As suspected, that Yoda change wasn't all—after a few days of panicked rumor-swapping in the dweebier corners of the internet, Lucasfilm finally admitted to the New York Times that, in the upcoming Blu-ray version of Return of the Jedi's climactic scene, the formerly silent Darth Vader now cries "NOOOOOOOOOOO!" in much the same goofy-ass, repeatedly mocked way that he did in Revenge of the Sith. Which is... well, stupid, 'cause Vader's silence in that moment was one of the highlights of the original movies, while the "NOOOOOOOOOOO!" from Sith is one of the lowlights of the prequels.
On Wednesday, a press representative for Lucasfilm confirmed that this change will be included in the Blu-ray release, writing in an email: “Yes—Darth says NO.”Though it may sound like a minor detail among the millions in the Star Wars movies, this alteration has not sat well with many admirers of the film franchise.
On one hand, this is basically the least surprising news ever—Lucas will never stop (poorly) tweaking these movies, and fans will never stop getting outraged. On the other hand, though, it is kinda surprising, simply because the change is something you don't often hear associated with Lucas: It's bad business. With physical media whimpering its way through its prolonged death throes, these Blu-ray releases are basically Lucasfilm's last chance to make a good chunk off change off selling hard copies of these things, but now—out of anger, bitterness, and stubbornness—a whole lot of formerly reliable, money-spendin' nerds aren't gonna buy these. Asking 'em to buy the special editions was already a hard sell; asking 'em to buy some special special editions—while continuing to deny them access to the originals they want? That's just about impossible.
But who cares what I think—WHAT DO FAMOUS NERDS HAVE TO SAY? As the Times noted, Simon Pegg—star of Shaun of the Dead, Spaced, and Hot Fuzz— weighed in:
Which is a pretty good point, and—
Whoa. Okay. Still, fair, and I'd add tha—
A bit earlier, Rian Johnson—the director of Brick, The Brothers Bloom, and the upcoming Looper, not to mention a Han Solo ice cube enthusiast—offered up a pretty good point:
Taking off my Star Wars nerd hat for a moment and putting on my film nerd one, I'd say that's actually the chief concern here: Star Wars might be thought of as a joke to a lot of people now, but these movies are still an important part of film history, and if archival versions of the originals exist somewhere, safe from Lucas' clutches, and can theoretically one day be released? It makes these continual dumb changes a lot less important. Johnson then linked to this, which implies that yes, at least one might be out there. But where?! It's like the dorkiest mystery case ever!
Also, sort of related: Apparently, ewoks blink now.
Nice try, George. No matter how many CG blinks you give him, Warwick Davis has always been, and will always be, a soulless little monster.
