2008 Woodie Awards
Hope is Lost In A Galaxy Far, Far Away
Mike Sangregorio
Issue date: 10/6/04 Section: Arts & Entertainment
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Much to many fans dismay, the prequel to this "holy trilogy," The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones have already been released on DVD. With the final film of the saga on the way (Revenge of the Sith, to be released on May 19, 2005) this is only the beginning of the next wave of Star Wars related merchandise.
This might seem to be an incredible turn-on to the millions that made George Lucas a billionaire when he pioneered the action figure market in the early 1980's, but in actuality it was Lucas' (Star Wars writer and sometimes director) drive for perfection that has left many outraged.
The versions of the films that appear on the DVDs are not the original theatrical releases (from 1977, 1980 and 1983 respectively) in their entirety, nor are they the Special Edition versions that were released in 1997. Presented instead are the ultimate "archive" editions of the films which feature, among other things, newly created scenes, a level of audio and video presentation never before witnessed in the medium and the re-editing of some classic scenes to better "flow with the prequel movies."
In an interview Lucas stated that he "does not feel as if a film is ever truly complete" and therefore it should be open to reinterpretation at the hands of its director. Lucas' cinematic eccentricities date back to his first film THX 1138, which Lucas purchased back from Warner Bros. after he hit it big with Star Wars, so that he could have complete artistic control over how it was presented to the public (he also pulled a similar stunt with his second film American Graffiti).
Many of the scenes do add to the overall enjoyment of the films, such as the previously blurry first appearance of Emperor Palpatine in The Empire Strikes Back being replaced by a masterful CGI rendering of Ian McDiarmid (the actor who portrayed the character in all of his other appearances).
Of interest is a particular sequence featured at the completion of Return of the Jedi (the sixth and last film chronologically) that has been altered again. These scenes, though, carry a more meaningful stigma. Between the first release of the film and the DVD release, scenes have been added to show the celebrations of freedom on various alien planets after the defeat of the aforementioned Emperor, and the audio track was replaced with a nauseatingly peaceful song performed by the evolutionary throwbacks, the Ewoks.