Wampa Anti-Defamatory League Strikes Back

September 5, 2006 10:31 AM

151 Changes to The Empire Strikes Back Frame by frame analysis of the original movie vs. the 2004 DVD. Mostly cleaning and sharpening, but also more self-censoring on Lucas' part. [via]
posted by cgs (43 comments total)

I guess I'm missing something here, but how is digitally compositing something new into a frame "self-censorship"?
posted by scrump at 10:40 AM on September 5, 2006

I don't get it. How/why are the changes self censoring?
posted by Keith Talent at 10:41 AM on September 5, 2006

Actually, the difference linked in the "also" link must be a difference in SEs because that shot wasn't in the OT at all.
posted by keswick at 10:41 AM on September 5, 2006

see where the wampa's arm is in the 2004 version? there was nothing there in the 1980 version. when he updated the movies they were going to show the wampa's weiner there, but then put the arm in front of the weiner so no one could see it.
posted by snofoam at 10:44 AM on September 5, 2006

I'm also not picking up on the self-censoring.
posted by yeti at 10:44 AM on September 5, 2006

except luke, that is. he could still see the weiner.
posted by snofoam at 10:44 AM on September 5, 2006

So wait. That blue glowing thing is Luke's weiner?

Wow. I wanna be a Jedi.
posted by yeti at 10:48 AM on September 5, 2006

Yeti, is that you in the pictures?
posted by Mister_A at 10:55 AM on September 5, 2006

I'm also not picking up on the self-censoring.

He's taken out and hidden several stalagmites.
posted by bobo123 at 10:58 AM on September 5, 2006

It's my cousin.
posted by yeti at 10:59 AM on September 5, 2006

in the first link, you can see some sort of carcass/skeleton. my thoughts were that it was too bloody for the kindler, gentler, han-shot-second lucas of today...
posted by cgs at 10:59 AM on September 5, 2006

I'm as big a Star Wars geek as any out there (weiners aside), but seems to me that the only difference in most of them slides is the brightness is better in the later version. And that could be explained as much by the source of the captures than by anything that George 'clueless' McLucas did.
posted by veedubya at 11:01 AM on September 5, 2006

The carcass/skeleton shot is from 2004 also.
posted by yeti at 11:03 AM on September 5, 2006

Wouldn't the wampa's weiner be awfully small anyways? I mean, it was rather cold on Hoth...
posted by stinkycheese at 11:05 AM on September 5, 2006

For me the brightness looks faker. Why, why, why does he do this?
posted by xammerboy at 11:06 AM on September 5, 2006

in the first link, you can see some sort of carcass/skeleton. my thoughts were that it was too bloody for the kindler, gentler, han-shot-second lucas of today...

Both of those are in the new version, and aren't in the older one at all.
posted by ZippityBuddha at 11:08 AM on September 5, 2006

ah... right you are, zippitybuddha. i was clicking through and assumed the top was always the old and the bottom the new. not sure what they are comparing there exactly.

i guess lucas didn't overly, er, dick around ;-)
posted by cgs at 11:14 AM on September 5, 2006

OMG can you believe what they did to the logo of 'Lucasfilms' on second frame!!! I must commit jedi hari kari with my limited edition lightsaber collectible tonight. Send my lunchbox collection as a philanthropic donation to the MoMA.
posted by poppo at 11:15 AM on September 5, 2006

Also, there is a similar section on the site for the first film, too
posted by ZippityBuddha at 11:16 AM on September 5, 2006

the censorship is even worse in the first film. see where he makes it look like greedo touches his weiner before han? han totally touched his weiner first!
posted by snofoam at 1:50 PM on September 5, 2006

I like how in 144 they've made Princess Leia's nipples so prominent - and you can even see a bit of a camel toe.
posted by Flashman at 1:52 PM on September 5, 2006 [1 favorite]

As far as self-censorship (of the non-weiner variety) goes, I think the most damning evidence is this change, in which Lucas decides that the absurdly great performance of Clive Revill should be replaced by Ian McDiarmid, who of course played the Emperor in the subsequent films. Thank God there's only a week left until the unaltered DVDs are released and I can nerdgasm over dimly-lit, badly-matted shots to my heart's content.
posted by Saellys at 2:02 PM on September 5, 2006

All that really matters is the storm trooper still hits his head on the door as it comes up, in A New Hope. Heck with the rest of it.
posted by ZachsMind at 2:07 PM on September 5, 2006

A bunch of color corrected frames has everyone up in stitches. Geez Louise, feel bad for the poor shmoe that had to spend some amount of their life working on that drek.

