page created: 9/9/04 updated: 9/10/04 Star Wars Trilogy - 2004 DVD Changes back to the DVD review Here are a few examples of the major differences between the 1997 Special Editions of the Star Wars films and the new 2004 DVD Editions. This doesn't include minor changes and sound mix changes. The 2004 DVD Edition images are on the right. A New Hope As you can see in the shots that follow, the animation of Luke's landspeeder entering Mos Eisley has been redone. Now the speeder swoops in from the side rather than appearing from overhead. C-3PO is also more realistically animated and reacts to the movement. The blaster fight between Han and Greedo has also been revised slightly. In the 1997 version on the left, Greedo's shot has hit the wall, while Han hasn't fired yet. In the new 2004 edition, Han fires much sooner, so that the shots are much closer together. Also, Han's whole upper body shifts over slightly in reaction to Greedo's shot rather than just his head. The biggest change in A New Hope is that the CG animation of Jabba the Hutt has been redone using a slightly altered version of the Episode I character model. Jabba's expressions and movements are now much more natural, and he blends with Han's performance better. Here's a more minor alteration - the lettering on the tractor beam display has been changed from English in the 1997 version (left) to a stylized Imperial font (reportedly called 'Aurebesh') in the 2004 DVD version. The other major change in A New Hope - all of the lightsaber blades have been re-rotoscoped to have more color and be more consistent in appearance with their look in the other films. on to Empire and Jedi

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