that it was a fake created by a fanboy to cause some unwanted debates, but then later it was confirmed as the real deal. At first, I did not know what to think, then I thought it unnecessary and then I actually watched the scene and guess what…it works!

 Here’s why.

People have to remember something vital about the character – Anakin was a slave his entire life, either literally, as he was on Tatooine, or metaphorically as a Jedi in training, as he constantly remarked how stifling it was.  Especially the last 20 years as a Sith, he was a slave emotionally, physically, and most importantly psychologically- he wasn’t using the Force for his bidding, it was using him. Palpatine especially was using him, stringing him along, and lying to him. The same way he felt the Jedi treated him.

 People miss the point of the NOOOOO from Revenge of the Sith. I can see where Uncle George is going with this. It was the last remnants of humanity, emotion, and freedom being purged from his soul as Anakin realized, and subsequently accepted his fate. As a young man, he was too consumed with hate, ego, power, and jealousy to fight it; he felt his loved ones had betrayed him he had no choice but to succumb.

In contrast, to Return of the Jedi, he sees a reason to reject it. You have the slumbering Anakin slowly awakening, (this begins in full when Vader is defensive about Luke calling him Anakin) remembering his humanity and compassion, and making a mindful choice not to let it continue anymore. Palpatine had stolen everything Anakin ever cared for, and as he witnesses his only son being murdered, unlike Mace Windu’s death, Anakin decides to act, so the vocalized NOOOOO in this instance is wholly appropriate, finally shaking the chains of oppression and being released by killing his oppressor, Emperor Palpatine. For those screaming that Anakin should never have been redeemed in the first place with his killing of billions and the hunting down of the Jedi. True, but he was redeemed by the love of his only son. If a child molester, rapist, murderer, child and serial killers can get a pass, given they have repented and asked for forgiveness in our spiritual world, then Anakin’s despotism can be forgiven in a fake world. Then again, if anyone is bitching about Anakin’s ghost being there period, then they are not fan and need to check out and never bother with Star Wars again since its been there from the giddy up in 1983.

The NOOO is echoed from Sith to Jedi. The first NOOO is of defeat, the second is for freedom. It actually makes a ton of sense that I hope fans will learn to investigate and appreciate.

The Star Wars fanboys have become quite a depressing lot lately. I heard someone say recently that Trekkies are superior; they at least have their dignity. (No laughter please) They like what they like and move past what they do not. Star Wars geeks suck the life out of everything they touch and leave it radioactive. Refusing to let anything, “objectionable” go, declaring George Lucas enemy of the state. A symptom of today’s nerd culture and society in general, crybabies and wimps who want everything NOW and done their WAY!  When they start wishing the man dead and personally attacking his children, something is definitely skewed.
I never once subscribed to that hate mentality, as Lucas has done nothing to piss me off frankly. If you are one of those who did not enjoy the prequels or the special editions, that is on you. Millions did. Still do!

Let go of the hate and STOP obsessing and worrying about his business tactics! Yes, he has a business to run and yes he has to make money from Star War, why is this a bad thing?  It’s not. Only left-wing morons would object this or those that have no clue how anything in the real world actually works. So give it a rest.

Fanboys and their wants are suspect anyway as they think they know whats better for anything they get their grubby clams on, yet they can’t gather enough energy to crawl out of the basement, take a bath or find a good job. They seem to forget, their memories are their own, but the property is not.
Fandom is often great, it builds a great sense of community, and collective love for a certain thing can be fun sometimes. Some of the most talented people I have ever met have been at sci-fi fantasy conventions. The kids who build those elaborate costumes are awesome, but then there are those cultish freaks who take it past the line with too much importance and seriousness. The fantasy and reality become blurred and the danger mode is engaged. It is cool to use Star Wars to escape reality, not let it become your reality.

A perfect example of how fanboys can ruin it for all. The nadir of the Lucas tirades and Star Wars backlash was awful little story I read about in 1999 or so, shortly after the release of The Phantom Menace. At a premiere in Italy, Ahmed Best, the black actor who portrayed Jar Jar Binks, was jeered at by a gathered crowd who called at him “Nigger, Nigger!”

Ugh. How pathetic. That was enough! You will not ever hear any anti Lucas bromides from me.

