Just cause it's Star Wars,
and it's called the special edition,
does not mean it's special.
Welcome to WatchMojo.com,
and today we're counting down our picks
for the Top 10
Worst Star Wars Special Edition Changes.
For this list, we're ranking the terrible changes
that were made in the Star Wars films
after the fact.
These are most noticeable
in the original trilogy's
1997 Special Edition Cinematic Re-Release,
The 1993 difinitive collection on Laser Disk,
the 2004 original trilogy DVD release,
and the 2011 Blu-Ray release of the 6 movie saga.
Many of these changes or scenes
are known for being needlessly filled
with 3D gaudiness.
Or were simply victims of multiple edit-jobs.
After Luke's less than desirable landing
of his X-Wing
in a bog on Dagobah,
he quickly loses R2-D2
in the murky swamp waters.
Seemingly humorous at first,
Luke is shocked to see R2
being eaten alive by a swamp monster,
and then promptly spat out.
In the original cut,
Luke quipped, "You're lucky you don't taste very good."
Which was changed in the 1997 Special Edition Release,
to - "You were lucky to get out of there."
This dialogue alteration managed to make Luke
sound much less witty.
Jabba the Hutt's intended punishment for
Luke Skywalker and friends,
was to toss them into the dreaded Sarlacc pit.
Essentially a giant mouth-like monster
embedded into the desert floor,
that's capable of swallowing creatures whole.
When this monster's prey puts up a fight,
it quickly wraps its tentacles around them.
And yet this simple but terrifying creature
was bedazzled
in the 1997 Special Edition.
What do we mean by that exactly?
Well, it was given an excessive 3D beaked mouth,
remeniscent of a cartoon venus fly-trap.
And was over-equipped with many more tentacles that popped out.
Remember that horrendous
"NNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!"
that Anakin shouted as Darth Vader
at the end of Revenge of the Sith?
We do too unfortunately.
Well, even with all the derision
this terrible yell received,
for some reason Lucasfilm
decided to add another "NOO!"
in the 2011 Blu-Ray release of Return of the Jedi.
Vader's eerily similar fanboy soul-shattering scream
occurs when he confronts The Emperor while he's shocking Luke.
"No..."
"Noooooo!!"
It feels out of place, unrealistic,
and forces us to think of Vader's whiny days
as Anakin.
It also removes the deeper sub-text
and conflict behind the scene.
As if we aren't smart enough to figure it out.
In the original Empire Strikes Back,
Luke loses a fast-paced lightsaber duel
with Darth Vader on Cloud City.
Cornered, Luke learns the terrible truth
that Vader is his father.
And then, instead of joining him on the Dark Side,
he nobly and silently falls into the abyss.
In the 1997 Special Edition Release, however,
for some reason,
Lucasfilm editors thought it best
to make Luke scream the entire way down.
"YYYYAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!"
His noble descent,
and the great personal risk he makes
from such a dramatic drop,
were quickly nullified by this horrific scream.
And Luke went from hero to zero.
Fortunately, the filmmakers were at least smart enough
to remove it for the 2004 DVD release.
And since then, it's kept its rightful place in our memories.
The originals were great, but they weren't
without their technical issues.
For instance, Luke's landspeeder
was actually on wheels during filming.
To make it appear to hover,
the FX crew put vaseline on the camera lens.
In the 1997 Special Edition, digitally removed.
But during its entrance to Mos Eisley,
so much CG was added
that it felt like the animators
were vomiting out 3D effects.
Womp rats scurry around the town's outskirts,
the 3D buildings look like
something out of a video game,
and the residents run around like a slapstick comedy.
In the original Return of the Jedi,
the Max Rebo band entertained movie-goers
with their song, "Lapti Nek" at Jabba's palace.
Well, it appears that nothing is sacred.
The song was cut in the 1997 Special Edition Release,
and replaced with the 3D musical number, "Jedi Rocks".
While the yellow alien singer Sy Snootles
is seen singing in over-animated 3D
the entire song,
her original puppet form is oddly visible
just prior to this scene.
What's nearly as painful as watching this -
"AAAAAHHH, YAHHH!"
Watching the added scene of Boba Fett
flirting with the band's dancers.
Boba Fett's minimal dialogue made him
all the more fearsome.
And it made things that much easier
for fans to memorise his few lines.
Attack of the Clones revealed
that Jango Fett was the clone template
for all original stormtroopers.
And that Boba Fett was a clone of him as well.
For the 2004 DVD release,
Lucasfilm decided to use the voice of
Tamuera Morrison,
the actor who played Jango,
to replace Boba Fett's few lines
as originally voiced by Jason Wingreen.
Jason Wingreen: As you wish.
Tamuera Morrison: As you wish.
Needless to say, Boba Fett fans were not particularly pleased.
Jason Wingreen: Put Captain Solo in the cargo hold.
Tamuera Morrison: Put Captain Solo in the cargo hold.
This was a previously deleted scene,
filmed for the original 1977 release,
in which Jabba the Hutt was initially played
by big-boned Northern-Irish Scottish actor,
Declan Mulholland.
In the 1997 Special Edition Release,
the scene was re-included with a 3D version
of Jabba the Hutt,
super-imposed over the original actor.
Even his voice was over-dubbed with a made-up language.
This edition removed the mystery
of learning what Jabba looked like in Return of the Jedi,
appears to feature Greedo
who was shot dead by Han Solo in a previous scene,
and flaunts Boba Fett for good measure.
It really doesn't serve a purpose.
Worst of all, because of Jabba's tail,
they had to have Han digitally step
on Jabba's backside while circling the gangster.
In the original Return of the Jedi,
it's the stoick Sebastian Shaw who plays Anakin Skywalker.
But, the 2004 DVD release
sees actor Hayden Christensen
slowly replacing Shaw in different stages.
The changes become apparent
when Darth Vader's mask is removed,
and we notice that Shaw's eyebrows have been removed,
to reflect Anakin's fate in Revenge of the Sith.
Additionally, Shaw's eyes were turned blue,
and his face was digitally altered
to look like an older Christensen.
Then, at the end,
when the ghosts of Anakin, Obi-Wan and Yoda
greet Luke,
we see that Shaw as Anakin's spirit
has been completely replaced by Christensen.
If you thought that was bad,
listen to the Gungan scream added during the film's finale.
Which may or may not be old Jar Jar being as annoying as ever.
Before we get to our number one pick,
here are a few dishonorable mentions.
The laser blast heard round the world.
In the original cut,
Han Solo sneakily shot Greedo
under a table.
An ignoble move by an ignoble hero.
In the 1997 Special Edition,
this scene was changed to show Greedo
shooting first,
missing, and then Han shooting.
George Lucas hoped to present Han as ethical,
which enraged fans.
To come to a compromise
with the creator's vision and fans' interests,
the 2004 DVD had the two shoot
nearly concurrently.
Though Greedo still fired a second quicker.
But things changed again on the 2011 Blu-Ray,
with both shooting pretty much simultaneously
this time around.
Do you agree with our list?
"I'm beginning to agree with ya."
What are your least favourite Star Wars changes?
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