Original: Greedo threatens Han. Han shoots Greedo.
Special Edition: Greedo shoots Han. MISS! Han shoots Greedo.
DVD: Greedo shoots Han. Han impossibly dodges shot. Han shoots Greedo.

This is an old debate, we all know the facts, and we all have our opinions. So why am I talking about it now? Meh, I guess I have two cents burning a hole in my pocket. This is the one instance in all of George Lucas' modifications that I disagree with, and I feel like talking about it.

What was George Thinking?
From what I understand (I can't claim to intimately know George Lucas' inner thoughts) after establishing the Han Solo character as a charismatic guy with more heart than he lets on, he felt that shooting and killing another person (relatively unprovoked) was too cold-blooded. It wasn't what he wanted for the character.

Honestly, I can understand that sentiment. GL felt he made a mistake with an action of a character, and wanted to alter that first impression. So, he made it so that Han was unquestionably acting in self defense.

My two opinions about that:
It is unnecessary.
Nobody would fault Han for shooting a bounty hunter who planning on capturing him for a crime lord. It was clear that Greedo had hostile intentions, and Han was acting in self defense.
Furthermore, a ruthless side of Han is perfect at that stage of his character development. Han's transformation from a rugged smuggler to a hero of a great cause is a huge part of his development. Removing a bit of contrast between before and after doesn't do much.

It simply doesn't work.
Had they been able to re-shoot the scene the way George wanted, fine. But they had to work with the footage they had, and they couldn't do enough to make it look good. A crazy looking dodge, or a stupid point-blank miss just doesn't make sense and doesn't look good on film. My point being, no matter how noble GL's intentions in editing the scene, it simply shouldn't have been done because it didn't cinematically work.


There's one other interesting representation of the scene, in Lego Star Wars II. In that version, Greedo abruptly stands up from the table, reaching for his gun, and Han blasts Greedo before he can shoot.

I applaud the developers for such a perfect treatment of the controversial scene. Greedo shows direct violent hostility, and Han is acting in self defense. Han still shoots first, but there are no questions of character. And Han still comes off as really smooth, with his good reflexes and calm demeanor.

That's exactly how the scene should have been edited if it were possible. But it wasn't possible, so they shouldn't have edited it.


Disclosure: Everything in this blog is my opinion, obviously. I'd be interested to hear what other people on the blogs think of the issue.
Also, I'd like to clarify that I don't hate the new versions of the scene. Far from it. I don't dislike GL or his modifications in any way, and I understand what he tried to do. I simply prefer the old version, and think it would have been better left untouched.


P.S. I did a little snooping to see if I could find a clip of the Lego Star Wars version, but to no avail. But there's plenty of other amusing takes on the scene out there.