The most common thing to nit pick and rant about is the changes made to the original Star Wars films. And I have to admit, I wasn't too fond of some of the changes that were made to the films, but overtime, I came to except them and not care about them that much. But some people can't seem to shut up about them, and always make them out to be the worst thing since Battlefield Earth. So I am counting down the Top 5 Star Wars Changes That Are Taken Too Seriously.
5. The Changing of Boba Fett's Voice
To further screw the prequel and the original trilogies together, Lucas changed the original Boba Fett voice, voiced by Jason Wingreen, and replaced it with that of Temuera Morrison, who portrayed Jango Fett and the clones in the Star Wars: Episode 2 Attack of the Clones. And to be quite honest with you, I am in favor of this change. Sure, the voice of Jason Wingreen was cool and badass, giving the character a cowboy like personality and persona, but making Morrison voice Boba in the restored version of The Empire Strikes Back further makes Star Wars make sense and screws the story more together. Surely we don't see Morrison's face as Boba in the restored version, but it is cool that they decided to change this, making Boba more like his badass father. I admit I was shocked to find out that they did this, but I am in favor of it because, well, it's still Boba Fett, the badass bounty hunter we first saw in the infamous Star Wars Christmas Special, the bounty hunter that appeared in countless Star Wars EU comics and other media. It's Boba Fett! And who doesn't like Boba Fett, huh?
4. Jar Jar Binks in Return of the Jedi
Let me make this clear to all of you who hate this add in and why you shouldn't complain about it. IT'S NOT JAR JAR!Heck, he isn't even voiced by Amhed Best, he voiced by Matthew Wood, the same guy who voiced General Grievous in Revenge of the Sith. This scene proved to be perhaps the biggest complain of all the original trilogy purists who hate the prequels, who thought that Lucas added the voice of the universally hated gungan to further tick them off and make them hate the prequels even more. I'll admit, it is rather cheesy and puts the film out of focus, but it is a good change to further seal the two trilogies together. It proves that Naboo and the gungans are in the continuity of Star Wars, and since it is the last chapter of the series, it makes you flash back to where the series started (if you watch the series in the order they are meant to be watched). But all those with the Jar Jar hate within them immediately thought it was the infamous "cartoon rabbit" himself, but it really wasn't. In fact, Jar Jar, according to many, was on Alderaan when it was destroyed, so how could he have possibly been on Naboo when the Empire was diminished.
3. The Band Scene in Return of the Jedi
Yeh, I am one of those people who thought that "Lapti Nek" was better, but this scene, backlashed for all it's worth, wasn't all that bad. Sure the CGI in the scene is ridiculously cartoony and doesn't go well with the actual real life puppets, but it's good to know that the original Sy Snootles puppet didn't go to waste, it can be seen briefly in the beginning of the band scene. It' also good to see that Lucas didn't replace every single puppet in the scene with CGI, otherwise it would have looked like a scene from Shrek. But the song "Jedi Rocks" as it is called in several forms of media was actually caught in my head soon after watching it. Sure it doesn't have the catchy upbeat feeling of "Lapti Nek", but it's not all that bad of a song, heck they even kept "Lapti Nek" in the actual continuity of Star Wars. But I see that George Lucas really wanted to try new forms of animation with the characters and I can understand that, but it's not at all heinous and people make it out to be, and with newly added characters, it really makes the scene more colorful and vibrant.
2. Greedo Shoots First
First of all, the 1997 version of this scene was horrible, I have to say. The way Han slightly bobs his head to the side like the gunshot is a fly really looks ridiculously laughable, but the biggest complaint was the simple fact that Greedo shoots first. Lucas didn't want Han to look callous and heartless, so he made Greedo shoot first, something that was lampooned in the recent episode of the Angry Video Game Nerd. In the 2004 DVD version of the film, they made both Han and Greedo shoot almost simultaneously, but still Greedo shoots first. This proved to be such a controversial change that they even made a t-shirt of it, a shirt that George Lucas was seen wearing during the production of Indiana Jones 4. And while it's not my favorite change they did to the originals, it's unique in it's own matter, because it makes Han look more heroic and less like a badass. Yes, some may like Han Solo as a badass, but if you think about it, he can't just shoot somebody so fluently. Making somebody shoot somebody else makes them just as reckless as the person they shot. And Han Solo is meant to be no cowboy, he is meant to be a cocky smuggler that is just out there for the money, nothing else. Now I can see why he would fry poor Greedo.
AND THE NUMBER ONE STAR WARS CHANGE THAT IS TAKEN TOO SERIOUSLY IS.......
1. Hayden Christensen as the Ghost of Anakin Skywalker
I like this change. Sorry, I said it, but I think it is quite clear. Anakin Skywalker, redeemed or not, died when he became Darth Vader. I know why a lot of people hate this change, and I can understand that, but like Roger Ebert said, this change is poetic. Anakin Skywalker, the Chosen One, the most famous Jedi in the galaxy, the father of Luke Skywalker, gave himself to the dark side in hopes of saving his wife, saving his children, saving himself from the inner demon he has within him. He did this all in love, and unlike the selfish Emperor Palpatine, who only cared about turning people to the dark side and shooting lightning at them when they did not want to join, and still was the very loving man he was when he was younger. He redeemed himself, saved his son, destroyed the Emperor, and fulfilled the ancient jedi prophecy, and for that, he gets the grand prize of living in the netherworld of the force for eternity as a young man. It's a good change and my humble opinion, and why people dislike it so much is far beyond my comprehension. Yeh, it is true that Luke wouldn't know who he was, but since Luke has changed so much through the original trilogy, he has a lot of the force within him and can come to realize who it is. Anakin Skywalker, joined the dark side because of his love and becomes one with the force.
There you have it folks. I hope that you special edition hatters out there have changed your minds after reading this, because the changes aren't as bad as they are made out to be. And the prequels are not that bad either, so let's come to except these films for what they are, because they are the true and always dreamed of versions of the epic space saga that has touched the lives of millions.
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