Recent trouble with images on this blog has left it in a rather poor state. Whilst I seem to have fixed the problem going forward, previous posts (some image-heavy) require the re-uploading of images. Some of the images would also need to be rescanned.
Restoring the early posts will take some time and I'm currently unsure when I'll be able to do it. As the lack of images is troubling to some of the entries, I've decided the best thing to do is temporarily offline my blog until it can be fixed up.
In the meantime I'll still be updating my Flickr account and can be found on Twitter. Also keep an eye on the retro section of Nintendo Life for some of my gaming ramblings.
25 August, 2011
28 May, 2011
Comments / Flickr
Just a quick note to say commenting is now available on articles if you wish. For multi-page articles, comments can only be made on the last page.
Also I have added a link to my Flickr account on the About/Contact page. I hope to add various things on there. Recently I have updated my set for The Transformers, which can be found here.
Also I have added a link to my Flickr account on the About/Contact page. I hope to add various things on there. Recently I have updated my set for The Transformers, which can be found here.
04 May, 2011
The Greedo Scenes
"If I'd known what a big crazy thing it would be, I would have just left it alone."
- George Lucas, Empire #301 (cover date: July, 2014)
The 2011 Greedo Scene: For the Blu-Ray release of the film, the scene remained roughly the same as the DVD. Despite talk that the gap between blasts was even shorter, it appears that the only change was that the above shot was shortened so Greedo's blast comes sooner after the cut.
The line ("Ma klounkee") is untranslated, but according to the internet means something along the lines of "this will be the end of you".
Also the two now fire at the same time.
- George Lucas, Empire #301 (cover date: July, 2014)
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| In this comical trial from "The Emperor's Court" (first printed in Star Wars Tales #14) Han offers the Special Edition version of the scene as his defense for blasting Greedo. " When the film arrived on DVD, the scene had changed again! |
The 1997 Greedo Scene
If there's one aspect of STAR WARS that rivals Jar Jar in the "fans love to complain about..." stakes, it's how the 1997 Special Edition of A NEW HOPE altered the confrontation between Han and Greedo to make the green-skinned bounty hunter fire a shot first.
The reasoning behind the change was that the previous version of the scene made Han come across as a cold blooded killer - not cool like we all thought. Plus apparently Greedo was always meant to shoot first. Huh?
Probably the biggest problem people had with the scene was how Greedo could miss from such close range - trying to explain it with the addition of an awkward digital head movement from Han didn't please anyone.
Whilst I always preferred the original version of the scene, I wasn't going to start crying about it.
However...
If there's one aspect of STAR WARS that rivals Jar Jar in the "fans love to complain about..." stakes, it's how the 1997 Special Edition of A NEW HOPE altered the confrontation between Han and Greedo to make the green-skinned bounty hunter fire a shot first.
The reasoning behind the change was that the previous version of the scene made Han come across as a cold blooded killer - not cool like we all thought. Plus apparently Greedo was always meant to shoot first. Huh?
Probably the biggest problem people had with the scene was how Greedo could miss from such close range - trying to explain it with the addition of an awkward digital head movement from Han didn't please anyone.
Whilst I always preferred the original version of the scene, I wasn't going to start crying about it.
However...
The 1976 Greedo Scene
One small problem I did have with the updated Greedo scene was actually to do with the reinstated Jabba The Hutt encounter, as during his chat with Greedo a line of Han's dialogue is actually taken from that later confrontation. Consequently Han says "Even I get boarded sometimes. Do you think I had a choice?" to both Greedo and Jabba.
It was a minor annoyance but I was surprised the repeated dialogue hadn't been avoided somehow. Then when the "Behind The Magic" CD-ROM was released I discovered it could have been. Disc 2 of the set features some deleted scenes from A NEW HOPE, one of which is an alternate Cantina scene - this would later be included on the "Complete Saga" Blu-Ray set as well. Presented below is the confrontation with Greedo.
One small problem I did have with the updated Greedo scene was actually to do with the reinstated Jabba The Hutt encounter, as during his chat with Greedo a line of Han's dialogue is actually taken from that later confrontation. Consequently Han says "Even I get boarded sometimes. Do you think I had a choice?" to both Greedo and Jabba.
It was a minor annoyance but I was surprised the repeated dialogue hadn't been avoided somehow. Then when the "Behind The Magic" CD-ROM was released I discovered it could have been. Disc 2 of the set features some deleted scenes from A NEW HOPE, one of which is an alternate Cantina scene - this would later be included on the "Complete Saga" Blu-Ray set as well. Presented below is the confrontation with Greedo.
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And you know what happens next.
