Star Wars Blu-rays -- Bantha dung included

The time may have finally come where it seems our buddy George Lucas is screwing with fans just to vex and annoy them. All six Star Wars films make it to Blu-ray in a couple of weeks and "the community" is already seething at yet another series of arbitrary head-scratching "adjustments" Darth Flannel has made to the beloved Original Trilogy, as well as some of the newer films.

In Episode I: The Phantom Menace, puppet Yoda has been replaced with digital Yoda. This looks to actually be an improvement, particularly given how good Yoda looked in Revenge of the Sith.

In Return of the Jedi, the Ewoks eyes will blink now, which is okay (Ewoks have eyes?!).

Other changes, however, are particularly galling, if not downright annoying. In Star Wars, Ben Kenobi's fake-out dragon call now sounds like Darcelle in distress...I mean just compare these two...!

...and in Return of the Jedi, heretofore cool moment where Vader stops Emperor Palpatine from torturing Luke, now gets the addition of a completely unnecessary "NOOOOO!" from about to be redeemed Anakin.



While many folks will wonder what all the to-do is about, it's kind of like having Charles Foster Kane blurt out, "My sled...Rosebud was my sled," or Rick Blaine embellish "We'll always have Paris...you know, that city where we first met."

What else we have in store is anybody's guess. The arrival of Star Wars in hi-def should be (and frankly, is) cause for celebration. The deleted scenes alone should prove fascinating. But Lucas seems so completely out of touch with and disrespectful of both his fans and of cinema preservation as a whole. None of this would matter if he was also restoring and making the original cuts of the films available. But when his tweaks and tinkerings start to actually damage the films and lessen their impact, it may be time for us to suggest that George put down his paintbrush and take a nice long break...on Carbonite, of course...