LucasFilms Confirms adding "NOOOOOO!" to Return of the Jedi

[Mike Kayatta]

But come the fuck on, George. Please stop. You obviously don't understand how you made great films in the 70s & 80s if you keep making these changes. What's next? You add Jar Jar Binks to the cantina scene, or re-record Alec Guinness's dialogue in Star Wars to include midi-chlorians?

Dude! What if Georgy reads this?? Those are two ideas he would actually use. I swear if I see Jar Jar in that cantina scene, I am remembering this day.

 

[Speakercone]

...You know what? I'm not even surprised anymore. The only way to watch Star Wars today is to bring out the old VHS player.

This is fundamentally not the same movie I loved when I was a kid.

 

[caviar1]

unnecessary addition but still not the campiest thing in that scene. when the lightening flickers across vader's face you get a glimpse of his skull. ridiculous.

 

[Canadamus Prime]

Apparently my words of wisdom are falling on deaf ears (and extremely dense) ears.

 

[B-Rye]

Not that I needed another reason to regard George Lucas with contempt...

 

[LilithSlave]

And that's why I love you George Lucas.<3

 

[Animyr]

Uh...thanks?

 

[Trogdor1138]

I posted this here, yesterday.

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/18.310196-George-Lucas-fucking-with-Star-wars-again

But Tito did it better.

Also does anyone know if they released an un-doctored version of IV, V, and VI on DVD or do I have to start hitting garage sales for old VHS copies.

Hey dude, back in 2006 they released "Limited Edition" 2 Disc seperate dvd's of the trilogy (they actually made heaps of them, I still see them on shelves, limited my ass), the second disc has the original unaltered versions on them (listed as "bonus features" just for an extra kick in the balls). But be warned, the transfer is a very letter boxed 4:3 picture. So if you're viewing them on a widescreen TV then you'll have pillarboxes on the sides. Of course the quality hasn't really been cleaned up, but it's completely watchable. They're rips of the Laserdisc versions from the early 90's.

If I were you, it's worth sailing the high seas for this one. My DVD's actually stopped working of the original prints (and my friends did too, coincidence?) so had to, obtain them again.

 

[tehweave]

Somebody stop him! JUST STOP HIM.

 

[Fearzone]

One day George Lucas will pass away to the Valhalla of film-makers, hopefully from natural causes, and hopefully not for a few decades yet, and we can all reflect upon the good that he has done, and then get down to restoring Star Wars to what it properly is.

 

[II2]

No. Just No.

(sorry, couldn't resist, probably ninja'd)

 

[Traun]

Okay, I'm sorry, but I've had enough of this. I was on George's side for some time now, saying it's his work, only he can decide what to do with it. But that's enough. Most other writers do not take this many liberties with their own work. Once it's out, it's out. They can't mess with it anymore.

Have you seen the video game industry? All the remakes, all the retcones...

I'm used to it by now, but, oh boy, did he destroy that scene.

 

[Lybs]

Dear George, if your so keen on adding bits and pieces to you "masterpiece" how about you rework/rewrite the second trilogy so it's better storywise and edited on the over-arcing story.
If George Lucas keeps adding stuff to this the way he been doing for the past 15 years he will do more damage to our childhood then rule34... -_-;

 

[YodaUnleashed]

However I don't think it fair to call Georges making of the originals an 'accident', credit must be given where credit is due and the making of a mythological universe so highly intertwined in the popular culture mindset of the general public is no accident. It might have been an unexpected success (as it indeed was in the highest sense) but it was no idiot who created Star Wars, even if he has arguably lapsed into idiocy now. I can't deny however, despite my great admiration for George and what he has created (even if not everything is tip top), this last alteration, the Darth Vader 'Nooooo' feels frankly like a big hard slap in my ***** face. That scene is of such monumental importance to the story and saga as a whole, and it is indeed the lack of any real dialogue (other than the emperors screams) with just the spine-tingling sound of the choral music, which extenuates its gravity and emotional power. Throwing in an odd sounding 'nooo' will ruin that scene. And I really mean ruin. I'm not over-exaggerating as fanboys tend to do. It will not ruin the entire saga or make me cancel my blu-ray pre-order as some melodramatic outraged fans will no doubt be doing and calling for now. But it will diminish that scenes power to the point were it will never have the same impact again as long as I watch the blu-ray. And that I consider a ruination. It will be jarring, it will be out-of-place, it will feel, like I said, as a big hard *****-slap in my face acting as not only a reminder to that laughable scene in Revenge of the Sith, but also as a reminder as to why these films were best left untouched.

The issue is that if you look back at how they were made, it was the people around him at the time that argued and fought him to keep him from making these stupid decisions, without these folks he would have arguably destroyed the original films with his total vision.
http://geektyrant.com/news/2011/3/8/3-ways-george-lucas-ex-wife-helped-star-wars.html
Just a perspective from his wife/editor at the time. Similar stories for many of the folks around him, mentioned in the well known red letter media reviews of his films as well.

Clearly his bubble is so strong at this point he refuses to listen to anyone, and has removed anyone that could stand up to him. This is a poke in the eye, there is no way he couldn't have heard the criticisms of the new film, and now instead of being more humble, he takes one of the worst parts of the prequels and shoves that into the original the pussify vader with consistency, pretty sad.

