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George Lucas made sure you'll never see these Star Wars moments (officially) ever again.
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00:00Now, Star Wars is undeniably one of the most successful franchises in the history of not
00:04only cinema, but pop culture as a whole. And though the series has created many lifelong
00:08memories for fans, both young and old, it's no secret, of course, that George Lucas has used
00:13modern technology to revise the earlier Star Wars films over the last 25 years. And rather than
00:18continue to offer both the original, untouched versions and the newer editions, Lucas has
00:23basically done away with what came before. So let's take a look at them, weirdly enough,
00:27today, as I'm Jules, this is whatculture.com, and these are 10 Star Wars moments you'll never
00:32see again.
00:3310. Han Shoots First – A New Hope
00:36Let's kick things off with the single most infamous change instituted by George Lucas across the entire
00:42Star Wars franchise. In the original version of A New Hope, Han Solo memorably guns down bounty hunter
00:48Greedo in the Mos Eisley Cantina, an act which demonstrates his cunning ruthlessness taking out
00:53a threat before said threat can get the drop on him. Yet for the 1997 special edition of the film,
00:59Lucas made the decision to digitally alter the scene, showing Greedo firing at Han first,
01:04before Han awkwardly dodges it and fires back at him, killing him. Fans argue that this diminished
01:10Han's character arc over the course of the original trilogy, softening his personality as originally
01:14presented, while Lucas has since maintained that he never intended to portray Han as a cold-blooded
01:20killer. Though the scene has received mild revisions in subsequent home video releases,
01:24Han shooting first has never been restored to any version of A New Hope, and given Lucas'
01:29passionate stance on Han's rules of engagement, it surely never will be.
01:339. Sebastian Shaw's Anakin Force Ghost – Return of the Jedi
01:38Return of the Jedi of course concludes with a triumphant Rebel celebration, where Luke notices the
01:43force spirits of Obi-Wan, Yoda, and Anakin Skywalker observing nearby. In the original release,
01:48Anakin Force Ghost was portrayed by Sebastian Shaw, who also portrayed Anakin during his iconic
01:54unmasking scene earlier on in the film. But for the 2004 special edition re-release,
01:59Lucas re-edited the scene to replace Shaw with Hayden Christensen, who of course played a younger
02:04Anakin in the prequel trilogy. While the logic here is at least understandable, that Lucas wanted to
02:09create a greater sense of visual continuity between the prequels and the original trilogy, does it even
02:15make sense to have Anakin's forced ghost resemble his younger self? Some attempt to explain this
02:19away by suggesting that Anakin truly died when he became Vader, but it's a bit of a stretch.
02:24And then there are those who simply object to Hayden Christensen being injected into the original
02:28films in any form on pure principle.
02:318. The Proto-Palpatine Hologram – The Empire Strikes Back
02:36Now here's a change that actually has its fair share of supporters, even as some would prefer that
02:40Lucas simply left the original trilogy alone. In The Empire Strikes Back, Emperor Palpatine makes his
02:45first appearance in the series via hologram, though at the time of the film, Ian McDermott hadn't yet
02:50been cast in the part in earnest. And so, the cameo was physically portrayed by Marjorie Eaton under
02:56heavy layers of makeup, complete with chimpanzee eyes superimposed over the eye sockets, while the voice
03:02was provided by Clive Revel. From the 2004 special edition onwards, however, Eaton and Revel's work
03:07has been deleted, with the hologram footage being reshot with Ian McDermott in place, with alterations
03:13also being made to the original dialogue. Again, the effort to create visual continuity throughout
03:17the series makes sense, and the original Palpatine makeup doesn't exactly look great, yet many fans
03:22argue that jettisoning Eaton and Revel's work from the franchise is rather cruel and unnecessary.
03:27Plus, changing the original dialogue added nothing worthwhile to the scene.
03:317. Puppet Yoda – The Phantom Menace
03:34Here's another change that's actually a little bit less controversial than it might seem at first.