 As for the changes in general who really cares? I do not like Greedo shooting, but it certainly doesn’t change anything and especially doesn’t change my experience watching them.
I will have my memories and no buggering from George Lucas or anyone else will ever change that.  Fans are wrong in this instance and they need to dial back their passion because these are NOT their movies as some like to claim. They have made it personal. Yet, it is easy to see why. These films have not only become a pop culture sensation, but they have become ingrained so deeply in our society, so tightly, so profoundly that they feel like family if you grew up with them or old friends if you are meeting them for the first time. It is hard to let go if you perceive it slipping away, but if they would look past the hyperbole, they would notice nothing has changed. The films are still intanct; the experience is there if you want it. The changes are details, and details do not nullify the total. If the changes altered my experience, (for the worse) or the story, I would join in the outrage, but they do not, none in the slightest actually. If all these changes bother you, go away, stop watching and being interested; unless complaining and hating is more fun?
I kind of like the idea, every time they are released on a new format, there is something new to expect unlike the Evil Dead flicks that have been released on DVD alone close to ten times in a dozen years with the same extras and the same transfers.
Let me make myself perfectly clear, the magic of these movies is not lost. The alterations do not change the impact these movies had on me when I first saw them and they certainly aren’t diluted now. I don’t feel like George Lucas has “raped my childhood’… because, I am not a child anymore. To talk about these movies from a perspective of how you saw them as a child is just that…childish. Your memories can not be robbed or diluted, they are yours and yours alone.
George Lucas, love him or hate him, does what he wants, God bless him. Any fanboy would give their right kidney to trade places with the man so the rage against him needs to cease. The changes he does, he does because he can, and he feels compelled perhaps, and with money to burn, he does what he want. (More power to him! I wish I were as fortunate) He is like an artist who believes that his painting is never quite finished. Put those two things together and you have a man that is never going to be satisfied. As infuriating as it may be to some, Star Wars is his world, and we are all just visitors.
Lucas is no fool, he knows exactly what he is doing, and it would appear he wants to keep Star Wars updated to play in the new technology. He is connecting the saga, keeping it relevant, not raping, and killing it.

Yes, going on and on about the release of the original versions makes you one of the cool kids I guess but it also makes you look like an obsessive, clueless, idiotic purist, clinging crack baby engulfed in nerdstolgia. (Nerd Nostalgia)

 You haters can object and scream all you want, but you are in a vast minority and to the rest of us, no one cares about your complaints/issues and grievances, because they have no merit and are based on personal agendas and idiotic axes to grind.

 It’s true, no one cares. The sales of the BR broke records as fans wanted their Star Wars not concerned one bit by a two second sound bite of “NOOOO!”

 The stupid part is, the originals are out there, if you do a google search and aren’t afraid of that pesky bit torrent technology. It’s not HD but for the moment if will suffice.

  The most irritating aspect of this entire debate is that Lucas is singled out when he is certainly not the only director to go back and correct his films with added content or differently edited scenes. His pal Steven Spielberg did a redo of sorts with his masterpiece “E.T.-The Extra Terrestrial,” in 2002 by removing shots of some threatening shotguns and replacing them with Walkie-talkies. More scenes of Elliot and ET, (CG version) laughing it up were added. How about when Walter Hill did some alterations to his cult classic, “The Warriors,” by adding comic book style transitions and cutting a few seconds from the running time or when Ridley Scott shot some new scenes for the blu-ray release of his sci-fi noir, “Blade Runner. Director William Friedkin added back in deleted scenes and new footage to the 2000 re-release of “The Exorcist.” Yet, the majority of those changes go unnoticed, nary a vocalized objection is heard, and why?

 The standard answer is, because the originals are not available and this is where I scream because if anyone thinks the originals will never be available they are the king of the idiots. Lucas is one crafty bastard and a tease, because by delaying the release of the originals, he will have everyone, (the complainers anyway) so mind-screwed that come the 40th anniversary of the release of the original Star Wars they will be ready to purchase the big box set with the originals intact without hesitation.

Mark my words.

Many fanboys have expressed their outrage by saying they will boycott the blu-rays. Yeah, right! Since fanboys have about as much self-control as Charlie Sheen, I have some ocean front property in Arizona for sale to those interested.

 Right before entering the Darkside Cave on Dagobah, Luke asks, “What’s inside?” Yoda’s reply, “Only what you take with you,” Luke took his Light saber ready for battle and saw a prophetic vision. Such is the case with the enraged fanboys who take a battle stance every time Lucas releases something, they are ready to pounce and are surprised that they are not only full of rage, but disappointment. They get what they expect, yet they do not want it (huh?). In watching the movies with these alterations, they get only what they take with them. If disappointment and rage is what you covet, you get it. Way to go! It’s all on you!

Give it a rest and grow up! 

 You do not have to agree with or even like the changes that were made. Do a Google search, find a bit torrent site and you will find your beloved originals if you must! Love it or lump it, whatever, but do not say you refuse to watch these movies in the most pristine format they’ve ever been available because you feel those alterations completely destroy the entire saga, because that is simply not true. That is the worst kind over over-reacting horse squeeze ever cooked up. If you honestly believe that, well, that is sad and you are doing yourself an enormous disservice. For me, the magic is still there and now I have six Star Wars movies to enjoy on blu-ray!

MAY THE FORCE BE WITH YOU!

 

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