10 More Star Wars Changes George Lucas Made That Were Completely Justified
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00:00From inspired use of CGI to small refinements which make the world more internally consistent.
00:06And yes, that Force ghost.
00:08These 10 George Lucas Star Wars changes are not worth getting worked up about,
00:13because they actually all make total sense.
00:15I am Gareth here from WhatCulture Star Wars and here are 10 more Star Wars changes George Lucas made that were completely justified.
00:23Number 10, CGI Yoda The Phantom Menace
00:27George Lucas' changes weren't just limited to the original trilogy.
00:31He's also gone back and made adjustments to the prequels on their more recent home video releases.
00:36Case in point, The Phantom Menace's 2011 Blu-ray release saw the puppet version of Yoda replaced with a digital double.
00:43While it's easy to appreciate why replacing the classic puppet with a CGI version would anger some fans,
00:49given how egregiously and arguably unnecessarily Lucas has done this in the original trilogy,
00:54in this case it actually makes total sense.
00:56As charming as the Yoda puppet might be in the original trilogy,
01:00it sticks out like a sore thumb amid the more obvious digital landscape of The Phantom Menace.
01:04Simply, it just doesn't look good at all, does it?
01:07The digital replacement actually looks terrifically detailed,
01:10and makes these scenes feel more consistent with the CGI Yoda used throughout Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith.
01:16So it's tough to get truly worked up about.
01:18Digital Yoda may still be fairly divisive among fans,
01:22but this is a rare case where Lucas was absolutely right to ditch the rather janky-looking puppet.
01:31When the original trilogy was released on DVD in 2004,
01:35Lucas decided to give Sebastian Shaw a digital shave for the scene where he portrays a dying,
01:40unmasked Anakin Skywalker in Return of the Jedi.
01:43In the original version of the scene, Anakin has big, bushy eyebrows.
01:47They're right there, you could not miss them.
01:49Yeah, given that we see Anakin get horribly burned beyond recognition in Revenge of the Sith,
01:54it just makes no sense for him to still have eyebrows.
01:56And so, some seamless CGI hair removal made Anakin's appearance more consistent with his fate in the prequels.
02:03While very far from a necessary change,
02:05from a continuity perspective, it's absolutely reasonable and about as non-sacrilegious as Lucas' digital changes get.
02:12But because Lucas couldn't simply stop there,
02:15he did also make some subtler changes to Anakin's appearance in this sequence.
02:19Namely, changing his skin colour to a more ashen shade,
02:22and tinting his eyes blue to match Hayden Christensen's in the prequels.
02:25Again, were you really that bothered by this alteration though? Probably not.
02:34Lucas first began instituting significant changes upon his creations
02:38with the 1997 Special Edition re-releases of the original trilogy.
02:42But here's one that was actually totally worthwhile.
02:45In the original version of Return of the Jedi,
02:47Han hangs over the Sarlacc pit from a skiff in order to rescue Lando from the creature.
02:52Yet it never quite makes sense how exactly Han is being suspended in the air.
02:56In some shots, it's simply not physically plausible for Chewbacca to be holding his legs.
03:00And yet, there he dangles.
03:02For the Special Edition though, Lucas added CGI ropes which have been digitally tied around Han's ankles,
03:08explaining how he can be plausibly suspended upside down at all times.
03:12Though Lucas has made many objectionable changes to the Sarlacc pit sequence,
03:17namely making the Sarlacc more detailed and less mysterious,
03:20this one actually tidies up a slightly annoying nitpick.
03:23So it's tough to begrudge it at all.
03:25Han might be many great things, but he cannot justify gravity whenever he likes.
03:35Back when A New Hope was in production,
03:38Lucas hadn't yet settled on any consistent in-universe written languages.
03:42And so when Obi-Wan deactivates the tractor beam on the Death Star,
03:46its information gorge is initially very clearly in English.
03:49But in Return of the Jedi, Lucas introduced Aurebesh-like text,
03:53which eventually graduated into a full-on detailed writing system in later Star Wars media.
03:58And so for A New Hope's 2004 DVD release,
04:02he decided to alter the tractor beam's gauge from English to Aurebesh.
04:05Again, this is hardly a change that any fan desperately needed to see,
04:09but it's one that nevertheless makes the world feel more internally consistent
04:13in a small but noticeable way.
04:15Today, seeing written English in a Star Wars movie sticks out like a sore thumb.
04:19So Lucas was smart to phase it out as much as possible
04:22in favor of the now firmly established Aurebesh.
04:29One of the most iconic moments in all of Star Wars is of course the infamous beat in A New Hope,
04:34where a Stormtrooper hits their head on a doorframe while entering the Death Star's control room.
04:39You're probably aware that it's a genuine mistake which accidentally found its way into the final film.
04:44Yet the head bump has become such a legendary, even mythic piece of pop culture history in its own right,
04:50that even Lucas couldn't bring himself to erase it for the 2004 DVD.
04:54Lucas decided to add an audible bump sound effect when the Stormtrooper's helmet makes contact with the door,
05:00which really only makes the whole scene that much more hilarious.
05:03Sure, it transforms the scene from a subtler Easter egg into something more outwardly slapstick that everybody notices,
05:09but when you've got something this funny in the can, why not lean into it a little?
05:12More to the point, the sound effect is just so damn satisfying every single time.
05:23The best Star Wars changes are those which Lucas simply couldn't technically achieve upon original release,
05:28at least not how he wanted with time and budget constraints being what they were.
05:32And so the new CGI shots of X-Wings and Y-Wings taking off from Yavin 4
05:36and assembling in front of the Death Star during A New Hope's climax are tough to argue with, really.
