omewhere a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, a monstrous star destroyer chases a lonely star cruiser into the farthest reaches of space. Capturing its prey, the destroyer's crew, led by Darth Vader (James Earl Jones), easily overtake the smaller ship's defenses and acquire its cargo: Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher), who purports to be on a diplomatic mission but secretly carries plans to destroy the Empire's weapon of mass destruction, the Death Star. She ejects the plans into space with a pair of droids named R2-D2 (Baker) and C-3PO (Daniels), who soon land on the dusty desert planet of Tatooine, where they are discovered by a moisture farmer named Luke Skywalker (Hamill).
Unexpectedly, Luke becomes a major figure into a plot to destroy the Empire, and solicits help from a hermit named Obi-Wan Kenobi (Guinness) and, later, a space pirate named Han Solo (Ford). Together, they strike out to find the kidnapped princess, rescue her from certain death and ensure that the Death Star is destroyed before it can do any more interstellar damage. At the same time, Luke begins to learn about the Force, a metaphysical energy field that binds together the universe, and starts training as a Jedi knight, one of a band of enlightened soldiers who preserved order in the galaxy for centuries before they were largely killed off by the Empire.
As more details slowly reveal themselves, it turns out that Luke is not only the last Jedi knight in the galaxy, but the son of Darth Vader, who was turned to the dark side many years ago and who wants the boy to rule the universe by his side. The rebel alliance has all but been vanquished by the domineering rule of the Empire, and its few remaining members are scattered to the corners of the galaxy. With the threat of a new and improved Death Star looming on the horizon, the scattered rebels must fortify themselves against their enemies, invade a forest stronghold on the moon of Endor and destroy the ranks of the Empire once and for all. As this battle rages in space and on the ground, Luke confronts his father in a final effort to redeem him, but finds that the dark side of the Force is more powerful than perhaps even he can resist.
Change is (sometimes) good
George Lucas may be nuts, or simply an eccentric genius who has insulated himself from the outside world, but Star Wars' lasting and deserved impact on subsequent generations of moviegoers suggests that maybe, just maybe, it's a well-earned respite from reality. The many changes effected by his revisionist approach to both storytelling and effects work, detailed below, do frequently mar the simplicity and magisterial beauty of the original versions, but the effectiveness of his messages and the timeliness of his characters remain perfectly intact; only a text of such sacrosanct magnitude can face such egregious and in some cases unforgivable changes and yet receive the endless benefit of the doubt from fans and critics alike.
Even though many of the changes feel outright blasphemous or, at best, extraneous, only a handful of new revisions have been added for the DVD release: Greedo and Han Solo now exchange fire at the same time; the CGI work on the New Hope Tatooine sequences have been vastly improved (including making Jabba look a bit more like the puppet in Jedi); Temuera Morrison pointlessly re-records Boba Fett's Empire dialogue; Lucas expands a conversation between Darth Vader and the emperor to acknowledge that Luke is the son of Anakin Skywalker; Hayden Christensen is inserted to the funeral-pyre celebration alongside Yoda and Obi-Wan Kenobi in Jedi; and Naboo is now part of the galaxy-wide celebration that erupts after the Empire is destroyed.
While the plot-point revisions (such as Greedo shooting first, or at the same time, or ever) are the most troubling to fans because they reflect not a change in technology but in Lucas' values as a filmmaker, they are typically so brief, few and far between that the temporary distraction they create is quickly forgotten once the moment has passed; nevertheless, because my suspicions were already aroused, I did actually trot out my old VHS copy of Empire to verify that Lucas didn't change any of the Luke-Vader dialogue during the "I am your father" scene (for the record, he didn't).
The extras on the discs are somewhat modest in scope given the wealth of material one expects Lucas has at his disposal; regardless, informative commentaries by the filmmaker, his effects crew and guest stars like Carrie Fisher and director Irvin Kershner are provided to add texture to the already potent text of the films. The highlight of the collection, however, is the two-hour documentary Empire of Dreams, contained on disc four, which recounts the whole messy affair of making the movies in the first place. Trailers, TV spots and featurettes also provide an interesting look at old-school promotional materials, but the documentary shows in gruesome detail just how tough Lucas actually had it while shooting his opus, and why he has since never struck a lasting deal with a studio chief for anything other than distribution.