03:39If you saw The Phantom Menace in the cinema or watched the earlier home video releases,
03:43Yoda was actually portrayed as a physical puppet for the most part, but dissatisfied with the results,
03:48Lucas opted to replace him with a digital double for the 2011 Blu-ray release. It's an interesting
03:54choice, though Star Wars fans generally do bang the drum for the original charming puppet Yoda. In the
03:58case of The Phantom Menace, the puppet really doesn't seem up to snuff, and clashes harshly with the
04:03film's pervasely digital aesthetic. As such, while not everybody loves the CGI Yoda throughout the
04:08prequels, this is one alteration which isn't exactly infuriating, even though many surely
04:13wished the puppet version was still readily available without seeking out a 20-year-old DVD.
04:176. Lapti Neck and Yub Nub – Return of the Jedi
04:22Two majorly involved changes that Lucas made to Return of the Jedi continue to infuriate fans to
04:28this very day. The film's initial release included two songs which were ultimately replaced in more
04:32recent versions. Firstly, in Jabba the Hutt's Palace, the Max Rebo Band and Cy Snootles perform a song
04:38called Lapti Neck, which Lucas swapped out for the more contemporary yet obnoxious Jedi Rocks.
04:43Lucas didn't stop there, though. He also replaced the puppet of Cy Snootles with an obnoxiously
04:48cartoonish CGI equivalent, and added nine more members to the Max Rebo Band. And secondly,
04:54there's the climactic Rebel Celebration, which was originally scored to the song Yub Nub,
04:58but was later replaced with a new John Williams track entitled Victory Celebration.
05:02While the original songs aren't exactly masterpieces by any metric, they do hold a special
05:07place in the hearts of fans who grew up with Return of the Jedi, and so replacing them with more
05:11modern music only undermined that initial feeling. Sadly, CGI-sized noodles is here to stay.
05:175. Boba Fett's Original Voice – The Empire Strikes Back
05:21The Empire Strikes Back of course introduced audiences to bounty hunter Boba Fett,
05:26and until the 2004 special edition, Fett was voiced with acid-tongued delight by Jason Wingreen.
05:32But in order to reflect the prequel revelation that Boba was a clone of Jango Fett, Lucas had Morrison
05:37record Wingreen's original lines and then plugged them into the 2004 re-release. As much as we all
05:42love Morrison and his portrayals of both Jango and Boba Fett, there's just no contest between him
05:47and Wingreen. Listening to the two side-by-side, Wingreen's line readings are imbued with a greater
05:52sense of menace and mystery that truly made the audience want to know more about this masked man.
05:57Morrison's delivery, on the other hand, sounds weirdly casual and off-the-cuff,
06:01like Lucas just had Morrison record a single take and decided, yeah, that's good enough.
06:054. Vader Silently Betrays Palpatine – Return of the Jedi
06:10Here's a change that really pissed off a lot of fans, because it basically dilutes the intensity
06:15of one of the series' most iconic moments and arguably even renders it unintentionally comical.
06:20Originally in Return of the Jedi, Darth Vader silently betrays Emperor Palpatine and throws him to his
06:25death. But seemingly because Lucas felt the scene needed to spell every emotional beat out for the
06:30audience, he added some extra vocalizations to it. For the 2011 Blu-ray release,
06:35Lucas added Vader saying NO as he watches Palpatine torture Luke with force lightning,
06:40and then letting out a more prolonged NO as he picks Palpatine up. For one, it just makes everyone
06:46remember Vader's laughable NO from Revenge of the Sith, and needlessly spells out Vader's emotions,
06:52which are already made perfectly clear by his body language and, you know, his actions.
06:57It's an incredibly awkward addition that shows a lack of faith in the audience to intuit basic,
07:02obvious emotions, and surely makes fans of the world over cringe every time they're forced to endure it.