05:41In the original version of the film, the ships were simply shown as tiny white blips in the distance,
05:46but for the 1997 special edition, they were gorgeously realised with impressively detailed up-close VFX,
05:53which nevertheless still managed to feel consistent with the sequence's overall aesthetic from decades prior.
05:58It's the sort of change that's good enough to make you forget it wasn't there all along,
06:02which is really the ultimate compliment it can be given.
06:09Here's a change that's so much more visually interesting that there shouldn't be any dissent about it whatsoever.
06:14And more to the point, it didn't involve Lucas using garish CGI to tinker with existing footage.
06:20In A New Hope's original release, the shot of the Jawa sandcrawler coming over the rise on Tatooine
06:25looks rather flat and boring, to say the least.
06:28A distant shot framed without much in the way of compelling motivation.
06:32And so for the 1997 special edition, Lucas decided to replace the shot with a better one.
06:37But rather than use CGI to recreate the sandcrawler,
06:40he had special effects artist Lorne Peterson, who worked on A New Hope, return to help shoot a new shot.
06:46Moreover, Peterson was able to use the original sandcrawler prop to reshoot the shot,
06:51which gets much closer to the sandcrawler and allows the audience to see far more of its articulation,
06:56while also being framed in a more generally appealing way.
07:00This new shot blends in extremely seamlessly with the footage shot 20 years prior,
07:05and is about as close to being an objectively superior change as Lucas has ever made.
07:14In terms of cosmetic changes which actually improve the movies,
07:17Lucas is more or less unimpeachable where the removal of matte lines is concerned.
07:22Matte lines are visible throughout the original trilogy.
07:25Black outlines of objects which have been composited into other shots,
07:29making it obvious to the keen-eyed viewer that separate elements have been combined during post-production.
07:34Some examples of this include the speeders during the Battle of Hoth in The Empire Strikes Back,
07:38and the Rancor and TIE fighters in Return of the Jedi.
07:41But for the 2004 DVDs, matte lines across the trilogy were given a welcome cleanup.
07:47With Lucas removing most of them entirely,
07:49or in the very least, minimising them to the point that they're scarcely visible.
07:53While few fans would outwardly object to the presence of the matte lines,
07:56this is an adjustment that nevertheless preserves and future-proves the films in a non-intrusive way,
08:02as is all the more important where higher resolution releases are concerned.
08:05Yep, these movies looking sexy in 4K, baby!
08:092. Replacing Sebastian Shaw with Hayden Christensen – Return of the Jedi
08:14Take a deep breath as I make an argument for what's easily one of the most contentious
08:18and controversial changes in the history of Star Wars.
08:21Here goes.
08:22In Return of the Jedi's original final celebration scene,
08:25Luke sees the Force ghosts of Anakin, Yoda and Obi-Wan,
08:28with Anakin of course being played by Sebastian Shaw at that time.
08:32But with Anakin being played by Hayden Christensen in Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith,
08:36Lucas opted to replace Shaw's Force ghost with a new Christensen version
08:40for Return of the Jedi's 2004 DVD release.
08:43Many objected to the sheer notion of the prequels creeping into the sacred originals in such an overt way,
08:49while some suggested it also didn't make much sense for Anakin's Force ghost to resemble his decades younger self.
08:55Yet the fan consensus has become murkier in recent years as the prequels have grown more popular,
09:00with many coming to defend the change.
09:02First and foremost, it can be said that Anakin quote-unquote died when he became Darth Vader,
09:07so it's certainly emotionally fitting that his Force ghost looks like his uncorrupted pre-Vader self.
09:12And beyond that, it provides a neat circling back to the prequels in the final moments of the original trilogy.
09:18Sure, digitally superimposing Christensen's head on top of Shaw's doesn't look perfect,
09:23but it's ultimately easy to appreciate why Lucas did it.
09:26And in the scheme of things, it's not nearly as objectionable as some fans insist it is.
09:31A little extra Christensen is always welcome.
09:38Though many fans were horrified by Lucas adding CGI eyelids to the Ewoks in Return of the Jedi,
09:43and honestly, who could blame them?
09:45There's another ocular-related change that actually makes a ton of sense.
09:49In A New Hope's iconic trash compactor sequence, Luke, Han, and Leia are briefly shown being observed
09:54and eventually attacked by a creature known as a Dianoga.
09:57We see it pop out of the water and watch the trio with its large, stalked eye.
10:02But for A New Hope's 2004 DVD, the Dianoga was digitally altered in order to blink.
10:07In the original version of the scene, it was incredibly obvious we were looking at a not-so-great prop
10:12that didn't remotely feel alive.
10:14But adding something as simple as a blink immediately made the creature seem more tactile and present in the scene.
10:20Now it's a believable-enough living thing, rather than just, you know, a big eye on a stick.
10:26So it's tough to begrudge Lucas this particular change, as minor as it might be.
10:30Those Ewoks, though? Ugh, I still have nightmares.
10:33And that's our list.
10:34Know of any other Star Wars changes George Lucas made that were completely justified?
10:38Well, let us know all about them in the comments section right down below,
10:41and don't forget to like, share, and click on that subscribe button while you're down there.
10:45Also, if you like this sort of stuff, then please head on over to WhatCulture.com
10:48and find some more fantastic Star Wars articles, just like the one this video you're watching right now is based on.
10:53I've been the always-changing Gareth from WhatCulture Star Wars.
10:57May the Force be with you, as always.
10:58Cheers for stopping by and watching this particular video today.
11:01Now go and check out some more on our WhatCulture Star Wars channel, and have yourself the best of days.
11:06Bye-bye!