A Certain Point of View: Writing, Film and Stuff

In Quora, Bryce Howell asks: Why has George Lucas made so many changes to the original trilogy? My answer: Because as the filmmaker who conceived, created, and - in the case of  The Empire Strikes Back  and  Return of the Jedi -  financed the  Star Wars  films, George Lucas was entitled to make changes. It is a matter of historical record that  Star Wars,  aka  Star Wars - Episode IV: A New Hope  underwent a series of alterations even before 1981, which was the year that Lucasfilm convinced 20th Century Fox to reissue the film with its  Episode IV  subtitle. Before that, Lucasfilm had had to fix the audio mix, make sure that all the prints (both the 35 mm and the 70 mm) matched, missing lines of dialogue restored, and other minor adjustments that were needed at the time. Followers of  Star Wars  history, as well as viewers who listen to Lucas’s audio commentary tracks on the DVDs and Blu-ray home medi...

Album cover art by William Stout. (C) 1983 Varese Sarabande Records On May 25, 1983 – the sixth anniversary of the premiere of Star Wars (aka Star Wars – Episode IV: A New Hope ) – 20 th Century Fox released Star Wars – Episode VI: Return of the Jedi , the third chapter of George Lucas’s Star Wars Trilogy. Written by Lucas with Lawrence Kasdan and directed by Richard Marquand, Return of the Jedi chronicled the beginning of the end of the Galactic Empire at the Battle of Endor, the ascension of Luke Skywalker from Jedi trainee to the last of the Jedi Order, and the redemption of Darth Vader – Anakin Skywalker – whose love for his son was stronger than his loyalty to the evil Emperor Palpatine. Because Jedi marked the end of the Luke Skywalker/Darth Vader story arc and no other Star Wars films were planned for the immediate future, many people, including book publishers and record producers rushed to make merchandise with the “standalone” label The Star Wars Trilogy . In...