Source: TheForce.net | New York Times

Whenever the Star Wars films get released on the latest home video format, fans have naturally come to expect various tweaks to be done to the films ever since the Special Editions of the Original Trilogy were released in 1997. They have been divided ever since on whether or not George Lucas should have even changed anything in the first place. For me personally, I fall somewhere in the middle, where I understand (and even love) some of the tweaks, and disagree with a few others.

It has already been confirmed that Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace will have a new CGI Yoda on the upcoming Blu-ray set in place of the original puppet to better align with the digital Yoda in Episodes II and III (it appears that most fans hated that particular puppet anyway), and that other minor changes have been made to help the films look better. But the most recent change that has got fans in an uproar is a new line given to Darth Vader right before he throws Emperor Palpatine down the shaft at the end of Return of the Jedi. I resisted posting this until Lucasfilm confirmed it, but today they have made it official that Vader indeed says, “Noooooo!” at that moment (much like in Revenge of the Sith but slightly different). A couple of other controversial tweaks have been confirmed as well. Hit the jump to watch clips of the changes that have leaked online.

Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope (actual audio from Blu-ray synced up to match footage from previous DVD release):

– Ben Kenobi’s Krayt Dragon call has been changed.

Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi (Actual audio and video from Blu-ray):

– The Ewoks get eyes that blink.

– Darth Vader yells “Noooo!” as Luke is being electrocuted with Force lightning by the Emperor.

Were any of these changes necessary? Of course not. Do they improve the films at all? Well, that probably depends on the viewer. Personally, the only one of these three particular alterations that I would consider an improvement would be the Ewok’s eyes blinking.

As for the biggest gripe fans seem to have, I agree with those who say that the scene where Vader throws the Emperor down the shaft worked really well as it was before. While I’ve never had a problem with Vader yelling “Noooo!” at the end of Revenge of the Sith (I know I’m in the minority, but I felt it worked), it is not needed in Return of the Jedi in my opinion. He no longer has that sense of calm about his decision to kill the Emperor in that scene, which I really enjoyed. This newly added line (or any new line, for that matter), while it does work in context, it doesn’t really improve the scene.

While many have claimed that they won’t purchase the Blu-ray set now because of these alterations, I personally don’t think these changes are enough to make me refuse to buy it (although Vader’s new line is pushing it somewhat). Now, if Lucas were to make such giant leaps as to give us a CGI Yoda in The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, digitally insert a different actor to play Han Solo, or put Kermit the Frog into the song and dance number in Jedi – then I would have a problem. But as it stands right now, these are relatively minor changes as far as I am concerned. Besides, if you compare these changes to, say, Hayden Christensen being inserted into the end of Return of the Jedi, or Greedo shooting first in A New Hope, they don’t really seem like a big deal. It actually boggles my mind just how upset fans have gotten over these new changes, when we’ve already had worse before.

I do think Lucas should try and be satisfied with the films from this point on though. It seems to me that he would just be on better terms with the fans by releasing all versions of the films in one set, much like the Blade Runner set that was released a couple years back. Even if he doesn’t prefer the old versions, he would at least put the films into a proper historical context for the viewer that way, since fans could observe the progression of each film.

But since that is not going to happen (ever), people just need to stop letting every little thing bother them and pick their battles. They are still basically the same as they were before, and we should be grateful that we’re even getting these films on Blu-ray in the first place (not to mention all the great features that will be included with the Saga set).