Given that some alterations were being made to the scene anyway I was surprised that Han's line wasn't changed to "I don't think they'd like another killing in here". Greedo's dialogue could be altered (where needed) easily enough. It would require a little re-editing but the end result wouldn't be that different. Maybe there isn't a decent recording of the line or maybe it was felt the dialogue was better as it is - which would explain why it was changed in the first place.
Given that some alterations were being made to the scene anyway I was surprised that Han's line wasn't changed to "I don't think they'd like another killing in here". Greedo's dialogue could be altered (where needed) easily enough. It would require a little re-editing but the end result wouldn't be that different. Maybe there isn't a decent recording of the line or maybe it was felt the dialogue was better as it is - which would explain why it was changed in the first place.
The 2004 Greedo Scene
With the arrival of A NEW HOPE on DVD the film received some more visual updates, including another version of Han and Greedo's little shoot-out.
Now Han and Greedo fire more or less at the same time (fan examination revealed Greedo beat Han to the draw by a couple of frames). Also, Han now avoids Greedo's blast by leaning his body to the right, rather than the funny head movement from the Special Edition. Many fans conceded that if Greedo had to shoot first they were happy it now looked better.
With the arrival of A NEW HOPE on DVD the film received some more visual updates, including another version of Han and Greedo's little shoot-out.
Now Han and Greedo fire more or less at the same time (fan examination revealed Greedo beat Han to the draw by a couple of frames). Also, Han now avoids Greedo's blast by leaning his body to the right, rather than the funny head movement from the Special Edition. Many fans conceded that if Greedo had to shoot first they were happy it now looked better.
The 2011 Greedo Scene: For the Blu-Ray release of the film, the scene remained roughly the same as the DVD. Despite talk that the gap between blasts was even shorter, it appears that the only change was that the above shot was shortened so Greedo's blast comes sooner after the cut.
The 2019 Greedo Scene: George Lucas would make further tweaks to the scene circa 2012, although they would not be seen until the launch of the Disney+ streaming service in 2019. This time there's an added line of dialogue from Greedo (and a brief shot of him) after Han's “Yes, I’ll bet you have”.
Also the two now fire at the same time.
    
A second flash. Has Han only just fired?
 Rodian. | The 1977 Greedo Scene When fans were told, after witnessing Greedo's added blast in the Special Edition, that he was always meant to shoot first they were understandably confused. How hard could it have been to add one more blast? Around the time the film came out on DVD, George Lucas started mentioning in interviews that Greedo had always shot first but due to an editing error this wasn't really noticeable before the Special Edition. People were sceptical. I forgot all about it, then one day I stumbled across a topic on a message board saying it was true: Greedo really did always shoot first. Note: I didn't bookmark the thread and I can't recall what board it was (possibly IMDB), so no link I'm afraid. Anyway... Following a frame-by-frame analysis of the pre-Special Edition scene, someone had found something to prove Han had in fact only fired after being shot at. This claim was based on the fact there were two flashes - presumably one from each character's blaster. So is it true? Well there's certainly evidence for it as you can see in the column on the left. That first flash could be from Greedo's blaster and the second flash could be from Han firing his. On the other hand it could be that the first flash is from Han's and the second flash is simply the blast continuing on it's way to the target. Even if Greedo did shoot first I'm sure many people would prefer to have this version of the scene back in the film purely because it doesn't look like he did. |
So who shot first in the Manga adaption?
from Star Wars: A New Hope - Manga Volume 2
from Star Wars: A New Hope - Manga Volume 2
Article History
Originally this was two articles, "Did Greedo Always Shoot First?" and "The Original Greedo Scene", both written early 2005. On 14th March, 2005 these were combined and rewritten slightly as well as adding some pictures and information about the Special Edition and DVD versions of the scene.
Originally this was two articles, "Did Greedo Always Shoot First?" and "The Original Greedo Scene", both written early 2005. On 14th March, 2005 these were combined and rewritten slightly as well as adding some pictures and information about the Special Edition and DVD versions of the scene.
7th June, 2007: A sentence mentioning a pre-1997 version of the scene was unavailable on DVD was removed, following a DVD release in 2006.
30th September, 2011: Added Blu-Ray info.
10th December, 2014: Added George Lucas quote.
15th November, 2019: Added 2019 info.
27th December, 2019: Cleanup
30th September, 2011: Added Blu-Ray info.
10th December, 2014: Added George Lucas quote.
15th November, 2019: Added 2019 info.
