Club Jade

Star Wars Aficionado got a look at some of the deleted scenes from the Star Wars Blu-Rays, and details several of them.

The first is labeled ESPN Fantasy Draft and features some funny (probably funnier if you have any idea who the non-Star Wars guys in it are.) The next two, Every Moment and Vader Fan are standard clip shows from the movies and extras. Enjoy them under the cut. (more…)

So last week, it was leaked, and then substantiated that the Blu-ray edition of Return of the Jedi would contain a change that set the fan world into a buzz: As Palpatine zaps Luke Skywalker, Darth Vader would now say “Nooooooooooooo!” as he decides to shaft the Emperor.

Many fans were taken aback by this change by George Lucas – not only does it feed into one of the most laughed-at lines from Revenge of the Sith, it changes the tone of the scene, from Vader as the silent man of action, to him giving voice to his emotional turmoil. Some fans bemoaned the general state of constant changes with each re-release of the movies, while others felt that it is fine for the creator to update his work to help tie the saga all together. Celebrity fan Simon Pegg called it a “clueless revision” – but was it really clueless? (more…)

A new extra is up on Youtube, this time featuring the AT-ATs of Empire.

Entertainment Weekly has footage from an extended version of Han and Leia’s corridor scene on Hoth..

In this Blu-ray extra, creature designer Phil Tippett discusses the origins of the dejarik chess scene in A New Hope. The holographic chess scene is one of my favorites from Star Wars in terms of showing a full universe – there’s recreation, and important life lessons about the differences between droids and Wookiees.

As I said on Twitter earlier: Oh dear. Lucasfilm tells The New York Times’ Dave Itzkoff that the Blu-Ray release will indeed contain one of the rumored changes to Return of the Jedi: “Darth says NO.”

Man, this is heavy. Let’s have a laugh. (via)

These types of changes aren’t going to make me hate Star Wars, or go all ranty on it. But I don’t think this improves the films, or adds to the moment in any way. To quote @LaneWinree: “The quiet understatement of that scene is what made it for me. Perfect illustration of ‘show, don’t tell.’”

This is not exactly our first ride on this particular merry-go-round, and I’m not going to not get the Blu-rays, or decry Star Wars and George Lucas entirely. I’m just… disappointed.

But, here’s another handy quote, from @Blankitout: “It shouldn’t be too hard to comprehend that things that aren’t important to you can be important to other people. Respect their feelings.” We’re big fans of respect around here.

There have been a few more rumors and possible leaked (or faked) footage from the new Star Wars Blu-rays, mostly Return of the Jedi: A new addition in the the Emperor’s death scene, blinking Ewoks. io9 rounds it up, and even they’re suggesting caution, so take it as you will. We’ll find out soon enough.

UPDATE: Big Shiny Robot has a rebuttal to the rumors. It’s not quite time to panic yet, folks.

UPDATE: Nope. It’s real. Part of it, anyway.

A new extra? On a weekend? Alrighty then.

The HDRoom’s Dan Bradley was another tech-oriented journalist invited to Lucasfilm’s Blu-ray junket. The first part of his report covers a few basics we’ve heard about from the other sites and Lucasfilm themselves. Part two focuses on Matthew Wood and sound mixing. And part 3 takes on, of course, the deleted scenes, special features and Dennis Muren.

Here’s one interesting bit:

In response to my question, Kayleen answered “You’ll have to wait and see! The Holiday Special is a challenge, but look for some Easter Eggs. What’s a Star Wars release without a couple of Easter Eggs?” I read into that as something pertaining to, if not the entire Holiday Special is hidden on these discs. These Easter Eggs are also what LucasFilm is referring to when stating the leaked bonus features are “incomplete.”

An additional Blu-ray inner sleeve depicts a scene from Droids, the animated cartoon revolving around the further adventures of R2-D2 and C-3PO. Does that mean an episode of Droids or maybe something from the Ewoks television show is hidden as an Easter Egg? We’ll have to wait and find out on September 16, 2011.

I’ve always thought that the Holiday Special – or the less tedious bits of it, anyway – would make an excellent Easter Egg.