JOHN LITHGOW: [shots from Return of the Jedi] In 1977, George Lucas created Star Wars. When the Rebels battled the evil Empire, a new era of special effects was born. JOHN LITHGOW: [crew riding to set in dune buggies] Today, George Lucas is at it again. He’s sending a film crew into the Arizona desert.Continue reading “Special Effects: Anything Can Happen [Star Wars Section] Transcript (1996)”
Author Archives: doubleofive
Anatomy of a Dewback Transcript
DAVID TANAKA: I remember Star Wars came out when I was in elementary school. And one of the key things that I remember my friends talking about was this is a really cool creature. The point that would always be brought up would be that, “Wouldn’t it be great if we actually saw that move?”Continue reading “Anatomy of a Dewback Transcript”
Making Magic CD-ROM Transcript
George Lucas: “Why A Special Edition?’ [talking head] GEORGE LUCAS: Whenever you do something that’s creative, and you end up having to rush through it and finish it before it’s really completed the way you’d hope it be, it bothers you. And so, there were a lot of things in Star Wars that bothered meContinue reading “Making Magic CD-ROM Transcript”
Special Edition VHS/Laserdisc Featurette Transcript
Italics indicate Laserdisc edit only. VHS edits notated. ANNOUNCER: In 1977, producer-director George Lucas created the Star Wars Trilogy and changed the way we looked at movies. Now 20 years later, using new digital technology, Lucas and his creative teams at Lucasfilm, THX, Skywalker Sound, and Industrial Light and Magic have completely restored, enhanced, andContinue reading “Special Edition VHS/Laserdisc Featurette Transcript”
The Lost Art of Star Wars
The current version of the “Original” Star Wars Trilogy available is only the most recent version of the Special Edition. This version has shots that completely replace or obscure paintings, models, or effects that the original artists worked hard on a deadline using technology they were sometimes inventing to complete. While some of the SpecialContinue reading “The Lost Art of Star Wars”
What We Want And How To Make It
Consider this a short sequel to my WIRED article. What We Want For almost 25 years, the fans have been handed one version at a time and told this is as good as it gets. Star Wars is one of the few movies treated like this. Most other movies with alternate cuts give you aContinue reading “What We Want And How To Make It”
List of Academy Awards for The Original Trilogy
Star Wars Won Academy Award for Best Art Direction Won Academy Award for Best Costume Design Won Academy Award for Best Film Editing* Won Academy Award for Best Visual Effects* Won Academy Award for Best Original Score Won Academy Award for Best Sound* Won Special Achievement Award for Sound Effects Editing* Nominated for Academy AwardContinue reading “List of Academy Awards for The Original Trilogy”
Greedo Shoots First, Take 4: Maclunkey
The most obvious changes to the 4K Master is the Greedo scene, per usual. In the previous study, we only compared the actual Special Edition-created two-shot. The 4K version has modified the previous and the following shot, which we’ll get into. So now, immediately after Han’s “Yes, I bet you have” threat, we have aContinue reading “Greedo Shoots First, Take 4: Maclunkey”
“A Long Time Ago” Preface Changes
This is a preservation of the Twitter thread. The 2019 4K Version reverts the preface cards to their 1997 state. I started really looking at the preface cards & wanted to make some observations that don’t really fit in with the daily use of this account. Here are all of the currently released Episode prefaces:
Greedo Shoots First
This is a preservation of the Twitter thread showing the changes through the 2011 Blu-ray. The Disney+ version can be found here. Greedo shoots first. (1997/2004)