Recently, George Lucas has said that he is going to retire from the movie making business. For me, this is good news. Every time he changes something in the original trilogy I cringe, thinking, "What nonsense has he added this time?" However, George is blaming us, the fans, for crushing his dreams of making more Star Wars films, saying, "Why would I make any more when everybody yells at you all the time and says what a terrible person you are?" He blames us. No, George; don't go blaming your fans. As much as I admire the man who created the greatest Science Fiction franchise in history, he has no one to blame but himself. My main point: He didn't make bad movies, he made them bad.
You have failed me, George... For the last time...
"Hold on now, Goongala. That doesn't make any sense." Okay, dear reader, let me explain. He didn't make bad movies. In their unaltered versions, the original Star Wars trilogy is the greatest gift ever given to us Science Fiction fans. I personally consider The Empire Strikes Back as my favorite movie of all time. So, he didn't make bad movies. He made them bad. It all started with the Special Editions...
Ughh... I think I may have a conniption...
Now, to be fair, the Special Editions weren't all that bad. It was nice to see a few scenes with CGI additions and a few completely new scenes as well. Many of their scenes added to the experience of watching the movie. Then George changed a few more things. Then a few more. And more. Most of these new additions were ridiculous. Greedo shooting first? No, Han shot first, and was the only one to shoot. Greedo was a bounty hunter, not an assassin. How's Jabba going to get his money back if Han is dead? Greedo wouldn't have shot unless he absolutely had to, which means he wouldn't have shot first. Putting Hayden Christensen at the end of Return of the Jedi? NO. Hayden Christensen was one of the main reasons the prequels were so terrible. Aside from bad actors, the change doesn't make sense at all. If, as a ghost Jedi, you retain your body from when you died, why does Anakin revert back to young Anakin? If we follow that logic, they should have replaced Alec Guiness with Ewan McGregor. Now I hear that the Bluray version has Darth Vader yelling "NOOOO!" when he throws the Emperor over the edge in Return of the Jedi. *Sigh*
Then you realize it could have been a whole lot worse...
I can't recall any other movie where the director has gone back and changed a movie that they've already finished. Adding deleted or extended scenes? Yes. Changing existing scenes and sections of the plot? No. As one of my friends put it, "The Star Wars franchise owes more to its fans than any other franchise." It's the fans that have kept the franchise alive (and correct). Up to, and including, fixing the movies.
"Fixing the movies?" Yes, fixing the movies. I now direct your attention to Star Wars: A New Hope Revisited:
A New Hope Revisited is a "fan-edit" of Episode IV, where a fan, who goes by the name of Adywan, has re-cut the movie to remove a lot of the ridiculous changes Lucas made to the film, fix a few problems, and add a few scenes. Initially I was hesitant. "Change Star Wars? BLASPHEMY!" However, after watching it, I can say that it by far my favorite version (except for the original, of course). Adywan removed several scenes which I believed detracted from the story. He also added a few CGI scenes, which can look a bit off sometimes but are still decent additions. And most importantly, Han shoots first.
You bet I do...
I go on and on about this because I love Star Wars. Even before I considered myself a geek, I was captivated by the story and characters. As I said before The Empire Strikes Back is my favorite movie of all time. It's one of the few examples of a movie where the bad guys win in the end. Out of every villain, in every movie, ever made, Darth Vader is my absolute favorite. I even have a shrine...
Don't judge me...
The point I'm trying to make is that it's not our fault for how the movies have turned out. George, you need to take responsibility for what you've done to your movies. You should have listened to the fans when they told you to stop five changes ago. I do thank you for creating Star Wars, but please, I beg you, let it be.
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