NEWS: Noooo!!! George Lucas Changes Return of the Jedi for Blu-Ray Release

CULTURE: Noooo!!! George Lucas Changes Return of the Jedi for Blu-Ray Release

By Damon Martin



It's a known fact that outside of some Ewok problems in Return of the Jedi, the original Star Wars series was always thought of by nerds, geeks and fans alike as the perfect movie trilogy.

A great set up and beginning with Star Wars IV: A New Hope to the ultimate downer ending with The Empire Strikes Back, all the way to Darth Vader's redemption in Return of the Jedi.

Well, creator George Lucas apparently can't learn to just leave well alone. As if he hadn't altered the Star Wars universe enough with past revisions when the trilogy was re-released in theaters a few years back, not to mention the prequel trilogy, he's gone and messed with perfection once again.

With the Star Wars films set to be released on Blu-Ray on Sept 16, Lucas has made what seems like a minor change that pretty much every fan boy and girl will react with harsh criticism, no doubt along similar lines to this article.

In the final scenes – where Emperor Palpatine is electrocuting Luke Skywalker, and his father turned evil minion Darth Vader finally steps back into daddy mode, lifting his boss over his head and tossing him down a giant well –– will now include one extra part.

Like Wyatt Earp in the film Tombstone, Vader will now bellow out the word 'Noooo!' just as he lifts the Emperor in the air and tosses him to his final grave. The addition echoes the final scenes in Revenge of the Sith where Vader first takes form and screams a smililar 'Noooo!' when he finds out his lovely Padme is no more.

It's one thing to add to Vader's humanity, but when it's as cheesy as the scene looks and sounds now, the world's ultimate badass loses just a bit of his luster.

Check out the scene and see if you say “Yes, George Lucas should have absolutely added this in, it's vital.” Or if you just wanted to scream 'Noooo!'

Marketing ploy.

Also, I thought Mr. Miyagi was the world's ultimate badass.

honestly, i think it fits.

Watched the clip. It's fine. Not nearly as bad as the Revenge of the Sith, "Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo"

But then, I don't really give a fuck about Star Wars so maybe there's some reason this is stupid that I'm not seeing.

as a geek, i have been extremely annoyed with some of the changes made to the original trilogy in its multiple incarnations...

as an artist, i recognize that it belongs to george, and he has a right to do whatever he wants with it, and i have the option to not purchase it if i don't want to. i sure don't want anyone else telling me that i'm not "allowed" to change my own work!

in this case, though...this change really doesn't bother me. in fact, this is a change that i think makes perfect sense. and i will definitely be purchasing the set, just as i have bought every other version in the past.

Back in poetry class, my old professor told us "No piece is ever finished; it can only be a draft." I think that fits with what Lucas keeps doing with Star Wars.

Either that or he likes hearing the screams of nerds.

Google around for a torrent of the "despecialized editions" of the original trilogy if you despair of there never being an HD version of the unaltered original trilogy. I have them. I've seen them. They're fucking good.

Basically fans have gone back through every available source of the original movies, the laserdisc, HDTV broadcasts, Blu-Rays, DVDs, etc, and reconstructed HD versions of the original movies as they once were by using the best available source for each individual scene, cleaned up and error corrected to fix things like lightsabers being the wrong color, etc. It's really impressive.

If Lucas wants to continue fucking with the series, that's his right. But as a fan who is, at least in some small way, responsible for his largess and success in the business (given the thousands I've spent on Star Wars products over the years), I don't think it's asking too much for him to just release the original versions that I loved growing up in a format that does them justice. The non-anamorphic widescreen versions that were released a few years ago do not fit that bill.

DO NOT WANT (Get it? Get it?)

Vader's silent Emperor-tossing actually had a fairly significant impact on my perception of what a badass is. So, I actually really don't want. Whatever, though, it's not like I'd bother buying it regardless.

This. After watching the clip, it wasn't as bad as I expected, but the original was a case of less is more. Let's nerd out for a bit (and disregard the prequels for a sec)

So yeah. Nerd rant and story analysis.

I can definitely see that. For me it's a little simpler. A badass doesn't talk about throwing you down a reactor shaft, he doesn't cry about throwing you down a reactor shaft, he picks your ass up and throws you down the reactor shaft and your pissant little lighting tricks don't mean shit to him because he's a badass.

^THIS!

Hey have any of you seen that he changed the part where luke take of the helmet so that you see hayden christians head instead now NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!! , is all i have to say

Silence spoke so much more to complex emotions the audience perceived him feeling. Now it just comes off as, "Vader do not like." It dumbs down a really poignant moment, too bad. Lucas seems to hate us all since Jar jar.

Hey, if Lucas wants to go back and change shit in his old films, more power to him. This is not any worse than the stupid dance scene in the palace, or Greedo shooting first. Or the prequels.

Star Wars may be the only thing from my childhood I can think back on without cringing, because it really was better back then.

Dear Lucas, QUIT FUCKIN WITH STAR WARS! EVERYTHING WAS JUST FINE UNTIL YOU HAD TO GO THROUGH AND TAKE ONE HUGE DUMP AFTER ANOTHER ON YOUR GREATEST CREATION!
-Kevin
PS, I'm not gonna buy it on blue-ray so I really don't care but please, just stop and leave well enough alone.

In the immortal words of Darth Vader:

'Yippee!'

I think the silence worked so much better. For me Vader silently and determinately throwing the Emporer down the reactor shaft was emotionally powerful. Hearing Vader yell 'Nooooo!' takes away from that. So that is my nostalgic nerd take, but it is George's movie so it is his to tweak to fit his vision. Sometimes though less is more.

Shouldn't he rather yell "Do not want"?

He should just put "Director's Cut" on the box and all the artsy folks will dig it.

Nerds get mad at the silliest things.

meh, lucas has every right to fuck up his cash cow.

I have never really invested the money in star wars merch that other people have so I am at best, indifferent, though I still think its a bit wonky to keep trying to tack on new bits to an old warhorse that has proved its mettle.