Reason.com - Free Minds and Free Markets
Reason logo Reason logo
  • Latest
  • Magazine
    • Current Issue
    • Archives
    • Subscribe
    • Crossword
  • Video
  • Podcasts
    • All Shows
    • The Reason Roundtable
    • The Reason Interview With Nick Gillespie
    • The Soho Forum Debates
    • Just Asking Questions
    • The Best of Reason Magazine
    • Why We Can't Have Nice Things
  • Volokh
  • Newsletters
  • Donate
    • Donate Online
    • Donate Crypto
    • Ways To Give To Reason Foundation
    • Torchbearer Society
    • Planned Giving
  • Subscribe
    • Reason Plus Subscription
    • Print Subscription
    • Gift Subscriptions
    • Subscriber Support

Login Form

Create new account
Forgot password

Wookie Here

Jeff Taylor | 9.14.2004 3:01 PM

Share on FacebookShare on XShare on RedditShare by emailPrint friendly versionCopy page URL
Media Contact & Reprint Requests

A week to go before the original Star Wars trilogy hits DVD for the first time and geekdom is already in orbit. OK, technically this is not the original original trilogy as George Lucas opted to make a few, ahem, improvements.

Start your day with Reason. Get a daily brief of the most important stories and trends every weekday morning when you subscribe to Reason Roundup.

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

NEXT: Cheka This Out

Jeff Taylor is a contributing editor at Reason.

Share on FacebookShare on XShare on RedditShare by emailPrint friendly versionCopy page URL
Media Contact & Reprint Requests

Hide Comments (15)

Editor's Note: As of February 29, 2024, commenting privileges on reason.com posts are limited to Reason Plus subscribers. Past commenters are grandfathered in for a temporary period. Subscribe here to preserve your ability to comment. Your Reason Plus subscription also gives you an ad-free version of reason.com, along with full access to the digital edition and archives of Reason magazine. We request that comments be civil and on-topic. We do not moderate or assume any responsibility for comments, which are owned by the readers who post them. Comments do not represent the views of reason.com or Reason Foundation. We reserve the right to delete any comment and ban commenters for any reason at any time. Comments may only be edited within 5 minutes of posting. Report abuses.

  1. Nathan   21 years ago

    George Lucas has lost his marbles. Someone posted the commentary track around the whole "who shot who first" mess he made of the Greedo vs. Han scene. Basically he said he changed it because it enhanced the heroic nature of Han (a hero apparently never fires first). He then went on to bitch about trying to get Spielberg to make the same type of change in Raiders of the Lost Ark (presumably the "hey, watch me twirl my sward," "Hey, watch me shoot you" scene).

    He sure knows how to suck the fun out of anything by making sure its "morally" correct 24/7.

  2. Shawn Smith   21 years ago

    Too bad South Park has already done the "Directors are destroying our favorite movies" episode. Seeing Spielberg's animated head blow up was pretty fun.

    I heard that there are NO original negatives of Star Wars Episode 4 left, because they were all pretty much trashed trying to meet the original demand back in the 70's. I don't know if that's true or not, but it would explain some things.

  3. Hendrix   21 years ago

    Can we please pass a law stating visionary artists have to shoot themselves (or else someone will shoot them) when they turn 35?

  4. TWC   21 years ago

    I had something really clever to say but it went away by the time I was done thumbing through the "changes". Some of that stuff was pretty obscure but some of it was just frikkin great...

  5. Dave Straub   21 years ago

    Hilarious!

  6. Nobody Important   21 years ago

    Someone posted the commentary track around the whole "who shot who first" mess he made of the Greedo vs. Han scene. Basically he said he changed it because it enhanced the heroic nature of Han (a hero apparently never fires first). He then went on to bitch about trying to get Spielberg to make the same type of change in Raiders of the Lost Ark

    At least he didn't replace Han Solo's pistol with a radio (as Speilberg did with the federal agents in E.T. (because we all know that federal agents would never threaten a child with a firearm.)

  7. Poor Humor Alert   21 years ago

    "Cheka this out" and "Wookie here" back to back?

    Shame on you.

  8. Czar   21 years ago

    I'm surprised we don't see Reason linking to SA more often. The SA forums are full of cynical libertarian types, and thank God for it.