07:07Number 3. The Victory Celebration Without Gungans – Return of the Jedi
07:11Even with the changes made to its music throughout the years, Return of the Jedi's Rebels celebration
07:16is an undeniably triumphant cinematic moment, right? Well, George Lucas made an arguably even
07:21more egregious change to the scene for the 2004 Special Edition, when he decided to add the thing in
07:27that every Star Wars fan surely wanted to see included in this scene – Gungans. In yet another
07:32attempt to tie the prequels and original films together, the celebration montage is extended to
07:37show a giant celebration in Naboo, complete with Gungans visible atop a building as one of them
07:42screams ecstatically, Weezer free. Given that the Gungans remain one of the most divisive aspects of the
07:47prequels, throwing them into the originals where they had no presence previously was always going to
07:52ruffle a lot of feathers. Had they simply been a silent part of the celebrations, it would have been fine
07:56enough, yet the moment we hear one of them bleating from the rooftops, we're instantly pulled out of
08:01the euphoric moment and reminded of just how damn annoying Jar Jar Binks truly was.
08:052. The Creepier Sarlacc Design – Return of the Jedi
08:09Another divisive change Lucas made for the Special Edition release of Return of the Jedi was
08:14digitally altering the Sarlacc pit from its original design, adding in CGI tentacles, a beak,
08:19and a tongue. Yet this ultimately reeks of over-design that gives far too much away. As originally
08:24presented in the movie, the Sarlacc was made all the more terrifying in its ambiguity and mystery.
08:29But by making it seem more recognizably animalistic, through its physiology, the Sarlacc was too made
08:34considerably less intimidating. Lucas has stated that he revised the design to make the Sarlacc
08:39seem more alive. But wasn't that precisely what made the Sarlacc so damn creepy in the original
08:44version of Return of the Jedi? By making it more obvious and cartoonish, much of that initial cosmic
08:49horror vibe was aggressively ripped away. 1. The Original Moss Isley Introduction – A New Hope
08:55There are few Star Wars scenes more distinctive, memorable, or straight-up iconic than the
09:00introduction to Moss Isley. And yet George Lucas evidently wasn't entirely happy with how it initially
09:05panned out, so decided to make it busier for the Special Edition re-release. While we'll give Lucas
09:11some minor credit for cleaning up some shots that looked a little scratchy in the original cut,
09:14and adding in some not-all-that-bad establishing shots of the area, Lucas just couldn't resist but
09:19drown Moss Isley in garish, overbaked CGI chaos. In an attempt to make Moss Isley seem like a more
09:25bustling place, Lucas added new digital creatures to many shots, whilst also using VFX to extend the
09:31backgrounds. The most egregious change occurs when Luke, Obi-Wan, C-3PO, and R2-D2 are stopped by
09:37stormtroopers, and Obi-Wan performs the Jedi mind trick. For reasons that will never become clear,
09:41a gigantic CGI ronto walks in front of the frame for several seconds, obscuring our view of the
09:47scene in a misguided attempt to make it seem more interesting. CGI is a wonderful tool in the right
09:52hands, but as Lucas has proven so often, it can also be a source of frustration and even destruction
09:58when wielded without due diligence. And there we go my friends, those were 10 Star Wars moments you'll
10:02never see again. I hope that you enjoyed that, and please let me know what you thought about it down
10:06in the comments section below. As always, I've been Jules, and you can go follow me over on
10:10Instagram at RetroJ, but the O is a zero. Hope to see you over there, my friends.
10:14But before I go, I just want to say one thing. Even though we discussed about Star Wars moments
10:19you'll never see again, at the end of my videos you will always hear this same thing, and that is
10:23a
10:23message of positivity for you, the listener, because I wish you nothing but the best. I wish you
10:28love, happiness, and success, because you're a massive ledge and you deserve all of those things,
10:33alright? Don't let anything or anyone else tell you otherwise. As always, I've been Jules,
10:37you have been awesome, never forget that, and I'll speak to you soon. Bye.
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