Although we both love the original trilogy (a.k.a. the Holy Trilogy), in this post we’ll discuss the 10 things that we’d change if we had the chance in a perfect world. We did a similar post about the Prequel Trilogy not long ago. There are two of us (mazlow01 and davestrrr) and we don’t always agree on what should be changed! Let’s begin:
5 things that mazlow01 would change about the OT:
1) Two Special Edition changes- Emperor’s dialog in ESB and Han vs Greedo shoot out in ANH
Mazlow01: I don’t want to just make this about SE changes and honestly I like most of them., so I am going to mention these two. Han shoots first. We know George knows this, the change was stupid. In ESB they had Ian McDiarmid re-shoot the scene where the emperor speaks to Vader which hey that makes sense lets have them look the same. BUT they changed the original lines which was terrible. Lets compare just the changes:
Original: EMPEROR:We have a new enemy – Luke Skywalker. VADER:Yes, my master. EMPEROR: He could destroy us. VADER: He’s just a boy. Obi-Wan can no longer help him.
SE: Palpatine: We have a new enemy. The young Rebel who destroyed the Death Star. I have no doubt this boy is the offspring of Anakin Skywalker.Vader: How is that possible? Palpatine: Search your feelings, Lord Vader. You will know it to be true. He could destroy us.
That is the type of dialog that limited the story telling ability throughout the prequels.
davestrrr: I don’t necessarily mind Ian McDiarmid doing the scene in ESB, and I think it is good to have the same actor throughout. For the dialogue, I don’t really have a problem with the new dialog. Actually, in some ways I actually like that new dialogue better! As for Han shooting first, yeah, that shouldn’t have been changed. It makes less sense now with the whole neck twitch thing to dodge the blast. I thought shooting first was actually better for his character. He’s a scoundrel and a smuggler. Somebody comes to claim a bounty that could potentially cost him his life, Han would definitely shoot that punk-ass bounty hunter down.
2) Death Star 2.0
Mazlow01: Seriously another giant planet killing star base super-weapon? They couldn’t come up with better idea? Instead of using a super weapon how about just put the Emperor on Coruscant on the Anniversary of the formation of the Empire and have have a goal of disabling the planetary shield to attack? Or just on a regular space station or anything besides Death Star the sequel: Bigger, better, this time with a force field!
davestrrr: Yeah, I can see this. Maybe having just one Death Star would work better. When to do it? I think just keep the original trench run, since that is classic. RotJ could have just been an epic space battle, and maybe something cool with a Super Star Destroyer with a force field that needed to be blown up from the inside. Lando could still have needed to pilot inside once the shield was down, and navigate inside to blow it up.
3) Leia being Luke’s sister.
Mazlow01: I know what some of you are thinking: sacrilege! Hear me out though. When Empire was written the idea was Luke had a twin but it wasn’t Leia. He was going to have to go find his brother or sister after Return of the Jedi to restart the Jedi order. Making Leia his sister is just cheap. Vader and Palpatine both interacted with her face to face (I am assuming as a senator she dealt with the Emperor though maybe not still they had to have had SOME proximity) and they couldn’t tell she was Force sensitive? Or hey you bear a striking resemblance to my dead wife and you are the adopted daughter of one her allies in the senate that just happened to be born around when she died. Really?
davestrrr: Yeah, having Leia be adopted by the Bail Organa when they needed to be hidden from the Emperor doesn’t make sense. Her becoming a Senator when she needed to be hidden from the Emperor didn’t make a lot of sense either. Luke going to Tatooine to Anakin’s stepfather’s old house doesn’t make a lot of sense either for that matter, but people have argued why it does (Anakin was traumatized by that place). That’s another story though.
Anyway, with Luke and Leia being twins, I always thought it was hinted at from the get-go with them both having 4-letter names starting with L. Maybe it wasn’t planned all along, but to me it kind of made sense. Just the explanation that Leia needs to be adopted by one of the most high-profile families in the galaxy in order to hide from the Emperor doesn’t make sense.
4) Ewoks. Why’d it have to be Ewoks.
