Seems like Han might shoot first again on Blue ray.

[Crazedwraith]

While I get what you're saying. You're rather overstating the impact the shoots first thing has on the character. Is it worse? Yes. Is the editing bad? Yes. Does ruin Han's character? No.

Han's character and development is not so ill-defined that changing that one moment changes everything. People dislike it because a) it's a change and b) it's one for the worse. But someone coming in fresh, say that the Special Edition is the first time they've seen ANH, they're not going to watching that scene and think 'oh yes, Han's a good two-shoes'. You've still got Han price gouging Luke and Obi-Wan, you've still got him up to his neck in criminal activities with Jabba, you've still got him refusing to resuce this princess without being bribed.

Shooting first, second, simultaneously, Han's character arc is still there and understandable.

[Elheru Aran]

Frankly, the only significant literary alteration they made to the original trilogy were those two edits in ANH, Han shooting second (or whatever) and the bit with Jabba. As Crazed says, those don't really change very much, if anything, about his character. The rest are absolutely inconsequential-- an extra line here or there, minor tweaks that don't affect the plot or story in any significant way.

Were the changes necessary? No (although it's nice that they cleaned up/improved the visuals). Do they change the films in any significant manner? No. Whining about them won't accomplish anything either-- Lucas has made that fairly clear. So if you like the old version better... guess what? You can actually buy and watch it now. We get to have it both ways. Have fun.

[Mange]

One change that irks me more is the change on the Blu-Ray edition of ROTJ with Vader now exclaiming "No!" two times before throwing the Emperor down the pit...

[lPeregrine]

IMO there are only two changes that add anything to ANH:

1) Restoring the deleted scene with Luke and Biggs in the hangar. In the 1977 version Biggs is just some anonymous rebel pilot, in the later versions you realize oh, that's Luke's childhood friend that just died keeping the TIEs back for a few vital seconds.

2) Cleaning up the special effects shots without changing the concept of the shot. For example, the dogfight scenes over the death star were pretty impressive by 1977 standards, but even compared to the original version of ROTJ the ship movements are kind of awkward. The replacement shots make the ships move a lot more naturally, but you can look at them side by side and all the maneuvers/camera angles/etc are still pretty much the same. Same thing with fixing matte lines, color issues, etc.

The rest of it is neutral at best, and actively harmful to the movie at worst.

[Tsyroc]

IMO there are only two changes that add anything to ANH:

1) Restoring the deleted scene with Luke and Biggs in the hangar. In the 1977 version Biggs is just some anonymous rebel pilot, in the later versions you realize oh, that's Luke's childhood friend that just died keeping the TIEs back for a few vital seconds.

2) Cleaning up the special effects shots without changing the concept of the shot. For example, the dogfight scenes over the death star were pretty impressive by 1977 standards, but even compared to the original version of ROTJ the ship movements are kind of awkward. The replacement shots make the ships move a lot more naturally, but you can look at them side by side and all the maneuvers/camera angles/etc are still pretty much the same. Same thing with fixing matte lines, color issues, etc.

The rest of it is neutral at best, and actively harmful to the movie at worst.

The only other bit that I don't mind the change on is the werewolf mask in the cantina scene. It wasn't supposed to be front and center but for some reason in the original it was a full face shot close up and it looked like a Halloween mask. That got changed to some other sort of alien that didn't look like a mask.

[Havok]

While I get what you're saying. You're rather overstating the impact the shoots first thing has on the character. Is it worse? Yes. Is the editing bad? Yes. Does ruin Han's character? No.

Han's character and development is not so ill-defined that changing that one moment changes everything. People dislike it because a) it's a change and b) it's one for the worse. But someone coming in fresh, say that the Special Edition is the first time they've seen ANH, they're not going to watching that scene and think 'oh yes, Han's a good two-shoes'. You've still got Han price gouging Luke and Obi-Wan, you've still got him up to his neck in criminal activities with Jabba, you've still got him refusing to resuce this princess without being bribed.

Shooting first, second, simultaneously, Han's character arc is still there and understandable.

Yes, I understand that, which is why in summation I said...

it takes Han from a shoot first, only out for himself, hardcase smuggler that begrudgingly befriends the rebels to a standard old hero that just happens to be a smuggler.

It's not a huge change that changes his arc, but it is a fundamental one that changes his archetype.

[jwl]

So which version will be canon?

[Borgholio]

We'll have to wait for Disney to say. If you go by which is the most recent edit, then it's the Greedo Shoots First. If you go by which is the most recently released version, then it would be Han Shoots First. If both versions are released simultaneously (like they did when I bought both versions in a single box as part of a special release) and Disney doesn't specify which one is canon...then it's pretty much up to the interpretation of the viewer.

IMO, since Greedo Shoots First is really poor digital hack and stands out as an eyesore compared with the rest of the scene, that it isn't canon unless Disney specifically says it is.

[Elfdart]

I'd be surprised if this comes out anytime soon. Even though Disney and Fox have distribution rights, Lucas has an iron-clad final cut contract, so it's still up to him. Maybe he'll relent, but I wouldn't bet the rent on it.

[Havok]

Oh, so he still has control over the movies he already made?

[Elfdart]

According to the Rinzler "Making of Star Wars" book, he insisted on absolute final cut in his contract for ANH. He also had final cut on the other movies. I would assume he kept those rights after the sale to Disney, given how hard he and his closest peers (Coppola, Scorsese, Spielberg) fought for final cut on their movies.

Lucas had first hand experience of studio meddling with his own movies (THX-1138, American Graffiti) and working second unit on The Godfather (where his friend/mentor Francis Coppola was constantly being kneecapped by Robert Evans at Paramount) must have really chapped his hide as well as Coppola's.