Random Question about the History of Star Wars

[Some Android]

So this isn't a question about the Star Wars mythology or lore. Just a real world question concerning the history of the franchise. The 1995 digitally remastered Star Wars VHS tapes are just the theatrical versions right? I've heard that there were a here minor tweaks but nothing huge like Greedo shooting first or putting Jabba in A New Hope. It's just the '97 re-releases and onward that have all the edits right?

Just curious. It can help me with a dispute I'm having.

[Seppl]

The Wookipedia (http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/List_of_changes_in_Star_Wars_re-releases) has a detailed list of all releases and all changes made to those releases. According to that source, you are essentially right. While it is a community maintained wiki I do not see any reason why the information there should be inaccurate.

[Hunter Noventa]

Yes, there were two sets of re-releases in the late 90s.

There was the THX edition, which only had cleaned up audio and visual effects. And the Special Edition that was put out in theaters and had even better effects, at the cost of things like losing Han Shooting First of the horror of the song and dance number in Jabba's Palace.

Sadly I don't think the THX edition ever made it to DVD, so you'd be hard-pressed to find it today.

[JoshL]

There was a theatrical cut dvd, or more specifically, the theatrical cut was a disc 2 special feature of the special edition. Not sure how that compares to the thx version (which was both VHS and laserdisc). Not sure how easy that is to find these days, but it was pretty common for a while.

[Rockphed]

Yes, there were two sets of re-releases in the late 90s.

There was the THX edition, which only had cleaned up audio and visual effects. And the Special Edition that was put out in theaters and had even better effects, at the cost of things like losing Han Shooting First of the horror of the song and dance number in Jabba's Palace.

Sadly I don't think the THX edition ever made it to DVD, so you'd be hard-pressed to find it today.


I'm not sure which song-and-dance number in Jabba's Palace you are calling a horror. I liked the one in the old release and I hate the one in the special edition.

[Peelee]

So this isn't a question about the Star Wars mythology or lore. Just a real world question concerning the history of the franchise. The 1995 digitally remastered Star Wars VHS tapes are just the theatrical versions right? I've heard that there were a here minor tweaks but nothing huge like Greedo shooting first or putting Jabba in A New Hope. It's just the '97 re-releases and onward that have all the edits right?

Just curious. It can help me with a dispute I'm having.

No.

There's an easy way to tell. When the movie came out in theaters, it was called "Star Wars." In the opening crawl, it read "STAR WARS." If you ever see a version of the movie where it says "STAR WARS EPISODE IV: A NEW HOPE," then it is not the theatrical version.

The theatrical cut was only re-released on DVD in '06. If your VHS was made after 1981, then you do not have the theatrical version. Now, this is probably the most minor of all tweaks you could imagine, but it is a minor tweak, and technically, it's not the theatrical version.

Hope that's helpful!

[Hunter Noventa]

I'm not sure which song-and-dance number in Jabba's Palace you are calling a horror. I liked the one in the old release and I hate the one in the special edition.

The Special Edition one, where we head that creepy-as-hell CG alien thing singing with backup dancers.

[Rockphed]

The Special Edition one, where we head that creepy-as-hell CG alien thing singing with backup dancers.

The worst of it is that it is smack-dab in the middle of the uncanny valley. CG has, generally, not aged nearly as well as real costumes. I am glad that the new movies understood that.

[Hunter Noventa]

The worst of it is that it is smack-dab in the middle of the uncanny valley. CG has, generally, not aged nearly as well as real costumes. I am glad that the new movies understood that.

Agreed. The Mechanical CG, where they updated the look of the space battles, still looks pretty good, but the creature CG is even worse than it was then I feel.