Lose Control

Star Wars Collection, Brian Hathcock, 2007

When I was a child in the early 90s, Star Wars seemed to have faded from view. It was actually Muppet Babies that introduced me to it, though I had no idea at the time what it was they were parodying. It wasn't until one of my uncles who grew up with Star Wars got hold of a widescreen VHS of A New Hope that my brother and I were properly presented with the phenomenon. A year or two later the Special Editions were in cinemas and I recall a children's programme looking at the digital insertion of Jabba the Hutt into Episode IV. At the time I thought this was a good thing, bringing it closer to what was intended but couldn't be technologically achieved in 1976. If what we got was a compromised realisation of Lucas' vision then how could we not welcome improvement? But the changes kept coming, and not just the little visual and audio retouches that go unnoticed. Fans of a certain calibre are acutely aware of all the alterations that Lucas has made over the years, and they will certainly be aware of the incongruous modification to Return of the Jedi that will be imposed with the forthcoming Blu-Ray® release.

If you read the history of the creation of the Star Wars universe, how Lucas noted names and locations and sketched character backgrounds, it bears resemblance to conworlding in that the setting was fleshed out before any storyline was even drafted. The story that was eventually placed in his world and filmed is in fact pieced together from a number of existing works (structurally The Hidden Fortress, and in the final setpiece The Dam Busters), and ultimately the plot arc is as old as dirt. He has great visual imagination, but falls short in writing and directorial talent. He must have realised that because he concentrated on production work and stepped back from writing the screenplays and directing The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. This is important because the primary difference with the prequel trilogy is that Lucas wrote two and directed all three. He's also a canny businessman if the merchandising deal before A New Hope is anything to go by, and goes some way to explaining the glut of characters and vehicles and impetus for making episodes I to III, and VII to IX if the rumours are true.

When we look at the major changes to the original trilogy we have to keep in mind that ESB and ROTJ were not George Lucas' to recut. On asking Irvin Kershner to direct ESB:

George said that this would be my picture, he would stay in California with the special effects...
- Irvin Kershner, Empire Strikes Back commentary

Episode V remains largely unaltered compared to VI, perhaps because (until last year) Kershner was still alive whereas Richard Marquand had been dead a decade by the time of the cinematic re-release. When it comes to the changes that aren't cosmetic, Lucas comes across as incompetent.

• In 1977 Han shoots Greedo.
• In 1997 Greedo shoots first and Han dodges before returning fire.
• In 2004 Greedo misses from point blank while Han simultaneously fires back.

Similarly,

• In 1980 Luke Skywalker is silent as he voluntarily jumps from a height.
• In 1997 Luke Sywalker screams as he voluntarily jumps.
• In 2004 Luke Skywalker is again silent as he jumps.

Either he's a professional troll, or he doesn't understand his own characters. Now the climax of ROTJ has been audibly defaced for the sake of a call back to/continuity with his prequels, just as Sebastian Shaw was purged from Luke's vision during the victory celebrations.

I realise that bitching about George Lucas is as dead as disco. However, consider the leap in quality from Star Trek The Motion Picture to Wrath of Khan or across the first three seasons of The Next Generation or the creation of Deep Space Nine with the concurrent decline in influence of Gene Roddenberry. The storytellers can shine when the creator stands aside.

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