Top 10 Worst Star Wars Special Edition Changes

After Luke’s less than desirable landing of his X-Wing in a bog on Dagobah, he quickly loses R2-D2 into the murky swamp waters. Seemingly humorous at first, Luke is shocked to see R2 being eaten alive by a swamp monster, and then promptly spat out! In the original cut, Luke quipped, "You’re lucky you don’t taste very good" – which was changed in the 1997 Special Edition release to, "You were lucky to get out of there." This dialogue alteration managed to make Luke sound much less witty.

Jabba the Hutt’s intended punishment for Luke Skywalker and friends was to toss them into the dreaded Sarlacc Pit, essentially a giant mouth-like monster embedded into the desert floor that’s capable of swallowing creatures whole! When this monster’s prey puts up a fight, it quickly wraps its tentacles around them! And yet this simple, but terrifying creature was bedazzled in the 1997 special edition. What do we mean by that exactly? It was given an excessive 3D beaked mouth reminiscent of a cartoon Venus flytrap and was over equipped with many more tentacles that popped out.

Remember that horrendous “NOO!” that Anakin shouted as Darth Vader at the end of “Revenge of the Sith”? Yeah, we do too unfortunately… Well, even with all of the derision this terrible yell received, for some reason Lucasfilm decided to add another "NOO!" in the 2011 Blu-ray release of “Return of the Jedi.” Vader’s eerily similar, fanboy soul-shattering scream occurs when he confronts the Emperor while he’s shocking Luke. It feels out-of-place, unrealistic, and forces us to think of Vader’s whiny days as Anakin. It also removes the deeper subtext and conflict behind the scene, as if we aren’t smart enough to figure it out.

In the original “Empire Strikes Back,” Luke loses a fast-paced lightsaber duel with Darth Vader on Cloud City. Cornered, Luke learns the terrible truth that Vader is his father and, then, instead of joining him on the Dark Side, he nobly and silently falls into the abyss. In the 1997 specialedition release, however, for some reason, Lucasfilm editors thought it best to make Luke scream the entire way down! His noble descent and the great personal risk he makes from such a dramatic drop were quickly nullified by this horrific scream; and Luke went from hero to zero.

The originals were great, but they weren’t without their technical issues – for instance, Luke’s landspeeder was actually on wheels during filming. To make it appear to hover, the FX crew put Vaseline on the camera lens. In the 1997 special edition, this was digitally removed, but during its entrance to Mos Eisley so much CG was added that it felt like the animators were vomiting 3D effects. Womp rats scurry around the town’s outskirts, the 3D buildings look like something out of a video game, and the residents run about like a slapstick comedy.

In the original “Return of the Jedi,” the Max Rebo (reeboh) Band entertained movie-goers with their song “Lapti Nek” at Jabba’s Palace. Well, it appears that nothing is sacred! The song was cut in the 1997 special edition release and replaced with the 3D musical number “Jedi Rocks.” While the yellow alien singer Sy Snootles is seen singing in over-animated 3D the entire song, her original puppet form is oddly visible just prior to this scene. What’s nearly as painful as watching this? Watching the added scene of Boba Fett flirting with the band’s dancers…

Boba Fett’s minimal dialogue made him all the more fearsome, and it made things that much easier for fans to memorize his few lines. “Attack of the Clones” revealed that Jango Fett was the clone template for all original stormtroopers, and that Boba Fett was a clone of him as well. For the 2004 DVD release, Lucasfilm decided to use the voice of Tamuera Morrison, the actor that played Jango, to replace Boba Fett’s few lines as originally voiced by Jason Wingreen. Needless to say, Boba Fett fans weren’t particularly pleased.

This was a previously deleted scene filmed for the original 1977 release in which Jabba the Hutt was initially played by big boned Northern Irish Scottish actor Declan Mulholland. In the 1997 special edition release, the scene was re-included with a 3D version of Jabba the Hutt superimposed over the original actor – even his voice was overdubbed with a made-up language! This addition removed the mystery of learning what Jabba looked like in “Return of the Jedi,” appears to feature Greedo who was shot dead by Han Solo in a prior scene, and flaunts Boba Fett for good measure. It really doesn’t serve a purpose. Worst of all, because of Jabba’s tail, they had to have Han digitally step on Jabba’s backside when circling the gangster.

In the original “Return of the Jedi,” it’s the stoic Sebastian Shaw who plays Anakin Skywalker. But the 2004 DVD release sees actor Hayden Christensen slowly replacing Shaw in different stages. The changes become apparent when Darth Vader’s mask is removed and we notice that Shaw’s eyebrows have been removed to reflect Anakin’s fate in “Revenge of the Sith.” Additionally, Shaw’s eyes were turned blue and his face was digitally altered to look like an older Christensen. Then, at the end, when the ghosts of Anakin, Obi-Wan, and Yoda greet Luke, we see that Shaw-as-Anakin’s-spirit has been completely replaced by Christensen! If you thought this was bad, listen to the Gungan scream added during the film’s finale, which may or may not be ol’ Jar Jar being as annoying as ever...

Before we get to our number one pick, here are some dishonorable mentions:
- R2 Hides Behind Rocks
“Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope” (1977)
- Showing the Full Wampa
“Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back” (1983)

The laserblast heard around the world! In the original cut, Han Solo sneakily shot Greedo under a table, an ignoble move by an ignoble hero. In the 1997 Special Edition, this scene was changed to show Greedo shooting first, missing, and then Han shooting. George Lucas hoped to present Han as ethical, which enraged fans. To come to a compromise with the creator’s vision and fans’ interests, the 2004 DVD had the two shoot nearly concurrently, though Greedo still fired a second quicker. But things changed again on the 2011 Blu Ray, with both shooting pretty much simultaneously this time around.

Do you agree with our list? What are your least favorite Star Wars changes? For more excellent Top 10s published daily, be sure to subscribe to WatchMojo.com.