George Lucas Says Greedo Always Shot First, Then Pokes Hornet’s Nest, Wears Yankee’s Hat In Boston, Etc.

Lucas is just trolling us.

No wonder he’s retiring…

He just keeps doubling down on all the stuff I wish he’d just quietly change back.  All these silly little changes… why?  Just leave it.  Or, since he’s bringing Blade Runner into it, Blade Runner did something pretty cool; they released every single cut in a box set, so you can pick which one is your favorite and watch that.  Me personally, I like the final cut, but I read somewhere that Guillermo del Toro’s favorite is the one with the voiceover.  Neither of us needs to be wrong if all the options are available for purchase.  Plus, it’s more product for Lucas to sell, so you’d think he’d be all over it, but alas not.

Yeah, I kind of don’t take George Lucas for an honest person when it comes to artistic integrity, not since he tried to claim he had episodes I-III already written before he started A New Hope.

 These are blasters, right? At point blank range, right? So, a shot would be pretty instantaneous, right? If Han didn’t shoot first, he would not have a chance to shoot at all. Han shot, so Greedo had no chance to shoot. It’s not that Han was cold blooded. It’s that he knew he was going to be shot if he didn’t shoot. So, Mr. Lucas (if that is your real name), we do not want to believe that Han is cold blooded and gunning people down. We want to believe Han is smarter than your average dung beetle. If you can’t handle that, then please lock yourself in your basement and leave us alone. Your fans made you rich, we don’t owe you any more than that.

Oh Lucas..  At some point his gullet ate his brain. It was a sad day.

He clearly believes he must have outlived all of us who saw it originally in the cinema or VHS, ergo it did not happen. Truly he be retconning our childhood history lol

“Lucas is updating his story to say that Greedo ALWAYS shot first.”
Brought to you by the Ministry of Truth.

“All art is technology and it improves every year.”
Yeah, that’s why Damien Hirst is a better sculptor than Michelangelo. Wait, what?

Beyond the whole argument of who shot first, I keep coming back to the statement by Lucas that fans seem to want Han to be a cold-blooded killer. I don’t think this is accurate. Above all things, Han is invested in protecting his own skin. Greedo has a weapon pointed at him and has made it pretty clear that bringing him in dead or alive to Jabba is pretty optional. Han is a smuggling scoundrel, he’s not about to get himself killed in the most wretched hive of scum and villainy that is Mos Eisley. Shooting Greedo is entirely within his character motivations.

2 years from now George Lucas will release the ‘Han Shot First’ box set it will cost $149.99 and everyone will buy it.

2 years from now George Lucas will release the ‘Han Shot First’ box set it will cost $149.99 and everyone will buy it.

YES EXACTLY.

Han was Smart. It was point blank! If Han didn’t shoot, Han would be dead. Han was a badass. In my mind in the beginning of the movies, Han wasn’t a nice guy. He was doing this as a job. He later became a believer, but in the beginning he would do what it took to save himself.

I defended him (metaphorically) when people attacked him for his previous statements and plans to retire from major film making…

…lemme just…yep…take that defense back…there we go.

Shut up, Mr. Lucas. All you do is piss me off.

Empire Strikes Back. Bespin, the Cloud City. Sliding door opens, and there stands Darth Vader. What does Han do? He shoots first.

Your move, Lucas.

Greedo says it, in big subtitles.
HAN: “Over my dead body.”
GREEDO: “That’s the idea. I’ve been looking forward to this for a long time.”
So Greedo means to KILL Han and is about to do it. So Han takes the opportunity presented to him and SHOOTS FIRST. Not because he’s a cold hearted killer, but because he wants to save himself. If Greedo had shut up and just shot Han instead of wanting to gloat, it’d be a very different film series.

I’m going to be honest here; I have no problems with any of
the tweaks Lucas has applied to Star Wars, except for this one. Other changes
did nothing to dramatically change the story or characters, and some were
actually….. an improvement. There, I said it! However, this whole Han/Greedo
thing was always a stupid decision, and I highly doubt fans were clamoring for
the scene to be clearer, as Lucas tries to frame it here. I always sensed he
was backing off of the change, based on the fact that it appears to have been altered
in the Blu-ray to Han shooting and Greedo’s gun discharging. So yeah, as much
as I tend to defend Lucas’s creative right to tweak, he’s definitely bull sh*ting
here. However, considering the fact that he has to deal with this question, or
some variation of, “Hey, Mr. Lucas, are you aware that your fans hate you? What
do you have to say about that?” I don’t blame him for getting pissy and
defensive. Having Greedo shoot first was a bad move, but I wish us fans would
move on, because the media now has the Star Wars fandom stereotyped as universally
bitter, and I don’t think it’s an accurate reflection. Most of us are happy to
love Star Wars, and while entitled to our opinions, don’t go around in a blind
anti-Lucas rage all the time. Maybe if interviewers stop asking Lucas this question
all the f**king time, he would have less of a reason to get defensive and inevitably
piss people off. Just a thought.

If Greedo really did shoot first, his next of kin should get a refund for that blaster of his.  The sights are a leeeettle bit off.

Considering some of the things people are saying on television today, we’re surprised that Lucas thinks he can make statements like this and get away from it?

Hahahaha yeah okay Lucas.

Yes this!!

