Okay, I had a feeling George Lucas would tweak up the special editions of his first three STAR WARS films (episodes IV, V and VI) for the first ever dvd versions. I tried doing some research on that subject before the dvd's came out... and I couldn't find any details. So, I was beginning to think that Lucas would just release the 1997 theatrical re-release versions without any additions or improvements, except for using the best negatives and re-mastered sound. Well, boy, was I in for a few surprises when the three dvd's came in from netflix.com?!

In STAR WARS EPISODE IV: A NEW HOPE, the main changes were minor, but notable. Lucas used a more advanced animated Jabba the Hutt in that Mos Eisley scene where Han Solo talks him into waiting for his money a bit longer (a scene totally deleted from the 1977 original release). I might not have noticed that a new computer generated character was used at all except for when Han Solo walks behind Jabba, over his tail. In the 1997 re-release, Jabba's expression of pain is cartoon-like... but in this new dvd version, Jabba's expression looks more realistic. It sounds small, I know, but to geeks like me... it's such a treat to see.

Also, at the end of EPISODE IV, during the duel between Obi Wan Kenobi and Darth Vader, the lightsabers have been re-animated (or rotoscoped or whatever it's called) making them look more like lightsabers from the rest of the films (the colors are brighter and the glow is more consistent). This is something that I've always wondered why Lucas hadn't improved when he re-released that film in 1997.

A minor change in EPISODE V: THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK was that the voice of Boba Fett was redubbed by Temuera Morrison, who played Jango Fett (Boba's father) in EPISODE II: ATTACK OF THE CLONES. I thought that was kewl... a nice subtle tie-in.

A shock came during EPISODE V when Darth Vader speaks to a holographic transmission of Emperor Palpatine. In the original 1980 version and in the 1997 re-release, the Emperor's image was of an elderly actress with the voice of Clive Revill. Now, many die-hard fans know that in 1983 in EPISODE VI: RETURN OF THE JEDI, the Emperor was played by Ian McDiarmid... and in 1999 he reprised his role as the Emperor in EPISODE I: THE PHANTOM MENACE and again in 2002 in EPISODE II: ATTACK OF THE CLONES and he will do so again in 2005 in EPISODE III: REVENGE OF THE SITH. So, I always wondered why Lucas just didn't replace that one little scene back in 1997, to keep the Emperor's presence consistent... but he finally did for the dvd! My one complaint is that McDiarmid seemed drugged and sluggish, unlike the more alert, evil Emperor from EPISODE VI. Maybe he had just woken up... or had just smoked some Galactic equivalent of opium? I was also slightly irritated at how the Emperor's face was seen so well lit in this new footage... because his face is always ever seen in the shadow of his hood. Again, I know this difference will mean very little to people who aren't really into these films.

I must also say that some of the Emperor's lines in this hologram scene were changed in this new version! It might have a profound connection with some stuff to be revealed in EPISODE III... or it could just be another oversight that Lucas will fix later. Time tells all.

In the dvd of EPISODE VI: RETURN OF THE JEDI, the first change I really noticed was that when Luke pulled off Darth Vader's mask, his eyebrows had been removed! I guess that was to accentuate the fact that Vader's face will be badly burned in EPISODE III...

And this last change was a big one. I certainly was moved emotionally by it.

(deep breath)

Okay... in the very last part of EPISODE VI, after Luke Skywalker has burned the body of his father, while all the Ewoks and people on almost every world ever seen in any of the films are celebrating the death of the Emperor... when Luke turns around to see the spectral forms of Obi Wan Kenobi and Yoda watching the jubilation from afar... in the original 1983 version and again in the 1997 re-release, the spirit of Anakin Skywalker, played by the elderly actor Sebastian Shaw materializes to join Yoda and Obi Wan. But in this new dvd version, the spirit of Anakin Skywalker appears... but it is of the young actor, Hayden Christensen, who plays Luke's father in EPISODE's II and III! This not only surprised me, but it also moved me to tears. I felt an enormous sense of connection and the full scope of Darth Vader's redemption. The tears flew out of my eyes like a lawn sprinkler! I was 9 years old again... like when I saw the first STAR WARS film in 1977. I was the child that had a limited but certain view of good and evil... I was the child that never had a good relationship with his own father... I was the child that felt he had fallen from grace, was bad and beyond saving. But suddenly, seeing the young Anakin Skywalker, when I was totally expecting to see the one I had always seen... it shook me down to my core. Redemption is not just possible... but it can be your destiny.

Of course these changes, especially the last one, immediately began to be heavily debated among the fans (or so I'm reading on starwars.com and other fan sites). I know that hardened and jaded people will never be able to understand what forgiveness is. I also know that many people just don't want things to change, especially the things from their childhood, the things they feel have shaped them. But... for me... it worked. I had a profound moment of clarity... 27 years in the making.

I immediately called Philip to tell him about it, tears running down my face. He was working and didn't answer his phone, so I called the second biggest STAR WARS fan I know, my mom, and told her... blubbering like a baby. A minute later, Philip called back and I told him... and cried some more.

All of this stellar stuff hardly compared to the presidential debates (which I watched, of course)! I'm so sick of political rhetoric. I just hope that changes in social consciousness occur that will improve our lives... and it sure ain't happenin' under Republican rule.