#5 Special Edition Changes That Improve Star Wars as a Whole
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“#5 Special Edition Changes That Improve Star Wars as a Whole”
<span class="mx-1">Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering. So, free yourself. Let’s enjoy the ‘Star Wars’ Special Editions together.</span>
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By Brad Gullickson · Published on February 25th, 2022
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<em>Star Wars Explained is our ongoing series where we delve into the latest Star Wars shows, movies, trailers, and news stories to divine the franchise’s future. This entry reevaluates the Star Wars Special Editions to celebrate their 25th anniversary.</em>
Twenty-five years ago, Star Wars changed. The franchise was in a bit of a limbo state, but it was ramping toward a revival that would solidify in 1999 with The Phantom Menace. Riding an ever-growing wave of expanded universe stories told through comics and novels, Hasbro was making a mint with their Power of the Force toyline. An aching hunger rumbled throughout fandom. George Lucas believed we were ready for new tales told in that galaxy a long time ago, far, far away. He just had to test us first.
The Star Wars: A New HopeSpecial Edition arrived in theaters on January 31, 1997. Three weeks later, on February 21, 1997, the Special Edition of The Empire Strikes Back arrived. And three weeks after that, on March 14, 1997, the revamped Return of the Jedi. Slathered with tweaks and additions, they were a lot to take in. Some changes were welcome. Other changes were definitely not. Mostly, we were just thrilled to watch Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, and Princess Leia on the big screen again.
The furor around Han shooting first and the Yub Nub erasure built in the following years. With each new video, DVD, Blu-ray, and streaming re-release came further tweaks, and it became apparent that we may never see the original cuts ever again. We had hope when Disney acquired Lucasfilm in 2012, but while rumors of “Despecialized” editions circulated, no actual evidence ever did.
We’re stuck with these things. And that hurts. We don’t like being told Star Wars doesn’t belong to us. We may champion the original trilogy’s entrance into the National Film Registry, but that doesn’t mean Lucas needs to pony up our preferred edits. He’s a painter forever tinkering on his work, stacking atop, and ignoring the public’s initial encounter with it. Sure, they’re Disney’s babies now, but the Mouse House seems perfectly happy to underscore the Special Editions as Definitive Editions, going so far as to validate the Sarlacc’s goofy 1997 beak in The Book of Boba Fett.
Happiness comes with accepting the Special Editions as is. Having spent far too many years grumbling over what these edits got wrong, I’m tired of the moans of others, and I’m certainly tired of my own. And maybe, just maybe, they’re not actually as bad as we make them out to be. Maybe there’s some real quality stuff to be found in the three Special Editions.
The animated TV shows have helped tremendously in this hopeful endeavor. Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Star Wars: Rebels, and Star Wars: The Bad Batch have recontextualized many aspects of the prequel trilogy, and with their input, I’ve discovered a new respect for the films. Seeing the Sarlacc beak in The Book of Boba Fett also purged some anger. It doesn’t look that awful; it actually gives the Great Pit of Carkoon a bit more character, a bit more life.
With this open mindset, I returned to the Special Editions, hunting for what I liked, not what I didn’t like. Here’s what I found, the five Special Edition changes that improve Star Wars as a whole.