Mazlow01: So this is where I am supposed to say it was dumb they were able to beat the Storm troopers etc. That’s not my problem with the Ewoks. I don’t care that they are cute lil teddy bears. I don’t find it that hard to believe that with superior numbers, knowledge of the terrain and the obvious planning they had done, that they could beat the Storm troopers. My problem is they should have been Wookiees. The Ewok attack was based off of one of the early drafts of ANH and they were wookiees then. Replace all those ewoks with wookies and how bad ass is that! It would have been SO much cooler and wookiees are just as loved by children as Ewoks are.
davestrrr: Well, we got that scene in RotS, so it’s all good. I don’t know about the Ewoks. I don’t hate them, I don’t love them. I definitely loved the Ewoks when I was 8 years old, so I’d keep them around. I have a distinct memory when I was a little kid I liked RotJ best because it had both Yoda and Ewoks.
5) Diversity
Mazlow01: Total of what 4 female characters with any type of lines? Two die with in minutes (Slave dancer and Aunt Beru) Mon Mothma is in one movie has 3 lines and isn’t seen again. Then there is Leia. Yeah she’s awesome but she’s the only female character in all three movies and she doesn’t speak to the other female characters. Then minorities. In ANH the only one I remember is the voice of Vader James Earl Jones. Then we get one supporting character Lando in Empire. Finally in RotJ we have a couple of more but still its pretty whitewashed. That is a damn shame, not because diversity is needed for diversity’s sake but in a wide galaxy of diverse aliens we get not much diversity in the humans.
davestrrr: Yeah, it is hard to argue with this. We need more strong female characters. I think ANH, in terms of the number of non-white actors on screen is a bit embarrassing. Yeah, James Earl Jones did voice work, but there should have been at least one actor on set. I guess it was filmed in England and maybe back then the vast majority of actors in England were white? Not sure, but I’m guessing that was part of it.
5 things that davestrrr would change about the OT:
1) In terms of the Special Edition, I wouldn’t have introduced Jabba the Hut in ANH.
davestrrr: The CGI was terrible in the first version, and the second version was a little better, but still pretty bad. I thought it was better when Jabba was left more mysterious and not introduced until RotJ. It was cool to have the character mentioned, and not seen until much later.
Mazlow01: OK I can see this. I never liked the idea of Han stepping on his tail or the introduction of Boba Fett in that scene. It was just more of a hey look here’s a fan favorite!
2) Use a practical Millennium Falcon in RotJ
davestrrr: There is a scene with Han and Lando talking by the Millennium Falcon, and the ship is a painting. There are other matte paintings in the OT that work a little better, but this one sticks out. A lot of people that complain about the PT and its over-reliance on CGI, need to take a look at this:
Maybe some old school fans like this better than CGI, but I don’t think it is any better. It still lacks some depth to me, and looks like a “green screen” shot. I wish there was a way to make the ship practical, and/or do the shot next to it or at least next to a practical ramp.
Mazlow01: OK I have to be honest I do remember seeing this but it never bothered me. I always chalked it up to effects of the time kind of thing.
3) Improve the lightsaber fight between Obi Wan and Vader in ANH
davestrrr: This fight was a bit weak. I mean, it was explained by the fact that Obi Wan was old, and Vader was half robot, but I think it could have been better. Maybe some Force pushes, maybe some Force-thrown objects. Maybe some stunt doubles doing a few better moves. Maybe using some of the same face-swapping CGI tech that made Dooku more dynamic in the PT. Something. I remember watching ANH with a friend that hadn’t seen Star Wars before, and she was yawning and frustrated during this scene.
Mazlow01: OK so here’s an unpopular opinion, I’d say slow down the fights in the PT. Lightsabers were supposed to be heavy and only a Jedi could weld one because the force was needed. I like the simplicity of the OT fights.
4) Why didn’t Chewbacca get a medal?
davestrrr: This seemed weird. Wasn’t he just as much a part of the whole ending as Han? I mean, he was the co-pilot, and played a big role in rescuing Leia. When they turn around, and he gives that roar, you know he’s pissed that he didn’t get a medal.
Mazlow01: Dude I just argued for more Wookiees so I am on board with this all day long.
5) Boba Fett’s death is too simple
davestrrr: I think Boba Fett was kind of played up as being a bit of a badass. His death falling into the sarlac pit was a bit lame. It was an accidental hit to his jetpack. I think a more epic showdown would have been more fitting. He should have been harder to kill.
Mazlow01: OK so here is ANOTHER unpopular opinion. I don’t think Boba did anything to earn his “Badass” rep in the movies. He just looked cool and was smart enough to think “hey maybe this smuggler will use a smuggler’s trick” and then followed Han to cloud city. I mean why would we think he was awesome at anything?