I know, right. It’s so in his character to IMMEDIATELY know that something must be done, and that’s sometimes a blaster to the face. Darth Vader? Blaster to the face. Greedo, after he says he’s going to kill you? Blaster to the face.

For real. I was raised on the originals, and I watched them over and over, on frickin’ loop. I know who shot first. And it wasn’t no “first” back then. It was just “shot.” Han shot Greedo. That weird blaster bolt added to the new version is just distracting and awkward.

I partially agree, I liked the vfx adjustments to improve the matte lines etc, the additional shots/background expansion in Cloud City… less so the “comedy value” stuff in Mos Eisley.. and god no the new dance number/song in Jabbas Palace… that scene has visually aged SOOO much… much more than the original puppet work… and dont get me started on the comedic “ohoh!” stuff..

But, most of that can be put down to be literally background tweaks (less so the music numbers) what I cant forgive is the most recent change.. Vader says No.  I find that change so simplistic and dismissive of the audience’s intellect.

http://nooooooooooooooo.com/

Its that change that was the last straw for me, and why despite really wanting to see the extras and the clarity of the blu-ray.. I cant bring myself to endorse it with my money.

..and I cant help but think its only a matter of time before:

a: Lucas figures out a way to put Hayden’s face under the mask in ROTJ
b: do something about Han shooting in cloud city, now our astute friend commenter above has brought it to all our attention lol

Obviously we all know, but I thought I’d post this as an epilogue so to speak:

INTERIOR: MOS EISLEY — CANTINA.

As Han is about to leave, Greedo, a slimy green-faced alienwith a short trunk-nose, pokes a gun in his side. The creaturespeaks in a foreign tongue translated into English subtitles.

GREEDO: Going somewhere, Solo?

HAN: Yes, Greedo. As a matter of fact, I was just going to see yourboss. Tell Jabba that I’ve got his money.

Han sits down and the alien sits across from him holdingthe gun on him.

GREEDO: It’s too late. You should have paid him when you had thechance. Jabba’s put a price on your head, so large that every bountyhunter in the galaxy will be looking for you. I’m lucky I found youfirst.

HAN: Yeah, but this time I got the money.

GREEDO: If you give it to me, I might forget I found you.

HAN: I don’t have it with me. Tell Jabba…

GREEDO: Jabba’s through with you. He has no time for smugglers whodrop their shipments at the first sign of an Imperial cruiser.

HAN: Even I get boarded sometimes. Do you think I had a choice?

Han Solo slowly reaches for his gun under the table.

GREEDO: You can tell that to Jabba. He may only take your ship.

HAN: Over my dead body.

GREEDO: That’s the idea. I’ve been looking forward to killing you fora long time.

HAN: Yes, I’ll bet you have.

Suddenly the slimy alien disappears in a blinding flash oflight. Han pulls his smoking gun from beneath the table as theother patron look on in bemused amazement. Han gets up andstarts out of the cantina, flipping the bartender some coins as he leaves.

HAN: Sorry about the mess

Can anyone say these films have been improved or barely tweeked & re-released like used cars salesman selling previously owned flood cars?

I think this is a perfect example of how film-makers and executives in general think the work they make will always be theirs and remain in their image forever. Obviously it’s not, the second that a movie, or a game, or really anything is general is produced it belongs to the audience. The viewing public decides how a work impacts them, and over time they decide the implications of what a movie means . And if the director or owner of that piece suddenly feels that they made a mistake and that something needed to be changed then its already too late. 

At least there’ll always be Mal…

He should have just bought a regular gun. No one ever seems to dodge those.

The ‘into the engine’ seen sold a lot of Browncoats-to-be on Malcolm Reynolds, that is definitely true.

Not
sure if I follow you. And maybe I’m wasting my time with a reply. Seeing as the
original Star Wars trilogies are my favorite movies, I can keep watching the “same
damn films” an infinite number of times. That’s how favorite films, books,
movies work. Yeah, Lucas is a self absorbed, tunnel vision plagued, OCD of UFC,
and we all have a variety of opinions about his tweaking tendencies, but I
still love the narrative he created. You seem to think movies have been ‘barely
tweaked,” and I mostly agree. But with your used-car metaphors, you seem to
think those re-releases are just for money. While I’m sure that’s partially the
case, the Star Wars re-release track, video-> dvd->Blu-ray is pretty standard.
The 3D thing is definitely a money grab, but while I will not be seeing the prequels,
I look forward to the chance to see the trilogy on the big screen. And I
honestly think that Lucas’ tendency to tweak is purely personal. He has always
been weird about stuff like that.  Some
of us may not agree with the changes, but don’t think money is a motivating
factor. 

Gotta disagree. As much as us fans may hate to admit it, a creator, especially someone in an artistic medium like film, literature, visual art etc, always is and always will be the primary owner of what they made. As a big fan myself, I understand how strong the feeling of ownership over a story can be, and we as fans have the right to make whatever we want out of said story. But the creator still has the primary right to the narrative. They even have the right to do things we don’t like with it. It may be painful, but it’s true. And I am not going to divorce myself from the happiness Star Wars gives me over something like “Han shot first” anymore than I’m going to divorce myself from Sherlock Holmes because ACD brought SH back from the dead, or from Harry Potter because JKR killed Tonks off-page.  

that scene was a a deciding factor for my friends liking the show