I agree; I know a great deal about the making of the original films and the reason the prequels were so heavily flawed as they are is because George wrote them on his own. With the originals he had other screenwriters like Lawrence Kasden and indeed his ex-wife amongst others and Irvin Kershner directed Empire challenging George creatively at several turns, most notably the famous 'I love you', 'I know' scene. If George had has his way, who knows, Solo might never have said the line that epitomises his character so perfectly.

However, his original vision is what created Star Wars, and whilst he might have made a few blunders if others were not there to step in and challenge him creatively whilst he was making the originals, they were still born from his mind and his ideas and there is no doubt in my mind that Lucas is one of the great leading film industry developers. Without him we may never have gotten ILM, Skywalker Sound or even Pixar and all the incredible work they accomplish in films world-wide, all of them having their origins within his company and under his management to one degree or another.

Lucas is living and breathing proof that Auteur Theory is bullshit.

Great works are collaborations, open to altering ideas and perspectives with thoughtful and equal dialogue about every decision.

But I've seen a lot of evidence even with the prequel trilogy that he has it in for his subordinates who ever show unique talents. Like when he hired Tartakovsky to make those Clone Wars shorts - I bet he thought they would just be some throw away marketing.

Turns out, they were really... REALLY fucking good:


Yep, this 6 minutes "kids cartoon" is better than all the films of the Prequel Trilogy... COMBINED!

And what did Lucas do in response to this?

He burried it. They did not get a proper and timely DVD release and he even went to the extraordinary step of RECTONNING IT OUT OF EXISTENCE! Yes, he binned the 2003 "Clone Wars" TV Series and replaced it with the GOD AWFUL 2008 "THE Clone Wars" series that he personally took the helm of.

Tartakovsky is far from infallible, but you look at his creative process and you will see he is inclusive and driven, except he managed to outshine his corrupt master.

I certainly feel the prequels suffered from the lack of those around George not challenging him creatively and collaborative work can certainly lead to great things (though many great works of art have obviously also been solo efforts). The Clone Wars micro-series was an extremely good and thrilling take on that galaxy far far away, with a unique 2D art style and stupefying battle scenes. However claiming it has been 'binned' is an overstatement; certain elements of the show have been ret-conned here and there but many of the stories could still perfectly exist within the current star wars timeline. And you've obviously not given the current Clone Wars TV show a chance because I'm telling you my friend, it is some excellent quality Star Wars material. The movie wasn't of a stellar standard but then the animation and storytelling team behind the show were only just starting to find their footing. The first series has a few poorer quality episodes as do the 2nd and 3rd here and there but overall not only is the show a visual feast it expands and grows the characters from the prequels, including many of the background players whilst introducing new and interesting characters like Ahsoka and Cad Bane and re-introducing well-known and beloved characters from the original trilogy like Tarkin and Chewbacca all the while telling captivating and engaging stories.

The show takes a more realist approach to the star wars universe, by which I mean it doesn't go over-the-top crazy with the action and stunts like they did in the micro-series. That hyperbolic take is fine and works perfectly well as a standalone, as one interpretation of events and characters, but you never see any character in the films bringing down entire starships with their minds or defeating entire armies of super battle droids with their fists alone. The films and the current clone wars show are more grounded in reality and our jedi and sith characters have limits to what they can accomplish with the force, and rightly so. If you make them too superhuman too often then it's hard to keep up your suspension of disbelief and take whatever it is there doing seriously as consequence and risk is largely reduced.

I would seriously reconsider watching some of the more highly-rated clone wars episodes and going into them with a more open mind. I'll even recommend you some- Season 1- Rookies, Trespass, Cloak of Darkness. Season 2- Landing At Point Rain, Legacy of Terror, Bounty Hunters, all the boba fett episodes. Season 3- Literally anything from the second half of the season. You should find them easy enough online and if you don't bother or are not interested then it's your loss and you're only missing out on some great star wars material and I pity you foo'. And you would have to be fool to be a Star Wars fan and not enjoy this show.

 

[Insideout Ink Demon]

wouldn't it be nice if GL included a HD release of the original theatrical version and his new directors cut special ultimate mega oh i'll just tweek this editions.
would please the people who grew up with the originals and want them in HD, and please GL because he still gets to dick around

 

[Toothache of Sauron]

Hoax.

It is way too ridiculously retarded.

 

[Treblaine]

Nutshell: Clone Wars 2008 is under-rated".

OK, Maybe that is true. But you have to admit Lucas did try to bury the 2003 Micro-series that has not gone into as wide a syndication and making a new show of almost the exact same name, covering the exact same ground; that is an attempted retcon.

Yes, it is not as bad as people say... but it's not as god damn amazing as Tartakovsky's award winning Clone Wars. And that's what the prequel trilogy needed, a bit of amazement and excitement without endless unfunny comic relief characters or boring exposition. That was the prequel trilogy's problem, a whole lot of cripplingly boring dialogue and barely 2 dimensional characters.

Tartakovsky was subtle and economical with characterisation, compressing episodes into 10 minute segments worked so well I'd like to see more artists put under such time constraints they cut out the flab from their work and get a bit more focused.

2008's The Clone wars may not be THAT bad... but it's not that good either.

Am I mad? yeah, kinda. That Tartakovsky's Clone Wars is so good yet most people have heard of George Lucas' THE Clone Wars instead pisses me off, all I see is a good artist's work being buried by a giant sell out.

 

[Treblaine]

Post or post not... there is no double post.

 

[Zykon TheLich]

I'm not really into Star Wars, but I have to admit, if they did re release the original ones with all the original effects and stuff on DVD I'd probably buy them, they are still quite entertaining films.