When George Lucas re-released his original Star Wars trilogy to theaters back in 1997, fans were giddy with excitement.
Everyone knew that this was just the warm-up act for the soon-to-come prequel trilogy, which would debut two years later with The Phantom Menace. But there was also a bit of nervousness. How much would Lucas tinker with those beloved first three films? Would it be jarring to see cutting-edge CGI effects alongside the analog stuff from the 70s and 80s? Would the added material enhance the films?
(The answers to all three questions are: more than we wanted, yes, and no.)
Some of the more significant alterations became controversial among fans, such as the infamous "Han shot first" scene, or the abhorrent musical number in Jabba's Palace from Return of the Jedi. There are many others — so many that even the most diehard Star Wars junkies might be surprised to find out how many. And now you can. A helpful YouTube videographer named Marcelo Zuniga has compiled every change from the Special Editions into a series of videos.
Once Lucas started tweaking his original trilogy, he couldn't seem to stop. He made more changes in 2004 for the films' first-ever release on DVD. More changes would come in 2011 for the films' debut on Blu-ray. Interestingly, some of the changes made in the '97 Special Editions were changed back, or tweaked even further in later versions.
While Zuniga's videos studiously (and entertainingly) chronicle the various modifications Lucas made, their byproduct is a look into the psyche of George Lucas. Why did he feel compelled to make these changes, some of which are so small as to never be noticed? Why was he unsatisfied with the original versions? Is he a perfectionist? Or so obsessive he couldn't let go (until the Disney sale, anyway)?
Watch and come up with your own theories.
h/t Collider
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