If only folks analyzed the crap that comes out of the US government as closely as they study the mental masturbations of the Lucas merchandising machine...
posted by dbiedny at 2:14 PM on September 5, 2006

So let me get this straight, the controversies can be summed up as follows:

Ep IV: Han shoots First
Ep V: More snowspeeder opacity and edge-fixing thanks to digital compositing.
posted by mazola at 2:18 PM on September 5, 2006 [1 favorite]

I haven't heard many people complain much about changes to Ep. V. That one was largely left alone. Of course, that doesn't stop snarky commenters from pretending that means the horrible substantive changes to Ep. IV somehow don't matter.

Also, why zoom in on shots like this to "to provide a closer view of the principals"? On a big screen, you can see them just fine. Cropping every shot into a close-up is one of the worst legacies home video has left on cinematic style.
posted by Potsy at 2:26 PM on September 5, 2006

So the wampa has a walkie talkie in this one?
There is directing and there is obsessive-compulsive. At some point, just leave the thing in the can for God sakes. This really highlights the difference between someone who likes to tell stories and someone with an obsessive compulsive disorder. Woody Allen didn’t even let child molestation charges get in the way of making films. Lucas is still stuck on his first success.
posted by Smedleyman at 2:36 PM on September 5, 2006

Potsy, "to provide a closer view of the principals" is obviously a euphemism for "let's crop Chewbacca's crotch."
posted by muckster at 2:37 PM on September 5, 2006

I think the color correction is more than appropriate. The scene where Luke falls down that shaft in Cloud City is so much better than the original. And the improved masking on many of the shots, especially ones with smoke or motion blur, is very dramatic in comparison.
posted by effwerd at 3:06 PM on September 5, 2006

Maybe I'm missing something... but every one of these screenshots (or at least all the ones I actually clicked through) look like improvements on the original, at least as far as color-correction and brightness go.
posted by OverlappingElvis at 3:58 PM on September 5, 2006

The Storm Trooper does not hit his head. HTH. HAND.
posted by weretable and the undead chairs at 4:21 PM on September 5, 2006

You know, if he instead spent the time and money (although I know money's no object) shooting short films about minor characters in the universe to help build up audiences for the upcoming TV projects, I'll bet it would do a lot to strengthen the franchise.
posted by ®@ at 4:33 PM on September 5, 2006

Waitaminute! These are just...movies? Aw, well what the fu..
*cut off by the Lucas Anti-Defamation League*
posted by Smedleyman at 4:52 PM on September 5, 2006

Why, why, why does he do this?

Because idiots will buy it because it's "better" or at the very least "different".

I used to work in a video store and fools would re-purchase titles that had no changes to the content... except the packaging was different.
posted by dobbs at 5:09 PM on September 5, 2006

Why doesn't Lucas fix it so that the bad guys aren't wearing blister packs of lozenges. We must have the technology to give the Empire military decorations that don't look like N'ice cherry and eucalyptus.
posted by Mayor Curley at 5:22 PM on September 5, 2006 [1 favorite]

There's a definite shift in color tone. A lot of the colors in the 1977/1980 versions were redder; many of the backgrounds and even foregrounds have been shifted to the blue end.

To get rid of the grain, a lot of the backgrounds have been smoothed down, which I think is a Bad Thing.
posted by Deathalicious at 6:14 PM on September 5, 2006

Can anyone spot the mistake from Image #6?



All together now... SELF CENSORSHIP!
posted by Effigy2000 at 7:51 PM on September 5, 2006

Check the dates, Effigy2000.
posted by NortonDC at 8:09 PM on September 5, 2006

So the movie is bluer and the ships look cleaner.

Yep. Get the torches and pitchforks.
posted by Talez at 4:14 AM on September 6, 2006

Well I'm not buying it until they get the ellipsis right.
posted by Luddite at 5:59 AM on September 6, 2006

Flashman - I can't believe you made me scan all the way through to 144! How very disappointing.
posted by MrMustard at 6:17 AM on September 6, 2006

Luddite, that looks right to me....
posted by muckster at 9:56 AM on September 6, 2006

From Wiki: Therefore, there is no such thing as a "four-dot ellipsis." A period followed by an ellipsis may look like four dots, but they are two separate entities.

I think they got it right.
posted by starman at 2:54 PM on September 6, 2006