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| Obi-Wan vs. Vader (Star Wars: A New Hope, Lucasfilm) |
Should Star Wars movies get more changes? In 2004, George Lucas started a firestorm among fans when he released new editions of his original trilogy. Most of the changes were made to take advantage of new technology, but many people objected to some of the changes as not being in the spirit of the original movie. We previously discussed how we liked some of the changes in the series, but there are still a few things that need to be fixed. Here are eight of our suggestions.
1. Obi-Wan vs. Vader
When we first saw A New Hope, the battle between Obi-Wan and Vader felt epic. We had never seen lightsabers before, and the crackle and flash looked dazzling. Then we saw the fights in Empire and Return, and the original fight lost some luster. Then along came the prequels, which pretty much blew the lightsaber fights of the original trilogy out of the water. Now the duel between Obi-Wan and Vader looks pretty bad. It’s really just the two of them standing in front of each other, barely moving their swords. We need to take it up a notch.
2. The Stormtrooper Hitting His Head
There’s an infamous blooper in ANH where one of the stormtroopers knocks his head on a low-hanging door. You’d think they would want to fix that. But not only did Lucas not take the head-knocking out, they added sound effects in the Special Edition. They also added a moment in Attack of the Clones when Boba Fett’s father Jango Fett bumped his head on a door. It was meant to imply a “genetic trait” for stormtroopers to bump their heads. It’s funny, but just cut it out.
3. Han Shoots First
In the original version of ANH, Han faces Greedo in a bar and shoots him dead. Lucas changed the scene so Greedo fires his laser first, and Han shoots second. In a later edition, the scene changed again to have Han moving his head to avoid the shot. Let’s face it. It doesn’t work. The wildly off-center shot by Greedo, the weird angle Han bends his head, none of it makes sense. Just put back the shot of Han shooting first.
Related: 6 Reasons We Know Han Solo DID Shoot First / 6 Reasons We Know Han Solo DID NOT Shoot First
4. Chewbacca’s Medal
The ending of ANH is incredibly upbeat. We see Luke and Han awarded medals by Princess Leila. R2-D2. There’s one big problem, though. Where’s Chewbacca’s medal? He was right there along with the others, fighting and taking down stormtroopers, getting crushed in the trash compactor. He deserves recognition just like the others. Come on, give the furball a medal.
5. The Bloody Arm
This is one of those bloopers that should have been fixed a long time ago. In the cantina, two patrons threaten Luke, Ponda Baba (more commonly known as Walrus Man) and Dr. Evazan (the pignose guy). When Obi-Wan first wields a lightsaber against them in the cantina, a bloody arm is left on the ground. It’s not the gore that’s the problem. It’s established through the rest of the series that the lightsaber cauterizes wounds, so there’s no blood when you cut off someone’s hand. If that wasn’t true, the series would be a bloodbath. They need to take out the blood. Oh, and it’s the wrong arm. Dr. Evazan is the one who screams in pain, but the arm is clearly Ponda’s.
6. Cut the Midichlorians
In the original trilogy, the Force was simply that, a mysterious force that runs through all living things. Fans were happy with that explanation, but Lucas changed the game in Phantom Menace by explaining the Force was generated by “midichlorians.” Not everyone was happy about that…well, really, no one was happy about that. I mean was anyone begging for midichlorians? Let’s just cut that and pretend the midichlorians never existed.
7. Jabba the Hutt’s Cameo
In the new edition of ANH, Han meets Jabba the Hutt in the hangar on Tattooine. This is another reversal of Lucas’ decisions. I understand why they wanted to restore the Han meets Jabba scene in ANH, but it doesn’t work. First of all, the fact that Jabba is talked about throughout the series but never seen until ROTJ adds tension. Having them meet early on is anticlimactic. Second, the CGI is terrible. He’s nothing like the ROTJ, starting with him being way too small. As for the part where Han steps on Jabba’s tail, Jabba should have killed him immediately. Either cut Jabba or make a better Jabba.
Related: What Jabba the Hutt Looked Like Before Return of the Jedi
8. The Dogfighting in A New Hope
When we first saw the space dogfight at the climax of ANH, it blew us all away. We’d never seen anything like it. But in later movies, the dogfights got more epic and detailed. Much like the Kenobi vs. Vader fight, the dogfighting in ANH hasn’t held up. Most of the shots are really just the spaceships going from one side of the screen to the other. A more epic dogfight could be created in CGI to make these dogfights match the rest of the series.
What changes would you like to see in Star Wars?
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<span class="dsq-postid" data-dsqidentifier="34082 ">3 Comments
Good point about the bloody arm.
Definitely need to go back to Solo shooting first.
It's funny, when you look back at the original version, there was so much wrong with it. And yet we loved it.
Well by then Obi-Wan is pretty old and Vaders suit probably isn't very acrobatic. The Family Guy version lampooned Hans "evasive maneuvers" pretty well.
Maybe Pignose was so angry about being lightsabered that he tore his buddy's arm off?