27th December, 2019: Cleanup
10 March, 2011
DVD Easter egg grumble
There are a few things that have annoyed me about DVDs over the years: region coding, flippers, layer changes placed mid-scene, authoring errors that leave episodes of a series off a disc, more region coding, that time I had to send my DVD player off for an upgrade because it was one of the (many) players that wouldn't let you watch The Matrix… However the thing that has annoyed me most is DVD Easter eggs.
If you don’t know, Easter eggs are bonus content on DVDs that rather than being placed in the “Special Features” menu are hidden on the disc and are accessible by faffing around pushing arrow keys or pressing numbers. Defenders say that they are just small things that provide a bit of fun should you stumble across them, but why not just place them with the rest of the extras?
The worry seems to be that because they are often brief pieces such as a bit of test footage or a interesting interview snippet that couldn't be worked into the main documentary somehow, people would feel ripped off if they were listed as extras on the packaging. Well don't list them. Don't even include a “and more”. Just list the main extras on the sleeve but have everything accessible from the menu. To make things more irritating some hidden extras are actually interesting to watch or are things that would not be hidden on other discs.
Blooper reels are usually fun to watch but for some reason the three Star Wars ones (only available on episode 1, 2 and OT bonus disc) are hidden, requiring you to input “1138” (obligatory THX reference) on one of the menus. The “Ultimate Edition” Terminator 2 DVD (not sure if it's also on the eXtreme DVD - I haven't found it anyway) includes an “Extended Special Edition” as well as the regular Special Edition and theatrical cuts, but again is accessible only by inputting “82997 (8/29/97 = Judgement Day) on one of the menu screens. Why hide it? OK the changes are an extra scene that adds nothing and a different ending that isn't as good, but it's still an interesting alternate version to watch.
There are more examples, but nowadays I generally can't be bothered looking for them. The exception is Doctor Who DVDs as they tend to be in roughly the same spot. However despite pressing in the usual places I couldn't find the egg on the recently released Snakedance DVD (part of the Mara Tales boxset). I was going to give up when I recalled someone saying that they access hidden Who goodies by using the Audio Navigation option. So I tried it and there listed (and spoken) with the other features was “Easter Egg”. I selected it and was treated to a 14 minute conversation between Chris Bailey (writer of both serials in the set) and Rob Shearman, writer of amongst other things ‘Dalek’ (from Season 27/Series 1/the run of episodes that aired in 2005) and the excellent Eighth Doctor audio play ‘The Chimes of Midnight’. It's an interesting, enjoyable piece and I'm baffled that it was decided to hide it. I wonder what other gems are hidden on my various discs…
If you don’t know, Easter eggs are bonus content on DVDs that rather than being placed in the “Special Features” menu are hidden on the disc and are accessible by faffing around pushing arrow keys or pressing numbers. Defenders say that they are just small things that provide a bit of fun should you stumble across them, but why not just place them with the rest of the extras?
The worry seems to be that because they are often brief pieces such as a bit of test footage or a interesting interview snippet that couldn't be worked into the main documentary somehow, people would feel ripped off if they were listed as extras on the packaging. Well don't list them. Don't even include a “and more”. Just list the main extras on the sleeve but have everything accessible from the menu. To make things more irritating some hidden extras are actually interesting to watch or are things that would not be hidden on other discs.
Blooper reels are usually fun to watch but for some reason the three Star Wars ones (only available on episode 1, 2 and OT bonus disc) are hidden, requiring you to input “1138” (obligatory THX reference) on one of the menus. The “Ultimate Edition” Terminator 2 DVD (not sure if it's also on the eXtreme DVD - I haven't found it anyway) includes an “Extended Special Edition” as well as the regular Special Edition and theatrical cuts, but again is accessible only by inputting “82997 (8/29/97 = Judgement Day) on one of the menu screens. Why hide it? OK the changes are an extra scene that adds nothing and a different ending that isn't as good, but it's still an interesting alternate version to watch.
There are more examples, but nowadays I generally can't be bothered looking for them. The exception is Doctor Who DVDs as they tend to be in roughly the same spot. However despite pressing in the usual places I couldn't find the egg on the recently released Snakedance DVD (part of the Mara Tales boxset). I was going to give up when I recalled someone saying that they access hidden Who goodies by using the Audio Navigation option. So I tried it and there listed (and spoken) with the other features was “Easter Egg”. I selected it and was treated to a 14 minute conversation between Chris Bailey (writer of both serials in the set) and Rob Shearman, writer of amongst other things ‘Dalek’ (from Season 27/Series 1/the run of episodes that aired in 2005) and the excellent Eighth Doctor audio play ‘The Chimes of Midnight’. It's an interesting, enjoyable piece and I'm baffled that it was decided to hide it. I wonder what other gems are hidden on my various discs…