HAN SHOT FIRST…

The Green Lantern

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HAN SHOT FIRST…

September 10th 2011 23:05

Category: Movies, Videos

It seems that out there in Star Wars land there is some controversy that has been brewing since the late nineties over changes made to the films by the films creator; Mr George Lucas. At some stage in 1997 the release of the special edition VHS version of the original three films to celebrate the twentieth anniversary of the franchises initial release back in 1977 had an edited scene in the Mos Eisley Cantina where the Rodian bounty hunter Greedo confronts Han Solo.
Now in the original film and in that actual novelisation of the film the scene and its relevant back-story go something like this – Han is confronted by Greedo who’s in the employ of Jabba the Hutt, a crime lord that Han owes money too. Greedo tells Han that if he doesn’t pay up maybe Jabba will be happy with taking his ship the Millennium Falcon. Han replies over my dead body to which the Rodian says something along the lines that this is something he’s been looking forward to, Han then says “Yeah I bet you have” and promptly shoots the hapless bounty hunter. He then leaves and flips the bartender a few coins saying “Sorry about the mess, always was a lousy host.”

This scene as shown in the original film and the novel is effectively like a scene straight from any western flick where the protagonist is confronted by a bounty hunter, a rival gunslinger or just an outright enemy. In fact I’d say that if you watched any of Clint Eastwood’s spaghetti westerns you’d probably see similar scenes whereby the man with no name shoots down someone who is attempting to draw a bead on him and remove him from the drama. But even though this kind of thing happens not only in wretched hives of scum and villainy on other planets and the Wild West what rationale could there be to change it?

As a kid of seven years old watching the film for the first time in a cinema in Christchurch NZ all those years ago; I thought that the scene where Han outwits Greedo was cool. And let’s face it that’s what he does, Greedo thinks he’s got Han bang to rights completely oblivious to the fact that Han is just playing for time so he can strike first. It’s a classic gunslinger style move. So has the scene been edited for reasons of political correctness or is there something else that is behind it all. Apparently the Han Shot First scene is just one of many little tweaks and twitches that have been occurring to the Star Wars films in the last twenty odd years.
Thus the problem isn’t so much with political correctness but rather the advent of technology and the fact that the creator of the franchise could be seen to be someone who is a perfectionist who is never completely satisfied with what he has created. These are the two many driving forces that have probably prompted the constant tinkering and changes in the various films over the last twenty odd years since the release of the special edition and despite of whether they’re relevant or not there is always going to be people who dislike them. And with the increasing interconnectedness of the world via the medium of the internet you will hear about this dislike…
Let’s face it though Han shooting first was the tip of the iceberg there was also the retconning of Christian Heydensen as Anakin Skywalker into the end scene of Return of the Jedi apparently in the recent blu ray release of the six films there is a alteration to the final confrontation between Vader, Luke and the Emperor and if you look on Wikipedia there is an entire list of changes made not only to the originals but the three prequel flicks, some of which I was completely unaware of and I question if they’re US specific as I can’t recall any of them on the DVDs I own. Still all that aside all of these changes stem from the fact that George Lucas has never truly been satisfied with the work he has created.
And for Lucasfilm Ltd the whole Star Wars franchise is not so much a series of movies but an ongoing potentially renewable resource that can be ‘mined’ continuously over the following years as changes in technology prompt a demand for new releases of the originals and prequels. Let’s face it there is the new Old Republic MMORG game that is due for release and no doubt there are gamers out there who have played the games but have possibly not seen the entirety of the films. So a potential new audience exists. And even with the dismay from hardcore fans that can mean a potential audience for a ‘renewed’ original cut version...thus in essence Lucasfilm is doing something that has never been done before…they’re eating their cake and having it all at the same time. Which is probably the whole point at the end of the day…
But at the end of the day what is the opinion of the Lantern? What truth does its eternal emerald gaze reveal about this matter? Essentially for me it’s a case of if the changes don’t seriously affect the overarching story then I don’t really care. For me the whole thing isn’t about the tweaks and new additions but just being able to watch a story about epic heroism, a fall from grace, redemption, atmospheric music and massive battles with incredible fight scenes. It’s about being entertained and enjoying a moment of escapism from the hurly burly of real life. Everything else frankly is secondary…one’s enjoyment of the film should be the paramount and if the changes in a film detract from that enjoyment then it’s time to let it go and enjoy something else…

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