Since the release of Star Wars in 1977, creator George Lucas sought new ways to tinker with his films. Lucas stated that the original release of the first movie was about 10% accurate to his initial vision. This was due to the various technological restrictions of the time.
Thankfully for Lucas, the early 90’s ushered in the digital age. With it came a brand new toolbox at his disposal for Lucas to play with.
Suddenly, visual effects were commonplace. Beautiful creatures and worlds became a living, breathing reality on a computer. Effects were no longer shackled by the two dimensions of a matte painting. Like a kid in a candy shop, Lucas overindulged.
In 1997, the original trilogy re-released in theaters as the infamous “Special Editions”. Since then, every home media release of the franchise has included modifications to all the films in some way
These range from almost imperceptible clean-ups to entirely new scenes slotted in. Some were deleted scenes from the theatrical releases, others completely new footage shot exclusively for the Special Editions.
Fan reaction was vitriolic to say the least, with many declaring Lucas had ruined the films. They accused him of attempting to fix what was never broken. As a result, the fan base turned on him, discounting the changes and refusing to accept some of them as canon.
But they can’t all be bad, right? Of course not! While a lot of the changes are superfluous, some add depth and continuity to the franchise.
Enough has been said over the years about the most egregious of the bunch, so let’s dive in and look at five changes that do work, and prove maybe Lucas was right to make some alterations.