  9. Jeff   21 years ago

    There is a plentiful supply of DVDs burnt from the original trilogy's laserdisc release, including artfully rendered menus and case graphics that match the episode I and II DVDs. There's also a toggle function that lets you choose whether you want to see the opening crawl text with or without "A New Hope" added to the top. Some have converted the Laserdisc Surroundsound into a makeshift 5.1 audio mix. These discs have been circulating for close to two years.
    I, ahem, have never seen one but I hear they look and sound gorgeous.

  10. isildur   21 years ago

    Czar, this is the second time in recent memory. (Look for an earlier H&R link to the TERRIBLE SECRET OF SPACE.) Twice is enough to shake the little compartments in my head up, but good.

  11. Eric II   21 years ago

    More than a full year after the travesty known as Episode 1 was released, Lucas dismissed the uproar over Jar-Jar Binks as being nothing more than the work of "guys who spend all their time writing stuff on the Internet." I think that response amounts to the final word on Lucas' current state of denial/dementia.

  12. Ernie Longmire   21 years ago

    I heard that there are NO original negatives of Star Wars Episode 4 left, because they were all pretty much trashed trying to meet the original demand back in the 70's. I don't know if that's true or not, but it would explain some things.

    Fortunately it's irrelevant; all the elements needed for a nice cleaned-up version of the original cut are sitting on disk somewhere at Lucasfilm. All they have to do is wait for Lucas to choke on a muffin, and they can finally build and issue a release without all the ex post facto fingerpainting on top of it.

    Has Martin Scorsese ever deigned to comment on Lucas' endless reworking of his movies? You'd think that as a contemporary of Lucas and an advocate for film preservation that he'd have something to say about it. With the newly-mangled version of THX1138 that came out this month, none of the films Lucas has ever directed are commercially available in their originally-released form, with the possible exception of Episodes I+II (to which I've paid as little attention as possible).

  13. Jesse Walker   21 years ago

    "Cheka this out" and "Wookie here" back to back?

    I hereby apologize for "Cheka This Out." Though it does become a little bit funny if you imagine Ali G saying it.

  14. George   21 years ago

    New Changes to the Star Wars Saga
    http://www.somethingawful.com/articles.php?a=2374

  15. Sweatartikel   21 years ago

    Sweatartikel http://versandhaus.gelago.de/cat16854/Damen/Hosen/Tunnelzug/Sweatartikel/

Please log in to post comments

Mute this user?

  • Mute User
  • Cancel

Ban this user?

  • Ban User
  • Cancel

Un-ban this user?

  • Un-ban User
  • Cancel

Nuke this user?

  • Nuke User
  • Cancel

Un-nuke this user?

  • Un-nuke User
  • Cancel

Flag this comment?

  • Flag Comment
  • Cancel

Un-flag this comment?

  • Un-flag Comment
  • Cancel

Latest

America's Baby Formula Rules Are Due for an Update

Kelli Pierce | 7.13.2025 7:00 AM

The Decentralized Master Planning of Seaside, Florida

Peter Suderman | From the August/September 2025 issue

There Are Better Ways To Help Restaurant Workers Than No Tax on Tips

C. Jarrett Dieterle | 7.12.2025 7:00 AM

Digital Nomads Are Getting Caught in the War on Tourism

Fiona Harrigan | From the August/September 2025 issue

Trump Walks Back Talk of Abolishing FEMA

Autumn Billings | 7.11.2025 5:18 PM

Recommended

  • About
  • Browse Topics
  • Events
  • Staff
  • Jobs
  • Donate
  • Advertise
  • Subscribe
  • Contact
  • Media
  • Shop
  • Amazon
Reason Facebook@reason on XReason InstagramReason TikTokReason YoutubeApple PodcastsReason on FlipboardReason RSS

© 2024 Reason Foundation | Accessibility | Privacy Policy | Terms Of Use

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

r

Do you care about free minds and free markets? Sign up to get the biggest stories from Reason in your inbox every afternoon.

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

This modal will close in 10

Reason Plus

Special Offer!

  • Full digital edition access
  • No ads
  • Commenting privileges

Just $25 per year

Join Today!